2013 Steps To Nowhere: July

The Black Keys sponsored a little league team. The guy who founded Groupon made an album. Is this the right way round?

Digital sales in the US slipped back for the first time ever. To help, the music industry invented the Promo Hutt, an idea so bad I'm starting to think I might have dreamed it. And Thom Yorke took his less popular tracks off Spotify.

The BNP took a Manics track as their soundtrack. The one about shooting fascists, unfortunately. I say "unfortunately", I mean "hilariously".

When Lester Chambers dedicated a song to crime victim Trayvon Martin, a woman from the crowd set about him. When Rolling Stone put a current affairs story about terrorism on the cover, people attacked them for glorfying terrorism.

Daft Punk not making Get Lucky condoms no bar to Durex turning it into a marketing story. Katy Perry got in a tangle with a hair care company.

Judge Jules turned back to the law.

Nick Cave wrote a sequel to Gladiator. It is, as yet, unmade. John Secada felt underused and so sued.

Robert DeNiro and Jay-Z fell out. Then Jay-Z went to have a look at the Magna Carta.

Lauryn Hill went inside.

Leaving: Westwood and The Times Of India