In the News: Brands Get Rhythm

Brands are luring music-lovers with a variety of musical tie-ins:

• Adidas Originals is hosting a live chat with Snoop Dogg on its Facebook page tomorrow to celebrate reaching the 3 million fans benchmark.
• Converse is appealing to hipsters with indie music collaborations such as artists Cudi, above, and Best Coast.
• Keds is sponsoring performances at The Whitney (and taps artists such as Jenny Holzer for limited-edition sneakers) in summer collaboration.
• Levi's is promoting musicians such as Jason Mraz and John Legend & the Roots as part of its Pioneer campaign.
• VICE magazine and Intel kicked off their Creators Project collaboration in NYC, featuring the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Nick Zinner and other artists.
• Among luxury brands, meanwhile, Burberry is working with British musicians (and tapping some to model) to support its digital marketing.

More brands making news after the jump.

Altria and tobacco manufacturers are relieved that U.S. Supreme Court upheld legal status quo on key case.

AMC pitches upfront buys with cable operators' Canoe ad platform.

Apple is facing a class action suit over iPhone 4.

BlackBerry-maker RIM expects to see boost from new products and operating system.

CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric reportedly turned down Larry King's show on CNN.

Comcast's Versus scores bigger ad deals for 2010 Tour de France.

Digg's Kevin Rose sparks rumor mill that Google is working on a Facebook-killer called Google Me.

Dove is seeking non-models with "flawless skin" for next campaign.

Eight O'Clock Coffee brews up iPad-dangling commuter promo in NYC's Grand Central station.

Facebook: a divorce lawyer's best friend.

Ford CEO Bill Ford is helping fund ideas that could ease congested roads.

Ford also expanded its relationship with country singer Toby Keith.

Hearst promotes Cathie Black to chairwoman, hires Conde Nast's David Carey to replace her.

NBC is losing Steve Carell as the star of the U.S. remake of The Office after next season.

News Corp. looks to boost ad revenue with cross-publication sales strategy.

P&G refocuses Bounty advertising.

Swatch creator Nicholas Hayek dies at 82.

UK broadcast authority Ofcom aims to permit product placement and paid-for references on TV and commercial radio.

US mortgage ads urged to clear up confusing language in wake of new financial regulations.

US ad agency bands together to fight stronger FTC regulation.

Saturday's USA-Ghana soccer match was the best-viewed TV soccer game in U.S. history, breaking a 16-year record.

Some 57% of U.S. Web surfers visit newspaper websites.