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Bruno Mars Set To Play Super Bowl 2014 Halftime (Source)
September 07, 2013 2:44 PM EDT Bruno Mars will rock the Super Bowl XLVIII halftime show in 2014, a source confirmed to Billboard on Saturday (Sept. 7). The L.A. Times first reported the possible Bruno Mars halftime gig, citing it's own sources. The Associated Press has a ...
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How Ylvis' 'The Fox' Went Viral (With Help from Stargate) - Q&A
September 07, 2013 7:25 AM EDT On Friday morning, the Internet yet again went off the rails over a video for a new song called “The Fox” by an unknown (in the U.S. anyway) Norwegian duo called Ylvis . Billed as “the next “Gangnam Style” and earning almost 2 million views o ...
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Business Matters: Apple iTunes Radio Vs. Downloads and The Innovator's Dilemma
September 06, 2013 6:26 PM EDT Nearly all companies must eventually embrace innovation or risk injury. As the music business follows consumers' shift to streaming media, Apple will eventually abandon part of what made it successful. iTunes Radio, expected to launch Tue ...
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Vevo Taps Jonathan Carson As First Chief Revenue Officer (Q&A)
September 03, 2013 4:56 PM EDT Vevo has named Nielsen veteran Jonathan Carson as its first-ever chief revenue officer, a position that will see him leading Vevo’s global sales team across advertising and brand partnerships. Carson will effectively fill some of the duties prev ...
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Radioshack Taps 'Blurred Lines,' Steve Aoki, Michael Phelps to Remind Consumers It Still Exists (From the Magazine)
September 03, 2013 1:51 PM EDT THIS ARTICLE FIRST APPEARED IN BILLBOARD MAGAZINE GET THIS WEEK'S ISSUE HERE OR SUBSCRIBE TO BILLBOARD HERE Last April, before Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines" soared to the top of the charts, RadioShack was ahead of the game ...
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MLB to Co-Produce New York's Global Citizen Festival with AEG Live
August 30, 2013 6:05 PM EDT Major League Baseball is dipping into the music business after buying the distribution rights for an upcoming concert in New York's Central Park. Through its digital media company, MLB Advanced Media, the league will co-produce this year ...
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Clear Channel Taps Emeli Sande, Jake Bugg, Rita Ora For Bloomingdale's U.K. Style Campaign, NYC Concerts
August 30, 2013 4:42 PM EDT Clear Channel has teamed with Bloomingdale’s to celebrate the fashion retailer’s celebration of Great Britain style with a multi-platform campaign that will include live shows, online radio and exclusive interviews. The custom partnership kicked ...
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Warner Music Group Promotes Sara Nemerov to SVP/Head of Global Consumer Products and Brand Licensing
August 30, 2013 1:57 PM EDT Warner Music Group promotes Sara Nemerov to senior VP/head of global consumer products and brand licensing, Billboard has learned. In addition to overseeing consumer products and brand licensing, Nemerov will develop retail partnerships and new ...
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Made In America Ticket Sales Up 50%, Jay Z Surprise Possible
August 30, 2013 8:00 AM EDT Even without curator Jay Z as a headliner, this weekend’s second Budweiser Made In America Festival is already well on track to surpass its inaugural year in Philadelphia. The two-day festival’s first iteration was a notable success, attractin ...
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New Signings: Boy George Signs with Kobalt, Rick Ross to ICM Partners, BMG Chrysalis US Land the Orwells
August 30, 2013 7:30 AM EDT Here’s a look at the latest artist signings across the music industry, which include label, management, publishing and booking agency deals. Billboard.biz is interested in your company’s new signings. Please send announcements to Mitchell.Pete ...
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Justin Timberlake Plays Recently Shuttered Maxwell's, Preps New Target Campaign
August 29, 2013 2:44 PM EDT HOBOKEN, N.J. (AP) -- Hundreds of people flooded the streets outside a New Jersey nightclub after Justin Timberlake took to social media about filming a commercial. The singer tweeted on Wednesday: “Join me & (at) Target tonight for just one ...
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Nathan Hubbard, Ex-Ticketmaster CEO, On Bringing Commerce To Twitter: ‘The Music Industry Should Be Tremendously Excited' (Q&A)
August 28, 2013 4:57 PM EDT In a move that could have huge implications for the music industry, former Ticketmaster CEO and president Nathan Hubbard was named as Twitter’s first head of commerce on Aug. 27 , a move that heralds a broadening for the social networking behemo ...
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Myspace Launches ‘Music Video Collaborations With Artists We Like’ Program, Premieres with TV on the Radio, Federal Prism (Exclusive)
August 27, 2013 11:43 AM EDT In a bid to cut through the noise of an altered internet landscape, and resuscitate its reputation as an ally for artists, the new Myspace has launched a program to produce original music videos. The program, dubbed “Music Video Collaborations W ...
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Justin Timberlake Rescues 2013 MTV VMAs as Show Turns 30
August 26, 2013 1:31 AM EDT MTV is never fond of promoting the age of its annual Video Music Awards and as it turned 30 Sunday night in Brooklyn it worked hard to say it could compete with the raunch of the Internet, the career achievement component of the Grammys and up-t ...
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Eminem Announces 'Marshall Mathers LP 2' In VMAs' Beats By Dre Commercial
August 25, 2013 11:13 PM EDT Eminem returns with "The Marshall Mathers LP 2" on November 5. The rapper announced the news through a Beats by Dre commercial which played during tonight's (Aug. 25) MTV Video Music Awards. Check out the 16-second ad below. How ‘ ...
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MTV VMAs: Katy Perry To Perform Live From Iconic Brooklyn Locale, Producer Promises Borough Love Letter
August 25, 2013 8:07 AM EDT Brooklyn’s Barclays center was an empty black box for much of August. The last concert to take place in the 19,000-seat venue? Beyonce’s Aug. 5 gig, capping off three nights at the venue her husband Jay Z helped bring to fruition. But as of Satu ...
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Taco Bell Premieres Passion Pit Rockumentary, Preps VMA Sponsorship (Exclusive)
August 23, 2013 5:38 PM EDT Since 2006, Taco Bell's Feed The Beat program has supported more than 600 rising music acts with $500 in gift certificates to help keep them fed on the road. And in more recent years, the company has extended its outreach to the music in ...
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New Signings: August Alsina to Def Jam, Windish Agency Wins Bobby Womack, Frankie Rose Goes and Labrinth to Paradigm
August 23, 2013 4:03 PM EDT Here’s a look at the latest artist signings across the music industry, which include label, management, publishing and booking agency deals. Billboard.biz is interested in your company’s new signings. Please send announcements to Mitchell.Peters ...
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Bud Light's 50 Concerts In 50 States Initiative - Did It Work? (Exclusive)
August 23, 2013 2:01 PM EDT This story first appeared in the new Billboard Pick-up this issue here ; get your subscription here . For its first attempt to host 50 concerts in all 50 states on the same day, Bud Light had modest goals for the audience it wanted to reach as ...
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Lady Gaga's 'Applause' To Get Kia Hamster Treatment During VMAs
August 23, 2013 9:36 AM EDT Katy Perry won’t be the only artist with a commercial synched up to her performance during this weekend’s MTV Video Music Awards. Lady Gaga’s “Applause” will become the latest song to get the dancing hamster treatment from the Kia Soul, in a ...
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MTV VMAs Set Sponsorship Record Despite 2012 Ratings Slump
August 22, 2013 8:40 PM EDT MTV’s Video Music Awards have had a rollercoaster couple of years in the ratings, from reaching all-time highs in 2011 thanks to Beyonce’s baby bump to a 50% plunge in 2012. Yet despite last year’s drop, this weekend’s show, broadcast from Broo ...
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Big Sean Finds Spotlight By Staying Out of It
August 22, 2013 12:45 PM EDT Big Sean has discovered that in order to find the spotlight, sometimes you have to stay out of it. The rapper put Miley Cyrus front-and-center in his recent "Fire" music video, with his face seen just briefly in the background. Then he ...
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Luke Bryan, CMA Tapped By Texaco For Country Music Sponsorships
August 21, 2013 6:54 PM EDT Scoring the year’s third-highest debut on the Billboard 200 isn’t Luke Bryan’s only major achievement in 2013. The country superstar has also booked a multi-pronged sponsorship with Texaco that includes the remaining dates of his Dirt Road Diari ...
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FYF Fest Founder Sean Carlson on Goldenvoice, Market Saturation and 2013's Stellar Lineup (Q&A)
August 21, 2013 4:21 PM EDT Outside of the market-leading Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, one would be hard-pressed to find another multi-day music festival in Southern California with a more impressive lineup than this year’s FYF Fest in Los Angeles. Celebra ...
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Troy Carter Talks Hybrid Label Venture With Capitol Music Group, New Signings (Exclusive)
August 21, 2013 1:57 PM EDT Troy Carter’s Atom Factory Entertainment is teaming with Capitol Music Group to form Atom Factory Music, a joint label that has signed two indie-rock bands, New York’s Basic Vacation and Los Angeles’ The Ceremonies. The deal will emphasize in ...
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Business Matters: Behind Apple iTunes Radio’s Launch Strategy
August 20, 2013 6:37 PM EDT Don't expect a soft launch for iTunes Radio. Apple has lined up blue chip advertisers for its upcoming launch next month of iTunes Radio, according to an Ad Age report . McDonald’s, Nissan, Pepsi and Procter & Gamble were named as ad ...
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Apple's iTunes Radio to Launch Next Month with Full Slate of Blue-Chip Sponsors
August 20, 2013 2:41 PM EDT Apple’s iTunes Radio is gearing up for a September launch, with an ad model that has already attracted interest from blue-chip clients. According to a detailed report from Advertising Age , iTunes Radio will debut next month with sponsorship f ...
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Eddie 'Piolin' Sotelo, MLB Deals Boost Sirius XM Outlook
August 20, 2013 2:07 PM EDT Lazard Capital Markets analyst Barton Crockett in a bullish report has lauded satellite radio giant Sirius XM Radio for a couple of recent "serious content upgrades." He cited a just-announced Major League Baseball deal extension and a ...
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Op-Ed: Why Brands, Bands and Everyone Else Need to Adapt to 'Intimate' Social Media (From the Magazine)
August 20, 2013 12:33 PM EDT In 1912, the South Pole was discovered, the Titanic sank, and the Oreo cookie was invented. In 2012, Oreo celebrated its 100th birthday -- on Facebook. For 100 straight days, the brand ran a new online ad each day celebrating a different twist o ...
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Katy Perry Teams With Pepsi, MTV To Debut New 'Prism' Song
August 20, 2013 12:05 PM EDT Pepsi has played a hands-on role in introducing new music in recent years, from breaking Outasight’s “Tonight’s The Night” via an “X Factor” campaign to pairing Calvin Harris and Ne-Yo for pseudo-jingle “Let’s Go” to premiering Beyonce’s pre ...
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Cash Money's Birdman Launches Apparel Lines With Bravado, Lil Wayne; Includes 'Python Accents'
August 19, 2013 4:18 PM EDT Cash Money's ever-expanding empire now includes hip-hop (Lil Wayne, Nicki MInaj and Drake among othgers), pop , R&B and rock artists, a book publishing division (which reacently inked a deal with Rev. Al Sharpton), a spirits brand, fil ...
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EDM's Dead, Long Live... EMC? SFX's IPO Looms Large While the Industry Sells Out (From the Magazine)
August 19, 2013 12:43 PM EDT THIS ARTICLE FIRST APPEARED IN BILLBOARD MAGAZINE – READ MORE HERE AND GET THIS WEEK'S ISSUE OR SUBSCRIBE TO BILLBOARD Disco Donnie Estopinal, the first promoter to sell his business to Robert F.X. Sillerman's newly re-formed SFX E ...
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David Lynch Coffee Makes Whole Foods Debut
August 16, 2013 9:47 PM EDT David Lynch the auteur and musician can now officially add "coffee roaster" to his résumé. The "Blue Velvet" director, who released his second album, "The Big Dream," in July, announced via Twitter that his signatur ...
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21st Century Fox Buys Stake In Vice Media
August 16, 2013 6:36 PM EDT Vice Media has sold a five percent stake to TV and film company 21st Century Fox, Financial Times reports . The $70 million deal, which is set to be formally announced Monday (Aug. 19), will be 21st Century Fox's first major investment sin ...
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OMD Launches OMD Sound, Looks to Get Music Advertising in Front of Its Blue Chip Clients (From the Magazine)
August 16, 2013 2:22 PM EDT THIS ARTICLE FIRST APPEARED IN BILLBOARD MAGAZINE GET THIS WEEK'S ISSUE HERE OR SUBSCRIBE TO BILLBOARD HERE Typically when clients got pitched new ideas by media buying agency OMD, they'd meet with a modern-day "Mad Men"-like ...
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How ‘Call of Duty’ and ActivisionBlizzard Scored Eminem’s First New Song in Over Two Years (Exclusive)
August 16, 2013 7:49 AM EDT In March, Tim Riley got a call from Paul Rosenberg, Eminem’s longtime manager, who had a simple, slightly cryptic question: “What’ve you got going on this fall?” Riley had known Rosenberg for years dating back to his days in the music indu ...
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Russell Simmons Announces Launch of All Def Digital YouTube Channel
August 14, 2013 3:54 PM EDT Def Jam co-founder and music mogul Russell Simmons has announced the launch of a new YouTube channel, All Def Digital, a collaboration between Rush Digital Media, Simmons' media company, and Dreamworks Animation subsidiary Awesomeness TV ...
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Billboard Argentina Launches
August 07, 2013 6:25 PM EDT Billboard will debut its first Spanish-language edition with Billboard Argentina, which launched this week. The monthly, glossy publication will be Billboard’s 5th international property joining Brazil, Russia, South Korea and Japan. Billboard A ...
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Biz Video: Cornerstone's Rob Stone and Jon Cohen Say Fader Festival 'Is Coming Really Soon'
August 06, 2013 4:49 PM EDT Rob Stone and Jon Cohen, founding partners of music branding agency Cornerstone, have been coming to festivals like Lollapalooza over the years as fans as well as official partners via branded pop-up The Fader Fort, which has been coming to So ...
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'Sapphires' U.S. DVD Art Could be Scrapped After Racism Complaints
August 06, 2013 12:41 PM EDT The U.S. distributor of the Australian feel-good film "The Sapphires" is apologizing for the DVD cover, which has had complaints of sexism and racism levelled against it. Anchor Bay Entertainment said in a statement Monday that it &quo ...
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Biz Video: The 3 Charlies of C3 on Lollapalooza's Record-Breaking Success, 'Over-Sponsorship,' Global Expansion
August 05, 2013 1:40 PM EDT “It’s rare that we’re ever in the same town, let alone the same place at one time,” Charlie Jones said as his C3 founding partners Charlie Walker and Charles Attal joined him backstage at Lollapalooza Sunday afternoon (Aug. 4). Sitting down wit ...
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Google In Discussions With Verizon To Bundle Google Play (Exclusive)
August 02, 2013 1:48 PM EDT The following article is from the latest edition of Billboard, pick-up your copy here ; or subscribe here for access to Billboard via print, online and/or iPad. In the race to win mainstream adoption, Google has been exploring a bundling dist ...
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Indie Beat: FYF's Sean Carlson, House of Vans' Anna Sherwood-Stephan on the Art of the Free Summer Concert Series
August 02, 2013 10:23 AM EDT It’s a delicate art putting on a free summer concert series. Even if you find the right sponsor(s), book the right artists and secure an amenable venue, ravenous crowds or unkind weather gods can still derail the proceedings faster than ice crea ...
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Backbeat: Solange Makes the 'Boring Brilliant' at Brooklyn Laundromat Performance with Help from vitaminwater, The Fader
July 31, 2013 4:20 PM EDT The concept of “nontraditional” concert venues has grown a bit specious in recent years, as spaces like Los Angeles’ Hollywood Forever cemetery , New York’s Angel Orensanz synagogue and Philadelphia’s Union Transfer (located in the former site o ...
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Rihanna Wins Suit Against U.K. Retailer Topshop – Judge Recognizes the Singer as a 'Style Icon'
July 31, 2013 1:18 PM EDT Today is Rihanna's lucky day. The pop music superstar has not only succeeded in winning a lawsuit against Topshop, a U.K.-based fashion retailer that has stores around the world; she also got a justice to recognize the value of her imprimat ...
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Muzik, Maker of Smart Headphones, Launches Today (Exclusive)
July 29, 2013 8:00 AM EDT There are smartphones, and there are headphones -- you can even plug one into the other -- but today sees the launch of Muzik, a company that has created what it calls the world's "first socially connected smart headphones" whi ...
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Tomorrowland Coming to America: Q&A With TomorrowWorld's Shawn Kent
July 27, 2013 8:37 AM EDT Tomorrowland kicked off in the tiny town of Boom, Belgium tonight (July 26), marking the massive dance festival’s eighth year. One of the most international music events in the world – over 214 countries are represented amongst its attendee ...
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Biz Stock Ticks: This Week's Entertainment Indices
July 26, 2013 8:51 PM EDT Biz Stock Ticks looks at publicly traded entertainment stock prices over the last week by Apple, Best Buy, Facebook, Google, Live Nation, Pandora, Sony, Sirius, TransWorld and Sony -- many of which this week reacted to the quarterly earnings re ...
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Facebook Stock Soars After Q2 Revenue Exceeds Estimates
July 24, 2013 7:58 PM EDT Facebook's stock is flying high after the world's biggest social network posted higher revenue from mobile ads and delivered a healthy second-quarter profit that reversed a loss in the same period a year ago. The results, which come o ...
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Live Nation to Offer Locally Grown Foods
July 24, 2013 10:39 AM EDT Live Nation Entertainment, the world largest promoter and amphitheater operator, is putting one of its most critical revenue streams at sheds on the line with its announcement today that it will begin serving locally grown produce, meat product ...
