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Etcetera * OMG * Universal Music Group

Universal Music Group Distribution Expands Digital Services With Tunecore IPC Media Partners With YouTube To Sell Advertising Around Its Video Content Listener Driven Radio Launches New Software For Radio, Giving Listeners Control PPL's International Team

Sr. Business Development Executive / Universal Music Group / Santa Monica , CA

Sr. Manager, Programming & Editorial / Universal Music Group / Santa Monica , CA

Universal Music Group Distribution expands digital services with Tunecore

Shakira Album Preorder and Instant Download

Sony Comments on the Passing of Michael Jackson

Incubus Monuments and Melodies Out NOW!

NEWS - "Love and War" US Release Announcement

NEWS - J Records Artists Nominated for 5 Teen Choice Awards

NEWS - NEW WHITNEY HOUSTON ALBUM SET FOR RELEASE

NEWS - JAMIE FOXX MAKES HISTORY WITH "BLAME IT!"

NEWS - JAMIE FOXX BREAKS RECORDS!

Fabolous Has Major Beef With Styles P In New Film 'Loso's Way'

Michael Jackson Was The Biological Father Of His Kids, Tito Insists

Why Are Michael Jackson Autopsy Results Taking So Long?

Tim Burton Assembles 'Mysterious Puzzle' For 'Alice In Wonderland'

Will 'New Moon' Soundtrack Include Thom Yorke And Kings Of Leon?

'30 Rock,' 'Mad Men' Lead Emmy Award Nominations

Justin Timberlake scores Emmy nod for his work on 'Saturday Night Live.'
By Eric Ditzian

"30 Rock" stars Jane Krakowski, Alec Baldwin, Tracy Morgan and Tina Fey
Photo: NBC

The big winners from last year's Emmy Awards are looking set to repeat as champs in 2009. "30 Rock," which took home outstanding comedy series at the last show, and "Mad Men," the outstanding drama victor, led the way in total nominations when the list was announced on Thursday morning (July 16). The 61st Primetime Emmy Awards will air live from Los Angeles on Sunday, September 20.

"30 Rock," Tina Fey's NBC comedy about life at an "SNL"-like late-night sketch show, secured 22 nominations this year, including outstanding comedy series, lead actor in a comedy series (Alec Baldwin) and lead actress in a comedy series (Fey). Both Fey and Baldwin triumphed in these categories last year, two of a total of seven wins.

"Mad Men," the retro drama following a '60s-era Madison Avenue ad agency and its scotch-swilling employees, garnered 16 nominations. In addition to its outstanding drama nod, the show's cast was recognized for lead actor in a drama (Jon Hamm) and lead actress in a drama (Elisabeth Moss). The series won six awards in 2008.

"American Idol" was honored with eight nominations, including reality competition and host for a reality or reality-competition show (Ryan Seacrest). That total is up from nods in five categories last year, one of which the program won.

"How I Met Your Mother" actor Neil Patrick Harris will host the show, following on the success of his emcee job for the Tony Awards in June. He was also nominated in the outstanding supporting actor in a comedy category for his work in "HIMYM."

A recent rule change increased the total number of nominees in the major categories. Joining "30 Rock" in the best comedy series category are "Entourage," "Family Guy," "Flight of the Conchords," "HIMYM," "The Office" and "Weeds." Competing with "Mad Men" in the best drama series are "Big Love," "Breaking Bad," "Damages," "Dexter," "House" and "Lost."

"The Colbert Report" and "The Daily Show" will do battle for outstanding variety, music or comedy Series, as will "Late Show With David Letterman," "Real Time With Bill Maher" and "Saturday Night Live."

Justin Timberlake was nominated for guest actor for his work on "Saturday Night Live." (He and Andy Samberg won an Emmy in 2007 for "D--- in a Box.")

As well as "Idol," the contestants for best reality competition are "The Amazing Race," "Dancing With the Stars," "Project Runway" and "Top Chef."

Amy Winehouse Granted Divorce From Blake Fielder-Civil

Singer's headline-making marriage ends after two years.
By Gil Kaufman

Amy Winehouse and Blake Fielder-Civil
Photo: Shirlaine Forrest/ WireImage

After a tumultuous union filled with arrests, public spats and accusations of drug abuse, the turbulent marriage of British singer Amy Winehouse and onetime muse Blake Fielder-Civil ended on Thursday (July 16). The Associated Press reported that neither Winehouse, 25, nor Fielder-Civil, 27, were present when a judge granted the divorce petition at a brief Family Court hearing. The divorce becomes final after six weeks and a day, ending a marriage that provided dozens of international headlines and, according to sources close to Winehouse, nearly helped to write the epitaph for the troubled singer.

The couple, who met in a London bar in 2005, were married in a simple ceremony in front of a few friends in Miami in 2007 but spent much of their wedded life apart, as Fielder-Civil was arrested six months later on an assault charge and sent to jail.

Winehouse's father, Mitch Winehouse, has frequently accused music video production assistant Fielder-Civil for introducing his daughter to hard drugs, and the couple's up-and-down relationship made for plenty of tabloid headlines. Winehouse mined her misery over Fielder-Civil's early abandonment of their relationship for material on her multi-Grammy-winning breakthrough Back to Black, crying in her beer on songs including the album's title track. In interviews, Winehouse frequently spoke of her breathless love for her often disheveled Blake, and the couple appeared inseparable during the international promotional blitz for Black that made Winehouse a household name.

In addition to the reported drug use, Winehouse was famously caught on video carving the words "I Love Blake" into her stomach with a shard of glass, and during an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, she displayed photos of the couple passing pills to each other with their tongues.

But the Sid-and-Nancy-style love affair was also accompanied by photos of heated arguments that ended with both sporting bruises and scratches, as well as an arrest in Norway in October 2007 for marijuana possession; the couple were released with a fine. Just months after the wedding, Fielder-Civil was arrested on charges of suspicion of attacking a bar landlord and attempting to bribe him to drop the allegation. Following his incarceration, Winehouse was frequently seen wandering the streets of her Camden neighborhood in a daze, and she subsequently canceled a U.S. tour.

Fielder-Civil was released from prison in February and shortly after filed for divorce on claims of Winehouse's infidelity; she acknowledged adultery and said she would not contest the divorce. The AP reported that the divorce papers filed with the court stated that he found living with Winehouse "intolerable."

Winehouse recently returned to England after several months of living on the Caribbean island of St. Lucia, where she was reported to be working on the long-awaited follow-up to Back to Black.

• Amy Winehouse

PS22 Chorus Becomes Famous, Focused Through Pop-Song Covers

'We met Rihanna,' one young singer marvels. 'How many kids like us, our age, got to meet her?'
By Steven Roberts, with reporting by Sway Calloway

PS22 Chorus and Sway
Photo: MTV News

The young singers of Staten Island, New York's PS22 Chorus have been part of the feel-good story of the year.

Internet videos of the fourth- and fifth-graders performing covers of Lady Gaga's "Just Dance," Coldplay's "Viva la Vida," Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" and other pop songs have propelled them into the national spotlight. The chorus has been featured on "Good Morning America" and within the pages of The New York Times.

It might not have been possible without the foresight of chorus director Gregg Breinberg, who the kids affectionately call "Mr. B." Breinberg posted videos of the chorus covering Tori Amos songs, which caught the attention of the singer's fans, including Perez Hilton.

"Perez Hilton has been a huge fan," Breinberg said. "He's really supported us from the beginning. He's the one who really got these kids on the map."

The New York school system has been in a budget crunch, and many schools have been forced to eliminate music programs. The singers' online fame has helped keep the chorus intact.

"These kids need to know that there are other options for them aside from being a reader or a mathematician," he said. "Some people — children, adults — are not meant to be wonderful readers, wonderful mathematicians. Does that mean they have nothing else to contribute to our society? Absolutely not."

Breinberg said learning music can also lend itself to learning other subjects. Breinberg incorporated math into the music curriculum using rhythm equations.

One of his students, Alexandra Stein, said it helped a lot. "Math has just gotten easier for me," she said. "Mr. B is always telling us to focus, and ... when we get into class, we focus some more."

Fifth-grader Justin Restrepo also said his newfound focus is paying off. "He motivates us, because after we do everything, all the work, we always get rewarded at the end," he said. "We met Rihanna. How many kids like us, our age, got to meet her?"

• Meet The PS22 Chorus

Michael Jackson Dominates Charts For Third Week

Fans buy more than 1.1 million Jackson albums in week of memorial.
By Gil Kaufman

Photo: Sam Yeh/ AFP/ Getty Image

Michael Jackson fans still can't get enough. In addition to tuning in to last Tuesday's all-star memorial to the late King of Pop by the tens of millions, they also hit record stores to buy 1.1 million Jackson albums in the week ending on Sunday (July 12).

According to figures provided by Nielsen SoundScan, that represents the third straight week of double- and triple-digit gains for Jackson's catalog since his death on June 25, with sales moving up 37 percent over last week, when the singer's catalog moved nearly 800,000 units. Billboard reported that in the past two and a half weeks, U.S. record buyers have snapped up more than 2.3 million Jackson albums.

As stores continue to stock up on physical copies of the singer's catalog, the album that remains the best seller is the Number Ones collection, which, according to preliminary numbers, sold 349,000 copies on the Top Pop Catalog Albums chart. None of the Jackson compilations on the charts are eligible for the Top 200 chart because they've been out for more than 18 months and do not currently have a single at radio.

In fact, Jackson occupied the top 12 spots on the Catalog chart, with a combination of solo and Jackson 5 albums, with his seminal Thriller sliding in at #2 on sales of 264,000, an increase of 41 percent over the previous week, followed by the Essential Michael Jackson comp with 149,000 (up 18 percent) and his breakthrough solo album Off the Wall, which moved 107,000 copies (a 108 percent jump).

At #5 is Bad (97,000, up 332 percent), followed by Dangerous (67,000, up 157 percent) and the Jackson 5's Ultimate Collection at #7 (34,000, up 239 percent). The Jackson 5 Millennium Collection is at #8 (17,000, up 280 percent), with the solo Vol. 1 — Greatest Hits HIStory at #9 (15,000, up 98 percent) and HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book 1 rounding out the top 10 (14,000, up 153 percent).

Jackson also holds down the #11 and #12 spots with, respectively, his final official solo album Invincible (14,000, up 61 percent) and a solo Ultimate Collection (7,000), the only title to lose a bit of ground, shedding 26 percent of its previous week's business.

As they did last week, the top three Jackson catalog albums easily bested the top four discs on the contemporary chart, including Maxwell's #1 debut with his comeback bid, BLACKsummers'night, which moved 316,000 copies, the Hannah Montana 3 soundtrack (137,000), the Now 31 compilation (100,000) and the chart debut of the latest from Maryland pop punkers All Time Low (62,000).

And though his digital sales have cooled over the past week, Jackson still had 17 digital tracks in the top 40 of the Hot Digital Tracks chart, led by his de facto theme song in death, "Man in the Mirror," which held steady at #3 on sales of 130,000. In total, Billboard reported that Jackson sold 2.5 million digital tracks in North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand over the past week.

For complete coverage of the life, career and passing of the legendary entertainer, visit "Michael Jackson Remembered."

Share your Michael Jackson memories by uploading video and comments to Your.MTV.com or joining the discussion below.

• Michael Jackson In His Own Words: The Music Videos
• Michael Jackson: The Memorial
• Michael Jackson's Video Legacy

• Michael Jackson: A Life In Photos
• Michael Jackson: A Fashion Icon
• Michael Jackson's Public Memorial At Staples Center

• Michael Jackson

Drake Recalls Family Turmoil, Making 'Successful'

Plus: We list 25 essential songs midway through 2009, in Mixtape Daily.
By Shaheem Reid

Drake
Photo: Young Money

Man — 2009 is halfway over already? The years go by so quick. As always, though, we're here to document everything. All this week, in addition to our regular coverage, we're going to be highlighting all the impact players in the mixtape circuit so far this year. Who had the biggest mixtape? What MC was the most consistent? What albums have we kept in rotation? Rappers, DJs, producers, shows — we've got the best of the best of this year thus far. Today, we take a look at the making of "Successful," as well as listing other essentially dope records of the year (up to this point.). Stay with us all week.

Mid-Season Salute: Drake's "Successful"

Drake's "Successful" is one of our favorite songs of the year thus far. Guest Trey Songz's hook expresses the dreams of a young black male coming from nothing to something, and Drake's raps put the hip-hop nation on notice, while conveying his own desperation and hope and revealing family struggles. Let's not forget Lil Wayne's magnificent at bat as cleanup hitter: "Tired of hearing bullsh--/ Bring on the cow sh--/ Haven't met a smell that's stankier than our sh--." It's not a record that will kill the clubs, but when you just want to listen to superb lyricism and enthralling harmony, it's a must have.

"I remember hearing the record and the drums coming together, and they were just so rocking," Drake recalled. "It has this pocket, and there was no melody yet. I remember [producer Noah '40' Shebib] kind of making the joint, and then he hit this sound, which is the chords that are in there. It was so eerie. Like it was haunting, almost. I was like, 'Yo, that's it. You need to use that.' He started playing this patch, and just every note that he played fell into place. I had this beat sitting here that I love so much, and I didn't know what to do with it. I loved it. Sometimes, as an artist, you find a musical piece that you love so much, you want to do it justice. It's a very overwhelming feeling at times. I actually turned to Trey Songz, and I was like, 'Yo, I got this joint, and I know how it makes me feel. I just don't know how to say it the right way.' "

"Drake told me back in January he was gonna do another mixtape," Songz told us. "At first, he was calling me about interludes and trying to segue his singing into his rapping. That didn't work out, because we couldn't come to terms about what records I was going to be on. Then he sent me this track one night. I was in the studio when he sent it. He said, 'Let me know what you think about it.' It was simplistic, but it knocks. It's eerie, it's dark. The first thing I laid down was the gothic, reverb-driven harmony: 'arrrgh, arrrgh, arrrgh.' I couldn't think of what I wanted to hear on it, so I did a whole bunch of harmonies."

Trey then called Drake to see what direction Drizzy wanted to go in. Unable to come up with a concrete game plan, Trey took things into his own hands.

"The first thing that came to mind was 'I want the money, money and the cars/ Cars and the clothes/ The ho's/ I suppose I just wanna be, I just wanna be successful,' " Trey remembered. "When I'm saying all that, conceptually for me, the deepest part of the record was when I say, 'I suppose.' I supposed that's what success is about. That's what [we're] led to believe."

"I opened it up in my e-mail, and I heard this hook, and it was so powerful to me, because he says all these things: 'I want the money, money and the cars,' " Drake thought back. "And it's like, it's almost like it made me feel like it may not be right what I want, you know? All these things, it's like it made me feel young. It kind of made me feel ignorant to the game. But it was an exciting record even though the tempo is slow. That's what I want. That's what I've been told is success: 'The money, the cars, the clothes and the ho's. I suppose.' The 'I suppose' moment in there is like, it's almost like you're doubting yourself for a second. But at the end of the day, I just want to be successful. So that's what the record meant to me."

One of the record's most endearing and revealing points comes when Drake speaks about his relationship with his mother. "My mother tried to run away from home, but I left something in the car, so I caught her in the driveway," he raps. "And she cried to me, so I cried too/ And my stomach was soaking wet, she's only 5'2."

"When I was going through the creative process for So Far Gone, I was actually at a pretty dark place in my life," Drake explained. "It was a frustrating time for my family, because my grandmother — who is now in her mid- to late 90s — was just losing it. It was hard for my mother to watch. And it was just, it was really at a point where it was like, 'Is this rap thing going to work?' Like, 'Is this my choice? Is this what I am committing to?' Money was an issue. 'Degrassi' [which Drake starred on as a teen] had ended years ago, and we were just all kind of trying to figure stuff out.

"So my mother was going through a rough time," he continued. "And yeah, man, one night she just broke down and tried to actually run away from the house, tried to leave it all behind. It was just a lot going on, and she never would have really left. She would've always come back, but it was just a frustrating moment for her. So I had forgot something in my car, and I came outside and I saw bags sitting by her car. I saw her out there, and she just started crying right away when she saw me. Anyway, I don't wanna get too emotional, but I had to hug her. My father doesn't stay with us, so I had to be security for her and just let her know that everything is going to be all right."

25 Essential Records Midway Through 2009

» Kanye West (featuring Young Jeezy) - "Amazing"
» Drake - "Best I Ever Had"
» Jamie Foxx (featuring T-Pain) - "Blame It"
» Gucci Mane - "Bricks"
» Jay-Z - "Brooklyn Go Hard"
» DJ Webstar (featuring Jim Jones and Juelz Santana) - "Dancing on Me"
» Jay-Z - "D.O.A."
» Lil Wayne and Young Money - "Every Girl"
» Cam'ron - "Get It in Ohio"
» Hurricane Chris (featuring Superstarr) - "Halle Berry (She's Fine)"
» Red Cafe - "Hottest in the Hood"
» Jadakiss (featuring Faith Evans) - "Letter to B.I.G."
» OJ Da Juiceman (featuring Gucci Mane) - "Make the Trap Say Aye"
» Rick Ross (featuring John Legend) - "Magnificent"
» Young Jeezy (featuring Jay-Z) - "My President" remix
» 50 Cent - "OK, You're Right"
» Jadakiss (featuring Styles P) - "One More Step"
» Plies - "Plenty Money"
» Busta Rhymes (featuring Jadakiss and Young Jeezy) - "Respect My Conglomerate"
» The-Dream (featuring Juelz Santana, Ludacris, Rick Ross and Fabolous) - "Rockin' That Sh--" remix
» Rick Ross (featuring Avery Storm) - "Rich Off Cocaine"
» F.L.Y. - "Swag Surfin' "
» GS Boyz - "Stanky Leg"
» Fabolous (featuring The-Dream) - "Throw It in the Bag"
» Soulja Boy Tell'em - "Turn My Swag On"

For other artists featured in Mixtape Daily, check out Mixtape Daily Headlines.

• Mixtape Daily: 50 Cent, Drake, Gucci Mane
• MTV News RAW: Drake

• Drake

BET Networks Celebrates the Incomparable Life of Musical Genius and Entertainer Michael Jackson on Tuesday, July 7 Beginning at 9:00 A.M.*

The 'BET AWARDS '09' Stands as the #1 Cable Telecast of the Year, Drawing Almost 10.7 Million Total Viewers

The 'BET AWARDS '09' Pays Tribute to Michael Jackson and Honors the Best in Music, Sports and Entertainment, Including Jamie Foxx, Beyonce, Lil Wayne, Ne-Yo, Keri Hilson and LeBron James

BET Networks Pays Tribute to Michael Jackson with Three Days of Special Programming

Tune In... BET AWARDS '09 - Featuring the Brightest Stars of Music, Sports and Entertainment - Premieres Sunday, June 28 at 8:00 P.M.*

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