• Neil Young Recording New Album with Willie Nelson's Sons: Singer Also Talks About Pono Service [WATCH]

    Neil Young's new Pono music player debuted at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas recently. The guitarist sat down with "Rolling Stone" to discuss the new service, which launched this week, but naturally the conversation covered other areas. He revealed that his next album will be a collaboration with Willie Nelson's sons Lukas and Micah.Young and the Nelson boys have performed together previously at the Harvest the Hope and Bridge School benefits as well as Farm Aid."I'm working on another album now that I'm going to do be doing with Willie Nelson's sons," the singer said, adding that the record may have something to do with the Monsanto agriculture company — Young has been critical of the organization in the past.Past that album, Young does not have anything else lined up.
  • Charli XCX, Rita Ora Team Up for "Doing It" on U.K. Release of 'Sucker' [LISTEN]

    First, Charli XCX teamed up with Iggy Azalea for "Fancy," and then Rita Ora joined the Aussie rapper for "Black Widow." But working together with Azalea isn't the only thing the two pop stars have in common anymore. Yes, they've teamed up for a new U.K. single, in a move that makes total sense. Today (Jan. 8), XCX released a new version of her Sucker track "Doing It," featuring none other than Ora.
  • Fleet Foxes's Robin Pecknold Writes Music for Off-Broadway Play 'Wyoming'

    It has been nearly four years since we have heard a new Fleet Foxes album, but today it was revealed that Fleet Foxes frontman Robin Pecknold has composed the music for an upcoming off-Broadway play titled "Wyoming," which was written by Pecknold's cousin Brian Watkins and directed by Danya Taymor. According to "Stereogum," Pecknold co-wrote the music along with percussionist Neal Morgan, who is best known for his work with Bill Callahan and Pecknold's old touring partner Joanna Newsom — perhaps that is where they met?According to "Broadway World," "Wyoming" is a "biting, brilliant family drama about buried memories of a confounding childhood crime" produced by Lesser America. As of right now, Pecknold has no plans to record or release his score, which means you will have to go see the play, which runs from Jan. 15 to 31 at Theater for the New City in New York City. You can purchase tickets for "Wyoming" here.Fleet Foxes's most recent album "Helplessness Blues" was released in 2011. It was the Seattle band's second studio album overall, following their self-titled, debut album from 2008. Most recently, Pecknold embarked on a tour with members of Grizzly Bear, Wye Oak, Beach House and The Walkmen celebrating the music of late Byrds member Gene Clark.
  • Disney Being Sued by Electronic Music Festival Tomorrowland Over Movie 'Tomorrowland'

    The tables have turned on Disney. After starting its public and still-ongoing lawsuit with deadmau5 over what it deems to be using the likeness of Mickey Mouse, Disney is now on the other end of a trademark battle with electronic music festival Tomorrowland. The current dispute stems from a new movie Disney is releasing in 2015 titled "Tomorrowland," starring George Clooney and Hugh Laurie, and since the festival owns the rights to the name Tomorrowland in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, the Disney film is being forced to make a name change to acquiesce with the trademark demands of ID&T, the promoter of Tomorrowland. Tomorrowland launched its first festival in 2005.This legal discord between Tomorrowland the festival and Disney has some history. Disney owns the rights to the term "Tomorrowland" in the United States, since it is a themed land in each of the five Disney parks around the world. When the festival Tomorrowland decided to make the move Stateside, Disney forced the festival to make a name change, so it became "TomorrowWorld."Trademark attorney Sharon Daboul told the "Belfast Telegraph":"Disney has a trademark registration in the USA for the term 'Tomorrowland,' dating back to 1970. With this registration, it was successfully able to prevent the music festival from calling itself Tomorrowland when it launched in the USA. However, the music festival has the rights to the term in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg and has prevented Disney from using the name in these countries."
  • 'American Idol' Season 14 Ratings Fall Short of 'Empire' Series Premiere for FOX

    American Idol ushered in its 14th season last night (Jan. 7) with a new format and one hour's worth of auditions in Keith Urban's hometown, Nashville. But, despite the show's long running pedigree, its ratings continued to slip, as the reality competition slipped below its following program (and fellow musical), Empire.
  • Bonnaroo Will Announce Lineup Via Fans on Social Media Next Week for 2015 Festival

    Bonnaroo 2015 is only six months away, and while the lineup is usually announced in February, organizers will share some of the performers next week. The Bonnaroo Lineup Announcement Megathon will take place Jan. 13 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Fans will be able to call a phone number to receive updates, and then they can share the information on social media using the hashtag #Bonnaroo, "Consequence of Sound" notes.If you want to find out who will be at The Farm in June, call 1-844-ROO-2015 during the BLAM. Organizers will also share a preview of Skrillex's documentary of the festival's Superjam tradition. Big Gigantic, Cage the Elephant, A$AP Ferg and Robby Krieger of The Doors joined the EDM star for a massive concert.Tickets for the festival go on sale Jan. 17. The event runs from June 11 to 14. Check out the trailer for the BLAM below."Consequence of Sound" compiles rumors for festivals on what bands may perform. On Bonnaroo's Festival Outlook page, acts like Beck, Deadmau5 and Kendrick Lamar are rumored to appear at the festival. Houndmouth, Robert Plant and Trampled by Turtles are logical choices while Run the Jewels and iLoveMakonnen have been confirmed.
  • Ranking The Royal Mail's 10 Rock 'n' Roll Inspired Stamps: Led Zeppelin 'IV', Pink Floyd's 'The Division Bell', The Rolling Stones 'Let It Bleed' and More

    Just five years ago the UK Postal system introduced a series of ten stamps featuring album art from classic records by British rock bands. Are we behind the times? Yes. Were we around to weigh in on the list when it dropped? No. Now Music Times weighs in on all ten album covers and rank them from 10 to 1 in terms of which serves best as a stamp...both for its aesthetic and its relevance within music culture. Artists include The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd.
  • NBC Blames Sources for Inaccurate Reporting About Status of Gunmen in 'Charlie Hebdo' Massacre

    If you were tuned in to either NBC or MSNBC last night, Jan. 7, as your source for learning what was unfolding in France, then you no doubt were shocked when the network actually was reporting completely inaccurate information for at least an hour. While there has been major police activity in Paris and various parts of France, NBC claimed there had been a shootout about 90 minutes north of the City of Lights that killed one suspect in the terrorist attack on the offices of "Charlie Hebdo." Supposedly, the other two gunmen were in custody, tying up the manhunt with a nice, neat bow. Unfortunately, none of it was true.French police did capture the youngest suspect, 18-year old Hamyd Mourad, but even as of now, Said and Cherif Kouachi remain on the run. Once NBC realized its huge mistake, its representatives issued retractions of their earlier reporting.The network told Deadline, "NBC News issued an earlier report based on intelligence from two consistently reliable U.S. counterterrorism officials in different government agencies. As soon as it became evident that our sources doubted their information, we immediately updated our reporting across all platforms and continue to do so as this fast-moving story unfolds."At the time, NBC was saying that a senior security official was the source of their information. Even though the network acknowledged their misinformation as soon as they were made aware of it, it never actually apologized for its part in passing on misleading information in something as serious as a manhunt following a terrorist attack.
  • Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson Top 'American Idol' Highest Earners List for 2015

    There's no denying that American Idol has been able to make some major stars throughout its 13 seasons. From Carrie Underwood to Kelly Clarkson to Adam Lambert, the reality competition has been a major launching pad for the U.S. music scene in the last decade. And now, following the premiere of American Idol's 14th season, Forbes has released its annual list of the top-earning alums from the long-running program.
  • Snoop Dogg Announces 'Bush' As Title Of New Pharrell-Produced Album, "Peaches N Cream" As First Single

    Back in September, Snoop Dogg revealed that he had been collaborating with Pharrell on a new album, and in October he announced that he'd be dropping the record via Pharrell's I Am Other label and Columbia Records. New details have now emerged about the effort. During a panel hosted by Omnicom Media Group at CES in Las Vegas yesterday, Snoop confirmed Bush as the album title and "Peaches N Cream" as the first single. The effort is due out sometime in mid-March, Rap-Up reports.
  • R. Kelly Shares New Song 'Happy Birthday' for 48th Birthday [LISTEN]

    Today, Jan. 8, happens to be R. Kelly's 48th birthday, so in celebration the R&B legend has shared a new song, appropriately titled "Happy Birthday," which you can check out below. The track premiered on DJ MoonDawg's radio show in Kelly's native Chicago — which explains all of the annoying sounds in the beginning — and features Kelly doing some heavily Auto-Tuned singing about watching two girls make out — on his birthday, presumably — all over a pretty basic backing track. It is definitely not one of his best, but it is so ridiculous you should probably take a listen anyway.You can check out R. Kelly's "Happy Birthday" here:
  • Will 'Fifty Shades of Grey' Generate Enough Heat with an R Rating from MPAA?

    It seems like we have been waiting forever for the film adaptation of "Fifty Shades of Grey" to be released, and now that it is almost here, it has finally been given an official rating by the MPAA. Although it seemed like it was heading for an NC-17 branding, it has just been announced that "Fifty Shades of Grey" will hit theaters Feb. 13 with an R rating.The film, based on E.L. James's risqué BDSM trilogy, pulled an official R rating due to "strong sexual content including dialogue, some unusual behavior and graphic nudity," which, of course, is no surprise to anyone who has read the series. But there has been concern all along about taking something so graphic and putting it on the big screen. In order to make fans of the book happy, whatever unfolds on screen is going to have to be really hot and risky. It is almost hard to imagine the film being able to mirror the book with just an R rating, don't you think?Perhaps what Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson, as Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele, have managed to create on screen will still hold even if it is not identical to the book. If their chemistry works well enough and if the actual movie is as cleverly crafted as the teasers for it have been, then it could work. Dornan recently talked about "Fifty Shades of Grey" being a love story at its root. Maybe they have worked to tap into an emotional connection as well as the obvious physical one that the book series is based on.