Justin Bieber started the American Music Awards off on bratty note.

“Justin Bieber took home the first award of the night at the 40th annual American Music Awards–Favorite Male Pop/Rock Artist–but instead of his usual positivity, he set a rather bratty tone for the remainder of the evening.

Instead of leading off with the usual accolades (you know: God, parents, hard-working staff, that sort of thing), Bieber chose the rubbing-in route for his thank-you speech. “This is for all the haters who thought I’d be around for 1, 2 years,” he announced, adding, “I feel like I’m gonna be here for a very long time.”

In all fairness, Bieber was already under scrutiny upon arrival to the show, due to the fact that his breakup with Selena Gomez had just become public only a week ago, and they’ve been bouncing back and forth from off to on to off again. So, it stands to reason that he might be feeling a little prickly.

At any rate, Bieber, who was left dateless after his separation, rose to the occasion by bringing his mom, Pattie Mallette, as his date to the awards show instead. Read more here

“Some of music’s most notable names including Billy Joel, Rihanna and Missy Elliott have signed an open letter to Pandora Media Inc opposing the online music company’s push to change how artists are compensated.

Pandora is currently lobbying lawmakers in U.S. Congress to pass the “Internet Radio Fairness Act,” which would change regulation of how royalties are paid to artists.

A group of 125 musicians who say they are fans of Pandora argue the bill would cut by 85 percent the amount of money an artist receives when his or her songs are played over the Internet. “Read more here

“Christina Aguilera has the vocal chops, the look, the strut and millions of new fans thanks to her stint as a judge on TV singing contest “The Voice.”

The singer, who had global hits with “Genie in a Bottle” and the female empowerment ballad “Beautiful” more than 10 years ago, bids to reclaim her status as one of the world’s biggest pop stars with her new album, “Lotus,” released on Tuesday.

Aguilera, 31, says the title and the mixture of dance-pop, ballads and rock-tinged tracks reflect the hopes and disappointments of recent years that saw her 2010 tour for album “Bionic” canceled, a divorce and the box-office flop of her debut feature film, the musical “Burlesque. Lotus represents the unbreakable flower that stands the test of time. No matter the roughest of weather conditions, it remains strong and continues to thrive. (The album) is a nod to my fans who have been here with me the whole journey, and a nod to myself,” she said.

“Music industry experts say Aguilera’s popularity on “The Voice” – where her powerhouse performances leave aspiring pop stars in the dust – may not guarantee huge album sales and won’t give the singer a No. 1 hit.” Read more here.

U2 frontman Bono is back in action with his ONE Campaign, and he has a message to the USA – do not forget about foreign aid.

“Irish rocker and anti-poverty campaigner Bono will appeal to Democrats and Republicans during a visit to Washington this week to spare U.S. development assistance programs from cuts as Congress tries to avert the looming “fiscal cliff” of tax hikes and spending reductions early next year.”

The U2 lead singer’s visit comes as the Obama administration and congressional leaders try to forge a deal in coming weeks to avoid the economy hitting the “fiscal cliff” – tax increases and spending cuts worth $600 billion starting in January if Congress does not act. Read more here.

Although cassette tapes are deemed useless to most people researchers at IBM are trying to keep this 60-year old technology relevant for at least the next decade and they are getting help from rising energy costs, which are forcing companies to look for cheaper alternatives to stacks of power-hungry hard drives.

Evangelos Eleftheriou and his colleagues at IBM Research in Zurich, Switzerland, have developed a cassette just 10 cm by 10cm by 2cm that can hold about 35 terabytes of data, the equivalent of a library with 400 kilometers of bookshelves.

“It is really the greenest storage technology,” Eleftheriou told Reuters. “Tape at rest, consumes literally zero power.” Check out the rest of the article here.