The Judge ruled in favor of Dr. Luke over his defamation case against Kesha. Kesha texted Lady Gaga claiming he raped Katy Perry. That’s false. Katy Perry was never raped by Dr. Luke. New York Supreme Court Judge made the ruling after stating there was no evidence to support Kesha’s rape claim. The judge ordered Kesha to pay $374,000 in interest on royalty payments she failed to pay – a breach of her contract.
Kesha accused Dr. Luke of sexually assault and harassment. Dr. Luke sued Kesha in 2014 for defamation, claiming she faked the allegations in order to get out of her recording contract.

You can’t listen to singer-songwriter Hugo Valentine without being reminded of the classics like Elton John and Coldplay – when melodies and lyrics ruled, not topline and beats. Only a few artists on the planet can modernize a classic sound while creating a colorful character and I think the British singer did a decent job. He’s released 4 songs and my favorites are All I Want and Memories (near 200k streams).  He picked up tastemakers support from the likes EarMilk and Essentially Pop. Give it a stream.

 
I haven’t heard of a artist project that mashes Smash Smith and Hozier until now, and that’s FARR. Repped by Red Light Management, the duo is comprised of vocalist Roméo and producer Linden Jay. They go under the moniker of FARR. The song you need to listen is Heal Me. The’ve landed on playlists including Spotify’s Chill and R&B UK – #2 on Indie Invaders. The duo has clocked over 2 million Spotify streams and has 145k monthly listeners. Give it a stream.

There was plenty impactful music discussion at the Pollstar Live Conference which had Irving Azoff and Nicki Minaj as Keynote speakers. Ironically, Nicki Minaj had some things to say about her song catalog. Minaj named Starships, Anaconda, and Your Love as songs she wishes weren’t recorded. Speaking about Anaconda, Nicki says, “I like the video but…,” she said. “My first ever solo song on Billboard was ‘Your Love.’ To this day I like the video but I hate the song. I could go on and on. I hate ‘Starships.’ I was like, ‘Why did I do that?’ I really think that every time I hear it.”
 

Watch out for the Amsterdam-based electronic pop band A.ROSE – fronted by Anna-Rose Clayton. I like the big hooks especially in the song Dancing Alone. Think Tove-Lo meets MØ. The band will support Carly Rae Jepsen in Paradiso Grote Zaal on 2/12. The debut track Hush Hush landed on Spotify’s New Music Friday NL, Spotify’s Rising, and Fresh Finds.