Morning Fix: VMA Viewership Up 66 Percent; Eddie 'Piolin' Sotelo Files Suit Against Former Employees; Dr. Luke Not Headed to 'Idol'; SoundExchanges Sues SiriusXM

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MTV VMAS AVERAGE 10.1 MILLION VIEWERS, UP 66 PERCENT

The two-and-a-half hour telecast, back in primetime on Sunday night, averaged 10.1 total million viewers — a huge 66 percent boost from last year's mediocre Thursday run that drew only 6.1 million, a more than 50 percent drop from 2011's record-breaking audience.  
Billboard.biz

EDDIE 'PIOLÍN' SOTELO FILES CIVIL EXTORTION LAWSUIT AGAINST SIX FORMER UNIVISION STAFFERS

Radio personality Eddie “Piolín” Sotelo filed a lawsuit today against six former Univision employees and their Los Angeles attorneys, alleging civil extortion and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The lawsuit claims the defendants “attempted to extort $4.9 million from plaintiff under the threat of publicly embarrassing plaintiff and damaging his reputation by the disclosure of false and misleading allegations.”  
Billboard.biz

DR. LUKE WILL NOT JUDGE 'AMERICAN IDOL'

The songwriter and producer, who's credited on such global smashes as Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone" and "My Life Would Suck Without You," Pink's "Who Knew" and Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl," among others, was among the last candidates standing after a months-long search for a third judge to join returning panel members Keith Urban and Jennifer Lopez (the latter has not officially been announced). 
Billboard.biz

SOUNDEXCHANGE SUES SIRIUSXM RADIO OVER ROYALTY CALCULATIONS

SoundExchange has filed a lawsuit against SiriusXM Radio that contends SiriusXM "systematically underpaid" royalties from 2007 to 2011. The complaint was filed on Monday (Aug. 26) in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. SoundExchange seeks compensatory damages of $50 million to $100 million or more, plus late fees and interest.
Billboard.biz

FREDERICK 'TOOTS' HIBBERT LAUNCHES $20 MILLION INJURY LAWSUIT

Hibbert has filed the $20 million lawsuit in Richmond Circuit Court against Venture Richmond and Metropolitan Richmond Sports Backers Inc. The suit also names security-provider Regional Marketing Concepts Inc. and another company that provided concessions for the concert.
Billboard.biz

MILEY CYRUS SEES SOCIAL MEDIA AND DIGITAL SALES BENEFITS FROM MTV VMAS PERFORMANCE

During the VMAs telecast, Cyrus performed her Billboard Hot 100 top 10 single "We Can't Stop," and then participated in a medley of Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines" and "Give It 2 U" (with 2 Chainz and Kendrick Lamar).  
Billboard.biz

JAY Z'S RUMORED PRE-VMA SHOW IN BROOKLYN ENDS UP A HOAX

According to two sources, the story began with an erroneous email from a mailing list. XXL then posted an item about the show on Friday, the first mention of the rumor Billboard was able to find online.  The rumor was then put into overdrive on Saturday via RevoltTV, Sean Combs' new TV venture in a since-deleted tweet that seemed to confirm the event.  
Billboard.biz

KATY PERRY, BARACK OBAMA PROMOTE OBAMACARE - AND PERRY'S 'ROAR'

It started yesterday when Perry used her Twitter account to retweet President Obama's plea for youth sign up for Obamacare via social media.
Reuters

MILEY CYRUS CRITICISED FOR RAUNCHY MTV VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS PERFORMANCE

An organisation backed by Miley Cyrus's dad has criticised a raunchy MTV Video Music Awards performance by ... Miley Cyrus. The Parents Television Council have accused MTV of "falsely manipulating the content rating" for their program, encouraging children to watch "adults-only material" such as Cyrus's twerking routine with Robyn Thicke.
Guardian

APPLE PATENTS ‘SILENT DISCO’ TECH FOR DISTRIBUTED RAVES AND SHARED PRIVATE DJ SETS

The silent disco is a recent trend that sees people using headphones to come together and enjoy a concert quietly while in a shared space, and a new Apple patent appears to want to capitalize on this somewhat off-beat trend to promote a new kind of music sharing.
TechCrunch

PRISM: THE NSA LEAKS ARE STARTING TO HIT THE BOTTOM LINES OF TECH COMPANIES

Revelations about vast US data collection programs are starting to hit American tech companies, which are ramping up pressure for increased transparency to try to mitigate the damage.
Business Insider

BLURRED LINES IS A HIT ... FOR AN 86-YEAR-OLD CLASSICAL COMPOSER

Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines has been an unexpected boon for an 86-year-old classical music composer from Canada. John Beckwith has seen sales surge for his own composition of the same name, a 1997 duet for harpsichord and violin.
Guardian

GTA V SOUNDTRACK LEAKS, RIHANNA, BRITNEY AND ELTON AMONG BIG NAMES

One of the biggest sync opportunities in video games, Grand Theft Auto sees players take on the role of a gangster in an open world crime simulation.
Music Week

STOP THE PRESSES!

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  • Warner Bros. Developing Animated ‘Scooby-Doo’ Film
  • Former Scientologist Claims to Have 'Auditioned' to Be Tom Cruise's Wife

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