New York, United States | AFP | The global music industry soared a record 8.1 percent last year as digital sales for the first time made up the majority of revenue thanks to the streaming boom, the industry said Tuesday. Recorded music grossed $17.3 billion in 2017 with digital music …
Read More »Dance music superstar Avicii dead at 28
New York, United States | AFP | Avicii, one of the world’s most successful DJs who helped usher in the global boom in electronic music but struggled to cope in the hard-partying lifestyle, died Friday in Oman, his representative said. He was 28. Two years after his unusually early retirement …
Read More »Tanzanian pop star Diamond Platinumz arrested over ‘indecent’ pictures
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Popular Tanzanian musician Diamond Platinumz has been arrested for publishing “indecent” photographs on social media, the information minister told parliament on Tuesday. Since Monday images have circulated on social networks showing the 28-year-old singer, shirtless and in bed with a female companion. “Among our …
Read More »Top music videos including ‘Despacito’ defaced by hackers
New York, United States | AFP | Some of the most popular music videos on YouTube including mega-hit “Despacito” momentarily disappeared Tuesday in an apparent hacking. Fans looking for videos by top artists including Drake, Katy Perry and Taylor Swift found the footage removed and replaced by messages that included “Free …
Read More »Music lessons improve academic performance
Cognitive skills developed from music lessons appear to transfer to unrelated subjects, leading to improved academic performance Kampala, Uganda | AGENCIES | The first large-scale, longitudinal study adapted into the regular school curriculum finds that structured music lessons significantly enhance children’s cognitive abilities — including language-based reasoning, short-term memory, planning and …
Read More »Spotify soars in $26 billion stock debut
New York, United States | AFP | Spotify soared Tuesday to a value of more than $26 billion in its long-awaited stock debut as the market delivered a ringing endorsement of the future of music streaming. In one of the largest public offerings ever in the tech sector, Spotify on …
Read More »Kim Jong Un attends rare concert by South Korean pop stars
Seoul, South Korea | AFP | North Korean leader Kim Jong Un Sunday attended the first concert in Pyongyang for over a decade by South Korean entertainers, including a K-pop girlband, the latest gesture of reconciliation before a rare inter-Korean summit. The visit, described by many as a cultural charm …
Read More »US judge jails rapper DMX one year for tax fraud
New York, United States | AFP | A US federal judge on Wednesday sentenced troubled American rapper DMX, best known for his taunting song “Party Up (Up in Here),” to one year behind bars for tax fraud. The 47-year-old rapper and actor, real name Earl Simmons, pleaded guilty last November …
Read More »Drake breaks new streaming record – in video games
New York, United States | AFP | Hip-hop superstar Drake has broken a new record in streaming — this time in video games. The most streamed artist on Spotify, whose latest hit “God’s Plan” has spent the last seven weeks at number one on the US singles chart, made waves …
Read More »Rihanna hits Snapchat over beating ad, sending shares tumbling
New York, United States | AFP | Rihanna on Thursday denounced Snapchat after an advertisement made light of her beating by fellow pop star Chris Brown, sending the company’s share prices tumbling. The social media platform — which counts 187 million users, especially young people drawn to its quickly vanishing …
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