1. Backbeat: Priyanka Chopra on Her Thursday Night Football Theme Song, Competition With Carrie Underwood, New Album

    September 12, 2013 6:00 PM EDT “I learned all about special effects having worked on movies in India,” says Priyanka Chopra on the explosion-filled video (below) for her first single “In My City,” the theme song to the 2013 season of the NFL Network’s Thursday Night Footb ...

  2. Twitter Files For IPO

    September 12, 2013 5:35 PM EDT In a Tweet (what else?), the Silicon Valley micro-blogging service said it had filed papers with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission outlining a proposal to sell shares in the company on the open market. Those looking for details of its ...

  3. New Pandora CEO Faces Royalty Fight with Artists

    September 12, 2013 2:33 PM EDT One of the biggest challenges facing Brian McAndrews, the new CEO of Pandora, will be renegotiating the royalty rates the Internet radio giant pays to the music industry. If Pandora doesn't prevail, the outcome could impede the company' ...

  4. Maker Studios Raises $26 Million to Fuel International Expansion

    September 12, 2013 1:38 PM EDT Maker Studios, a network of independent YouTube channels, closed $26 million in financing, bringing the total amount raised by the four-year-old start-up to more than $70 million. Investors in the most recent round include Canal+, Astro, SingTel ...

  5. Resolution’s Phil Casey on Chris Brown’s Upcoming World Tour, John Singleton Doc, Community Service, and More (Q&A)

    September 12, 2013 12:00 PM EDT Chris Brown is well on his way to becoming the new hardest-working man in show business. In the coming year, the Grammy-winning multiplatinum singer/songwriter will have his hands full with releasing a new studio album, embarking on a world ar ...

  6. Clear Channel, Warner Music Announce Strategic Music Partnership

    September 12, 2013 11:14 AM EDT Clear Channel and the Warner Music Group today announced a strategic partnership intended to align the two companies’ interests in driving digital growth, increasing radio listenership, breaking new music and creating new marketing opportunities ...

  7. Vivendi Split Could Have Little Impact On Universal Music (Analysis)

    September 11, 2013 10:24 PM EDT While shareholders and the business media regard as big news the Vivendi announcement that it will study a demerger plan and that activist shareholder Vincent Bollore has been appointed vice chairman of the company's supervisory board, the ...

  8. Hot 97 DJ Mister Cee On His Resignation: 'My Transgressions Were Affecting the Station'

    September 11, 2013 9:45 PM EDT Mister Cee, a 20-year veteran DJ of New York's Hot 97 (WQHT), has resigned from the station after a YouTube video surfaced containing audio of a sexual encounter and financial transaction allegedly involving the on-air personality. Though h ...

  9. Sony, Universal, Warner, ABKCO File Copyright Lawsuit Against SiriusXM

    September 11, 2013 8:28 PM EDT As expected, Sony Music Entertainment, UMG Recordings, Warner Music Group and ABKCO have filed suit against SiriusXM for allegedly continuing to ignore state copyright laws and refusing to pay artist performance royalties for pre-1972 music it ...

  10. Pandora Names Brian McAndrews New CEO, President and Chairman

    September 11, 2013 5:26 PM EDT Digital advertising veteran Brian McAndrews will replace Joe Kennedy as CEO, president and chairman of Pandora, the company announced Wednesday. Kennedy announced in March he would be stepping down.   McAndrews is "uniquely qualified to lea ...

  11. Jeff Toig Out at Muve Music (Exclusive)

    September 11, 2013 2:57 PM EDT Jeff Toig, the Senior Vice President in charge of Cricket Wireless's Muve Music subscription service, has left the company. The prepaid mobile carrier bundles the first-of-its kind music service with its all-you-can text, voice and data pla ...

  12. Vivendi Considering Splitting Media and Telecom Companies

    September 11, 2013 12:28 PM EDT French conglomerate Vivendi, which owns Universal Music Group, today announced that its supervisory board has unanimously voted to launch a study to split into two separate companies – an international media group and the SFR telecom group.  V ...

  13. Lady Gaga Going to Trial in Ex-Assistant's 'On-Call' Lawsuit

    September 11, 2013 3:45 AM EDT A onetime roommate and friend of Lady Gaga who claimed after serving as her personal assistant for more than a year that the pop singer cheated her out of overtime wages can tell her story to a jury in November, a judge said Tuesday. A jury can ...

  14. Village People's Victor Willis Wins Copyright Victory

    September 10, 2013 9:21 PM EDT Victor Willis, the Village People lyricist and performer of such songs as "Y.M.C.A." and "In the Navy," says he's reclaimed the rights to 33 songs he wrote. Under a copyright law from 1978, he told the New York Times he& ...

  15. 2013 CMA Awards: Full Nominations List

    September 10, 2013 9:29 AM EDT Sheryl Crow and Florida Georgia Line today announced nominees for the 47th Annual Country Music Association Awards. Kacey Musgraves and Taylor Swift led all nominees with six nominations each, including nods for Female Vocalist of the Year and A ...

  16. WME's John Marx on Bruno Mars' Super Bowl Gig, Sold-Out Arena Tour Strategy, Not Having Presales (Q&A)

    September 10, 2013 8:00 AM EDT Bruno Mars has not only proven to be a master at creating multiple hit songs, but he’s also solidified himself as one of today’s top live performers. In addition to being named the halftime performer at next year’s Super Bowl XLVIII, Mars re ...

  17. AEG CEO Randy Phillips, Paul Gongaware Dismissed From Michael Jackson Wrongful Death Lawsuit

    September 09, 2013 4:57 PM EDT A judge on Monday (Sept. 9) dismissed two executives from a negligence lawsuit filed by Michael Jackson's mother and allowed the case to proceed against AEG Live LLC, the promoter of his planned comeback concerts. Superior Court Judge Yvett ...

  18. Chris Brown Signs With Resolution For Worldwide Representation

    September 09, 2013 3:41 PM EDT Chris Brown has signed with Resolution for representation worldwide in all areas, Billboard has learned exclusively. The Grammy-winning multiplatinum singer/songwriter will be repped by agents Phil Casey and Everly Lee. Brown is managed by B ...

  19. What to Expect from Apple's Expected iTunes Radio Announcement

    September 09, 2013 1:50 PM EDT There has been a lot of speculation about iTunes Radio since word first broke last year that Apple had started discussions with record labels. Although opinions won't come until people get actual hands-on experience with the product on T ...

  20. SONGS Music Publishing Signs Worldwide Co-Publishing Deal with The Weeknd

    September 09, 2013 12:43 PM EDT SONGS Music Publishing has announced a worldwide co-publishing agreement with the Weeknd, a.k.a. Abel Tesfaye. The deal encompasses both past and future releases, including the Weeknd's upcoming sophomore album "Kiss Land" (Sept. ...

  21. Vivendi Chair, Investor Feud Over CEO Search

    September 09, 2013 11:20 AM EDT The chairman of French media and telecom conglomerate Vivendi and one of the company's other powerful board members are locked into a showdown over who should be the next CEO, a source confirmed Monday. Jean-Francois Dubos last year became ...

  22. Eminem Appears Live on ESPN's Saturnday Night Football To Promote 'Berzerk' Video (Watch)

    September 08, 2013 12:43 AM EDT Eminem made an unlikely appearance on ESPN's "Saturday Night Football" halftime show during today's (Sept. 7) Michigan-Notre Dame game. The rap superstar, who has a new album out in the fall, appeared to promote his new singl ...

  23. Biz Stock Ticks: This Week's Entertainment Indices 8/31 - 9/6

    September 06, 2013 7:24 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, SiriusXM and Sony. Below each 5-day stock graph are relevant .Biz news stories from this pas ...

  24. Kenny Chesney Tops Hot Tours Chart With $10.1 Million Gross

    September 06, 2013 7:02 PM EDT Kenny Chesney is No. 1 among the current slate of Hot Tours with box office grosses totaling $10.1 million reported from the final two stops on the No Shoes Nation tour. The first concert included in this week’s tally was a sold out amphitheater ...

  25. 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 ...

  26. From This Week's Billboard: Will Electric Zoo's Drug-Related Deaths Impact SFX's IPO?

    September 06, 2013 5:02 PM EDT There was abundant free water, trained security guards, roving medics, regular harm-reduction announcements and multiple medical tents. But even those measures couldn't keep tragedy from striking the Electric Zoo Festival on New York' ...

  27. Spotify Seeking Additional Funding at $5.27 Billion Valuation (Report)

    September 06, 2013 3:40 PM EDT Spotify is seeking cash to help fuel its global growth. According to a report at Swedish news outlet Dagens Industri , the world's largest music subscription company is seeking debt financing at a $5.27 billion valuation.   The report claim ...

  28. BMI Names Michael O'Neill as New President and CEO

    September 06, 2013 11:44 AM EDT Del Bryant, BMI's long-serving president and CEO who has spent over 40 years at the organization and 10 as its head, will be succeeded by Michael O'Neill, it was announced today. O'Neill has been with BMI for 20 years and is movi ...

  29. Ask The Pros: CAA's Cara Lewis, Clear Channel's Tom Poleman, Virgin Mobile FreeFest/9:30 Club's Seth Hurwitz on Robin Thicke’s Touring Prospects

    September 06, 2013 8:06 AM EDT Robin Thicke’s monster summer hit “Blurred Lines” may finally be  slowing down at radio , but its success has created numerous live performance opportunities that probably wouldn’t have existed if the single hadn’t dominated airwaves in recent m ...

  30. Pandora Says August Listener Hours Rose 16 Percent

    September 05, 2013 8:57 PM EDT Pandora managed to boost its listener numbers last month despite rising competition for online music lovers. Total listener hours rose 16 percent in August to 1.35 billion, from 1.16 billion hours in the same month a year ago. That's a 5 pe ...

  31. Op-Ed: Everything We Know About Fan Engagement And Sales Is About to Change

    September 05, 2013 7:16 PM EDT 11 1.425 k 49 3 0 As an industry, we've gotten pretty good at reaching our fans, engaging them and driving conversions. There is a general understanding of how to reach them on social networks, traditional online marketing and mailing lists. But now, ...

  32. Robin Thicke, Justin Timberlake Lead MTV VMA-Related Music Sales Up 37% In Week After Show

    September 05, 2013 6:44 PM EDT Get More: 2013 VMA , Artists.MTV , Music , Miley Cyrus   Now that a full week has passed since MTV's Video Music Awards (VMA), both the Hot Digital songs and Billboard 200 albums charts swell with gainers thanks to the show. In the week end ...

  33. Super D's Acquisition of Alliance Entertainment In Context

    September 05, 2013 12:10 PM EDT In a minnow-swallowing-a-whale-like deal, Super D has acquired Alliance Entertainment in a move that will make it the fourth-largest U.S. music account behind iTunes, Amazon, and Anderson Merchandisers, which racks Walmart and Best Buy. Super D ...

  34. BitTorrent Is Not a Crime: Once a Pariah, Now Providing Distribution & Data for Music, Movies & TV (From the Magazine)

    September 05, 2013 12:07 PM EDT THIS ARTICLE FIRST APPEARED IN BILLBOARD MAGAZINE GET THIS WEEK'S ISSUE HERE OR SUBSCRIBE TO BILLBOARD HERE When Converge Studios and Rock Mafia wanted to get the word out in August about an original TV series, they turned to an unconven ...

  35. Irving Azoff, MSG's James Dolan on $300 Million Joint Venture

    September 04, 2013 8:26 PM EDT In what amounted to his exit interview from his chairman post at Live Nation, mega manager Irving Azoff said his “biggest regret” was selling Front Line Management, the management company rollup that created the world’s largest management firm ...

  36. Irving Azoff and Madison Square Garden Co. Announce $300 Million Joint Venture

    September 04, 2013 6:01 PM EDT The Madison Square Garden Company and Irving Azoff 's Azoff Music Management have announced the founding of Azoff MSG Entertainment, a jointly owned company in a $300 million deal that will expand on AMM's artist representation busi ...

  37. SiriusXM Hit With Fourth $100 Million Lawsuit In Past Month

    September 04, 2013 5:24 PM EDT For a long time, it's been assumed that SiriusXM has the right to distribute and perform pre-1972 recordings. Then last month, Flo & Eddie of The Turtles brought a proposed $100 million class action lawsuit against Sirius , premised on ...

  38. Team 8 Founder Rich Cohen Joining Mick Artist Management as Partner

    September 04, 2013 4:07 PM EDT Rich Cohen, founder of Team 8 Management, is joining Mick Artist Management as a partner, joining Mick founder Michael McDonald and general manager Jonathan Eshak in the partnership, Billboard.biz has learned. Cohen founded Team 8 in 2007 and re ...

  39. Azoff Music Management Invests In Digital Brand Architects

    September 04, 2013 3:13 PM EDT Azoff Music Management has announced an investment in social media marketing and online talent management agency Digital Brand Architects (DBA). With offices in New York and Los Angeles, digital marketing consultancy DBA has a portfolio of more ...

  40. Kanye West Criticized By Human Rights Foundation Over Kazakhstan Performance

    September 04, 2013 1:36 PM EDT The Human Rights Foundation has criticized Kanye West for performing at a wedding in Kazakhstan, joining a chorus of detractors who say he legitimized the human rights violations of the nation's president. The rapper performed at the weddin ...

  41. Katz Radio Group Appoints Mark Rosenthal as CEO

    September 04, 2013 12:59 PM EDT Katz Media Group, the first media representation firm in the U.S. and a subsidiary of Clear Channel Communications (itself a division of CC Media Holdings), has named former Current Media CEO and MTV Networks president Mark Rosenthal as the new ...

  42. Six Senior-Level Execs' Thoughts on the Fourth-Quarter Album Release (From the Magazine)

    September 04, 2013 11:39 AM EDT "Seasonality is important for us with our Latin artists. Yes, end-of-year sales are important. Yes, Valentine's Day sales are important. Yes, Mother's Day sales are important. But do you know what is more important? That you have ...

  43. Gallo's Film/TV Briefs: Robert Kraft Returns to Performing; Arsenio Hall Lines Up Guests; James Brown Biopic Set

    September 04, 2013 9:00 AM EDT Robert Kraft , the former president of music at Fox who put his music career on hold for more than two decades, is returning to the stage for two shows, one in New York and one in L.A. Kraft will perform at Joe's Pub on Oct. 30 and Largo at ...

  44. Ministry of Sound Launches Copyright Lawsuit Against Spotify

    September 04, 2013 6:22 AM EDT British dance music brand Ministry of Sound is taking the extraordinary step of suing Spotify for copyright infringement. London-based MoS launched proceedings Sept. 2 in the U.K.’s High Court, claiming the subscription service had refused to ...

  45. Warner Music Aims to Keep 'Happy Birthday' Away From Public Domain

    September 04, 2013 2:59 AM EDT With the English language's most recognized song at stake, Warner/Chappell Music is not backing down from a bold challenge. On Friday, the music publisher responded in court for the first time to a lawsuit that claims that "Happy Bi ...

  46. Appeals Court Won't Revive Class Action Over Apple's Digital Music Sales

    September 03, 2013 4:15 PM EDT Most consumers don't like the type of digital rights management software that makes music purchased on Apple's iTunes Store only compatible on Apple devices. Unfortunately for one consumer who attempted to bring a class action lawsuit ...

  47. Microsoft Buying Nokia Devices and Services Unit For $7.2 Billion

    September 03, 2013 12:25 AM EDT Microsoft Corp. is buying Nokia Corp.'s devices and services business, and getting access to the company's patents, for a total of €5.44 billion ($7.2 billion) in an effort to expand its share of the smartphone market, the companies an ...

  48. BMG Rights Management to Acquire Bulk of Primary Wave's Publishing Assets (Exclusive)

    September 02, 2013 2:05 PM EDT Updated 11:13 AM -- BMG Rights Management, a subsidiary of German media conglomerate Bertelsmann, has agreed to acquire the bulk of publishing assets owned by the U.S.-based independent music publishing and management company Primary Wave, the ...

  49. Electric Zoo Festival Canceled Following Two Drug-Related Deaths (Updated)

    September 01, 2013 11:40 AM EDT Today (Sept. 1),  the final day of the three-day Electric Zoo Festival was canceled by New York City government following two fatalities and after four concertgoers became critically ill and were placed in critical care units in area hospitals. ...

  50. Burning Man Attendance Tops 61,000 In Nevada's Black Rock Desert

    August 31, 2013 11:34 PM EDT  A federal official says more than 61,000 people have turned out so far for the weekend Burning Man outdoor art and music festival in the Black Rock Desert of northern Nevada. U.S. Bureau of Land Management spokesman Mark Turney said Saturday th ...

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