Innholdsfortegnelse for Jul-25-15 i Billboard Magazine

HIP HIP HOORAY FOR OMI. The Jamaican singer’s “Cheerleader” rises 2-1 on the Billboard Hot 100, dethroning Wiz Khalifa’s Furious 7 soundtrack smash “See You Again” (featuring Charlie Puth). OMI’s breakthrough reggaepop hit also spends a second week at No. 1 on the Digital Songs chart and has sold 1.3 million downloads to date, according to Nielsen Music. “It’s every artist’s dream,” says OMI, 29, born Omar Samuel Pasley, of his new chart-topping status. “It all seems surreal. Not everyone gets to live their dream. My dream wasn’t to become famous but to be appreciated for what I love — my music.” Released in 2012, “Cheerleader” has scored global success thanks to its recent Felix Jaehn remix. Also celebrating: OMI’s label home, Ultra Records, which partnered with Columbia Records to…

THE INTERNET MAY HAVE DESTROYED THE OLD MUSIC BUSINESS, but its impact on the music media industry has been even more lethal. As magazines shifted to the Web, overall U.S. print sales dropped more than 56 percent between 2004 and 2014 (according to trade publication The New Single Copy) and advertising moved to online units that sell for a fraction of the price of an old quarter-page. Rolling Stone boasted an average circulation of more than 1.4 million in 2014, and of course Billboard remains the industry bible, but Blender bit the dust in 2009 after a 30 percent drop in ad pages in 2008; Spin’s print edition held on, before being discontinued in mid-2012; most others have moved to online-only iterations or found new revenue streams, including awards shows…

WHEN JODY GERSON LEFT Sony/ATV Music Publishing in July 2014 after six years at the company, many industry observers were taken by surprise. After all, she was then — as she is now — the highest-ranking woman in publishing and positioned to become heir apparent to chairman Martin Bandier. But behind the scenes, Universal Music Group chairman/CEO Lucian Grainge waited out her contract, swooped in and gave the 53-year-old Philadelphia native control of Universal Music Publishing Group and its $1.1 billion in annual revenue. Gerson made her name as one of the most renowned A&R executives in the music business, identifying and signing such artists and songwriters as Alicia Keys, Lady Gaga, Norah Jones and Enrique Iglesias, all early in their careers. She started out at Chappell Music, now known…

Joan Sebastian, the Mexican singer-songwriter who earned 33 Hot Latin Songs hits and 10 No. 1 titles on the Regional Mexican Albums chart during his career, died July 12 at his ranch in Juliantla, Mexico, after a 13-year battle with cancer. He was 64. “I don’t make up songs — I live songs,” Sebastian once told Billboard. With a story that read like the movies and soap operas he once starred in, Sebastian had much living to draw from. And despite being diagnosed with bone cancer, a disease he battled with grit, he never left the stage. “He is a warrior,” Los Angelesbased radio personality Carlos Alvarez told Billboard in 2012. Sebastian was honored with Billboard’s Hall of Fame Award in 2006 and The Voice Award at the 2013 Billboard…

Lilith Fair may be long gone, but Colbie Caillat, 30, Christina Perri, 28, and “Fight Song” singer Rachel Platten, 34, are reviving the girl-power spirit this summer on the 27-date Girls Night Out, Boys Can Come Too Tour, which kicked off July 10. The ladies dish on their must-haves to survive life on the road. PRESHOW POTIONS Caillat “I drink hot water and honey with a little Jameson before I go on. I have a raspy voice, so that soothes it and smoothes it out.” Platten “We have Jack Daniel’s on our rider, but we end up never actually drinking it. You have to be in amazing shape to tour like this, so you can’t party too much. Instead it’s usually Throat Coat tea, green smoothies and hot water with…

“Horses belong on a farm, not in a shitty overpriced nightclub to be subjected to a shitty overpaid DJ.” —DEADMAU5 The masked DJ, criticizing David Guetta on Twitter for using live horses in an Ibiza club show. “Her fans loved the beef. That’s all they have — they don’t have real things going on.” —DIPLO The producer, during an interview with Rolling Stone, on Taylor Swift’s fans attacking him for saying she has “no booty.” He added that he and Swift had “squashed” their tiff. “Please tell the people who are protesting to kiss my ass.” —KID ROCK The Detroit musician, in a statement to Fox News in response to local activists’ demands that he renounce the Confederate flag, which he has displayed prominently at concerts in the past. “You…

IT’S LIKE, YOU COLLECT ALL OF THESE THINGS, AND THEN never do anything with them,” The Bird & The Bee’s Inara George says, scanning the framed mementos that quilt the walls of the seven-bedroom, 3,800-square-foot Los Feliz property she has owned for the past five years. “I thought it would be fun to put everything up.” There are cards from friends and collaborators like composer Van Dyke Parks and director Michel Gondry, press clips of the band (“We made it into The New Yorker!”) and the 1960s record cover her model mom appeared on. A hand-drawn cartoon shows the 5-year-old son and 3-year-old twins that George, 41, shares with director-husband Jake Kasden (New Girl). “I love to hear music,” says the California native and daughter of founding Little Feat member…

EVEN BEFORE SHE HAD FANS, WRITER Anna Todd was a fan. “I was in the Josh Hartnett fan club when I was 13,” she recalls over lunch on a hot July day in Austin. “He sent me an autographed picture.” She’s the type of person who gets very excited about a pop novelty for a while, then replaces that passion with something else. “Almost everything that I’ve really liked,” the 26-year-old says, “I was, like, obsessed with.” At 20, it was Twilight and Robert Pattinson. At 22, it was Fifty Shades of Grey. At 23, it was the British boy band One Direction. Until recently — until Todd became famous — her professional life mirrored the quicksilver enthusiasms of her fandoms. All she knew growing up was that she wanted…

SKY BLU (HALF OF LMFAO) ”Me and Foo, we heavily believe in The Secret — manifesting your dreams — so we had a goal to be No. 1 around the world and sell out the Staples Center, where the Lakers play.” GOONROCK (CO-PRODUCER) “‘Party Rock Anthem’ actually started in a session for [rapper] Flo Rida. I wrote the chorus, but it was, ‘I can feel it in my soul tonight.’ Flo Rida passed on the song, but we were making the LMFAO album. Redfoo wanted to revisit it.” REDFOO (LMFAO LEADER) “I wanted a song we could play when we stepped into the club. It was just, ‘Let me change this [line], “I can feel it in my soul.”’ I felt like that was outdated — the word ‘soul’ in…

JUNE 28 Burnley, 37, learns through social media that Breaking Benjamin’s fifth album, Dark Before Dawn, is No. 1 on the Billboard 200. “My management called, like they had big news for me,” he says with a laugh. “I was like, ‘Yeah, I already know...’ ” JUNE 29 The band rehearses for its fivedate acoustic tour in a studio in Burnley’s hometown of Ocean City, N.J. “It’s a law office that I turned into a studio,” the singer says. “People still come to the door looking for legal assistance. I’m like, ‘Sorry, can’t help you out.’ ” JUNE 30 The members pile into a tour bus for the 10-hour drive to the first gig in Asheville, N.C. “We do stupid things to keep occupied,” says Burnley of passing time on…

ALL IT TAKES FOR A HIT CAREER IS THE RIGHT mix of melodies and lyrics — and lawyers. Never has the role of legal advisers in the music business been more crucial, as opportunities for the use of an artist’s songs expands with new business models — and complaints about the misuse of copyrights wind up in court. In the past year, disputes over music rights have grabbed public attention and headlines in the mainstream press, whether inside the courtroom (the $5.3 million “Blurred Lines” verdict) or on social media (Taylor Swift’s challenges to Spotify and Apple Music). Disputes like these fill the days of the 26 lawyers in this report — chosen for negotiating the hottest opportunities for music’s biggest stars and the newsworthiness of their recent actions —…

EDGY EVOLUTION “As the world has shifted into casual but sharp, I’ve become a Varvatos guy.”—Elliot Groffman CLASSIC WORKS FOR COURT “I get my suits at Brooks Brothers. Nobody laughs at you for buying a suit there.”—Harvey Geller CLASSIC WORKS FOR COURT “I get my suits at Brooks Brothers. Nobody laughs at you for buying a suit there.”—Harvey Geller CASUAL OUT OF CHAMBERS “My clothing choices vary depending on whether or not I have meetings. No meetings today? Then jeans.”—Dina LaPolt 1 JOHN VARVATOS Fleetwood wire zip boot, $898; johnvarvatos.com 2 BROOKS BROTHERS non-iron slim-fit point collar dress shirt, $92; brooksbrothers.com 3 BROOKS BROTHERS BB#1 Repp tie, $79.50; brooksbrothers.com 4 FRAME DENIM Le Flare de Francoise in Queens Street, $240; intermixonline.com 5 BRUNELLO CUCINELLI zipped hoodie, $2,195; farfetch.com…

KEYS TO THE CITY Songwriting-production duo R. City (brothers Theron and Timothy Thomas) releases its new single as an act, “Locked Away,” featuring Adam Levine (who turns in a refreshingly falsetto-free vocal). The popreggae track, produced by Dr. Luke and Cirkut, previews the pair’s Kemosabe/RCA EP, due this summer. The group, from St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands, previously wrote cuts for Beyoncé and Rihanna. EAST HEADS NORTH Singer-songwriter Anderson East is climbing the Triple A chart with his first hit, “Satisfy Me” (30-27). The soulful tune, produced by Dave Cobb (Sturgill Simpson, Jason Isbell), is from his debut LP Delilah, released July 10 (Elektra/Atlantic). East made his national TV bow on Late Night With Seth Meyers on July 15 and has tour dates lined up with Brandi Carlile…

SIXTY YEARS AGO, THE ROCK ERA effectively launched with the No. 1 success of “(We’re Gonna) Rock Around the Clock” by Bill Haley & His Comets. The single was the first rock’n’roll track to top Billboard’s leading pop singles chart, then known as the Best Sellers in Stores chart, and spent eight weeks atop the list, first hitting No. 1 on the tally dated July 9, 1955. The then-30-year-old Haley, a Highland Park, Mich., native (real name: William John Clifton Haley Jr.), had already found success with his rocking cover of Joe Turner’s “Shake, Rattle and Roll,” which reached No. 7 in 1954, but it was “Rock Around the Clock” that made him a star. The song was released in 1954 and shot to No. 1 the following year, thanks…

AS THE BATTLE TO BECOME summer’s biggest touring artist rages on, the live music industry is reaping the benefits with a robust season so far in 2015. “We’re operating in a healthy, continually growing market,” says Marc Geiger, worldwide head of music at William Morris Endeavor. “I feel blessed, frankly.” He’s not alone. Such agencies as Paradigm, APA and Creative Artists Agency are seeing the Live Nations and AEG Lives of the world as profitable partners, particularly when it comes to heritage acts with an arsenal of hits. Curiously, while rock’s presence on radio has dimmed, on the road it’s bigger than ever, offering a choice of arena-rock regulars, from veterans like The Rolling Stones and The Who to 1980s titans Van Halen and Def Leppard. Who’s hot at summer’s…

With top DJs drawing up to $66 million each year, the dance music representation battle has become hotly contested. To wit: During the past couple of months, two name talents, Steve Angello and Dirty South, left massive Hollywood player Creative Artists Agency for EDM specialist AM Only, leaving insiders wondering if the move effectively handicaps CAA in the EDM rep game. CAA is a relative newcomer to the space, but in the past two years has expanded its EDM presence to include 13 agents dedicated to the genre, including veterans Maria May and Hunter Williams and the U.S. arm of The Rebel Agency; its roster includes David Guetta (in the United Kingdom), Empire of the Sun, The Chainsmokers, Pretty Lights, Jamie Jones, former AM Only artist Luciano and, not least,…

ON A TUESDAY EVENING IN April, during MTV’s annual upfront presentation, the channel that introduced the world to Jackass and Snooki put something onscreen that shocked even a jaded audience of advertising executives: elves. Specifically, MTV showed a trailer for The Shannara Chronicles, its lavish TV adaptation of a series of swords-andsorcery novels by Terry Brooks, which will premiere in January 2016. Filmed in New Zealand and filled with medieval costumes, Shannara looks more like the Lord of the Rings movies than anything on MTV, and it has the budget to match — it’s the most expensive series the channel has ever made, according to an executive. MTV could stand a little witchcraft. This season, its primetime programming reached about 40 percent fewer viewers in the 12-to-34 target demo than…

T In The Park PERTHSHIRE, SCOTLAND, JULY 10-12 THE RAINS CAME AND THE MUD FOLLOWED, BUT that only gave the crowd at T in the Park more to roar about. This year the three-day festival moved from its former location at the Balado airfield to the stately grounds of Strathallan Castle following concerns over an underground oil pipeline. “I like what you’ve done with the place,” said Noel Gallagher before leading a mass singalong to Oasis’ “Champagne Supernova.” The new locale welcomed the same raucous audience, which saw Susan Boyle (in a controversial Native American headdress) mingling with The Prodigy. “This is basically Scotland’s spring break,” James Graham of The Twilight Sad told Billboard backstage. For Paloma Faith, that meant working a lime green and brass cape and dressing her…

Carly Rae Jepsen: Call Me Maybe — Just Don’t Call Me PopThe standout song on Carly Rae Jepsen’s forthcoming third album, Emotion — which leaked online earlier in July after being released in Japan — almost didn’t happen. Why? Because it was too poppy — even for the singer behind the irresistible ”Call Me Maybe,” which ruled the Billboard Hot 100 for nine weeks in 2012. Walking around Lower Manhattan with Overheard, Jepsen said the disco-flavored “Boy Problems” — which was co-written by Sia, Greg Kurstin and Tavish Crowe — was nearly left out because it sounds “just like the last album,” she explained. (That would be Kiss, which, in addition to “Maybe,” spawned the top 10 Hot 100 hit “Good Times” with Owl City.) Many critics have already pegged…

In June, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced plans to put a woman on a redesigned $10 bill in 2020. Billboard asked music stars for their picks — and if they have their way, Americans will be making it rain with Queen Beys in a few years. Benjamin Booker “That’s easy: Oprah Winfrey! Let’s do it, people.” Halsey “Frida Kahlo. She deserves it — end of story.” Steve Aoki “Angela Davis. She stood up, fought and went to jail. She did a lot of hard time for the struggle of her people. And she had f—ing badass hair.” Odesza’s Harrison Mills “Beyoncé. People would just collect their $10 bills.” Luke Bryan “Dolly Parton — ’nuff said.”50 Cent “Me — it would be great for my perception of myself. With…

ON A BOILING JULY DAY AT A PHOTO studio in South West London, 56-year-old Duran Duran frontman Simon Le Bon is in full flamboyant mode, mincing and strutting, sucking in his cheekbones and giving what might just be his best sex face. Around him, his bandmates — drummer Roger Taylor, 55; keyboardist Nick Rhodes, 53; and bassist John Taylor, 55 — congregate, voguing with chins thrust forward. “We used to do three or four shoots a week at our height,” says Taylor (that’s John, not Roger; Roger, no relation, is a man of few words, most of them inaudible). Occasionally, Le Bon calls for the band’s manager — “Wendy! Wendy!” — to check that the sunlight pouring in through the window above is not casting unflattering shadows on his face.…

Lisztomania The piano playing of 19th-century Hungarian composer Franz Liszt inspired a reaction that poet Heinrich Heine described as “true madness,” anticipating nearly two centuries of fandom. Bobby-Soxers Named for the rolled-down hosiery they matched with saddle shoes and skirts, these teen girls were pop music’s first real fan army, swooning and fainting over Frank Sinatra during World War II. Beatlemaniacs Can fans love a group too much for its own good? In 1966, The Beatles quit touring partly because their performance couldn’t be heard over the crowd’s frenzied screams. Deadheads The free-spirit culture of tie-dye and tape trading has outlived the jam band that spawned it: 60,000 fans mailed handmade ticket requests to the Grateful Dead’s early-July reunion shows. Kiss Army Founded in 1975 by two kids who pressured…

IN THE SPANISH-speaking world, Prince Royce is already a brand-name superstar. He scored his first No. 1 on the Hot Latin Songs chart with his 2010 debut at the age of 20. That song, “Corazon Sin Cara,” was a soft-focus ode to unconditional love that established Royce as a bachata heartthrob whose silken tenor and warmhearted attitude fit perfectly within the genre’s sentimental sound. Outside the Latin world, though, Royce and bachata, a folk genre born in the Dominican countryside, remain at the margins, despite both his and the genre’s runaway global popularity. So, three albums and a hits compilation later, Royce and his interminable dimples are taking a leap out of the bachata world: Double Vision, his first English-language album, is a mix of pop, R&B and EDM. It’s…

Miami rapper Pitbull has made a career of straddling crossover lines, effortlessly toggling between English and Spanish, reggaeton and dance-pop. But the 34-year-old born Armando Perez shifts gears on Dale, his first Spanish-language album in five years, out June 17 on RCA. Mr. Worldwide shares some Espanol words and phrases listeners need to know. 1. “YA TU SABE” Meaning You already know. Pitbull says “It’s a very street way of saying, ‘Guys, let’s cut through the bullshit; let’s speak to each other raw and straight to the point. Let’s get to it.’ It’s a way to expedite things.” 2. “CULO” Meaning Ass Pitbull says “I knew the gringos would repeat it. In every language, everybody learns the bad words first.” 3. “QUIEN NO OYE CONSEJO NO LLEGA A VIEJO” Meaning…

Gary Gilbert was just 11 years old when his father took him to see Jerry Lee Lewis at the Long Beach Municipal Auditorium in California. “I was just mesmerized,” he says. Elton John once had David Lande as his tour manager and accountant. “His music is so amazing that I could have listened to his concert every night,” says Lande. Yoko Ono was “serene” as a dazzled Russell Frackman deposed her at home in The Dakota some 35 years ago, “even though she was on the other side of the case,” he recalls. Eric Clapton “was as good-looking” as Julie Swidler thought he’d be during an Elton John-Bernie Taupin album release party in 1991. “I was completely starstruck,” she says.…

Demi Lovato is off to a sizzling start with her new single, “Cool for the Summer.” The track, co-written and produced by pop powerhouse Max Martin, premiered July 1 and leads Lovato’s forthcoming fifth studio album. 62 % “Cool for the Summer” rockets 22-18 on Mainstream Top 40 with a 62 percent gain in plays at the format in the week ending July 12. It’s her fourth top 20 hit on the airplay tally and follows 2014’s No. 7-peaking “Really Don’t Care.” 185 % The release of the song’s lyric video on July 7 prompts a 185 percent gain in weekly streams to 2.4 million. The clip, which stars Lovato in a pools-and-parties scenario, features atypically high production value for a lyric video. 88 % The track’s suggestive lyrics (“Got…

On Fire More than 40 years after Earth, Wind & Fire topped the Billboard Hot 100 with “Shining Star” — one of its 32 career entries — a member of the iconic R&B act is scaling the chart for the first time. Verdine White, 63, rises to No. 56 on the chart as featured (with Robin Thicke) on Flo Rida’s “I Don’t Like It, I Love It.” EWF’s Philip Bailey and older brother Maurice White each charted two Hot 100 hits in 1985 and 1986. The group joins an elite list of acts containing at least three members that have made solo Hot 100 visits, including The Beatles, The Eagles, New Edition and Destiny’s Child. 20% THIS WEEK JANET JACKSON’S “NO SLEEEP” AUDIENCE 10.9 MILLION 15% THIS WEEK ALESSIA CARA’S…

Jay Z is planting more roots at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. Nearly three years after becoming the venue’s first performer on Sept. 28, 2012, the rapper’s Roc Nation Music has inked a multiyear deal with the 19,000-capacity arena to create programming including festivals, artist performances and showcases; Tidal-related events; and an annual concert from the music mogul himself. Barclays Center’s management is hopeful that the first event under the new partnership will take place “within the next month,” says the company’s CEO, Brett Yormark, whose twin brother, Michael, is Roc Nation’s president/chief of branding strategy. “This is exciting for us because it goes so much more beyond an artist coming to Barclays as part of a tour.” As for whether the partnership will prevent top Roc Nation talent like Kanye West,…

If there’s any question whether streaming has truly arrived, the Nielsen Music midyear numbers should put it to rest. In the first half of 2015, streaming nearly doubled in popularity, growing to 135.2 billion streams from 70.3 billion in the same period of 2014, according to Nielsen Music. Within 2015’s number, audio streams climbed 74 percent to 58.6 billion, while video streams featuring music rose a whopping 109 percent to 76.6 billion. Not surprisingly, Taylor Swift’s 1989 is the top album of the year so far with 2 million units, including track-equivalent albums (TEA, whereby 10 track downloads equal one LP) and streaming-equivalent albums (SEA, 1,500 streams), although the latter number is small given her stance on free streaming. For purely digital sales, Drake’s If You’re Reading This It’s Too…

Jerry Weintraub, the concert promoterturned-legendary film producer (The Karate Kid, the Ocean’s series), died July 6 of cardiac arrest in Santa Barbara. He was 77.Jerry Greenberg, president of Mirage Music Entertainment, remembers Weintraub’s legacy. I became friends with Jerry Weintraub in the early days of Atlantic Records, where I was GM. I was very close to Led Zeppelin and their manager Peter Grant, and Jerry was their [bookings] guy. He took them from small dates to stadiums. Everybody knows the stories about Led Zeppelin at the Hyatt House in Los Angeles — how they took up a whole floor, and Bonzo [drummer John Bonham] drove his Harley-Davidson in the hallway. Jerry booked those L.A. shows, and he was getting knocks at three in the morning from Bonzo, saying, “Weintraub, I…

WHEN THE PHONE RANG, KELSEA BALLLERINI braced herself for the news. The 21-year-old singer-songwriter was awaiting word from her label about her debut single, “Love Me Like You Mean It,” which appeared to be headed to the top of Billboard’s Country Airplay chart. “We knew the call was going to be either, ‘We didn’t make it’ or ‘You have a No. 1,’ ” recalls Ballerini, perching her tall, lanky frame on a restaurant couch in Nashville before a Make-A-Wish meet-and-greet with the effervescent energy of a newly minted star. “I mentally prepared for both, so I didn’t think I was going to get emotional. But the words ‘You have a No. 1’ coming out of someone’s mouth? That’s, like, a thing.” As seen in a touching YouTube video, she murmurs,…

Don’t look now, but one of electronic dance music’s most fearless pioneers — Skrillex — is finally crossing over. “Where Are U Now,” the Justin Bieber-featuring single from Jack U, Skrillex’s duo with Diplo, has reached the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, making it the sixtime Grammy winner’s biggest hit by far. It’s just one of several milestones of the past year: Skrillex played Madison Square Garden with Jack U and headlined Miami’s Ultra Music Festival, where he brought out Sean “Diddy” Combs, Bieber, Kiesza and others. But even with these big looks, the 27-year-old, born Sonny Moore in Los Angeles, is keeping EDM’s cutting edge sharp through his influential label OWSLA, which recently signed Carmada and DJ Sliink. Plans to open a studio at the label’s L.A.…

1 DAVID YURMAN gold and silver band with black diamonds, $2,530; davidyurman.com. 2 TODD REED Streamline Heirloom signet ring in pietersite, $450; toddreed.com. 3 MIANSAI leather and silver Modern Anchor wrap bracelet, $65; miansai.com. 4 TOM FORD silver feather cuff, $990; tomford.com. 5 APPLE WATCH 42mm stainless steel case with link bracelet, $999; apple.com. 6 ANN DEXTER-JONES DESIGN malachite and sterling silver ID bracelet, $1,500; barneys.com.…

SPANDAU BALLET BONA FIDES Its 1983 global smash “True” broadened the skeletal electro this definitive New Romantic band made its name with. DISSOLUTION Martin and Gary Kemp ended the band in 1990 to pursue acting. SINCE THEN Re-formed in 2009; a new album will come later in 2015. SOFT CELL BONA FIDES Rebooted an obscure Northern Soul track for a gay disco, “Tainted Love,” which went to No. 1 in 17 countries. DISSOLUTION Broke up in 1984. Third album This Last Night in Sodom arrived a month later. SINCE THEN Released Cruelty Without Beauty in 2002. CULTURE CLUB BONA FIDES Boy Georgefronted group went multiplatinum with Colour by Numbers ( featuring “Karma Chameleon”). Won 1984 best new artist Grammy. DISSOLUTION 1986, during George’s heroin addiction. SINCE THEN Numerous ’90s and…

1 Lead contender for 2015’s Song of the Summer is Wiz Khalifa featuring Charlie Puth’s “See You Again” — but the Paul Walker homage isn’t the first memorial anthem to define the season. On March 9, 1997, Christopher “The Notorious B.I.G.” Wallace was murdered leaving a Soul Train Awards afterparty in Los Angeles. Soon after, Puff Daddy, R&B group 112 and Wallace’s widow, Faith Evans, paid him tribute on a song that sampled The Police’s “Every Breath You Take” and Samuel Barber’s “Adagio for Strings.” The video — which culminates with Evans singing the spiritual “I’ll Fly Away” from atop a hill — premiered in early May and quickly became one of MTV’s most-played clips. “It really hit home when I saw the video,” says New York DJ Funkmaster Flex,…

IN THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS’ world, it’s always 1997. Dig Your Own Hole, the commercial breakthrough of Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons’ long-running electronic-dance partnership, came out ages ago by the rapidly progressing standards of club music, but their sound was preserved in amber at the moment of its release. Their eighth studio album (and first in five years), Born in the Echoes, is electrifying, tightly constructed big beat the way they’ve always done it: with pop-like song structures, marquee guest vocalists and scarcely a hint of dubstep, trap or, really, any developments in the past 15 years of dance music. Even the Brothers’ logo has stayed the same. Fortunately, their greatest strength — integrating the abrasive tone-bending and mesmeric repetition of EDM into the context of hooks and melodies —…

Aretha Franklin, Spirit in the DarkAl Green, Greatest HitsNeil Young, After the Goldrush—Stuart Rosen Prince, Purple RainEminem, The Marshall Mathers LPBruce Springsteen, Born to Run—David Lande Mos Def, Black on Both SidesMiles Davis, Bitches BrewPink Floyd, Dark Side of the Moon—Jeffrey Harleston Nas, IllmaticAllman Brothers, Live at the Fillmore EastFrank Sinatra, Live at the Sands—Christopher Harrison The Rolling Stones, Exile on Main St.The Grateful Dead, Workingman’s DeadDave Matthews Band, Crash—Elliot Groffman…

“The restaurant by the Four Seasons pool” in Beverly Hills, says Jeffrey Harleston. “It’s beautiful. If I want to close a deal, that’s where I go. I usually order a burger.” The day begins with “breakfast at Beverly Glen Deli” in Los Angeles, says John Branca. “I sit there every morning. It’s like my office. On any given day I see Brian Wilson or [manager] Howard Kaufmann.” “In New York,” says Russell Frackman, “where I stay at the Regency Hotel, known for its power breakfast. Dinner — Dover sole — is my favorite power meal.” “Quality Meats on 58th Street in New York,” says Christopher Harrison. “They do a [dish] with thick-cut bacon and peanut butter. It is the most incredible thing.”…

IT’S THE DAWN OF A NEW ERA ON THE charts. With Friday now the release day for most major albums and songs around the world as of July 10, Nielsen Music has altered its sales and streaming tracking week to run Friday through Thursday instead of the traditional Monday through Sunday. The July 25 charts act as a transition between the two tracking cycles and reflect a one-time-only 11-day sales frame ending July 9. The Aug. 1 sales lists will go back to the normal seven-day week, starting with the July 10-16 frame. As one would expect, the July 25 Billboard 200 looks a lot like the previous week’s. That’s not only because the extended 11-day sales frame overlaps with the July 18 chart, but also because so few significant…

Happy New Year The Billboard Artist 100 launched a little more than a year ago, and the tally’s first 12 months have reflected an all-genreinclusive mix of established veterans and newcomers. The chart originated on July 19, 2014 as the first weekly survey dedicated to measuring artist activity across Billboard’s most influential charts, including the Billboard Hot 100, Top Album Sales and the Social 50. The Artist 100 blends data measuring album and track sales, radio airplay, streaming and social media fan interaction to provide a weekly multidimensional ranking of artist popularity. In the lead for a second week, rapper Meek Mill is one of an elite seven acts that have spent multiple weeks atop the Artist 100. Taylor Swift is way out in front with 31 frames on top,…