richardcmena's posterous

Lady Gaga, Adele, Others Get Record Industry Back In Black

Strong sales by female artists have put industry in positive territory for first time since 2004.
By Gil Kaufman


Lady Gaga
Photo: Kevin Mazur/WireImage

Beyoncé may have been on to something with that whole "Run the World (Girls)," business after all. Though Queen B's single didn't set the world on fire, in the first half of 2011, a number of her fellow divas — Adele, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry — have helped the music business achieve something it hasn't been able to in nearly eight years: positive growth.

According to figures released on Wednesday by Nielsen SoundScan, overall album sales rose 3.6 percent to 221.5 million during the first half of this year. That marks the first time since 2004 that sales have been in the black for an industry that has suffered a decade-long slide thanks to rampant Internet piracy and slumping album sales as a result of fans cherry-picking singles on iTunes and other download services.

As we continue to hash out which songs will win this year's Summer Jam crown, a number of the female contenders are among the artists who've helped turn the sales tide, including Perry, Nicki Minaj, Adele and Gaga. (Eminem hasn't been a slouch either, thanks to his smash comeback Recovery, which recently passed the 1 million album download mark.)

Adele has already moved more than 2.5 million copies of her breakout hit 21 since February, along with 4.1 million single downloads of "Rolling in the Deep," while Gaga's Born This Way has shifted more than 1.5 million units. Perry has been doing her part as well, scoring a string of hit singles, including "E.T.," which has sold more than 4.1 million digital units this year.

Britney Spears' tourmate Minaj has the year's ninth best-selling album so far with her debut, Pink Friday, with 1.4 million in sales to date, 556,000 of which have come in this calendar year.

Like Nicki, Rihanna has helped boost numbers this year with an album that came out in late 2010. Loud has sold more than 1.3 million copies to date, 598,000 of which came in 2011.

According to Billboard, the ladies aren't alone, as British folk rock revivalists Mumford & Sons have been doing some heavy lifting too, selling 982,000 copies of their album Sigh No More so far this year. Country singer Jason Aldean's My Kinda Party has also done its part, moving 763,000 units, as has Bruno Mars' debut, Doo-Wops & Hooligans, which has sold 686,000 copies.

It's unclear at this point if the trend can sustain itself through the rest of the year. But with strong summer tour sales by Perry and rescheduled dates from Adele on the horizon, not to mention the promise of new albums from Lil Wayne, Kanye West and Jay-Z, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Willow Smith, Rick Ross, Coldplay, and "American Idol" winner Scotty McCreery, the industry may just be able to breathe a (small) sigh or relief for the first time in a long time.

Related Photos Related Artists

Monica Potter Brittany Snow Lauren German Cindy Crawford Mariah OBrien

'Harry Potter' Stars Reflect On The Epilogue

by Michael Steinkirchner With ?Deathly Hallows Part 2? officially out in theaters, fans are finally saying goodbye to "Harry Potter," the decade-long film series that brought J.K. Rowling?s novels to life. The closing epilogue sequence will be an emotional farewell for fans and actors alike but for Rupert Grint, who became famous for his portrayal of [...]

Ehrinn Cummings Sienna Miller Cindy Taylor Halle Berry Catherine Bell

Usher To Donate Gadhafi Money To Charity

'I will be donating all of my personal proceeds...to various human rights organizations,' singer says of concert linked to Libyan dictator.
By Shawn Adler


Usher (file)
Photo: Getty Images

R&B superstar Usher announced Friday (March 4) that he was donating to various charities proceeds from appearing at a private event at St. Barts linked to Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi, according to a statement made to the Associated Press.

The Grammy award winner's renouncement comes after similar announcements from singers Mariah Carey, Nelly Furtado, and Beyoncé, all of whom were revealed to have performed at private concerts linked to the Middle Eastern leader, who has faced open revolt and major political uprisings since February.

"I am sincerely troubled to learn about the circumstances surrounding the Nikki Beach St. Bart's event that took place on New Year's Eve 2009," Usher said of the concert, at which he appeared alongside Beyoncé but did not perform. "I will be donating all of my personal proceeds from that event to various human rights organizations."

Usher has already begun the process, having made a donation to Amnesty International, the AP reports. The exact size of the donation is not known.

The New Year's Eve gig was reportedly for Moammar's fourth son Muastassim, who an unnamed music industry source told MTV News has a history of throwing lavish parties "jammed" with supermodels.

Beyoncé, who sang at the event, donated all proceeds from her performance to the Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund, established in the wake of the Haitian earthquake.

"All monies paid to Beyoncé for her performance at a private party at Nikki Beach St. Barts on New Year's Eve 2009, including the commissions paid to her booking agency, were donated to the earthquake relief efforts for Haiti over a year ago," the "Halo" singer's publicist said in a statement to The Huffington Post. "Once it became known that the third-party promoter was linked to the Qaddafi family, the decision was made to put that payment to a good cause."

Singer Nelly Furtado tweeted February 28 that she plans to make similar amends.

"In 2007, I received 1million$ from the Gadhafi clan to perform a 45 min. show for guests at a hotel in Italy," she tweeted. "I am going to donate the $."

The leader of Libya since a successful military coup in 1969, Gadhafi has reportedly lost control of much of his country as a result of widespread uprisings. The United Nations voted unanimously to refer the dictator to the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.

Related Artists

Carol Grow Erika Christensen Emilie de Ravin Tara Reed Avril Lavigne

Justin Bieber Won't 'Limit' Himself On Next Album

'I just want to make music,' he tells MTV News.
By Jocelyn Vena


Justin Bieber
Photo: Jamie McCarthy/ Getty Images

It's been a minute since Justin Bieber released new music, and it sounds like the waiting game continues for Beliebers. The singer is currently in the planning and recording stages for his next record and has not set any deadlines for himself. At the moment, Bieber said, he's still creating.

"I want to work a lot with myself," he told MTV News about any plans to expand his collaboration résumé, after working with artists like Chris Brown, Kanye West, Ludacris and Rascal Flatts. "And [I want to] write a lot myself. I will be working with a lot of other producers and stuff like that, but I'm just writing a lot, writing on tour."

So what is Bieber focusing on in this new batch of songs? "[I'm] writing about how I feel and producing. I've been producing on my laptop and on my computer," he said. "I've been really into it and, hopefully, this next album will be huge."

It may be a while until new stuff comes out, but it's not like fans don't already have plenty of Bieber music to listen to in the meantime. Only a couple of years into his career, Bieber has already managed to release the chart-topping albums My World, My World 2.0, Never Say Never — The Remixes and My Worlds Acoustic. He's also dabbled in a number of genres, like pop, hip-hop, R&B and, yes, even country. With so many interests in so many different sounds and so much to draw from, Bieber said he's not boxing himself in on his next release.

"I've done a lot on my acoustic guitar, so it's gonna have that vibe," he explained. "I'm not gonna really limit myself. I think music is music, and genre — I mean, I know there's country music, there's rock music, but my music is different. My voice is not meant for any style. I just want to make music."

Are you excited for Bieber's next album? Tell us in the comments!

Related Artists

Brittany Daniel Kate Moss Zhang Ziyi Nikki Reed Natasha Bedingfield

Justin Bieber: I'm A Country Boy

The newly minted CMT Music Award winner says he shares his mother's love of the country sound.
By Jocelyn Vena


Photo: The Insider

Before he took home the trophy for Collaborative Video of the Year at the CMT Music Awards on Wednesday night, Justin Bieber professed his love for all things country on the red carpet.

"I'm really glad to be here," he told CMT, with the guys of Rascal Flatts by his side. "It's great."

It wasn't just an exciting night for him, but also for Mama Bieber, who happens to be a big country music aficionado. "It's great; it's so many people my mother admires, 'cause she loves country music, and I do too," he continued. "So it's really great to be here with Rascal Flatts."

It was on the set for his winning video, "That Should Be Me," that Bieber first cut his hair. In the end, the sacrifice of his trademark locks seemed worth it.

"Some of the fans liked it; some of the fans didn't. They were just upset he cut it," Bieber joked, nodding to Rascal Flatts' Gary LeVox.

The video for "That Should Be Me," a Never Say Never - The Remixes track (which was a reworked version of the song that first appeared on My World 2.0) is a lo-fi, behind-the-scenes, "making of the video" performance clip. But it was good enough to beat out the likes of country music superstars like Jason Aldean with Kelly Clarkson; Kid Rock featuring Sheryl Crow; Loretta Lynn, Miranda Lambert and Sheryl Crow, as well as Aaron Lewis featuring George Jones and Charlie Daniels.

"First of all, I just want to say how honored I am to be here ... with Rascal Flatts," Bieber said while accepting his first country award. "How amazing are Rascal Flatts, everybody? I want to thank my mom. I want to thank my family. And I want to thank Rascal Flatts for even jumping on the song with me."

Would you like to see Justin Bieber try out other genres of music? Talk about it in the comments!

Related Artists

Tila Tequila Tamie Sheffield Kelly Monaco Gisele Bündchen Jennifer Aniston