Chinese pianist Wang Jue won first place in Spain`s Paloma O?Shea Santander International Piano ...

SHANGHAI, August 6, 2008 (AFP) - Google has launched a free music search service in China in partnership with a website backed by investors who include basketball star Yao Ming.

ATHENS, August 6, 2008 (AFP) - Heavy metal group Iron Maiden are looking for a one-off guitar allegedly stolen during a weekend concert in Greece, the group said on their website.

In a message posted on Monday, Iron Maiden noted that the Jackson guitar belonging to guitarist Adrian Smith was missing after Saturday's show and offered a reward of a Maiden tour jacket for its return.

BERLIN, August 5, 2008 (AFP) - Sony has agreed to buy the 50 percent it does not already own in music giant Sony BMG from German media group Bertelsmann for an undisclosed amount, Bertelsmann said in a statement on Tuesday.

'The music company, to be called Sony Music Entertainment Inc. (SMEI), will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America,' it added.

KINSHASA, August 3, 2008 (AFP) - Thousands of Congolese packed into a stadium in the capital Kinshasa Sunday to pay their final respects to the country's best-known musician, Papa Wendo, who died on July 28 aged 83.

Among the mourners were senior government figures, parliamentarians, diplomats, artists, fellow musicians and ordinary Congolese.

KUALA LUMPUR, August 2, 2008 (AFP) - The Pussycat Dolls and British pop sensation Leona Lewis added a bit of glamour and sex appeal to MTV's Asia Awards show on Saturday, which showcased the best in global and regional music.

PERPIGNAN, August 1, 2008 (AFP) - A French youth has been charged with posing online as the star of teen rock band Tokio Hotel to trick young girls into sending him nude photos, police said Friday.

LONDON, July 31, 2008 (AFP) - A reel-to-reel tape of a Beatles recording session punctuated by John Lennon and Paul McCartney cracking jokes and having fits of giggles will be auctioned next week.

The 30-minute tape is believed to have been recorded in 1964 and features songs composed by Lennon and McCartney as well as songs composed by other artists, auction house Cameo said.

LOS ANGELES, July 29, 2008 (AFP) - Jennifer Lopez will be able to call on her newly acquired parenting skills for her latest film role, where she plays a professional thief posing as a nanny, it was reported on Tuesday.

KINSHASA, July 29, 2008 (AFP) - Veteran world music star Papa Wendo, considered the father of the Congolese Rumba, has died aged 82, an NGO announced Tuesday.

The musician 'died Monday at 5:00 pm following a long illness,' Shaka Kongo, head of Artists in Danger told AFP. He was admitted to intensive care at a Kishasa clinic on Monday suffering organ failure.