It’s sort of surprising to me that Google hasn’t already shoved their way into the online music scene already, since they’ve dominated so many other aspects of the internet already.

Despite the delay, Google has announced plans to launch a new music search service, which is likely to be called “One Box”. One Box will use information from LaLa and iLike to index information about artists including music, videos, bios, and more.

For more information on this news as well as screenshots of the new service in action, click here.

If you’re an independent artist wondering how you can make sure your music is included, there are several digital distribution companies that have agreements with iLike and LaLa. One popular one you might want to check out is CD Baby.

With a new album entitled “The Circle” on the way, Bon Jovi has secured a pretty sweet deal with NBC that will ensure they get the exposure they need to make the new record a success.

Throughout the month of November, you’ll be able to catch Bon Jovi performing on NBC’s “Today” show. That is, if you’re up that early. Fortunately for the band, their long time fans are now at stages of their lives where they wake up very early for activities like power walking and in some cases, gardening.

You’ll also be able to catch Jon Bon Jovi himself as a guest on Inside the Actor’s Studio on Bravo (a cable network affiliated with NBC). With the four “Today” shows and then the Bravo cameo, that brings the total to 5 Bon Jovi appearances. When initially approached with the deal by the desperate peacock network, Bon Jovi responded with “I’ll be there for you, these five shows I swear to you.”*

This deal gives NBC a bit of a monopoly over the band for the first month immediately following the release of the new album. At a time when NBC is living on a prayer (currently at the very bottom among the top four networks),  Bon Jovi maybe the shot of life (shot through the heart?) that they need. They were, after all, one of the top 5 touring acts of last year.

*Not really. But I wish.

Truth be told, I haven’t cared about Oasis since 7th or 8th grade (circa 1994), but nonetheless they were a marginally successful band known worldwide so their undoing seems worth mentioning.

In August, singer Noel Gallagher announced that he was quitting the band. The official word was that the band would carry on minus one Gallagher brother. However, two months later, without any developments or signs that Oasis would recover, Liam Gallagher had the following to say:

“Oasis is no longer. I think we all know that.”

Well, I didn’t really know that. But thank you for clearing it up, Liam. That doesn’t seem like the proper way to announce the disbanding of a world famous pop/rock/whateveryoucallthem band. Liam, by now, you should have somehow realized what you’re not to do.

For what it’s worth, Oasis did have some darn catchy tunes in their day. Perhaps now we can begin to forget about their absurd “bigger than the Beatles” outburst and put that to rest. Well…maybe in a couple years, anyway.

That’s right. What was shaping up to be one of the biggest tours of the year showcasing both world famous rapper Kanye West and new pop sensation Lady Gaga has been officially canceled according to the tour’s promoter, Live Nation.

Of course, this comes just weeks after the huge controversy regarding Kanye West and his rude interruption of Taylor Swift during the MTV Video Music  Awards. Whether or not that recent event played  a role in the cancellation of this tour has not been confirmed, but remains a very obvious possibility. If somehow you’re not familiar with that incident, check out this post.

Lady Gaga is not without her own controversies. Not only did she show up to the VMAs in some sort of bizarre snow queen/eskimo number, but there are also rampant rumors on the internet concerning her gender. You read that right. The biggest rumor surrounding Ms Gaga is that she is in fact a man. Of course there is no real evidence or anything to lend any legitimacy to this hilarious claim, but I thought I would mention it anyway.

So, if you think about it, love or hate Kanye and Lady Gaga, the fact that their joint tour has been canceled sort of sucks. The fact that they are both so controversial would suggest that touring together would have undoubtedly resulted in a good time.

For all we now, maybe the two are together somewhere, commiserating over the loss of this tour which would have certainly been very profitable for all parties involved. Perhaps they will take this opportunity to collaborate and produce the most ridiculous forced controversy (in song form) that we’ve ever heard.

Although we can only speculate as to whether or not Kanye West is actually a dick in real life, or if Lady Gaga actually has a dick in real life, one thing is for certain…the world will have to wait for the Kanye Gaga show.

So, a while back, I went on a super long rant about Autotune. It’s still very much a relevant topic, as more and more artists are using autotune  to both compensate for talent and also fit into the mold of modern pop music.

When rock music broke out, everyone wanted to learn the guitar. So, why shouldn’t the kids today learn how to get their autotune on?

Today I came across an interesting blog post that teaches the layman how to use autotune. For free, no less!

Now you and your friends can re-create your favorite T-Pain song, or maybe even create your own digitally perfected robotic vocal masterpiece!

Enjoy. See you at the top of the charts.

Yes that was seriously the best title I could come up with. Give me a break.

Why is it such a common occurrence for musicians to go out with TV and film stars? What is the appeal?

Maybe it’s a nice way to date someone not too unlike yourself, involved in your same general business with your same general aspirations, but still leaving a little bit of distance between the two of you?

Or, perhaps rockstars are like the super jocks of this high school planet we live on while the actresses are the cheerleaders?

Just this past weekend, the ever beautiful Zooey Deschanel got hitched to Death Cab for Cutie singer Ben Gibbard, creating yet another high profile union of the two arts.

As you can see, Gibbard’s musical abilities and rockstar notoriety likely played a pivotal part in him acquiring this particularly stunning young actress.

Of course, the gender roles are not set in stone with these types of matches. There are plenty of instances where female musicians have bagged themselves some of Hollywood’s most popular leading men. One such couple that comes to mind is Madonna and Sean Penn.

Rolling Stone recently put together a photo slideshow concerning these types of couples that fuel the entertainment media’s fire. Check out their list of Power Couples.

Several months ago, we reported on a copyright infringement case being brought upon Coldplay by guitarist Joe Satriani (orginal article here). Basically, Satriani accused Coldplay of ripping off his tune “If I Could Fly” with their smash hit “Viva La Vida”.

Earlier today, a representative for Mr. Satriani confirmed that the case has officially been dismissed. Whether or not some sort of financial agreement was reached between the two parties is unclear, but inside sources say it is definitely a possibility. Coldplay will not be required to admit to any intentional or unintentional infringement as part of the dismissal.

Satriani himself declined to make any public comments about the outcome of the case. However, he was very vocal months ago when elaborating on why he decided to take legal action to begin with. “I felt like a dagger went right through my heart. It hurt so much,” Satriani said in an interview with Music Radar . “The second I heard it, I knew it was ‘If I Could Fly’.

I’m well aware that I’m one in a sea of thousands of bloggers who have decided to cover this topic, but I just can’t help myself.

Unless you live under a rock, you’re already well aware of the catastrophe that occurred last night at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards when Kanye West snatched the microphone away from a confused Taylor Swift as she was attempting to give a thank you speech just so he could proclaim to the crowd that Beyonce’s video was superior (in so many words).

Well, today the internet has been on fire, mostly from people voicing their outrage over Kanye pulling such a classless stunt (which reportedly sent Taylor Swift into a crying frenzy backstage).

In even more unfortunate news, today is the day we lost Patrick Swayze to his battle with pancreatic cancer. Now, perhaps this is just as tasteless as Kanye himself, but when I saw this online today I couldn’t help but immediately “sneeze” it to just about everyone I know online.

And now I am sharing it with you:

Arguably one of the greatest and most innovative drummers of our time, Phil Collins recently announced that due to some serious complications from a spine injury, he will no longer be able to play the drums.

In a business where the greats often fall from grace far too soon because of all the debauchery associated with the rock and roll lifestyle, Phil has lost his ability to play the drums at the age of 58 not from partying or excessive stage diving…but rather because he just played the shit out of those drums for a super long time.

Apparently an operation he had to repair a dislocated vertebrae rendered him unable to play the piano or even properly hold a pair of drumsticks.

“After a successful operation on my neck, my hands still can’t function normally”, the famed Genesis drummer stated. A man of few words, Collins summed it all up with “stuff happens in life”.

The government of Malaysia has had a change of heart and decided that they will allow their Muslim citizens to enjoy the scheduled Black Eyed Peas concert, after all.

The plug had been pulled for Muslims previously because of the show’s sponsorship by Guinness, an alcoholic beverage company. That’s a no-no in those parts for some folks. However, tickets have gone on sale today for the event which will be taking place on September 25th, and Muslims are now welcome to buy.

Of course, this is all really just political nonsense. I don’t see how the government thought it was going to enforce this ban. Prior to the decision change, in order to buy tickets online the website would ask you if you were under 18 and then ask you if you were Muslim. A yes to either question would prevent you from buying.

60% of Malaysia’s citizens are Muslims who are expected to adhere to the Islamic Shariah laws. The other 40% consists of Chinese, Indian, and other non-Muslim citizens who are governed by civil laws. Islamic Shariah laws prohibit Muslims from buying or drinking alcohol, while the rest of the population can do so freely.

Remind me not to move to Malaysia and become a Muslim.

For more info on the recent decision to allow Malaysian Muslims to groove to the Black Eyed Peas, check out the full article at Billboard.