Stuff Musicians should know.

Music Education Leader Alfred Music Publishing Revitalizes Music Education Customizable, Print OnDemand Music Textbooks Help Fight Budget Cuts and Cater to Varied Classroom Settings. In the days of school budget cuts and alternative learning environments, music classrooms come in all shapes and sizes. To help music teachers make the most out of their time with their students and teach most effectively, Alfred Music Publishing has created a revolutionary technology that allows music teachers to customize their music curriculum based on the needs of their unique classroom, school, or district.

* Eddie Blazonczyk, dubbed the ‘King of Polka,’ has now passed.  Blazonczyk suffered from heart-related conditions, and was 70.

* Universal Music Group has now filed responses to a class action suit brought by the Temptations, Rob Zombie, Chuck D and the estate of Rick James (among others).  On the issue of whether downloads should be treated as sales or licenses, UMG says the former was a rational and reasonable business decision.

* In or around Oakland? The California Music Industry Summit is happening at the Stork Club on June 8-9, with Slacker, NARIP, E-40, BandPage, and the mayor of Oakland among the attendees.

* A few realignments are emerging following Alliance Entertainment’s acquisition of digital-to-physical distributor Audiolife.  In particular, Audiolife partner Topspin will be shifting its physical fulfillment to Alliance, and expanding its suite of services in the process.

* Spotify just landed in Australia, sure, but MOG?  This was unexpected, though MOG has recently tied with ISP Telstra, with a launch touted ‘within weeks’.

* Actually, there’s even more Facebook news to care about, though we’re unclear how much work this means for bands.  The company is now tweaking a few Timeline changes, and many of these alterations could become permanent.  These appear to be cosmetic to the average user (though quite possibly, a headache for everyone else).

* Take twenty file-sharing studies, put them together, and what do we find?  That’s exactly the ‘meta-research’ undertaken by Zeropaid, which found “no scientific basis for laws such as a ‘graduated response’ or censorship of the internet.”

Pioneers For A Cure – Songs To Fight Cancer Releases ‘Best Jazz Songs of 2012′ on iTunes New collection features Bill Evans, John Pizzarelli, Randy Brecker, Chris Potter and other acclaimed jazz artists raising funds to fight cancer with song.