On the hill: The PRO-IP Act won unanimous approval by the House Judiciary Committee’s intellectual property subcommittee on Thursday. Subcommittee chairman Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., estimated that counterfeiting and piracy cost the U.S. economy at least $225 billion a year. Although Berman is the bill’s primary author, many of the recommendations were developed by the U.S. Chamber off Commerce’s Coalition Against Counterfeiting and Piracy, headed up by NBC Universal executive vp and general counsel Rick Cotton. (hollywoodreporter)

Whaaat?: Clive Davis says too much original material is killing careers (yahoo/reuters)

Legal News: Tanya Andersen, yet another single mother, is filing suit against the RIAA for “RICO violations, fraud, invasion of privacy, abuse of process, electronic trespass, violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, negligent misrepresentation, the tort of ‘outrage,’ and deceptive business practices”. Ms. Andersen was originally sued by the organization for sharing music online, but was found innocent. (wired)

Continued Radio decline: For all of last year, radio’s grand total revenue was $21,310 billion, a 2% fall from 2006. In Q4, total local & national revenue was down 5% compared to the previous year, with local down 3% and national falling by 11 %. (fmqb.com)

Big Trouble: Following a recent performance in China, Bjork found herself in some hot water. Bjork chanted ‘Tibet!’ after performing her song “Declare Independence,” which she has used in the past to promote independence movements in other places such as Kosovo. Apparently that is against the law. Bjork said it wasn’t her intent to offend but added, “The fact that it has translated to its broadest meaning, the struggle of a suppressed nation, gives me much pleasure. I would like to wish all individuals and nations good luck in their battle for independence.” (yahoo)

Random: Is Huckabee awesome or does the game Rock Band suck? The former Presidential nominee throws an after party complete with lasagne and video rocking (hotlineblog)

Linda Perry Sues Warner: Singer/songwriter, Linda Perry who signed James Blunt is suing Warner Music Group over royalties she says she is owed for the singer’s debut album Back to Bedlam. Blunt’s label Custard, run by Linda Perry, has filed the breach of contract lawsuit in New York and is seeking lost royalties plus $5m in damages.

Musicians still waiting on a YouTube payday: Here is another article that talks about artists not seeing any money from the licensing deals the four major music labels have signed with YouTube over the past 18 months. “I don’t know any artist who has gotten a royalty statement (from their label that includes YouTube money),” said music attorney Chris Castle.

Agency News: Don Muller who books Pearl Jam, Rage Against the Machine, The Mars Volta, Foo Fighters, Weezer, Beastie Boys recently left Creative Artists Agency to join William Morris. His roster of bands followed him along.

Recommended Listening: Check out The Getaway Plan who hails from Australia. The second single from the album ‘Where The City Meets The Sea‘ will be released in Australia on March 15th via Boomtown Records / Shock Records.

Sold Out: Trent Reznor is brilliant. He quietly released his new instrumental album and The ultra-deluxe edition is already sold out which is priced at $300. Trent has fans and they will buy whatever he releases, even if it’s noise. Gotta love it!

Bertelsmann in talks with at least two parties over Sony BMG stake: Bertelsmann AG’s chief financial officer Thomas Rabe met with at least two private equity companies to discuss the possible sale of its 50 pct stake in Sony BMG. Read the full story in the Financial Times.

Survey – Most British filesharers would stop if warned: Seven out of 10 British file-sharers say they would stop infringing if they received a termination warning from their ISP according to a recent survey. Seventy percent of respondents agreed that if they received a warning from the ISP, they would stop sharing online. 66 percent said they would stop if there was a stronger chance of them being caught.

War on Piracy: Check out this article that involves Baidu and China’s non existent music industry. Baidu search engine is being asked to remove all links to thousands of websites that provide pirated copies of songs that are owned by the major record labels

Pearlman pays the price: Lou Pearlman, the snake-oil salesman who launched the Backstreet Boys and ‘N Sync, has plead guilty and will make restitution to victims swindled out of an estimated $300 million in phony bank and investment schemes. Pearlman should have listened to the old proverb – ‘we reap what we sow’.

Warner signs 7digital MP3 deal in Europe: Warner Music has signed a deal with digital media site 7digital.com to provide its catalogue in the MP3 format, which can be played on nearly all music devices.

Artist Updates: Listen to the track Be Still and Breathe by Tooth and Nail act Ivory Line. It’s #1 on the Christian Rock Radio Chart. Los Angeles KROQ has added Beautiful by 10 Years, it’s big news for a new rock band.

Facebook and iTunes: Facebook launched its new music section for bands and partnered up with iTunes. Tracks can be streamed and Facebook is providing a link to iTunes in order that acts can offer songs for sale to fans visiting their pages.

Signings: Indie act One For The Team who is based in Minnesota signs with Militia Group. The bands first album “Good Boys Don’t Make Noise”, found itself on the CMJ Top 200 charts for 14 weeks.

Another pop act from Minnesota, Sing It Loud has signed to Epitaph. The band entered the studio with producer Josh Cain of Motion City Soundtrack.

Unwritten Law has signed to Suburban Noize Records.

Rolling Stone Changes Editors: Rolling Stone has promoted editors Jason Fine and Eric Bates to the position of Executive Editor. The magazine also hired Jason Gay, formerly of GQ, as the new Deputy Editor of Features and Michael Endelman, formerly of SPIN, as Senior Music Editor.

Keith Richards says NO to modern bands: Keith Richards says that he does not like the kind of music modern bands compose. “I don’t listen to what’s going on. I don’t like CDs, quite honestly. They sound tinny to me,” says Richards. “I’ve not even heard the Arctic Monkeys. I know of them but I don’t know anything they’ve done. I didn’t like Oasis, I didn’t like the Sex Pistols, I don’t like any of those English rock’n’roll bands.

Recommended Listening: Replace Me by Mardelay

New Music: Los Angeles bring us a fresh new artist known as Tamar who delivers well crafted piano driven pop. She draws her influences from Billy Joel, Carole King, and The Beatles. You can’t beat those influences. Listen to the track New Day.

Post grunge band Tantric who grabbed themselves a platinum record in 2001 will release a new record through Silent Majority Group. I’m not sure if there is a place for them in 2008, but the band always had good sense of melody and songwriting. You can stream some new tracks on their myspace.

Kings of A&R: Send us new music please. Provide us your myspace link and a song we should be listening to. If you provide us greatness then we will be friends. Email tips@kingsofar.com

Where is My Money? Major Music Labels negotiated in copyright-infringement settlements with a host of Web sites, but artists and managers have not seen a cent yet. For instance, Napster had to cough up $270 million and YouTube paid a hefty sum, but the money never trickled down to artists. Managers are considering legal options and are talking about filing lawsuits if they don’t get paid soon.”

“They will play hide and seek, but eventually will be forced to pay something,” Azoff said. “The record companies have even tried to credit unrecouped accounts. It’s never easy for an artist to get paid their fair share.”

The Long Tail or the Wrong Tail? Check out Chris Castles blog on Chris Anderson who coined the phrase, “The Long Tail”, and who is currently working on a new book entitled Free, which examines the rise of pricing models which give products and services to customers for free.

NIN Release: Nine Inch Nails presents Ghosts I – IV, a brand new 36 track instrumental collection available online. Almost two hours of new music composed and recorded over an intense ten week period last fall, Ghosts I – IV sprawls Nine Inch Nails across a variety of new terrain. Trent Reznor explains, “I’ve been considering and wanting to make this kind of record for years, but by its very nature it wouldn’t have made sense until this point.

UMG Strikes European Deal For Jonas Brothers: Universal Music Group has licensed the Jonas Brothers’ album from Hollywood Records for distribution in Europe. UMG also has distribution rights for “Jonas Brothers” in Canada and Latin America. EMI Music, missed the chance to extend on its current international distribution deal for the album. “Someone within the old (EMI) management chose not to pick up the option,” says an EMI source. “I don’t know why they wouldn’t.”

Wal-Mart stirs CD pricing pot with multi-tiered plan: Wal-Mart, the largest retailer of music has proposed a five-tiered pricing scheme that would allow the discounter to sell albums at even lower prices and require the labels to bear more of the costs according to Reuters.

Wal-Mart Proposed Pricing Structure….

top 15 to 20 hottest titles – $10.00
top catalog – $9.00
midline catalog – $7.00
budget product – $5.00

Apple and Artist news: Paramore will be featured on the new ipod touch commercial.

The Buzz: The track Thick Wit It by hip hop artist Hakeem Tha Dream is being spun on St. Louis urban radio stations WHHL and KATZ. The track garnered a total of 95 spins between both stations last week. It’s popping on the radar among some major music labels with A&R research departments. For more information email here.

Artist Updates: Camera Can’t Lie have just completed 4 brand new tracks with producer Jordan Schmidt whose recent credits include working with All Time Low, Cute Is What We Aim For, and Panic At The Disco. The tracks will be posted on KOAR shortly.

Recommended Listening: Check out San Diego alternative act
My American Heart. The band released a full length disc titled ‘Hiding Inside the Horrible Weather’ in 2007 through indie label Warcon Records. They have a slew of tour dates and will be on the road through May. Check out the track The Shake and Tired and Uninspired.