by SHANE SINNOTT

Savvy readers of the Load-down will remember that, about 18 months ago, the SAC (Songwriters Association of Canada) proposed a cool-sounding but impractical scheme whereby, basically, every Internet user would throw them five bucks a month, and in return theyd look the other way on any and all music downloading. It was impractical because it wasnt voluntary for either Internet users or musicianseveryone with an ISP account had to pay, and everyone releasing music had to allow the downloading. Now, a year and a half later, the SAC has come back with an updated plan which addresses the above concerns. They propose that both Internet users and musicians be able to opt out of the plan if they dont want downloading protection or royalties, respectively, and theyve left the proposed $5 fee to be decided by the Copyright Board of Canada. Still unaddressed, however, is the huge issue of, Well wouldnt this make every copyright-holding groupmovie distributors, book publishers, cookbook writersdemand a fixed monthly fee for copyright violations against them? Basically, the SAC is slowly coming around to proposals that places like the Electronic Frontier Foundation (eff.org) have been arguing for for five yearsnamely, that we just acknowledge that piracy is never going to stop, and come up with a reasonable agreement between the pirate and the copyright holder that leaves them both happy. You can read the details of the new proposal at musicfilesharing.ca.

Those of you into nostalgia were no doubt happy to find out about the upcoming Nine Inch Nails and Janes Addiction tour, cleverly titled NINJA. In their continuing efforts to upend the music industry (and make Radiohead look bad), NIN has released a free tour sampler containing unreleased tracks from both bands, which you can download at ninja2009.com. Give a valid e-mail address and theyll send you a link.

Finally, last.fm, that ubiquitous online radio site that lets you listen to pretty much anything for free, is finding the whole not-charging-for-the-service thing to be economically unfeasible. As of March 30, youre gonna have to pony up three Euros a month to continue listening.

>>Six picks for clicks

Dan Deacon, Paddling Ghost: Hey, Dan, will the songs on your new record have that same nuthouse energy as the last? Pretty much. tinyurl.com/cfazjc

The Fray, Heartless: Remember that awful piano-rock band? Listen to them miss the point of Kayne West Heartless. tinyurl.com/c3ynkr

Bill Callahan, The Breeze/My Baby Cries: Two minutes of this is worth more than the entire emo genre. tinyurl.com/cg333h

Metric, Twilight Galaxy: Dont you think Emily Hainess voice sounds better with a bunch of processing than it does here? tinyurl.com/cnt7fw

Prince, Dreamer: The rocker from the just-released LOtUSFLOW3R. tinyurl.com/cxm9te

Neko Case, The Pharoahs: From Middle Cyclone, sure to make many best-of-2009 lists. tinyurl.com/ccv4rw