• The Beatles Christmas Records: Ranking The Yearly Mess from John, Paul, George and Ringo 1963-1969

    Pearl Jam wasn't the first band to send out yearly Christmas exclusives to its fan club. The Beatles had jumped on that train nearly 30 years earlier. The difference of course is that Pearl Jam's fans could expect some new musical recordings, covers if nothing else, while the biggest band in history took the yearly task of crafting a Christmas album about as seriously as Stephen Colbert takes investigative reporting. The results tended to be a mess...occasionally a curious mess, but a mess nonetheless. Music Times has waded through the seven Beatles Christmas flexi-discs and made a modest attempt at ranking them.

  • Honeyblood, Belle and Sebastian Announce North American Tour [FULL SCHEDULE]

    Honeyblood is a Scottish duo who will finally be taking their talents to North America for an extended stay in 2015. Joined by 2:54 and Belle and Sebastian, the budding European stars will hit several areas of the United States between February and April.The pair — Stina Tweeddale and Shona McVicar — sat down with Line of Best Fit this year to discuss breaking the gender wall in rock 'n' roll."At my school, soon after my higher year, there were only three girls including myself who played guitar with, like, 20 boys ... and I guess I always felt inadequate," Tweeddale said. "Now, that feeling gives me a sort of confidence. And I'm sure girls are still feeling this. It used to be a sort of exclusion, I guess, but I wanna turn it into a secret club."Tweeddale has been recording with McVicar since late 2011.

  • Iggy Azalea Announces 2015 North American Tour Dates for The Great Escape [FULL SCHEDULE]

    Iggy Azalea will hit the road in 2015 on her The Great Escape tour, which will kick off in California April 14 and conclude in Texas May 24. Nick Jonas, Tinashe and DJ Wizz Kidd will support the Australian rapper on the trek. Azalea will tour in support of her April release "The New Classic," "Consequence of Sound" reports.The rapper reissued her album under the name "Reclassified" in November. She said that "The Great Escape" name might have something to do with her follow-up.I like the idea of me being kind of a musical escape artist for people. ^.^ — IGGY AZALEA (@IGGYAZALEA) December 10, 2014

  • David Gilmour Joins Bombay Bicycle Club for Pink Floyd's 'Wish You Were Here' at London's Earls Court Arena [WATCH]

    Pink Floyd leader David Gilmour joined Bombay Bicycle Club onstage Saturday, Dec. 13, for a rendition of "Wish You Were Here." The singer was on hand to bid farewell to London's Earls Court Arena, which is set to be demolished. Pink Floyd played the venue during its 1973 "Dark Side of the Moon" trek. Gilmour himself played at the arena multiple times over the years, Ultimate Classic Rock notes."This man gave me my first guitar," guitarist Jamie MacColl said before Gilmour came out onstage. "[He] was one of the first people to play this venue, and by my count has played here more than 27 times."Gilmour also joined Bombay Bicycle Club on their tune "Rinse Me Down."Gilmour and Pink Floyd recently released "The Endless River," the band's final album. It is made up of outtakes from their last album, 1994's "The Division Bell."

  • Jay-Z Joins Justin Timberlake Onstage at Brooklyn Show, Taylor Swift and Beyoncé Dance in the Crowd [WATCH]

    Justin Timberlake took over Brooklyn last night, Dec. 14, for a huge concert at the Barclays Center. Collaborator and rap great Jay-Z joined the singer onstage to perform his 2013 hit "Holy Grail." Taylor Swift and Beyoncé were hanging out in the crowd and, during the performance, the two were spotted singing and dancing together, MTV News notes. The concert capped off a special weekend for Swift, who celebrated her 25th birthday with a slew of famous artists.Jay and Timberlake worked together on "Magna Carta Holy Grail" and The 20/20 Experience last year before taking their musical friendship on the road for all to see. Hova decided to give Timberlake the royal treatment while he was in New York, too. Check out the live collaboration below:

  • Sony Email Leak: Kanye West Reportedly Shopping New Full-Length Feature Film

    Following the Sony leak, new information has emerged about plans for a potential Kanye West film. Although the veracity of the leaked emails have yet to be confirmed, West is reportedly hunting for a home for an up-coming full-length feature film that "involves both cinematic and technological innovation," according to an email obtained by The Daily Beast from West's creative assistant Elon Rutberg.

  • Pitbull Reworks Taylor Swift "Blank Space": Listen to the AMAs Inspired Mr. Worldwide Remix

    Pitbull's hosting gig at this year's American Music Awards inspired the rapper in more ways than just one. After seeing Taylor Swift get murderous with her live debut of her 1989 single "Blank Space," the "Fireball' rapper just couldn't help himself and had to jump on a new remix. Today (Dec. 15), fans of Swift and Pitbull alike can revel in the Mr. Worldwide remix of "Blank Space."

  • Nicki Minaj Drops 'The Pinkprint': Full Album Featuring Beyoncé, Chris Brown Available to Stream on Spotify [LISTEN]

    A few songs from Nicki Minaj's "The Pinkprint" leaked recently, but now the entire album is available to stream via Spotify since it officially dropped today, Dec. 15. Minaj is joined by a star-studded lineup on the 16-track album that includes Beyoncé, Chris Brown, Ariana Grande, Meek Mill and Jeremih. A 20-track deluxe version is also available on iTunes, "Consequence of Sound" reports.Minaj's collaborations with Bey and Grande leaked last week following singles like "Anaconda," "Bed of Lies" featuring Skylar Grey and "Only" featuring Brown, Drake and Lil Wayne. The latter's music video came out recently as well. Check out the full tracklist below.

  • Chief Keef, Kanye West Collaboration "Nobody" Has Leaked Ahead Of Album Release

    Although Interscope dropped him from the label earlier this year, Chief Keef is still set to release his sophomore album Nobody tomorrow (Dec. 16). Now the title track, his collaboration with Kanye West, has officially dropped. The track relies heavily on Auto-Tune and is backed by a sample of Willie Hutch's "Brother's Gonna Work It Out." Sosa handles the majority of the track with West weaving in some background vocals throughout.

  • SFX to Relaunch Beatport Pro as Streaming Service

    We have become accustomed to hearing about different business maneuvers coming from the SFX Entertainment camp over the past two years, primarily in the form of mergers and acquisitions as the company has looked to expand its global empire over a wide swath of the dance music industry. Robert Sillerman's SFX has slowed its frenetic buying spree in the latter half of 2014 as it looks to consolidate profits and generate more revenue, but the moves have not stopped. It has announced that one of its properties, the popular music-purchasing platform Beatport will now officially enter the streaming space with a relaunched version of its Beatport Pro, via "Dancing Astronaut."The new Beatport music service will offer free, ad-supported streaming to users, according to the "Wall Street Journal." This will give users the ability to listen to Beatport's catalog of music on demand. Beatport currently offers the ability to purchase mixes, which are comprised of Beatport's music library available for purchase via the platform. This will expand the capabilities of listeners and DJs alike to stream music before they purchase.One major hurdle will be to obtain licenses for songs, though focusing on electronic music will make it easier to stay clear of the Big 3. Many big electronic acts, like deadmau5, Krewella, Porter Robinson, Dirty South and Calvin Harris, have signed limited or exclusive with majors deals to take advantage of their large distribution networks. Another major hurdle for SFX will be to comply with copyright laws in different jurisdictions around the world, which is one reason why the global Spotify rollout has not been instantaneous.
View More
Festivals
Popular Now