Innholdsfortegnelse for Feb-15-14 i Billboard Magazine

ATLANTIC LARCENY A former Atlantic Records executive has been charged with firstdegree grand larceny after allegedly embezzling $1.3 million from the company and its parent, Warner Music Group. Danielle Smith, who worked A&R for Atlantic’s urban division, turned herself in to the New York County District Attorney’s office, having resigned from the company in 2011 following an internal investigation. Smith allegedly used her company credit card for vacations and luxury goods. SIRIUSXM REVENUE ROCKETS SiriusXM revenue went celestial in the fourth quarter, jumping 12%, from $892 million to $1 billion, as the satellite radio giant added 411,000 subscribers during the period. Yearly revenue for 2013 was also up 12%, to $3.8 billion. SiriusXM added 1.7 million subscribers in 2013, bringing its total base to 25.6 million. Yearly overall earnings at…

Super Bowl XLVIII wasn’t just a record year in terms of ratings. It was also a historic year for the music industry, with more high-profile synchs booked than ever before—upwards of 30 for the top three music publishers combined. With Nielsen SoundScan sales tracking ending around 3 a.m. EST on Feb. 3, some five hours after the Super Bowl wrapped, Billboard takes an early look at the Big Game’s big winners.…

Bruce Springsteen did it. So did Beyoncé, Prince and the Who. So why all the hubbub over the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ playing to a backing track during the Super Bowl halftime show? The f re was lit by Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid, who tweeted seconds into the band’s performance (with Bruno Mars) of 1991 hit “Give It Away,” “That guitar is plugged into NOTHING.” He then noted: “It’s a f aw in the illusion. They slipped up by not covering that for the camera.” Indeed, though the band had recorded a version of the song especially for the Super Bowl, Flea’s bass and guitarist Josh Klinghoffer’s Fender weren’t much more than props. As Flea explained on RedHotChiliPeppers.com two days later, “It was clear to us that the vocals…

Latin labels. Having a major brand campaign coincide with an album launch is a universal goal, yet one that is still rare in the Latin realm. If the Santos/Dr Pepper alliance moves the needle for Sony, expect more long-term planning from labels seeking to maximize exposure. TV advertising. Santos’ “One of One” TV spots are another example of a major brand airing ads in Spanish or Spanglish on general-market TV—other recent spots include Target’s Shakira ads. If effective, expect to see much more of this type of advertising moving forward. Pepsi and Coca Cola. Both have been leaders in tapping big Latin names for both domestic and global campaigns. Dr Pepper’s comprehensive alliance with Pitbull and now Romeo Santos indicates a serious third player that also offers a compelling package…

WITH THE BRAND ANDREW HAMPP @AHAMPP When Bob Dylan agreed to license one of his best-known songs, “I Want You,” for a Chobani Super Bowl commercial, it was a major coup for the yogurt company, as it sought to compete with brands like Oikos during the big game. But the news was somewhat overshadowed by fans worrying about Dylan overload when news also broke that the Man in the Black Hat himself would appear on-camera in Chrysler’s latest cinematic Super Bowl spot, endorsing the new Chrysler 200 and licensing his song “Things Have Changed” as the soundtrack. It’s a scenario that can be unfortunate for some marketers who turn to big-name artists to help get the word out about their latest product. But it’s become increasingly common as artists themselves…

When the Super Bowl came to town, VH1 shook New York’s five boroughs with six nights of music while Howard Stern marked a milestone with rocking and roasting by Train, Adam Levine, Sarah Silverman and Natalie Maines 1 VH1’s Sandy Alouete and Rick Krim (right) with J. Cole after his performance at the VH1 Super Bowl Blitz stop at New York’s Queens College on Jan. 27. 2 Janelle Moná took center stage on Jan. 28 when the VH1 Super Bowl Blitz hit Lehman College in the Bronx. 3 Model Chrissy Teigen (left) and husband John Legend (second from right) with Citi Cards CEO Jud Linville and wife Cindy at Legend’s show at the McKittrick Hotel in Manhattan on Jan. 29. 4 Kings of Leon’s Jared, Caleb, Matthew and Nathan Followill…

“Call Me Maybe” Performers: Carly Rae Jepsen, Jimmy Fallon & the Roots Uploaded: June 8, 2012 Views: 17,356,263 “We Can’t Stop” Performers: Miley Cyrus, Jimmy Fallon & the Roots Uploaded: Oct. 8, 2013 Views: 16,281,343 “Blurred Lines” Performers: Robin Thicke, Jimmy Fallon & the Roots Uploaded: Aug. 1, 2013 Views: 16,068,192 “What Does the Fox Say?” Performers: Ylvis, Jimmy Fallon & the Roots Uploaded: Oct. 9, 2013 Views: 15,053,050 “All I Want for Christmas Is You” Performers: Mariah Carey, Jimmy Fallon & the Roots Uploaded: Dec. 4, 2012 Views: 12,523,520…

Dozens of female singers have been touted in recent years as “the next Adele.” But if Capitol Music Group has its way, the real successor is a 21-year-old English guy with a fade haircut and the self-professed goal of being the next “male diva voice.” “The core similarity is the honest lyrics,” Sam Smith says a few days before a stateside trip with Disclosure for a trio of sold-out performances of their hit single “Latch” in New York. “The songs I’m writing now are so brutally honest I can’t listen to them with my family. But the music is completely dif erent [from Adele]. Judy Garland once said, ‘Always be a f rst-rate version of yourself rather than a second-rate version of someone else.’” Music fans got an introduction to…

It’s not every day that you’re asked to sing “Hold On, We’re Going Home” in front of Drake himself. Adding to the pressure cooker? When the request comes from Kanye West while seated at the Kardashians’ dinner table. “We were in the middle of eating, and it was really, really nerve-racking,” says the 17-year-old, who counts Kylie Jenner as a close friend and Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston and Celine Dion as infuences. “I was so nervous I changed the melody of the song, but Drake ended up liking it.” What happened next is the stuf pop star dreams are made of. Kim Kardashian posted a Keek video of the impromptu performance, which highlighted Mia’s impressive vocal range and went on to garner 1.2 million views. In no time, Mia was…

David Letterman rarely requests an encore from his musical guests. But garage-punk band the Orwells so impressed with their lively late-night debut on Jan. 15—which featured rambunctious frontman Mario Cuomo writhing across the studio f oor—that the host demanded more. “I’d never seen Letterman do that—I was like, ‘Is this a joke?’” says Matt O’Keefe, who, having already broken all his guitar strings playing single “Who Needs You,” was in no position to take up the host’s of er. So instead, Paul Schaef er led the house band in a gleeful take on the Orwells’ song—and even laid down on the f oor to imitate Cuomo’s hip thrusts. The Orwells had arrived. Two years prior, an equally frenetic CMJ Music Marathon show led Canvasback Records A&R rep Daniel Chertof to…

SCHOOLBOY Q Oxymoron, Feb. 25 Interscope/Top Dawg Entertainment Terrence Henderson, Dave Free and Moosa, Top Dawg Entertainment Caroline Yim and Zach Iser, ICM Partners Following Kendrick Lamar is no easy task, but ScHoolboy Q, his labelmate , is out to do just that with his major-label debut, Oxymoron. The album, and its title, were inspired by the California rapper’s life, in which he has gone from drug dealer to successful artist and father. “It’s doing bad for good,” the 27-year-old says. “But I’m not in the streets now—I have to provide for my family. I can’t talk to my daughter on the phone from jail.” Q’s last album, 2012’s Habits & Contradictions—released just before Top Dawg’s 2012 deal with Aftermath/Interscope—garnered critical acclaim but only sold 46,000 copies, according to Nielsen…

Now in his 17th year as CEO of ASCAP, John LoFrumento has helped guide the performance rights organization (PRO) through some of its most progressive and dramatic changes in its 100-year history, as it continues to deal with the challenges created by new technologies. As ASCAP heads into its second century, he’s confident that the organization can navigate its latest challenge, presented by streaming music services, and emerge with another win-win result for its songwriters, composers, publishers and partners. What are the key challenges facing ASCAP as it celebrates its 100th anniversary? Our primary challenge today is the fact that the business environment is changing so rapidly that the regulatory framework that governs PRO licensing needs to be brought up to date. The rules governing music licensing need to reflect…

1 Katy Perry was honored at the 29th annual ASCAP Pop Music Awards in Hollywood in April 2012, joined here by ASCAP CEO John LoFrumento (left) and president/chairman Paul Williams. 2 George Strait received the Founders Award at the 2013 ASCAP Country Music Awards in Nashville. From left: ASCAP VPs of membership, Nashville Michael Martin and LeAnn Phelan; Strait; ASCAP’s Paul Williams; and ASCAP executive VP, membership John Titta. 3 The 2012 ASCAP “I Create Music” Expo in Los Angeles drew (from left) songwriter/producers Ari Levine, Bruno Mars and Philip Lawrence, collectively known as the Smeezingtons. 4 Marc Anthony (center) received the Founders Award at the 2012 ASCAP Latin Music Awards from his friend and international soccer star David Beckham (right) and ASCAP’s Paul Williams. 5 Gathered at the 26th…

This week’s Billboard 200 is brought to you by the Grammy Awards, the Super Bowl, Amazon MP3 and the Google Play store. The Grammys, held Jan. 26, afect the charts in full this week, now that seven days of post-show sales have been registered. Meanwhile, Super Bowl halftime performer Bruno Mars (along with special guests Red Hot Chili Peppers) rack immediate gains on the Billboard charts from just one day of impact (Feb. 2). Finally, a bevy of albums collect monster gains in the wake of deep discounting at Amazon MP3 and the Google Play store. At the top of the chart, the soundtrack to “Frozen” holds steady for a fourth nonconsecutive week, fending of the surging 2014 Grammy Nominees album at No. 2. The last theatrical film soundtrack to…

Is there anywhere Kacey Musgraves’ arrow isn’ pointing nowadays? The country singer is the only artist you’ll see on tour with both Katy Perry and Willie Nelson this summer. Her debut, Same Trailer Different Park, a critics’ darling and two-time Grammy Award winner, returned to the top of Billboard’s country albums chart following her neon cactus-lit performance of “Follow Your Arrow” on the Jan. 26 Grammys broadcast. Watched by 28.5 million, according to Nielsen, the performance boosted album sales by 177%, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and it has sold 343,000 copies so far. She has earned five nominations for the upcoming Academy of Country Music Awards, and beauty endorsement inquiries are said to be flying in since she wowed on multiple Grammy Week red carpets. Constituencies left to win over?…

Karen MacMillan, senior director of advertising and branding at independent label Nettwerk, had an uphill climb with “Let Her Go,” the emotionally stirring but thematically mournful single from British singer/songwriter Passenger originally released in August 2012. But after a year-and-a-half of pitching the track to brands and ad agencies, most of which were looking for something a little more cheery, MacMillan and the label got a bigger breakthrough than they ever imagined. Budweiser, and its ad agency Anomaly, selected “Let Her Go” for the dialogue-free Super Bowl spot “Puppy Love,” featuring the brand’s signature Clydesdale horses and one adorable pup. “It was pretty down to the wire,” MacMillan says, noting that rights were cleared with Nettwerk and publisher Sony/ATV on the Monday before the big game. “But if you asked…

The Super Bowl halftime performance spurred 2.2 million tweets. Here’s how the Twitterati reacted to the Red Hot Chili Peppers unplugged. CHASE RICE @ChaseRiceMusic Three words for this halftime show. I. Want. Garth. JOE BONAMASSA @JBONAMASSA Flea... I mean we all know, but for god’s sake at least try to humor the children. #unpluggedlive BRANDON STOSUY @brandonstosuy Folks “disappointed” in RHCP for miming their halftime “set” should take a long look in the mirror. Then smash their face into that mirror. LUKE O’NEIL @lukeoneil47 Who cares if the RHCP weren’t playing live? Neither were the Broncos. JASON FARR @JasonFarrJokes Fans are outraged RHCP weren’t live on the Super Bowl. But fine with lyrics like “ning, nang, nong, nong, neng, neng, nong, nong, ning, nang”…

Longtime label executive Stephen Ferrera died Jan. 27 at his home in New York after a prolonged battle with lung cancer. The A&R veteran—who was also an accomplished musician, songwriter and producer—spent his early years at Chrysalis Group U.K. He went on to senior VP stints at RCA Music Group, working with Leona Lewis, Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Ne-Yo and Rod Stewart, among others, and was a key player in securing the “American Idol” contract; Island Def Jam; and Columbia, where he spent the last years of his career. Columbia Records Group president Ashley Newton refects on his colleague and friend. —Shirley Halperin Steve Ferrera was a close personal friend for more than 20 years. He was one of those rather strange people who understood that real life is actually…

Superstars dominate the list of fnalists for the 2014 Billboard Latin Music Awards, which will air live April 24 on Telemundo, with Romeo Santos landing 17 nominations, followed by Prince Royce with 16, Marc Anthony with 15 and the late Jenni Rivera with 11. The lack of new acts with substantial chart presence is indicative of a pervasive rut that Latin music seems unable to get out of, and one that is fnally afecting its bottom line. It’s a genre that’s getting static, where music isn’t eagerly discovered, anticipated and consumed, but rather solemnly revered from a distance. The silver lining is that this year’s fnalists are not only competitive merely due to their star power, but also because their original, exciting material moved the needle on many levels. The…

Jus-Ske Spinning for: Alexander Wang, Oscar de la Renta, G-Star Raw, Public School after-parties Signature: There’s a reason why this New York native has been a fixture at Louis Vuitton, Balenciaga and Nike shows and was chosen as the DJ for Justin Timberlake and Jay Z’ Legends of the Summer and Pharrell’In My Mind tours. His sets fuse electronic beats, old-school hip-hop and the latest rap, and always sound fresh. This season’s vibe: It’s a fast-moving, sporty aesthetic reflected in trap, which “is more than a music genre,” Jus-Ske says of the sound, which is rooted in Southern hip-hop and speedy, electronic beats. “It’s an identity, an attitude and aesthetic that comes with it.” Top track: “Drunk in Love,”Beyoncé featuring Jay Z Charles Browne Spinning for: Rebecca Vallance, ManvsMachine runway…

After 11 years on the air, ABC’s Los Angeles-based “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” is looking forward to being “the only 11:30 game in town”—and all the primo music performances that come with that exclusivity. “It hasn’t really sunk in, but it’s about to,” “Kimmel” music booker Scott Igoe says. “My phone’s been ringing of the hook.” To that end, Igoe notes that “more country and adult contemporary artists” like Martina McBride and Eric Church are slated to take the show’s outdoor stage, which boasts new sponsor AT&T (the program’s multiple song performances will be streamed to the phone provider’s customers) and room for an audience of 1,000. Also planned are more music mini-sets on Hollywood Boulevard, where Justin Timberlake and Paul McCartney headlined in 2013. This coming year, Igoe hopes to…

Bay Area rapper Sage the Gemini has yet to release his debut album, but gold and platinum plaques already adorn his wall, thanks to breakout single “Gas Pedal” (featuring IAmSu!) and follow-up “Red Nose.” The videos for both Billboard Hot 100 hits—from Sage’s Gas Pedal EP—have notched more than 71 million YouTube/Vevo views combined, catching the attention of radio, TV programmers (Sage is set to perform on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on Feb. 13 and “The Arsenio Hall Show” a week later) and even Justin Bieber, who appears on a remix of “Gas Pedal.” Both songs also went viral on Vine and Instagram, inspiring thousands of fan-made dance videos. “I’m keeping kids out of trouble,” Sage told Billboard in September. “Instead of carrying guns, why not give them a new dance…

Los Angeles singer Meg Myers has a major-label deal with Atlantic Records, but commercial success is far from her mind. “I’m not like, ‘I want to be famous!’” says the 27-year-old Tennessee native, now based in Los Angeles. “If I’m true to myself and that comes next, then that’s awesome.” It’s not the typical artist development story, but then again, Myers isn’t your typical musician. On her 2012 debut EP, Daughter in the Choir, Myers delivered a strikingly visceral feeling and the sort of deeply relatable angst artists like Fiona Apple came up on. The result is at times guttural and primitive in its execution, which is exactly what Atlantic and producer Doctor Rosen Rosen (Drake, Katy Perry) are counting on with follow-up EP Make a Shadow, out Feb. 11.…

It’s been a fast and furious ride for Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney, collectively known as Dan & Shay. Less than a year after the y met at a party, the duo charted its f rst single, “19 You + Me.” In its 17th week on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart, the song has reached No. 17, and also cracked the Billboard Hot 100, moving 78-85. Their rapport was instant and their output prolif c. The morning after the party, the pair began writing together. By day’s end the two had a song on hold for Rascal Flatts. “It just worked musically,” Mooney says. “It was the direction we were both trying to get to for so long.” The pair kept writing, sometimes up to three songs a day. “Within two…

In an era in which the music business has seen unprecedented change and disruption, some things remain constant. The creativity of songwriters and composers lies at the heart of the music business. And the ability of creators and their publishers to get paid for their work is the financial foundation upon which the music industry has been built. Performance rights organizations assure that copyright holders are paid fairly when their music is performed publicly, over the airwaves, live or— increasingly now—online. And among the world’s PROs, ASCAP is the largest and one of the oldest. The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers was founded 100 years ago on Feb. 13, 1914, in New York. “One of the remarkable things about ASCAP, we’ve been able to thrive for 100 years,”…

1914 Five years after the Copyright Act of 1909 affirmed the rights of songwriters to be paid for their work, some of the most prominent composers of the age convene at the Hotel Claridge in New York on Feb. 13, to launch the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. Music publisher George Maxwell is ASCAP’s first president. 1915 Irving Berlin, one of America’s greatest songwriters and an ASCAP charter member, writes “I Love a Piano,” one of his first hits published after joining ASCAP. 1916 Inspired by Puccini’s opera “Madame Butterfly,” composer Raymond Hubbell and lyricist John Golden, both ASCAP charter members, debut the jazz standard “Poor Butterfly” in a Broadway production of “The Big Show.” 1917 ASCAP wins a landmark victory in the U.S. Supreme Court, with Chief…

Two months after Beyoncé dropped her surprise self-titled album, it’s still shaking up the music industry. Album cut “Partition” reached No. 49 on Billboard’s Streaming Songs chart last week with more than 1.4 million U.S. streams, despite the fact that the video (available for purchase with the album) isn’t on YouTube or Vevo, and the audio isn’t available on Spotify, Pandora or other similar services. So, how is this possible? Through user-generated YouTube videos, driven by a vibrant community of choreographed dance crews shaking it to the song on camera. The “Partition” phenomenon is in some ways similar to “Harlem Shake,” the viral, dorm-room dance meme that took DJ/producer Baauer straight to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 the week of Feb. 23, 2013, thanks to millions of YouTube…

LEGEND Bullets indicate titles with greatest weekly gains. Album Charts Recording Industry Assn. of America (RIAA) certification for physical shipments & digital downloads of 500,000 albums (Gold). RIAA certification for physical shipments & digital downloads of 1 million units (Platinum). Numeral noted with Platinum symbol indicates album’s multiplatinum level. RIAA certification for physical shipments & digital downloads of 10 million units (Diamond). Numeral noted with Diamond symbol indicates album’s multiplatinum level. Latin albums certification for physical shipments & digital downloads of 50,000 units (Oro). Latin albums certification for physical shipments & digital downloads of 100,000 units (Platino). Numeral noted with Platinum symbol indicates album’s multi-platinum level. Digital Songs Charts RIAA certification for 500,000 paid downloads (Gold). RIAA certification for 1 million paid downloads (Platinum). Numeral noted with platinum symbol indicates…

An indie-rock controversy erupted Jan. 28 when former Soul Coughing frontman Mike Doughty released what he termed “a collaboration” with the late Elliott Smith, adding EDM beats and manipulations to previously unreleased vocal tracks Smith recorded while working on “Miss Misery,” his Academy Award-nominated song for Gus Van Sant’s 1997 film “Good Will Hunting.” Mary Lou Lord, who took the pre-fame Smith under her wing and toured with him in the ’90s, wrote on Facebook, “NO!!!” (Lord actually spelled “NO” with 166 O’s.) Many on the social network, as well as on Pitchfork and Twitter, accused Doughty of exploiting the fragile, soft-spoken Smith, who died in 2003, and travestying his low-tech esthetic. “To pitch them that it was a true ‘collaboration’ is so very wrong,” Lord wrote of Doughty’s press…

Daft Punk and Kacey Musgraves were the big album sales winners, while Imagine Dragons, John Legend and Daft Punk’s songs enjoyed the biggest gains from the Grammy show, at least on a unit basis. On a percentage basis, one big winner was Stevie Wonder’s Songs in the Key of Life, which spiked 700% to 4,000 units in the week after his Grammy performance of “Another Star.” Meanwhile, Taylor Swift’s “All Too Well,” which she performed on the night, enjoyed a whopping 4,265% gain to about 48,000 downloads in the two weeks after the show, versus the 1,000 units the title scanned in the week of the show. Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories and Musgraves’Same Trailer Different Park enjoyed similar sales gains after the show, with the former spiking to 38,000…

WHAT: Dr Pepper Snapple Group has partnered with Latin artist Romeo Santos as part of the beverage company’s “One of One” campaign that celebrates unique individuals. Santos is only the second musical act in this year’s campaign (the other is Macklemore & Ryan Lewis) and the only Latino. The yearlong campaign includes a series of national TV spots (one of them an “anthem” ad that also features Macklemore and Lewis, YouTube beauty entrepreneur Michelle Phan and grafti artist Retna, among others) including Santos’ own individual ad in both Spanish and Spanglish and featuring his music. The Santos ads will begin airing on general-market and Spanish-language TV prior to the Feb. 25 release of his album Formula Vol. 2 on Sony Music U.S. Latin. Santos will also be integrated into in-store…

Iñigo Zabala President Warner Music Latin America & Iberia What did you wake up thinking about this morning? Before getting out of bed I think of all the things that will happen during the day. This week, Latin America is going through a very challenging time, and I woke up thinking how this is going to afect our business and how we can minimize the impact as much as possible while our companies go about their day to day. The problem is particularly acute in Argentina, where the local currency has begun to devalue. But I also woke up thinking that this week we’ll get new singles by [Chilean rock band] La Ley, who are recording together in Los Angeles after 10 years and are planning a spectacular Latin-American tour.…

During her tenure as senior VP/GM for Scripps Networks Interactive’s Great American Country, Sarah Trahern was used to juggling a busy schedule, but since assuming her new role as CEO of the Country Music Assn. (CMA) on Jan. 1, the Nashville-based executive’s days now include everything from a cadre of talented school kids to meetings with the top brass at ABC. To the Green Hills YMCA to do Pilates with my girlfriends Robin and Sally. I’m not a morning person. I’d rather exercise at night, but days just aren’t controllable in my world now. I got to the office and had an early-morning meeting with some of our team. Even though it’s the first month I’ve been here, it’s been a variety of things. I had my first sit-down meeting…

Little-known fact: Before he had his own NBC talk show or landed a gig with “Saturday Night Live,” Jimmy Fallon appeared on a late-night program. The year was 1980-something. The show: “Letterman.” Sitting in the audience, the perennially psyched Fallon says “the camera panned by me as I was in the crowd. And. I. Freaked. Out. I told everyone to watch.” It was hard to miss him: “I was screaming and waving my hands.” But just in case you did, he videotaped it and would replay it for anyone who’d watch—in slow motion, “a blur of a human, waving.” To this day, giving his viewers the same manic thrill he experienced in the “Letterman” crowd is so important to the host. “I have to involve the audience,” he says. “They…

In 2014, boundaries, whether music or geographical, will matter less than ever. Case in point: the eight exciting new stars-to-be here. They hail from the Bay Area, Britain, Guam and their mother’s suburban Illinois basement, representing rap to pop to country and everything in between. Their back stories, and ambitions, are just as varied: Singer Sam Smith, who rode two dance and pop collaborations to stardom in Britain, is looking to become the male Adele. The Orwells’ big breakout was stage-humping their way to an encore on “Letterman .” Two years after emigrating from Guam to Los Angeles, Pia Mia went viral on Keek after singing for Drake, Kanye West and the Kardashians. But all eight acts do have one thing in common: They’re set to be among 2014’s biggest…

When “Clarity” was announced as best dance recording at the Grammy Awards, Louisa Rose Allen, who goes by Foxes, threw her purse into the air and climbed over two rows of seats to jump on her collaborator Zedd. “I was so not expecting it that I had chewing gum in my mouth,” the British singer says. “It was hilarious.” Foxes, who’s as enthusiastic and cheeky in conversation as she is enigmatically sultry in her music, has her feature on Zedd’s “Clarity,” a dance-pop number she recorded more than a year ago, to thank for much of the hype leading into her debut album, Glorious. But the record, which is slated for a May release, reveals an entirely new side of the singer, who has also guested on tracks by Fall…

Though they probably don’t yet realize it, pop fans are already familiar with the work of singer/songwriter Bebe Rexha. After being dropped from Island Def Jam, Rexha poured her frustrations into an early version of what eventually became Eminem and Rihanna’s No. 1 smash “The Monster,” which she co-wrote. She also sings on Cash Cash’s “Take Me Home,” which hits a new peak of No. 79 on the Billboard Hot 100 this week. Rexha has come a long way since 2012, when she parted ways with Pete Wentz’s side project Black Cards and fell into a deep depression—one that later helped inspire her songwriting breakthrough for Eminem. “I thought I was losing my mind. I started seeing therapists,” she recalls. “I found a quote online that said, ‘If we stop…

Producer Giorgio Moroder, who helped invent disco in the 1970s with Donna Summer (“I Feel Love,” “Love to Love You Baby”) before conjuring the ’80s synth sound of f lm soundtracks (“Scarface,” “American Gigolo,” “Flashdance”), disappeared from pop culture for two decades. Catapulted back into the spotlight with an unexpected starring role on Daft Punk’s 2013 megahit release Random Access Memories—a four-time Grammy Award winner, including album of the year—the 73-year-old is basking in EDM’s ecstatic embrace, working on a new record, remixing ascending acts like Haim to blogosphere acclaim and DJ’ing before jubilant international crowds of tens of thousands easily young enough to be his grandkids. Billboard asked Moroder to ref ect on his remarkable re-emergence. Until recently I was mostly playing a lot of golf. I picked it…

After more than five decades as a songwriter and actor, Paul Williams is now playing perhaps the most important role of his career, as president and chairman of ASCAP, helping the performance rights organization fight against copyright infringements and ensuring songwriters get fair compensation for their creative eforts. Williams is well-known for the hits he has written and co-written— Three Dog Night’s “Old Fashioned Love Song,” the Carpenters’ “We’ve Only Just Begun” and Barbra Streisand’s “Evergreen,” to name a few—as well as the dozens of roles he has portrayed on TV and in film, including “Phantom of the Paradise,” and appearances on “The Muppet Show,” “Walker, Texas Ranger” and “Hawaii Five-O.” Even though he still gets called on to write songs with hipster bands like Scissor Sisters and Daft Punk—with…

“When I finally got my [membership] certificate in 1955, I said, ‘Man, I’m in ASCAP!’ I was happy, because so were Duke Ellington and all these great people.”—Quincy Jones “When my husband passed away in November 1994, I was a widow with two children. I was actually down on my luck, and what helped bail me out and helped me get back on my feet were the ASCAP checks that I got from people covering ‘Because the Night.’ I’m grateful in good times, and I was really grateful in hard times.”—Patti Smith “A big part of making music is getting the opportunity to work with people I love, trust and respect. As an organization run by music creators, ASCAP represents a whole community of kindred spirits. Joining ASCAP was just…

Pete Seeger Following the Jan. 27 death of Pete Seeger at age 94, fans focked to the folk icon/activist’s music. Seeger’s album and song sales surged, as did his social profle, reinforcing the legacy of his multifaceted career. 4,916% Seeger’s catalog of songs sold 24,000 downloads in the week ending Feb. 2, according to Nielsen SoundScan. That’s up a whopping 4,916% over the previous week, when he sold less than 1,000 total. In terms of albums, his best seller for the week is The Essential Pete Seeger, which debuts at No. 8 on Billboard’s Folk Albums chart with 2,000 (up 20,690%). 3K “This Land Is Your Land” was Seeger’s bestselling download last week, shifting 3,000 copies, up from a negligible amount the week before. It narrowly eclipsed sales of his…

“You can tell everybody,” Aloe Blacc announces over a blast of triumphant horns, “I’m the man.” And the singer/songwriter’s new pop/R&B hit is making that boast come true, as “The Man” scales a host of charts. Having already reached the Digital Songs top five and the Billboard Hot 100’s top 20, this week the track enters three radio airplay tallies: Triple A (No. 23), Adult R&B (No. 30) and Rhythmic (No. 33), and it continues scaling Adult Top 40 (37-30) and Mainstream Top 40 (33-28). Fueling its ascent is a synch in a Beats by Dr. Dre TV ad featuring NBA player Kevin Garnett, which is scheduled to run through April. If the “you can tell everybody” lyric and melody sound familiar, that’s because they incorporate Elton John’s classic “Your…