DownwardSpiralFrog twitches

The much-hyped, little-seen SpiralFrog ad-supported music download service has done the equivalent of a coma patient twitching and signed a licensing deal with Sony-ATV music. This would ensure that - should anyone ever use their site - songwriters as well as performers would get a share of the non-existent advertising revenues.

It's heartbreaking, like watching someone prepare for a date you know they're going to be stood up on.

Sony BMG asks Jackson to let it sign writers

In one of those shrewd business moves which only highly paid music industry executives could come up with, it turns out when Sony cut its deal with Michael Jackson to get together to buy the Beatles publishing, they agreed to never launch a rival publishing business in competition with their Sony/ATV concern. In other words, every time it wants to sign a publishing deal, it has to go via Sony/ATV, and wait for Jackson's OK.

Yes, a major record label made a blood oath to not invest in songwriting unless Michael Jackson said okay.

It has, somewhat belatedly, realised that this is like a butcher signing a deal to never sell cheese, and is trying to weasel out of the deal ("trying to renegotiate"), reports The Times.

Jackson buys Amore

We suspect the main impetus for the Sony/ATV purchase of the Famous Music LLC catalogue from Viacom has come from Sony, which is doing quite well, rather than Michael Jackson. It does suggest that Jackson's outrageous cash demands for simply turning up at places might have left him a bit a better off than this time last year.

Sony/ATV have now got publishing rights for songs ranging from The Real Slim Shady through Silver Bells to Amore, and the collection they've scooped up also includes work by Bjork, Akon and Shakira.