Fans who purchase Jewel [ tickets ]'s forthcoming album, "0304," will be able to download two previously unreleased live tracks between June 3 (the album's release date) and June 9, according to Atlantic Records.

The first run of the CD will be packaged with a limited edition, collectible, Jewel download-card containing a pin number that allows access to a website from which the tracks--solo versions of "The New Wild West" and "Life Uncommon"--can be downloaded.

The Kazaa Media Desktop--controversial software that allows the swapping of music and other files over the Internet--is now the most downloaded software on the Internet, according to parent company Shaman Networks Limited. The company claims that its software has been downloaded more than 230 million times, overtaking previous record-holder ICQ.

A huge batch of Britney Spears [ tickets ] memorabilia is being sold via an online auction to benefit the Britney Spears Foundation, a non-profit that benefits needy children.

Among the items up for bid at the site--GottaHaveIt.com (which was experiencing technical difficulties on Friday afternoon (5/23))--are more than 50 costumes, including the green bra top and miniskirt that Spears wore during her 2001 MTV Video Music Awards appearance.

Eminem [ tickets ] is scheduled to appear in Michigan's Macomb County Circuit Court on May 30 to answer to a $1 million defamation lawsuit that a former classmate filed against him. Custodian and aspiring rapper DeAngelo Bailey, whom Eminem paints as a bully in the song "Brain Damage" (from 1999's "The Slim Shady LP"), alleges that Eminem made up the stories in the song and damaged his reputation.

The lyrics that will no doubt be scrutinized: "I was harassed daily by this fat kid named DeAngelo Bailey/An eighth grader who acted obnoxious, 'cause his father boxes/So every day he'd shove me into the lockers/And he had me in the position to beat me into submission/He banged my head against the urinal until he broke my nose/Soaked my clothes in blood, grabbed me, and choked my throat."

Pearl Jam [ tickets ]--via a discreet announcement on its Rumor Pit website-- announced that it has left Sony's Epic label.

In response to the posted question "Have Pearl Jam left their record company yet," the response is a simple "yes."