More than 100 artists and bands have united as one voice and written to the FCC in order to express their fears and concerns in regards to a vote that the FCC will be making on November 4th which will decide whether technology companies will be allowed to produce wireless devices that use the same radio spectrum as wireless microphones.

The artists worry that the new devices will interfere with the wireless microphones used on stage. Their concerns are well placed as the interference could cause a very annoying high pitched screeching sound which I don’t think they nor their fans would enjoy during live performances.

The list of musicians includes :

1. The Eagles
2. The Dixie Chicks
3. Guns N Roses
4. Jurassic 5
5. Maroon 5
6. Megadeth
7. Morrissey
8. Stone Temple Pilots
9. Clay Walker
10. Weezer

The letter goes into the vast depths of what artists could have to go through if the vote is passed :

“The thought of having to debate each night which band member gets to have the one wireless microphone that might be available in a given market on a given night is not a scenario we want to face, nor is it one that benefits the concert-going public.”

The legion of concerned voices are strongly requesting that at least 8 channels be made available exclusively to wireless microphones.

I’m sitting on the fence on this one though. Musicians and sound technicians must protect the delivery of sound to the audience - while technology must evolve and “white space” devices are the future.

Wireless microphones will have to evolve to prevent interference. Its a technological challenge that will have to be met.

The makers of Dr.Pepper, the marmite of soft drinks - you’ll either love it or hate it, are to stand by their promise of giving every American a free can of the soft drink now that Guns N Roses are releasing Chinese Democracy.

The company made the promise earlier in the year, at a time when nearly everyone was convinced that Guns N Roses were just going to continue to string us along with their promises and hints of a new album.

Now that Chinese Democracy is finally going to hit the shelves next month Dr.Pepper/Seven Up Inc have been caught and publicly called out to payout on their promise. It’ll be an extremely costly promise if it pays out in full.

The simple fact of the matter is that only a small proportion of Americans are going to actually jump through the hoops to get a free can of Dr.Pepper - which will leave the company with two things :

1. Massive positive PR and cheap marketing for the overall cost
2. An association with the new Guns N Roses album

In order to claim your free can you must :

1. Signup on the Dr Pepper website (www.drpepper.com) on November 23rd (Chinese Democracy release date)
2. Register for a coupon
3. Take the coupon to your nearest Dr.Pepper selling store

The coupon offer will only be available for 24 hours and you’ll have until February 2009 to use it. Of course, giving up your email address while signing up for the coupon will mean that you are subjecting yourself to any and all advertising that Dr.Pepper wishes to send you in the future.

14 years in the making and Guns N Roses have finally gotten serious and have set a date and a tracklisting for their new album.

November 24th is the date you have all been waiting for and you’ll have 14 tracks to satisfy every one of the years you have been patiently waiting for your next hit.

Chinese Democracy will have cost more than $14million to create by the time it gets released.

Accordingly to UK retailer HMV the tracklisting for the latest Guns N Roses album will be :

1. ‘Chinese Democracy’
2. ‘Scraped’
3. ‘Shackler’s Revenge’
4. ‘Street Of Dreams’
5. ‘If The World’
6. ‘Better’
7. ‘This I Love’
8. ‘There Was A Time’
9. ‘Riad N’ The Bedovins’
10. ‘Sorry’
11. ‘I.R.S.’
12. ‘Catcher’
13. ‘Madagascar’
14. ‘Prostitute’

Are you excited about this release?

Chinese Democracy has had us waiting for an untold number of years as its creator, Axl Rose, continues to tweak until he either feels it is complete or simply hasn’t the heart to tweak any more.

Well signs are starting to show that the album may be set to drop this year!

One of the supposed tracks from the album “If The World” is to be screened to movie goers during the closing credits of the film “Body Of Lies” - starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe. The film is due out October 15th.

Another song from the album, Shackler’s Revenge, is including on the tracklisting for the Rock Band 2 game.

There are also rumours that the band are planning to release the album in late November, although these rumours cannot be confirmed.

So here’s hoping that we can finally get to review the hell out of an album that we have all been longing for - for to long.

…and “Federal Copyright Law” is what they are calling it.

Kevin Cogill has never been shy about the implications of his actions and he is fully aware what he could be facing. After leaking nine tracks from the Guns N Roses album (not yet released) - Chinese Democracy, the blogger had this to say:

“If legal proceedings come my way, I’ll face them 100 percent. I’m not afraid of that. I did what I did, and I’ll face the music if I have to.”

Kevin was arrested in his home yesterday and has admitted to the charges against him.

I am not sure whether this guy is smart or incredibly stupid.

First, he posted the songs on his own website (www.Antiquiet.com). Dumb move? Maybe.

If he is smart enough he may have figured that the publicity of being linked to by half of the Internet would mean great things for his PageRank (a Google term for how high it lists you in its search results). Then the subsequent lawsuit would bring more traffic to his site.

This could bring in muchos advertising revenue.

On the other hand, he could go to prison.

I am not sure if this will happen as no court will be able to determine how many times the songs were downloaded and hence the monetary value that he should be penalised for. I am sure the prosecution will create some exhorbinant figure to highlight Axl Roses losses but proving this financial deficit will be difficult.

Since the full album was not released, the defense can argue that they have not hindered its sales - as people will still need to buy the album to hear the other tracks. Radio stations will probably feature as many songs from the album when they review it. People can record of the radio - right?

Furthermore, the buzz around the case will only move to increase the fever around the albums release. It’s weak - but they could argue that this was good and free publicity and more of a preview of the album.

What do you think?

Is he going down?

A new tell-all book set to hit the shelves in September tells how Kurt Cobain and Axl Rose hated each other so much they couldn’t even bare to be in the same room together!!

Danny Goldberg, music business manager , also previously vice-president of Led Zeppelin’s Swan Song Records, talks candidly about the pair in his new book entitled ‘Bumping Into Geniuses: My Life Inside The Rock And Roll Business’.

He writes:

“Rose had the kind of macho rock persona that Kurt detested.”

Goldberg said he witnessed these events himself and describes once how when Axl asked to meet Cobain after one of his shows, the Nirvana front-men slipped off, not so politely refusing the offer.

In the book he suggests that Cobain even turned down an offer of a GunsN’Roses/Nirvana/Metallica joint tour, which would have probably made all parties very rich and famous indeed, solely due to his dislike of Axl Rose.

And it seems like Cobain and Roses’ better halves had somewhat of a disdain for each other too. Goldberg tells in his book how Cobain’s wife, Courtney Love had little or no time for Axl’s girlfriend at the time Stephanie Seymour, a Victoria Secret Model.

He reports that once after a show, Seymour asked Love, “Are you a model?” Snapped Courtney: “Are you a brain surgeon?“. The slanging match didn’t end there - after a war of words between the two, Rose allegedly told Cobain:

“Shut your bitch up or I’ll knock her to the pavement.”

Danny Goldberg’s new book is due out on September 18th and could make for very interesting read.

You have been waiting over a decade. We’ve been waiting to.

In 2 months - the wait could be over.

Guns ‘N Roses are reportedly engaged with the creators of the Rock Band 2 game in order to have one of their songs, ‘Shackler’s Revenge’, changed into an arrangement of button taps - i.e To be included in the game.

The game is due for release in September.

It is a great way to push new music and is fast becoming a trend in the music industry. If you can get people hooked on your music within a video game they are more likely to buy your CDs and come to your gigs. You also have a brain-wash opportunity, where people who may not normally like your music are converted due to  the fact that it is played repeatedly to them in a game - as it makes it all the more appealing.

I wonder how long it will be before bands decide that they want their music played at certain key parts in a game - in order to induce a feeling for their vibe. This could be at a romantic moment in Final Fantasy 20 or a dramatic, climatic rampage in Kill Zone 8. These games are far from being released - but I know the music industry doesn’t exactly move very fast, so this should give them enough time to think about the idea.

No one from MTV or the Universal Music Group would confirm the deal between Guns ‘N Roses and Rock Band 2 - Surprise, Surprise.

No details will be confirmed until an official press release.

After 14 years, $13million and a lot of false promises, ‘Chinese Democracy’ is reportedly ready for pressing.

Hailed as the best Guns N’ Roses album ever by lead singer the album has talked about in the press and music circles for so long that everyone began to accept that it was never going to happen.

Now, Geffen records has announced that they have received the production ready run of the album and are now haggling with Axl Rose over the finer financial details.

This is still a stumbling block and something the ever erratic Rose could pull the album over - so I am not about to get excited by this news.

I can’t wait though. If it’s anything like Appetite for Destruction or Use Your Illusion then FINALLY we’ll have a proper Rock band again. Everyone will comment about the band not being Guns N’ Roses without Slash and Sorum - and as much as that argument is valid - Good music is good music. If Chinese Democracy delivers all that it is hyped to be - I’d bet Slash will be given his place as a previous band member and that will be that.

Still no release details though….