It’s been a while since we’ve done a news roundup. No, we weren’t saving it for a snowy day — we’ve had enough of those lately. At any rate, here’s a rundown of what’s been happening out there in the wide world of music.

Canada: Not Just For the Olympians

Canadian Music Week is a major event not just for our Northern neighbors, but for the rest of the world, too. It’s coming right up (March 10-14, Toronto), so make your plans now…
Official Site

Department of Justice Announces IP Task Force

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the formation of its Task Force on Intellectual Property on Friday, Feb 5. The Task Force was detailed by Attorney General Eric Holder from a snow-clogged Washington, DC. “The rise in intellectual property crime in the United States and abroad threatens not only our public safety but also our economic well being,” Holder stated.

Digital Music News

Google, FCC Look To Speed America’s Lagging Broadband

Two different U.S. broadband goals were laid out this month. The Federal Communications Commission chief called for connecting 100 million households at 100 megabits per second. But Google stole his thunder last week, promising to bring eye-popping speeds of 1 gigabit per second to thousands of Americans.

Bill Chappell, NPR

Musicians Union Launch ‘Music Supported Here’ Campaign

The Musicians’ Union (UK) has launched a new campaign called Music Supported Here, which aims to equip artists with the resources to communicate copyright issues to their fans, in a new bid to convince consumers that they might want to buy music rather than nick it off the internet.

TheCMU

But Is It Safe? ‘Womb Boxes’ Get Another Look…

Music is one of the joys of life, but should fetuses get a taste while still in the womb? Suddenly, a seemingly novel idea - pumping tunes and other sounds into the womb - is getting a second look. This is a trend that started in the pre-iPod 90s, though New York Post writers Don Kaplan and Brian Niemietz are now asking the right question. Namely, is any of this safe?

Digital Music News

We’re currently in the midst of another “Snowpocalypse” here in Washington, DC, but we figured a blog post would give us a nice break from all that shoveling.

Today, reports emerged about Warner Music backing off of “free” music streaming. As digital entrepreneurs and rights holders continue to explore ways to get fully-licensed music to the masses via the internet and mobile, issues in licensing and revenue generation continue to bedevil players on all sides. read more

By now, you’ve probably heard all about the iPad and seen the pictures of Steve Jobs displaying his new “tablet” in a manner undoubtedly familiar to the late Charlton Heston. So far, reaction to the device has been mixed at best, with some people already lining up to take potshots at Apple’s latest doohickey.

We still think it’s pretty neat, mostly because we’re curious about what it could mean for the music biz, which is still struggling to find an attractive replacement for physical product. And as long as whatever new gadget plays nice with independent and unaffiliated creators who want to join the digital party, we’re cool.

But back to the gadget in question. read more

It’s been a while since we’ve done one of these, but there’s a lot of news tidbits this week that deserve a mention. Read on for the best of the bunch. . . read more

In case you hadn’t noticed, there was a big ol’ election last Tuesday, the results of which have Washington, D.C.(and the rest of the country, not to mention the world) buzzing. But what will a Barack Obama Administration and a new Democratic Congress mean for the music community? read more

It’s been a while since we’ve rounded up the latest music-tech-policy news. It’s easy to get distracted — in case you didn’t notice, there’s an election going on! Anyway, here’s This Week In News: The Halloween Edition. read more