The MTV VMA’s just saw it’s ratings plunge and The X Factor has joined the party. “The singing show on Fox premiered its second season on Wednesday to shockingly low numbers compared with last year — which was itself considered a ratings disappointment. The two-hour extravaganza averaged 8.5-million total viewers, swooning 32% compared with last fall’s series premiere.” (LA Times)

Bob Dylan has responded to charges he plagiarized some of his lyrics, calling critics “wussies” and saying musical appropriation is “part of the folk tradition.”

The singer-songwriter made his first public comments on the accusations, saying that in folk and jazz music “quotation is a rich and enriching tradition.”

“Everyone else can do it but not me,” he complained. “There are different rules for me.”

“I’m working within my art form,” the 71 year-old singer told Rolling Stone. “It’s that simple. … It’s called songwriting. It has to do with melody and rhythm, and then after that, anything goes. You make everything yours. We all do it.”

“These are the same people that tried to pin the name Judas on me,” Dylan added, referring to bitter 1960s folk fans who decried his move into electric guitar blues and famously compared the singer to the Biblical apostle who betrayed Jesus.

“Judas – the most hated name in human history!” he exclaimed. “If you think you’ve been called a bad name, try to work your way out from under that. Yeah, and for what? For playing an electric guitar? As if that is in some kind of way equitable to betraying our Lord and delivering him up to be crucified. All those evil … can rot in hell,” he said. (Reuters)

This could be the end of Music Television and a new beginning for YouTube. Although MTV abandoned music years ago the backlash is clear as day.

“What a difference a year makes for MTV’s “Video Music Awards,” and not in a good way.

MTV’s annual big event last week was seen by 6.1 million viewers, less than half of the 12.4 million who watched in 2011, when the show was believed to be MTV’s most-watched program ever, according to Nielson” (AP)

The show wasn’t lacking star power either. Taylor Swift, Frank Ocean, Green Day, Pink and Alicia Keys with Nicki Minaj all performed.

Scooter Braun signed Korean Web Star Psy. The question remains if Braun can turn him into the next popular artist.

“Braun has become the music industry’s biggest and most successful proponent of social media. He became Justin Bieber’s manager after finding him on YouTube, and recently helped make Carly Rae Jepsen a household name through viral videos of her hit “Call Me Maybe.”Mr. Braun has become the music industry’s biggest and most successful proponent of social media. He became Justin Bieber’s manager after finding him on YouTube, and recently helped make Carly Rae Jepsen a household name through viral videos of her hit “Call Me Maybe.”

On Monday, Mr. Braun, 31, announced — on YouTube, appropriately enough — that he had made a deal with Psy, a South Korean rapper whose comic video “Gangnam Style” has become an online sensation this summer. Sitting with Psy, and apparently sealing the deal with a bottle of stiff Korean liquor, Mr. Braun said they had “come to an agreement to make some history together.” (NY Times)

“Hip-hop mogul Chris Lighty died Thursday morning after he shot himself during an argument with his ex-wife inside his Bronx apartment, sources told the Daily News. Lighty, 44 — a longtime manager of 50 Cent, Diddy, Ja Rule and Mariah Carey — put a gun to his head and fired after a spat with his former wife, Veronica, inside the South Riverdale apartment about 11:30 a.m., police sources said. Law enforcement sources said Lighty — who divorced his wife last year — may have been dealing with financial struggles, including owing about $5 million to the IRS. Lighty, founder of Violator Management, merged with another talent company to form Primary Violator around the time his divorce.” (NYDAILYNEWS)