Preview: MTV Unplugged With Katy Perry

The MTV Unplugged is coming back and will feature Katy Perry. The CD/DVD pack will be hitting stores on November 17th.

Katy recorded the MTV Unplugged performance at MTV’s Times Square studios in New York on July 22, 2009.

She included a cover of Fountains of Wayne’s ‘Hackensack’ in the show and a never before original tiled ‘Brick By Brick’.

Check out a preview to see what you can expect –

‘New Moon’ Exclusive Song Premiere: Lykke Li, ‘Possibility’

The “Twilight: New Moon” soundtrack’s release date was just moved up to Oct. 16 and we’ve got one of the tracks for you to check out.

Swedish alt-pop singer/songwriter Lykke Li’s contribution to “New Moon” is “Possbility,” a haunting piece of chamber pop that finds her humming over a hymnal drone and stark, metronomic piano line. “There’s a possibility all that I had was all I gon’ get,” Li sings through thick echoes. “So tell me when you hear my heart stop/You’re the only one that knows/Tell me when you hear my silence/There’s a possibility/ I wouldn’t know.”

Li, who recently ended a world tour in support of her debut album, “Youth Novels,” recently blogged about her contribution to the “New Moon” soundtrack. “I got to see ['New Moon'] when I was in LA for a show and an idea immediately rose to my mind,” said the singer. “It would take a few weeks before I even had a chance to sit down by a piano but then suddenly I wrote it while having a few days off in Sweden just coming out of a fever…I’m really proud of it and hope you will love it and need it.”

The “Twilight: New Moon” soundtrack also features indie darlings Bon Iver and St. Vincent in a duet entitled “Roslyn,” as well as songs by Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke, Brooklyn band Grizzly Bear, U.K. outfit Muse and rockers Death Cab for Cutie, who claimed the lead single with “Meet Me on the Equinox.”

Check out Lykke Li’s ‘Possibility’ –

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New Moon Soundtrack To Be Released A Week Early

Due to high demand, the Twilight Saga: New Moon soundtrack will be released on October 16th, one week earlier than originally planned.

Chop Shop/Atlantic, the label releasing the soundtrack, said the demands of fans were “overwhelming and unprecedented.”

The Backstreet Boys Live On The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brian

The Backstreet Boys performed their new single ‘Straight Through My Heart’ live at The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brian. Did anyone buy their new album? I’m just curious because I don’t know if I’m supposed to be excited or not…

New Music: Idol’s Allison Iraheta ‘Friday I’ll Be Over You’

Former American Idol contestant, Allison Iraheta, has just released her highly anticipated debut single ‘Friday I’ll Be Over You’. This is the first single off her still untitled upcoming album, which is expected to be out December 1st.

‘Friday I’ll Be Over You’ was produced by hit-maker Max Martin (Kelly Clarkson’s ‘Since U Been Gone’). Allison has also reportedly been working with Kevin Rudolf and Evanescence’s ex-member David Hodges on her debut album.

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So will this launch Allison from reality show contestant to chart topping artist?

Music Review: Madonna ‘Celebration’

Madonna’s recent release of “Celebration,” the Queen of Pop’s compilation of her greatest hits, may have its cons but overall is worthy of purchase by any mild to semi-spicy Madonna fan. The 36 tracks that made the cut for the 2 disc album were chosen by both the legendary singer and her fans, which in itself makes “Celebration” all the more likeable. My first reaction with “Celebration” was a yay! for the choice of both her opening and ending tracks. The first disc begins with a bang with “Hung Up,” a personal favorite of Madonna’s in her recent years which succeeds as an excellent party dance track. I also love her choice of her recent single “Celebration” to close the album, which compliments “Hung Up” and helps shape the album’s journey in a lovely arc. Although the song is simple and repetitive, “Celebration” is a showcase of Madonna’s talent and understanding for the dance genre.

For the mild to medium Madonna fan, this album will be a perfect fit, as it includes her most played hits, like “Material Girl,” “Like a Virgin,” “Holiday,” and “Ray of Light.” All songs on the 2 discs have been remastered and edited, perhaps not to everyone’s liking. “4 Minutes” has been edited down to just over 3 minutes, with the dramatic opening cut completely. However, the songs do sound of prime quality and will please the casual Madonna listener’s ears.

Although I see one of the strongest features of “Celebration” to be the order of the selected songs, as they really give a story to the journey of Madonna’s career and changing sound, I realize that the album has a few downsides for the spiciest of Madonna’s fans. For those who have followed her music with a passionate devotion, there is sure to be disappointment at the absence of some of her more obscure yet beloved songs, such as “True Blue” and “Human Nature.” Also, as all tracks have been remastered and edited, some of the classic tunes may have lost a quality that the originals held.

While “Celebration” may be more of an unenthusiastic woohoo for the spicy Madonna fan, I feel it’s a great choice for your car ride or a night with friends, and is most definitely a great selection for those casual fans or those who’ve been harboring a longtime secret love for the Queen of Pop.

Flavor of fans to buy: Mild to moderately spicy

What do you think of Madonna’s new album ‘Celebration’? Vote HERE!

All-Star Line Up for ‘A Very Special Christmas’ Album

A Very Special Christmas Volume 7 has gathered an impressive list of celebrity all-stars for its upcoming release on November 24th to benefit the Special Olympics.

Colbie Caillat, Miley Cyrus, Kellie Pickler, Ashley Tisdale, Carrie Underwood, Charice, Kristinia DeBarge, Gloriana, Vanessa Hudgens, Sean Kingston, Leighton Meester, Mitchel Musso, and Carter Twins have all contributed to the acclaimed Christmas series.

A Very Special Christmas Volume 7, released through the Universal Music Enterprises, features original recordings of new and traditional Christmas songs which each artist selected especially for this album.

“This is a fantastic Christmas record created by and for a new generation that wants to make the world a better place,” said Timothy Shriver, Chairman and CEO of Special Olympics. “The songs on A Very Special Christmas Volume 7 have all the freshness and energy of the talented artists who recorded them. Through the spirit of their musical performances, these young recording stars bring the same passion and dedication to Special Olympics that our athletes display every day of their lives.”

A Very Special Christmas series has generated more than $l00 million for Special Olympics, the most ever raised by a benefit recording series.

Details On The Backstreet Boys New Album

New details have emerged regarding the upcoming album This Is Us from the Backstreet Boys, which is due out October 6th.

Check out the tracklist –

1. Straight Through My Heart
2. Bigger
3. Bye Bye Love
4. All Of Your Life (You Need Love)
5. If I Knew Then
6. This Is Us
7. PDA
8. Masquerade
9. Shes A Dream
10. Shattered
11. Undone
12. International Luv *Japan Bonus
13. Straight Through My Heart (Jason Nevins Remix) *Bonus

Are you excited for another BSB album? Or is it time for them to retire?

TEENS CONTINUE TO SPEND LESS MONEY ON MUSIC

I don’t know about you guys but I definitely don’t buy c.d’s like I used to. I still think its fun to buy a new cd that one of your favorite artists puts out once in awhile. I don’t really listen to music on the internet. I mainly just buy songs on iTunes, rarely do I purchase an entire c.d. I know millions of people download songs illegally, but I am too paranoid to do that! I swear the day I do is the day they track me down and arrest me! Hahaha. I found this interesting article (below) on www.Billboard.com. I wonder if there is anything that can save the music industry.

By Glenn Peoples/Billboard.com

Teens are buying fewer downloads, using P2P less frequently and listening to more music streams, according to a new report by NPD Group. NPD found that CD purchasing declined by 26% in 2008 while download purchases fell 13%. In contrast, more than half of teens in the survey listened to online radio in 2008 (an increase from 38% in 2007) and downloading or streaming music on social networks rose to 46% from 26%. The share of teens that listened to satellite radio also increased. Read the NPD press release here.

Those who see file-sharing as the bane of the music industry’s existence will be pleased to know NPD found the quantity of files acquired by teens through P2P networks fell 6% in 2008.

These trends are not out of line with global trends cited in other studies. A recent Ipoque study found similar trends in streaming and P2P usage. Global P2P traffic as a share of all Internet traffic, it found, had decreased in 2008. Similar to the streaming trend noted by NPD, Ipoque found streaming video was taking over P2P use. The Ipoque study, as have other studies, also found that file hosting sites were increasingly popular. Such sites, which allow people to share download links to files uploaded on remote servers, host much copyrighted content but tend to fly under the radar since file-sharing networks capture more of the content industry’s attention. It stands to reason that an increase in file-hosting sites would decrease the share of other content sources.

The new NPD report is quite different than the one it issued last year. U.S. consumers acquired 6% more music in 2007 than in the prior year, according to a February 2008 NPD Group report. But because of the imbalance between the value of those formats, consumers spent 10% less money.

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