Which rumor? Doesn’t matter. At least not yet. After all, the entertainment industry thrives on rumors.

Brad and Angelina? They were once a rumor. As was Brad’s split with Jennifer. Last year’s Cream reunion was once a rumor. So was Pink Floyd’s reunion with Roger Waters for “Live 8.” Of course, the buzz that the band was going to do a full-fledged tour was also a rumor; one that surfaces about once every 18 months.

But sometimes the rumors are true – Brad was messin’ with Angelina, Cream reunited for shows in London and New York, and Roger Waters did play with Floyd at “Live 8.” But there wasn’t a tour. Evidently David Gilmour didn’t feel he needed any more houses.

And there have been a few rumors about Napster. Only two weeks ago, MIDEM tongues were wagging about how Napster might be shopping for a new owner. While Napster disputed such chatter, the fact the company announced plans to lay off 10 middle managers didn’t exactly halt the hearsay. Especially when one of the topics du jour was the eventual “thinning of the herd” that is supposedly about to strike the online download biz, which, at last count, numbered about 355.

However, just as soon as Napster’s MIDEM rumor started losing traction, the New York Post reported that the company was talking with Google about a possible business deal where the online search monster might gobble up the online music service. Sure, it was just a rumor, but the Post cited unidentified music industry players, which, as we all know, are hardly ever wrong.

Google reacted quickly to the Post’s Napster story, saying, “It’s a rumor. It’s a fabrication. There isn’t any truth in it.”

However, the Google / Napster rumor didn’t hurt the latter’s stock, which rose more than 30 percent in premarket trading after investors had the chance to digest the Post’s story. Evidently some people believed the buzz.

Polish Rope Tricks

We love Wikipedia.

The open source Web encyclopedia, where entries are created by individual users, encompasses a plethora of knowledge, with items ranging from the trivial to the complex. At Wikipedia you can look up the history of Groundhog Day, catch up on quantum theory, or delve into the back story of “Gilligan’s Island.”

And we love the Velvet Rope, the forum for music professionals founded in 1993 by industry veteran Julie Gordon. The “Rope,” which began life on AOL, has moved around over the years and currently resides as a major feature at StarPolish.com, an artist resource Web site based in New York City. At StarPolish you can find features such as StarPolish Management, an artist advisory board, an A&R panel and B2B resources.

So you can imagine our surprise when we looked up Wikipedia’s entry for the Velvet Rope and saw the following description:

“The Velvet Rope is a message board hosted by StarPolish, a Polish music industry Web site…”

That’s Polish as in Poland. Land of Warsaw, sausage and Solidarity.

Gosh… The things you learn on the Web.