Taylor Swift Receives Top Global Recording Artist Honor

Swift received the honor based on world wide sales for her blockbuster album, "1989," which has sold over 8.6 million copies across the globe and topped the Billboard chart in the U.S. for 11 weeks.

IFPI Chief Executive Frances Moore had the following to say, "Congratulations to Taylor Swift. She merits this result as she is a hardworking and talented performer who has an amazing ability to connect with audiences worldwide. This IFPI award reflects the global popularity of recording artists across the diverse ways in which fans choose to listen to music today."

Taylor beat out last year's winner One Direction (no. 2), Ed Sheeran (no. 3), Coldplay (no. 4), AC/DC (no. 5), Michael Jackson (no. 6), Pink Floyd (no. 7), Sam Smith (no. 8) and Katy Perry (no. 9).

J. Cole Reveals Forest Hills Drive Tour Details

Act 1: Hometown will be hitting smaller venues and will feature support from Bas and Cozz. While J. Cole only announced the dates and the routing, Bas and Cozz revealed the venues information as well.

The spring tour leg will be kicking off on March 3rd in Eugene, OR at the McDonald Theatre and will be concluding on April 7th in Providence, RI at Lupos.

Act 2: The Journey will feature support from Jhene Aiko, Pusha T, and Bas and Cozz when it hits Europe this spring with dates scheduled in the UK, Germany, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, France, and Belgium.

Act 3: Hollywood is set to be a summer amphitheatre tour that will feature support from Big Sean, YG, Jeremih, and Bas and Cozz. The summer leg will be launching on July 12th in Seattle, WA at the White River Amphitheatre and concluding on August 28th in Denver, Co at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre. A concert in Toronto is planned with details still to be announced. See the tour dates here.

Sam Smith Announces North American Summer Tour

The North American summer tour will be kicking off at the Forecastle Festival in Louisville, KY on July 17th, followed by the first date of the headline trek the next day in Charlotte, North Carolina at the Time Warner Cable Arena.

The new tour leg will include stops in Florida, Maryland, Ontario, Ohio, Missouri, Colorado, Utah, British Columbia, Washington, California and Texas and will conclude on August 17th in Grand Prairie, TX at the Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie. See the tour dates here.

Lady Gaga Joined By Julie Andrews During Oscars Performance

Mother Monster, wearing an elegant white gown by Azzedine Ala�a-who, as she noted on Twitter, designed all three of her Oscar looks, marking the designer's first time at the awards-channeled Julie Andrews for a medley that included "The Sound of Music," "My Favorite Things," "Edelweiss" and "Climb Ev'ry Mountain."

We all know Gaga was a theater kid, but this proved we need to get her back on the stage. Broadway remake of Sound of Music, anyone? At the end of the performance, Andrews walked out and the whole world got the pleasure of hearing Maria say "Lady Gaga" in her perfectly British accent.

Watch the video of her performance here.

Passion Pit Announce North American Tour

The tour is scheduled to kick off on March 13th in New Orleans and will conclude with an appearance at this year's BottleRock Festival in Napa, Ca on May 30th. Coin & Holychild will be support on select dates.

Passion Pit will also be making appearances at music festivals this summer including WayHome Music & Arts Festival in Oro Medonte, ON in July and Summer Sonic in Tokyo, Japan in August.

Their new album, entitled ' Kindred" is scheduled to be released on April 21st. So far the group has revealed two singles from the project, "Lifted Up (1985)" and "Where the Sky Hangs." See the tour dates here.

Lorde Making New Album Plans

According to Billboard, Lorde will be in the studio within a few weeks to begin work on what will be her sophomore album, the follow-up to 2013's Pure Heroine.

During an interview with Australia's Triple J radio network, Lorde's producer Joel Little revealed the big news, saying that he would be joining the singer in the studio to start working on new recordings.

"That's the plan, basically," he said. "We're just going to start writing some songs. We haven't got some planned out 'this is what it's going to sound like.' I think we're just going to start writing and when it starts to feel right, we'll know that it's right. It's pretty simple really." Read more here.

Wale and Meek Mill End Beef And Team Up In The Studio

That olive branch has turned into a collaborative tree, with both Wale and Meek Mill posting the same Instagram photo from working together in studio.

No word on where, when, or if this collaboration will surface, as it could conceivably pop up on the next album from either of these rappers, or possibly for something else entirely. Wale has already announced his next LP, The Album About Nothing, expected on March 31. Meek Mill is currently working on his next album, Dreams Worth More Than Money, which does not have a scheduled release as of yet. See the photo here.

alt-J Release 'Pusher' Video

But since, the band has been a little more quiet (which is often the case after an album comes out), and their new video for "Pusher" is a pleasant reminder of their recent album release, and the fact that the band will be back on the festival circuit in the spring, including an appearance at Coachella.

The clip, directed by Thomas Rhazi, finds a man giving a mysterious (and French) speech in a field, while the camera pans in a circular motion. Strangeness abounds, including a quick glimpse at what appears to be a dead body in a car. As the camera closes in on the speaker, things take a pretty shocking turn.

One Youtube user has translated the French to say "The truth, nor mercy, no pity, violence leads to murder after murder, we can't �. We can't � We..ARRRRG." Watch the video here.

T.I. and Young Thug Release Fast and Furious Collaboration

The beat sounds not entirely unlike the starting roar of some gleaming push-to-start monstrosity. This makes sense, because--as ever with this franchise--speed is the order of the day. Young Thug revvs his off-the-cuff adlibs up to double-time, while T.I. praises his plug for delivering his drugs "andale."

The Fast and Furious soundtrack hits shelves on March 17, and also features songs from the likes of Kid Ink, Tyga, YG, Wiz Khalifa, Sevyn Streeter, Prince Royce, Kevin Gates, Flo Rida and more. Check out the song here.

Kelly Clarkson Releases New Song Written By Sia

In the track Clarkson shows off the very high end of her impressive vocal range, hitting some notes that certainly make her invincible among female pop singers. The song tells the story of a little girl becoming a woman, coming into her own and discovering a sense of self-worth: in short, it's territory Clarkson has covered before that has a new ring now that she's a mother.

Fans who want the track right now can pre-order the album to get it along with a "seven piece lyric card puzzle housed in a custom holographic foil stamped box" and an early access code to buy tickets to her as-yet-unannounced tour. Listen to the new song here.

fun.'s Nate Ruess Releases New Solo Single "Nothing Without Love"

But while Bleachers finds Antonoff heading in slightly different directions than that of his usual band (think Springsteen to the max), Ruess' new song is fairly typical of his usual band, though part of that is owed to the singer's voice being all over the song. Melodically and instrumentally, Ruess is in his wheelhouse, particularly with the theatrics on the choir-backed post-chorus breakdown.

In the clip, Ruess is first found floating, head barely above the water, singing the tune's chorus a cappella. He's then in a field, a big city alongside strangers or back underwater--but no matter where he goes, he's eventually joined by a lover.

It's the first single from his upcoming new album, scheduled for release this summer. Check out the song here.

'Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me' Documentary Coming To TV

According to The Hollywood Reporter via Billboard, the major news network is partnering with the James Keach-directed film to help raise awareness for Alzheimer's disease, which the country legend was diagnosed with right before his Rhinestone Cowboy's 2012 Goodbye Tour.

"We look forward to having the Campbells' brave story - unfortunately familiar to too many American families--on CNN," co-producer Trevor Albert told THR. "This partnership will guarantee that millions of people will have the opportunity to see our movie and understand just how important it is to both raise awareness--and find an end--to Alzheimer's disease." Read more here.

Iggy Azalea Remixes Tinashe's 'All Hands on Deck'

Azalea's verse doesn't challenge any of the conventions of her own repertoire--the Australian rap star lays down a piece of all-star level bragging, positioning herself as a reigning force in music.

'Far as fashion and this rappin', I'm who run it now/ Walk-throughs cost a hundred thou/ Yo, I'm Iggy, ow," she spits. Take a listen to the "All Hands Of Deck" remix here.

Sesame Street Parodies House of Cards

"Some people say there's too much pork in this town," the clip's description begins. "Frank Underwolf could not agree more. And that is why Mr. Underwolf is on a mission to huff and puff and blow down all the little pigs' houses. In this town, you have to know which way the wind is blowing, and unfortunately, for those little piggies, it's about to get very windy."

As part of Sesame Street's Season 45, the cast also parodies Game of Thrones in what it calls Game of Chairs. In the upcoming episode, Grover competes to be king or queen by playing a suspenseful game of musical chairs.

Watch the parody here.

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