Woodstock Reprise - Michael Lang, the co-founder of the legendary 1969 Woodstock festival, is reportedly seeking sponsors for a 40th anniversary reprise in New York City. "The chances that something will happen are probable," he told the Times. "But I don't really have the answer yet as to what that will be." Central Park has been suggested as a possible location for the event. The Who were among the acts who played at the original concert, which took place in Bethel, New York State. A 30th anniversary concert held in 1999 at a former air force base outside New York ended in looting and violence. According to Billboard magazine, Lang hopes the concert would be "a free event" leaving "as small a carbon imprint as we can." To this end, he is seeking raise $10m (£6.8m) in sponsorship money.
Web News - A new website designed for songwriters to post their views on protecting their music on the web has been launched. The Performing Rights Society has set up Fairplayforcreators.com to highlight the "issues of online earnings." This follows the row between YouTube and PRS over royalty rates, which resulted in the removal of thousands of music videos from the site. Artists and songwriters, including Pete Waterman and Abba's Bjorn Ulvaeus, have all posted messages on the site.
Time for Enlightenment - The line-up for this year's Edinburgh International Festival has been unveiled, including a number of works on its theme of The Enlightenment. Festival director Jonathan Mills said the 18th century period saw an outpouring of intellectual and scientific accomplishments. The festival, which runs from 14 August to 6 September, will include a huge Romanian production of Faust. It will see the return of choreographer Michael Clark after 21 years. Despite the Year of Homecoming, which celebrates the 250th anniversary of Robert Burns's birth, there is very little about Scotland's national poet in the programme.
(Jim Evans)
