• Oscars 2015: "Glory," "Everything Is Awesome" and Other Best Original Song Nominees All Get Huge Sales Boost over Last Week

    To the victor goes the spoils. Or, in the case of the nominees for Best Original Song at the Academy Awards, to the nominees go the spoils. Every one of the five tracks nominated for the Oscar—"Glory" by John Legend and Common, "Everything Is Awesome" by The Lonely Island and Tegan & Sara, "I'm Not Gonna Miss You" by Glen Campbell, "Grateful" performed by Rita Ora and "Lost Stars" performed by Adam Levine—all saw boosts in downloads following their nods last week, rising a total of 102 percent between them according to Billboard.
  • Pharrell, Sam Smith, John Legend & Common To Perform at Grammys

    The Grammys is the biggest night in music as all of the biggest names around join together to celebrate what happened in the past year and give out awards, deservingly or not, to each other. As part of the celebrations, many of those artists perform live, at times together, creating some of the most unlikely of pairings. The Grammys already announced several of the performers that include established legends Madonna and AC/DC with new pop acts Ed Sheeran and Ariana Grande. The academy has added to the performers list, giving the night a needed hip-hop and R&B flavor. Usher, Sam Smith, John Legend, Pharrell and Common are the new additions.
  • Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream" Speech and More Included on Epic Spotify Playlist with Music by Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, John Legend and More

    Spotify and the role it plays in the spread of music in the modern era will continue to inspire controversy and legal battles into the future. No one, listeners or musicians alike, can deny that the streaming service's playlist in honor of Martin Luther King on the Civil Rights leader's national holiday is spot-on. Spotify has assembled an epic playlist of King's most influential speeches and the music inspired by his actions, available for listening now.
  • Ludacris Comes Angry, Stays Polished on 'Burning Bridges'; EP Features Rick Ross, Jason Aldean, John Legend Guest Spots

    Society always celebrates the records that top the Billboard 200 album chart. Back of The Billboards is a Music Times weekly segment that looks at the opposite end: the new record that finished closest to the back of the Billboard 200 for the previous week. We hope to give a fighting chance to the bands you haven't heard of. This week we look at Ludacris' new EP 'Burning Bridges' and its lead-up to a new album during 2015, 'Ludaversal.'
  • Common Drops New Verse on Stacy Barthe's 'Live for Today' [LISTEN]

    Fresh off of his Golden Globe win — and as of this morning, Academy Award nomination — for his song "Glory" from the movie "Selma," Chicago rapper Common has dropped a new verse on Stacy Barthe's "Live for Today," which you can check out below. As its title implies, the song is about seizing the day and not waiting around for moments of greatness to come, with Common asking, "I know the world is changing / But I'm still in my mind, where the peace be?" The true highlight of the track, however, is Benny Cassette's excellent production, which is based around a killer bassline and some jazzy electric piano chords.You can check out Stacy Barthe's "Live for Today" featuring Common here, via "Hot New Hip-Hop":
  • Ranking The 2015 Academy Awards' Best Original Song Nominees: Rita Ora, Adam Levine, And More

    This morning, the nominees for the 87th Annual Academy Awards were revealed, including the nominees for Best Original Song. Though there were plenty of songs that were widely assumed to be shoo-ins, such as Lana Del Rey's "Big Eyes" and Lorde's "Yellow Flicker Beat," they were passed over for some pretty left-field choices (most surprisingly, only one of the songs on this list was also nominated for a Golden Globe). Here are the five Academy Award nominees for Best Original Song ranked, from worst to best.
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