Dick Clark Productions rejects Mariah Carey’s sabotage claim

NEW YORK — Dick Clark Productions is hitting back against Mariah Carey’s claim it sabotaged her live performance on its “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” special.

Carey’s disaster during the annual New Year’s Eve special in Times Square made international headlines: The superstar vocally stumbled through her short set, failing to sing for most of it despite a pre-recorded track of her songs playing in the background.

Carey was visibly upset during the performance and afterward tweeted “(expletive) happens.” Her representative Nicole Perna blamed technical difficulties, and in an interview with Billboard she said Dick Clark Productions hampered Carey’s performance.

“She was not winging this moment and took it very seriously,” Perna told Billboard. “A shame that production set her up to fail.”

Perna said Carey’s earpiece wasn’t working and she flagged the issue to the production team but was told it would be OK when she got on stage.

“However, that was not the case, and they were again told that her earpiece was not working,” Perna said. “Instead of endeavoring to fix the issue so that Mariah could perform, they went live.”

In a statement released on Sunday, the production company called such claims “absurd.”

“As the premier producer of live television events for nearly 50 years, we pride ourselves on our reputation and long-standing relationships with artists,” it said. “To suggest that dcp (Dick Clark Productions), as producer of music shows including the American Music Awards, Billboard Music Awards, New Year’s Rockin’ Eve and Academy of Country Music Awards, would ever intentionally compromise the success of any artist is defamatory, outrageous and frankly absurd.”

It said that in “very rare instances” there are technical errors that can occur with live television. It said an initial investigation, however, indicated it had no involvement in the challenges associated with Carey’s performance.

“We want to be clear that we have the utmost respect for Ms. Carey as an artist and acknowledge her tremendous accomplishments in the industry,” it said.

A person familiar with the production of the show who asked for anonymity to speak publicly about the incident said all of the other performers, including Gloria Estefan, rehearsed onsite for their performances and Carey was there but had a stand-in for her rehearsal, atypical for the show’s performers. The person said all of the monitors were working and no technical problems were found.

Ironically, Carey was Dick Clark Productions’ first live performer for the broadcast in 2005, when it went off without any such problems.

source: entertainment.inquirer.net

Adele’s ‘25’ reigns for 3rd week on Billboard chart, Coldplay at No.2

NEW YORK - Adele's record-breaking new album "25" sold another 728,000 copies last week, easily trumping Coldplay's new release, "A Head Full of Dreams," to retain the top spot on the Billboard 200 album charts for a third week.

Coldplay, which like Adele initially held back its album from streaming service Spotify and other free platforms, sold some 209,000 copies in its debut week, according to data from Nielsen Music on Monday.

The British rock band, which is to play the coveted halftime show at the 2016 Super Bowl in February, said last week it would stream "A Head Full of Dreams" on Spotify in its second week of release.

Adele's "25," already the biggest selling album in the US for 2015, has sold some 5.19 million copies since its Nov. 20 release.

The singer on Monday announced her first North American tour in five years. She will play 56 dates starting in July in St. Paul, Minnesota and end on Nov. 15 in Mexico City. Her UK and European tour is already sold out.

The strong showing by Adele and Coldplay pushed Justin Bieber's "Purpose" into 3rd place on the Billboard 200, with about 150,000 copies sold for the week. A cappella group Pentatonix slipped to 4th place with "That's Christmas To Me."

The Billboard 200 chart tallies units from album sales, song sales (10 songs equal one album) and streaming activity (1,500 streams equal one album).

New entries by rappers G-Eazy ("When It's Dark Out") and Rick Ross ("Black Market") landed at No. 5 and 6, respectively. South African-born Australian actor and singer Troye Sivan, 20, took 7th place with his album "Blue Neighborhood."

On the Digital Songs chart, which measures online download sales, Adele's single "Hello" was ousted from the No.1 spot by Jordan Smith, a finalist on TV competition show "The Voice," whose rendition of the Queen classic "Somebody to Love" sold more than 164,000 copies compared with 158,000 for "Hello." —Reuters

Rapper Big Sean beats Kid Rock to top of Billboard 200 chart

Rapper Big Sean topped the weekly U.S. Billboard 200 album chart on Wednesday for the first time, beating out rocker Kid Rock.

Big Sean's "Dark Sky Paradise" sold 139,000 album copies, 218,000 songs and was streamed more than 17 million times, tallying 172,000 total units in its debut on the chart, according to figures from Nielsen SoundScan.

Kid Rock's "First Kiss" entered at No. 2 with 146,000 total album units, while the soundtrack to Universal Pictures' steamy hit film "Fifty Shades of Grey" remained steady at No. 3 with 108,000 copies sold.

The only other new entry in the top ten of the Billboard 200 chart, which tallies album sales, song sales (10 songs equal one album) and streaming activity (1,500 streams equal one album), was "Fan of a Fan: The Album," by rappers Chris Brown and Tyga at No. 7, selling 67,000 units.

Last week's chart-toppers, alt-rockers Imagine Dragons' "Smoke + Mirrors," dropped to No. 9 this week.

On the Digital Songs chart, which measures online song sales, Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars' upbeat "Uptown Funk!" held steady at No. 1 with 240,000 downloads in the past week. -- Reuters

Top Grammy contenders find grassroots strength in streaming

LOS ANGELES - The old-fashioned radio still reigns as consumers' top source for finding new music, but at Sunday's Grammy Awards, online streaming might show itself to be the fast track to industry recognition.

With the likes of record-of-the-year nominees Iggy Azalea and Meghan Trainor breaking out on YouTube and streaming services such as Spotify, this year's Grammys could be a celebration for one of music's few growing segments.

Among the nominees for this year's top awards - song, record and album of the year - only British soul singer Sam Smith and R&B artist Pharrell Williams had a hit that placed among the top 10 radio songs in total plays in 2014, according to Nielsen Music.

"I don't think anyone who is voting thinks that the Grammys happen in a world where streaming doesn't exist," said William Gruger, the social/streaming chart manager at Billboard.

The online success of Azalea's rap hit "Fancy" with singer Charli XCX and Trainor's ode to full-figured women "All About that Bass" underscore the power that streaming - and its young-skewing consumers - have in elevating a song's profile at the grassroots.

Such is the promise of streaming that Apple Inc bought headphone maker Beats for $3 billion last year, in part for its curated music service.

Grammy voters, however, are supposed to cast their ballots only on artistic merit, said Neil Portnow, the president of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, which hands out the awards.

"The fact that music is available to consumers via streaming and via download or via traditional product, that doesn't have anything to do with the awards process itself," Portnow said. "There isn't anything about streaming that relates directly to how those awards are given."

STREAMING DIVIDES INDUSTRY

But falling album sales and digital song downloads have elevated streaming's prominence within the industry. In December, Billboard and data compiler Nielsen Music revamped the weekly album chart to include online streaming.

Services such as Spotify, Beats and Google's YouTube helped propel on-demand music streams to 55 percent growth in 2014.

"The industry is paying more attention to it especially when Billboard is changing their charts," said Lyndsey Parker, editor of Yahoo Music.

Azalea's "Fancy" was the top song on Spotify in 2014 while its video racked up 440 million views on YouTube in under a year.

"'Fancy' blew up because people were streaming that song like crazy ... it's good for discovery and elevating the profiles of new artists," Parker added.

Trainor's "Bass" has been streamed 569 million times on YouTube. By contrast, John Legend's "All of Me" was last year's top radio song with 816,000 plays.

But streaming still faces an uphill climb among the industry's establishment, which is unhappy with the way and amount of money services such as Spotify compensate for the art.

Megastar Taylor Swift, a song and record of the year nominee, notably pulled all her music from Spotify and streaming sites in November prior to the release of top-selling album "1989."

Spotify, which boasts 60 million active users, says about 70 percent of its revenue goes to record labels and publishers, which then have their own separate agreements with artists.

"If a streaming service bases its business on the music that it plays, one would think there has to be a way where the people who write, perform and own that music can be fairly compensated for the work they do," Portnow said.

"I don't think we are there yet," he added, "and I think there is a long way to go."  — Reuters

Oklahoma country singer plans benefit for tornado victims

LOS ANGELES  -- Oklahoma country singer Blake Shelton is planning a televised benefit to raise money for victims of the massive tornado that swept through Moore, Oklahoma, this week, music magazine Billboard reported Wednesday.

"The Voice" judge Shelton, a native of Ada, Oklahoma, which is 75 miles northwest of Moore, said he would have more information on the NBC concert in the next 24 hours.

"I'm hoping it will raise a lot of money. Obviously it will be televised and will happen really quickly," Shelton told Billboard after the conclusion of Tuesday's "The Voice."


Representatives for NBC and Shelton did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The singer opened Tuesday's reality singing competition show with his ballad "Over You," which he sang with wife Miranda Lambert as a tribute to the tornado's victims.

Shelton, who serves as a judge along with Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine, R&B star Usher and pop singer Shakira, said he hoped to "call in some really big favors" for the benefit.

The huge tornado tore through the Oklahoma City suburb on Monday, ripping apart two elementary schools and a hospital and killing 24 people, including nine school children.

Country singer Toby Keith, a native of Moore, appeared on CNN on Tuesday night as he returned to his hometown

"Always when these things happen, music people get together. I've had 500 text messages from people all over the music world saying 'What are we going to do? We want to help...'" a visibly shaken Keith said on the "Piers Morgan Live" program.

"I'm in and Moore knows I'm going to be here, hopefully in the next couple days we can sort it out," he added.

Celebrities have been quick to take to social media to voice their support for tornado victims, urging people to donate to the American Red Cross and Salvation Army.

Basketball player Kevin Durant, one of the stars of the Oklahoma City Thunder NBA team, has pledged $1 million for tornado relief through his family foundation and encouraged his 4.1 million Twitter followers to help raise relief funds.

NBC's star-studded telethon with Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel for the victims of Superstorm Sandy in November 2012 helped raise more than $23 million, while ABC's "Day of Giving" event raised more than $10 million for the American Red Cross.

NBC is a unit of Comcast Corp. - Reuters

source: gmanetwork.com