KATY PERRY LOSES ‘DARK HORSE’ COPYRIGHT LAWSUIT: Katy Perry has been defeated in a lawsuit that claimed her song “Dark Horse” copied a 2009 Christian rap song. Marcus Gray and two co-authors say that “Dark Horse” stole elements from their song “Joyful Noise,” which was released by Marcus under the stage name Flame. A jury in Los Angeles decided in favor of the plaintiffs following a seven-day trial. Katy’s lawyer argued that the song featured simple musical elements and that ruling in the plaintiffs favor could cause issues for music and artists in the future. Katy and the song’s author writers, including producer Dr. Luke, said they had never heard “Joyful Noise” nor had they heard of Flame before the trial. They also said that they don’t listen to Christian music. The jury now has to decide how much money the plaintiffs are owed.

LIL NAS X’S ‘OLD TOWN ROAD’ BECOMES LONGEST-RUNNING NO. 1 HIT – (07/30/2019)

Country-rap hit “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X has became the longest-running No. 1 hit on Billboard’s Hot 100 charts, continuing into its 17th week at the top.

Previously, the record was held at 16 weeks by “One Sweet Day” by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men and “Despacito” by Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee, and Justin Bieber. Lil Nas X first climbed to the top of the country charts but was booted for “not [embracing] enough elements of today’s country music to chart in its current version,” Billboard said. After Billy Ray Cyrus added a verse and the song became a viral hit, “Old Town Road” topped the genre-spanning Hot 100 chart.

The 20-year-old rapper posted a video in which he thanked fans for their support – albeit from an unusual location.

In the video, X, wearing a cowboy hat, says, “I’m on the toilet right now, but I wanna say thank you to every single person who has made this moment possible for me. We just broke the record for the longest running #1 song of all time…let’s go!” As “Old Town Road” starts playing, the rapper laughs and starts bobbing his head.

Billy Ray tweeted, “Congratulations my friend @LilNasX You sir are what ya call a ‘game changer.’ Love ya man. You are a light.”

Even Mariah took to Twitter to congratulate X on beating her Billboard Hot 100 record. “Sending love & congrats to @LilNasX on breaking one of the longest running records in music history! We’ve been blessed to hold this record with a song that means a great deal to @BoyzIIMen and myself and has touched so many. Keep living your best life!” Mariah wrote.

She continued, “Thank you for acknowledging this song ❤ One Sweet Day will always hold a special place in my heart and I want to thank anyone who’s ever told me how this song has affected them and their loved ones.”

Lil Nas X quickly responded, writing, “wowwww thank you so much mariah! you are a legend and an icon and i’m blessed to even have you acknowledging me right now! growing up to your music & now having you talk to me directly is unreal! ❤️❤️❤️”

On top of that good news, Lil Nas covers Dazed magazine’s Autumn 2019 issue, available August 1st. The upcoming issue celebrates Lil Nas X’s success and the reemergence of cowboy culture.

 “I knew this was my chance to break out, and if I didn’t push this as hard as I could all day and night, I was failing myself,” Lil Nas X said of his viral hit “Old Town Road” in an excerpt from the article.

The magazine is also partnering with TikTok for the new issue, where they gave a first look at the cover on their new account. Fans can get involved by taking part in the #LassoChallenge on the app, where they need to lasso any object while Lil Nas X’s new song “Panini” plays in the background.

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Full Story: Billboard

ARIANA GRANDE TEASES NEW COLLAB WITH SOCIAL HOUSE COMING FRIDAY; APOLOGIZES FOR JONBENÉT RAMSEY COMMENT – (07/30/2019)

Ariana Grande is gearing up to release a brand new song with her Sweetener tour openers Social House.

The singer teased the track, called “Boyfriend,” and its music video on Instagram Monday, revealing it will be dropping on August 2nd. As a snippet of the new song plays, the teaser shows various shots of Grande and Social House, who helped produce “Thank U, Next” and “7 Rings.” She tagged her longtime video director Hannah Lux Davis in the post.

This news comes after much teasing from Grande, who posted a black-and-white selfie July 28th with the caption “u ain’t my boyfriend.” In the post, she tagged Social House as well as Alfredo Flores and Davis, who have both directed music videos for her before.

It looks like Grande will also be plugging her recent collaboration with Givenchy in the visual, as she tweeted another photo July 24th saying, “I even wear @givenchy in my videos.”

Meanwhile, Ariana is in hot water after an exchange about JonBenét Ramsey, the six-year-old girl who was murdered in her Boulder, Colorado, home in 1996. Her case was never solved.

It started when Ariana’s friend Doug Middlebrook posted a photo of a magazine cover featuring JonBenét.

He captioned the photo, “No one has done more covers,” to which Ariana replied, “I can’t WAIT for this to be your Halloween look.” Middlebrook responded, “Working on it already.”

Grande’s comment quickly sparked outrage, with many fans criticizing the 26-year-old for joking about Ramsey.

“Wait WHAT?? An 8-year-old girl who was violently killed, strangled and suffocated cannot be anyone’s costume…,” one Twitter user wrote.

“I love Ariana but that comment about Jon Benet was very tasteless. Ugh…” wrote another person.

Grande soon replied to one fan, saying, “Yeah no i deleted it very quickly and understand that it’s not at all funny. this was out of pocket and i sincerely apologize.”

However, Grande’s apology did not sit well with many social media users, who claimed the singer’s “comment was up for a day.”

“No baby that comment was up for a day and you’re just now apologizing because you got called out. this ain’t it sis. r u good?,” one Twitter user responded.

Meanwhile, some of Grande’s fans came to her defense, accepting her apology as sincere. Another fan thanked Grande for apologizing but advised her to take time away from the social media platform. “Thank you for not staying silent abt this and apologizing. you can only learn and grow from this. love you now get off twitter,” the person wrote.

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Full Story: People

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TAYLOR SWIFT TO RECEIVE FIRST EVER ICON AWARD AT TEEN CHOICE AWARDS – (07/26/2019)

Taylor Swift will be honored with the first ever Icon Award at the 2019 Teen Choice Awards next month.

“As one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with more than 50 million albums sold, Taylor Swift is a pop culture icon whose accolades and achievements go beyond topping music charts and selling out stadiums worldwide,” Fox said in a statement. “Swift is also one of today’s biggest social influencers, using her voice and platform to inspire and create positive change.”

Swift, who has sold more than 50 million albums, will be honored for her success as a pop culture icon. Alongside selling out stadiums globally and creating chart-topping hits, the artist has often used her platform to motivate and incite change.

Last year, her endorsement of Democrats Phil Bredesen and Rep. Jim Cooper in their Tennessee U.S. Senate and House races, respectively, sparked a massive spike in voter registration. In May of this year, Swift shared a letter across her social accounts addressing Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, pressing him to increase protections for the LGBTQ community and to support the Equality Act.

Swift will be joined by fellow artists at the awards ceremony, such as Cardi B, Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish and BLACKPINK, all of whom are nominated for multiple awards in the music categories. The Jonas Brothers will be honored with the Decade Award. 

Fans can vote for their favorites at TeenChoice.VoteNow.tv or on Twitter. For the first time in its history, the ceremony will air as a two-hour live event from Hermosa Beach, California. The 2019 Teen Choice Awards airs August 11th.

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Full Story: Billboard

MILEY CYRUS SAYS THERE’S ‘NO WAY’ SHE’LL BE PERFORMING AT VMAS: Miley Cyrus won’t be hitting the 2019 MTV VMAs. After she wasn’t nominated for any awards, fans of the singer said that they weren’t going to watch the show unless Miley performed. “No f*ckin way,” Miley commented on one photo along with a black heart emoji. Another fan sent a message to the awards show writing, “They care more about a f*cking green screen than a message to the world. nominate anyone but at least do not use the image of Miley to promote their damn prizes @vmas and #SheIsComing #Peace.” Miley Cyrus commented back writing, “Exactly.” The show will air on MTV August 26th with Sebastian Maniscalco as host.

MAROON 5’S ‘SUGAR’ VIDEO BECOMES FIRST BY A GROUP TO REACH THREE BILLION VIEWS – (07/26/2019)

Maroon 5’s clip for their 2015 single “Sugar” has quietly been racking up the views on YouTube.

The clip, directed by “Wedding Crashers” director David Dobkin, has racked up three billion views. That makes it not only the eighth most-viewed music video on YouTube, but also the most-viewed clip ever by a group.

In the clip, Maroon 5 is seen “crashing” a variety of weddings while performing the song. “Sugar” was released as the third single from the band’s album V in January 2015 and it quickly caught on, thanks in part to the success of the two previous cuts, “Maps” and “Animals.”

“Sugar” follows in the footsteps of several other videos that have also racked up three billion views, such as Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You,” Justin Bieber’s “Sorry” and Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Funk,” to name just a few. The most-viewed music video of all time on YouTube is “Despacito” by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee, which has racked up more than 6.5 billion views.

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Full Story: Forbes

CONSTANCE WU FIGHTS BACK AGAINST NEW DIVA ALLEGATIONS – (07/26/2019)

STATIONS: Please note the following story contains language that could be considered offensive to your audience.

More bad press for Constance Wu. Just after emerging from allegations that she was “ungrateful” after grumbling on Twitter (she tweeted “F–king hell … Ugh. F–k”) after she learned that her ABC show Fresh Off the Boat was renewed, Wu’s reps are putting out new fires. Page Six is reporting that Wu demanded top billing in stories about the film she stars in with bigger names Jennifer Lopez and Cardi B. 

Her reps allegedly demanded that Wu is listed as star of the stripper film Hustlers, which also features Julia Stiles, Lili Reinhart and Lizzo.

Other sources tell Page Six that in addition to displaying “diva” behavior post-shoot, she was no picnic on-set either. 

They spilled: “She wouldn’t agree to do anything,” adding “She’s a total piece of work. She thinks it’s OK to treat people badly and say out loud whatever comes to her.”

Her reps immediately pushed back against the report that she was demanding top billing, telling Us Weekly: “Constance had no knowledge or awareness of acts on her behalf of Hustlers to have reporting mirror that of the film’s castings or contractual billings. Representatives associated with her and the film did engage media outlets to correct misrepresentations of the film’s characters and castings in the spirit of calibrating credits to accurately reflect the guidelines set forth in standard legal contracts. While Constance’s character in Hustlers is the key protagonist, any reporting that implies or indicates that she demanded or directed this recently reported initiative is patently untrue and a clear manipulation of facts. She has always been and remains a proud supporter of all her fellow castmates inclusion in the celebration of this film and telling of this story.”

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Read the Full Story: https://bit.ly/2JRHOHe

JENNIFER LOPEZ TO PRODUCE & STAR IN DRUG LORD DRAMA ‘THE GODMOTHER’: Jennifer Lopez star will star in and produce The Godmother, based on the true-life Colombian drug lord Griselda Blanco. Jennifer may also direct the movie, which would mark her directorial debut. “I’ve been forever fascinated by the story of Griselda Blanco and jumped at the chance to play her onscreen. She is all the things we look for in storytelling and dynamic characters – notorious, ambitious, conniving, chilling,” Jennifer said. The movie will “chronicle the notorious drug lord, who outsmarted rivals as she rose from an impoverished childhood in Colombia to become a key figurehead in Miami’s drug trade wars.”

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ARIANA GRANDE AND TAYLOR SWIFT LEAD MTV VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS 2019 NOMINEES – (07/24/2019)

Ariana Grande and Taylor Swift lead the pack of the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards nominees.

MTV announced the list of nominations Tuesday, which also includes such acts as Billie Eilish, Lil Nas X, Cardi B and K-pop groups BTS and Black Pink.

Grande and Swift are up for 10 awards each, including Video of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Pop for “thank u, next” and “You Need to Calm Down,” respectively.

Eilish and Lil Nas X follow with nine and eight nominations, respectively. The pair will compete for Best New Artist with Ava Max, H.E.R., Lizzo and Rosalia.

In addition, the 2019 awards show will feature two new categories, Best K-pop and Video for Good.

The 2019 MTV Video Music Awards will air August 26th on MTV. Comedian Sebastian Maniscalco will host the awards show live at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Fans can vote in 14 categories until August 15th.

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Full Story: Billboard

TAYLOR SWIFT RELEASES NEW SONG, ‘THE ARCHER’ – (07/24/2019)

Taylor Swift surprised fans by releasing her brand new song “The Archer,” which will be track five on her upcoming album “Lover.”

Swift dropped the new song while doing an Instagram Live on Tuesday. She explained:

[“There’s a vast part of this album that I worked with Jack Antonoff on, he is phenomenal. We’ve worked together for a while and I am so proud of the work we’ve done on this album. I wanted to show you a song that we worked on together. The song is called ‘The Archer’ and I really hope you like it.”]

Taylor revealed some of the Easter Eggs that she’s dropped to tease the song, including the moment in the “You Need to Calm Down” video in which Hayley Kiyoko shot an arrow at the number five and cupids playing in a band during the “Me!” video, and “arrows pretty much everywhere.” Taylor added:

[“It’s not the next single, it’s just a song I love on the album. I know that can be confusing with the songs that come out. I haven’t made a video for it or anything. It’s just a glimpse into another side of the album I wanted to show you.”]

She also said the song is one of the most vulnerable ones on the album. Fans have long theorized that Taylor makes the most emotional song on every album track number five. Past examples include “Delicate,” “Dear John,” “White Horse” and “All You Had to Do Was Stay.”

[“Track 5 is kind of a tradition that really started with you guys because, I didn’t realize that I was doing this, but as I was making albums, I was instinctively putting very vulnerable, personal, honest, emotional songs as track 5.”]

She added that once fans pointed it out, she started doing it deliberately.

Taylor also announced on the live stream that the four deluxe editions of her album – available at Target – will include actual pages from her diaries. The special editions are in honor of Taylor’s 13th year of putting out albums; 13 is Taylor’s favorite number.

Lover, featuring the hits “ME!” and “You Need to Calm Down,” comes out August 23rd.

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Full Story: Billboard

MAN DISCOVERED OUTSIDE TAYLOR SWIFT’S HOUSE WITH BURGLARY TOOLS & BASEBALL BAT – (07/24/2019)

An Iowa man who told police that he traveled to Westerly, Rhode Island, because he was hoping to visit with Taylor Swift was arrested near the singer’s home carrying a backpack containing more than 30 lock picks and several other burglary tools.

David Page Liddle, 32, was charged Friday with possession of burglary tools and possession of a prohibited weapon other than a firearm. Swift was not at the house at the time. Liddle was arrested after residents reported seeing someone suspicious at a boatyard near Swift’s home. Officers found Liddle carrying a backpack with an aluminum baseball bat sticking out of it and searched his bag. They discovered more than 30 different lock picks, screwdrivers, a flashlight, several pairs of rubber gloves, a crowbar and other items in the backpack, police said.

Westerly Police Chief Shawn Lacey says Liddle told officers he was looking to “catch up” with Swift because he knew her personally and she had agreed to help his singing career. He was arrested, remanded into custody, ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation, and was issued a “no-contact order,” prohibiting from attempting to communicate with Taylor or traveling to any of her homes.

Lacey said, “He has a history – security guards at the home told us that he was already on a watch list because there were concerns he could pose a threat. It is our understanding that he may have visited other properties belonging to Taylor Swift in the past.”

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Full Story: The Westerly Sun

ED SHEERAN BUYS ALL THE PROPERTIES AROUND HIS HOUSE TO STOP HIS NEIGHBORS’ COMPLAINTS: Ed Sheeran reportedly purchased the two houses next door to his mansion in London as well as bought the apartment over the restaurant and bar he owns in the U.K. capital for a total cost of $5 million. “Ed’s had neighbors grumbling about noise before, so when he got a chance to buy up the two houses next to his London home, he jumped at the chance,” a source told The Sun. “Ed has not only made a wise investment but is limiting the chance of people grumbling about loud music or parties,” adds the source. “He also decided to buy the flat above his restaurant because that could have been a massive sticking point for the business going forward.” According to The Sun, Ed owns 22 properties in all, which cost him just under $60 million. Most of them are located in and around his estate in the English county of Suffolk. They include two farmhouses, a bungalow, a four-car garage, a pub, another four-bedroom home, and a 26-foot-tall tree house.

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