International
BTS Covered X Ambassadors For a New Ad and We Need the Full Version ASAP
BTS unveiled their cover of X Ambassadors‘ “Jungle” in a new Coca-Cola commercial on Monday (Jan. 4) in Indonesia. In the ad, the boy band’s version of the song plays over bottles of the fizzy drink being manufactured in a hip, music-driven Coca-Cola factory before being delivered around the world in the brand’s trademark red trucks. “I lost my mind, in the city of lights/ In the backstreets, buildings and the neon lights/ When I heard the thunder, I could feel the rain/ It’s the same to me, just a different name/ Won’t you follow me into the jungle/ Ain’t no god on my streets in the heart of the jungle,” the K-pop idols croon, transforming the rock trio’s foot-stomping 2015 hit with Jamie N Commons into a skittering, glitch...
Alibaba Group To Shutter China’s Xiami Music Service
Xiami is one of the smaller digital music services in China. While user numbers are not publicly available, Xiami’s music penetration was less than 2% in 2019, with about five million Monthly Active Users in mainland China, according to local Chinese reports. The country’s biggest streaming platforms are QQ Music, Kugou Music, Kuwo Music and WeSing, all owned by tech giant Tencent Music Entertainment Group. Collectively those four services have more than 800 million users, says Tencent. Tencent’s biggest competitor is NetEase Cloud Music, operated by Chinese internet company NetEase, which claims to have more than 600 million registered users. Xiami and NetEase Cloud Music cut a deal in 2018 for the streaming services to share libraries and grow their respective repertoires — a move seen a...
Taylor Swift’s ‘Evermore’ Set For Return to U.K. No. 1
Styles, meanwhile, could earn a new chart high with Fine Line (Columbia), up 10-2 on the sales blast. The former One Direction singer’s sophomore album is enjoying a boost thanks to the release of “Treat People With Kindness,” the video for which features Fleabag star Phoebe Waller-Bridge. At the midway point in the chart cycle, the top five is rounded out by titles from Dua Lipa (Future Nostalgia via Warner Records), Little Mix (Confetti via RCA) and Queen’s Greatest Hits (Virgin) juggernaut, which has logged 276 weeks on the chart and is recognized as the U.K.’s best-selling album of all time. The late British-born hip-hop artist MF Doom could enter the Top 40 for the first time with his 2004 album Madvillainy with Madlib (Stones Throw), which currently sit at No. 30. Doom (re...
The Weeknd’s ‘Blinding Lights’ Rules U.K.’s 2020 Year-End Chart
The Canadian artist was aggrieved to have been overlooked from the shortlist for the 2021 Grammy Awards, but he’s clearly embraced by music fans on the other side of the Atlantic (nominations for the 2021 Brit Awards, set to take place on May 11, have yet to be announced). Another artist who’s warmly received in the U.K. is Tones And I, the Australian singer and songwriter whose 2019 hit “Dance Monkey” swung in at No. 2 on The Official Top 40 biggest songs of 2020. Tones (real name Toni Watson) ruled the chart for 11 weeks with “Dance Monkey,” setting a new record for a solo female artist. The one-time busker’s viral hit was also the No. 2 most-streamed song of the year, behind only “Blinding Lights,” the OCC reports, and the fifth-ranked digital download. SAINt JHN’s “Roses” comes in at N...
BTS, IU, Zico & More: A look back at Billboard’s K-Pop 100 Chart In 2020 and All Its Big Players
For music fans, the music in 2020 was been like a family you can’t visit and a friend that’s dearly missed. According to a research by Korea Broadcast Advertising Corporation, we saw a significant increase in the use of streaming service (33% in video and 32% in music) during the year, which tells us how much we rely on music. Billboard Korea looked back on the 52-week Billboard K-Pop 100 chart and picked out some of the music that provided us relief during this tough time. The popularity of “METEOR” by CHANGMO, which peaked at the end of 2019, continued in 2020. “Start Over”, a soundtrack of the popular TV series Itaewon Class, definitely helped many of us kick off the new year with an exciting start. In the spring, Zico’s “Any Song” amped up the fun of TikTok challenges while others foun...
Craig David Recognized In Queen’s New Year Honours List
The 39-year-old singer is one of Britain’s most successful male solo artists of the millennium, with 23 U.K. top 40 singles, including two No. 1s (“Fill Me In” and “7 Days”), and a pair of No. 1 albums. In the U.S., David has twice cracked the Top 40 on the Billboard 200 and he has landed three songs on the Hot 100 chart, including a career-best No. 10 with “7 Days”. Among his career trophies are three Ivor Novello Awards and a brace of MTV Europe Music Awards. Meanwhile, Lester is made an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE), a British order of chivalry rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organizations, and public service outside the civil service. Based in London, the JEM Artists founder and CEO receives the ...
UMG Beefs Up Leadership in Africa, Promoting Sipho Dlamini to CEO Role
All three executives will work closely with UMG’s French-speaking operations principally in Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal and Cameroon, which are overseen by Franck Kacou, directeur général, Universal Music Africa. The strengthening of its Africa leadership team is the latest move in Universal’s big bet on the continent. With an emphasis on A&R, UMG has been aggressively expanding its operations in Africa. Rather than licensing or distributing existing indie labels, Universal has invested in building lasting local infrastructure, including establishing divisions in Nigeria and South Africa, such as Def Jam Africa, which is focused around hip-hop, Afrobeats and trap. In 2018, UMG became the first major label to license its catalog to Boomplay, Africa’s largest local streaming platform. (In Sub...
Wham’s ‘Last Christmas’ Completes 36-Year Journey to U.K. Chart Summit
“Last Christmas,” which until now had never gone better than No. 2, chalked up 9.2 million streams over latest frame. And it did so on the fourth anniversary of George Michael’s death. “I am delighted, somewhat amazed & profoundly pleased that Wham!’s iconic Christmas classic Last Christmas has finally achieved the accolade of becoming a No 1,” wrote Wham founding member Andrew Ridgeley on social media. “It’s a fitting tribute 2 George’s songwriting genius and 1 of which he would’ve been immensely proud & utterly thrilled.” Now, “Last Christmas” can shake off the unwanted title as the U.K.’s best-selling single to never reach No. 1, with 1.9 million combined sales since its release. That record is now passed onto Maroon 5’s “Moves Like Jagger” featuring Christina Aguilera, which ha...
Loona Drops Apocalyptic Teaser For ‘New Moon’ Comeback Video: Watch
While the teaser doesn’t reveal a release date for the new single or hint at the track’s sound, “New Moon” will serve as a follow-up to the group’s second release of 2020, the electropop-fueled mini-album [12:00], which featured singles “Why Not” and “Star.” Most importantly, the teaser also marks the return of HaSeul, who makes a brief appearance in the final moments of the video, looking off in profile as the screen flashes with glitchy, green light. (The band’s de facto leader had been notably absent from the previous two album cycles, citing a need to focus on her health as the rest of the girls recorded and promoted [12:00] as well as the EP that preceded it, 2020’s [Hash].) Watch Loona’s teaser for R...
‘Happy V Day’: Fans Celebrate the BTS Member’s 25th Birthday
Actress and singer Laura Marano also posted a picture of the two on Twitter today, writing, “Happy birthday to the absolutely lovely, respectful and kind Kim Taehyung.” Furthermore, China Baidu Vbar, V’s loyal Chinese fanbase, orchestrated a light show on the side of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, which stands at 2,722 ft. Messages such as “Happy V Day” and “We Purple You” as well as his full name “Kim Taehyung” sprawled across the skyscraper, while his Dubai-based fans belted the lyrics to his song “Winter Bear.” Other members of the ARMY demonstrated their love for V by drawing anime portraits of him or making collages of him with pictures from his past...
Rangers seek winning start in Port-Harcourt
File Photo Technical adviser of Rangers International F.C., Coach Salisu Yusuf has assured the club’s teaming supporters of a winning start in the match Day 1 fixture of 2020/2021 NPFL season as he leads his wards on a visit to Port-Harcourt for a date with Rivers United. Coach Salisu who monitored his wards as they rounded off training in the morning of Christmas Day 2020 inside the main-bowl of Nnamdi Azikiwe stadium, was optimistic of getting a good result against continental campaigners, Rivers United in the opening day fixture. The former Super Eagles coach in a chat, said, “My immediate task is always to win and we have worked so hard and I believe we will have a good result there.” On the result achieved by the ‘Pride of Rivers’ in the CAF Confederations cup giving them an edge in t...
King & Prince’s ‘I Promise’ Bows at No. 1 on Japan Hot 100
Looking at figures, BTS’s advantage over LiSA in streaming and video is both pretty close, with “Dynamite” at 11,819,614 weekly streams and 4,824,661 views and “Homura” at 11,271,882 streams and 4,290,040 views. With the annual year-end media blitz for musicians coming up, how these and other songs on the list perform in the new year is something to keep an eye on. The Billboard Japan Hot 100 combines physical and digital sales, audio streams, radio airplay, Twitter mentions, YouTube and GYAO! video views, Gracenote look-ups and karaoke data. Check out the full Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart, dated Dec. 14 to 20, here. You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Beautiful pe...
