By Gary Graff

DETROIT (Billboard) - Uncle Kracker closes a five-year gap between albums with the September 15 release of "Happy Hour," a project he described as "not a big departure from anything I've done before."

"It's a pop-rock record, still with a little country (and) soul fused through it," Kracker (real name Matt Shafer) told Billboard.com. "There's more uptempo than there is on my last three records. I'm pretty stoked about it."

By Monica Herrera, N.Y.

Summer is just around the corner, but Sting has another season on his mind. The singer announced today (June 17) that his next album, "If On a Winter's Night...," will be inspired by his favorite time of year and feature two original compositions as well as traditional songs, carols and lullabies from the British Isles. The album is slated for release October 27 on Deutsche Grammophon.

By Andre Paine, London

The U.K. Amazon service, Amazon.co.uk, has confirmed that a "pricing error" resulted in hit albums being sold for just 29p (47 cents).

Although Amazon.co.uk has aggressively priced its new MP3 store, with albums as low as £3 ($4.88), the massive drop on titles by Lily Allen, Coldplay, Bruce Springsteen, Kings of Leon and Metallica yesterday (June 17) was a mistake.

By Keith Caulfield, L.A.

Black Eyed Peas' "The E.N.D." bows at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, selling 304,000 -- the hip-pop act's best sales week ever. It's also the first No. 1 album for the group, which had previously gone as high as No. 2. Its last set, 2005's "Monkey Business," bowed in the runner-up slot with a then-best 291,000. It had the unfortunate luck to come out the same week as Coldplay's "X&Y," which kept the Peas' at bay when it started at No. 1 with 737,000.

Reuters

China's Internet watchdog condemned the Chinese-language version of Google on Thursday for "disseminating pornographic and vulgar information."

The China Internet Illegal Information Reporting Center said it had complained twice to Google about the "pornographic and vulgar links" available through its search engine (www.google.cn).

"Google China has not conducted the oversight required according to China's laws and regulations, and a large volume of foreign internet pornographic information has entered our borders through this Web site," the center said.

By Lars Brandle, Brisbane

Katy Perry is attempting to block an Australian fashion designer from trade-marking her clothing range with the brand name Katie Perry.

The designer, who started her high-end Katie Perry loungewear label two years ago, apparently launched a trademark application in September 2008 and recently opened her first outlet in Sydney. But she was hit with a cease-and-desist order from representatives of the EMI-signed artist, in an attempt to halt the "similar name" being used in connection with the clothing label.

By Aymeric Pichevin, Paris

French independent labels collecting society SPPF has filed a lawsuit against YouTube for alleged copyright infringement.

In a statement, the producers' body said that more than 100 music videos of its catalog, which had been taken down by YouTube in 2008 following SPPF's request, were again available on the service in some form. SPPF is claiming €10 million [$13.9 million] in damages.

By Ben Sheffner

The recording industry secured a resounding victory when a Minnesota jury awarded the four major labels $1.92 million in damages after unanimously finding that Jammie Thomas-Rasset had willfully infringed on their copyrights by downloading and sharing 24 songs on the Kazaa peer-to-peer network.

By Christa Titus

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani hasn't commented much on his legal tangle with Coldplay, but he has plenty to say about his new band, Chickenfoot. The latest in a line of supergroups to pop up recently, the act features former Van Halen vocalist Sammy Hagar and bassist Michael Anthony and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith.

By Monica Herrera

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Mariah Carey will release her 12th studio album, "Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel," August 25 on Island Def Jam, the singer announced Tuesday.

The debut single "Obsessed" has shipped to radio, while a music video directed by Brett Ratner is forthcoming. Tricky Stewart and The-Dream, who co-wrote "Obsessed" with Carey, produced the majority of the tracks.