The feud between new judges Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj: real or fake? That was the question lobbed at the American Idol panel at TCA this morning in the wake of reports of cat-fighting between new judges Carey and Minaj, which one critic charged “feels like it’s fake.” Naturally, that sentiment was vehemently denied by both the producers and the judges. “Whatever feuds there have been — and this isn’t just between Nicki and Mariah but Keith (Urban) and Randy (Jackson) as well — are genuine,” executive producer Nigel Lythgoe said. “Whenever you’re in this sort of passionate situation, these things happen.” Fox reality chief Mike Darnell echoed that “it’s authentic” and explained that it has to do with the fact “there is passion in this group. They disagree about the talent, and the ways to approach the talent.” (After the panel, Darnell denied that anyone involved in Idol has orchestrated the Carey-Minaj feud, blaming it on “a rogue crew member probably took the video and sent it to TMZ. We did not encourage it.”) Read more here

Sony, have a massive interest in keeping the One Direction together. The band’s global success has helped Sony Music UK to pre-tax profits up 128 per cent on last year. Sales of the group’s smash-hit second album are not even included in that.

The band which includes Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson have reportedly signed a contract that means that if one member leaves the group before the end of their contract the rest of the members will miss out financially.

“It’s a really clever contract that the boys have signed up to. It means they have a real incentive to tough it out and stick together,” a source tells The Sun.

A source close to the band told me: “It’s a really clever contract that the boys have signed up to. It means they have a real incentive to tough it out and stick together.

“The formal length is for 36 months and an album a year — but the clever part is they get the big pay day after the three years.

“If one of them walks away before then, then all five miss out on the money.

“They don’t miss out on a few quid either, we are talking millions.

“They all get on really well, but it would be the kind of deal that would see them through the worst aggro possible.”

Nazir’s song “One Pound Fish” has become a worldwide hit, securing the top position in UK Asian Chart, #5 in UK Dance Chart and #29 in UK singles chart. This song is also available on iTunes.

Korean rapper Psy recently posted a record 1 billion YouTube views for his viral music video for “Gangnam Style” earlier this month. Now, a Pakistani fishmonger wants international fame.

Muhammad Shahid Nazir video for his song, “One Pound Fish,” although the views are probably inflated, he has surpassed 12 million views on YouTube. He also also landed a record deal with Warner Music. Additionally, the people in Pakistan are so proud of Nazir that the country reportedly lifted its YouTube ban so citizens can watch “One Pound Fish” and celebrate his Internet stardom.

Business Insider explains how Nazir’s phenomenon of a song came about:

Nazir made up a song, “One Pound Fish,” which he sang to bait customers for the Upton Park market stall where he sold fish. Colin Miller, a British Web designer, filmed him nine months ago. But the video didn’t start going crazy until early December. Now there’s an “o-fish-al” music video and Nazir’s returned to Pakistan, where he’s being celebrated for his global Internet pop-culture victory. He’s far from touching the record set in 2012 by Korean pop artist Psy, whose “Gangnam Style” beat out longtime champion Justin Bieber for the most-watched video on YouTube with 1 billion views.

As Business Insider also notes, the bizarre song and video provides more proof of the “transformative power” of YouTube to “disseminate mass culture globally in the blink of an eye.”

The world’s biggest recording companies have been stripped of two billion YouTube hits after the website cracked down on alleged ‘fake viewers’.

Universal, home of Rihanna, Nicki Minaj and Justin Bieber, lost a total of one billion views in the video site’s biggest ever crackdown on artificially inflated figures.

Sony was second hardest hit, with the label behind such stars as Alicia Keys, Rita Ora and Labrinth losing more than 850million views in a single day.

The dramatic cuts came as YouTube conducted a crackdown on fake views, but music industry sources have blamed it on housekeeping related to the migration of their videos across different channels.

The unprecedented move left Universal with just five videos on the site – none of which were music – and Sony with just three.

‘This was not a bug or a security breach. This was an enforcement of our viewcount policy,’ YouTube announced. Read more here

Rapper Drake wants a cut from all the merchandise that bears the logo ‘YOLO’ even though he didn’t coin it. Here is why he thinks he deserves a piece of the pie.

This year has been marked by many a viral phenomenon, including the concept of YOLO made famous by the Canadian rapper Drake, who now wants a share from the sales of all the merchandize bearing the catchphrase.

The 26-year-old recording artist, who reportedly has a net worth of $25million, posted two images on the photo-sharing website Instagram depicting clothing emblazoned with the acronym YOLO, which stands for ‘you only live once.’

The first picture uploaded on Christmas Eve shows baseball caps in a variety of colors being sold for $12 for a pair at Walgreen’s, accompanied by the comment: ‘Walgreens…you gotta either chill or cut the cheque,’ Gawker reported.

The second photo shows a powder-blue T-shirt featuring the children’s characters Charlie Brown and Snoopy which reads ‘YOLO is my motto,’ along with a post: ‘Macy’s…same goes for you.’

YOLO, which has been around since 2004, turned into a viral sensation this year thanks to Drake’s hit song The Motto, which includes the lyrics: ‘Now she want a photo, you already know, though/ You only live once: that’s the motto n***a, YOLO.’ Read more here