Source: billboard

It seems like Pharrell's on everything these days, and his discography now includes a spot on a remix of Bruno Mars' "Gorilla."
On Twitter Friday (Oct. 8), Mars dropped the remix of the "Unorthodox Jukebox" single, saying it featured "two of [his] favorite artist[s]": the producer/rapper extraordinaire and R&B/soul crooner R. Kelly.
If you thought the original "Gorilla" -- with its lines about primal, uninhibited sex -- was dirty enough, does Mars and co. have a treat in store for you.




The remix -- referred to officially as a 'G-mix' -- features Pharrell making a number of sexual allusions to yoga poses, though it's R. Kelly that gets down and dirty, imitating the "ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh"s of the original and primates themselves while declaring that he'll make a certain part of your anatomy growl.
The release of the remix follows the official "Gorilla" video, a steamy affair that dropped last month.
"Gorilla" sits at No. 28 on the Hot 100 -- six spots down from its No. 22 peak last week.

Eminem is the latest artist to join the MTV EMAs performers bill.
The rapper made the stealth announcement Friday by sending out a YouTube link via Twitter to a new 16-second promo set to one of his new tracks, "Berzerk," off the recent release, "The Marshall Mathers LP 2."
The teaser opens with a cassette tape being inserted into a large boombox with the MTV EMAs statuette right next to it, against the backdrop of Amsterdam, where this year's ceremony takes place, before "Berzerk" begins to play. (Eminem announced the release date of his album during the Aug. 25 telecast of the MTV VMAs.)


Eminem, who has 13 EMA wins (the most of any artist), joins previously announced performers Miley Cyrus, Robin Thicke, Katy Perry, Bruno Mars, The Killers, Snoop Dogg and Afrojack. LMFAO's Redfoo will host the awards show.
"We like to let moments happen," Bruce Gillmer, co-executive producer of the show and executive vp talent and music programming/events at Viacom International Media Networks, told The Hollywood Reporter recently. "We have very dynamic personalities in one room who bring their own energy to the event. If you try to overproduce, the audience senses that."
Justin Timberlake and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis lead with five nominations each, while Cyrus, Thicke, Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber follow with four noms.
A U.S. telecast, taking place from New York City, co-hosted by Glee's Darren Criss, Cher Lloyd and Andrew Schulz will air as a lead-up to the ceremony.
Watch the promo below.

The MTV EMAs take place Sunday, Nov. 10.

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A federal judge in New York has tossed rapper DMX's bankruptcy filing, making him fair game for creditors.
The Journal News reports that a bankruptcy judge in White Plains dismissed the 42-year-old rapper's July 29 Chapter 11 filing on Friday.


The hip-hop star's real name is Earl Simmons. The judge's move means he could lose his possessions including his share in a home in suburban Mount Kisko.

Simmons' biggest debt is $1.3 million in child support owed to some of the 10 children he has fathered.

U.S. Trustee Tracy Hope Davis said Simmons failed to provide trustworthy information in his bankruptcy filing.

Simmons' publicist Domenick Nati said he was unaware of the court hearing.

Simmons was arrested Monday in South Carolina on charges including driving with a suspended license.
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Britney Spears doesn't just have a new album on her plate in the coming months -- in fact, she has an extra responsibility afforded to her, courtesy of VH1.
The pop star has been named one of VH1's "Save the Music" ambassadors, Rolling Stone reports. Spears is joined by Hunter Hayes, Taye Diggs, Diane Birch and Cher Lloyd as 2014's class of ambassadors.
Past representatives of the program include Beyonce, Katy Perry, Kelly Clarkson, Jason Mraz and more.
Spears' eighth album, "Britney Jean," is scheduled for a Dec. 3 release in the U.S. Lead single "Work Bitch" has peaked at No. 12 on the Hot 100, while follow-up "Perfume" was released earlier this week.

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Source: billboard

Source: billboard

"Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour" returns to North America for 40 more dates next year, looking to sell another 120,000 tickets

The most important of those was with Activision, the videogame producer whose “Call of Duty” line of first-person-shooters -- the most recent of which, "Call of Duty: Ghosts," brought in $1 billion on its first day of release -- has become one of the most lucrative entertainment franchises in the world. The company had licensed music from Eminem for previous installments of the game, and Rosenberg approached it in the spring with the prospect of a partnership that would go much deeper.
As part of a multifaceted deal, the terms of which weren’t disclosed, Eminem and Interscope licensed the Marshall Mathers LP 2 song “Survival” for use in Activision’s holiday tent-pole “Call of Duty: Ghosts” and relevant marketing materials. The song had its world premiere, before any details about the album were announced, at a “Call of Duty” event in Los Angeles in August. A video for the track, financed by Activision and featuring Eminem in front of a backdrop of in-game footage, was released the following month.
“We know from our own research that our fans have a really strong affinity for Eminem -- there’s a lot of overlap there,” Activision chief marketing officer Tim Ellis says. “Aligning the two brands is something we think will continue to serve us well into the future.”
Beyond the “Survival” deal, Interscope and Activision conspired to unite their formidable forces at retail. The two parties coordinated the release of the album and the game for Nov. 5 and have arranged nationwide midnight sale campaigns at Walmart and Best Buy.
The partnership’s biggest coup, though, is at Game Stop, where all copies of “Call of Duty: Ghosts” will come with a code to download "The Marshall Mathers LP 2" and an exclusive song at $8.99 -- three dollars off the standard-edition iTunes price. The previous installment in the “Call of Duty” series, 2012’s “Black Ops II,” set a record with $500 million in first-day sales, and with more than 4,000 stores nationwide, first-week foot traffic for “Ghosts” at Game Stop alone is estimated to be in the millions.
“People in the music industry ask me all the time, ‘How do we get into Game Stop?’” Activision VP of music affairs Tim Riley says. “We know that people who buy a lot of games are the same people who buy a lot of music, but this is the first time we’ve been able to get a deal like this done.”
With the record's official first single, the Rick Rubin-produced “Berzerk,” Rosenberg and Interscope turned to another pair of partners to maximize the song’s exposure. The track was featured in a Beats headphones commercial that aired during MTV’s Video Music Awards in August that included snippets of the official music video. The ad, in addition to serving as the world premiere of “Berzerk,” also marked the official announcement of the album, revealing its title, release date and the involvement of executive producers Rubin and Dr. Dre for the first time.
“Keeping that a secret was a modern miracle,” Rosenberg says of the ad. “Pulling it off meant telling a lot of people ‘no,’ which doesn’t always make your partners happy, but we really believe in the element of surprise. That we were able to give people all of that information in a 15-second spot like that really helped us make a big splash.”
In addition to the deal with Beats -- in which ­Eminem’s label bosses and longtime co-conspirators Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre have an ownership stake -- “Berzerk” was named the official song of ESPN’s “Saturday Night Football” (broadcast on ABC) for the duration of the season. Eminem made a rare live TV appearance on the program in September to premiere the video for the song during the matchup between Michigan and Notre Dame. His slack-jawed interview with Kirk Herbstreit and Brent Musburger caused a social media sensation, and sparked arguments about whether his nervousness was an act or not. (“I feel awkward,” Eminem told Musburger.) Viewership that night totaled 8.6 million, according to Nielsen, more than doubling the season average.

Digitally, marketing efforts surrounding "The Marshall Mathers LP 2" have been equally aggressive. A newly relaunched Eminem.com offered exclusive pre-order bundles more than a month before the iTunes presale. A bundle of the deluxe CD and a lithograph signed by Eminem priced at $500 sold out in a limited edition of 500. So did bundles that included a CD and hoodie ($76) and a CD, T-shirt and unsigned lithograph ($68). Driven largely by Eminem’s 77 million Facebook fans and nearly 16 million Twitter followers, Rosenberg says pre-orders for the album from Eminem.com alone were up to 10,000 units eight days before release date.
“We’ve really figured out how to engage the fan base online in a way that seems to be working,” he says. “If you have the right people coordinating it and you plan everything out, the steps that you make toward a record can be very powerful.”
A less likely, but reportedly effective contributor to the presale figure was Waze, the fast-growing traffic and navigation startup that Google acquired for $1 billion in June. Interscope used the app to place virtual ads called “pins” at the locations of music retailers nationwide. Whenever one of Waze’s 30 million users drives by an Eminem pin, clicking on it displays a full-screen ad for the album including a link to the pre-order.
“One of the things we wanted to do for this campaign was ‘never-been-done-befores,’” Interscope head of digital marketing Brooke Michael says. “Most people may not think of music when they think of Waze, but we saw it as an opportunity to engage with millions of captive users in a unique way.”

Source:billboard

Source:billboard

On Facebook where it was cross-posted, it received over 350,000 likes (to date) which helped fuel the 243% rise in conversation about Carey on the platform, which gave way to 189,000 new fans (up 170%).
Carey peaked at No. 29 in two previous weeks -- on the charts dated Aug. 24 and April 20.

Above Carey at No. 17 is the highest debut of the week, as the late Lou Reed arrives on the tally. His arrival is fueled by conversation and buzz generated by his death on Oct. 27.
The majority of the activity around Reed occurred on Facebook, where there were 429,000 conversations about him (a 1,746% weekly increase). In addition, his official Facebook page scored 104,000 new followers (up 79%). Fans rushed to reminisce with his music as well, evidenced by the 832% lift the videos on his VEVO channel received in weekly plays.
Even further down, A$AP Rocky debuts on the Social 50 for the first time at No. 48 as the New York rapper releases the video for “Angels” from his early 2013 release Long Live A$AP. The release prompted a 123% increase in conversation on Facebook which led to the addition of 243,000 new followers on the platform (a 125% increase over the previous frame). His YouTube channel where the video was posted on Oct. 31 receives 878,000 views during the week, a 176% increase.

Up near the top of the chart, Eminem makes a predictable rise into the top five, as the chart reflected the week leading up to the release of his new album, "The Marshall Mathers LP 2." He moves 11-4 to reach his second-highest position to date since he hit No. 3 the week of Sept. 21 when “Berzerk” -- the first single from "Marshall Mathers LP 2" -- was released.
Meanwhile, Miley Cyrus (2-1) and Katy Perry (1-2) swap places as Justin Bieber rebounds 6-3. Demi Lovato dips 3-5 as One Direction swings (8-6), beginning an upward trend we can expect to carry into next week. The group released the video for their newest single “Story Of My Life,” late in the current charting period. That continued exposure could push them up the tally next week.
Ariana Grande holds steady at No. 7 while Nicki Minaj climbs (9-8). Britney Spears tumbles 4-9 as Justin Timberlake remains at No. 10 to close out the top 10.

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Source: billboard

Lana Del Rey's short film "Tropico" doesn't have a release date just yet, but that didn't stop the singer from releasing a teaser for the film today (Nov. 6).
"Dear John, forgive us our sins," Del Rey repeatedly whispers while wearing a veil of some sort in the 13-second video. Toward its end, a cowboy-looking figure appears wielding a gun before the clip abruptly ends.




The teaser follows the announcement of "Tropico," a 30-minute short film, last July. The film, co-produced by Rick Rubin, stars model Shaun Ross and, according to Rolling Stone, has described the film as "Elvis and Jesus and Marilyn and extraterrestrials all in one."
It's unclear whether or not the film could be a long-form music video for many of the songs from her 2012 major label debut "Born to Die" or subsequent EP "Paradise."
The singer recently cracked the Billboard top 10 for the first time with a Cedric Gervais remix of "Born to Die" track "Summertime Sadness."

Source: billboard

The 47th Annual Country Music Association Awards were held Wednesday on a rainy night in Nashville, but despite the weather, the spirit of the artists and fans was high as Music City held court for all the world to see. And, on a night when the future of the format was served, the big award of the night went to one of the most legendary stars in the business. George Strait – who won the Entertainer of the Year trophy from the CMA in 1989 and 1990, returned to the ultimate winners' circle after an absence of 23 years.
Strait's win aside, it was a night for many of the bright young stars of the genre. Florida Georgia Line topped the Billboard Country Songs chart for a record-setting 24 weeks with "Cruise," and their record-setting performance was noted with their first CMA win for Single of the Year. The winning was not over for the Republic Nashville duo, as they also took home the Vocal Duo prize.

One of the biggest surprises of the evening was in the Song of the Year award, which went to Jessi Alexander, Connie Harrington, and Jimmy Yeary for their emotional "I Drive Your Truck," a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Country Airplay chart for Lee Brice. Another relative surprise was Blake Shelton's win for Album of the Year for "Based On A True Story."

Kacey Musgraves capped off a successful first year with a win in the New Artist of the Year category. In her acceptance speech, she thanked her family – including her grandmother, whom she said was her booking agent when she was ten years old. "CAA, you better step it up," she said, referring to powerhouse Creative Artists Agency. "She didn't make me sign a contract."

There were a trio of repeat winners during the evening. Little Big Town scored a second straight win for Vocal Group of the Year. Miranda Lambert joined Reba McEntire and Martina McBride as the only women to win the Female Vocalist of the Year prize four times. She thanked husband Blake Shelton for "putting up with my crap." Shelton also joined the four-time club as well, taking home Male Vocalist of the Year – a category he has won in since 2010.

Musgraves was tied with Taylor Swift for the most nominations during the evening, and Swift's name was called three times, including the presentation of the Pinnacle Award by Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Rascal Flatts, George Strait, Keith Urban, and Brad Paisley. Understandably, the moment was an emotional one for Swift, who was visibly moved to tears by the all-star presentation. The award was only presented once before, to Garth Brooks.

In categories announced prior to the telecast, Mac McAnally walked away with Musician of the Year for the sixth straight year, tying a mark set by Mark O'Connor from 1991-1996 (Chet Atkins still leads the category with nine wins). McGraw, Swift and Urban won the trophies for Musical Event of the Year and Video of the Year for "Highway Don't Care." It was McGraw's fourth win in the category, having earned the award with wife Hill in 1997, Tracy Lawrence and Kenny Chesney in 2007, and with the latter once again last year for their "Feel Like A Rock Star" single.

Performance-wise, it proved to be a night to remember. Bryan opened the show with a high-octane, abbreviated performance of "That's My Kind Of Night," before giving way to his former opening act, Florida Georgia Line. Eric Church performed his new single "The Outsiders," which drew from many different genres. McGraw – who will mark two decades in the top ten next year- showed that his talent is as cool and timeless as ever with a performance of his current "Southern Girl" single. Show co-host Underwood wasn't going to leave the rockin' to the guys, as she dazzled with a medley of hits from Blown Away that included "Good Girl." "Two Black Cadillacs," "See You Again," and the title cut.

However, it wasn't all high-flying action. Little Big Town's performance of "Sober" was one of the absolute highlights of the show, offering Kimberly Schlapman a rare opportunity to sing lead. The Band Perry's "Don't Let Me Be Lonely" was also one of the most well-received slower moments of the night with its' dramatic power arrangement. Luke Bryan returned to the stage late in the show to perform his new single, "Drink A Beer," in what might be the performance of his career. He performed it in honor of his late brother and sister, Chris and Kelly.

The night also featured several high-profile musical collaborations, such as Urban and Miranda Lambert, who performed "We Were Us."   Swift performed a bluegrass-ish version of her single "Red," which featured performances from Vince Gill and Alison Krauss, among many of Nashville's top pickers, which earned a standing ovation. Hunter Hayes and Jason Mraz delighted the crowd with "Everybody's Got Somebody But Me." 

Possibly the highlight of the evening was George Strait and Alan Jackson's tribute to George Jones. A two-time Male Vocalist of the Year (1980 and 1981). Jones passed away in April at the age of 81. The two performed his signature song, "He Stopped Loving Her Today" - the CMA Single and Song of the Year in 1980. It wasn't the only all-star salute of the night. Kenny Rogers won the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award, as many of his hits were performed by Rascal Flatts ("Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In"), Darius Rucker ("The Gambler"), and Jennifer Nettles, who performed "Sweet Music Man" as well as "Islands In The Stream" with the singer – a recent Country Music Hall of Fame inductee.

The hosts of the show also got their digs in. In their opening monologue, Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood performed "Why Can't We Be Friends," mocking some of the more newsworthy feuds this year. The song prompted Zac Brown and Luke Bryan to share a hug. Brown has taken some flak for his comments regarding Bryan's "That's My Kind Of Night" single. The hosts also poked fun at Obamacare and Miley Cyrus (multiple times), and performed a parody of "Blurred Lines" that brought the famous Robertson clan of "Duck Dynasty" fame to the stage. Jason Aldean offered a riveting performance of his recent hit "Night Train." Lady Antebellum returned to the performance stage with a bouncy version of their new single "Compass." The trio have been on hiatus following the birth of Hilary Scott's daughter Eisele Kaye.

Musgraves, one of country's biggest critical sweethearts of 2013, performed her current single "Follow Your Arrow," which included an unusual moment for a country awards show. The "live and let live" message of the song must not have agreed with everyone, as ABC censors bleeped the word "joint" from the song.



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Jennifer Nettles has finished the music, chosen a cover photo and now she has a release date for her debut solo album — Jan. 14.
Nettles revealed the date Monday night in an interview at the ASCAP Country Awards, making one of many appearances this week. The Sugarland singer kicked things off with a listening party for her new Rick Rubin-produced album, "That Girl," on Sunday. She will attend the Country Music Association Awards on Wednesday and will serve as host during the taping Friday of the CMA's Christmas show.



Expect to see a different side of the 39-year-old singer as she reveals her new music. They're the first without her Sugarland partner Kristian Bush. The Grammy Award-winning duo is on hiatus.
"I think this album so far for me musically has been the most intimate and personal ... musically and vocally," Nettles said. "I think it's way more intimate to me and way more personal in the sense that when you collaborate, that's the nature of collaboration, you're affecting each other, and playing with and inspiring each other, and yet there are things that one may not get to do or want to do when collaborating."
The week will mark Nettles' first real return to the spotlight since the birth of her son, Magnus, 11 months ago. Motherhood and marriage have changed Nettles, and she says that will be reflected on "That Girl."
"I'm able to show a side that I think's more womanly," Nettles said. "I think it's more mature, and so that's big for me. I think it gives you perspective all around, not just musically but also in my career. I think you get superefficient because you have to be. You don't worry about things that were superimportant before because you have a baby and you just burn that underbrush out. You feel like a huntress."

Source: billboard