Dr. Dre Sells Beats for $3 Billion

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Artist News, Industry News,

Dr. Dre has secured a deal to sell his Beats Music business to Apple for $3 billion, making him the richest artist in hip-hop.

The co-founder, who launched the headphones and streaming service with friend Jimmy Lovine, will leave Interscope, which he founded, to work with Apple alongside his business partner.

"I've always known in my heart that Beats belonged with Apple. The idea when we started the company was inspired by Apple's unmatched ability to marry culture and technology. Apple's deep commitment to music fans, artists, songwriters and the music industry is something special," Dre said, according to NME.com.

Dre could be set to become hip-hop's first billionaire after Apple announced they will buy the business for $2.6 billion, as well as spending $400 million "that will vest over time." Talking about the deal, which has been rumored for weeks, Apple's CEO Tim Cook said, "Music is such an important part of all of our lives and holds a special place within our hearts at Apple. That's why we have kept investing in music and are bringing together these extraordinary teams so we can continue to create the most innovative music products and services in the world."

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‘Forbes’ Names Madonna Highest-Paid Musician

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Artist News, Concerts / Tours, The Charts, Alternative, Country, Hip-Hop & Rap, Pop, R&B / Soul, Rock,

Madonna has topped Forbes' list of highest-paid musicians.

The 55-year-old singer is still the queen of pop according to the magazine, earning $125 million from June 2012 to May 2013 thanks to her sell-out MDMA Tour, miles ahead of her nearest rival Lady Gaga, who raked in $80 million. Rockers Bon Jovi and country singer Toby Keith were next, with Coldplay coming in fifth place.

Despite lackluster sales of her latest album, Madonna made her fortune from fans paying $100 a ticket to see her tour - which grossed $305 million - as well as from merchandise sales, a clothing line, fragrance and investments in companies like Vita Coco. This comes as little surprise, since Madonna had already been crowned the world's highest-earning celebrity by Forbes in August, with filmmaker Steven Spielberg, author E.L. James, radio personality Howard Stern and X Factor boss Simon Cowell rounding out the top five.

However, the magazine estimates Lady Gaga could easily top the highest-paid musicians list next year because her current earnings were affected by her hip injury, which forced her to cut her Born This Way Ball tour short. Had she completed the tour, she could potentially have made $200 million.

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Kanye West: My Image Causes Bias

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Gossip, Industry News, Hip-Hop & Rap,

Kanye West thinks that his relationship with Kim Kardashian biases people against his rapping.

The "Stronger" hitmaker - who is expecting his first child with the reality TV star - is unhappy MTV's Hip-Hop Brain Trust voted him the seventh Hottest MC in the Game and he feels his ranking would've been higher if it were based solely on his music skills.

"Yeah, number seven bothers me. To me, I feel like in order for them to put me as number seven, they had to bring up things they didn't like. They didn't like the Cruel Summer album, and I'm like, 'That's just [a] compilation.' I don't know, it's definitely not based on a body of work. It possibly could just be like overall rap-MC-swag. What happens is, with these types of things... They don't like 'Givenchy Kanye,' they don't like Kanye in a kilt, they don't like Kanye in a relationship."

However, the "All of the Lights" star doesn't believe he deserved top spot on the list, as he still thinks the world's best rapper is Lil Wayne.

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Britney Spears Is the Highest Paid Woman in Music

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Artist News, Concerts / Tours, Pop,

Britney Spears was the top earning woman in music this year.

The X Factor judge - who neither released a new album or went on tour in 2012 - raked in an estimated $58 million in just 12 months, according to Forbes magazine.

Most of the 30-year-old popstar's profits - which are just slightly less than the $64 million she earned in 2010 - came from her comeback Femme Fatale tour that grossed $68.7 million worldwide, followed by her Femme Fatale album, in addition to her popular fragrance line with Elizabeth Arden and her endorsement deals.

Music attorney Lori Landew, who helped Britney negotiate her first record deal as a teenager, attempted to explain her huge success despite a few rough years, saying, "Britney has an electricity that connects with audiences on screen and off, and it is that intangible quality that always seems to leave her fans, old and new, breathless."

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Dr. Dre Named Hip-Hop’s Highest Earner

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Gossip, Industry News, Hip-Hop & Rap,

Dr. Dre has been named hip hop's highest earner.

The rap mogul may still not have released his long-awaited Detox, album but he made an estimated $110 million last year, largely thanks to his Beats by Dr. Dre headphone collection, which saw him earn $100 million when HTC bought a 51 per cent stake in the company for $300 million.

P. Diddy was ranked second on the list with $45 million, with a huge percentage of his income coming from his share of profits for Diageo's Ciroc vodka, while third-placed Jay-Z brought in more than half of his $38 million through business deals including ownership stakes in cosmetics company Carol's Daughter, the Brooklyn Nets and a joint venture with Duracell.

Former Def Jam President Kevin Liles - who now manages a number of hip-hop artists - says it is typical for his acts to make a lot of their money from endorsements:

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DJ Earworm Mashes Up 2010’s Biggest Hits

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Collaborations, Music Videos, Videos, Country, Dance, Hip-Hop & Rap, Pop, R&B / Soul,

You can look back at 2010 and think about the Gulf Oil Spill, the Tea Party movement or the Chilean Mine incident.

Or, you can fondly remember the year for a whole new round of infectious music.

Can’t recall the tracks you were introduced to over the past 12 months? Then check out the latest creation from DJ Earworm above.

Billboard’s Top 25 Hits of 2010 – which are all incorporated in the mashup -- are listed in full after the jump.

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Read More | College Humor

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Beyonce and Jay-Z: Hollywood’s Biggest Money Makers

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Gossip, Hip-Hop & Rap, R&B / Soul,

Beyonce Knowles and Jay-Z have topped a poll of Hollywood’s highest-earning couples compiled by Forbes.com, with combined earnings of $122 million between June 2008 and June 2009.

The singer and her hip-hop mogul husband amassed the massive sum through their music, movies, fragrances and endorsement deals with brands including Budweiser and American Express.

Their earnings were almost double that of runners-up Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart, whose $69 million was largely based on Harrison’s $65 million Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull paycheck. (That amount still put them $14 million above third-placed Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.)

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