Yes, Lady Gaga will be performing at South By Southwest this week. That accomplishment seems less than thrilling as Billboard reports 81 percent of all performing artists in the country will appear at the festival*. More noteworthy will be Gaga's gig the day after her music performance, when she'll deliver the annual SXSW Keynote Speech. The pop star will give the speech as part of a conversation led by Fuse's John Norris on Friday at 11:00 a.m. in the Grand Ballroom of the Hilton Austin-Downtown. Read this

During a recent interview with the Associated Press, super producer Pharrell recalls some of the top hits he's produced. Read this

A battle of the genders is about to take place over recent comments from pop star Shakira regarding her relationship with Barcelona footballer Gerard Pique and how it affects her career. The performer told Billboard that he didn't permit her to appear with men in her music videos. Read this

People of the world have very little in common as a whole. That makes it tough for the United Nations General Assembly to find anything to bring us all together, you know, that aren't wars or the Olympics. One trend has struck with equal enthusiasm across the planet however: "Happy" by Pharrell Williams. Hence the international law body has gotten Mr. Williams to serve as the ambassador for International Day of Happiness on March 20. Read this

A downside to A-List status is the tabloid headlines. Lady Gaga has largely avoided the typical relationship-trouble-substance-abuse-weight-gain fare reserved by ill-esteemed publications for the Kim Kardashians of the world, but she has taken a beating recently from those who claim the performer is struggling to support her act financially. Arthur Fogel, the chairman of Live Nation's global touring division, says that rumors of struggling ticket sales for her "artRave: The ARTPOP Ball" tour are ridiculous. Read this

An established British music venue in Bath, Moles, will be closed until at least August after the effects of a fire over the weekend. No one was harmed in the blaze, but smoke damage was significant enough to force the closure, according to the club's promotions manager, Liam Baker. Read this

Neil Young devotees have been hearing about PONO or "PureTone" for a while now, and the public will finally be able to get their hands on the new digital format. The classic rocker, who's been the driving force behind PONO, will unveil the first PONO player at SXSW on Tuesday. Interested buyers can register preorders via Kickstarter on Saturday, March 15. Read this

Tool is not a band to release an album every year, or every two years. The group has set a new standard for delay between new records, as it hasn't created anything since 2006's 10,000 Days. There hasn't been a breakup, as the group tours on occasion. Adam Jones, the band's guitarist and leader (realistically), first declared new music was on the way during 2011. And fans have been waiting since then. But the band has set out on a new tour, and Jones was reportedly overheard telling a fan that the new album was done. Read this

A number of promising music documentaries will appear at this year's Tribeca Film Festival. Read this

Describing music as "hipster" is generally misleading. Fortunately, our friends at Priceonomics Data Services have created a formula for determining an act's hipster score. Read this

Kevin Durant probably deals with as much trash talk as anyone in professional sports. The NBA is ripe with players who are actually better at talking than playing basketball. Durant will probably earn his fourth scoring title this season, and defenders try to get in his head, versus actually playing solid defense. One opponent has upped the trash-talk ante: Lil B. The California rapper sent out a music video on Monday for his track "F--- Kevin Durant." Read this

Lord Jamar is disgusted with what he sees on a daily basis from the hip-hop world. The emcee and member of the Brand Nubians is better known for headstrong condemnations of trends in hip-hop, versus his actual music. Jamar typically lashes out at any signs of new thought in rap music, making him somewhat the Newt Gingrich of the genre...the grand poobah (pun intended) of conservative rap culture. If you're an up-and-coming rapper, Music Times has compiled a short lists of things to avoid lest you piss off Jamar. Read this

Talk of the town has been the comparable advantages of the Beats Music service compared to streaming competition such as Spotify. Beats big claim to fame is having human beings choose music based on your interests, and therefore can better suit tracks to your current mood. But how about the actual availability of music? Well, you can't get Beats-backer Dr. Dre's album The Chronic on Spotify and...you also can't get it on Beats Music. Read this

During a recent interview with the Associated Press, super producer Pharrell recalls some of the top hits he's produced. Read this

Rick Ross just took his MMG supergroup to another level with the release of his highly anticipated album Mastermind and Meek Mill just made huge announcement. Read this

The first week of March proved to be an exciting time in the music world. We had so many great new tracks to choose from for our mixtape this week, but our top ten choices are here for your listening pleasure. With new songs from Netherfriends, The Pass and many more, we’re sure you’ll be as excited about this mix as we are! Read this

Describing music as "hipster" is generally misleading. Fortunately, our friends at Priceonomics Data Services have created a formula for determining an act's hipster score. Read this

This week’s Mixtape Monday features brand new tracks from Slow Club, Chloe Howl, PAWS and many more artists that released some great tunes over the past week. Once again, this is just a great way to share some fun new tracks with friends like we used to do back in the day, but with a digital twist! Read this

No one does Record Store Day better than The Flaming Lips. From their full cover of Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon, to their collaborative LP, Heady Fwends, to a toy frog containing the band's first demo, a chocolate human skill, a cover album with Tame Impala and more, Wayne Coyne and friends sure do celebrate the annual holiday right. Read this

We know that there were a handful of fun album releases this week (St. Vincent, Angel Olsen, etc.) but let’s try to focus on the new singles that graced our ears instead! We have some new tunes from Tycho, Architecture in Helsinki, Arthur Beatrice and many more on this week’s mixtape. Read this

CMT has named the new batch of ladies for the Next Women of Country and these 5 ladies are all amazingly talented! Read this

The season 18 cast of Dancing with the Stars has been announced and two of country music's finest said "No thanks" to the show. Read this

A snapshot of what's coming up in Country music next week... Read this

The line-up for the 3-day Watershed Music Festival, held at The Gorge in George, Washington, has been announced. From August 1st to August 3rd, fans will be treated to music from some of the top country artists. Read this

Society always celebrates the records that top the Billboard 200 album chart. Back of The Billboards is a Music Times weekly segment that looks at the opposite end: the new record that finished closest to the back of the Billboard 200 for the previous week. We hope to give a fighting chance to the bands you haven't heard of. Read this

Strad Fest L.A. is a fiddler’s dream: It will bring together eight rare Stradivarius violins in three musical programs presented by the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra on March 27-29. Read this

Full casting has been announced for Carnegie Hall's one-off concert performance of 'Guys and Dolls' on April 3 at 7:30 p.m. And, following in the well-established tradition of classically-inflected musical theater concerts, the line-up is stellar. Read this

Stephen Jay Carlton, the former executive director of the Peninsula Symphony, is currently facing felony charges that he embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars from the California orchestra, prosecutors said yesterday. Read this

From an era when Italianate (and indeed, Italian) tenors were in more plentiful supply, Renato Cioni has passed away at the age of 84. He was also one of the last links to the age of Maria Callas, as one of her last Cavaradossis in Puccini's Tosca Read this

"My collection of masterpieces just hit a crescendo of domination." -- Kobe Bryant Read this

Full casting has been announced for Carnegie Hall's one-off concert performance of 'Guys and Dolls' on April 3 at 7:30 p.m. And, following in the well-established tradition of classically-inflected musical theater concerts, the line-up is stellar. Read this

A number of promising music documentaries will appear at this year's Tribeca Film Festival. Read this

A nice initiative from the folks at Rhinegold Publishing, the house behind specialist music titles such as Classical Music, International Arts Manager and International Pianist. They have announced the creation of a series of free concerts, six a year, at London's Conway Hall. Read this

Designer Rodrigo Maio reimagines recent albums in the style of old jazz covers, of which he consigns to his Tumblr, New Records Old Covers. Read this

Here's a feel-good story for jazz fans, although it's been a long time in the making: The final home of New Orleans piano legend Henry "Professor Longhair" Byrd has finally been renovated following the destruction inflicted by Hurricane Katrina. A ribbon-cutting ceremony last week marked the end of two years worth of work. Read this

Established electronic music publication Beatport gives everybody something to like when it comes to awards season. There's no awards ceremony, nor is there just one way of establishing who's best among the EDM scene. Rather, awards are broken down into three categories: Community Choice, Best-Selling, and Editorial Staff and Expert. Fans get to vote on the first category, Beatport establishes its choices in the latter category, and sheer sales statistics determines the last. Read this

It's bad enough when you've got to figure out which music festival you're going to drop a lot of money on this summer. It's worse when two music festivals appealing to the same fan base are going down on the same day. It's the worst when both of those music festivals are going on within 100 miles of each other. Such is the case between the Electric Daisy Carnival New York and the Mysteryland Festival are both going down this Memorial Day weekend. Read this

There is something that seems inherently wrong when rock 'n' roll stars such receive the highest of official recognition, such as Kennedy Center Honors or British knighthood. Lord knows the Rolling Stones didn't enter music to be a positive influencer of culture, hence why Keith Richards blew up when Mick Jagger accepted a knighthood. We imagine things aren't totally different within the world of electronic music, so it's curious to see British DJ Pete Tong receive the MBE, or Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. Read this

Red Rocks Amphitheater, a concert venue outside of Denver, has established itself as one of the most unique performance centers in the country, if not the world. Alas, the residents of nearby Morrison don't think that's a good excuse for concerts to run late and volumes to run high. The venue took a preemptive step to answer the complaints by establishing some ground rules for incoming performers. Read this

It was formally announced this week that "Wake Me Up!" by Avicii had become the most-streamed song in the history of Spotify. The single surpassed 200 million streams during February, becoming the first track ever to do so. Read this

A snapshot of what's coming up in Christian music next week... Read this

From August 6th to August 9th, Muskegon, Michigan will welcome back the Unity Christian Music Festival for plenty of family fun. The four day festival offers some of the biggest names in Christian music. Read this

Husband and wife duo, Vince and Amber Lichlyter, are collectively knows as The Love Amendment. They have just released (February 25, 2014) their debut worship EP, showing a softer, gentler side of Vince, who was the founder and lead singer of Jonah33. Read this

Michael W. Smith and Cracker Barrel Old Country Store have announced the upcoming release of "Hymns," Smitty's newest album, which will be available on March 24 exclusively at all Cracker Barrel Old Country Store locations and online at crackerbarrel.com. Read this

SESAC, the nation’s most progressive performing rights organization, had their annual awards ceremony earlier this week. The awards recognize activity for songwriters and publishers in 2013. Read this

Apple's iTunes Music Festival is next week and the brand recently made an exciting announcement. It's all going down in Austin as part of this year's South by Southwest (SXSW) music showcase. Read this

Are you a Country, Hip-Hop, Alternative, R&B, Rock or Pop complete artist, group or band who has what it takes to win $10,000? Read this

There's no denying it: 2013 was the year of the viral video music hit. Billboard began incorporating YouTube hits and other streaming video services into its Hot 100 formula this year, leading to some bizarre smash hits. As 2013 comes to a close, it's time to remember the viral videos that had an impact on Internet culture, the charts and out hearts. Read this

Matteo Setti got his "big break" from Luciano Pavarotti. He also sang lead in a Queen cover band. Which is to say the Italian vocalist can handle a wide range of styles. The performer is turning his attention to swing for the Christmas season however, having released his first holiday EP, Home For Christmas. Setti took some time to speak with Music Times prior to his December 10 show at The Cutting Room. Read this

It's easy to forget how young some of our favorite performers are when they enter the music world. From Michael Jackson's Jack 5 debut at the age of 11, to Lorde's chart-topping single "Royals" at the age of 16, it doesn't take much life experience to make a splash in the music industry. Tuesdays Under 21 is a Music Times feature dedicated to bringing attention to talented musicians and performers under the age of 21. Who knows? They just might be the next big thing. This week we introduce you to...Madeon Read this