Outdated laws in Europe are causing legal music downloaders to pay a double-tax on downloaded songs, according to a study released by the Business Software Alliance.

The so-called "private copy levies" are a tax that is supposed to cover the "inevitability" of someone copying music from a CD they purchased. But, when they buy a song online, they are still paying that tax even though Digital Rights Management (DRM) covers royalties directly to the songwriter/performer. This, according to the BSA, makes such levies redundant and obsolete.

Fortunately, these levies do not apply to the U.K., but almost all of the rest of Europe has to pay up.

Click Here to read the article over at CNet.com.

There is a nifty piece over at Wired.com about musicians using old technology to make new music. Called "8-bit style" or "vintage techno", these cats are coming up with new rock that sounds like it could've been in the sound track for PONG. Well, not quite that old... but, you get the picture.

Some Russian guy named Shulgin, is using an old 386DX PC with 8 megs of ram and a 40 gig hard drive to do his thang.

There is even a little doo-dad for the Nintendo GameBoy that turns it into a 4-bit music "powerhouse"... or something. Can't wait to jack that into my studio.

Click here to read the article over at Wired.com.

Last night, I started thinking about a moderated forum for the Mississippi Gulf Coast. A forum that was broken down into categories relating to each coastal town in Mississippi. A place where people could talk about the things driving our future after being devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

So, using the phpBB forum software, I set one up last night. It has categories for Mississippi State and Local Politics, Cultural forums, and a forum for every city, including Gulfport, Biloxi, Ocean Springs, Bay St. Louis, Pass Christian, Long Beach, D'Iberville and others.

Local employers can also post jobs, there is a classified ads forum, personals, services, night life and much more.

I hope you find the forum useful. If it proves to be popular, I will move it to it's own domain.

Click Here to Visit the MSCoast Citizens Forum

Sweet!  This is the MIDI interface I use in my studio.  It rocks.  8 INs and 8 OUTs, built-in MIDI cable tester, SMPTE read and write, USB or legacy connections.  Best of all... works on Windows or Macintosh.  And it won't break your bank account either.

Stop daisy chaining!   Get one of these bad boys today!  Read on for more details and features...

TechReport.com has posted a review of Creative Lab's new Sound Blaster X-Fi audio processor. Though, not really a good candidate for pro-audio recording, they give it a thumbs up for serious Gamers and Audiophiles.

From the article:

While a 96kHz sampling rate may be enough for most users, we were still curious about the nature of the XtremeMusic's limitations. On the recording side, one could blame the Wolfson WM8775 ADC, which only supports audio up to 24 bits and 96kHz. Creative says that the X-Fi can technically handle 192kHz recording, but suggests that anyone that serious about recording will probably want to consider its E-mu line of professional products over an X-Fi. When it comes to playback, the card's eight-channel Cirrus Logic CS4832 DAC claims to support 24-bit audio at up to 192kHz, so it shouldn't limit multi-channel output. According to Creative, the X-Fi doesn't support multi-channel 24-bit/192kHz output because no commercial content exists in that format. Most DVD-Audio content is multi-channel 24-bit/96kHz, and Creative only supports stereo output at 192kHz because some DVD-Audio discs offer that option.

Click here to read the complete article over at TechReport.com.

In the European Union, online music retailers must get a license for all 25 countries in the EU for every song they make available through their service. That is one of the primary factors that make doing music online in Europe cost an arm and a leg. (Like everything else over there.)

Now the EU is calling on music labels to create an union-wide copyright that will allow online music retailers to grow at a faster pace. For example, Apple pays up to $569,000 for each song it offers in the entire European Union. Not many startups can cover costs like that.

Let's see how long it takes for the European Labels to start whining about how much money they're loosing in illegal downloads...

Click here to read the Associated Press article.

UPDATE: Looks like the EU quickly got it's way. CNet.com has the story.

NATIVE INSTRUMENTS is excited to announce BANDSTAND, a highly versatile software instrument designed as the optimal solution for musicians, performers and producers that work with the General MIDI format. BANDSTAND includes a true studio-quality GM sound library that sets new standards in terms of musical expressiveness, and is equipped with a host of powerful and easy-to-use General MIDI features that make working with GM-based arrangements efficient and convenient, both in the studio and on stage. The comprehensive selection of natural instruments and the especially intuitive user interface also make BANDSTAND highly suitable for music education and similar fields of music creation.

Did you know that most magazines who write about new bands get most of their information from a band's press kit? Often, what you read about a band is lifted VERBATIM from your press kit. An article over at SceneJumper.com talks about the do's and don'ts of a band press kit and how to use it to the maximum potential.

You can quote fans, list song descriptions, do press releases about upcoming gigs, add a DVD to your press kit... all sorts of things that can make you stand out in a crowd.

Click here to read the complete article at SceneJumper.com.