Ryan Book

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  • Album Releases Moving to Fridays Beginning July 10 According to IFPI

    The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry has formally announced that July 10 will mark the beginning of the "global release day" on Fridays as part of an agreement between 45 nations involved. For listeners in the United States, that means new albums will no longer become available on Tuesdays as they have in the past but, like films, will be released on Fridays.

  • Katy Perry's 'Dark Horse' Hits 1 Billion Views on Vevo, Second to What?

    Katy Perry put a notch in her belt over at Vevo as the video for "Dark Horse" tallied its one billionth view this week. The total places Perry's hit behind only Justin Bieber's "Baby" on the video-streaming site, and making it only the second video in Vevo's history to gather views in the 10-digit range.

  • Florence + The Machine Take Top of Billboard 200; Taylor Swift + A$AP Rocky Stick Around

    Florence + The Machine booked its first no. 1 effort on the Billboard 200 as mouthful How Big How Blue How Beautiful took the top spot with more than 137,000 equivalent album sales. Although only pure album sales were tracked at the time of the band's last release, Ceremonials, Billboard suggests that this was also the band's biggest sales weeks in terms of pure records as well.

  • B.B. King's Children Claim Second Will Exists, Among Poisoning Rumors

    One would have hoped that B.B. King would have gotten more attention following his death in May, at least in terms of album sales and renewed interest. Instead, we've gotten clashes over control of the blues legend's estate, allegations of murder, and now four of King's children have claimed that a second will exists.

  • 5 Les Paul Contributions to Modern Music: Solid-Body Guitars, Multitrack Recording, More

    Today marks what would have been the 100th birthday of Les Paul, one of the greatest innovators in music history, both for his work with instruments and with recording technology (and he wasn't half bad as a guitar player either). Music Times has assembled five of Paul's greatest contributions to the music world, in order of when he was most involved in its development. Understand that none of these technologies were solely his creation, but none of them would be the way we know them today if it weren't for his contributions, from the solid-body guitar to multitrack recording.

  • 8 Victims of MC Hammer: Madonna, Vanilla Ice, AC/DC and More

    MC Hammer took his first step to the top of the Billboard 200 on this date 25 years ago with Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em , the hip-hop album that would introduce the world to "U Can't Touch This" and help the rapper to maintain a place at the top of the charts for 21 weeks, interrupted only once. That's impressive but it makes us feel bad for all of the other performers who were denied a no. 1 album by that craze. Nothing tops a best-selling album for musicians but Hammer wasn't trying to give his spot up. Music Times checked out the eight albums that took the no. 2 spot during Don't Hurt 'Em's run, from Madonna to Vanilla Ice, and listed them from least weeks to most in second place.

  • Woman's ASL Interpretation of Eminem's 'Lose Yourself' Goes Viral [WATCH]

    One woman has become YouTube's newest viral sensation thanks to her sign language interpretation of Eminem's "Lose Yourself," which has gathered more than 3 million views in the last few weeks. Shelby Mitchusson, 24, originally posted the video as part of a job interview during September, but the clip has picked up steam just recently.

  • 61 Arrested, 10 Cops Injured During Hot 97 Summer Jam Rioting

    The state of New Jersey has issued the final tally for arrests and injuries that came as a result of the minor rioting at MetLife Stadium as part of the Hot 97 Summer Jam over the weekend: 61 fans were arrested and 10 state troopers were injured as those without tickets hurled bottles and other debris at law enforcement. DJs from Hot 97 addressed the controversy on Monday, denouncing lawbreakers and hoping that the issues wouldn't create problems for the now 23 year-old festival.

  • Iggy Azalea Pittsburgh Pride Performance Cancelled; Homophobic Tweets Resurface

    Iggy Azalea has cancelled her slot at the Pittsburgh Pride weekend after members of the LGBTQIA community pointed out that the performer had previously used language on social media that was both homophobic and racist. Azalea apologized for her previous comments, and acknowledged that-while still a supporter of equal rights-she felt her performance would draw attention away from the cause in light of recent events.

  • Isle of Wight Festival Aims to Set Rather Creepy Record as Jimi Hendrix Tribute

    The Isle of Wight Festival is celebrating the 45th anniversary of Jimi Hendrix playing at the historic event by attempting to break perhaps the world's creepiest record. The festival will attempt to produce the largest mass of people wearing the same mask in the same place, with the crowd theoretically all wearing a special Hendrix mask.

  • Beyonce's "Big" Announcement Was...Disappointing; Fans Mock Star

    Beyoncé broke the internet when she dropped her last self-titled album by surprise during 2013, so we could only imagine what sort of wonders she would reveal on Good Morning America when the show declared she "has something she wants you to know." Another album announcement? A huge, solo tour? A Destiny's Child reunion?!? Needless to say, it was rather disappointing.

  • 5 Worst Stage Injuries of 2015: Britney Spears, Enrique Iglesias and More

    Music Times was on hand at Governors Ball this weekend when Slim Jimmy of Rae Sremmurd fell off of a speaker and injured his leg, reportedly involving a "big ass piece of glass" stuck in his leg, based on his microphone reports from behind the stage, where he was being treated. The emcee took to the injury rather well, not returning to the stage but calling for anyone in the crowd who captured the incident on camera to "post that sh*t on Instagram." The good news is that the paramedics on the scene were able to patch Jimmy up well before taking him to a nearby hospital, where he was declared to be in stable condition. The hip-hop duo isn't expecting to miss any time on the road as a result. It wasn't the first incident involving onstage injuries during 2015. Here are five other mishaps, ranked from least to most frightening.

  • 5 Triple Crown Horses and Music to Match: Michael Jackson, U2 and More

    Fans of horse racing finally got the Triple Crown they had been waiting 37 years for when American Pharoah won at Belmont this weekend, capping off a Spring that included wins at the Preakness Stakes and the Kentucky Derby. It was the first time a horse had won the "Big 3" since Affirmed during 1978, with the horse in question finally sealing the deal in the third race. We say "finally" because it's not as if attempts at the Triple Crown are rare—13 horses won the first two legs of the Crown in the years since 1978—however the lengthier Belmont course often wore down on the hopeful horses. Music Times doesn't know much about racing, but we wanted to pay tribute to the last five Triple Crown winners with a comparable musical act, including Michael Jackson, U2 and more.

  • 50 Cent Claims G-Unit Was Roughed Up by Security at Summer Jam Before Chris Brown Performance

    There was obviously some trouble with security at Summer Jam over the weekend, as fans without tickets started a miniature riot and got the New Jersey police to fire tear gas canisters into the fracas. Although it seems as if law enforcement was in the right for that case, rapper 50 Cent alleged that security inside the stadium was a little rough with himself and his G-Unit crew prior to them appearing with Chris Brown onstage.
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