Xposition - April, 2018

Attention!!!

April was a devastating month for EDM as we bade farewell to Avicii, a powerhouse and an reckoning force in the industry. The global superstar who produced the hits Wake Me Up, Levels and Hey Brother even collaborated with the likes of Coldplay, Rita Ora, Robbie Williams and Leona Lewis. Avicii whose real name is Tim Bergling committed suicide by inflicting injuries upon himself through a broken wine bottle. This beloved artist was known to be struggling with alcohol use as well as mental stress for which he had earlier retired from touring in 2016. 

The awards season was full on swing as the 53rd Academy of Country Music Awards were held with Chris Stapleton being the big winner of the night winning Male Vocalist of the Year and Album of the Year for From a Room: Volume 1 although the Entertainer of  the Year went to Jason Aldean. Some great performances included Carrie Underwood's Cry Pretty, Kane Brown & Lauren Alaina's What Ifs, Florida Georgia Line & Bebe Rexha's Meant To Be and Maren Morris' Rich. Other significant wins of the night included:

• Female Vocalist of the Year: Miranda Lambert
• Vocal Duo of the Year: Brothers Osborne
• Vocal Group of the Year: Old Dominion
• Single Record of the Year: Sam Hunt - Body like a back road
• Song of the Year: Jack Ingram, Miranda Lambert & John Randall - Tin Man
• Video of the Year: Brothers Osborne - It ain't my fault

The 25th Billboard Latin Music Awards were also held with Daddy Yankee sweeping the wins with 8 including Hot Latin Song of the Year and Songwriter of the Year for Despacito which won all 6 of its nominations. The Mexican rock band Maná was bestowed with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Some of the other major wins included:

• Artist of the Year: Ozuna
• New Artist of the Year: Christian Nodal
• Hot Latin Songs Artist of the Year - Male: Luis Fonsi 
• Hot Latin Songs Artist of the Year - Female: Shakira
• Top Latin Album of the Year: Nicky Jam - Fénix
• Latin Pop Song of the Year: Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee ft. Justin Bieber - Despacito

The Billboard Music Awards 2018 announced its nominations with Kendrick Lamar, Ed Sheeran and Bruno Mars each with 15 nods followed by Post Malone with 13, Imagine Dragons with 11 and Drake with 9. 21 Savage, Camila Cabello, Khalid and Kodak Black all vie for the coveted Top New Artist award. The ceremony is to be held in May hosted by Kelly Clarkson. 

The Voice UK in its seven season crowned Ruti Olajugbagbe coached by Sir Tom Jones. Her coronation song was Dreams by The Cranberries whose lead singer Dolores O'Riordan passed away earlier this year. 

Songwriting credits is a serious matter, as many in the industry found out the hard way ie. Blurred Lines, Photograph etc. The latest is when Tulisa won a 5-year legal battle against Will.I.Am and Britney Spears for Scream & Shout, which she claimed helped to write. Tulisa claimed that she co-wrote the song I Don't Give A Fuck for her debut album The Female Boss. While the song did not make the final cut, Will.I.Am went on to collaborate with Spears using this song for Scream & Shout. The lawsuit revealed that Tulisa's vocals were still on the song alongside Spears’ in the finally-released track. The victory ensures Tulisa of an official songwriting credit on the song and 10% of the worldwide publishing rights and income for the record. All money made from the track was frozen when the lawsuit was launched in 2012.

In chart news, in the US Drake continued his reign with God's Plan accumulating altogether 11 weeks at the top of the charts, after which he replaced himself at the top with Nice For What, which remained at the top till the end of the month. During the month The Weekend's Call Out My Name, Cardi B, J Balvin and Bad Bunny's I Like It, Nicki Minaj's Chun-Li and Migos ft. Drake's Walk It Talk It all entered the top 10. 

In the UK, with the end of March came Drake's reign as Rudimental ft. Jess Glynne, Macklemore and Dan Caplen's These Days finally overthrew God's Plan in the first week. However, this was short lived as Lil Dicky ft. Chris Brown's Freaky Friday became No.1 in the second week which again was toppled by Drake's Nice For What and then again by the mammoth collaboration between Calvin Harris & Dua Lipa's One Kiss which claimed the top spot. During the month Sigala & Paloma Faith's Lullaby and The Weeknd's Call Out My Name both entered the top 10.  

Other songs which became popular during the month were:

1. David Guetta & Sia - Flames
2. Khalid & Normani - Love lies 
3. Years & Years - Sanctify 
4. Kylie  Minogue - Dancing
5. Imagine Dragons - Whatever it takes 

Till the next beat...

At Ease!!!

Xposition - September, 2017

Attention!!!

The month of September opened with the announcement of the nominations for the 51^st Annual CMA Awards with Keith Urban and Miranda Lambert leading with five nods each competing against each other in 3 categories: Music Video of the Year, Single of the Year and Song of the Year. Little Big Town is close behind with four nods which also helps Taylor Swift garner a nomination at the awards in three years after her transition from County to Pop for her songwriter credits for Better Man. The awards will take place on 08 November hosted by Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood.

The coveted Mercury Prize 2017 was awarded to Sampha’s Process. His win is quite significant as he battled for this award against the short listed fan favorites Ed Sheeran and Stormzy as well as 9 other nominees including Blossoms, J Hus, Kate Tempest and The xx. Actor Idris Elba gave Sampha his £25,000 prize at a ceremony with performances from the shortlisted artists at the Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith, London.

The Latin Recording Academy has decided to bestow Lifetime Achievement Awards on the Macarena hit makers Los Del Rio along with Lucecita Benitez, Ilan Chester, Victor Heredia, Guadalupe Pineda, Cuco Valoy and Joao Bosco as a prelude to the 2017 Latin Grammy Awards which will be held in November.

The Corrs announced their much awaited comeback through their seventh studio album Jupiter Calling which shall be preceded with a show at the Royal Albert Hall. The Corrs are not the only ones who had returned to the studio, as Shania Twain announced her fifth studio album Now 14 years after her last album.

Linkin Park announced that a special show in honor of their former member Chester Bennington titled Linkin Park and friends will be held in October to celebrate the life of the 41 year lead vocalist of the band who committed suicide earlier this year.

Meanwhile, Demi Lovato was named a Global Citizen Ambassador at the 2017 Global Citizen Festival. She along with the fund will expansion of a Save the Children pilot program, Healing and Education through the Arts, to violence scarred youth living in Iraq’s Kirkuk and Salah al Din areas.

The latest victims of copyright law suit are Taylor Swift and Mark Ronson. The songwriters behind 3LW’s Playas Gon’ Play Sean Hall and Nathan Butler has sued the female superstar over her hit Shake It Off. This may be a tough one for the songwriters to win as the Copyright Act does not protect short phrases including catchwords, catchphrases, mottoes, slogans or short advertising expressions. Ronson was sued by Lastrada Entertainment Company Ltd, the music publishing house that holds the copyright for Zapp’s More Bounce to the Ounce, which claims that most parts of the 2015 year-end no.1 was copied from Zapp’s 1980 classic. Lastrada is seeking damages of up to USD 150,000 per infringement, a permanent injunction against profiting from the alleged infringement and a jury trial on the matter.

Avril Lavigne has been named the most dangerous person online. Cybersecurity firm McAfee said that Lavigne is the most likely celebrity to land users on websites that carry viruses or malware. Bruno Mars was second on the list followed by Carly Rae Jepsen, Zayn Malik and Celine Dion.

Moving onto chart news, in the US, Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber’s Despacito continued its reign at the top accumulating 16 weeks at the top and tying the record of Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men’s One Sweet Day for the most number of weeks spent at No.1 in the US. Despacito could have broken this record by spending a 17^th week at the top if not for the ascension of Taylor Swift’s Look What You Made Me Do, which soared to the top of the charts with huge sales in its second week. It remained at the top for the remainder of the month. During the month Liam Payne featuring Quavo’s Strip That Down, Yo Gotti featuring Nicki Minaj’s Rake It Up and Logic featuring Alessia Cara and Khalid’s 1-800-273-8255 all entered the top 10.

In the UK, Taylor Swift’s Look What You Made Me Do started off the month at the top which effectively ended the reign of Dua Lipa’s New Rules. Swift was dethroned in the third week by Sam Smith’s Too Good at Goodbyes which ruled for the next two weeks of the month. During the month Demi Lovato’s Sorry Not Sorry, Zayn & Sia’s Dusk Till Dawn and Camila Cabello featuring Young Thug’s Havana all entered the top 10.

Other songs which became popular during the month were:

1.       Taylor Swift – …Ready for it?

2.       Post Malone ft. 21 Savage – Rockstar

3.       Avicii ft. Rita Ora – Lonely together

4.       Macklemore ft. Kesha – Good old days

5.       Mabel ft. Kojo Funds – Finders keepers

6.       Maroon 5 ft. SZA – What lovers do

7.       Khalid – Young, dumb & broke

Till the next beat...

At Ease!!!

Xposition - April 2015

Attention!!!

Well April did have its moments in terms of major drama and breakups. First up, Miley Cyrus split from a five month relationship with Patrick Schwarzeneggar and this was followed by Big Sean and Ariana Grande's breakup. A lame twitter spat between Diplo and LTTE terrorist supporter M.I.A. over her being signed on to a major label was also the subject of unwarranted media hype. 

The 50th Academy of Country Music Awards was held in April where Luke Bryan and Miranda Lambert emerged as the biggest winners of the show. Luke Bryan who co-hosted the show alongside Blake Shelton won the Entertainer of the Year. Miranda Lambert took away the Female Vocalist of the Year and Jason Aldean won the Male Vocalist of the Year. The other winners are:

• Album of the Year: Miranda Lambert - Platinum
• Song of the Year: Miranda Lambert - Automatic
• Vocal Duo of the Year - Florida Georgia Line
• Vocal Group of the Year - Little Big Town
• New Artist of the Year - Cole Swindell
• Single Record of the Year: Lee Brice - I Don't Dance

The 2015 Billboard Latin Music Awards was also held in April where Enrique Iglesias and Romeo Santos ruled the night. Enrique Iglesias took 9 awards including Latin Pop Album of the Year for Sex & Love and his global hit Bailando won the award for Hot Latin Song of the Year, Airplay Song of the Year, Digital Song of the Year, Streaming Song of the Year and Latin Pop Song of the Year. Romeo Santos bagged 10 awards to seal his title as the most nominated artist in the history of the awards. In what seemed a very emotional performance for her, Jennifer Lopez stole the show when she paid tribute to Selena, who was tragically murdered 20 years ago.  The significant winners included:

• Artist of the Year: Romeo Santos
• New Artist of the Year: J. Balvin
• Social Artist of the Year: Shakira
• Hot Latin Songs Male Artist of the Year: Romeo Santos
• Hot Latin Songs Female Artist of the Year: Natalia Jimenez
• Billboard Spirit of Hope Award - Carlos Santana

The 2015 Radio Disney Music Awards were also held in April with performances by Fifth Harmony, Nick Jonas, Sheppard, Natalie La Rose and Shawn Mendes. The Song of the Year went to Ariana Grande ft. Iggy Azalea's Problem while the Hero Award was awarded to Jennifer Lopez. Other winners of the night included:

• Best Female Artist: Ariana Grande
• Best Male Artist: Ed Sheeran
• Best Group: Fifth Harmony
• Best New Artist: Charli XCX
• Best Band: 5 Seconds of Summer
• Best Collaboration: Demi Lovato ft. Cher Lloyd - Really don't care 
• Best Song to Dance To: Taylor Swift - Shake it off 

The much anticipated 2015 Billboard Music Awards are to be held next month with Britney Spears and Iggy Azalea opening the show with her newest single Pretty Girls, which is hyped up to be one of the biggest collaborations this year. Taylor Swift leads the nominations with 14 followed by Sam Smith with 13, Iggy Azalea with 12 and Meghan Trainor with 9. Mariah Carey is also to perform for the first time since 1998 at the show. 

In the US Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars' Uptown Funk ruled for the first three weeks of the month completing 14 weeks at No.1 and tying at second place with 6 other songs behind Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men's One Sweet Day which holds the record for staying 16 weeks at number one. However, Wiz Khalifa ft. Charlie Puth's See You Again taken from the Furious 7 soundtrack dethroned Uptown Funk's reign. This tribute to Fast and the Furious star Paul Walker who died in a tragic car accident in 2013 once again shows that this year the Billboard Hot 100 is more tolerable to soundtracks as it comes in the wake of the success of Ellie Goulding's Love Me Like You Do and The Weeknd's Earned It from the Fifty Shades of Grey soundtrack. Flo Rida ft. Sage the Gemini and Lookas' G.D.F.R., Natalie La Rose ft. Jeremih's Somebody and Walk The Moon's Shut Up and Dance all managed to enter the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. 

In the UK the month started off with Jess Glynne's Hold My Hand at the top the position of which it kept till Wiz Khalifa's See You Again claimed the top spot in the UK as well. During the month Ed Sheeran's Bloodstream, Nick Jonas' Jealous, and OMI's Cheerleader all peaked at No.2. Sia's Elastic Heart also achieved a peak of 10 and Steve McCrorie's Lost Stars a peak of No.4 during the month. 

Some of the other songs that became during the month are:

• Jason Derulo - Want to want me
• David Guetta ft. Afrojack & Nicki Minaj - Hey mama
• Little Big Town - Girl crush
• Skrillex & Diplo ft. Justin Bieber - Where are u now
• Major Lazer & Dj Snake ft. MO - Lean on
• Carly Rae Jepsen - I really like you 
• Iggy Azalea ft. Jennifer Hudson - Trouble 

Till the next beat…

At Ease!!!

Xposition - April 2014

Attention!!!

Well, April was relatively a very mellow and uninteresting month. The only thing that was at least of some interest was the 49th Academy of Country Music Awards held on 6th April and the Billboard Latin Music Awards held on 24th April. Miranda Lambert swept the ACMAs with Female Vocalist of the Year and Record of the Year for Mama's Broken Heart. She also shared the Vocal Event of the Year with Keith Urban for We Were Us. The Entertainer of the Year was George Strait while Lee Brice won the Song of the Year for I Drive Your Truck and Kacey Musgraves won Album of the Year for Same Trailer Different Park. Other significant awards were:

• Male Vocalist of the Year - Jason Aldean
• Vocal Duo of the Year - Florida Georgia Line
• New Artist of the Year - Justin Moore
• Vocal Group of the Year - The Band Perry
• Video of the Year - Highway Don't Care (Tim McGraw ft. Taylor Swift)

Marc Anthony was the top winner at the BLMAs taking 10 awards including Artist of the Year, Latin Album, Hot Latin Song, Digital Song, Latin Airplay Song of the Year for Vivir Mi Vida a track that spent 17 weeks at No.1 on Billboard's Hot Latin Songs. Social Artist of the Year was won by Shakira and Crossover Artist of the Year by Bruno Mars. Andrea Bocelli was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Other significant awards were:

• Vocal Event of the Year - Enrique Iglesias ft. Romeo Santos - Loco
• Producer of the Year - Anthony Romeo Santos
• Latin Rhythm Song of the Year - Daddy Yankee - Limbo
• Streaming Song of the Year - Prince Royce - Darte Un Beso

Pharrell Williams' Happy continued its domination of the Billboard Hot 100 in the US throughout the month without any hint of being overthrown. In the UK Aloe Blacc's The Man peaked in the first week followed by Sigma's Nobody to Love, Kiesza's Hideaway and Mr. Probz's Waves (Robin Schulz Remix). All four songs are not highly mainstream and except for The Man are all dance club tracks. 

DJ Snake & Lil Jon's Turn Down For What finally cracked the top 10 in the US peaking at No.5 which  was the only song to break the dormant Top 10 in April. Cash Cash ft. Bebe Rexha's Take Me Home peaked at No.5 and John Martin finally released a song on his own titled Anywhere For You which peaked at 7. Some other songs that were became popular in the US and UK are:

• Iggy Azalea ft. Charlie XCX - Fancy
• The Vamps - Last Night
• DJ Cassidy ft. Robin Thicke & Jessie J - Calling all hearts
• Neon Jungle - Welcome to the Jungle
• MKTO - Classic
• Rixton - Me and My Broken Heart
• Paramore - Ain't it fun

Til the next beat…

At Ease!!!