• Ever striving to further the endeavors of musical Britons from Lands End to John O Groats, UK Music has cut the ribbon on the first of 10 government-funded rehearsal spaces across the UK.

The vote for copyright extension has gone in front of the European Parliament with the majority of MEPs voting in favour of extending copyright for music recordings to 70 years.

Originally intended to be an extension to 95 years, the revised decision will create the foundations for the European Council to vote – with the said European Council also needing to approve the decision before it becomes instated.

The last time the decision got this far the UK – and 11 other countries – voted against the extension deciding there was little in the 12-page deal that would truly benefit the artists and creatives who would license their recordings in this digital age.

The UK has since revised its considerations and is now reportedly ready to agree to the legislation.

In other copyright news the lawyer representing one of the Pirate Bay founders, Peter Sunde, has called for a re-trial in the case that saw the four founders of the file sharing network Pirate Bay sentenced to one year in jail and £2.4 million in damages to various musical outfits.

• Sweden tackles piracy

On the day of introducing a new law to tackle online piracy Sweden’s internet traffic dropped by a dramatic 33%, reports suggest.

The new policy coined the IPRED law works in a similar vein to that which was suggested for Britain’s internet service providers, where the ISPs have to reveal the details of those who are sharing copyrighted material.

While the dip (from 120Gbps to 80Gbps) suggests a dramatic impact for the new law many experts believe this is only an intermediary process before numbers climb back up. Christian Engstrom, vice-chairman of the Swedish Pirate Party, noted that “it takes people a few weeks to figure out how to change their security settings so that they can share files anonymously,”.

• Keane impress with 3D show

Melodic pop band Keane have breached new boundaries by streaming a gig from the iconic Abbey Road recording studios on Thursday night. While the concept of streaming a gig may not be all that new the twist was that the whole show was done in 3D.

Claims from the band that they’re the new Pink Floyd may be a little over zealous, but they’ve certainly produced a novel idea sure to crop up again in the future.

…amazingtunes

• UK government “no” to current plans for copyright extension

The UK government has aroused indignation from music industry bigwigs after they voted against a revised copyright extension on sound recordings.

Seeing that while the proposed deal would certainly benefit the rights holders of the material, there is little in the 12-page deal that would truly benefit the artists and creatives who would license their recordings in this digital age.

While the UK government’s decision has been met by consternation from senior industry figures, the move has been praised by the Featured Artists Coalition for “recognising that the proposed extension of copyright term in recorded music does not deliver real lasting benefits for artists or consumers.

• Live events giants Ticketmaster and Live Nation could soon been merging according to various US reports. A history of synergy between the companies, alongside the appointment of a new CEO at ticketmaster have led to the rumors.

• Coldplay have announced a forthcoming North American tour. Setting off from Portland, OR on July 10th the tour will take them through the US and Canada. You can see their complete tour schedule here

• In some lesser news, Goldie Lookin’ Chain’s P Xain has found time out of his busy schedule to brand current Number One artist Lily Allen “thick as pig ####.” He went on to remark “She’ll say anything to get in the news.” ensuring himself many a column inch in the Daily Star with his misplaced drivelling irony…

…amazingtunes.com

• The HMV poll of polls has been released revealing the critics top 50 albums of the year. Elbow walked away convincing winners with their Mercury Prize winning album The Seldom Seen Kid. Portishead’s long awaited release ‘Third’ and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ ‘Dig Lazarus, Dig’ came 2nd and 3rd respectively while Fleet Foxes’ and Vampire Weekend’s eponymous albums made up the rest of the top 5.

• Bjork has joined teams with Audur Capitol of Rekjavik in an attempt to encourage investment into Icelandic businesses after the country took a major blow in the global financial crisis. It’s estimated the involvement of Bjork will bring in almost $17 million in investment.

• Robert Plant has been voted the greatest rock singer of all time by music fans in a recent Plant Rock organised poll. The Led Zeppelin front man beat off competition from Freddie Mercury of Queen and Free’s Paul Rodgers to the one off gong. You can see the top 20 here.

…amazingtunes