• Universal Australia prematurely released the new U2 album to getmusic.com.au, a site run by Universal Music Australia. Oops. (LiveNews)

• Spotify, the new music service that everybody seems to love (it's not yet available to U.S. users) has landed an exclusive on the upcoming new U2 album. Which would be impressive if Universal Australia didn't already have an exclusive on it. (Music Week)

• P2P networks have the new U2 album. (CNET)

• Continuing the brilliant roll-out of the new album, Wal-Mart posted and then quickly removed audio samples from the new U2 album. (Spinner)

• On day four of the Pirate Bay trial, the defendants tried to act as if their business is really not much of an organized business. "Peter Danowsky, who represents the music business, pointed out that Niej owned The Pirate Bay's domain and then showed him a contract he had signed saying that he would oversee operations for the site. Neij's response? 'But I didn't read it.'"(Ars Technica)

• Video of MySpace Music President Courtney Holt at the EconMusic conference. (paidContent)

• Rascal Flatts continues the tradition of country artists partnering with retailers. The band will work with JC Penney for a minimum of two years. (Billboard.biz)