Here & There …

European Union and Apple reach iTunes agreement. Bottom line is Apple agrees to lower prices and EU agrees not to sue Apple – Associated Press

RealNetworks and its “music dial tone” – San Jose Mercury News (registration may be required)

Kings Of Leon comment on “too much grab-arse action” – Brisbane Times

Pink Martini – “not your average lounge band” – The Age

Yellowcard rocks U.S. Marines and sailors in Kuwait – Marines.mil

Robbie Williams says he isn’t touring “any time soon” – RTE Entertainment

Dates, Dates & More Dates …

It’s Hanoi Rocks in Europe as the band unveils February and march dates. Countries include Sweden, Germany and United Kingdom; Kate Nash has a few new Europe dates for March and April, like March 5 in Stockholm, March 31 in Paris and April 4 in Copenhagen; Nina Nastasia plays Washington, DC, on January 31 and then it’s on to February and Chapel Hill, Houston, Austin, Springfield, St. Louis and Chicago and Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels roll through Germany in February.

Lots of new dates for The Hives, like Mexico City on February 14 and 17 with Guadalajara sandwiched in between. Other stops include shows in Vancouver, BC, Denver, CO, Toronto, ON, and NY, NY, in February and March; The Kooks play West Hollywood on February 7 and Brooklyn February 12 and Caribou will play all over North America during March and April, stopping in places like Philadelphia, Boston, Nashville, Chicago, Winnipeg and Vancouver.

During the past couple of hours we also updated the schedules for Caroline Herring, Andy Statman, Ektomorf, Liz Carroll, Kristy Kruger, Ohmega Watts, The Headcat (Feat. Lemmy From Motorhead), The Wailin’ Jennys and U.S. Bombs.

But you know the drill. More new concert information coming your way in Your Latest Update, scheduled for around 3 pm (PST), from Pollstar.com!

This Day In Music History … (from Associated Press)

In 1939, producer Alfred Lion recorded boogie-woogie pianists Meade Lux Lewis and Albert Ammons at a session in New York. Lion pressed only a few copies for his friends, but demand for the records was so great that he made other recordings of Dixieland artists like Sidney Bechet. This was the beginning of Lion’s famous Blue Note record label, for which practically every major jazz artist of the past 50 years has recorded at one time or another. Lion sold the label to Liberty-United Artists in 1966. He died in 1987.

In 1973, The Rolling Stones‘ plans to tour the Orient were halted when Japan refused to grant Mick Jagger a visa. The Japanese turned down Jagger’s request on account of his 1969 drug bust.

In 1977, country singer Emmylou Harris married Brian Ahern.

In 1976, CW McCall’s recording of “Convoy” reached the top of the country music charts. Its success led to a long string of CB radio-related novelty records during the next 18 months.

In 1979, “A Gift of Song – The Music for UNICEF Concert” was held at the United Nations General Assembly. Nine top recording artists – including Abba, Bee Gees and Rod Stewart – performed songs and donated the copyrights to UNICEF.

Also on this date in 1979, K-Mart Department Stores in the U.S. pulled Steve Martin’s comedy LP Let’s Get Small from shelves for being in what the chain called “very bad taste.”

In 1988, singer Frank Sinatra was paid one million dollars for a single performance to help launch a resort on Australia’s Gold Coast. It was Sinatra’s first performance in the country in 14 years. He had been banned by Australian unions in 1974 after calling female reporters “hookers” and male reporters “drunks.”

In 1990, Madonna began auditioning dancers for her 1990 world tour. She had taken out a newspaper ad that said “wimps and wanna-bes need not apply.”

In 1997, Stone Temple Pilots lead singer Scott Weiland checked himself into a drug treatment center in California. It was his second drug rehab stint in a year. Weiland had spent five months in a court-ordered program that led to the dropping of cocaine and heroin charges.