Better to die on your feet

DURING the past decade, Australian musicians have been forced to fend off many threats to their livelihoods: pokies, GST, new whingeing inner-city neighbours, illegal downloads and CD burning and, more recently, the Liquor Licensing Commission cracking down on live venues. But they are a resilient lot, our musicians. Not only were they responsible for some of the best releases of 2009, they are also usually the first to help out with benefit concerts. And there was none bigger this year than Sound Relief, which saw legendary bands Midnight Oil and Hunters & Collectors reform to play alongside Kings of Leon and Coldplay in memorable rain-drenched fund-raisers at the MCG and SCG that raised millions of dollars for Black Saturday victims.

Web monopoly is in your face

Facebook's dominance is forcing out rivals, writes Paul McIntyre.

Woe is Bebo: site to shut down in Australia

THE Facebook juggernaut has claimed the scalp of AOL Time Warner's $US850 million ($921 million) acquisition of Bebo, with the social media site tipped to close its Australian operation before Christmas as part of a global retreat and rethink.

Beatles online ruling

SAN FRANCISCO. A judge has ordered a California online music service to stop delivering Beatles songs to users.

short wave

ANT AND BECKS IN THE MIX

Read all about it - while it's still free

AS THE editors and publishers of America's mainstream print media reach for their pitchforks before a showdown with Google, the smiling face of their designated nemesis argues they're part of the solution, not the problem.

Alicia Molik's Holiday Download Picks

FORMER tennis star Alicia Molik loves music so much that her playlist is overflowing. Just missing out on a place in her top 10 for summer are Norah Jones, Joss Stone, Yo-Yo Ma and Bob Marley.

World's Big Four Music Companies Run Up White Flag To Digital Pirates

Digital rights management restrictions on 8 million songs are about to be lifted, writes Garry Barker in San Francisco.

Record-making Attempt

Customers of Apple's iTunes Store who have bought singles from the online music service now have the opportunity to get the rest of the album at a reduced price. A new feature called Complete My Album lets customers buy the rest of the songs in an album minus the price of the tracks already bought. For example, an album that normally costs $16.99 will be reduced to $11.92 if the user already has three of the songs (at $1.69 each). Complete albums on iTunes are generally cheaper to buy than if you ...