The House of Marley is bringing a headphone line to Best Buy stores with a portion of the proceeds going to 1love.org, a foundation dedicated to spreading Bob Marley's message of unity and peace.

"My father spread messages of love, hope, unity, and peace through his music and it is our family's responsibility and mission to bring his vision to a new generation," said Rohan Marley, Bob's son, on behalf of the family. "MARLEY audio products make perfect sense and are created with a focus on using sustainable products and providing exceptional sound that our family is proud to call our own."

MARLEY is comprised of three collections, Jammin', Freedom, and Destiny, and Best Buy is featuring MARLEY noise isolating in-ear and on-ear headphones.
"We're thrilled to be working with Best Buy to bring our new MARLEY headphones to their customers," said Don Inmon, General Manager, The House of Marley.

To check out the collection visit www.bestbuy.com keyword: House of Marley.

On August 8th, Jay-Z and Kanye West will release their album together entitled, Watch The Throne. And the world is doing exactly what they wanted.

But not for the reasons you think. Sure these guys getting together musically is an audio treat for rap fans that want to hear some bragging, depth, wordplay and soul music.

And yes the second leak record lived up to the hype and sparked multiple renditions, freestyles, and barbershop talk about whether the chopped up "Otis" is fire, just cool or unbearable.

However, the industry wasn't ready for the kind of impact that we are seeing in this bootleg, free-download era.
It's August 5th and there are no leaks, torrents, or snippets of the entire album on the Internet.

And how was this achieved? No web access in the studio when they recorded, the songs were totally protected by the engineers and producers, and most of all, no hard copy manufacturing has even happened yet.

Why hadn't anyone thought of this before? Well they have. But this time the throne is being observed and it makes a difference. So on Tuesday, everyone will be rushing to their computers instead of the stores and when they do go to the store, it will only be Best Buy, Target and Wal-mart four days later.

The result could possibly be similar to the 80's and early 90's when you copped an album because you wanted it. You weren't thinking about dubbing it, borrowing it, or listening to someone else's first to see if it was worth your money.

If you're a fan of Hov and you know Ye puts out heat, then you're going to go get it. Well there's only one place for now and that place is tracked by Soundscan. Of course on that day, the links will be available and the entire week will open the door for free downloads, but name a time in history when an album this heavily anticipated wasn't everywhere at least three days before its official release.

The major labels are looking at this blueprint, the rappers are peeping the formula and the people are watching.

Will The Throne live up to expectations? I'm sure it will. I've been alerted that they toss their wealth at us a bit much during these tough financial times, that some concepts outweigh the actual song and Jay and Ye don't always mesh. But for the most part, all 12 of the folks that have heard it are excited and promise that this collaborative joint will be regarded as great. The music, the rhymes, and the features are all placed well enough that critics will be satisfied.

The interesting trend that may be adopted after this is release dates that start out digital and end up in stores at a later date if this all works out for the two emcees. Keep watching.

Watch The Throne Trailer

With everything going digital in the music business, consumers may not be the only ones forgetting about record stores.

Jay-Z and Kanye West decided to give iTunes their Watch The Throne EP on August 8, four days before the physical release, and Best Buy has an exclusive on the deluxe edition of the album for the first ten days of its release.

The independent record store owners have banded together to write an open letter to the Roc boys to let them know how this affects them and the industry.

With only 2,000 stores left that sell vinyl and CDs outside of the Target, Wal-mart and Best Buy stores, by losing exclusivity, the chances anyone will wait to buy the album from them is slim.

So the letter had been written, signed, and they hope to get it published in Billboard magazine. We'd love to see a response from Hov and Ye's reps. Read the full letter below.

"Dear Jay-Z and Kanye West,

Independent record stores serve our communities. Our passion is music, and
we convey this to the millions of customers who come to our stores. That's
what we do.

Four years ago independent music stores across the country banded together
to create Record Store Day. Our goal was to counter the negative media
coverage about the supposed demise of record stores brought on by the
closing of the Tower stores and to respond to the music business practices
that fans deemed to be manipulative and onerous.

We reached out to the artist community to see if they would join us, and the
response was overwhelming with words of support coming in from Paul
McCartney, Erykah Badu, Tom Waits, Chuck D, the Foo Fighters and countless
others. Working with their label partners, many of these musicians created
limited edition works of art, including vinyl and CDs made especially for
music specialty retail. Hundreds of these artists took the opportunity to
perform, DJ, and interact with their fans in our record stores. Here in the
US, Record Store Day lifted the entire music business by 8% and contributed
to the growth in music sales.

Record Store Day is now one of the biggest
music events in history with millions of people participating worldwide. We
also continue to work throughout the year with labels, artists and managers
and run regular promotions via physical independent retail and
recordstoreday.com.

We are responding to the bad news that your new album will not be available
to independent record stores until after iTunes gets a window of
exclusivity. We also learned that the deluxe version (which is what the true
music fans who shop our stores will want by an overwhelming majority) will
only be available at Best Buy exclusively for a period of time.

We believe
this is a short-sighted strategy, and that your decisions will be doing
great damage to over 1,700 independent record stores -- stores that have
supported you and your music for years.

We know that you are busy, and that you put most of your energies into
creating great music, but we are writing to you in the hope that you will
hear us and take the time to rectify this matter. As representatives of the
independent record store music community, we are asking you to allow record
stores and music fans equal access to your new album.

With the utmost respect,

Dedry Jones, The Music Experience
Mike Dreese, Newbury Comics
Judy Negley, Independent Records
Mike Batt, Silver Platters
Tobago Benito, DBS Sounds
Brian Faber, Zia Records
Karen Pearson, Amoeba Music
Bryan Burkert, The Sound Garden
Mike Wise, Monster
Rob Roth, Vintage Vinyl
Joe Nardone, Jr., Gallery of Sound
Jonathan Fernandez, Rasputin Music
Dilyn Radakovitz, Dimple Records
Dustin Hansen, Graywhale Entertainment
Bill Kennedy, BK Music
Jim Bland, Plan Nine
Steve Wilson, Kiefs
Tom King, Central Square Records
Alayna Hill Alderman, Richard Storms, Record Archive
Karl Groeger, Looney Tunes
Paul Epstein, Twist and Shout
Nancy Salzer, Salzer's Records
Rick Ziegler, Indy CD
Laura, Finders Records
Deon Borchard, Nic Fritze, The Long Ear
Chuck Oken, Rhino /Mad Platter
Allan Miller, John Bevis, Disc Exchange
Charlotte Kubat, Magnolia Thunderpussy
John Kunz, Waterloo Records
Chris Avino, Rainbow Records
Mike Fratt, Homers
Rich Koch, Off the Record
Skip Hermans, Skip's Record and CD World
Jason Patton, Oz Music
Quinn Bishop, Cactus Records
John Timmons, ear X tacy
Lou Russell, Lou's Records
Roger Weiss, Streetlight Records
Terry Currier, Music Millenium
Andrew Chinnici, Lakeshore Record Exchange
Michael Bunnell, The Record Exchange
Mike White, Boo Boo Records   
Steve Baron, CD Central   
Eric Levin, Criminal Records   
Pat O'connor, Culture Clash   
Dan Plunkett, End Of An Ear   
Paula Kret, Exile On Main St   
Chris Penn, Good Records   
Doyle Davis, Grimey's   
Travis Searle, Guestroom Records   
Jim Mcguinn, Hot Poop   
Isaac Slusarenko, Jackpot Records   
Jason Nickey & Heath Byers, Landlocked Music   
Todd Robinson, Luna Music   
Darren & Jim Blase, Shake It   
Anna & Chris Brozek, Slowtrain   
Kimber Lanning, Stinkweeds   
Tom 'Papa' Ray, Vintage Vinyl"

Grammy award winning producer/songwriter Dallas Austin is premiering a new portable beat machine, Beat Thang, with the help of his company Rowdy Electronics and the distributor Best Buy.

The Beat Thang, marketed as “the most powerful portable beat machine ever created,"  boasts over 3,000 sounds, a sampler, sequencer, rechargeable battery and full color 3.5 inch LCD screen.

Austin, famous for producing such hits as TLC's “Aint To Proud To Beg,” “Creep” and “Waterfalls” collaborated on the beat machine with Beat Kangz Electronics and is preparing on making personal appearances at Best Buys in Atlanta, New York, Miam and Nashville to promote the product.

"We'll be showing everyone how you can sing into it, play keyboards into it, put beats into it – anything," said Austin. "We'll also have a few for pre-order because once we hit the release date, it's anyone's guess how many will be available to the industry. We only produced 1,000 units and the buzz is running pretty hot."

Beat Thang will retail at Best Buy for the price of $1,500.

While out promoting the innovative audio enhancers at New York City's Union Square Best Buy, Dre  found himself targeted by questions off subject but exactly what everyone was wondering. In particular,an interviewer took it upon himself to ask the million dollar question, “WHEN IS HE RELEASING DETOX?!”

The good doctor answered the question very vaguely saying,

“The minute it's done and it feels right to me, that's when it'll come out. Hopefully in the beginning of the year.”

We've all heard that one before. In other words, NEVER. SMH

Just as he thought he would be asked about his latest technological advance, Dre found himself cornered once again after being presented with a question about 50 Cent and Game. When asked his opinion on their consistently brewing beef he responded,

"Everything is good. Been working with both guys, everything is good. Both guys are gonna be on my record. I'm just trying to put it back where it's supposed to be, all love."

Getting back to the reason for the event, Dre introduced his latest collaboration with Best Buy, and Interscope.

“What we're trying to do with Beats is make sure everybody not only gets the best listening sound but the right way to listen to it.”

After watching this footage it's clear that Dre's focused on getting money. Sorry for everyone waiting patiently on Detox, looks like you'll have to be content with watching him in soda commercials and promoting headphones.  For now at least…..

Calling the venture Club Beats, the joint venture is a partnership with Monster and Beats Electronics and will be featured in roughly 300 stores where consumers will be given the opportunity to sample the latest audio, music, entertainment and technology products such as mixing software, turntables and laptops.

To further promote the venture, the retailer will be hosting numerous events which will have artists such as Lady Gaga, Black Eyed Peas' Will.i.am and Dre dropping for special appearances.

Although spanning out to 300, there will be seven distinct stores that will show the experiment in its entirety which will feature a vast range of products which will make Best Buy somewhat of a haven for DJS.

Some stores will be dubbed as an “interactive” area which will have fewer products to play around with and others will feature a “core”  which will have product selection, merchandising signage and customer service assistance.  Call the “core” section of Club Beats the area for Q&A without actually having a hands on experience with the products.

In related news, Game and Dre have once again joined forces as they are providing input for each other's upcoming projects Detox and The R.E.D. Album.

During an interview with DJ Green Lantern, Game spoke on linking back up to once again be the Doctor's Advocate for his fourth album and putting in some work for Dre's third offering.

“It's basically the rededication, it's my most hood and street album since The Documentary so it's basically being rededicated to my fans, my family, my kids, my block, my hood.  Like Hip-Hop, The R.E.D. Album is gonna be crazy.  I'm back in with Dre everyday going hard in the studio doing the little stuff, working on Detoz with him and he's working on The R.E.D. Album with me.”

With Snoop and Malice in Wonderland on the heels of release, it feels like the West Coast is starting to rumble again.