Brand New, Taking Back Sunday and Yellowcard have been confirmed as headliners for the 2004 Skate & Surf Festival, which will run April 16-18 at Convention Hall in Asbury Park, N.J.. The yearly punk-themed event will also boast performances by Sparta, Andrew WK, Funeral For A Friend, Midtown, Less Than Jake and Something Corporate.

Three-day passes are on sale, with individual day tickets going up for grabs tomorrow (Feb. 14). In related news, 2003 festival headliners and native Garden State act Thursday will launch Skate & Surf Week April 12 when they play the Starland Ballroom in nearby Sayreville, N.J.

-- John D. Luerssen, N.Y.

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Although the nominations was announced earlier this week, Nickelback's "The Long Road" has been added in the album of the year category for Canada's Juno Awards. "This nomination results from the discovery of a data-entry error," the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) admitted yes. "Due to this, the album of the year category will, for 2004 only, contain six nominees."

Nominees in the category are based entirely on sales and are traditionally limited to five per category. The change was made after CARAS members questioned the tabulations, resulting in a re-check by an independent consulting firm. Nickelback joins Michael Buble, Celine Dion, Nelly Furtado, Sam Roberts and Sarah McLachlan as artists with albums nominated in the category.

The Juno Awards will be handed out April 4 in Edmonton. Nickelback, Furtado and McLachlan lead the field with five nominations each.

-- Jason MacNeil, N.Y.

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R&B act Ideal has wrapped work on the album "From Now On," which will be released this spring by Neutral Ground/Universal Records. Rapper Cee-Lo joins the group on lead single "Makin' Time." Guest producers include Brian Michael-Cox, Rockwilder, Nisan Stewart, Mike City and Battle Cat.

Ideal members J-Danti, Maverick, PZ and Swab were previously signed to Virgin. The foursome's self-titled 1999 album peaked at No. 19 on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and has sold 615,000 units in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan.

During its Virgin tenure, Ideal charted four singles. "Get Gone" and "Whatever" (featuring Lil' Mo), reached No. 2 and No. 11, respectively, on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart.

-- Gail Mitchell, L.A.