THE SMASH!

Whitney Houston 1963-2012

2012-02-12T08:03:00.000-08:00

Simply, one of the greatest voices in the history of music. Rest in peace Whitney. UPDATE: A clip of Clive's comments from the (now infamous) Grammy party last night. We're a little weirded out that they continued, despite the fact that Whitney's body was still there at the Beverly Hilton Hotel during the entire event and the Coroner's office and LAPD crime scene lab were on sight conducting

Madonna is 53. #Thatisall

2012-02-03T13:51:00.000-08:00

M.I.A. and Nicki Minaj waving pom-pom's in a Madonna video, cheerleading. I'm happy about this, but also, I can see you......

Congrats to Coverdrive!

2012-02-02T15:36:00.000-08:00

Cover Drive clutching their Number One chart award in the UK earlier this week. Congrats!!! Our favorite charisma kids Cover Drive just shot to #1 in the UK this week with their second single called "Twilight", produced by the super-talented Boi1da. Their forthcoming album is called "Bajan Style"....can't wait! Really hope the songs I saw them record-- "Running", a summertime banger that

Bueno, No Bueno

2012-01-31T11:44:00.000-08:00

BUENO.... loving these photos of Madge, scared for her performance Sunday because we all know it will be lip synced and well, Elton John will certainly be on the edge of her seat for that.... NO BUENO: Oh, Christina. This poor girl can't catch a break. I thought these were photoshopped when they first hit, I refused to believe anyone could be that nasty. I was wrong. Not sure what's worse...

New M.I.A.

2012-01-30T14:08:00.000-08:00

Wow for the first time since I've heard in her storied artistic career, M.I.A. is almost trying too hard with this one but I get it......authentic to her sound in the safest way possible and without the genuine envelope-pushing she's KNOWN for. Because it needs to get on the radio. This is her 'superstar' run. Interested to hear the Madonna/Minaj collabos and the Superbowl Halftime

Fresh Jam Fridays

2012-01-27T11:28:00.000-08:00

Usually the best new buzz music drops right before the Grammys and that's by design....this business is as much about perception as it is reality so when the whole entire music industry (and all of its tastemakers) are in Los Angeles in three weeks discussing all the work of their peers, good strategy is all about being top of mind. And here are some of the current champions. New song from the

Chris Brown Turns It Up and OUT With a #1 Song

2012-01-26T11:22:00.000-08:00

Every once in awhile you hear a jam that is so ridiculous, you literally want to stand up and give it a round of applause at the end. Well, that was certainly the reaction we had when super-producers The Underdogs first played this record for us in the studio. Even in its demo form- it was glaringly obvious this record was a pop smash going straight to the top of the chart. Look, nobody's

Thuggin With John Lennon

2012-01-25T12:30:00.000-08:00

Say whatcha want about Rih Rih but chick knows how to stir it up but good. I think folks have it wrong aligning Gaga as the "Madonna" of the Millennium Generation-- Gaga is much more like Bowie-- artistically controversial, fashionably frightening at times, but at her core a brilliant and authentically complicated artiste'. Rihanna on the other hand, is a product of her environment. I

Neyo Is An Executive Now

2012-01-25T10:43:00.000-08:00

Following in the footsteps of producer Tricky Stewart who held this same position at Island/Def Jam, recording artist/songwriter Neyo has also bounced from the same label, to accept a Vice President/A&R position at Motown Records. Now, before this is interpreted as a big defection, its important to note that both IDJ and Motown fall under the Universal Music Group umbrella so really this is

Yes He Can.

2012-01-20T12:04:00.000-08:00

Our President can......sing?! Well, he does have a great speaking voice. But Obama took it to another level at the Apollo Theatre. Mmmm hmmm. And this particular song selection shows us just how much swag our POTUS still has. Goin in on a classic Al Green riff -- kinda effortlessly. I feel weird saying this but that's um, sexy....

This Will Get Interesting

2012-01-19T16:48:00.000-08:00

One day after the awesome Wiki and Google blackout in protest against SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and the overwhelming public freak out that ensued, the Feds went IN. Here's the Cliff'sNotes on SOPA: a law that would basically hand the government and large corporations-- two overtly corrupt entities at this point in 2012-- the right to shut down any sites "accused"-- note that's accused, not

Glory

2012-01-09T19:31:00.000-08:00

OK you've heard it by now. Jay and Bey had a Bay-bay on Saturday. 1-7-2012. Which when you do the numerology..... 1+7 =8, 2+1+2=5 8+5= 13 1+3 = 4. They are serious with it. But the most endearing thing of all is hearing a papa have a moment over his newborn babygirl. And boy did Jay let us all in. The glory of it all......

Sorry For The Delays!!!!

2012-01-09T07:32:00.000-08:00

Profound apologies to all the cool peeps regularly checking this blog for updates, I'm totally aware of the severe lackage of postings over the last month. Major wackness!!!! Full disclosure: currently in the middle of finishing a manuscript for my first book and really tried to use the holiday break-- which in the record biz typically translates to two glorious weeks of total shutdown-- to

The Smash! Top Ten of 2011

2011-12-22T09:51:00.000-08:00

All the big Top Ten lists from music writers who are actually paid publications like Billboard, Rolling Stone, SPIN, LA Times "Pop & Hiss" music blog, Pitchfork, XXL, etc etc etc have already been trumpeted around the web. But me yeah um, I kinda have a day job..... working with songwriters and producers, many of whom are going to be completely smashing it out of the game next year.

It's All About: BABY JESUS DISCO

2011-12-07T14:30:00.000-08:00

We definitely have everyone's "Must Get" for the holiday season: Baby Jesus Disco!!!! The new mixtape is currently taking the internet by storm and that is no surprise, as this is legitimately one of the most clever, creative, JAMMINGEST (yes I'm making up that word, the music deserves it) "Xmas Mixes" we've ever heard. Like all great viral content, Baby Jesus Disco is lighting up the

Happy 30, Brit.

2011-12-02T12:21:00.000-08:00

We give her (and her team, including the label) nothing but credit for pulling "The Britney Brand" back from the pit fires of career disaster hell that were blazing in 2008-09. Regardless of how Britney is handled or scandaled, this bish has been thru it and back but is still standing. That quite frankly, is a phenomenal feat in the current environment of the music business not to mention

2012 Grammy Nominations:

2011-12-01T10:57:00.000-08:00

Album of the Year Adele, 21 The Foo Fighters, Wasting Light Lady Gaga, Born This Way Bruno Mars, Doo-Wops and Hooligans Rihanna, Loud Record of the Year Adele, “Rolling in the Deep” Bon Iver, “Holocene” Bruno Mars, “Grenade” Mumford & Sons, “The Cave” Katy Perry, “Firework” Song of the Year Kanye West, “All of the Lights” Mumford & Sons, “The Cave” Bruno Mars, “Grenade” Bon Iver, “Holocene”

The Weeknd is On Glue.... But We Knew That Already.

2011-11-30T13:22:00.000-08:00

Artistically, I see this as not only a reflection of how wonderfully to-the-left this man is but also a direct creative reaction to his own situation this past year. Because the first real "visual" we saw for his incredible music came in the form of a major licensing coup--that HBO promo which ran incessantly for weeks and featured the played-out cast of Entourage for their tragic final season

Music Needs Curators, Not Codewriters.

2011-11-21T06:00:00.000-08:00

I really don't know how to feel about Sean Parker. On one hand, he helped annihilate the entire music industry-- Bastard. However, this was a biz badly in need of overhaul and the original Napster rocked. There is also this crazy truth: back in the day the labels acted like arrogant a-holes with Napster and sorta deserved the beatdown revolt they got as a result. Everybody on the inside

Google, This Could Be Good....

2011-11-18T11:16:00.000-08:00

Very interesting. There are some layers of Google Music being revealed that are pretty awesome. Especially the "artist hub" focusing on general music distribution, a potential game changer. Direct upload, small upfront cost. music.google.com/artists COOL!!!!!

Google Music is Here. ((( Yawn )))

2011-11-17T08:30:00.000-08:00

Busta Rhymes at the launch party for Google Music, posing with the "Android mascot." What a dry hump THAT was after years of wicked speculation. Google Music was one big, "Wah, Wuh, Waaaah". Yes, there's an official download store to buy albums and singles that 'technically' competes with iTunes, and the big "sharing" feature is that you can let friends on Google+ have ONE free listen.

Zero In On: YELAWOLF

2011-11-17T08:00:00.000-08:00

I got respect for it sure, but I'm not on the Mac Miller bandwagon. Sorry. I am way too much of a hip hop head who geeks out over actual rhymes and verses to be charmed by Mac's distinct lack of flow. This is also true of Odd Future by the way-- none of them muthaf*ckas can rap but at least @fucktyler is real about it. And he's brilliantly creative in other ways online, that make up for the

Remember Heavy D

2011-11-16T12:03:00.000-08:00

Man, what a bummer losing Hev for real. His twitter timeline alone demonstrates what a positive, mentoring, uplifting, cool-ass dude he was. Very well loved in the music industry, he was always a professional....and brought a lot of people up with him. Plus we all have those incredible memories featuring his music, because it kinda crystallized a very specific era in hip hop culture; that

Behind The Scenes in Nashville with The Rascal Flatts

2011-11-15T15:27:00.000-08:00

If there's two worlds that are worlds apart in their respective creative processes, it is the recording scenes of Los Angeles and Nashville. However, it is between these two different worlds that 99.9% of the popular music you hear today is being written, created and recorded-- but because of the divergent processes, VERY few people can successfully migrate between them. Typically and

Music Biz Attorney Dina LaPolt on "Building Your Artist's Brand".

2011-11-10T11:50:00.000-08:00

Let's just get to the point: Dina is a total badass. Easily one of the most highly sought-after attorneys in the music industry (the client lists has ranges from Steven Tyler to Chaz Bono, Black Veil Brides to 2011 American Idol alumni James Durbin and Hailey Reinhart) in addition to her hectic "lawyering" schedule, for the last fourteen years running LaPolt has been an attending professor at