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Public Image Limited’s John Lydon has kickstarted the countdown to Record Store Day 2012 with a gig launch in London’s Shoreditch – the event was live-streamed by Boiler Room TV. The initial list of over 350 exclusive Record Store Day releases was also unveiled at the concert.

DEWeezy showed its face at SXSW last week. What is it? It’s a major Mountain Dew campaign starring Lil Wayne, which, as well as featuring ads, social networking activities and artist appearances for the brand, will see a skate park built in Lil Wayne’s hometown of New Orleans.

Lil Wayne hit the stage of the Austin Music Hall last Thursday, along with a heavy dose of DEWeezy, marking the first time the artist has ever gone in for a spot of product endorsement.

Kohl’s Department Stores has joined forces with FremantleMedia Enterprises, 19 Entertainment and Bravado to launch an American Idol fashion collection, Authentic Icon, writes Maria Stadtmueller. The line will be available spring collection will be available in Kohl’s stores until June to coincide with American Idol’s 11th season.

The US launch of Spotify and the rollout of cloud-based streaming services from Apple and Amazon are paving the way for a transition from ownership to access in the digital music space, reports eMarketer in its Top Digital Trends 2012 research.

Absolut Vodka tasked Swedish House Mafia (Axwell, Sebastian Ingrosso and Steve Angello) to write the  music for the drinks brand’s upcoming US advertising campaign. The instrumental track, Greyhound, and is already available for download.

Atlantic Records has developed an iPad e-book, For Your Sake: Inside The Making Of Shinedown’s Amaryllis, to mark the release of Shinedown’s Amaryllis album at the end of this month. The 72-page digital book, which will retail at $5.99, recounts the story of the band’s new tracks and the creative process behind the album. It will also feature exclusive image galleries and videos.