• Mark Ronson & Bruno Mars Top Hot 100 for Ninth Week as Pitbull & Ne-Yo's 'Time of Our Lives' Rises to Top 10 Status [VIDEOS]

    Can no one stop the funk? For the ninth week in a row, Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars' "Uptown Funk" is giving it to you by topping the Billboard Hot 100. Despite the nine week reign of Ronson and Mars, Maroon 5's new single "Sugar" is coming for the top of the charts as Adam Levine sits on the new season of The Voice and Pitbull's new party-friendly anthem "Time of Our Lives" cracks into the top 10.
  • Detroit Giants Big Sean and Kid Rock Come within A Thousand in Sales on Album Chart; Chris Brown and Tyga Debut

    Big Sean and Kid Rock, two proud Detroit natives, were separated by about 30,000 equivalent records on the Billboard 200 this week with 'Dark Sky Paradise' and 'First Kiss,' respectively, but things were a lot tighter when only album sales were taken into consideration. The pair was almost exactly 1,000 apart from each other, with Sean passing Rock in the last day of sales tracking. 'Dark Sky' ended up selling 135,500 copies while 'First Kiss' debuted with 134,500.
  • 5 Celebrity Couples Releasing Albums in Same Year: Ariana Grande vs. Big Sean, Jay Z vs. Beyonce and More

    This week marks a high point for the "power couple" status of Big Sean and Ariana Grande: The former's new album Dark Sky Paradise topped the Billboard 200, selling nearly 140,000 copies in the process. That gives him his first no. 1 album, which matches him with his girlfriend, who topped albums charts with My Everything last year. Grande may have outsold her beau but that doesn't necessarily mean she "wears the pants" in the relationship (it's tough to imagine her ever wearing pants, based on her typical stage apparel). Music Times looked back over the last few years and found couples who had both released new albums within a year of each other, researched who sold more and which album was ultimately better, in deciding who ran the house that year.
  • Streaming Numbers Give Big Sean's 'Dark Sky Paradise' over Kid Rock's 'First Kiss' on Billboard 200

    New releases from Big Sean and Kid Rock demonstrated how big of a role the new metrics for the Billboard 200 could play in determining the placement of an album. Big Sean and Dark Sky Paradise took the crown this week, moving 173,000 equivalent units while Rock and First Kiss came in at no. 2 with 146,000 equivalent units. That 27,000 album difference doesn't seem like a close fight, but actual album sales indicate that physical copies and downloads of the full records had the pair within 1,000 of each other. The other 26,000 can all be attributed to more single downloads and streams for Sean. It's a brave new music sales world...you may have heard.
  • Taylor Swift Talks Love Life, Career, '1989' Follow-Up, Famous Friends & Swifties, Won't Comment on Katy Perry In Telegraph Interview

    Taylor Swift has gone through a massive transformation in the public eye. She went from country to pop, from Nashville to New York, from serial girlfriend to single and proud, from media good girl to a feminist with complex views on the world. Basically, she's become a real woman — who also happens to be a global superstar. In a new interview with the Telegraph, she talks about the changes in her life, her expectations for her career, the follow-up to 1989, her friendships, her love life, her rumored feud with Katy Perry and more. Here's what she had to say:
  • Taylor Swift Named Godmother To BFF Jaime King's Second Child With Kyle Newman [PHOTOS]

    Taylor Swift is going to be a godmother! And who better for the role than "the Betty Crocker of friendships," as Lena Dunham fondly refers to her. Late Sunday night, Swift posted a photo to Instagram (see above) announcing that Hart of Dixie star Jaime King, 35, had named her the godmother to her unborn second child with filmmaker husband Kyle Newman.
  • YouTube Music Awards 2015: Ed Sheeran, Ariana Grande & Taylor Swift Among 50 Honorees

    As if they didn't already get enough viral music attention, the 50 biggest stars on YouTube will now be getting another special honor later this month. Today (March 2), the YouTube announced its second annual YouTube Music Awards, celebrating the site's biggest acts, including Ariana Grande, Beyonce, Ed Sheeran, Rihanna, One Direction, Taylor Swift and more.
  • Imagine Dragon Outsells Drake on Albums Chart; Grammy Winners Slide Down and Aaron Watson Debuts

    Imagine Dragons narrowly edged out Drake on this week's Billboard 200 charts, as streaming and single downloads allowed the emcee and 'If You're Reading This It's Too Late' to almost catch the rock band's 'Smoke + Mirrors.' On the pure albums chart however, the Las Vegas band had a more significant cushion: Its second album sold 169,500 copies, marking the highest sales week of its career. Drake's surprise album sold 129,000 copies in its second week.
  • Taylor Swift Donates $50K To New York Public Schools From "Welcome To New York" Proceeds

    Back in October, Taylor Swift was named New York City's Welcome Ambassador, following the release of her latest album 1989, her first effort since moving to The City That Never Sleeps. After being appointed, she made a pledge to donate all proceeds from her song "Welcome to New York" to the city's public schools, and now she is paying up. The 25-year-old pop star has made a $50,000 donation to the New York City Department of Education, according to one of their officials. Swift has yet to publicize her charitable contribution, Capital New York reports.