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This is from the Owngig newsletter. Register on site to recieve this every Friday

As we’ve said on numerous occasions, we’re heading off to spread the Owngig gospel at the New Music Seminar in New York in July. Well the organisers have very kindly given us invites to anyone who wants to attend. You’ll have to pay (and get to New York) but if you’re a budding musician, it’s worth stumping the cash up. To get hold of the invite, click here to download the PDF.

This week on the web we’ve been loving…

Unless you’ve been living in a shed with no access to any media or the internet (in which case, how are you reading this newsletter?), the news of the sad death of Michael Jackson can’t have escaped your attention. Rather than dwell on this sad fact, we’d rather celebrate some of the best of Michael Jackson’s life with a few quirky links.

Firstly, this has to be the best portrait ever. It’s from a sale of his stuff when Neverland was shut – there’s more interesting relics from the sale here. One of the things about Michael Jackson is how many artists he influenced. This is something hip hop DJ Yoda did in a set in 2003 was play 25 minutes of rap tracks sampling Michael Jackson. Check it out here…

Finally… it’s worth remembering that Michael’s own influences were wide and varied. From wanting to work with Kraftwerk (how we’d love to have heard that) to being influenced by Fred Astaire for Billy Jean. This classic mashup of Michael Jackson and Fred Astaire certainly proves the point.

This is from the weekly Owngig newsletter. Register on site to recieve this every Friday.

Apologies for the lack of newsletter last week – we were busy on a big top secret project so couldn’t spare the time but normal service is now resumed. Our biggest news this week was that we were on the radio again – BBC Radio 2 interviewed our founder Richard. Thanks to Tokiohoteluk on YouTube for putting it online for us.

Also, coming soon but running a little late if we’re honest is our Tweet for Tickets offer on Twitter. Rest assured we’re still starting it soon, so if you’re interested, then get following us at twitter.com/Owngig.

This week on the web we’ve been loving…

The world is full of brilliant music – that’s why people are such fans of the bands they love. But of course, not everything can be excellent – let’s face it, there’s also a lot of awful music out there. Which is where Wow Demo Blog comes in. Run by a small independent record label, it simply highlights some of the less inspiring submissions. Some are hilarious, some are tragic but all will definitely provoke a reaction – even if it wasn’t what they orignally intended.

We’ve been in love with Shazam for the longest time (not least because if you have an iPhone, the app is free), but it’s not right for everything. Got a tune going round in your head, or more importantly a snippet of the lyrics? Well, if you’re on Twitter, simply direct your remembered lyrics at Lyricrat on Twitter and it will tweet the song back. Clever eh?

Finally, we were impressed with this arty little site that allows you to create your own soundscape using the sixteen YouTube videos arranged in a grid. Each of the sixteen features a different musician but because they’re all playing in the same key, it all works together beautifully.

A very silly video (and some great content) all from our weekly newsletter. To receive a copy every Friday, register on site.

We’re pleased to announce that our Twitter offer for tickets will be starting very shortly. Keep an eye for the phrase for the phrase Free tickets available @owngig. The first person to Retweet the phrase will win the tickets.

As announced a few weeks ago we’re off late July to the New Music Seminar in New York. If you’re interesting in attending, there’s a flyer for the event you can view online here. We’ll have our badges on so if you do end up attending say hi.

Finally, the bids are rattling in for acts. This week we’ve seen Tokio Hotel go above 800, Rick Astley go up to just under 170 and in the last few days we’ve seen a stampede of bids from fans of Aussie Pop Idol sensation Shannon Noll. Add yours here …

This week on the web we’ve been loving…

Given what we do, unsurprisingly we’re very much for the fans. Therefore we were impressed this week when we heard that a fan of US progtastic band Phish streamed the whole of the band’s live concert from the venue via his iPhone . It’s like the Beastie Boys fan shot video Awesome: I… Shot That! from a few years ago. Mind you, bet his arm is tired…

Another thing that impressed us this week was the Wiiolin – one clever geek has repurposed our favourite game console’s controller as a violin. Watching the video it seems so natural. Anyway he joins an increasing list of geek instruments that include the iPhone Ocarina , the USB roll up piano and the Arduino trumpet .

Finally we’d like to end of something sillier. The 1984 video for Bonnie Tyler’s power ballad, Total Eclipse of the Heart is one of the most insane music videos of all time so any lampooning of it already has comedy gold to work with. Well this literal version where the lyrics respond to what’s on screen couldn’t really fail… and it doesn’t. Enjoy! A million YouTube users can’t be wrong.