• 10 Artists Whose Debut Singles Were Covers: Nirvana, Rush, And More

    Signing a brand new and therefore untested artist can be a risky move for most labels, so in order to get around this, some labels push their new artists to record cover songs for their debut singles as a sort of test run. Here are 10 artists who recorded cover songs for their debut singles.

  • Meghan Trainor and 'Title' Interrupt Taylor Swift's '1989' Party on Billboard 200, While Kidz Bop and Mark Ronson Debut in Top 10

    The rate at which Taylor Swift has been at the top of the Billboard 200 has been chopped down to 75 percent this week as Meghan Trainor takes the crown with Title. The album moved 238,000 equivalent albums, marking the highest debut for any solo performer since Susan Boyle during 2009. The "All About That Bass" vocalist joins One Direction and J. Cole as the only performers to interrupt Swift since 1989 came out 12 weeks ago. We'll see what happens next week with regard to that streak.

  • Jhené Aiko Shares Quirky 'Spotless Mind' Music Video [WATCH]

    R&B singer Jhené Aiko has shared the music video for her single "Spotless Mind," which you can check out below. The Jay Ahn-directed clips follows Aiko and her boyfriend through an entire day as they visit the beach, an arcade, a go-kart track and a hotel room and take a ride out in a boat, with Aiko wearing a new outfit in each scene. Though the title of the song is similar to a famous Michel Gondry film, the visuals are reminiscent of a Wes Anderson film, with the bold yellow font in the credits, symmetrical framing, jarring edits and overall quirky tone.

  • Galantis Unveil 'Runaway (U & I)' Music Video, Continuing Seafox Saga from 'You' [WATCH]

    Swedish electronic music duo Galantis has released the music video for their latest single "Runaway (U & I)." The duo — comprised of Linus Eklöw, known for his solo work as Style of Eye, and Christian Karlsson, one third of Swedish band Miike Snow, and as the Grammy Award-winning pop producer/songwriter Bloodshy. The video is the second part is the Seafox saga, the mascot of sorts for Galantis, following her on her quest to find herself as someone famous yet totally alone in this world. This video follows up the previous Seafox-themed clip for "You."

  • The Weeknd Shares 'Earned It' Video for 'Fifty Shades of Grey' Starring Dakota Johnson [WATCH]

    The Weeknd has unveiled the NSFW music video for his contribution to the "Fifty Shades of Grey" soundtrack: "Earned It." The video finds The Weeknd — real name Abel Tesfaye — in an auditorium with nearly naked women dancing around in front of him, including film star Dakota Johnson, who is tied up in some sort of contraption. Directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson, the clip is probably tame for what is to come in the film, but still hints at the class that the song possesses, as the OVO boss croons: "Cause girl you're perfect / You're always worth it / And you deserve it / The way you work it / Cause girl you earned it / Girl you earned it."

  • Karen O Shares Sunny 'Day Go By' Music Video [WATCH]

    Yeah Yeah Yeahs singer Karen O has shared the music video for her song "Day Go By," which you can check out below. The Wiisa-directed clip follows two young lovers — neither of which are Karen O, it should be noted — as they go swimming and take bike rides together, shot in a grainy, sun-kissed style that basically looks like the music video equivalent of an Instagram post. It is very 2015 indie pop.

  • Nicki Minaj to Headline ESPN's X Games in Austin in June: Talib Kweli Also Performing

    Nicki Minaj just got signed to do one of her most interesting gigs in 2015. She will be headlining ESPN's X Games this June in Austin, Texas. Talib Kweli, Pennywise and Deltron 3030 will join "The Pinkprint" singer on the smaller South Factory stage, where the acts will perform. The "Anaconda" singer said in a statement to "The Wrap," "I look forward to channeling the energy and spirit from the X Games into a performance Austin will not forget."

  • Shazam Gets $1 Billion Valuation After $30 Million from New Funding Round

    Shazam has hit the magic $1 billion valuation mark. After a recent round of funding worth reportedly $30 million, the song-identification and discovery app has found itself joining the billionaire boys club — the real one. Fittingly, according to Shazam Chairman Andrew Fisher in an interview with "Bloomberg," "We had a couple of billionaires who participated in the funding round." Fisher also further discussed plans for a potential Shazam IPO saying, "Strengthening the balance sheet gives us more choices about when we would go to the public market."

  • The Byrds' "Mr. Tambourine Man" at 50: Ranking The Original (Bob Dylan) and Covers (Stevie Wonder, William Shatner, More)

    On this date 50 years ago The Byrds recorded "Mr. Tambourine Man." That band wasn't the first to do it—Bob Dylan wrote the original version of the song and recorded it just five days prior to The Byrds entering the studio with it—but it would end up that the latter ended up more famous than the first. The song reached no. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and has been cited as the birthplace of "folk rock" (fans of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young and everything to follow are thankful). Many acts have gone on to cover the track (aside from The Byrds) so Music Times gathered a few of the more famous versions and ranked them accordingly.
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