German music rights group GEMA is known for its strict copyright regime, but sometimes they take things too far. The group recently claimed money from the organizers of a dance event where only Creative Commons music was played. The organizers informed GEMA beforehand about their royalty free status, but the group suspects foul play and demands cash.

Music royalty collection agencies are known for going to extremes as they go about their business and the practices of Germany’s GEMA are a good example of just how far these merciless outfits can go.

The group recently sent an invoice to the organizers of a dance event where only Creative Commons licenced music was played.

The ultra-hip South by Southwest Festival in Austin, TX has unveiled its list o' panels for the 2012 dealio, with great opportunities to connect and schmooze with the music industry's finest. Granted, they'll all be hung over from last night's party, but hey -- good times. The SXSW Music panels named so far include great titles like "Hometown to National: How to Grow Your Band," "Set Your Content Free (It's Harder Than You Think)" and "In the iCloud Era Who Can You Trust to Find Music?" Personally I vote for Spacelab to help you find new music, but I'm kind of biased that way. Check out a full SXSW 2012 music panel lineup.

Google announced today that it will join Amazon in offering consumers a cloud-based music locker service. Google’s news, which had been rumored for some time, presents an opportunity to both answer and ask some questions about the future of the music industry.

Those questions make clear that while services like these do improve the ability for fans to access their music, they still only get us a little bit closer to the larger goal: making sure artists get paid and fans are happy.

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The New York Times recently reported on a controversy rippling through the art world: deaccessioning, which means a museum selling off works from its permanent collection.

It’s a growing trend. The Chicago Art Institute is hawking two Picassos, a Matisse and a Braque at Christie’s in London, while the Cleveland Art Museum has 32 old masters up on the auction block. The J. Paul Getty museum hopes to unload 15 paintings, and the Pennsylvania Museum of Fine Arts and the Carnegie Museum of Art, five each.