Steve Knopper | Rolling Stone

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Taylor Swift's Label Shuns Streaming Services With 'Red' | ARTICLE

Taylor Swift's Red may soon be the year's biggest-selling album, but it isn't on Spotify, Rhapsody, Rdio or any of the other music-streaming services – and that's not surprising. Late last year, Scott Borchetta, founder of...
October 25, 2012 11:00 AM ET
On the Charts: Taylor Swift's 'Red' Set to Blow Up | ARTICLE

WINNER OF THE WEEK: Taylor Swift. Her album Red just came out yesterday, and Billboard's retail sources are already predicting 1 million in first-week sales. By today's piracy-plagued standards, that's gigantic – since Swift's previous...
October 24, 2012 12:35 PM ET
Fans React as Billboard Changes Charts Formula | ARTICLE

In an attempt to present more accurate data, Billboard recently shook up its rock, country, hip-hop and Latin charts, resulting in broad pop stars such as Taylor Swift, Rihanna and Psy suddenly having more juice...
October 19, 2012 5:25 PM ET
Macklemore and Ryan Lewis Chose DIY Route on Latest Album | ARTICLE

To make The Heist, which sold 78,000 copies and hit Number Two on the Billboard charts and Number One on iTunes this week, Seattle rapper Ben "Macklemore" Haggerty and producer Ryan Lewis were so determined to...
October 18, 2012 9:55 AM ET
On the Charts: Mumford & Sons Slip, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis Impress | ARTICLE

WINNER OF THE WEEK: Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. Indie rags-to-riches stories have become more common in the last few years, now that it takes just 20,000 or 30,000 album sales to hit the Top 10 rather than...
October 17, 2012 1:40 PM ET
Rockers Rally to Obama in Campaign's Final Days | ARTICLE

For most of this year, liberal rock stars have supported President Obama's reelection campaign in behind-the-scenes ways: the Red Hot Chili Peppers gave a private performance for 1,200 campaign staffers in Cleveland in April, Pearl...
October 17, 2012 9:30 AM ET
On the Charts: Mumford & Sons 'Babel' On, Muse Take Second | ARTICLE

WINNER OF THE WEEK: Single sales. The record industry's shift from selling albums to selling singles first kicked in, chart-wise, three or four years ago, but it has rarely been so starkly obvious as this week on...
October 10, 2012 1:05 PM ET
On the Charts: Mumford & Sons' 'Babel' Scores Biggest Debut of 2012 | ARTICLE

WINNER OF THE WEEK: Mumford & Sons. And Spotify. Suddenly, the low-key British folk-rockers join Adele, Taylor Swift and Lil Wayne on the ever-more-exclusive list of Artists Who Can Sell More Than Two or Three Hundred Thousand...
October 3, 2012 11:10 AM ET
Music Festivals Enjoy Record Expansion in 2012 | ARTICLE

Music festivals are more dominant than ever in the concert business, and they're still growing – from Coachella, which brought in a record-breaking $47.3 million gross over two weekends in April, to this weekend's Starry Nights, where...
September 28, 2012 4:25 PM ET
Lyor Cohen's Warner Music Exit Ripples Through Industry | ARTICLE

The record industry was a few years into its decline when Lyor Cohen took over as the Warner Music Group recorded-music division's chairman and chief executive in 2004. Although Warner's roster contained some of the world's biggest...
September 25, 2012 4:05 PM ET
Sale of Promoter AEG Would Radically Alter Concert Business | ARTICLE

If billionaire Philip Anschutz sells his Anschutz Entertainment Group – which controls portions of the Lakers and Kings sports teams as well as Los Angeles' Staples Center, London's O2 Arena, 98 other entertainment venues and the Coachella...
September 21, 2012 12:40 PM ET
On the Charts: Dave Matthews Rules the 'World' | ARTICLE

WINNER OF THE WEEK: Dave Matthews Band. And rock albums in general. The hippie hero's Away from the World LP debuts at Number One with 266,000 copies sold; next on the album chart is Little Big...
September 19, 2012 2:24 PM ET
Music-Discovery App Shazam Expanding Into TV | BLOG ENTRY

After four years of training smartphone users to identify any song they hear on the spot, Shazam is betting big on television, expanding its popular app to recognize shows on every channel. Once "tagged," a show will...
September 18, 2012 9:00 AM ET
'X Factor' Ratings Tumble During Premiere Week | ARTICLE

Before The X Factor made its U.S. debut last September, judge and creator Simon Cowell predicted that 20 million viewers would tune in – and ended up with 12.7 million. "I'm being much, much more cautious this...
September 14, 2012 4:30 PM ET
Breaking Down Psy's 'Gangnam Style' | VIDEO

For 48 straight hours in early July, Korean pop star Psy and his crew drove Seoul's crowded highways in search of absurdist settings for his sexy horse dance. Obviously, they succeeded – "Gangnam Style" is not...
September 14, 2012 12:31 PM ET
On the Charts: Imagine Dragons' Big Debut | ARTICLE

WINNER OF THE WEEK: Imagine Dragons. Yes, pop-rock veterans Matchbox Twenty score their first Number One album with 95,000 copies sold, but the more interesting chart story this week is the debut of Las Vegas rockers Imagine...
September 12, 2012 1:35 PM ET
On the Charts: 'Gangnam Style' Is All the Rage | ARTICLE

WINNER OF THE WEEK: Psy's "Gangnam Style." We admit to being a few weeks late on this astoundingly great K-Pop video that has all the best elements of hypnotically weird one-hit wonders, from Right Said...
September 5, 2012 1:50 PM ET
On the Charts: The End of the Adele Era? | ARTICLE

WINNER OF THE WEEK: Singles. Most of the good news in the record industry has to do with individual songs – the year began with Gotye's "Somebody That I Used to Know," accelerated around the curve with...
August 29, 2012 12:55 PM ET
On the Charts: Taylor Swift Breaks Ke$ha's Record | ARTICLE

WINNER OF THE WEEK: Taylor Swift. Our 10-year-old daughter has been replaying Swift's new single, "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together," repeatedly on YouTube for the past week, and it's one of those songs that...
August 22, 2012 1:20 PM ET
On the Charts: Mumford & Sons Fans Can't 'Wait' for 'Babel' | ARTICLE

WINNER OF THE WEEK: Mumford & Sons. Babel, the roots-rock superstars' follow-up to 2010's Sigh No More (2 million in sales and counting), isn't out for another month and a half, but its pre-orders launched it...
August 15, 2012 1:50 PM ET