via ShowBiz 411

Yikes! It’s worse than I thought. Robin Thicke’s “Paula” album opened on iTunes today at number 8, and at 76 on amazon.com. That’s after his dreary appearance on the BET Awards this past weekend.

(By the way: this is for real time sales today. The number 1 album last week, just about to be announced, is from our favorite contemp pop balladeer Ed Sheeran.)

What a difference a year makes. “Blurred Lines” was last year’s ubiquitous song of the summer. The album didn’t sell that well, however. The total so far is just over 731,000 copies– not even a million although the single sold over 14 million digital copies.

But “Paula” looks doomed unless Thicke’s all day adventure tomorrow on ABC– “GMA,” “The View,” and “Jimmy Kimmel”–can stimulate sales. But the video for the first song is so weird and awful, and the lack of real build up for this release, spells a sales disaster come next Monday. After Mariah Carey and Jennifer Lopez’s failures, this is another misstep for the record biz this summer.

What does this all mean? For Thicke it means that without a real dance hit, and no Pharrell to help him, he’s squandered all the good vibes he got from “Blurred Lines.” He’s obviously turned off his base of female fans– already angry about the “rape” connotations from “Blurred Lines” and its X rated video. On “Paula” he pretty much admits to serial cheating on Patton. That’s not a way to woo a female audience.

For Carey and Lopez, it’s different things. Carey seems genuinely besotted with her kids and maybe just doesn’t care about chart positions right now. Lopez should take a cue from Janet Jackson and bow out gracefully now. Mechanized, tricked up music has run its course for those two.

As for Robin Thicke convincing Paula Patton to re-start their marriage, I don’t know: will it work if the record is a flop? I don’t think so unless she feels bad for him. Cue the puppy dog eyes.

Here is a rare interview with producer Rick Rubin. He has been involved with classic records from the Beastie Boys, Public Enemy, Run–D.M.C., Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and Adele. In 2007, he was called “the most important producer of the last 20 years”.

It’s all about Ed Sheeran now. He has 4 tracks in the top 15. Maroon 5 “Maps” lands at #7 and it’s very “The Police” and “Bruno Mars”, it was written by Adam Levine, Benny Blanco, Max Martin, Shellback and Ryan Tedder.

via Showbiz 411

UPDATE TUESDAY AFTER MIDNIGHT: “AKA” finally appeared on the iTunes chart at number 29 around 2am. It’s an inauspicious start.

EARLIER: Do I know what’s going on? Not all the time. I do not know why Jennifer Lopez’s “AKA” album, set for release tomorrow, is not listed on iTunes. It doesn’t exist. That’s a bad sign. Where the heck is it? “AKA” isn’t even listed in the iTunes search engine. Is Capitol Records advertising it? Not there.

“AKA” is ranked at number 63 on amazon.com. That’s also not good. All the rest of tomorrow’s big releases are ranked in the top 10 thanks to advance orders. “AKA” is lacking in that area.

Lopez’s last album was a bust. This was supposed to be a comeback. But considering Mariah Carey’s problems with her new album, Lopez has reason to worry.

It does seem that even core fans are not turning up for the divas. It’s a little like Tom Cruise’s problem with “Edge of Tomorrow.” They’ve done the same thing over and over. It’s finally become a bore to the public. All talented people– but they’re not reinventing themselves.

Look for “AKA” to do even worse than Carey’s “Me I Am Mariah.” The gravy train stops here. For Lopez, it’s even harder than for Carey since she’s not really a, um, singer. She’s more of a performer.

Who’s going to land big tomorrow? Lana Del Rey. Who’d a thunk it? Her “Ultraviolence” album is already number 1 on iTunes.

YouTube is about to pull music videos by artists including Adele and the Arctic Monkeys, after a number of independent record labels refused to sign up to the licensing terms for its new subscription service.

YouTube will start blocking videos “in a matter of days” to ensure that all content on the new platform is governed by its new contractual terms, said Robert Kyncl, YouTube’s head of content and business operations.

The dispute is that YouTube and the labels are unable to agree on royalty terms the subscription service in addition to existing terms with its free service.

YouTube executives argue that they cannot offer music on the free service without it also being available on the paid service as this would disappoint its subscribers. The solution? To take down songs that can’t be available on both services.