Nas to Record On Mass Appeal Records; Will Release 'Lost Tapes

IMDb.com

 

 

By Reggie Ugwu, New York

 

Nas, who turned hip-hop on its ear 20 years ago with his groundbreaking debut album "Illmatic," is going independent. The venerated rapper, 40, is launching Mass Appeal Records, an independent record label, which, in addition to shepherding a new generation of hip-hop hopefuls, will also provide an outlet for new Nas music when his contract with Def Jam expires later this year.

Mass Appeal Records is co-founded by Peter Bittenbender, 36, and will succeed Decon Records, a boutique hip-hop label-turned-creative studio started by Bittenbender and video director Jason Goldwatch in 2002. The creative studio, which has grown to service blue chip clients including Nike, Rockstar Games and CNN, will continue as Decon while music operations are shifted under the Mass Appeal umbrella.

Last spring, Nas and Bittenbender raised $1.2 million to relaunch the street art and culture publication Mass Appeal magazine, which will serve as a sister company to Mass Appeal Records akin to the relationship between Vice Records and Vice magazine, or The Fader magazine and Fader Label.

"I'm excited to be a part of creating and supporting future careers and legacy artists, promoting love and finding new genius to help the world," Nas said in an email. "I'm going to be as involved as I need to be, but I also want to be respectful of the art and give artists the space they need to grow and become themselves."

First among Mass Appeal Records releases, arriving late this summer, will be an annual compilation album featuring friends of the brand like Future, Pusha T, Mac Miller, A$AP Mob and Nas himself performing a cover of the 1994 Gang Starr single that gave the company its name. Also on deck is "Lost Tapes 2," a collection of unreleased Nas music, and a posthumous album from Pimp C that will pair the Houston icon and UGK member with modern production titans like Juicy J, Mike Will Made It and DJ Mustard.

Sony's RED is Mass Appeal's distributor, reuniting Nas with the parent company that released "Illmatic" in 1994.

RED won the rights to the label in a bidding war with Caroline and the Alternative Distribution Alliance, putting up an advance in the low seven figures for a multi-year agreement.

"Nas is a tremendous artist and one of hip-hop's all-time greats," said Doug Morris, CEO of Sony Music Entertainment. "We are delighted to welcome him back to the Sony Music family."

Among Mass Appeal's first signings are the Detroit street rapper Boldy James, 17-year-old New York rapper Bishop Nehru and former XXL Freshman Fashawn. While hip-hop is an obvious area of expertise, Nas and Bittenbender plan to expand the label to include singer/songwriters, EDM artists and DJ/producers. "We want to become the next XL," says Bittenbender. "This is an opportunity to take everything we've learned and build a global, diversified label from the ground up."

 

Michael Jackson's " Xscape", Black Keys' "Turn Blue" Vie for Billboard's No. 1

 

 

By Keith Caulfield, Los Angeles

There's a race for No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, as both Michael Jackson's "Xscape" and the 'Black Keys' "Turn Blue" have their sights set on the top slot.

Industry sources suggest both albums -- which were released on Tuesday, May 13 -- could sell between 150,000 and 155,000 copies in the week ending Sunday, May 18.

The Billboard 200's new top 10 will be revealed on Wednesday, May 21.

Two days ago, on May 14, forecasters had pegged "Xscape" to bow with around 140,000, while "Turn Blue" was aiming for 150,000. Jackson's album has seen its projected sales grow a bit in the past few days, while the Black Keys' number has also grown -- but by slightly less.

If the Black Keys start at No. 1, it will mark the rock duo's first chart-topper. Their last studio release, 2011's "El Camino", debuted and peaked at No. 2 off a 206,000 start (according to Nielsen SoundScan) and is their best seller, with 1.4 million sold.

As for Jackson, "Xscape" would mark the seventh No. 1 for the King of Pop, who died in 2009. The new set is his second posthumous album of previously unreleased material, following "Michael" in 2011. "Michael" debuted and peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200, selling 228,000 in the week ending Dec. 19. It has sold 541,000 to date.

"Xscape's" first-week sales might be amplified by a special event celebrating Jackson during the Billboard Music Awards (May 18) -- which occurs on the final day of the sales tracking week. There are no details on what the experience will include, but it has been described by Larry Klein, the show's executive producer, as "one of the most amazing things I've ever seen."

Aside from Jackson and the Black Keys, there are a number of other albums aiming for high debuts on next week's chart.

Country band Rascal Flatts may nab its ninth top 10 with "Rewind", Dolly Parton could score her highest charting solo album ever with "Blue Smoke," and Tori Amos is primed to collect her eighth top 10 with "Unrepentant Geraldines".

"Rewind" may sell around 55,000 to 60,000, while "Blue Smoke" could sell something near 40,000. Amos' album might do 18,000.

All of Rascal Flatts' studio albums since 2002's "Melt" have gone top 10, in addition to a greatest hits release in 2008. As for Amos, she hasn't been in the top 10 since 2009's "Abnormally Attracted to Sin," which debuted and peaked at No. 9.

Superstar country entertainer Parton, amazingly, has only visited the top 10 of the Billboard 200 once: with the collaborative set "Trio," with Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt. It peaked at No. 6 on May 2, 1987, after earlier debuting at No. 38 on March 28, 1987.

In terms of Parton's solo efforts, she's gone as high as No. 11 on the Billboard 200 with "9 to 5 and Odd Jobs," on March 21, 1981. That album of course featured her No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 single "9 to 5", as well as the No. 41 hit "But You Know I Love You" and the No. 77-peaking "The House of the Rising Sun."

Parton's chart history on the Top Country Albums chart is more befitting of her living-legend status: She's notched 40 top 10 albums, with six of them going to No. 1. On the Hot Country Songs chart, she holds the record for the most No. 1s among women, with 25.

On SoundScan's Building chart (below), "Xscape" is No. 1, followed by "Turn Blue" at No. 2. The Building tally is a precursor to the final Billboard 200 ranking -- reflecting the first four days (Monday through Thursday) of Parton's chart history on the Top Country Albums chart is more befitting of her living-legend status: She's notched 40 top 10 albums, with six of them going to No. 1. On the Hot Country Songs chart, she holds the record for the most No. 1s among women, with 25.

On SoundScan's Building chart (below), "Xscape" is No. 1, followed by "Turn Blue" at No. 2. The Building tally is a precursor to the final Billboard 200 ranking -- reflecting the first four days (Monday through Thursday) of SoundScan's tracking week as reported by six major merchants.

As for the rest of the top 10 on the Building Chart: "Now 50" is No. 3, followed by Rascal Flatts, the "Frozen" soundtrack and Chromeo's new "White Women" at No. 6. (The latter may not finish the week in the top 10 of the final Billboard 200 chart.) Parton's "Blue Smoke" is No. 7, with Hunter Hayes' "Storyline" at No. 8 and Keith Urban's "Fuse" at No. 9. ("Fuse" was reissued in a deluxe edition on May 13.)

Demi Lovato's "Demi" rounds out the Building Chart's top 10, at No. 10, thanks to sale pricing for the set. It has been temporarily discounted to $4.99 at all leading digital retailers (including iTunes, Amazon MP3 and Google Play) in celebration of the album's first anniversary since its release on May 14, 2013.

 

MOG Founder Sues Beats For More Than $20 Million (Report)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By Paul Bonanos, San Francisco

for Billboard.com

David Hyman, the founder of streaming music service MOG, has sued Beats Electronics for more than $20 million, claiming that Beats fired him to avoid giving him an equity payout, according to a report from Courthouse News Service.

News of the suit arrives as Apple is reportedly closing in on a deal to acquire Beats for $3.2 billion. Best known for its headphone and portable speaker business, Beats also operates streaming music service Beats Music, which stems from its acquisition of MOG in 2012.

MOG creator David Hyman, a serial entrepreneur who was also once CEO of Gracenote, claims in the suit that Beats dismissed him in bad faith, knowing that he would receive 2.5% of the company under an incentive plan based on the duration of his employment, according to the report. The suit names Daisy LLC as a co-defendant, the report said; Beats Music was code-named Project Daisy before its launch in January.
The first 1% was to arrive on his first anniversary as CEO, according to the report. Hyman's LinkedIn profile says he was employed by Beats for seven months, from May to November 2012. He has since revealed that he was interim CEO of Pono, the high-quality audio project of Neil Young, for four months before becoming chief executive at stealth start-up Chosen.fm last September.

Instead of retaining him until he received his equity stake, Beats reportedly fired Hyman for attempting to terminate a problematic employee. But Hyman claims Beats was intentionally depriving him of his fair equity compensation in the process, according to the report.

Hyman's departure from Beats was considered a surprise at the time. Beats hired former Topspin CEO Ian Rogers to replace Hyman in January 2013.

It's not yet clear how Hyman arrived at the $20 million-plus figure he􀁠s reportedly seeking as compensatory damages. The suit says he would be due 25% of the company's shares if it reached a fair market value of $500 million, the report said.

Hyman and Beats could not be reached for comment at press time.

AT&T Plans to Acquire DirecTV For $48.5 Billion

By Associated Press

AT&T says it is buying DirecTV for $95 per share, or $48.5 billion, a move that gives the telecommunications company a larger base of video subscribers and increases its ability to compete against Comcast and Time Warner Cable, which agreed to a merger in February.

The agreement has been approved unanimously by the Boards of Directors of both companies.

AT&T's proposed combination, which is subject to government review, could improve its Internet service by pushing its existing U-verse TV subscribers into video-over-satellite service, and thereby free up bandwidth on its telecommunications network.

AT&T currently offers a high-speed Internet plan in a bundle with DirecTV television service. The acquisition would help it further reap the benefits of that alliance. DirecTV would continue to be based in El Segundo, California, following the merger.

With 5.7 million U-verse TV customers and 20.3 million DirecTV customers in the U.S., the combined entity would serve 26 million. That would make it the second-largest pay TV operator behind a combined Comcast-Time Warner Cable, which would serve 30 million.

The companies expect the deal to close within 12 months. Under the terms agreed to Sunday, DirecTV shareholders will receive $28.50 per share in cash and $66.50 per share in AT&T stock. The total transaction value is $67.1 billion, including DirecTV's net debt.

The deal could face tough scrutiny from the Federal Communications Commission and antitrust regulators at the Department of Justice. “DirecTV is the best option for us because they have the premier brand in pay TV, the best content relationships, and a fast-growing Latin American business," said Randall Stephenson, AT&T Chairman and CEO in a statement.

"Together we'll be able to enhance innovation and provide customers new competitive choices for what they want in mobile, video and broadband services. We look forward to welcoming DirectTV's talented people to the AT&T family".

source: Billboard.com