Hoosiers, Lightspeed Champion, Róisín Murphy, Battles, Richard Hawley, Kate Nash, Scouting for Girls, The Zutons, Newton Faulkner, Pendulum and Bowling for Soup were announced for Oxegen 2008. On Wednesday March 5 at 8 a.m., tickets went on sale for Prince's performance at Croke Park on June 16, priced at €66.50. On Thursday March 6, the first issue of State appeared on Irish shelves. By October it was being given away for free. Also on Thursday March 6, Oxegen 2008 was officially launched with official confirmation of appearances by Amy Winehouse, The Pogues, The Charlatans and The Swell Season, featuring Oscar winners Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová. A breakdown of the acts was also revealed for the first time. This was in preparation for Friday March 7, when tickets for the festival went on general sale at 8 a.m. On Monday March 10 at 9 a.m., tickets for Neil Young's Malahide Castle show on Sunday June 29 and his performance at the Marquee in Cork on June 30, priced at €81.25 standing, went on sale. On Wednesday March 12 at 9 a.m., tickets for Lou Reed's performance at the Marquee in Cork on Monday June 23 went on sale, priced between €54.80 and €65.70. On March 12, a new website offered free festival tickets in exchange for sperm donations. On Thursday March 13, there was uproar and bewilderment as it was revealed that R.E.M.'s new album Accelerate would be accepted as "Irish music" by the BCI. As the album was recorded in Grouse Lodge Studios in County Westmeath it qualifies as "Irish". BCI chief executive Michael O'Keeffe confirmed this was to be the case. "It's supporting the Irish music industry," he said. Kylie Minogue, who recorded a number of tracks for her album Fever in Dublin's Windmill Lane Studios, including the title track and the hit single "Love at First Sight", would also be considered "Irish". Irish musicians openly condemned the position. Steve Wall was "speechless", but then contradicted himself by saying: "That's the first time I heard that." "It sounds ridiculous. Shame on them", was the view of Concerto For Constantine bassist, Gavin Fox, calling it "just another excuse for stations not to get behind Irish music." Kíla's Colm Ó Snodaigh quoted Bob Dylan, who wrote that radio was "gutless and flabby", before exemplifying the Choice Music Prize, pointedly referring to how "we used to have Def Leppard and Lisa