Innholdsfortegnelse for Nov-01-14 i Billboard Magazine

GLEN CAMPBELL’S TOUCHING NEW VIDEO HELPS spur his first Billboard Hot 100 hit in 33 years. “I’m Not Gonna Miss You” debuts at No. 90, marking his first entry since 1981. The ballad accompanies the documentary Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me (released Oct. 24 by Area23a), which covers 151 Campbell concerts beginning in 2011 as he began his battle with Alzheimer’s disease. Co-written by Campbell, “Miss” enters the Hot 100 with 85 percent of its points from streaming, with Vevo on YouTube views for its video generating nearly all of its 1.9 million streams (up 287 percent) in the week ending Oct. 19, according to Nielsen BDS. The song is his 37th Hot 100 hit dating to his first in 1961. Two reached No. 1: “Rhinestone Cowboy” (1975) and “Southern…

“I’m going to give it to you raw ... success can make you an asshole.” That piece of hard-earned wisdom was included in Sean Combs’ remarks at the inaugural Revolt Music Conference, the hip-hop mogul’s attempt at reinventing the industry confab formula. Held Oct. 16 to 18 at Miami’s glitzy Fontainebleau hotel, RMC’s debut drew an estimated 800 attendees, 300 more than vice chairman Andre Harrell told Billboard he was expecting. Despite a few speaker setbacks (Twitter music chief Bob Moczydlowsky, Insomniac founder/CEO Pasquale Rotella and YouTube head of content and business operations Robert Kyncl all dropped out), those who took the event’s stages included Maverick’s Guy Oseary, Beats by Dre co-founder Jimmy Iovine, Russell Simmons and Atlantic chairman Julie Greenwald. Ten panels covered how music is valued, streaming, brands…

CATCHING A CONCERT AT NASHVILLE’S RYMAN AUDITORIUM IS CONSIDERED TO BE AN unparalleled, even religious experience — but that’s not stopping the Mother Church of Country Music, owned by Ryman Hospitality Properties, from breaking ground on a $14 million renovation. “We’re excited to be able to offer a vastly improved experience,” says Ryman GM Sally Williams. Ticket-holders and daytime visitors alike will benefit from planned additions and enhancements, including expanded lobby and retail areas, a cafe space in the outdoor plaza and an interactive multimedia tour. Meanwhile, the actual auditorium — a National Historic Landmark — will remain virtually untouched. Ryman Hospitality Properties collaborated with R.C. Mathews, a contractor that the parent company has worked with extensively — including on the auditorium’s last overhaul in 1994. “They’re very, very familiar…

NASHVILLE MAYOR Karl Dean, 59, can spit out music business stats like nobody’s business. He’ll tell you, for example, that the city he has governed since 2007 shows the highest concentration of music jobs in the country (7.8 per 1,000 working-age residents, compared with 2.8 for Los Angeles and 2.0 for New York), or that the show Nashville has been a boost to local tourism, to the tune of 23 percent more money spent per visitor who watches the ABC series. Then there are the numbers attributable to Dean, a Democrat, directly: the $623 million convention center that transformed a previously barren patch of downtown; the 6,500-seat riverfront amphitheater that will open in 2015; and the 60-unit Ryman Lofts, providing subsidized housing and collaborative spaces for low-income songwriters and other…

Lana Del Rey’s recent stint at Los Angeles’ Hollywood Forever Cemetery was apt given that her music is about to be covered by the cast of the FX hit American Horror Story: Freak Show. Series creator Ryan Murphy announced that Jessica Lange will perform a Del Rey anthem during its current run. The song is one of several tunes by mopey female singers to be featured on AHS and sold on iTunes. In the season opener, Sarah Paulson delivered a faithful rendition of Fiona Apple’s 1996 hit, “Criminal.” “We want to offer an opportunity to relive the in-show song,” says music supervisor PJ Bloom, who previously worked with Murphy on Glee. “We’re proud of our performances and believe they deserve a life outside the show.” There’s even the possibility of…

TAYLOR SWIFT NAMED HER FIFTH album after her birth year, 1989, but 2014 is the year of her rebirth. After wooing the mainstream with four albums of her pop-flavored brand of country, Swift waves goodbye to Nashville with 1989, ditching guitars for new wave-y synths, courtesy of hit-makers including Max Martin, Shellback, Ryan Tedder and Fun’s Jack Antonoff, who she met through his girlfriend and her “best friend” Lena Dunham. But the LP also marks a personal transition for the 24-year-old: She has a new cropped haircut, debuted a more sophisticated street style and, perhaps most symbolically, moved from Nashville to New York in March. In the past, Swift often seemed to use her music to call out a string of ex- boyfriends. Some already have pointed to One Direction’s…

Music is a main character in Rudderless, actor William H. Macy’s directorial debut. The film, released Oct. 17 by Samuel Goldwyn Films, follows a father (Billy Crudup) forming a band in the wake of his son’s death, and features songs penned by Simon Steadman and Charlton Pettus and a score by alt-country band Clem Snide’s Eef Barzelay. Cast alongside Crudup and Anton Yelchin are musicians Ben Kweller and Selena Gomez, lending an air of authenticity to the film’s many performance scenes. Macy, 64, who currently stars on Showtime’s Shameless, shares the inspirations behind the film’s sound. Spoiler: One Direction is definitely not one of them. How involved were you in the process of creating the film’s music? I was all over it. Before we started I sent out a letter…

EVER SINCE I’D FIRST SMOKED CRACK COCAINE, I had been trying without success to stop. I managed to keep it under control for several years, sometimes going months without smoking it. But then [my wife] Gigi would go out of town and I’d think, “I have a few days, I’ll just do it one more time.” Toward the end of 1999 things were getting out of control. I was smoking a lot now, and acting in ways I’d never acted before. One day in November Gigi had an asthma attack, but instead of taking care of her or taking her to the doctor, I left the house. I couldn’t handle it. Then the last straw came. I had been out of town and was flying into Burbank airport. As I…

IN 2013, NICKI MINAJ TWEETED PICS OF HERSELF at a photo shoot working an uncharacteristically demure, knee-length ruffled dress with the hashtag #OscardelaRentaREALNESS. De la Renta, who died Oct. 20 at age 82, was indeed the real deal. His dramatic, yet ever-tasteful gowns transformed music’s red carpet — often a spectacle for outrageous style — into an elegant one. He could boast (though the native of the Dominican Republic, known for his genteel manners and charm, never would) a lauded career spanning generations, from work in the great couture house of Balenciaga in Spain in the 1950s right up to the wedding dress of Amal Alamuddin (Mrs. George Clooney) mere weeks ago. Rihanna in red-and-white carnations, Carrie Underwood in pastel pink-and-purple tulle, Taylor Swift in cascading satin — Oscar devotees…

THERE ARE SEGWAYS, AND THEN THERE’S Usher Raymond IV’s Segway. Usher’s scooter is a custom-built, gold-plated number with rims that look like they were lifted from Rick Ross’ Maybach. It shines like Louis the XIV’s jewels as he zips through the hallways of the Philadelphia arena in which he’s rehearsing for an upcoming tour on a mid-October day. He’s wearing a cozy blue hoodie sweater (hood up) with a bejewel ed plastic crown canted over it, like he just got back from partying with the monsters in Where the Wild Things Are. As he joins his band — already shaking the empty arena with depth-charge blasts of bass-heavy funk — it’s hard to believe that anyone on the planet is having more fun. And why not? During a two-decade career,…

If the dystopian warnings in George Orwell’s visionary novel Nineteen Eighty-Four hadn’t entirely come to pass, there was plenty of alienation, disillusionment and despair to go around in 1984. Fear of nuclear destruction was at an all-time high. The AIDS epidemic continued to spread. And the government’s covert sale of arms to Iran had been exposed as an illegal scheme. Yet, that year, Ronald Reagan — with a big assist from the Moral Majority — insisted it was “Morning in America,” and was re-elected to the White House in a landslide. In the year’s music, these disquieting times were reflected in the widespread sense that everything was up for grabs: gender identity (Boy George, Annie Lennox), sexual roles (Madonna, Prince), even the definition of rock’n’roll itself (Van Halen adding synthesizers…

“God has put a lot of great people in my path to help me,” says Parton. Her team’s key members reflect on the entertainer. Steve Summers, creative director: “As an artist, there is not a better canvas to work with.” Danny Nozell, manager: “She is the most professional person. Is she tough? Absolutely. At the same time, she’s the sweetest, nicest person I’ve ever met.” Steve Martin, APA executive vp worldwide music: “She transcends being a country artist, she’s really a cultural icon.” Kent Wells, bandleader: “She’s an incredible artistic force of nature on every level.” Chuck Mitchell, senior vp, Sony Music Masterworks U.S.: “It’s really hard to talk about Dolly without engaging in hyperbole, because there really hasn’t been anybody like her.” Kirt Webster, publicist: “Dolly is more than…

GWEN STEFANI “BABY DON’T LIE” MAD LOVE/INTERSCOPE 3.0/5.0 After rumors swirled that Stefani was recording for a solo album and new No Doubt LP, “Baby Don’t Lie” is the first taste from the former. Produced by Benny Blanco, Ryan Tedder and Noel Zancanella, the pop cut embraces her less experimental side with middling results — she’s present, but missing her signature bite. —STEVEN J. HOROWITZ SLEATER-KINNEY “BURY OUR FRIENDS” SUB POP 3.0/5.0 “We’re sick with worry these nervous days/We live on dread in our own gilded age,” sing Corin Tucker and Carrie Brownstein on Sleater-Kinney’s thunderous reunion single. It has been a decade since these indie-rock pioneers called it quits, but they’ve re-emerged with ebullience, flipping a triumphant bird at the doomsday clock. —RYAN REED SMASHING PUMPKINS “BEING BEIGE” MARTHA’S…

3.5/5.0 DIRECTOR Dave Grohl NETWORK HBO AIRDATE Oct. 17 ON THE SURFACE, NEW HBO SERIES FOO Fighters: Sonic Highways is simply about a huge rock band trying to make the greatest album of its career. The conceit takes Sound City — the 2013 documentary directed and produced by Foos frontman Dave Grohl about the Los Angeles studio of the same name — on the road: eight Foo Fighters songs recorded in eight studios in eight cities around the country for their new album (also titled Sonic Highways), each covered in one episode. “If everyone knew more about the people and the places the music was made, people would be more connected to it,” says Grohl in a voiceover as he drives along a decidedly unsonic highway at night. The premiere…

NUMBERS FOO FIGHTERS ’ TV TAKE OVER Foo Fighters used a weeklong stand on CBS’The Late Show With David Letterman (Oct. 13-17) to promote their new single, “Something From Nothing,” as well as their album and HBO documentary , both titled Sonic Highways. Thanks to the engagement, the rock vets are enjoying big gains. 12 K “Something From Nothing” charges in at No. 10 on Hot Rock Songs, powered by a solid sales start (12,000 downloads sold in the week ending Oct. 19, according to Nielsen SoundScan). The track debuts at No. 12 on Alternative airplay, the band’s 28th chart hit. 3.5 K Dave Grohl and company boosted the Late Show YouTube channel: 13 new Foosrelated videos garnered a combined 3.5 million views through Oct. 22. The biggest: 1.3 million…

THANKS TO THE BLOCKBUSTER sales of Frozen and its beyond-ubiquitous hit “Let It Go,” Disney’s music division is on its hottest streak since the halcyon days of the Jonas Brothers and Miley Cyrus in 2009, with a 2.9 percent market share. The soundtrack’s whopping-for-these-days 3.5 million sales helped account for half of the label’s recorded-music earnings in 2014 so far — a feat to cheer, no doubt, but what happens in 2015 when Elsa is on a screen sabbatical? That’s the question on many Mouse watchers’ minds as Hollywood Records, Disney Music Group’s pop division, tries to arrange a new crop of stars to make up for the mainstays who have jumped ship. Those include Cyrus, who remade her career at RCA Records in 2013, and Selena Gomez, who’s headed…

THE WORLD IS FULL OF BEDROOM producers who dream of being the next Avicii. So how did a 23-year-old DJ from Norway find himself in the middle of a bidding war between every major label, along with heavyweights Lyor Cohen and Scooter Braun? To start, Kygo (real name Kyrre Gorvell-Dahll) has all the ingredients for EDM superstardom: Frat-boy good looks; co-signs from Diplo, Coldplay and Ed Sheeran; and a sold-out summer tour that included three shows each in New York and Los Angeles. But what makes him stand out is his signature sound: an infectious brand of slowed-down electronica called tropical house that’s primed for summer festivals. In July, that sound scored him a one-album deal with Ultra Records and Sony International (RCA in the United States; Simon Cowell’s Syco…

House of Blues is buying up area studios and building a mini artists’ community House of Blues Studios founder Gary Belz is taking a historical approach to music-making today. “Stax and Sun Records were short-term forces in the industry, but they’ve retained their shine and relevance,” he says. “I want to foster a village like that: where creative people work together, compete with each other and make their music better.” In 1998, Belz bought East Iris Studios in Berry Hill, a city within spitting distance of downtown Nashville, and, four years ago, got serious about his unorthodox approach to the HOB compound. With four studios and five cottages for writing and preproduction, Belz is creating a kind of artists’ colony among the wildly colorful, Scott Guion-painted buildings and attracting the…

WHEN THE EAGLES were looking for a documentary filmmaker for their History of the Eagles, guitarist Glenn Frey says they went with director Alex Gibney because his work “jumped off the [screen] ... It was so riveting.” They’re not alone in that assessment: Gibney, 61, whose previous credits include Taxi to the Dark Side and Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, has become the go-to director-producer for estates and other entities looking for a top documentarian. First up, his James Brown film Mr. Dynamite premieres Oct. 27 on HBO. Next are a Frank Sinatra documentary timed to the singer’s centennial in 2015, and Finding Fela!, his film on the life of Afrobeat progenitor Fela Kuti and the Broadway musical Fela! that premiered at Sundance. His Kuti movie is three…

Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump and wife Elisa Yao announced the birth of their son, Declan. Former Canvasback/Atlantic director of A&R Dan Chertoff, who signed Alt-J and The Orwells, was named vp A&R at RCA Records. Tim Hauser, founder and singer of The Manhattan Transfer, died from cardiac arrest. He was 72. The Long Island Music Hall of Fame announced its fifth class of honorees: Clive Davis, Patti Lupone, Debbie Gibson, the late Gerry Goffin, Kurtis Blow, Darryl “D.M.C.” McDaniels, Billy Joel’s backing band and Steve Thompson. iHeartMedia hired Gayle Troberman as executive vp/chief marketing officer. Glee star Matthew Morrison married Renee Puente on a private estate in Maui. Songwriter Paul Craft, who was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame earlier this month, died in Tennessee. He was…

LOGIC, BORN SIR ROBERT BRYSON Hall II, is one of 2014’s biggest surprises. Under Pressure (Def Jam, Oct. 21), the debut LP from the 24-year-old Maryland native, is a gem, with a mix of earnest raps and lush beats reminiscent of Kendrick Lamar. Singles “Under the Pressure” and “Driving Miss Daisy” featuring Childish Gambino have yet to catch on, but industry forecasts still suggest the album will sell 65,000 to 70,000 units its first week — which means it will vie with T.I.’s Paperwork, also out Oct. 21, as the top R&B/hip-hop debut that week. Logic breaks down five things you should know about him and his surprising backstory. Judge his music, not his looks. “I’m biracial, but it’s not about being black or white, it’s me being proud of…

Steven Tyler’s Metal Mahalo Watch your back, Joe Perry. Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler made a guest appearance at Hawaiian musician Uncle Willie K’s 54th birthday bash at Migrant Restaurant at Wailea Beach Marriott Resort & Spa in Maui. Tyler, 66, who owns a house on Maui’s Makena Beach, jumped onstage with the birthday boy (born William Kahaiali’i) saying, “Move over, buddy. This ain’t no solo gig.” Settling in behind the keyboard, Tyler saluted his friend, who has played with Santana and Prince throughout a 30-plusyear career. “Happy birthday to you. Here’s to hell: May we have as much fun there as we had getting there,” Tyler said, before playing “Walk This Way” and “Dream On,” on which Uncle Willie K played Perry’s guitar parts on an amplified ukulele. Tyler has…

“I was like, ‘Damn, Nick, that’s cool for you, but it ain’t happening.’ ” —AMBER ROSE The model, who recently filed for divorce from Wiz Khalifa, to People, refuting rumors that she and Nick Cannon are dating. “Why does the UN need to raise money for ebola? Can’t the gov just print the damn dollars themselves and get this done already.” —AZEALIA BANKS The rapper, on Twitter. “I don’t really get along with Nicki [Minaj] ... I don’t like Drake as a person. He’s just fake to me.” —TYGA The rapper dissing his Young Money labelmates in an interview with Vibe. “The guy who hit me with a beer can got away.” —DUSTIN LYNCH The country star, tweeting after being struck in the face by a can thrown from the…

IN MARCH 2006 SISTERS Holly and Hilary Williams, granddaughters of Hank Williams — one of country music’s most influential singer-songwriters — were in a serious car accident that left Holly uncertain as to whether she would ever play the guitar or tour again. “I couldn’t leave Nashville and had to resort to a backup plan,” the now-33-year-old musician says. The life-changing event led Williams to open the boutique H. Audrey (named for her first initial and middle name) where clients like Martina McBride, Sheryl Crow, Gwyneth Paltrow, Connie Britton and Faith Hill shop for contemporary American and international labels including Iro, Malene Birger and Zoe Karssen. “People have a reputation of [only wearing] fringed cowboy boots in Nashville,” says Williams. “I wanted to create a store where people could find…

7 NO. 1 SINGLES ON THE BILLBOARD HOT 100 IN THE 2000S — THE MOST OF ANY ACT. (HE HAS HAD NINE NO. 1s DURING HIS ENTIRE CAREER.) 496,805 PLAYS OF “YEAH!,” USHER’S SONG FEATURING LIL JON AND LUDACRIS, IN 2004, ACCORDING TO NIELSEN BDS, MAKING IT THE MOST-SPUN SONG THAT YEAR. 55 CAREER HITS ON THE HOT R&B/HIP-HOP SONGS CHART. 10.2 MILLION COPIES OF CONFESSIONS SOLD SINCE MARCH 2004. 22 COMBINED TOTAL OF HOT 100 HITS AND CHARTING ALBUMS ON THE BILLBOARD 200 IN THE 2000s, MAKING HIM BILLBOARD’S NO. 2 ARTIST OF THE PERIOD.…

MINUTEMEN: SUCK IT, SAMMY HAGAR “Punk doesn’t have a style,” says former Minutemen bassist Mike Watt, whose July double album Double Nickels on the Dime — a mocking reference to Sammy Hagar’s 1984 hit “I Can’t Drive 55” — influenced American bands across genres, despite nominal sales. “That’s something that record company people and lazy thinkers came up with. It was a movement of people who did not fit in and wanted to create their own thing.” When their SST Records labelmates and friendly rivals in Husker Du announced they were recording a double album, the Minutemen — Watt, singer-guitarist D. Boon (who died in a van accident in 1985) and drummer George Hurley — vowed to do the same. They recorded in the wee hours, when rates were lowest,…

ANY NASHVILLE INSIDER WILL TELL you that Taylor Swift started breaking up with country music long before she first stepped out with hitmakers Max Martin and Shellback for three pop-leaning songs on 2012’s blockbuster Red. But if her new single, “Shake It Off,” was the official breakup letter, 1989 is the coming-out party, because it makes Red sound like Reba McEntire. Executiveproduced by Swift and Martin, two of the all-time biggest hitmakers, the LP could have been an overstuffed Frankenstein of battling ideas. But instead it’s Swift’s best work — a sophisticated pop tour de force that deserves to be as popular commercially as with Robyn-worshipping blog gers; an album that finds Swift meeting Katy and Miley and Pink on their home turf and staring them down. What’s so different?…

THERE’S NO MORE FITTING A TIME AND PLACE TO SEE LANA DEL REY THAN PREHalloween at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, where she played two sold-out shows on Oct. 17 and 18. Picking such an iconic, slightly morbid venue, one that she told the crowd she often “comes to for solace,” is the very pinnacle of the lush fantasy world she has been crafting on record for years. At the second show, the blue-lit stage nestled in Los Angeles’ century-old graveyard was draped in palm trees and candelabras, while old black-and-white footage of Hollywood Forever flickered on a backdrop screen amid clips from Del Rey’s vivid nu-vintage videos. Equal parts dark and glamorous, her voice — remarkedly improved from the unsteady husk she adopted to tour her 2012 debut, Born to…

3.0/5.0 PRODUCERS Greg Fidelman, Slipknot LABEL Roadrunner . RELEASE DATE Oct. 21 The death of a bandmate takes its toll on an act in myriad ways, upending the lives of those left behind personally and professionally. For Slipknot, the passing of founding bassist Paul Gray from a drug overdose in 2010 forced the members of the theatrically inclined metal ensemble to acknowledge their humanity and mourn publicly, appearing without their signature costumes at an emotional press conference the next day. Four years later, the septet’s grieving hasn’t ceased. From the muttered declaration that opens “XIX,” their friend’s absence is addressed early and often on their fifth project, .5: The Gray Chapter, Slipknot’s first since 2008’s All Hope Is Gone, which has sold 1.1 million copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. There’s…

CHART BEAT Fast “Beat” Lorde logs the quickest vault to the top 10 of Billboard’s Alternative chart by a woman since June 1996 (and, thus, of her lifetime, as she was born that November) as “Yellow Flicker Beat” bumps 12-10 in its third week. No song by a solo female has made such a swift sprint to the top 10 since Alanis Morissette’s “You Learn” also reached the upper tier in three weeks. Morissette posted the prior three-week top 10 flight by a woman, too: Her breakthrough, “You Oughta Know,” zoomed 26-10 in just its second week, in June 1995, on its way to a five-week reign. —GARY TRUST 50% THIS WEEK BOBBY “BORIS” PICKETT’S “MONSTER MASH” SALES 6 ,000 30% THIS WEEK FERGIE’S “L.A. LOVE (LA LA)” AUDIENCE 15.6…

It has been a grim year for K-pop. Just weeks after two young members of South Korean girl group Ladies’ Code were killed in a car accident, the genre was hit with yet another tragedy: Sixteen people were killed and 11 injured at an Oct. 17 concert when a ventilation grate upon which they were standing collapsed, dropping them some 60 feet. Less than 48 hours later, a planner for the festival, identified only by his last name, Oh, was dead in an apparent suicide. Insufficient security was cited as the cause of the accident at the festival, which was attended by around 700 people and took place at the Pangyo Techno Valley Festival in Seongnam, just south of Seoul. The lineup featured K-Pop Hot 100 chart-toppers like Junggigo, T-ara…

Like many digital startups, SoundCloud — the world’s largest audio-streaming service — built a seamless user experience before figuring out how to make money with it. Now the Berlin-based company is deep in negotiations for licensing deals to monetize its audience and climb out of its financial hole. (From 2010 through 2013, revenue grew 723 percent to $14.4 million while net loss rose 1,373 percent to $29.6 million, according to SoundCloud financial statements.) Like YouTube before it, SoundCloud has reached critical mass — currently it boasts 350 million monthly users — without licensing deals. Its business model calls for users to upload content for promotional purposes, meaning the company is not required to pay royalties. YouTube’s advertising sales prompted a 2007 lawsuit by the National Music Publishers’ Association and other…

HUSK OWNER Neighborhood Dining Group CHEF Sean Brock LOCATION 37 Rutledge St. OPEN SINCE 2013 SIGNATURE DISHES Sassafras-glazed pork ribs with pickled peaches and Rev. Taylor butter beans; cheeseburger with bacon ground into the meat and steamed onions cooked between the two patties CLIENTELE Keith Urban, Gold Mountain Management’s Burt Stein, Sony/ATV’ Troy Tomlinson MIDTOWN CAFE OWNER Randy Rayburn CHEF Brian Uhl LOCATION 102 19th Ave. S. OPEN SINCE 1987 SIGNATURE DISHES Lobster brie mac and cheese, crab cakes, chicken croquettes, grilled trout, veal meatloaf, shrimp’n’grits CLIENTELE Power manager Narvel Blackstock (Blake Shelton, Kelly Clarkson), former RCA chief Joe Galante, Creative Artists Agency’s Rod Essig ADELE’ OWNERS Ken Levitan, Jonathan Waxman, Howard Greenstone CHEF Jonathan Waxman LOCATION 1210 McGavock St. OPEN SINCE 2014 SIGNATURE DISHES Shaved raw zucchini salad and…

The moody major-to-minor piano chord that parallels Matthew McConaughey’s contemplative monologue in Lincoln Motors’ TV campaign for the MKC model SUV? The handiwork of British Columbia-based multi-instrumentalist Andrew Judah, who, when not performing his own indie pop-rock — he just released his second album, Monster, independently — moonlights as a composer for hire. How did you land the Lincoln ad? Through music house Ring the Alarm. Music houses hire a number of freelance writers — 10 or 15 — and gather tracks to compete for the spot. Has the commercial increased interest in your work? I’ve had people ask for that specific vibe ... and for that piece, but I’m not allowed to sell or give it away. Lincoln owns it. But you earn royalties every time the ad airs?…

Def Jam’s 30th Anniversary BROOKLYN, OCT. 1 6 “IF YOU LOVE HIP-HOP MUSIC, MAKE SOME MOTHERF—IN’ NOISE!” commanded Rick Ross, who headlined the star-studded Def Jam 30 concert at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. The evening honored the 30-year milestone for the legendary label, founded by Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons in 1984 with the release of T La Rock and Jazzy Jay’s inaugural single, “It’s Yours.” While notable Def Jam alumni were absent (Public Enemy, Jay Z, LL Cool J), artists from past and present passed the torch as the five-hour event wore on. DJ Kid Capri gave the teeming audience a hip-hop history lesson in between impassioned performances from EPMD, Foxy Brown and Redman & Method Man, who emptied a bottle of water onto the crowd, explaining, “That’s what you…

RYN WEAVER IS SPRAWLED OUT ON THE bed inside the cluttered makeshift studio in the Manhattan apartment of superstar songwriter-producer Benny Blanco (Nicki Minaj, Katy Perry, Bruno Mars). The San Diegoraised singer became a music-blog obsession in June when her out-of-nowhere single “OctaHate” scooped up 1 million SoundCloud plays in little more than a week . More recently, Weaver , 22, has been working on her debut album and rehearsing for her first live shows in New York with Blanco, who’s currently in his living room tinkering with a springy electro-pop beat on his MacBook. When asked where she’s living, Weaver shifts in her off -white tutu and points down at the bed she’s sitting on, surrounded by synths and laptops. “I don’t have money to put myself up —…

After scoring a smash with Macklemore & Ryan Lewis on “Same Love,”Mary Lambert made her Capitol Records debut on Oct. 14 with Heart on My Sleeve, led by “Secrets,” which reached No. 72 on the Billboard Hot 100. But Lambert, 25, is far from furtive about the songs and stars that influenced her album. Katy Perry, “Teenage Dream” “It’s the most quintessential pop song that you can write. I’m like a Katy Perry scientist. I like to study her career because I think we actually have a lot of similarities. Her product manager is my product manager. I think our writing styles [are similar].” Tori Amos, “Cornflake Girl” “It’s really smart instrumentation: The song is crafted around her writing. I know that’s obvious, but sometimes the production doesn’t really reflect…

Stephin Merritt has a way with words, and not just because he’s the lead singer of acclaimed indie-pop band The Magnetic Fields. A Scrabble nut, Merritt, 49, has a new book of poems, 101 Two Letter Words (W.W. Norton & Company), to help you memorize each of the two-letter words in The Official Scrabble Players Dictionary — from easy (hi) to obscure (xu). Merritt shares what he’s learned from his adventures in wordplay The letters you leave yourself shouldalways have one consonant and one vowel. I like the rules the way they are. I never cheat. Study the words that contain “q” without “u.” There’s not that many of them. The best music for Scrabble is something everybody likes, like Fifth Dimension or Dionne Warwick. I refuse to play people…

TIM McGRAW (2011) Why it worked “In a sea of black, navy stands out,” says stylist Garth Condit of the Dior Homme tuxedo he paired with Tom Ford dress boots for his client. “Tim is in great shape, so the lean cut of this tux looked monumental.” What to expect McGraw’s signature hat. “It looks like leather, but it’s actually black straw,” says Condit. “Even with a suit, there’s something very modern about it.” JENNIFER NETTLES (2009) Why it worked “The strapless form-fitting bodice balanced out the ruffles,” says stylist Gillian Steinhardt of the Luisa Beccaria tulle gown she dressed Nettles in. “We added vintage Patricia von Musulin lucite cuffs that blended in perfectly.” What to expect ”We might do something very leggy,” hints Nettles’ current stylist Jessica Paster. “I’m…

L.A. Reid Signed 14-year-old Usher to his label, LaFace Records. Puff Daddy Mentored him at 15 and co-produced his 1994 self-titled debut. Says Usher: “Puffy helped me come of age.” Alicia Keys Teamed up for the 2004 smash “My Boo.” Will.i.am Wrote and produced his last huge smash, 2010’s “OMG.” Diplo Produced 2012’s arty “Climax.” Now working on new songs for him with Skrillex. Afghan Whigs Performed “Climax” with the band at South by Southwest in 2013 and again in October in Brooklyn. Singer Greg Dulli “became a great friend of mine,” says Usher. Nicki Minaj Raps on “She Came to Give It to You,” his latest official single. Robert De Niro Portrays boxing manager Ray Arcel in the forthcoming film Hands of Stone opposite Usher’s Sugar Ray Leonard.…

THIS YEAR MARKS THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY SINCE 68-year-old international icon Dolly Parton came to Nashville. The fourth of 12 siblings who shared a oneroom cabin, the East Tennessee native was so poor growing up that her father paid the doctor who delivered her with a bag of cornmeal. The day after her high school graduation, Parton left the Smoky Mountains for Music City, where she shepherded her career from singing on The Porter Wagoner Show, a syndicated music-variety series that aired from 1960 to 1981, to winning seven Grammys and scoring 25 No. 1 songs on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart — a record for a female artist. On a recent fall afternoon at Nashville’s NorthStar Studios, Parton is an animated conversationalist, throwing her head back and laughing often. In…

W HAT’S LEFT TO PROVE ON THE NINTH album from one of the most successful Southern rappers ever? As T.I. explains it, Paperwork aims to split the difference between soulful traditionalism and the new sounds of the South. Nabbing Pharrell Williams as executive producer would seem a reliable means to accomplish T.I.’s goals, both aesthetic and fiscal: a jaded listener might flash to the rapper tasting some of the fruits of the labor from “Blurred Lines.” But even at an uncomfortably bloated 18 songs, Paperwork is a perfectly acceptable collection of laid-back Cadillaccruising music — even if it’s nowhere near as essential as anything from his mid-2000s prime. The balance between classic and contemporary is best struck on the single “About the Money,” a honeygolden rattler in which Young Thug…

In 2013, Run the Jewels, the superduo consisting of veterans Killer Mike and El-P, released its self-titled debut, a confrontational barrage of rap ruthlessness. For follow-up RTJ2 (Oct. 27, Mass Appeal Records), they have doubled down on the aggression and injected more of the sociopolitical commentary found in their solo work. On the eve of the album’s release, Killer Mike and El-P discuss their group dynamic, why Mike’s parents are scared for him, and Meow the Jewels, their upcoming Kickstarter-funded remix LP featuring nothing but cat noises (seriously). Why did you immediately record another Run the Jewels album instead of returning to your solo work? El-P: It just felt right. One record would have been a moment; two records makes us a group. Killer Mike: When the team is clicking,…

WHAT COULD ROBERTA FLACK’S classic love song “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” possibly have in common with Carl Douglas’ disco novelty hit “Kung Fu Fighting?” As it turns out, both are copyrights represented by the Royalty Network, which Frank Liwall and his wife Kathy set up two decades ago, to offer songwriters worldwide representation at competitive rates. The firm got its start in the modest Brooklyn neighborhood of Gravesend. Now with offices in Manhattan and the Los Angeles community of Valley Village, the Royalty Network has little need to be modest. The company is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year and serves as publisher or administrator for songs including: “Grown Woman,” recorded by Beyoncé and released as a bonus video on her 2013 self-titled album, co-written by…

The diva teamed with the Bee Gee for Guilty, and on Oct. 25, 1980, the album and her single “Woman in Love” both topped the Billboard charts AT THE START OF 1980, BARBRA STREISAND, then 37, was in the middle of a red-hot streak on the Billboard Hot 100, having landed eight consecutive top 40 hits in just two years. Among those were the No. 1s “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers” with Neil Diamond and “No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)” with Donna Summer. At the same time, Barry Gibb, 33, was enjoying his own career high: He had just notched six straight No. 1 singles with the Bee Gees between 1977 and 1979. A collaboration between the two might have sounded like a no-brainer, but it almost didn’t happen.…