The Neon Trees and Semi Precious Weapons took of their clothes, made fans take off their clothes, and freaked out security during the Sunset Strip Music Festival. Rock is back.

Alabama native Antoine Dobson gets his fifteen minutes of fame thanks to the Gregory Brothers’ viral video/song remix of him talking about the attempted rape of his sister. “Hide your kids. Hide your wife.” Now, Paramore’s Halley Williams and friends have turned a racist parody into an anti-rape anthem.

We’re about to head into the show’s 10th season. The franchise just changed partners from Sony Music to Universal Music Group. The judges table is in total flux. Steven Tyler? J. Lo?  Ratings went down last season. The majority of the idol winners or finalists have been dropped from their label deals. So, what’s the problem?

Can the music business learn from what other industries are doing to boost sales at discount prices? Hell yea. Get your Groupon on.

Five-time Grammy Award winner Faith Hill has been named the ambassador for its Tide Loads of Hope program, a mobile laundry service that provides clean clothes to families affected by disaster.

Pledge Music offers something for everyone – you can even fund a polka/waltz artist’s new release. But is it enough for artists to quit their day job?

Who will win the music cloud wars? Google is making a formidable run at it. “Hey! You! Get off of my cloud! Don’t hang around ‘cause two’s a crowd On my cloud, baby.” – The Rolling Stones.

The Comet LOVES this band. Four multi-instrumentalists/ singers whose harmonies soar. Check out this live video of “Let Loose the Horses.”

In an email sent out to industry folks around the world, Jim Urie calls out ISPs for their role in copyright infringement.

For those of us who chart our life based on our favorite songs, finally a guide to help you get to where you’re going.

We ask The Comet’s cool 18-year-old intern why she would not be caught dead on Facebook.

Tamara Conniff, long-time journalist and music executive, introduces this beta social music portal. The Comet is a news, opinion and discovery network.

The social network has added new feature, Twitter Places, which allows users to tag tweets by location. Thank goodness we can let everyone know our exact geographic coordinates at all times. And yes, it’s integrated with Foursquare and Gowalla. Have I mentioned I’m the mayor of the Chevron gas station?

Kickstarter, a consumer pledge driven website, may have helped fund the new Facebook as well as plastic party favors.

Will sponsorships save the music business? Advertising agencies plan to spend more in 2010 than 2009. But will there be any tours left to partner with.

I continue to be tortured by Foursquare. And now I have even more tools to feed my need to rule gas stations – site Be the Mayor. 

Fans, sponsors, and movie studios are jumping into commissioning art. Maybe what worked for Michelangelo can work for Dan the Automator.

It was the worst of times (for albums), it was the best of times (for digital singles). It doesn’t take much to get on the albums chart.

Facebook Is Under Fire for Privacy Issues But hello? It’s the internet. Nothing is private. But at least we found a fix.

This of course is very embarrassing. Fourquare Is my new addiction. Location, Location, Location