Recommended Show: The Brooklyn grassroots act Pete and J will perform at The Living Room (NYC) tonight. The band draws influences from many 70’s acts including Crosby Stills and Nash. A string of dates can be found on their myspace and our favorite track is This Is It.

Signings: Sonic Youth have decided to return to the indie world and have signed with Matador Records. Sonic Youth were previously on DGC/Geffen from 1990 until 2006.

Apple Squeezing Out Every Penny: Apple has started looking like what Microsoft was 10 years ago — a company that so controls certain market segments that smaller competitors can survive only by living on its scraps or staying out of its way says Newsweek.

Apple has been making hit products, but more importantly, it controls entire ecosystems. One iPod accessory maker says that Apple takes up to 75 percent of the sales price, leaving him with zero profit on some of his products when he sells them in Apple stores.

“Apple’s tactics might seem like smart business: why not squeeze every penny out of every deal? The problem is that if Apple squeezes too hard, some partners may go out of business, harming the ecosystem.”

MTV Name Change: The New York Post has an article titled Why Not Just Rename MTV Obama TV?. The article opens up with: REMEMBER when MTV had veejays who actually knew something about music and aired programs that focused on, um, music? Neither do I. MTV, of course, is a division of left-wing media giant Viacom. Viacom’s PAC is among Barack Obama’s biggest supporters.