plus: "You should be thinking about a culture when you say, 'hip-hop.'"

MP3.com will act as a marketer for major label EMI, CNet.com reported, promoting a song from EMI band Starsailor. According to the article, MP3.com is seeking "to become a promotional vehicle for the big record labels."

Pollstar reported that "industry sources" say that concert promotions firm SFX is attempting to buy House of Blues Concerts. According to the article, "Acquiring HoB would give SFX nearly complete control of the outdoor amphitheatre market in North America ..."

Billboard reported that the JVC Jazz Festival--featuring Keith Jarrett, Nina Simone, Wayne Shorter, Diana Krall and Chick Corea, among others--will take place throughout New York on June 17-30.

Musical instrument retailer Guitar Center, Inc., announced on Wednesday (4/25) that it has acquired smaller retailer American Music Group, Ltd.

From Wednesday's (4/25) The Onion interview with KRS-One [ tickets ]:

O: What do you think is the biggest problem with hip-hop today?

KRS: The fact that everyone believes that all of hip-hop is rap music, and that, when you say "hip-hop," it's synonymous with rap ... when you say "hip-hop," you should be thinking about breakdancing, graffiti art, or MCing--which is the proper name for rap--DJing, beat-boxing, language, fashion, knowledge, trade. You should be thinking about a culture when you say, "hip-hop." I think that hip-hop should be spelled with a capital "H," and as one word. It's the name of our culture, and it's the name of our identity and consciousness. I think hip-hop is not a product, but a culture. I think rap is a product, but when hip-hop becomes a product, that's slavery, because you're talking about people's souls. To me, that's the biggest problem..