1. 10 Things the Music Industry Needs to Know About Fall 2013 TV Season

    September 13, 2013 10:01 AM EDT Thirty-one new shows join the broadcast TV schedule this season. With "Smash" out of NBC's lineup, only one program is producing original music, ABC's second season of "Nashville," and only one is guaranteeing new r ...

  2. The State of Chvrches: Can Swedish Alt-Pop Trio Turn Blogosphere Buzz Into a Hit Album?

    September 13, 2013 10:01 AM EDT On July 18, the members of Chvrches strode onstage at the Stadio San Siro football stadium in Milan for a sold-out show with nearly 58,000 people in attendance, according to Billboard Boxscore. The performance was nearly one year to the day sinc ...

  3. Cage the Elephant Goes for Fourth Alternative No. 1, and Might Stomp Top 40 As Well

    September 13, 2013 10:01 AM EDT "Melophobia," the new album from Kentucky-based indie-esque heavy-rock act Cage the Elephant (Oct. 8, RCA), translates to "fear of music," which is also the name of Talking Heads' 1979 Brian Eno-produced album. Vocalist ...

  4. Jett Fueled: Joan Jett's 11th Solo Album Rides on Rock Icon's Thriving Cross-Generational Influence

    September 13, 2013 10:01 AM EDT "I'd think, 'I can't do this anymore' -- but the more I just let go, things started pouring out." "It came in fits and starts," Joan Jett says of her eleventh solo album. "I'd think, 'I can& ...

  5. Scouting Report: Indie/Psychedlic Pop Singer Kishi Bashi

    September 13, 2013 10:01 AM EDT When K Ishibashi spun off a solo career from Brooklyn synth-rock group Jupiter One in 2011, he didn't just transition into one man and his guitar. Instead, the artist began layering instruments behind his vocals and reinvented himself as Ki ...

  6. AFI Gets Boost for Ninth Album With 'Mortal Instruments' Film Synch

    September 13, 2013 10:01 AM EDT AFI has been a band for two decades, releasing eight albums since its 1995 punk-rock debut, "Answer That and Stay Fashionable." But the act's latest single, "17 Crimes," off the upcoming "Burials" (Oct. 22, Rep ...

  7. Road Work: Baauer's Fall Tour

    September 13, 2013 10:01 AM EDT Lucky Me/Mad Decent producer Harry Bauer Rodrigues, better-known as Baauer, rose from unknown Brooklynite to worldwide fame early this year when first single "Harlem Shake" became a YouTube phenomenon. This fall, he's heading out ...

  8. Featured Single Review: "New" Paul McCartney

    September 13, 2013 10:01 AM EDT Forty-two years after the breakup of that little band he was in, Paul McCartney has released perhaps the most Beatles-esque single of his solo career. The melody and structure of "New" are informed by a bit of "Got to Get You Into ...

  9. Live Review: AlunaGeorge at Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn

    September 13, 2013 10:01 AM EDT Artist: AlunaGeorge Venue: Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn Date: Sept. 6 AlunaGeorge's Aluna Francis en­tered Brooklyn's Music Hall of Williamsburg like a boxer in a ring, ready to take on the challenge of winning over American au ...

  10. Single Reviews: Celine Dion, Cults, K. Michelle, Ludacris, Sleigh Bells,

    September 13, 2013 10:01 AM EDT ALTERNATIVE CULTS "High Road" (4:30) Producers: Cults, Shane Stoneback Writers: Madeline Follin, Brian Oblivion Publisher: SESAC Label: Columbia On the first official single from Madeline Follin and Brian ­Oblivion's second full-l ...

  11. Film Review: "CBGB"

    September 13, 2013 10:01 AM EDT "CBGB" Starring: Alan Rickman, Ashley Greene, Freddy Rodriguez, Donal Logue, Bradley Whitford, Johnny Galecki, Joel David Moore, Malin Akerman, Taylor Hawkins Producers: Randall Miller, Jody Savin, Brad Rosenberger Director: Randall Mi ...

  12. Featured Album Review: "Pure Heroine" Lorde

    September 13, 2013 10:01 AM EDT Ten months after floating her debut EP online for free in her native New Zealand, teenage singer/songwriter Lorde has conjured an immense amount of stateside interest in her first full-length. "Pure Heroine" delivers on the promise of ...

  13. Album Reviews: Grouplove, Elton John, Sebadoh, Five for Fighting, Alan Jackson, Musiq Soulchild & Syleena Johnson

    September 13, 2013 10:01 AM EDT POP Elton John "The Diving Board" Producer: T Bone Burnett LABEL: Capitol Records Release Date: Sept. 24 John has plenty of big, brassy pop/rock showstoppers in his catalog, but you won't find any on "The Diving Board," ...

  14. Happening Now: Lana Del Rey Makes Surge in Mainstream Nearly Two Years After Polarizing Debut

    September 13, 2013 10:01 AM EDT A surprise success story even in a summer filled with them ("Blurred Lines," "The Fox"), Lana Del Rey is celebrating the first crossover hit of her career and a recent re-entry into the top 20 of the Billboard 200 thanks to a ...

  15. Happening Now: Alejandro Fernandez Hits a Sales Bull's-Eye

    September 13, 2013 10:01 AM EDT Targeted song and Target campaign net Alejandro Fernandez his best sales week ever. With U.S. Latin album sales at an all-time low, Alejandro Fernandez notched the highest sales week of his career with his 15th studio album, "Confidencias&q ...

  16. Bubbling Under: Saints of Valory, Midnight Red, Sebastian Mikael, Dani Martin

    September 13, 2013 10:01 AM EDT Saints March In A year ago, Saints of Valory competed in Billboard's Battle of the Bands competition. Fast forward to this week and the quartet logs its first entry on a songs chart, as "Neon Eyes" (Atlantic) debuts on Triple A at ...

  17. Over The Counter Column: Dueling Ladies Lead the Billboard 200

    September 13, 2013 10:01 AM EDT Ariana Grande and Tamar Braxton debut at Nos. 1 and 2. Though it seemed like there was going to be a race for No. 1 on the Billboard 200, Ariana Grande's "Yours Truly" comes out on top by a sizable margin. The debut effort from th ...

  18. Austin City Limits Music Festival Raises the Game on Festival Eats

    September 13, 2013 10:01 AM EDT Good news, hungry music fans: Austin's reputation as a foodie destination is starting to rival its status as a musical mecca. "Chefs are the new rock stars here," says Andy Langer, afternoon DJ at triple A KGSR Austin. To that end ...

  19. Electric Zoo Festival -- And EDM -- Faces Tough Questions From Investors & Brand Partners After Deaths

    September 06, 2013 10:01 AM 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's ...

  20. Social-Powered Tickets: Customers Who Purchase Through Social Links Attend More Concerts, Spend More

    September 06, 2013 10:01 AM EDT Here's some good news for social marketers in the music business: Your efforts to get people to buy concert tickets are working. Survey data from Live Analytics, Live Nation's analytics division, shows that concert-goers are especially ...

  21. The $300 Million Comeback: Irving Azoff Teams With MSG's James Dolan to Create Intriguing Music Company

    September 06, 2013 10:01 AM EDT Irving Azoff has done it again. He has just parlayed his bevy of big-name acts like the Eagles and Christina Aguilera into another big-money deal, this time as part of a new joint venture with MSG Entertainment called Azoff MSG Entertainment (AM ...

  22. How Taco Bell's Feed the Beat Program has Become Talent Incubator & Creative Partnership

    September 06, 2013 10:01 AM 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 indus ...

  23. Canada Biz Up in Arms Over Potentially Costly Immigration Rule Changes for Touring Bands

    September 06, 2013 10:01 AM EDT The Canadian music industry is in a state of turmoil after a news report revealed a change to the Conservative government's Temporary Foreign Worker Program that could affect artists from the United States and elsewhere who tour Canada. A C ...

  24. My Day: Jeff Prices, CEO/Co-Founder of Audian

    September 06, 2013 10:01 AM EDT Jeff Price is best-known for creating TuneCore, the digital music distribution company that allowed just about anyone to sell their songs on iTunes. Price is now launching a service that aims to simplify another big platform for artists -- YouTu ...

  25. The Deal: BMG Surfs With Primary Wave

    September 06, 2013 10:01 AM EDT What: BMG has signed a definitive agreement to acquire most of Primary Wave's publishing assets and has initiated a joint venture with the latter in a deal valued at $150 million. Of that, $130 million was in cash for the acquired publishin ...

  26. Executive Turntable: Universal, Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority, Kobalt, the Noise Co., Barclays Center

    September 06, 2013 10:01 AM EDT TOURING Brooklyn's Barclays Center, which recently hosted MTV's Video Music Awards and ranked No. 2 on ­Billboard's 2013 midyear chart for top-grossing arenas, promotes Sean Saadeh to senior VP of programming. Since the venue' ...

  27. Further Dealings: RCA's Inspirational Music Imprint, Cumulus Acquires Dial Global, Microsoft Buys Nokia

    September 06, 2013 10:01 AM EDT RCA Records has entered a long-term label deal with gospel artist Kirk Franklin to establish inspirational music imprint Fo Yo Soul Recordings. Franklin and the Fo Yo Soul team will sign and develop emerging inspirational music talent, as well a ...

  28. Good Works: Longtime Allee Willis' Motor City Singalong

    September 06, 2013 10:01 AM EDT Songwriter Allee Willis thinks big. Case in point is her latest project: "The D." That's the title of a song Willis -- known for Earth, Wind & Fire's "September" and the theme from "Friends," among man ...

  29. Latin Notas Column: Children's Hour

    September 06, 2013 10:01 AM EDT While network music competitions like "The Voice" and "American Idol" have been slowly incorporating Latin celebrities into their shows, no Spanish-language versions of those programs have yet been produced for U.S. Hispanic ...

  30. On The Road Column: Upping The Festival Ante

    September 06, 2013 10:01 AM EDT In its second year as a two-weekend event with identical lineups, Coachella posted the largest gross in Billboard Boxscore history ($67.2 million) and fine-tuned its strategy to keep bands working in between their two weekend plays. In Austin, t ...

  31. Sound & Vision Column: Tune In, Turn On, Tune Out

    September 06, 2013 10:01 AM EDT When Dr. Luke's name hit the radar as a potential "American Idol" judge, the idea sounded genius. This was clearly the missing piece -- a producer with a sense of what goes into a contemporary pop hit and what type of artist can b ...

  32. Questions Answered: John Sykes, President Clear of Channel Entertainment Enterprises

    September 06, 2013 10:01 AM EDT What did you wake up thinking about this morning? I wake up every day excited about the next challenge or opportunity that I'm going to face when I walk into the office at Clear Channel. The great thing about this company is that because we ...

  33. Backbeat Overheard: Maybach Music's New Compilation, Capitol + Arcade Fire, Diplo at Running Man

    September 06, 2013 10:01 AM EDT The bawse backs off: Billboard hit up Atlantic Records' New York offices recently to hear "Self Made 3," the third compilation from Rick Ross' Maybach Music Group. Rockie Fresh's "What Ya Used To," featuring an ...

  34. T&E Report: Rio de Janiero for Rock in Rio (Sept. 13-15, 19-22)

    September 06, 2013 10:01 AM EDT Rock in Rio is expected to bring more than a half-million fans -- as well as elite acts like Bruce Springsteen, Alicia Keys, Metallica, Beyonce and Justin Timberlake -- to Brazil's iconic cultural capital. This year, the annual mega-festiva ...

  35. Go Time Travel Essentials: Rock in Rio Founder Roberto Medina

    September 06, 2013 10:01 AM EDT Rock in Rio founder Roberto Medina knows a thing or two about international travel. The ad man started the festival in 1985, when Brazil was emerging from a military dictatorship. Convincing American and British stars including Rod Stewart, Jame ...

  36. The Payout: How iTunes Radio's Royalty Rates Will Work

    September 06, 2013 10:01 AM EDT Apple's direct licenses with labels give iTunes Radio some financial advantages over its competitors. Although iTunes Radio will probably pay out larger royalties than Pandora, Apple won't have to pay for numerous kinds of streams. In ...

  37. The Billboard Cover Story - Lorde: "The New Queen of Alternative"

    September 06, 2013 10:01 AM EDT How an unknown 16-year-old from New Zealand became the most sought-after new artist of 2013. Inside Lorde's ascent from quiet bookworm to alt-rock heroine.th "In a perfect world, I would never do any interviews," Ella Yelich-O ...

  38. Lorde's Helper: A Tip Led to Lorde's Signing & An A&R Gig for Natalia Romiszewski

    September 06, 2013 10:01 AM EDT One of the main reasons Lorde landed at Lava Records and began her U.S. chart rise is because Natalia Romiszewski was having a terrible day on a rainy afternoon late last year. The veteran music supervisor, who founded consulting company Sound L ...

  39. 25 Years of the Alternative Chart: Alternative Goes Full Circle

    September 06, 2013 10:01 AM EDT The alternative radio format is built upon the promise of what's coming next, so it's no surprise that the music played by alternative stations has experienced multiple changes during the last 25 years. Some of those changes, though, h ...

  40. Special Feature: Rock'N'Roll Pioneer Lloyd Price, at 80, Tells How a Classic R&B Hit Changed America

    September 06, 2013 10:01 AM EDT Lloyd Price has been successful for more than 60 years. He's a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and winner of the Rhythm and Blues Foundation's Pioneer Award. He's had his own record companies and nightclub, developed real esta ...

  41. Family Business: Sisters HAIM Get Set to Release one of Rock's Most-Anticipated Debut Albums

    September 06, 2013 10:01 AM EDT "We need to go swimming-it's been the whole fucking summer, and I haven't gone swimming once," HAIM bassist Este Haim says. Growing up in Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley, Haim and her two younger sisters, Danielle and A ...

  42. Low-Tech Fan Favorites Parquet Courts Build a Team to Reach Next Level for New EP

    September 06, 2013 10:01 AM EDT "You've Got Me Wondering Now," the first single off Parquet Courts' new EP, debuted in an unusual way. The raucous track appeared on a cassette mixtape that the Brooklyn punk band mailed unexpectedly to 250 fans last month, a ...

  43. Scouting Report: LA Soul Trio Gooding

    September 06, 2013 10:01 AM EDT Have music, will travel. That's the mantra of Gooding, which has been touring for about 10 years -- and counting. "I don't know what's wrong with us," group namesake Gooding says with a laugh. "But we're still ...

  44. Blind Boys of Alabama Team With Justin Vernon on "I'll Find a Way" LP

    September 06, 2013 10:01 AM EDT For the four octogenarians in the Blind Boys of Alabama, settling down isn't part of their plan. After 70-plus years of existence, the last dozen have seen the non-sighted gospel quartet at its most inventive, experimenting with blues, coun ...

  45. Billboard Spotlight On: Bleona

    September 06, 2013 10:01 AM EDT Bleona Qereti is the most famous pop singer from the small European nation of Albania, where the press have likened her to Madonna, in her bold visual style and attitude. At the age of 14, the young diva performed at Albania's National Musi ...

  46. Will iTunes Radio Lead Apple to Abandon the Download? Why It Could -- And Perhaps Should

    September 06, 2013 10:01 AM EDT Apple's new era in digital music is expected to arrive Sept. 10. ITunes Radio, first unveiled during the keynote presentation at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in June, has been highly expected for more than a year. Although the ...

  47. Road Work: Sara Bareilles' October Tour

    September 06, 2013 10:01 AM EDT Singer/songwriter Sara Bareilles is prepping a headlining tour in October in further support of "The Blessed Unrest." Booked by Marty Diamond and Larry Webman at Paradigm, the trek will run Oct. 6-19 ­following co-­headlining dates wit ...

  48. Featured Single Review: "That Girl" Jennifer Nettles

    September 06, 2013 10:01 AM EDT For her first outing as a solo artist, Sugarland's Jennifer Nettles enlisted a powerhouse team, as "That Girl" finds the country artist toying with understated pop sensibilities courtesy of producer Rick Rubin and co-writer Butch ...

  49. Single Review: Prince Royce, Eminem, Martin Garrix, Will Hoge, The Avett Brothers

    September 06, 2013 10:01 AM EDT ELECTRONICA/DANCE MARTIN GARRIX "Animals" (5:05) Producer: Martin Garrix Writer: Martin Garrix Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Spinnin After being shrouded in mystery for weeks, Dutch producer/DJ Garrix revealed himself as the ma ...

  50. App Review: Snapverse

    September 06, 2013 10:01 AM EDT Snapverse allows for the sharing of "snaps," or 20-­second combinations of video and images, with fellow app users. Unlike other short-form, video-sharing apps like Instagram (which has the option to send 15-second clips) or Vine (stan ...

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