Taylor Swift finds herself in the middle controversy after she found out that Justin Biebers manager Scooter Braun purchased her catalog for $300 million that she released through Borchetta’s label ‘Big Machine’.

She said the news brought her back to “the incessant, manipulative bullying I’ve received at [Braun’s] hands for years.”

“Like when Kim Kardashian orchestrated an illegally recorded snippet of a phone call to be leaked and then Scooter got his two clients together to bully me online about it,” she continued. “Or when his client, Kanye West, organized a revenge porn music video which strips my body naked. Now Scooter has stripped me of my life’s work, that I wasn’t given an opportunity to buy. Essentially, my musical legacy is about to lie in the hands of someone who tried to dismantle it.”

She blasts Borchetta’s loyalty and indicated that he knew how Swift felt about Scooter Braun.

“This is what happens when you sign a deal at fifteen to someone for whom the term ‘loyalty’ is clearly just a contractual concept,” she wrote.

“And when that man says ‘Music has value’, he means its value is beholden to men who had no part in creating it. When I left my masters in Scott’s hands, I made peace with the fact that eventually he would sell them. Never in my worst nightmares did I imagine the buyer would be Scooter. Any time Scott Borchetta has heard the words ‘Scooter Braun’ escape my lips, it was when I was either crying or trying not to. He knew what he was doing; they both did. Controlling a woman who didn’t want to be associated with them. In perpetuity. That means forever.”

I give Taylor Swift credit who was born from wealthy parents and whom funded her career early on. She knows how to play ball but I’m not sure she has a clear strategy by blasting the people that made her on social media. As the old proverb says, “don’t bite the hands that feed you”.

Justin Bieber defended Braun with an instagram post. He said, “Scooter has had your back (Taylor Swift) since the days you graciously let me open up for you.! As the years have passed we haven’t crossed paths and gotten to communicate our differences, hurts or frustrations. So for you to take it to social media and get people to hate on scooter isn’t fair.

Insider say that Taylor is playing the victim and was fully aware of the business deal between Braun and Borchetta. Taylor could have even bought her own catalog.

A never released Whitney Houston track recorded in 1990 has been remixed by the Norwegian DJ and music producer Kygo. It’s not a Whitney original but rather a cover of the popular 1980’s hit ‘Higher Love‘ by Steve Winwood. The track was supposed to land on her third album but she switched musical directions. The vocals were pulled out of Houston’s archive making it the first release since her death in 2012.

It’s been 5 years since Avril Lavigne hit the road. The 34-year-old singer has announced her first 15 date North American “Head Above Water” tour that will kick off in Seattle on September 14 and wrapping up on October 11 in Philadelphia. She’ll be performing in 3 to 5k capacity Theatres.

September 14 – Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre
September 15 – Portland, OR @ Keller Auditorium
September 17 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater
September 18 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Greek Theatre
September 21 – Denver, CO @ Paramount Theatre
September 24 – Minneapolis, MN @ State Theatre
September 26 – Chicago, IL @ Chicago Theatre
September 28 – Detroit, MI @ Fox Theatre
October 1 – New York, NY @ Pier 17 at South Street Seaport*
October 3 – Boston, MA @ Orpheum Theatre
October 5 – Wallingford, CT @ Oakdale Theatre
October 6 – Toronto, ON @ Sony Centre For Performing Arts*
October 8 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Roxian Theatre
October 9 – Washington, DC @ MGM National Harbor
October 11 – Philadelphia, PA @ XCite Center at Parx Casino

Lauren Daigle continues to stack up the accolades. She won K-Loves Artist of the Year and Female Artist of the Year. She’s also extend her sold-out “Look Up Child World Tour” with stops across the US and Europe. The new shows will include New York’s iconic Carnegie Hall and two nights at the 10,000 seater Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium.

While most never heard of K-Pop, more and more Americans are hearing about it. I had a conversation with a Canadian who wasn’t Asian and she said that an industry professional advised her to audition for a K-Pop singing show. Even though I told her that she would not quality because she wasn’t Asian – she still wouldn’t give up. At that point I began to dig deeper into the world of K-Pop.

First, K-Pop or Korean pop is based out of South Korea. Secondly, it’s growing fast. Third, K-Pop is a culture, it’s not a genre. The biggest K-pop act are BTS. You probably never heard of them. It’s difficult for a K-pop band to break into the U.S. You generally need top 40 radio to break in America and the K-Pop artists don’t sing in English, although they are very popular on YouTube.

Most Americans vaguely remember South Korean PSY who came out of South Korea but he isn’t really K-Pop. In fact, South Korea which is one of the smaller countries are supplying the pop hits for over a billion Asians. South Korea is a music power player.

The main suppliers farming out the K-Pop idols are companies like JYP, SM and YG. These are hybrid companies which more or less resemble old Hollywood Studios in the way they do business with talent. They are all in one -record labels and management companies. They are training stars for a long time that includes acting, singing, dancing – teaching them foreign languages, training them physically, and even plastic surgery. These companies hold yearly auditions searching for the next K-Pop stars and up to 50,000 teens show up. CONTINUE READING