Beach of Diamonds caught our ear with their latest track Honest. They could appeal to fans of Weezer, The Maine and All Low Time. Many of the alternative bands of yesterday were trapped in a sound and probably would find inspiration listening to these guys.  Anyhow, the pop-rock duo is based out of Norway. Consisting of Michael Markussen and Sondre L. Paulsen the new single  was released via Mayen Records. The band is relatively new and have been picking up press and playlists along the way. Give it a stream!
mail@beachofdiamonds.com

NYC based Matt Beilis releases the track Same Blood. Think newcomer Tom Walker or older Daughtry that edges adult contemporary. He’s definitely a songwriter capable of writing ear candy. Beilis has scored placements with Volkswagen, Target and a Reebok campaign starring Gigi Hadid. Beilis started posting his favorite top 40 songs on YouTube which eventually captured an audience.  Moving into original music, he collaborated with musicians and producers including pop writers like Kinetics & One Love, who wrote the chorus to B.o.B’s Airplanes. Moreover, his debut track Perfect For Me clocked over 1 million Spotify streams. Not bad for a Columbia graduate who chose a music career over Wall Street.
mattbeilisfans@gmail.com

Katy Perry managed to the grab the first spot on the annual list of the highest-paid women in music. She made $83 million for the year topping Taylor Swift ($80 million), Beyoncé ($60 million) and Pink ($52 million).

Despite releasing an album that fell below expectations, Katy’s tour earned $1 million a night and American Idol gave her a $20 million paycheck which helped her secure the #1 spot.

Here is the complete list:

Katy Perry ($83 million), Taylor Swift ($80 million), Beyoncé ($60 million), Pink ($52 million), Lady Gaga ($50 million), Jennifer Lopez ($47 million), Rihanna ($37.5 million), Helene Fischer ($32 million), Celine Dion ($31 million), Britney Spears ($30 million)

The music business is known as the business of exception and this is definitely an exception. Pop singer Mariah Carey who fell out of the public eye recently appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to promote her new album Caution. Ironically, her album  Glitter, a commercial flop, that was released nearly 20 years ago became a topic of discussion. In fact, she said that her life was nearly ruined when she recorded the album Glitter. In reaction to the interview, her fans created the hashtag #justiceforglitter which propelled the album on top of the iTunes Album Chart. Consequently, it beat out new releases by Lil Wayne, Ariana Grande, Travis Scott, and John Legend.

During the recording of Glitter, Mariah suffered emotional problems that caused her to check into the hospital. Her spokeswoman said that she “suffered an emotional and physical breakdown” due to lack of sleep and was under psychiatric care.

Mariah says, “I can say it now that they got it to No. 1, so I thank them,” she continued. “This is all about them. And I should not have to feel bad about that because it was all about the circumstances when the album came out, so it’s exciting.” CONTINUE READING

Femme Royal releases the new track “I Don’t Wanna Lose“.  The track opens with a layer of thick auto-tuned vocals that builds up to a punchy chorus. Femme Royal tells Kings, “When you’re starting to miss who you once were, it’s time to let that person go”. The new track follows the previous single How Bad.  Her first two releases, both 80’s influenced, are pretty strong. The 25 year old Swedish pop singer had her beginnings in sleaze rock, jazz, and finally morphing into Femme Royale. Give it a stream.
petra@raftmarkmusic.com