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Taylor Swift Kicks Off 2023 US Eras Tour

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Taylor Swift Kicks Off 2023 US Eras Tour

Taylor Swift kicked off her U.S. concert tour with a three-hour career retrospective. Swift opened the 27-date Eras Tour with a six-song set from her album “Lover” at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, where the Super Bowl was played a month ago.

“I’m not sure how to address how this is making me feel right now,” Swift, who hasn’t toured since 2018, said early in the performance.

She closed the show with a seven-song set from her latest album “Midnights,” concluding with “Karma.”

In between, she played songs from most of her albums, except for “Tim McGraw,” from her self-titled debut in 2006. It took her 44 songs and over three hours to complete her 17-year career.

Having not toured in support of her previous three albums, this concert series is intended to compensate for lost time by performing many of those songs live for the first time. Swift described the tour as “a journey through the musical eras of my career (past and present!)” when she announced it in November.

Swift appeared to acknowledge the Ticketmaster controversy that tainted the tour’s buildup when she told the crowd over 70,000 that she understands it took “considerable effort” for them to be there.

Following another performance at the same venue on Saturday night, the tour will travel to Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas and then to AT&T Stadium near Dallas.

It comes to a close in August with two shows in the Los Angeles area.

taylor swift

Taylor Swift Breaks Top 10 Billboard Records

Taylor Swift became the first artist to hold all ten Hot 100 positions, as “Midnights” sold over 1.5 million copies to top our Billboard 200 albums chart.

The singer is reacting to news that her latest studio album, released on October 21, is smashing records. She is the only artist in history to hold the top ten spots on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart in the same week. This has never happened in the 64-year history of the chart.

“10 out of 10 on the Hot 100?” tweeted the “Anti-Hero” singer on Monday. “On my tenth album?” “I AM NOW IN SHAMBLES.”

According to the site, Swift’s dominance of the top 10 for the November 5, 2022-dated Billboard chart has pushed her beyond Madonna for the most top 10 hits among women.

According to the tracking firm Luminate, which tracks streaming, sales, and downloads, Midnights recorded 1.578 million sales in its first week of release in the United States. This is the highest one-week total since Adele dropped 25 in 2015, reaching 3.482 million in its first week.

Midnights sold 1.578 million copies, 1.140 of which were album purchases. It’s also worth noting that this is her fifth album to sell at least a million copies in a single week, with no album by any artist selling more in a single week since her 2017 album Reputation, which debuted with 1.216 million.

Midnights also debuted at number one on Billboard’s most recent album chart. It is her 11th best-selling album, tying her with Bruce Springsteen, Barbra Streisand, and Drake. Jay-Z, with 14, and the Beatles, with 19, have the most No. 1 singles.

Swift announced the release of Midnights in October in August. On social media, she described it as “the story of 13 sleepless nights strewn throughout my life.” She claimed she wrote the songs “in the middle of the night” while ” traveling between terrors and pleasant dreams.”

She’s been releasing videos, even creating an edit to “Anti-Hero” in response to the fatphobic backlash. “Bejeweled” was released last week, and the Cinderella-with-a-twist-themed video included Laura Dern, the HAIM sisters, and Dita Von Teese. Swifties, the singer’s admirers, have speculated about who the songs are about, including ex-John Mayer on “Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve.”

Swift hinted at a new tour last week on The Tonight Show, saying, “I believe I should do it.” We’ll do it when the time comes. It’s something I miss.”)

She also commented on the album’s phenomenal performance, particularly how it became the year’s best-selling album in just one day. It also shattered Spotify’s record for the most streams in a single day. In its 5-star review, Rolling Stone labeled it an “instant classic.” “I’m beside myself,” she said to Fallon.

Swift has been a music-making machine, re-recording her past albums beginning in 2021 with Fearless and Red. The new versions allow her to own her masters – the original recordings of the songs.

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Feds Search Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Properties As Part Of Sex Trafficking Probe

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NEW YORK — Federal Homeland Security Investigations agents and other law enforcement officers searched two properties owned by music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs in Los Angeles and Miami on Monday as part of an ongoing sex trafficking investigation by federal authorities in New York, two law enforcement officials told The Associated Press.

It is unclear whether Combs was the target of the probe. The officials were not authorized to speak publicly about the probe and talked to the AP on the condition of anonymity.

Homeland Security Investigations stated that it “executed law enforcement actions as part of an ongoing investigation, with assistance from HSI Los Angeles, HSI Miami, and our local law enforcement partners.”

A spokesman for the Manhattan US Attorney’s Office declined to comment.

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Feds Search Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Properties As Part Of Sex Trafficking Probe

Lawyers for Combs and other representatives left messages requesting comments, but they did not immediately respond.

A police line was formed around the Los Angeles home in the affluent Holmby Hills district near Beverly Hills. Helicopter footage from KABC-TV showed several agents wearing vests, indicating they were from Homeland Security Investigations, and they were gathered in the backyard near the pool. A command post was set up outside the house, and agents were still coming and going hours after the search began.

Combs has faced many sexual assault lawsuits in recent months.

In February, a music producer filed a lawsuit saying that Combs pushed him into soliciting prostitutes and pressuring him to have sex with them. Shawn Holley, Combs’ attorney, stated of the charges, “We have overwhelming, indisputable proof that his claims are complete lies.”

Cassie, Combs’ former apprentice and girlfriend, sued him in November, accusing him of sexual abuse, including rape, over several years. The lawsuit claimed he pushed her to have sex with male prostitutes while filming them. The lawsuit was settled the day after it was filed.

Another of Combs’ accusers was a woman who said the rap producer raped her at the age of 17 two decades ago.

The Associated Press normally does not identify persons who claim to have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly as Cassie did.

In a December statement, Combs stated, “I did not do any of the awful things being alleged.”

combs

Feds Search Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Properties As Part Of Sex Trafficking Probe

According to Douglas Wigdor, an attorney representing Cassie and another woman who sued Combs, “Hopefully, this is the beginning of a process that will hold Mr. Combs responsible for his depraved conduct.”

It is unclear whether the search is related to any of the charges in the cases.

Combs is one of the most important hip-hop producers and executives over the last three decades. Formerly known as Puff Daddy, he established one of hip-hop’s most powerful empires, blazing a route with several businesses using his iconic name. He founded Bad Boy Records and is a three-time Grammy winner who has collaborated with several major musicians, including the Notorious B.I.G., Mary J. Blige, Usher, Lil Kim, Faith Evans, and 112.

Combs founded the fashion clothing company Sean John, developed the music-focused Revolt TV channel, and produced the reality show “Making the Band” for MTV.

His most recent record, “The Love Album – Off the Grid,” came out last year, just days after Combs was recognized at the MTV Video Music Awards. It was nominated for best progressive R&B album at the February Grammy Awards, but the rapper-mogul did not attend.

combs

Feds Search Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Properties As Part Of Sex Trafficking Probe

The entertainment business has faced a constant stream of career-ending sexual misconduct charges in the years since tales about movie mogul Harvey Weinstein sparked the #MeToo movement in 2017. Weinstein and “That ’70s Show” star Danny Masterson are both serving jail sentences for rape. Dozens of civil cases have been filed against prominent individuals.

The music industry has not faced the same level of reckoning, but singer and producer R. Kelly is serving a prison sentence for sexually abusing young fans, seven women have sued hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons, alleging he raped them, and two women have sued Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler, alleging sexual assault.

Weinstein, Masterson, and Kelly appeal their convictions, while Simmons denies all of the claims made against him. Tyler has had one lawsuit dismissed and is now contesting the other.

SOURCE – (AP)

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Spotify Paid $9 Billion In Royalties In 2023. Here’s What Fueled The Growth

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Los Angeles — Spotify paid out $9 billion in streaming royalties last year, according to its most recent “Loud and Clear” report, released Tuesday.

In response to complaints about its lack of transparency, Spotify released its fourth annual report in 2021, which highlighted its historic achievements, including the largest annual contribution by any merchant to the music industry.

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“Spotify Paid $9 Billion In Royalties In 2023. Here’s What Fueled The Growth

This is everything we know about how much is being paid out, how many artists are achieving different levels of success,” says Charlie Hellman, Spotify’s vice president and worldwide head of music products. “So, everyone can have access to the information and be sort of up to date with the state of the industry.”

According to the data, 1,250 artists earned more than $1 million in recording and publishing royalties in 2023, 11,600 earned more than $100,000, and 66,000 earned more than $10,000. These figures nearly tripled from 2017.

According to the survey, more than half of the 66,000 musicians come from nations where English is not the primary language, indicating a more global music environment.

According to Hellman, “indie” musicians — those who self-distribute and are signed to independent record labels — accounted for $4.5 billion, or half of all royalties paid out by Spotify.

“There are millions of people who’ve uploaded a song at least once but that doesn’t really speak to whether they’re an artist, or if they’re doing this more as a hobby,” Hellman said.

Spotify focuses on musicians who “at least put up an album’s worth of music once they seem to have some indication that they’re trying to build a fan base.” He believes “about 225,000 professionally aspiring artists” are on the platform.

“They have a small fanbase. “They might have gigs listed on Spotify or something,” he says.

Spotify revealed in December that it would lay off 17% of its worldwide workforce, the music streaming service’s third round of layoffs in 2023, as it seeks to reduce expenses while increasing profitability.

Spotify stated that beginning in 2024, it would no longer pay for music with fewer than 1,000 annual streams.

spotify

“Spotify Paid $9 Billion In Royalties In 2023. Here’s What Fueled The Growth

“Songs that generate less than a thousand streams in a year would be generating pennies, a few cents in royalties,” Hellman says. So what we’re seeing was an increasing number of uploaders with $0.03, $0.08, $0.36 sitting there.”

For those DIY artists, there is a minimum withdrawal threshold from a distributor—$5.35 at DistroKid and $1 at TuneCore, two such distributors—and Hellman claims the withdrawal fees would exceed the royalties.

Spotify, like the majority of other streaming services, pays “streamshare” royalties to the site’s music rights holders. To calculate this, add up all of the streams of music belonging to or under the control of a specific rights holder and divide it by the overall number of streams in that market.

In short, greater rights holders control a larger share of the market. A listener streaming an artist 25% of the time does not imply that the act receives 25% of the listener’s membership price.

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“Spotify Paid $9 Billion In Royalties In 2023. Here’s What Fueled The Growth

“All those pennies sitting in bank accounts all over the place were siphoning money away from artists who were really doing this, as an aspiring professional,” Hellman said about the choice. “And so, those royalties are now being put in the pot so that they can be redirected to artists who are getting more than a thousand streams a year.”

SOURCE – (AP)

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Celine Dion Says Living With Stiff Person Syndrome ‘Has Been One Of The Hardest Experiences Of My Life’

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Celine Dion focuses on her family and the future while she deals with health issues.

On March 15, the iconic artist commemorated International Stiff Person Syndrome Awareness Day with an Instagram post in which she addressed her autoimmune illness, stating that it “has been one of the hardest experiences of my life.”

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Celine Dion Says Living With Stiff Person Syndrome ‘Has Been One Of The Hardest Experiences Of My Life’

Dion said she is “determined to one day get back on stage and live as normal a life as possible.”

A picture of Celine’s three sons—René-Charles, Nelson, and Eddy—accompanied her heartfelt letter.

Celine had three children with her late husband, René Angélil, who died in 2016.

According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, stiff person syndrome (SPS) is an uncommon neurological disorder that causes spasms and muscle rigidity. It also causes increased sensitivity to stimuli such as sound, lighting, and emotional discomfort, which can trigger muscle spasms.

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Celine Dion Says Living With Stiff Person Syndrome ‘Has Been One Of The Hardest Experiences Of My Life’

Dion first disclosed her diagnosis in 2022. She has ceased touring and performing live.

A documentary about the “My Heart Will Go On” singer, due to premiere on Prime Video, will follow her return to the stage.

On Friday,Celine stated in her caption that she is offering “encouragement and support to all those around the world who have been affected by SPS.”

“I want you to know that you can do it!” “We can do it,” she concluded.

Celine Dion is a powerhouse vocalist from Canada. She’s sold over 200 million albums worldwide, making her one of the best-selling artists ever.

Dion shot to fame after winning the 1988 Eurovision song contest.

dion

Celine Dion Says Living With Stiff Person Syndrome ‘Has Been One Of The Hardest Experiences Of My Life’

Her hits like “My Heart Will Go On” from Titanic and “Because You Loved Me” showcased her incredible range and emotional delivery. Despite taking a break to care for her late husband René Angélil, Dion remains a Vegas headliner and touring force.

Her voice and resilience inspire fans globally.

SOURCE – (CNN)

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