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Sen. John McCain said he wanted satellite TV to compete with cable more effectively to keep cable prices down, is Murdoch the answer? Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch told a congressional committee yesterday that a merger of his News Corp. television-and-movie empire with the nation’s leading home satellite TV service would …

$1.5 million to the copyright holder of Fatback Band’s 1980 song “Backstrokin'” for bassline Dr. Dre copied for his 2001 track “Let’s Get High”: Los Angeles jury awarded London-based Minder Music Ltd. less than half of the $3.5 million originally sought after hearing testimony from the music publisher as well …

The California Senate Judiciary Committee cleared SB 1034 on Tuesday, and it will now go to the full Senate for a vote: The spot bill was introduced by Sen. Kevin Murray, D-Culver City, in February as part of a package of music bills, including a measure that would prevent artists …

Copies of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, to be published on June 21, were found earlier this week dumped in a field in Suffolk, England. Now four have been arrested: Police said in a statement that two 16-year-old boys and two men aged 18 and 44 were …

Both I guess: Denver radio listeners and disc jockeys were shell-shocked Monday after rocker Ted Nugent used derogatory racial terms for Asians and blacks on live radio. The highly rated Lewis & Floorwax morning show on 103.5-FM The Fox quickly turned into a discussion of race relations after the ’70s …

The SF Chronicle’s great pop music writer Joel Selvin on the collapsed Bay Area music scene: When federal agents swooped down on Sausalito’s Record Plant in 1985 and closed the recording studio after the owner’s arrest on drug charges, the doors swung shut on three projects that would all go …

Bob Marley has his every musical noodle being released; John Entwistle’s life is being auctioned to the four winds: Rock legend John Entwistle’s prized pink bass guitar “Frankenstein” goes on display in London on Thursday before being auctioned with his collection of exotic fish, celebrity sketches and gold discs. ….”We …

Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee members wonder why the price of cable TV has risen 50% since deregulation: Key members of a Senate Committee lashed out at the cable television industry yesterday for repeatedly raising rates on service that effectively forces consumers to subscribe to dozens of channels they …

When all is said and done, Bob Marley’s musical bones will have been as picked over as Jimi Hendrix’s and John Lennon’s: The family of Bob Marley has discovered a batch of unheard recordings by the reggae icon that may be used as the basis for an album partially produced …

Justin Timberlake has been signed as a special correspondent by Turner Sports: singer will report from several sports events for TNT, including the NBA playoffs, NASCAR races and the PGA championship. For TBS, he’ll appear at major league baseball games and Big 12 and Pac-10 college football games. “We are …