Innholdsfortegnelse for Jul-26-14 i Billboard Magazine

Maybe this will finally impress the father in the song. Magic’ “Rude,” the Canadian pop/reggae group’s tale of a groom-to-be who won’t be denied despite his potential father-in-law’s disapproval, rises 2-1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song dethrones Iggy Azalea’ “Fancy” (featuring Charli XCX) after seven weeks at No. 1. Still, the latter leads in the race for the title of this year’s song of the summer (see page 3). “We can’t believe we got to No. 1,” says Magic lead singer Nasri Atweh. “It’s a great day.” “Rude” rebounds 2-1 for a second week atop Digital Songs with 185,000 downloads sold (up 3 percent) in the week ending July 13, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It also pushes 4-2 on Radio Songs with a 9 percent surge to 152…

Garth Brooks’ July 10 reveal of a new deal with Sony Music (an album on Pearl/RCA Nashville is due around Black Friday, and will be sold digitally on his own site, sidestepping iTunes) and an upcoming global tour had tongues wagging: Does he still carry the clout of a country superstar? “Our listeners say they’d buy tickets today,” says Bruce Logan, vp country programming for CBS Radio. (Only one date, Sept. 4 in Illinois, has been announced so far.) Adds Kris Daniels, PD of KCYE Las Vegas: “A lot’s changed, but he is Garth Brooks. If the music is country and hip, it’ll be a slam dunk.” That’s what Sony’s CEO is counting on. According to sources, Doug Morris pulled out all the stops to land the deal, beating Big…

You could say Lloyd Starr, 35, was primed to be president of Beatport. As the 10-yearold company’s former COO, there was nowhere to go but up. With Matt Addell’s June 24 exit, the door opened and a flood of “philosophical” conversations — many over beers in Ibiza, Spain — turned into reality. How will the EDM online hub grow under his leadership? Starr is tight-lipped on specifics, but tells Billboard he plans to increase the company’s social media presence first, while continuing to reach users through Beatport’s bread and butter: track downloads. What’s your opinion on SoundCloud’s takedown of Kaskade’s allegedly copyright-infringing mashups? Consumers want to mix content, and DJs and copyright holders want to put content out, so it’s unfortunate when legislation gets in the way. That’s why we…

Death Grips called off all touring plans, including a July 20 set at Chicago’s Pitchfork Festival. Curiously, the annual event has seen a few unfortunate setbacks in its lineup. On April 26, house pioneer DJ Rashad, 34, died from an apparent blood clot, leaving producer DJ Spinn to headline a July 20 set. On May 13, The Julie Ruin’s Kathleen Hanna announced she had canceled her tour, including a Pitchfork bow, due to a relapse of Lyme disease. Earl Sweatshirt revealed that he, too, was pulling out from festivals to recover from exhaustion (though he was still expected in Chicago at press time). With 19,000 set to flock to Union Park July 18-20 (headliners include Beck, Neutral Milk Hotel and Kendrick Lamar), Pitchfork Media president Chris Kaskie is taking the…

“Good morning people!! I love y’all!!! And for any haters reading this have yourself a nice warm plate of scrotum...” —BLAKE SHELTON The country singer, tweeting a friendly wake-up call to his 6.6 million followers. “I backslid for a while — got into druggin’ and drinkin’ and smokin’. But now I’m back, reformed. All praises due to Allah.” —JAY ELECTRONICA The rapper, explaining the seven-year delay between his first mixtape and his long-awaited debut album “Not interested in this Wall Street Journal opned section unless it’s entirely written by Taylor Swift.” —RONAN FARROW The MSNBC talk show host, tweeting about the column Swift penned discussing the bright future of the music industry. “It’s better to have three broken engagements than three divorces.” —SHERYL CROW The singer, commenting on her past…

Miley Cyrus licked and gyrated for TV viewers on July 6 when Miley Cyrus: Bangerz Tour aired on NBC, but most Americans tuned out her onstage antics. The special delivered 2 million viewers — a 0.7 rating among adults 18-49. It’s not a ratings disaster, but more of a whimper than a wallop. The holiday weekend is partly to blame, along with Cyrus fatigue. MTV aired her Unplugged special in January. It drew 1 million viewers, the highest-rated Unplugged of the past decade. That’s an anomaly since concert specials generally underperform — in May, a Coldplay special on NBC drew a meager 1.7 million viewers; a 2013 One Direction special on CW had a mere 600,000 viewers despite the boy band’s popularity — but are low-risk as they tend to…

DANNY FIELDS RAMONES MANAGER, 1975–1980 Tommy was the first one I knew. At the time, my day job was at 16 Magazine and at night I was covering CBGB and the downtown music scene for the SoHo News. Tommy, who was nominally the band’s manager at the time, would constantly call me to say, “You write about the other bands at CBs, why don’t you write about us? We’re better than them.” The name The Ramones sounded like a cha-cha band to me, but I saw them, and out on the sidewalk in front of the club, Tommy said, “Did you like us? Will you write about us?” I said, “I want to manage you.” Tommy was a visionary about the music and the way it should sound, how the…

Beyoncé and Jay Z’s On the Run Tour has Yoncé fans coveting the pop singer’s dance moves from afar, but Broadway Bodies, a dance-cardio workout studio based in New York and Los Angeles, is bringing a bit of the performer’s sexy choreography to the masses Broadway Bodies’ Beyoncé Workout Class has become so popular that up to 75 people are often wait-listed per 35-person class, says Stephen Brotebeck, the artistic director and co-founder of Broadway Bodies “We started our Top of the Pop Charts classes three years ago, featuring Britney Spears, Katy Perry, whoever was popular at that moment,” says Brotebeck. “We featured Beyoncé because of the new album [Beyoncé] in 2013, and it really took off.” In early March, Broadway Bodies, which also offers Michael Jackson Mondays, Broadway Cardio…

Instead of singing about running with the boys, musicians like Rita Ora, Ellie Goulding and Lauren Mayberry of Chvrches are spelling it out with Tomboy, a collection by Portland, Ore.-based retailer Wildfang. “Tomboy is a spirit, an attitude, for a girl who follows her heart instead of the rules,” says Emma McIlroy, 30, who launched Wild fang with Julia Parsley, 33, in June 2013. The shop (and site, wildfang.com) carries a curated selection of borrowed from-the-bros brands (think hoodies from RVCA and raglan tees by SubUrban Riot), as well as Wildfang’s own recently launched house labels. This summer sees the debut of its latest collection, 24/7 Tomboy, which includes crop tops and mesh tanks. But the most popular of the lot, according to McIlroy, are the glow-in-the dark graphic tees.…

“How We Do,” The Game featuring 50 Cent The 2004 video depicted the rappers en route to a club when 50 drops the Cadi callout: “I put Lamborghini doors on that Es-ca-lade/Low pro so look like I’m ridin’ on blades,” with the car doors flying high. “Dirt Off Your Shoulder,” Jay Z The rapper and his crew roll in two 2002 Cadillac Escalades with Lexani custom rims. When they arrive to overthrow a radio station, Jay spits the iconic line, “You’re now tuned in to the muh’f —in’ greatest.” “Southern Hospitality,” Ludacris A Cadi cameo makes sense here since the song from 2000 includes a whopping five mentions: “Cadillac grills, Cadillac mills/Check out the oil my Cadillac spills/Matter of fact, candy-paint Cadillac’s kill/so check out the hoes my Cadillac fills.”…

If you excavate the history of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, you’ll eventually hit the story of Mudcrutch. This Gainesville, Fla., rock band emerged in 1970 from Petty’s primordial combos, The Sundowners and The Epics. And somehow, Mudcrutch is still alive. Petty has deep connections to the players. The original lead singer, Jim Lenehan — who wore an eye patch for effect — has been doing Petty’s lighting ever since he was replaced. A newspaper want-ad brought drummer Randall Marsh to the band, as well as his roommate, Mike Campbell. (The band name would later be lent to Mudcrutch Farm, the tin-roofed shack where Marsh and Campbell lived.) Petty still tells with great amusement how Campbell informally auditioned with a cheap Japanese guitar to play Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode.”…

INTERPOL FRONTMAN Paul Banks walks onto the deck of the Frying Pan, an antique ship that’s now a floating bar and grill docked at a Hudson River pier on Manhattan’s West Side. Smooth jazz plays in the background as he makes his way past plastic tables filled with stay-at-home dads nursing lunch-hour pints and tourists killing buckets of Corona and plates of soggy fries. “Let’s sit in the sun,” says Banks, wearing a backward baseball cap and blue suede Adidas sneakers. He settles into a portside chair and rummages around in a worn black gym bag for a pair of shades. Among casual fans, there’s an assumption that Interpol is a uniform gang of denizens of the night who never leave the house in anything less than a smartly tailored…

Also.. A VERY BRITISH MESS’ U.K. singer Foxes hopes an unexpected Grammy win can help her leave dance music behind. ROMEO SANTOS MAKES HISTORY Bronx bachatero hits a home run at Yankee Stadium — the first show there by a Latin artist in decades. MORRISSEY’S MIXED SIGNALS Moz’s first album after a four-year hiatus is filled with hits, misses and, of course, misanthropy. S Shawn Mendes — a sweet-voiced, dreamyfaced 15-year-old Canadian singer who’s considered the first Vine sensation — sits in a rehearsal room in Manhattan. Tom Jackson, a veteran performance coach who worked extensively with teen Taylor Swift, watches intently while Mendes runs through “The Weight,” from his debut EP, Life of the Party, due July 28 on Island. In a few hours, in this room, Mendes will…

My feet haven’t really touched the ground for a while,” says a beaming Louisa Rose Allen, better-known as Foxes, between cappuccino sips. Sitting in a London cafe on a sunny day, the British alt-pop singer, 25, has every reason to be floating on cloud nine. After all, not many artists can say they won a Grammy before they even released an album. Allen took home the best dance recording prize for “Clarity,” her hit collaboration with Zedd, in January. But now, with her debut studio set, Glorious, released stateside on June 23 on RCA, she’s after her own accolades. “It put a fire under my feet,” she says. “I want to win things for my own music.” In addition to collaborating with Zedd, you have also guested on songs by…

TRAINOR TURNS UP THE ‘BASS’ New Epic signee Meghan Trainor bows at No. 84 on the Billboard Hot 100 with her debut pop/doo-wop single “All About That Bass.” The song extols female curves and positive body image: “It’s pretty clear I ain’t no size 2/But I can shake it ... like I’m supposed to do,” sings Trainor, 20. The track surges by 191 percent to 39,000 downloads sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan. GRISWOLDS GROW Australian band The Griswolds (named after the family in the Vacation films) is breaking through with “Beware the Dog.” The Wind-Up single, which debuts on Alternative at No. 36, blends Fun’s wall-of-sound pop with guitar work that recalls Paul Simon’s “You Can Call Me Al.” Fun fact: The band was previously known as Weekend at Bernie’s…

S SO HIGH IS MORRISSEY’S OPINION of his own words that if he can’t present them exactly the way he’d like, he’ll keep them to himself, thank you very much. In 2013, he tussled with publishers over the release of his memoir, Autobiography, insisting the book come out on Penguin Classics, an imprint generally reserved for writers like Austen, Chaucer and Tolstoy, not pop singers who pen songs like “Life Is a Pigsty.” On the musical front, Moz followed 2009’s excellent Years of Refusal with years of refusing to drop another album without a proper record contract — something the iconic former Smiths singer apparently still needs to validate his work. At least that was the official line. His follow-up, World Peace Is None of Your Business, invites other explanations…

Ariana Grande’s “Problem” is still duking it out with Iggy Azalea’s “Fancy” for Song of the Summer status, but that hasn’t stopped Grande, 21, from delivering another perfectly on-trend smash with follow-up single “Break Free,” featuring production from EDM beatmaker du jour Zedd. The song, the second single from Grande’s sophomore album, My Everything, adheres to the strict rules of 2014 dance-pop (generic lyrics about independence, bass that doesn’t drop until the chorus). But there’s one crucial exception: her formidable pipes. “Break Free” succeeds in its insistence on being a soaring power ballad disguised as a club banger, allowing Grande to belt at full blast — particularly on the infectious bridge, punctuated by an “oh bay-bay” that should quickly become her signature. —A.H. RYAN ADAMS “Gimme Something Good” Pax Am/Blue…

19 Years Ago ALANIS MORISSETTE STORMED TO NO. 1 Even if she didn’t remember recording her U.S. breakthrough WHEN I WAS WRITING IT, IT WAS SO subconscious. I wasn’t aware of what was coming out of me,” 21-year-old Alanis Morissette told Billboard shortly before “You Oughta Know,” the scathing first single from her debut Maverick/Reprise album, Jagged Little Pill, topped the Modern Rock Tracks chart — now Alternative — the week of July 22, 1995. “I’d go into the booth ... and sing. I’d listen the next day and not really remember it.” The results proved enduring. Jagged Little Pill has sold 14.9 million copies domestically — making it the third-best-selling album since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking sales in May 1991. “You Oughta Know” signaled a makeover for the Canada…

Remember summer 2013, when Robin Thicke, 37, was riding high with “Blurred Lines,” the longest charting No. 1 of the season? Its accompanying album became his first Billboard 200 No. 1, with sales of 177,000 copies in its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan. What a diff erence a year makes. Paula, his hastily released July 2 follow-up album and brazen plea to win back estranged wife Paula Patton, has quickly become the year’s most high-profile flop. In the United States, the album debuted at No. 9, selling 24,000 copies out the gate, an 86 percent drop-off from Blurred Lines’ debut. On the July 26 chart, the set tumbles to No. 42 with sales of 7,000 — a 72 percent plunge. While it’s easy to forget the middling sales of…

Do the three major labels “misrepresent” their market share figures to extract a disproportionate amount of copyright-related revenue from the marketplace? So claimed Secretly Group co-founder Darius Van Arman to a June 24 Congressional committee considering legislation on copyright law, noting that industry leader Universal Music Group touts the total amount of music it distributes, not owns. By Billboard’s estimate, based on Nielsen Sound Scan data, so far in 2014, UMG tallies 28.2 percent market share via wholly owned or joint ventures, but factor in distribution for indie labels like Concord and Fat Possum and a stake in distributor IN grooves, and market share rises to 38.3 percent. Rather than signing with major-owned distributors like RED and Alternative Distribution Alliance, some indie labels, like the Beggars Group, have the clout…

When noise collective Death Grips, anchored by drummer Zach Hill and vocalist MC Ride but with an always rotating roster, called it quits — announcing the news on July 2 with a note handwritten on a napkin — it was only the latest in a string of shocking (some might say self-sabotaging) moves by the critically lauded and uncompromising 3-year-old Sacramento, Calif., outfit. The scrawled and stained nail in the coffin was presaged by years of tumult; in fall 2012, the album No Love Deep Web was uploaded for free despite its label’s wishes alongside vaguely embarrassing internal emails from Epic Records (“We’re extremely upset”) and ending in Death Grips being dropped from the label. Nearly a year later, the act caused a near riot at Chicago’s Bottom Lounge when…

The numbers don’t lie: Country music is the most robust sector of a booming touring industry. Today, some 15 country stars have reached headlining status — more than ever before — with at least that many poised to take the next step. As president of Live Nation’s country division, Brian O’Connell is the largest producer/promoter of country music in the world. “It’s incredibly busy here,” he tells Billboard, citing Tim McGraw’s Sundown Heaven Tour, Luke Bryan selling out Pittsburgh’s Heinz Field in June, Jason Aldean and Florida Georgia Line “steamrolling through arenas, and Blake Shelton kicking off his tour with three sellouts” as early season highlights. Meanwhile, Taylor Swift made history with her Red Tour, which ended in Singapore on June 12 after a 15-month run. According to Boxscore ,…

Next Up For Ron Howard: Music Docs After directing 22 films — among them Rush, A Beautiful Mind and Apollo 13 — and winning two Oscars, Ron Howard has turned his attention to documenting music. His first foray, Made in America, which chronicles Jay Z’s 2012 music festival, premieres on Showtime on Aug. 7 and is available On Deman d; his second focuses on The Beatles as a live act and has late 2015 penciled in. For the former, Howard, 60, and his producing partner Brian Grazer, 63, went beyond the stage to find stories, traveling to the Brooklyn of Jay Z’s youth and Janelle Monae’s old Philly apartment, and into the lives of locals who came out en masse to see such acts as Run-DMC, Pearl Jam, Odd Future,…

CORNER OFFICE PRESIDENT/CHIEF CONTENT OFFICER OF SIRIUSXM RUNNING PROGRAMMING FOR 140-channel-strong satellite radio service SiriusXM calls for always thinking on one’s feet. Scott Greenstein, 54, the company’s president/chief content officer, takes that responsibility literally. From behind his standing desk on the 36th floor of New York’s McGraw Hill Building, the New Jersey native runs meetings with dozens of program directors, spitballs new formats and, occasionally, has to discipline an unruly employee — most recently: Opie & Anthony co-host Anthony Cumia, who was fired July 13 for racist remarks he made on Twitter. Such decisions never come easy, but ever the diplomat, Greenstein insists the company’s M.O. is “we have dialogues. We don’t yell.” Ten years into his SiriusXM stint, the former movie executive (who has held senior positions at USA…

7 Days On The Scene Top left: Carlinhos Brown (right) and Shakira performed before the 2014 FIFA World Cup final match, between Germany and Argentina, on July 13 in Rio de Janeiro. Bottom left: Paloma Faith performed at the North Sea Jazz Festival at Ahoy on July 11 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Top right: Harman International CEO Dinesh Paliwal (left) and Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda at the Distortion of Sound documentary premiere at the Grammy Museum on July 10 in Los Angeles. Bottom right: Chvrches’ Iain Cook, Martin Doherty and Lauren Mayberry (from left) at the BBC Radio 1 stage at T in the Park on July 13 in Kinross, Scotland. Top left: Jay Electronica (right) reunited with Jay Z in a surprise performance at the Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival on…

Stir It Up Like Bob Marley A new collection inspired by reggae’s ultimate Rastaman, and designed by one of his daughters, brings an irie vibe to your wardrobe Denim. total denim. denim, denim, denim,” says designerCedella Marley, 46, daughter of Bob Marley, when asked about how her father dressed. “Dad was the first person I saw rock denim on denim and I thought, ‘Wow, that works.’ ” The reggae icon’s groovy style endures with the introduction of Marley Apparel, Cedella’s men’s collection, which launched this summer. Inspired specifically by Marley’s sartorial choices from the 1960s and ’70s, the cheery — and sometimes cheeky — line features items like palm-tree-festooned hats ($34) and ganja print tanks ($30). The Rasta Splatter T-Shirt ($30) and Paint Splatter Board Short ($58) are decorated with…

FASHION CARTE BLANCHE RIHANNA The singer owned the red carpet at the 2014 Met Gala in a two-piece Stella McCartney gown. KANYE WEST Yeezy kept it breezy during Paris Fashion Week, attending the Givenchy and Diesel shows in all white. JENNIFER LOPEZ The triple-threat star wore Atelier Versace to the brand’s couture show, also in Paris, earlier in July.…

AT HOME IN MALIBU WITHTOM PETTYAS THE ETERNAL SOCAL ROCKER, NOW ON HIS 13TH ALBUM WITH THE HEARTBREAKERS, SOUNDS OFF ON THE ONE PERCENT, THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND THE CORRUPTION OF POWER: “THE GOOD THING ABOUT GETTING OLD . . . YOU KNOW WHAT’S WORTH SPENDING TIME ON AND WHAT'S NOT” The seaside community of Malibu is a retreat for wealthy hedonists for good reason — there’s rolling surf and almost inevitable blue sky and golden hills and world-class sushi. The cost of paradise, beyond the mortgage payments, lies in hazards like traffic gridlock, rock slides, mudslides — and worst of all, wildfires. The rampaging flames can destroy a home, or a neighborhood, or even a life. Tom Petty knows this danger more keenly than most locals, because he has…

“SOME TIME I’ll look back at old pictures where I’m a little heavy and dressed funny and think, ‘How did I get chicks all the time?’ ” Linda Perry is not sharing this personal insight with a close friend. Rather, she’s addressing a Beverly Hills ballroom full of entertainers — actresses Evan Rachel Wood, Teri Polo, Whitney Cummings and Milla Jovovich, comedian Margaret Cho and fellow songwriter Sia among them — at the May 10 Evening With Women gala to benefit the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center, an event she has curated for the last six years (which would raise $600,000 that night). Her tear-drop-tattooed eyes, however, are fixed on one woman in particular: her wife of five weeks, Sara Gilbert, whom she met in 2011 through a yoga…

In 2010, after 10 years as a primary architect of Interpol’s sound and its most limelight-loving member, Carlos Dengler announced he was leaving the band. In some ways, this was not a big surprise. Dengler’s reputation as a flamboyant eccentric was based in part on his diverse creative interests. Even in a band of educated individuals he stood out as an intellectual Renaissance man, as well-versed in the history of film, classical music and continental philosophy as he was in rock’n’roll. And as born-to-the bass as Dengler may have seemed, playing on big festival stages in his holster and mustache, Interpol drummer Sam Fogarino has said Dengler didn’t “really like playing the bass . . . it’s not his instrument of choice, and it definitely wasn’t his first instrument.” By…

Richard Marx could teach a class on hit love songs. The singer-songwriter has notched 29 Billboard Hot 100 hits, the majority of them uber-romantic — from his first No. 1 as an artist, 1988’s “Hold On to the Nights,” to his 2011 Hot Country Songs chart-topper for Keith Urban, “Long Hot Summer.” Marx, now 50 and recently divorced from his longtime wife, actress Cynthia Rhodes, says he writes “what every woman wants to hear and what every man wished he could say.” With Beautiful Goodbye (Kobalt), his first album in 10 years, hitting No. 40 on the Billboard 200 — his highest-charting set since 1994 — Marx is romancing listeners once again. Did you set out to make an album that doubles as a date-night soundtrack? I was influenced by…

“I have no sense of time,” Black Bananas frontwoman Jennifer Herrema says. “It’s all a blur.” No wonder: The alt-rock icon, 47, has unleashed more than 20 albums total of her various projects, from noise rock trailblazers Royal Trux to her latest, Black Bananas, whose second effort, Electric Brick Wall, arrives June 24 via Drag City. The album collects raw rock songs seen through a retro funk lens, and according to Herrema, who arrives for her interview with a bathing suit under her clothes, the tracks have some unlikely prompts. Nonstop TV “The TV is always on. I’m not watching it — it’s this white noise where it’s on low and I can kind of hear it. It doesn’t really matter what show is on. The weirdest thing will catch…

Only one country can win the World Cup, but some music stars also saw major gains thanks to the tournament, which wrapped July 13. 134 K After her closing-ceremony performance of “Dare (La La La),” Shakira vaults 14-5 on the Social 50. “Dare,” meanwhile, moves 36-22 on Streaming Songs. Through July 13, the song has sold 134,000 downloads, according to Nielsen SoundScan. 421 K Rihanna’s social metrics soared after she tweeted pics of herself partying with German players. There were 421,000 tweets about her on July 13. She posted a 94 percent gain in new followers , reports Next Big Sound. 157 K Also in attendance at the final was Mick Jagger, who was particularly bad with his World Cup predictions — every team he publicly supported did poorly. Nevertheless,…

PRODUCER: Greg Kurstin LABEL: Monkey Puzzle Records/RCA RELEASE DATE: July 8 SIA FURLER’S FIRST BREAK came when her dirgelike 2004 ballad “Breathe Me” was used as the bleak closing song in the series finale of HBO’s Six Feet Under. So, her second act, as songwriter to the stars, has been unlikely, to say the least. Her moody solo albums often detailed struggles with addiction, complete with titles like “The Co-Dependent” and “The Girl You Lost to Cocaine,” which made it difficult for some fans to reconcile them with the comparatively innocuous lyrics and trendy beats of pop hits she has written, like Flo Rida’s “Wild Ones” or Rihanna’s “Diamonds.” But 1000 Forms of Fear, Sia’s first album in four years — and her first No. 1 on the Billboard 200…

S Singer-songwriter Sia nabs her first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 — and her best sales week ever — as 1000 Forms of Fear debuts atop the list. The new album, released on Monkey Puzzle through RCA Records, sold 52,000 copies in the week ending July 13, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The album was released July 8. The 52,000 haul is Sia’s best frame, but a fairly tepid figure for a No. 1 album in general (see page 74). The artist took a rather unconventional route to promoting her album: She opted not to show her face during TV performances of album single “Chandelier” and didn’t pose for traditional photo shoots. Instead, she performed on TV with her back to the camera while a dancer (or dancers) interpreted…

Exposure has to take a back seat to timing and circumstances, say experts 1 Avoid direct interaction on social media during controversy Case in point: Chris Brown’s no interview policy didn’t hurt sales of his last two post-Rihanna albums, 2011’s F.A.M.E. and 2012’s Fortune. Both topped the Billboard 200. 2 Don’t rouse the haters — rally your followers “A loyal fan base will overshadow the negative,” offers Daddy Yankee publicist Mayna Nevarez. 3 Control your publicity stunt “One negative tweet can trigger a snowball of criticism,” says Dominic Moriarty, head of social at London digital marketing agency Passion Digital. “We’d never recommend risking a backlash.” —Leila Cobo…

Sam Smith lost a battle but not the war. In an effort to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, the buzzing Brit’s first full-length album, In the Lonely Hour, was kept off Spotify in the United States, sources tell Billboard. The tactic didn’t work. The 182,000 first-week sales of Lana Del Rey’s sophomore effort, Ultra violence, on Interscope surpassed his 166,000-unit June 16 release on Capitol. (Both are Universal Music Group labels.) Could the 16,000-unit chasm have been bridged by the streaming service, which, in theory, would have allowed fans to sample Smith’s music before buying or spread the word to other potential buyers? Perhaps. But a different street date would have easily done the trick. In the Lonely Hour could have reached the top spot in 17…

Real Estate Reed owned a home in Southampton and a West Village duplex, which Nest Seekers’ Ryan Serhant and Robert Canberg value at $1.5 million and $7 million, respectively. Recordings And Publishing Owning his publishing likely earned Reed $13.5 million from syncs and songwriter royalties. Album/track sales brought in some $20 million since 1992. Live Performances Tallying $3.6 million in ticket sales as a solo artist would have netted Reed $1.2 million. Velvet Underground’s touring days, like its time as a band, were too few.…

In 1974, The Allman Brothers Band, Chicago and Wings led the Billboard 200, but none were playing stadiums . That breakthrough fell to David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash and Neil Young, whose 1974 tour was their first together since 1970. CSNY played up to four hours a night, rocking their two albums, solo LPs and new songs. On July 8, after years of delays, the band dropped CSNY 1974 (Rhino), a boxed set of live cuts from the tour compiled by Nash. With 60 songs on the deluxe edition, which bows at No. 17 on the Billboard 200, there are tons of takeaways — but Nash, 72, says these are the five most important. 1. THERE’S A REASON IT TOOK SO LONG TO COME OUT “The only thing around…

The number most commonly associated with the movie Boyhood is 12 — as in, how many years Dazed and Confused director Richard Linklater spent shooting four actors to tell the story of a family as it develops in real time. Equally astonishing: the 41 master recordings licensed for the film, including songs by Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney and Wings, Lady Gaga and the notoriously difficult-to-clear Arcade Fire. “I realized a score wouldn’t work; it had to feel like music came out of the culture,” says Linklater, 53, who began to formalize music selections in 2010. (Nonesuch signed on to release the soundtrack.) One-third of the film’s $2.5 million budget went toward music. That’s because Linklater wanted songs that complemented the timeline, which covers the maturation of boy Mason (Ellar Coltrane)…

BPM (CHANNEL 51) Launched in 2001 and programmed by Geronimo, SiriusXM’s flagship dance station plays mainstream EDM and broadcasts major festivals like Ultra, Electric Daisy Carnival and Electric Zoo. ELECTRIC AREA (CHANNEL 52) Progressive house, trance, dubstep and drum’n’bass are some of the more niche genres that are heard on the station, which also features a daily two hour show by DJ-producer Hardwell. CHILL (CHANNEL 53) Launched in 2006, this channel features down tempo electronica. UTOPIA (CHANNEL 55) Such artists as Kylie Minogue, Fatboy Slim and Robyn have a new home on this channel, which features club hits from the ‘90s and 2000s. CLUB LIFE RADIO (CHANNEL 340) Star host DJ Tiesto‘s handpicked selections range from trance to progressive house and his own subgenre, trouse.…

The ESPY Awards LOS ANGELES, JULY 16 If music doesn’t work out for Drake, he always has comedy to fall back on. The rapper showed off his hosting skills with an elaborate comedic routine at the 22nd annual ESPY Awards at the Staples Center, in Los Angeles. Drake helped bridge the gap between music and sports with his wisecracking antics to a crowd that included Keri Hilson; ZZ Ward; Chris Brown; John Legend’s wife, Chrissy Teigen; and Iggy Azalea, whose preshow performance included her hit “Fancy.” Among the evening’s top winners were NBA MVP Kevin Durant of Oklahoma City Thunder, who won best male athlete and best NBA player; Oklahoma Thunder’s Russell Westbrook, who earned the best comeback athlete nod; and boxer Floyd Mayweather, who won best fighter. Drizzy continued…

Wearable technology hits a high fashion note in the form of Ringly, the company that recently launched four semiprecious, 18 karat gold cocktail rings ($145-$260) that are also Bluetooth LE-enabled. After the jewelry is hooked up to Ringly’s mobile app, users can set different vibration and light settings to alert them of incoming calls, texts, emails, Instagrams, tweets and, yes, even Tinder messages. Plus, never worry about leaving your phone behind with Ringly’s automatic alert system. There’s another reason why Ringly could become a must-have (next to a good set of earplugs) for music fans and executives: “Ringly is perfect for concertgoers and anyone in a loud venue,” says Christina Mercando, CEO/founder of the company, which debuted its jewels in June. “No more holding your phone in your hand while…

Jhene Aiko stands around 5 feet tall and weighs perhaps as much as a decaf macchiato; the 2015 Cadillac Escalade stretches 18-and-a-half feet and tips the scales at nearly 6,000 pounds. Right now, the buzz-building singer-rapper — she has performed with her friend Drake on Saturday Night Live and with John Legend at the BET Awards; in September she’ll release Souled Out, her debut album — is piloting the massive Caddie oceanside in the L.A. neighborhood of Marina del Rey, purring a melody. “The car drives really smooth — it defi-nitely doesn’t feel as big as it looks on the outside,” she says from the front seat, looking like Fay Wray wrapped in King Kong’s fist. “It doesn’t pick up speed like my BMW” — a 4 series she selected…

During his hard-fought, ascendant career, Tom Petty has often been labeled as intense. The artist wouldn’t disagree — and a corrosive new track called “Playing Dumb” won’t change anyone’s mind. Though the song didn’t make the new album — it was hard to sequence with the rest of the tracks, says Petty — it will be included as a bonus cut on the accompanying vinyl release. Petty hitches back in his seat when asked about “Playing Dumb.” In the lyrics, he proposes lighting a candle “For every confession that wasn’t on the level/For every man of God that lives with hidden devils.” The song mourns the victims of sex abuse at the hands of Catholic clergy, and takes aim at the controversial financial settlements the church eventually made. This is…

LOVE & HIP HOP The stories of women involved with such rappers as Lil Scrappy, Yung Joc and Waka Flocka Flame has become the most tweeted show on TV on Mondays. HIT THE FLOOR Revolving around the Devil Girls, dancers for a fictional basketball team in Los Angeles, the series is the No. 1 cable show among women 18-34 in its time slot. HOLLYWOOD EXES This docu-series explores famous exes, including women once married to Prince, R. Kelly, Will Smith and Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker.…

TURN ON THE BRIGHT LIGHTS (2002) Interpol’s debut album hit No. 158 on the Billboard 200, selling 579,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Standout tracks: “Obstacle 1” and “PDA” ANTICS (2004) Peaking at No. 15 on the Billboard 200, this sophomore follow-up sold 516,000 copies and built on the band’s moody, atmospheric sound. Standout tracks: “Slow Hands” and “Evil” OUR LOVE TO ADMIRE (2007) The act’s first effort on Capitol Records climbed to No. 4 on the Billboard 200, moving 240,000 copies. Standout tracks: “The Heinrich Maneuver” and “Mammoth” INTERPOL (2010) The intricate self-titled album hit No. 7 on the Billboard 200 with 109,000 copies sold and earned positive reviews from critics. Standout tracks: “Lights” and “Barricade” EL PINTOR (2014) The upcoming fifth LP — set to be released Sept.…

From: Nottingham, England Real name: Lauren Henson Sounds like: An edgier version of fellow European chanteuses Robyn and Little Boots, with sinister undertones offsetting the pop shimmer. Big break: After posting a few cover songs online, Indiana was contacted by producer-songwriter John Beck, best-known for Corinne Bailey Rae’s single “Put Your Records On.” “He invited me to his studio, and at first I didn’t believe him — I thought it was some weirdo,” recalls the twentysomething singer. “Then I Googled him and saw he wasn’t a weirdo — he was Grammy-nominated.” Bigger break: The hypnotic single “Solo Dancing” took off overseas, hitting No. 14 on the U.K. singles chart in April. Follow-up ”Heart On Fire” was premiered by BBC Radio 1’s Zane Lowe as his “Hottest Record” in May, and…

Last September, Irish singer-songwriter Hozier posted his first video on YouTube, for the bluesy ballad “Take Me to Church,” and it went viral. The charged clip, which criticizes Russia’s criminalization of homosexuality, shows a gay man about to be burned alive by masked thugs. The video has racked up 5 million views as of press time, but the song is about another controversial topic: Ireland’s relationship with the Catholic Church. “Growing up in Ireland, the church is always there — the hypocrisy, the political cowardice,” says Hozier, real name Andrew Hozier-Byrne, who identifies as nondenominational Christian. “The video has the same theme — an organization that undermines humanity.” Major-label A&R execs from across the globe flocked to Hozier’s hometown of Dublin to scout his gigs. Within weeks, his management company,…

Right before getting onstage for his headlining show at Yankee Stadium on July 11, Romeo Santos prayed. “I thanked God for giving me the opportunity to witness something that not too many artists get to witness in their lives,” he tells Billboard. But plenty of fans were there to see the historic concert: 50,000 packed the stadium. The next night, too. “I felt like a Latin superhero — like I was in a movie,” says the bachata singer, who grew up in a Dominican-Puerto Rican household in the Bronx, just a couple miles away from Yankee Stadium. “All these people are there to see you, and they know every song word for word. They’ve been waiting for this moment more impatiently than I have.” Santos’ two sold-out shows marked the…

PRODUCER: Chad VanGaalen LABEL: Polyvinyl RELEASE DATE: July 22 “WHEN EVERY DAY’S A HURRICANE, you know there’s something wrong,” sings Alvvays’ Molly Rankin on the wistful comedown “Party Police.” The Toronto indie-rock quintet certainly isn’t afraid to embrace rain-streaked melodies and melancholy musings on love and other intoxicants. But the band’s jangly guitars and power snares, reminiscent of NME’s seminal cassette compilation C86, lend its full-length debut a sunny disposition perfect for summer release. Alvvays cross-pollinates Bethany Cosentino’s sun-sick brooding with the breezy 1950s rock throwbacks of Scottish romantics Camera Obscura. Even the disaff ected croon of Rankin — who’s descended from Canadian folk royalty The Rankin Family, a three-decade-strong Celtic band — floats on the same current as Obscura singer Tracyanne Campbell. Like both that group and Cosentino’s Best…

DOT COM Read more Chart Beat at billboard.com/chartbeat. 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).…