MySpace Music has had a long, hard road to launch, what with the lack of a firm debut date, no CEO, etc. But now, according to a British report, the site is getting slammed by indie labels, who feel like they're being frozen out. Some even claim they've been blocked from uploading their own music. As a joint venture with three of the major labels, which control 70 percent of the U.S. recorded music biz, the service could face antitrust lawsuits before it even launches.
 
Get the full story about MySpace Music's battle with the indies here.

An attorney for Lori Drew, the Missouri woman accused of using a fake MySpace persona to bully a 13-year-old girl who eventually committed suicide, has argued that the charges against his client should be dropped because no law exists to prohibit such behavior. Attorney H. Dean Steward said the government went beyond the legal limits by charging Drew under a statute typically used to go after computer hackers and deceitful government employees.

Read the complete story here.

If you've ever wanted to work with pop diva Mariah Carey, well, here's your chance. Starting tomorrow, Indaba Music, an online community for aspiring and established producers and artists, will make available the complete stems of her third E=MC² single, "I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time," for those willing to take on the challenge of remixing the track. Members of the site will vote for their favorites, and the winner — chosen by a three-judge panel — will walk away with $5,000 and the possibility of having the track released. The winner will also earn the distinction of being Mariah's top MySpace friend for four whole weeks.

To enter, fans and aspiring producers need create a profile on Indaba, so they can download the song stems; all entries must be submitted no later than August 26. Read more...

I know some of you think she's awful, but as [MTV News producer] Monty put it, "Lily Allen rules. She put pics of herself hammered and being carried out of a club up on her Myspace."

And I agree. She'd be the awesome girlfriend you'd have when you're 22, and you'd backpack around Europe with her, take mushrooms in a field and go to Ibiza. You’d stay up late, do bad things, swim in the ocean nude, drink Ouzo, laugh and get bright red from the sun. You would wear sandals. She'd wear a sarong. Then, like a decade later, you'd be staring out your window onto a cul-de-sac in Wisconsin and you'd think to yourself, "Wow, I wonder what she's doing right now."

And you'd die a little bit inside.

Ok, so I'm writing this on my blackberry as I'm rushing to the airport. Holy crap, we pulled it off! And you know what, for what is often a stuffy politician boys' club, most of the audience in New Hampshire were girls and I was glad I was representing. I felt really proud today, of our team, the students and everyone who participated online. I had heard rumors last night that students weren't allowed in the room at Dartmouth to participate in the Democratic debates....and that's infuriating, and if it's true, I hoped we proved how fatal that mistake can be for any campaign.

I don't usually get nervous, maybe because P. Diddy and Britney Spears don't seem as serious as the potential next PRESIDENT of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. I bold that because that was screaming in my head the whole time. And you know, to be honest, I feel like a lot of the press and the other half of America don't believe young people, MTV and politics should mix, so there's always that added pressure that someone expects you to fail.

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Well, in a follow up to a blog I posted about some students not knowing who John Edwards is (thankfully, very few), I thought we could use a quick overview of the issues that the senator will most likely want to talk about. Here are some interesting facts about him that may be helpful for you guys when thinking about the dialogue and the questions you'll have for him on Thursday.

— He wants to create a national plan to pay ONE YEAR of public-college tuition, fees and books for more than two million students.
— Was the first candidate to create an agenda to address climate change, answering student activists and calling for a ban on all new coal plants.
— Edwards supports civil unions, but not gay marriage.
— He wants to end poverty completely at home by the year 2036, but has been criticized for that $400 dollar hair cut.
— Wants to have universal healthcare by asking businesses and government to work together and wants to create better healthcare markets that are more fair, diverse and extensive. And once insurance is affordable, require everyone to have it.
— Wants to stop the escalation and start an immediate drawdown of troops in Iraq.
— Wants to encourage and reward responsibility from fathers, requiring fathers on welfare to work and help them find jobs to help support single mothers. This is currently not a law in place for welfare reform.
— He wants to strengthen public schools by investing in good teachers and the retention of candidates in rural and urban districts.

Read more...

So, to get you prepped for this historic event on Thursday, let’s talk about some things that matter to you.

MTV, CBS and the New York Times did a poll of 659 17-29 year olds to ask them a whole lot of questions about politics, life, and this upcoming election. It’s a big study, so I just pulled some interesting facts I thought you guys might want to know about before asking that amazing question online at MySpace on Thursday!

--80% of you guys believe you will have an impact on this election. (Now let’s turn that into a promise!)
--More of you gals out there believe you will have an impact on this election than our male buddies. (Not that the brothers aren’t out there!)

--Here are the top 5 issues that you care most about:
1. Jobs/Economy (including the issue of job training.)
2. Iraq (most of you think that things are going very badly over there.)
3. Education (especially the issue of student loans)
4. Environment (with a big want to reduce oil consumption.)
5. Health Care Coverage (duh!)

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So, I landed in New Hampshire last night, drove to campus and went straight to recruiting. Standing outside of a dining hall here at UNH, clipboard in hand, accosting every single student who walked by to see if they were interested in attending the forum and, better yet, if they had an intelligent question in mind. I got a lot of "No thanks" and a few "Whattya doin for dinners?" But also more "Who's John Edwards?" than I expected.

WHO'S JOHN EDWARDS????????????????

So, I'm wondering do you or someone you know, not know who John Edwards is? (No judgment, just pure curiosity.)

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Is it possible for politicians to be honest? I mean, isn’t that expecting a little too much? Everyone has an agenda, let’s at least agree to that. But, I think the whole thing about the world wide web is that everyone has a voice, not everyone will be heard, but that’s up to the public, isn’t it? And in a way, it’s the truest form of democracy, we all have the opportunity to say what we want, to call out who we want and post it out there for anyone to see. Potentially, this could be the most “honest” election yet.

Check out this article I read in the Wall Street Journal from September 21, “Keeping the Debate in Politics to This Side of ‘Pants on Fire.’” It’s all about these really great, accessible websites like factcheck.org and Politifact where “facts” from candidates are researched and rated from “true” to “pants on fire”. Funny right? The site doesn’t rate the overall “truthyness” of a candidate or takes sides. Now, through the power of the people online, every time a candidate gives a speech where there’s some really juicy number or fact that gives them an edge, there are places that will tell you exactly what it means and if it’s TRUE! Hey, I’m not saying politicians aren’t going to lie, it’s just getting harder to get away with it. And I say booyakash! to that.

From the Road,
Xo

So, as I was going over some of the research on my tiny plane/canoe-in-the-sky, the nice gentleman sitting next to me (who I thought was a political speech writer from sneaking looks on his lap top) leaned over and asked which candidate I worked for. He turns out to be Walter Shapiro, Washington Bureau Chief of Salon.com. When he finds out what I’m doing in New Hampshire, he gives me some advice. First, the quirkier the questions, the better and second, my job as moderator will be to cut the senator off from speech stumping.

Then he gets this big grin on his face and whispers, I’d like to hear someone ask the Senator, “what makes him think running a small law firm qualifies him to run a country?”

I hope that wasn’t “off the record.” Thoughts?

From the Road,
xo