Grooveshark

God Bless America, because in some other countries, listening to music at work is actually illegal!

Employees of Kwik-Fit Group, a car repair service in the U.K., has been summoned by the Performing Rights Society. The society, which collects royalties for songwriters and performers, said that Kwik-Fit has been infringing on musical copyrights.

To make matters worse, at a procedural hearing at the Court of Session in Edinburgh, a judge refused to dismiss the £200,000 damages claim.

Kwik-Fit employees use personal radios while working at service centers across the U.K. Because the protected copyright music could be heard by other colleagues and customers, the Performing Rights Society deems this illegal.

Who else gets busted for musical enjoyment? Our neighbor, Canada!

In Canada, the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers (SOCAN) prohibits music on the premises of dentists and hairdressers. If customer’s listen to music, SOCAN states it should be paid a fee.

I know here at Grooveshark, we work, breathe and eat music. We love it! If the radio is free and open to the public in your car, why not in a building? This just doesn’t make sense.

Obviously, some jobs require that you concentrate fully on your job. But during a lunch break or some free time, why couldn’t you listen to music? What would you do if your company enforced this policy?

[Via: P2PNet.Net]

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Look out - Jennifer Lopez may finally announce tonight that she is pregnant!

Although rumors have been flying around for the past couple weeks, there still has not been an official announcement.

Celebrity blogger Perez Hilton has been keeping tabs on the situation, continually updating his blog.

The latest?

“We’re hearing loud rumblings that producers at David Letterman are trying to get Jennifer Lopez to announce her pregnancy on their show,” says PerezHilton.com

I would tune into Letterman tonight. This is exciting news, considering Lopez has been trying to get pregnant with Marc Anthony for forever!

Take a look at the picture. It’s pretty obvious…don’t you think?

[Via: PerezHilton.com]

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Following in the footsteps of Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails lead singer Trent Reznor announced that Nine Inch Nails is no longer contracted with a record company.

As of today, Reznor said NIN are free agents. He posted this statement on their official website:

“I’ve waited a LONG time to be able to make the following announcement: as of right now Nine Inch Nails is a totally free agent, free of any recording contract with any label.”

“I have been under recording contracts for 18 years and have watched the business radically mutate from one thing to something inherently very different and it gives me great pleasure to be able to finally have a direct relationship with the audience as I see fit and appropriate.”

Most Likely, NIN’s next record will go straight to the public, just as Radiohead recently did with their new album, In Rainbows.

Reznor stated that he will soon post another announcement with news about NIN’s future plans for 2008.

Looks like music artists are finally getting the picture. The music industry better shape up and start allowing artist expression - or they will soon find themselves losing some big bands.

[Via: TechCrunch]

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Remember when they were happy?

It’s not the I necessarily enjoy writing about Britney Spears…OK I do. But in all honesty, she’s really just that ridiculous. Today is no different. In fact, it’s pretty big news.

Britney has finally lost complete custody of her children.

Yesterday, L.A. County Superior Court Judge Scott Gordon issued an order, stating that Kevin Federline “is to retain physical custody of the minor children on Wednesday, October 3, 2007 at 12:00 PM until further order of the court.”

Judge Gordon ordered Spears to undergo random drug testing and take parenting classes. Of course she refused, and now she’s paying the ultimate price.

Apparently, Spears is obeying this order. TMZ reports that Spears took her kids through a Carl’s Jr. drive-thru and then handed her them over to Federline Monday afternoon.

In addition to the random drug tests and parenting classes, Spears was also ordered to meet with a drug counselor and required to sign the judges order. Again, she did none of this.

To top it off, Spears has never had a valid drivers license in the state of California. Meaning - she’s been driving around her toddler children illegally.

Best of luck to her. Maybe now that she doesn’t have her kids to focus on, not that she focused on them much to begin with, Spears will get some much needed help and get her life back in order.

Thoughts?

{Register for Grooveshark today!}

[Via: TMZ.com]

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Lou Pearlman, the “mastermind” behind bands such as *NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys, is reportedly a perverted pedophile.

Pearlman’s story doesn’t start here. Currently, he is in a Florida jail for bank fraud charges. Pearlman apparently scammed investors out of $315 million. He was hiding out in Indonesia, living under a fake name, until the cops finally caught him in June.

Now, Vanity Fair is reporting that Pearlman preyed on the young hopeful musicians he mentored. Here’s what a few of them had to say:

Phoenix Stone, an early member of the Backstreet Boys, tells Vanity Fair Pearlman was “definitely inappropriate” with Nick Carter. Nick’s mom, Jane Carter, wouldn’t get into specifics, but said, “Certain things happened and it almost destroyed our family. I tried to warn everyone. I tried to warn all the mothers . . . I tried to expose him for what he was years ago.”

Tim Christofore, a member of Take 5, recalls that during a sleepover at Pearlman’s house, the music czar swan-dived onto his and another boy’s bed and wrestled with them wearing only in a towel, which came off. “We were like, ‘Ooh, Lou, that’s gross.’ What did I know? I was 13,” Christofore told Vanity Fair.

Rich Cronin, lead singer of LFO, recalled Pearlman told him of an “ancient massage technique that if I massage you and we bond in a certain way, it will strengthen your aura.”

Personally, this just adds to Pearlman’s disgusting overall demeanor. Stealing money and preying on teen boys? So sleezy.

[via: New York Post]

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Although other reunion tours like, The Police and Stevie Wonder, are underway, Van Halen is apparently one show you shouldn’t miss.

David Lee Roth and Eddie Van Halen opened their tour in Charlotte, N.C. on September 27, playing to an enthusiastic crowd.

Although Roth and Van Halen have been feuding for years, the two decided to put the past behind them and have a good time.

“Early into their first concert together in more than 23 years - the show no one thought they’d see - Van Halen was doing its best to erase years of soap opera feuding, false starts and long-fading hopes for a reunion,” the Post & Courier of Charleston said of the tour opener. “And if there was any doubt they could live up to the band’s considerable legend or the unbelievable hype - and there was plenty of that - they were viciously putting those concerns to rest. And they seemed to know it.”

The 26-song set also featured Eddie Van Halen’s 16-year-old song, Wolfgang.

Van Halen’s Los Angeles show at the Staples Center in November sold out in minutes, prompting a second night to be added later in the tour. Multiple nights have also been added to Philadelphia, Las Vegas and Anaheim.

Want to check out Van Halen in your city?

09.27 Charlotte, NC Charlotte Bobcats Arena
09.29 Greensboro, NC Greensboro Coliseum
10.01 Philadelphia, PA Wachovia Center
10.03 Philadelphia, PA Wachovia Center
10.05 Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun Arena
10.07 Toronto, ON Air Canada Centre
10.10 Cleveland, OH Quicken Loans Arena
10.12 Toronto, ON Air Canada Centre
10.14 Indianapolis, IN Conseco Field House
10.16 Rosemont, IL Allstate Arena
10.18 Chicago, IL United Center
10.20 Detroit, MI Joe Louis Arena
10.22 Auburn Hills, MI Palace of Auburn Hills
10.24 Minneapolis, MN Target Center
10.26 Kansas City, MO Sprint Center
10.28 St. Louis, MO Scottrade Center
10.30 Boston, MA TD Banknorth Garden
11.01 Washington, D.C. Verizon Center
11.03 E. Rutherford, NJ Continental Airlines Arena
11.08 Uniondale, NY Nassau Coliseum
11.10 Montreal, QC Bell Centre
11.13 New York, NY Madison Square Garden
11.20 Los Angeles, CA Staples Center
11.23 Glendale, AZ Jobing.Com Arena
11.25 San Diego, CA Cox Arena
11.27 Sacramento, CA Arco Arena
11.29 Fresno, CA Save Mart Center
12.01 Portland, OR Rose Garden
12.03 Seattle, WA Key Arena
12.05 Vancouver, BC General Motors Place
12.07 Calgary, AB Pengrowth Saddledome
12.09 Edmonton, AB Rexall Place
12.14 Los Angeles, CA Staples Center
12.16 San Jose, CA HP Pavilion at San Jose
12.18 Anaheim, CA Honda Center
12.20 Anaheim, CA Honda Center
12.22 Oakland, CA Oracle Arena
12.28 Las Vegas, NV MGM Grand Garden Arena
12.30 Las Vegas, NV MGM Grand Garden Arena

Photo Credit: Van-Halen.com

Via: Pollstar

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