You know, I used to think spam, PC viruses and all kinds of computer hacking were kind of cool, but now I know otherwise, thanks to Snoop Dogg, who has educated me that "hack is wack". I shall now take a stroll down Shoreditch High Street to spread the word. See you shortly.

OK, I'm back. To be honest the people of Shoreditch didn't seem keen to join in with my chanting of "hack is wack, hack is wack", but then I'm no Snoop Dogg. And that's presumably why virus protection software makers Norton have signed him up as a spokesman and not me.

Yes, Snoop Dogg has teamed up with Norton in the US to head up their 'Hack Is Wack' campaign. Aspiring rappers are invited to submit a two minute rap on why all forms of cybercrime are clearly "wack".

The writer/performer of the best rap will be flown to LA to meet Snoop's 'management' who will provide career advice for said cybercrime hating rapper (presumably starting with "stop entering shit competitions like this and do something that will get you some street cred"). The winners will also get tickets to a Snoop gig and a fully Norton-protected laptop.

But before you all rush to make your rap, we should stress this competition is only open to US citizens. And before all you American readers of the CMU Daily start writing your cyber-crime rhymes, please note the rules: "The entry may not contain obscene, lewd or inappropriate images or text, including no nudity, acts of violence or acts that appear to cause harm or are illegal/dangerous, as determined in sponsor's sole discretion". Given the sponsors are Norton, presumably that includes opening an attachment sent by an unknown source.

More at www.hackiswack.com

Yesterday we reported on an interview with Weezer guitarist Brian Bell, in which he said the band had named their new album 'Hurley' after clothing brand Hurley International, because the company had funded some of the recording of the album. Then, he said, they put a picture of 'Lost' character Hurley Reyes on the cover to be post-modern. But it seems he was mistaken and that was all a load of rubbish.

Writing on the forum on the band's website, Bell said: "Just wanted to clear something up. Recently I did an interview in Denver where I was asked why we called the album 'Hurley'. I mistakenly said that Hurley funded the album. I later found out that it wasn't true at all. Weezer paid for every penny of this recording. The reason the record is called 'Hurley' is because Hurley (Jorge Garcia) is on the cover. We thought about leaving the record untitled for the fourth time, but that causes a lot of problems and he knew people would end up calling the record 'Hurley' anyway. We got no money for calling the record 'Hurley'".

So, that's definitely all cleared up then. Although, Bell also said in the interview that the band had appeared in an advertising campaign for the clothing brand. Maybe that didn't happen either. Or maybe it did and the band were careful not to spend any money they got from that on the album.

Despite the fact that the cover of Weezer's new album features a picture of 'Lost' character Hurley Reyes, played by actor Jorge Garcia, it was apparently not named 'Hurley' after him. In an interview for AEG Live's YouTube channel recorded at the Mile High music festival, guitarist Brian Bell says the name is actually taken from clothing company Hurley International, which funded some of the album's recording.

Bell explained: "[Hurley] was funding the record at the beginning of the process. We actually did some sort of advertisement... I don't even know how they're tied in so much, although we got some clothes and we did a photo shoot and we were wearing these clothes, and I think we're selling these clothes in malls".

He continued: "How that's tied in, I don't know. I think it's this whole, like, tying-in different medias and then using Hurley, the character from 'Lost', which I've never seen in my life, as our mascot for this record is somewhat postmodernist, maybe. I hope people don't look at it as too jokey, cos it certainly comes across that way without reading into it a little deeper".

You can see why when he was asked about the album cover by Spinner recently, frontman Rivers Cuomo just said: "I just loved this photo of Jorge Garcia - it just had this amazing vibe. We didn't want to do a fourth self-titled record and we knew people would refer to it as 'the Hurley record' even if left it without that title, so we just called it 'Hurley'. No words are on the cover because all we wanted was his amazing face".

You can watch Bell's interview in full here: youtu.be/W-llWCENnyk

Nadine Coyle is the latest singer to enter into an exclusivity deal with Tesco. Following on from Simply Red and Faithless, the Girl Aloud will make her debut solo album available exclusively via the supermarket giant. Coyle had originally been working with Universal Music on her solo debut, but sources say she opted for a deal with the retail firm instead because they were happy to leave her and her management to sort out the creative side of the venture.

The Mirror quotes a source as follows: "Being able to work on the music that she wants was the main reason for going with Tesco. She's decided who she's wanted to work with from the start. She's in control of every single decision - from the writers, the producers and the collaborators - and wants to produce her dream album. She didn't want to be a puppet for a record company".

Chilly Gonzales' recent single, 'Never Stop', will soundtrack a new Apple TV advert for the iPad. It's actually the second time the musician has got himself in an Apple ad, having produced the very successful '1234' by Feist.

Have a little watch of the ad here, if you like: www.apple.com/ipad/gallery/#ad

The album from whence came 'Never Stop' - 'Ivory Tower' - is due for release on 30 Aug.

KitKat have teamed up with Scouting For Girls for a new digital marketing initiative using a thing called 'augmented reality' which enables biscuit eaters to experience some sort of 3D SFG musical experience by holding their chocolate up to a web cam. I've no idea what the really means, and the video I've been sent that is meant to "reveal all" means nothing to me, but then again I'm very tired. Have a look yourself: youtu.be/9ieqVunZg1w

Beer manufacturer Heineken has ended its support for Benicassim, after ten years as the Spanish festival's main sponsor.

Vince Power took full control of the festival this year, after working closely with its founders for three years, but saw attendance drop to 127,000 from last year's 200,000.

Assuming you accept that music videos are basically just elaborate commercials for the songs that soundtrack them, then why not double up and use the vid to flog a car too?

Well, that is what Faithless will do with their next pop promo as part of the dance combo's previously reported marketing partnership with Fiat. The video for next Faithless single 'Feelin Good' will also be a three minute car marketing feast, and Fiat have bought an entire ad break on Channel 4 in which to premiere it. At least four people - idiots if you like - are calling the pop-promo-meets-commercial a 'prommercial'.

The video will premiere in a commercial break spot during next Sunday's 'Big Brother'. It's not clear if the full video will then be shown again at a time when people might be watching, though a thirty second edit will be included in normal ad breaks, and presumably the whole thing will also be available online somewhere. Possibly on the Facebook group for Punto Evo fans.

Commenting on the ad/promo combo in a way likely to cause you to be a little bit sick in your mouth, Fiat marketing lady Elena Bernardelli told reporters: "We're thrilled to be launching the first ever music/brand 'prommercial'. No other car brand has co-created a music video where the story has been written with the car and band as equal partners, both as important as each other to the plot. The video is really fun and uplifting and we hope it genuinely does leave people 'feelin good'".

Meanwhile Faithless popped out of their luxury apartment in Sell Out Alley to say this: "We're always looking at new ways to get our music to different audiences and exploring new ideas. The idea of showing our latest video on TV during an ad break is a first for us or any other band".

Guitarist for 70s glam rockers The Sweet, Andy Scott is the new face of van insurance comparison website Vancompare.com (I'm not sure who the old face was). Scott appears in two TV ads for the company.

This is not just a cynical cash-in for the musician though. According to the website: "Van Compare's owner and chairman, Paul Steffens, has been a fan of The Sweet since the age of ten and, by the age of 42, Andy had played two gigs at his home. Paul and Andy's friendship quickly evolved and resulted in the idea of Andy fronting Van Compare's first television advertising campaign".

Should you be so inclined, you can watch the ads here.

Kasabian have signed a new deal with the Premier League to have their song 'Fire' played before and after live football matches when they are broadcast in over 200 countries, reaching an estimated one billion people. However, luckily for viewers in the UK and Ireland, they will not be subjected to the track.

The band also launched Umbro's official England shirt ahead of the World Cup back in June or whenever it was.

Presumably they (or at least their manager Louis Walsh) are very aware of the short life span their 'act' is likely to have. So, it's good news for Jedward that they are reportedly on the verge of signing a six-figure deal to be the new faces of Rowntree's Randoms sweets.

Adding no insight into anything whatsoever, a source told Metro: "They ate ten packets when I met them this morning".

In other Jedward brand news, the twins are apparently planning to launch their own fashion label, too. Although in the same way most of their songs are covers, instead of actually thinking up any ideas for their fashion venture, they seemingly plan to sell outfits worn by more famous stars in the past.

Of the clothing range, called Pop Icons, Edward Grimes told The Sun: "Fashion is our big passion and our collection will look hot on the catwalk. We love the jackets worn by Michael Jackson and Freddie Mercury and think everybody will love to wear stuff like that. Our clothes will have lots of bold colours and cool patterns".

Edward added that he and his brother will model the clothes because (oh yeah, there's another deal to tell you about) they are on the books of modelling agency, Next Models. He said: "We have experience. We know how to pose and walk, plus we've worked with some big-name photographers".

Here's Edward demonstrating how to pose and walk: youtu.be/FAhId3IAoJw

Following their deal with Tesco, who exclusively sold their last album, Faithless have now entered into another brand partnership, this time with Fiat which, at least, alliterates. The partnership will cover the dance band's upcoming single releases and live activity, and will specifically see the band tied up with the car giant's Punto Evo car.

Fiat UK Marketing Director Elena Bernardelli told CMU: "Punto Evo is leading the way in innovation, so we were thrilled to get involved with another music initiative that reflected our forward-thinking approach. Faithless were the perfect collaboration for us due to their legendary status and creative approach to their work. Like us, they were really keen to develop a true collaboration where both parties had a positive impact on the creativity and production output of our joint work".

A statement from the band says: "We were really excited to be approached by Fiat to work together on some creative ideas and find new ways of reaching our fans".

More specifics of what the partnership will involve should be announced in due course.

After the success of the collaboration between Fightstar and Lethal Bizzle, which saw the two acts write and record the song 'For All Out Enemies' for Jagermeister's first 'Serve Ice Cold' session, the drinks brand has announced its next music pairing. This time around, GU Medicine will be recording a track with, er, a penguin.

Ricky, a rockhopper penguin from London Zoo, will be heading down to the Strongroom Studios in Shoreditch for two days at the beginning of next month to record his 'vocals'. It's not clear if Ricky has yet had any thoughts on what he might sing about, but it seems all involved are very excited.

Ryan Senior from GU Medicine told CMU: "When I was younger I visited London Zoo and saw the penguins but I never imagined that one day I would actually get the opportunity to record a song with one of them! I thought feeding them would be the closest I ever got! Bring it on!"

One of Ricky's keepers, Adrian Walls added: "Ricky has a big personality as visitors to our zoo and staff will testify, and although he has never worked with a music group before I'm sure he will be in fine voice on 3 Aug".

GU Medicine are not the first band to work with a bird on vocals, death metal band Hatebeak is fronted by a parrot named Waldo. An album from them is reportedly being prepared for release right now. In the meantime, check out such classics as 'God Of Empty Nest' on this MySpace fanpage: www.myspace.com/beak666

Franz Ferdinand chappy Alex Kapranos was at the O2 Dome yesterday to help launch a new brand partnership between the British Music Experience exhibition and The Co-operative.

The tie up will see the supermarket chain give away 15,000 free tickets to the exhibition to young people around the country as part of its 'Inspiring Young People' campaign.

With that in mind, as part of the launch Kapranos gave kids from schools based near The O2 complex a free music business masterclass.

Confirming the partnership between BME and the retail company, The Co-op's CEO Peter Marks told CMU yesterday: "The partnership with the British Music Experience is a natural fit for The Co-operative. We are committed to inspiring young people and already have a number of programmes which engage with them - whether it's through sport, music or education. The British Music Experience is dedicated to inspiring young people through music so we're delighted to partner with them on creating experiences and opportunities for young people".

Speaking for the BME, its Chairman Harvey Goldsmith added: "We are delighted to have The Co-operative on board with the British Music Experience. Their initiative to inspire young people through education is an admirable commitment and something we aim to achieve at the British Music Experience every single day".

Casio and the EMI Music Foundation are teaming up with that Myleene Klass chick to launch a new scheme called Pianos For Schools, which will aim to get more kids playing the old keys. Fifty pianos will be given to schools around the country, while Klass will presumably be on hand to explain why learning scales is cool.

Confirming her involvement in the programme, Klass told CMU: "The Pianos For Schools project with Casio and EMI Music Sound Foundation is something I feel passionate about and it's a great chance to get the message out there that music in education is a great thing. I'm really pleased to be a part of this scheme as it's so important to encourage music in schools and to give children the tools and passion for learning where we can".

Casio's Tim Gould added: "After three decades of successfully delivering musical products, Casio continues to bring music into the lives of enthusiasts of all ages. With our experience in the industry, we are in the perfect position to give children who otherwise may not have the opportunity to engage in music access to cutting-edge instruments and hopefully encourage our next generation of musicians".

The programme is being staged to celebrate the fact Casio have been making digital pianos for thirty years. Klass will also be involved in the launch of some special anniversary editions of Casio's pianos.

Birmingham radio station BRMB, now owned by Orion Media, has signed a new deal to be the official radio station of the city's two big arena venues, the LG Arena just outside the city and the NIA in the middle of it.

Confirming the deal, the Division GM of arena owners NEC Group told reporters: "It's great news that the LG Arena and The NIA have partnered with BRMB. We run two of Europe's busiest live entertainment and sports venues, selling over 1.5 million tickets to events annually, offering unique and attractive sponsorship opportunities where brands can interact with passionate audiences experiencing world class events. We believe the partnership will offer both BRMB listeners and fans of live music an opportunity to enjoy even more of their favourite artists and events".

Orion Media boss Phil Riley added: "We're thrilled to announce this new partnership and we're looking forward to working together on a range of exciting new opportunities in the coming months".

As previously reported, NEC are currently looking for a brand to take naming rights on the NIA arena, similar to tech brand LG's headline sponsorship of the former NEC Arena as part of a major revamp of the central Birmingham facility.

The owners of the NEC complex in the Midlands, who rebranded the complex's arena as the LG Arena in 2008, are now looking for a brand interested in taking the naming rights on one of their other big venues, the NIA Arena in central Birmingham.

The NEC Group is currently planning a major revamp of the Birmingham arena, which originally opened in 1991, and they are hoping to score an LG-style sponsorship on the revamped venue once it is ready to launch.

NEC Group's arenas boss Phil Mead told Music Week: "We recently launched the brand new LG Arena to critical acclaim from pop stars to concert goers. We are now taking the first steps to propelling The NIA to the top of the UK's premier arenas, by finding an architect who can make our hopes and dreams into a reality".

It is hoped work on the new look NIA Arena can begin as early as next summer.

The Music Tee - previously mentioned here in reference to Mos Def's t-shirt release - is coming to the UK. As previously reported, the Music Tee combines digital music with a physical product, in that you get a t-shirt with an album's artwork on it and a code which lets you download the tracks that appear on said long player. Amanda Blank and The Plasticines have also released Music Tees in the US.

The product will launch in the UK this week at Selfridges in London with an in-store from Daisy Dares You. The Daisy Dares You Music Tee will be a pre-release of her debut album, 'Rush'.
 
Music Tee President Jeremy Wineberg told CMU: "The Music Tee has been a phenomenal success in the US by giving artists a new platform to distribute their music.  We continue to sign new major labels and content providers each day.  For the UK launch we wanted to introduce fresh artists and will be kicking off with The Daisy Dares You Music Tee arriving in June. We are excited about engaging music and fashion fans in the UK while continuing to grow our collection of compelling artists".

Levi's has launched a new website which will see musicians from a variety of genres record classic songs which influenced them as they were starting out as performers. Calling the project 'Levi's Pioneer Sessions: The Revival Recordings', amongst the artists the jeans makers invited to participate are Nas, John Legend and The Roots, Dirty Projectors, The Swell Season, Raphael Saadiq and The Shins.

The first track to go live is Nas' version of 'Hey Young World' by Slick Rick. Nas says of the track: "Slick Rick is my personal favourite MC. This record opened my eyes to how big hip hop could become and Levi's Pioneer Sessions gave me the freedom to re-connect with the record in a new way".

Levi's VP Brand Marketing, Doug Sweeny added: "This campaign brings together influential musical pioneers of today with some of the most iconic musicians of all time. We are excited to work with such an inspirational group of musicians while providing a platform for music fans to check out remakes of original iconic songs".

Download Nas track (and future releases) for free from www.levispioneersessions.com

Lily Allen has been replaced by Vanessa Paradis (who already advertises the company's perfumes) as the face of Chanel Handbags after the company decided not to renew Ms Allen's contract. The British singer fronted an advertising campaign for the Chanel Cocoon bag last year.

A spokesperson for Chanel simply told reporters: "Lily was the face, but now it is Vanessa".

Sources have claimed that designer Karl Lagerfeld personally decided to drop Lily after she got too drunk at a party at his house last year. He subsequently felt that she was too much of a 'party girl' to be involved with the brand. Though, ironically, he seemingly decided to communicate the fact she was out of favour by not inviting her to a party; his party at this month's Cannes Film Festival.

A source claimed: "Karl had a show and a party, but Lily was not invited. It was Karl's way of making it clear she is no longer a part of the Chanel family. He instructed his people not to invite her. He is very strict about who can represent the brand and there is a feeling that Lily is too much of a party girl".