NEWS
Harry Styles’ ‘Fine Line’ Leads 2020’s Record-Breaking Year for Vinyl Album Sales in U.S.
Strikingly, overall album sales, across all formats (CD, digital album, vinyl LP, cassettes, etc.) had their smallest yearly decrease since 2015. In 2020, total album sales fell just 9.2% to 102.4 million – the first time yearly sales dropped by less than 10% since 2015, when volume fell by just 6% (aided by huge sales for Adele’s 25 album). Overall album sales have been falling steadily since 2012, as consumers increasingly turn to streaming services to enjoy music. Vinyl LP sales accounted for over a quarter of all album sales in 2020: 26.9% (27.54 million of 102.4 million). Notably, vinyl LP sales comprised a robust 40.5% of all physical albums sold in the U.S. in 2020 (27.54 million of 68.01 million). Both sums represent MRC Data-era records for vinyl’s share of the album sales market....
Noah Cyrus’ 10 Best Songs: Critics’ Picks
In honor of her 21st birthday today (Jan. 8), Billboard has compiled 10 of Noah Cyrus’ best songs — from solo tracks to collaborations. See them below. 10. “fuckyounoah” Why We Love It: In one of Cyrus’ most candid tracks yet, the star gave fans a peek into her self-doubt and anxiety-ridden mind. “No one f–ks with me / ‘Cause no one ever f–king loves a b—h,” she proclaims on top of a stirring, London On Da Track-produced beat, making it a perfect, almost therapeutic song for scream-singing your insecurities away. 9. “All Falls Down” (with Alan Walker) Why We Love It: “If it just ain’t right, and it’s time to say goodbye / When it all falls down, when it all falls down / IR...
Big Griselda, Big BSF: Soundtrack For Griselda & BSF’s ‘Conflicted’ Film Out Now
Source: Bennett Raglin / Getty Salute to Griselda x Fashion Rebels, and of course the Black Soprano Family for continuing to push the culture forward. The sprawling collective is set to unleash a new film Conflicted and Friday, fans were blessed with the soundtrack for the feature. Across 15 tracks, Griselda and BSF are heavily represented with the not-retiring Westside Gunn, Benny The Butcher, Armani Caesar, Boldy James, Heem, Jonesy (or Jonezy), and Rick Hyde. They’re joined by the likes of Flee Lord, Eto, Ransom, Elcamino, Chase Fetti, Billy V, Smoke DZA, Dave East, Ranson, YN Billy, and Lloyd Banks. The album is strong work from all the aforementioned, most especially Banks, who has kept away from the spotlight in recent times but hasn’t lost one bit of his ability as a world-class lyr...
Tracy Chapman Wins $450K From Nicki Minaj To Settle Copyright Lawsuit
Source: Tim Mosenfelder / Getty Tracy Chapman’s lawyer game is clearly proper. The beloved folk singer is getting a cool $450,000 from Nicki Minaj because of her copyright lawsuit against the Queens rapper. The Hollywood Reporter reports that instead of going to trial, Minaj will fork over the cash for sampling Chapman’s “Baby Can I Hold You” for a song called “Sorry” without proper permission Reportedly, on Thursday (Jan. 7), docs were made public that revealed Chapman accepted Minaj’s offer to settle. A trial was set for later this year. Interestingly, Minaj’s song never even got a proper release. But Chapman wasn’t having it when the song leaked, initially getting played by Funkmaster Flex on NYC radio station Hot 97. Chapman filed her suit in October 2018. Apparently, Chapman is also f...
Stretch And Bobbito Celebrate MF DOOM’s Legacy On Apple Music
Source: C Brandon / Getty Fans are still waving the Daniel Dumile flag weeks after his untimely death was confirmed. Two radio pioneers celebrated the late great MC’s career with a thoughtful and in-depth program. Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito The Barber reunited on one of the biggest digital streaming platforms to host a memorable MF Doom tribute show. On Thursday, January 7 the legendary on air duo broadcasted for two hours in honor of their comrade. Garcia specifically played a large role in the Super Villain’s early years by signing him in the 1990’s to his now defunct Fondle ‘Em Records. The result was several single releases that help defined Metal Face’s iconic persona. “DOOM’s style, at times, was very basement demo-esque, and that was deliberate, and it was brilliant,” Bobbito exp...
Jim Jones ft. Juelz Santana & Marc Scibilia “Election,” Tyla Yaweh ft. Gunna & Wiz Khalifa “All The Smoke” & More | Daily Visuals 1.8.21
Source: Vamp Life / EMPIRE For every Lil Wayne and Kanye West that supports Donald Trump’s MAGA movement, there’s a Busta Rhymes and Jim Jones that resist and call out the Racist-In-Chief’s white nationalist rhetoric. Continuing to amp up the resistance, Jim Jones links up with Juelz Santana and Marc Scibilia for his visuals to “Election” where they speak out about the times we’re living in and let everyone know they’re ready to get it popping should we go into a Purge era forreal forreal. Elsewhere Tyla Yaweh links up with Gunna and Wiz Khalifa get on some cinematic ish for their clip to “All The Smoke” and rob a bank before getting their Fast & Furious on. Looks like fun till you realize Vin Disel isn’t quarterbacking everything. Check out the rest of today’s drops including work fro...
Ariel Pink Dropped By Mexican Summer Following D.C. Riots
After being spotted at the D.C. Riots where a group of insurgents stormed the Capitol, Ariel Pink has been dropped by his label, Mexican Summer. “Due to recent events, Mexican Summer and its staff have decided to end our working relationship with Ariel Rosenberg AKA Ariel Pink moving forward,” a tweet from the label said. See the tweet below. Due to recent events, Mexican Summer and its staff have decided to end our working relationship with Ariel Rosenberg AKA Ariel Pink moving forward. — Mexican Summer (@MexicanSummer) January 8, 2021 According to several photos on social media that circulated on Wednesday night, including a photo taken in a hotel room and video captured by TFW No GF director Alex Lee Moyer, who was there, the trio were active participants in the mayhem in Wash...
Secretive White Noise Spammers are Making a Killing on Spotify—Here’s How
Popular white noise “artists” on Spotify such as White Noise Baby Sleep and Smart Baby Lullaby have cracked the code on the elusive of concept of making money from streaming. And they’re hardly doing any work for it at all. White noise soundscapes are “truly brainless to produce,” said an anonymous former sound designer for UK-based company Ameritz in a statement to OneZero. The sound designer chose to remain anonymous to avoid potential repercussions of revealing this trick, but claimed he’d spent countless hours recording white noise such as computer and desk fans. Those recordings turn into the white noise tracks released on Spotify via a myriad of virtually anonymous sources, but many are tied to a shell “record label” ...
Reddit bans Donald Trump forum for inciting violence
Reddit has banned r/donaldtrump for encouraging and glorifying violence after Wednesday’s mob attack on the US Capitol. Axios reporter Sara Fischer first reported the news, noting that the unofficial pro-Trump forum had been given multiple warnings. A Reddit splash page says the subreddit was “banned due to a violation of Reddit’s rules against inciting violence.” “Reddit’s site-wide policies prohibit content that promotes hate, or encourages, glorifies, incites, or calls for violence against groups of people or individuals. In accordance with this, we have been proactively reaching out to moderators to remind them of our policies and to offer support or resources as needed,” a Reddit spokesperson tells The Verge. “We have also taken action to ban the community r/donaldtrump given repeated...
You Can Now Make Your Tesla’s Horn Sound Like Anything You Want
Tesla has always been known for having a little extra fun with its cars. Remember when it added a virtual whoopee cushion in 2019? Or when last year CEO Elon Musk announced that the Tesla Model S would get a “nice” price cut to $69,420? But in case those gimmicks weren’t enough, there’s now Boombox mode, which allows you to fully customize your Tesla’s horn to make whatever sound your heart desires. Thanks to a December firmware update, Boombox mode now essentially enables Tesla owners to make their cars even more entertaining (or irritating). There are already dozens of videos online of people using the feature to change their horns’ sound. Some of the pre-installed sounds are a goat bleating, a round of applause, and—in classic Tesla fashion—...
Niall Horan, LeAnn Rimes & More Stars Who Covered Billie Eilish’s ‘When the Party’s Over’
Billie Eilish unveiled her vulnerable “When the Party’s Over” in 2018 when she was just 16 years old. Despite her young age, the song is wildly mature and all-too-relatable for the heartbroken, and therefore, has been covered countless times by some of music’s biggest stars. Most recently, Chad Lawson struck a cord with fans when he delivered the song on a piano. “A great song is a great song no matter the genre or instrument,” he said in a press statement. “When I first heard this track, I was geeking how Finneas crafted such a unique melody based on his chordal theme; so creative. Add Billie’s unabashed vulnerability to the mix and you have the artistic marriage of head and heart. I knew this song would resonate with just a piano....
First Stream Latin: New Music From Manuel Turizo & Wisin Y Yandel, Maria Becerra & More
First Stream Latin is a compilation of the best new Latin songs, albums and videos recommended by the Billboard Latin editors. Check out this week’s picks below. Manuel Turizo x Wisin & Yandel “Mala Costumbre” (La Industria Inc.) Manuel Turizo and Wisin & Yandel team up for an explosive reggaetón track that pairs catchy lyrics with an infectious beat making “Mala Costumbre” irresistible and a standout in this week’s releases. Produced by hitmakers Tainy, Lennin Palacios, Ily Wonder, Keytin and JotaRosa, the song kicks off with a slow intro featuring Turizo’s sultry deep voice, who prefaces the heartbreak song with “I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve promised myself to not open the door anymore.” Then, as the song picks up, Yandel sings over a guitar tune, “Now I’m he...
