Whitley blog

Shazam 3.0 gets more content, iOS 4 support

Music sleuths have some new tools waiting in the App Store. On Friday, Shazam Entertainment released a major 3.0 upgrade to the free and paid versions of its music discovery app for iPhone and iPod touch.

and3.0 offer more access to media-more related YouTube videos for each song you tag, more artist information, plus new features like album reviews, biographies, and the ability to search for iTunes ringtones and videos.

A new Discover tab now provides access to Shazam Tag Charts, which track the most popular new music from 20 countries, based on what Shazam users in those countries are tagging.

Shazam's apps are now optimized for both iOS 4 and the iPhone 4, so they support fast-app switching and feature high-resolution graphics.

Shazam and Shazam Encore are available now in the App Store for free and $5, respectively. The free version is still limited to five tags a month, while the paid Encore version offers unlimited music tagging. The special editionapp will gain all these enhancements in its own upgrade soon.

Kings of Leon reject "Glee" request

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – With everybody from Paul McCartney to Madonna clamoring to get their music on "Glee," at least one act is refusing to license its music to the TV show.

Kings of Leon frontman Caleb Followill told U.K. music newspaper NME that he's rejected the show's request to use his music, adding that he's never watched the series although "apparently everybody loves it."

Followill also said the band turned down "Ugly Betty."

British rock band Coldplay also turned down "Glee," then changed its mind, apologized and gave the Fox show access to the band's entire catalog.

On the subject of lending the music of Kings of Leon to Hollywood, Followill added: "We had some people call us up wanting to know if we'd allow 'Use Somebody' to appear in the trailer for their next movie, and we turned them down."

"Next day, they called back and tried to put us through to the star of the movie -- I won't name names, but he's an incredibly famous actor -- to let him try to convince us to agree to do it.

"I was like, 'Man, don't even waste your energy.'"

Australia expected to form new government Tuesday

CANBERRA (Reuters) – Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard is expected to form a new minority government on Tuesday with the backing of three kingmaker independents, ending two weeks of uncertainty.

Independent Tony Windsor said the impasse should end on Tuesday morning, but there was still a risk the independent MPs could split, delivering a deadlock of 75 votes apiece in the 150-seat lower house and the prospect of another election.

"People may be leaning one way, but they may have to come back the other way to get some stability into the system," Windsor told national radio Monday before last-minute talks with rival leaders at Canberra's parliament house.

Labor's Gillard and conservative opposition leader Tony Abbott have been desperately wooing the independents for their support for a minority government since August 21 elections delivered the country's first hung parliament since World War Two.

Several newspapers Monday said unnamed conservatives were expecting Gillard to win over at least two independents to form a minority government holding 76 seats. Bookmakers are also tipping a Gillard Labor government.

Gillard currently has 74 seats to Abbott's 73 after a fourth independent last week sided with Labor, but Abbott could still form a government if the three uncommitted independents back him.

Labor has promised a controversial mining profits tax and a $38 billion broadband project if it wins, as well a carbon price to curb one of the world's highest per-capita levels of emissions. The conservatives oppose all three policies.

"They are pretty significant issues with significant amounts of money wrapped up in all three of those policies, so I think a lot more certainty on the government side and those policy fronts will be welcomed by business leaders," said Stephen Halmarick, Head of Investment Markets Research with Colonial First State.

AUSTRALIANS WANT FRESH ELECTION

An Essential Media poll Monday showed 52 percent of Australians now wanted another election, regardless of which party the independents decided to back, underscoring expectations that any new government will struggle with such a thin majority.

Seventy percent of respondents believed there would be fresh elections within a year, the survey found.

Australia's economy recorded strong growth in the last quarter and financial markets have largely been unruffled by the political gridlock. Standard & Poor's Monday reaffirmed its AAA/A-1+ foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings for Australia, with a stable outlook.

"The ratings on Australia reflect the country's ample fiscal and monetary policy flexibility, economic resilience, public policy stability and its sound financial sector," Standard & Poor's credit analyst Kyran Curry said.

Despite providing a large stimulus of almost 5 percent of GDP over 2009 and 2010, the government's fiscal position was stronger than most other AAA countries, with the deficit likely to peak at a modest 3.2 percent of GDP in 2010.

Independent Rob Oakeshott said he could change his mind about which of the two major parties to back in a minority government if the outcome was tied at 75 seats apiece. He also said he was disappointed at conservative opposition to some parliamentary reforms sought by the kingmakers.

"There is a national interest issue in question about how we have a stable government over the next three years," he said.

Betting agencies were tipping one of the three, stetson-wearing outback MP Bob Katter, to side with Abbott.

Katter last week gave Gillard and Abbott a "wish list" of 20 priorities that could cement his support, ruling out emissions trade and the 30 percent tax on coal and iron ore miners.

But Katter also hinted that the mining tax, brokered by Gillard with Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Xstrata, was not a deal breaker.

(Editing by Nick Macfie)