• Due to Mounting Pressure, Sony Will Likely Release 'The Interview' Eventually

    It is kind of amazing how divided the United States is over racial issues, law enforcement and good ol' political agendas, but when a film studio gets hacked, it is fairly easy to get everyone on the same page — and quickly! Sony canceled everything in connection with its film "The Interview" last week, fearing that the group that has successfully hacked the company would make good on its threats of violence. Once it was confirmed that North Korea was responsible for the large security breech, the studio decided not to take any unnecessary risks and even the White House disagreed with the decision.First, Hollywood as a whole chimed in collectively, not wanting to feel like its business was being controlled by Kim Jong Un's regime. Then political leaders such as U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Newt Gingrich started rallying for the film's release. By this morning, Dec. 22, Sony started contemplating exactly what the best way to release "The Interview" might be. While the logical possibility was either video on demand or Netflix, some other companies might be more than a little skittish, fearing that they, too, will be hacked.

  • Pandora Cries First Amendment in Copyright Lawsuit with The Turtles

    Pandora is continuing its fight against The Turtles and all music artists recorded before 1972. Mark Volmer and Howard Kalen, aka Flo & Eddie, filed suit against the streaming music service in September after their successful lawsuit against SiriusXM. Members of The Turtles want compensation, but Pandora in a recent motion said the band is infringing on the service's First Amendment rights to play the group's music, "Billboard" reports.The issue is that the United States did not have a master recordings copyright law until 1972, so everything recorded before that year has been played on Pandora and SiriusXM without compensation for the artists. Volmer and Kalen decided to try the case at the state level, which worked after a judge in California ruled that the satellite radio provider had to pay up. That is the same judge hearing the Pandora case — the service is hoping to receive a change of venue.The pair also secured a win in November in a New York courtroom.Pandora is now crying First Amendment.

  • Happy 25th Birthday Jordin Sparks: Music Times Lists Its Favorite Tracks from The 'American Idol' Winner

    We're approach one of the year's biggest birthdays but we figured we'd throw a shout-out to Jordin Sparks for her 25th birthday. The pop star got out to a hot start at the beginning of her career, becoming the first American Idol winner to land her first four singles in the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100. Things have slowed down a little since then but hopefully she'll be back on top soon enough. Here are five of our favorite tracks from the performer.

  • Garth Brooks Calls Himself 'Badass' Thanks to New 'Man Against Machine' Cover

    We previously reported that Garth Brooks still gets nervous before shows, a factoid he admitted to Indiana radio station WKDQ. But there were plenty of other nuggets from the same interview, including Brooks's assertion that his most recent album cover — for "Man Against Machine" — makes him look like a badass.This surfaced when the DJ asked him to name his favorite cover."That's tough. Tough, tough, tough, tough," he said, via The Boot. "I'm going to have to go with ... Well, I'm going to pick the one that's out right now, "Man Against Machine," because if you know me, I'm the farthest thing from a badass you've ever met, but I got to look like a badass on this cover."Brooks has never had one of his album titles share a name with one of its tracks until now. But as usual, he did things in a unique manner and came up with the album title before bringing the "Man Against Machine" track alive.

  • Madonna Talks 'Rebel Heart' Leak, Grammy Award Performance, "Living For Love," Working With Diplo, And More

    Following the leak of more than 10 unreleased demo recordings, Madonna and her team have been working day-in and day-out to try to recover the stolen songs. The songs were from sessions for her upcoming 13th studio album, which at the time had yet to be announced and is still unfinished. To combat the damage of the stolen work, Madonna sped up the official release of new music. She announced that her new album, Rebel Heart, would drop March 10 through Interscope Records and made six of its tracks immediately available for purchase. Among them was the Diplo-produced "Living For Love," the album's lead single, which according to Billboard wasn't supposed to premiere until Valentines Day.

  • Taylor Swift Tweets Out Favorite Cover Version of 'Shake It Off' by Jesse Will: It's a Slow Burner [LISTEN]

    Cover songs are tricky animals. Some are done better than the original; others are the same. The best are complete reinventions. Jesse Will pulled off a superb cover of Taylor Swift's pop smash "Shake It Off," turning the upbeat number into a slow-burning epic complete with violin. Even T. Swift loved it."My favorite covers are the ones where the artist has made it their own, changing the way the song makes you feel," she tweeted to her nearly 50 million followers along with a video of the performance.

  • Kim Kardashian and Kanye West Will Spend Christmas Together in L.A. After All

    After several weeks of catching negative headlines regarding his marriage to Kim Kardashian, it looks like Kanye West is taking one for the team. Rather than spend Christmas in Paris like he reportedly wanted to, West will be with his wife and daughter in L.A., celebrating with the whole Kardashian family. That certainly is not the rapper's first choice in how to spend the holiday, but after completely skipping out on Thanksgiving he probably knew he needed to make an appearance.We told you the other day that this still newly married couple was at war over where to celebrate because West was determined to drag Kardashian and little North West to Paris for a special holiday celebration. That actually makes sense because we have heard for months now that he ultimately wants to move the family to France and make it their primary residence next year. Since he loves the City of Lights so much he likely would want to spend holidays there as well.

  • Adele Wrote Elton John a Handwritten Apology After Missing His Wedding

    Adele could not attend the wedding of Elton John and David Furnish this past weekend, so she decided to send a nice, handwritten letter to the happy couple."Biggest congratulations my loves," it read, according to "The Daily Mail." "Have a wonderful day. I'm sorry we are not there. See you in 2015. Love Adele, Simon and Angelo. x."John then posted the letter on Instagram as part of a post-celebration pic that showed off all the nuptial swag he piled up."The perfect end to the perfect day," his post read. "So many kind thoughts and wishes. #ShareTheLove"

  • Tom Brokaw's Cancer Is in Remission as His Work for NBC News Continues

    Great news for Tom Brokaw, as the award-winning former NBC News anchor has announced that his cancer has gone into remission. It was in February when Brokaw confirmed that he was suffering from multiple myeloma and battling a cancer that affects blood cells in his bone marrow. He first got the bad news of his diagnosis in August 2013 and has been battling the illness ever since.Brokaw first started with NBC News in 1966 and, since retiring from the anchor seat in 2014, has stayed on with the network, working on various special projects. Even while battling cancer Brokaw has popped up with reports and interviews, proving that even what could have been a deadly disease was not going to slow him down.Just last week, Brokaw was part of a presidential delegation that traveled to Belgium to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge. It was an experience that he chose to share, along with his good news, in an email to his colleagues:
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