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Day in Pop Report for 01/27/2015


American Idol Winner Vs American Idol Producers
Phillip Phillips, the champion of season 11 of American Idol has filed a legal petition with the California Labor Commissioner against the show's producer 19 Entertainment and their affiliated companies.

In the petition filed last week, Philips is seeking to void his various agreements with the production company, with his attorney claiming that they are "oppressive, fatally conflicted," according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Two of the singer's complaints against the company, according to the report, are that he was forced to perform for free for one of American Idol's sponsors JetBlue and he was not informed of the title to his latest album until it was publicly announced.

"I am very grateful for the opportunities provided to me through appearing on American Idol," Phillip said in a statement published by The Hollywood Reporter. "The value that the fans and the show have given to my career is not lost on me.

"However, I have not felt that I have been free to conduct my career in a way that I am comfortable with. I look forward to being able to make my own choices about my career and to being able to make great music and play it for my fans."

Read the report for more details here.

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Sam Smith Ordered To Pay Tom Petty Songwriting Royalties
(Radio.com) Tom Petty won't back down from a fight over songwriting credits. Just ask Sam Smith. Smith was ordered to pay Petty royalties for his hit single "Stay With Me." Why you ask?

Because Petty's lawyers felt the song sounded a little too similar to their client's 1989 track "I Won't Back Down." And the UK courts agree. Smith has reportedly agreed to pay a 12.5% writing credit to Petty and Jeff Lynne of ELO, who helped write "I Won't Back Down." An exact amount however has not been revealed.

Smith and Petty settled this dispute out of court in October with "no mud slinging," but news of the settlement was revealed over this past weekend, according to Consequence of Sound (via The Sun).

'After it was pointed out to Sam's camp, they didn't try to fight it and amicably dished out royalties," a source told The Sung. "It wasn't a deliberate thing, musicians are just inspired by other artists and Sam and his team were quick to hold up their hand when it was officially flagged."

If you were to check who wrote "Stay With Me" right now on ASCAP it now lists Smith, Petty, Lynne and composer Jimmy Napes, as the official songwriters.

Read more and listen to both songs to see if you hear the similarity here.

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AWOLNATION Announce New Album and Release Video
AWOLNATION have announced that they will be releasing their sophomore album, "Run," on March 17th and they are giving fans an early taste of the effort with the release of a new music video.

The new studio album, the follow-up to their hit debut "Megalithic Symphony," was written, performed and produced by the group's mastermind Aaron Bruno.

"There is not one second on the record that hasn't been thoughtfully placed," said Bruno in the new album announcement. "Every single element serves a purpose."

AWOLNATION are preparing fans for the album release with the album's first single "Hollow Moon (Bad Wolf)." The music video for the track was shot in one take by director Haley Young. Watch it here.

The group has already announced several live appearances in support of the new album. They have booked a handful of European dates and announced North American festival appearances including Bonnaroo, BottleRock Music Festival and the Pot of Gold Music Festival in Tempe, Az.

Check out the tracklisting and the tour dates here.

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Kelly Clarkson Reveals Release Date For New Album
Kelly Clarkson fans will not have to wait much longer for the follow-up to 2011's "Stronger" as the original American idol champion has revealed the release date for her new studio album.

Clarkson's new album, entitled "Piece By Piece," is scheduled to hit music retailers and digital music outlets on March 3rd. Fans are getting an early taste of the album with the release of the single "Heartbreak Song".

While not many details about album, including guest appearances, have been revealed, Clarkson gave fans a clue earlier this month via Twitter, "Oh and people also keep asking about the duet on the record. Here's a hint ....this wasn't our first time to sing together :)"

Watch the lyric video for "Heartbreak Song" here.

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Miley Cyrus Thought Grammy Nomination Was A Joke
Miley Cyrus was surprised when she learned that her album, "Bangerz", was nominated for a Grammy Award but she is not worrying about winning or losing at the annual awards ceremony.

The former Disney star shared her reaction to learning that the album was nominated for the Best Pop Vocal Album with Entertainment Tonight. "I thought it was a joke.

"My friend was in my room and said, 'Hey! You just got nominated for a Grammy,' and I was like, 'You're kidding� there's no way.' I Googled and I was like, 'Oh yeah! I am, I actually am!'"

Cyrus also shared that she is not really concerned about winning the award. "I'm pretty mellow with that kind of stuff," she said. "I'm not a pessimist but I'm just saying I won't be crying myself to sleep if I don't win a Grammy. You know?"

She tells ET that right now she is more focused on working on the follow-up to "Bangerz". "I'm trying to get this stuff out ASAP," she told them. "I'm working on it!" She added, "I'm in the studio every day at my house."

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Lil Wayne and Migos Release New Song 'Amazing Amy'
(Radio.com) Lil Wayne isn't letting his ongoing dispute with Cash Money keep him from releasing new music; last week he dropped his latest freestyle mixtape Sorry 4 the Wait 2, and now he's released an original track with Migos, called "Amazing Amy."

The song, produced by London On Da Track, finds Wayne describing his relationship with a groupie named Amy. Amy, as we soon find out, is slightly unhinged. 'Amazing Amy/ That b-- so crazy, that b-- gon' kill me, then she'll be famous," he raps. 'I'm in love with that ho though/ Even though she loco."

Wayne's clearly stuck in freestyle mode to some extent: he uses the refrain from O.T. Genasis' "CoCo" throughout the song, replacing it with "loco." Migos verse also illustrates their relationship with Amy--'She swallow the d- like a Heineken," raps Offset. Listen to the track here.

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Death Cab For Cutie Release New Song 'Black Sun'
Death Cab for Cutie have released the new track, "Black Sun," which is the first single from the group's forthcoming studio album, "Kintsugi". The band is currently working on a music video for the single.

The band will be performing the new song when they make appearances on the Late Show with David Letterman this Thursday, January 29th and on The Late Late Show on Friday, January 30th. You can stream the song here.

The album will be released on March 31st and was recorded in Los Angeles and produced by Rich Costey (Franz Ferdinand, Muse, Interpol). Bass player Nick Harmer came up with the title which is taken from "the Japanese art of repairing broken ceramics with precious metals like gold, silver, and platinum, highlighting cracks rather than hiding them," according to the announcement.

"Considering what we were going through internally, and with what a lot of the lyrics are about, it had a great deal of resonance for us - the idea of figuring out how to repair breaks and make them a thing of beauty," says Harmer. "Philosophically, spiritually, emotionally, it seems perfect for this group of songs."

The band will be supporting the new album release with a North American tour that will be kicking off with an appearance a FestivALTAZ in Mesa, AZ on April 10th. Check out the tour dates and the album's tracklisting here.

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Diana Ross Announces Las Vegas Residency
Motown legend Diana Ross will be taking up residency in another famed city this spring when she launches her mini-residency at the Venetian in Las Vegas.

The former frontwoman for The Supremes has signed on to perform nine shows that will be entitled "The Essential Diana Ross: Some Memories Never Fade."

The show will be taking place on April 1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 10, 11, 15, 17 and 18 and will include music from her entire career including classics like "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," according to ABC.

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Chase Bryant Launching Club Tour
Rising country music star Chase Bryant will be kicking off The Take It On Back Tour later this week, which will be a headlining tour of North American clubs.

Bryant named the trek after his debut single "Take It On Back," which just entered the top 10 on the country chart. The dates come ahead of his supporting spot on Tim McGraw's upcoming tour.

He had this to say to fans about the tour, via Billboard, "I wanted to bring the party to you guys and just kick it old school. We're all fans. We're all friends. The music is our connection. We'll all get where we're going together. That's the beauty of music."

DJ Hish will be providing support for the trek which will be kicking off this Friday, January 30th, in Wilmington, NC at Ziggy's by the Sea and concluding on April 3rd in Indianapolis, IN at the 8 Seconds Club. Check out the tour dates here.

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Imagine Dragons Release New Song 'Shots'
(Radio.com) Imagine Dragons' debut LP, Night Visions, surpassed even everyone's wildest expectations with massive success since its 2012 release. The album debuted at number 2 on the Billboard 200, earned them numerous awards and accolades (including a 2014 GRAMMY win for Best Rock Performance for "Radioactive" and multiple Billboard Music Awards wins), and has sold more than 2 million copies in the United States.

To say that the follow-up, Smoke + Mirrors, has stratospheric expectations would be an understatement. Ahead of the album's February 17 release date on Interscope, Imagine Dragons have been steadily revealing tracks.

While lead single "I Bet My Life" has found success on alternative and rock stations, the latest single, "Shots," could conceivably see a wider reach into pop realms where the band has previously found success.

Stream the new single from Imagine Dragons, "Shots," here.

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Jason Mraz Adds Dates To Yes! World Tour
(Radio.com) Jason Mraz will close out his winter of 2015 by adding new dates to his successful Yes! World Tour. Today the singer announced a new leg that will take him from Iowa to China.

For much of the Yes! tour, Mraz "made a conscious choice to perform in venues smaller than the usual amphitheatres andarenas, with several multi-day residencies," according to a press release.

That continues with a series of intimate shows in Florida in February, plus his new dates, which start in Aimes, Iowa, on March 9. Additionally, Mraz will play two shows in Asia with more potentially to be announced, putting him in rooms in Thailand and Hong Kong.

Check out the dates here.

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Bobby Shmurda and Migos Reveal Two Shmigo Gang Tracks
(Radio.com) Last month, a tweet from Migos caused much reason to be excited, as it teased a possible collaboration with Bobby Shmurda and the GS9 crew. The tweet was light on concrete information, and only said that the Shmigo Gang mixtape was on the way, with no release date or timetable provided.

Today, we have two Shmigo Gang songs to share, and indication that the mixtape will become a reality. Premiered via Complex, the songs, Migos' "Computers" freestyle featuring Bobby Shmurda and Rich the Kid's "What You Talmbout".

Complex points out that Rowdy Rebel, Rich the Kid and Migo Domingo are all featured on the project, and the release date is pending with Shmurda's very public legal woes hanging in the balance. More on that as it becomes available.

Both new tracks are available to stream here.

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Big Sean Announces 'Dark Sky Paradise' Project
(Radio.com) Big Sean has just announced the title for a forthcoming project, but you'd be forgiven for mistaking the title with a weather report for the Northeastern United States this morning: Dark Sky Paradise.

It's been over a year since Big Sean dropped his sophomore album, Hall Of Fame. In that time he's gone from the upstart party rapper who made "Guap" to the brooding, tortured party rapper of "IDFWU" and "Paradise."

He's undergone a very public breakup with a very public celebrity and rebounded publicly with an even more famous celebrity, in the latter's case Ariana Grande.

The dark sky imagery seems fitting: Big Sean is finding a way to create a "paradise" for himself during extended periods of emotional turbulence.

Sean posted the striking album art on Instagram. See it here.

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Steve Aoki Interviews Stan Lee of Marvel Comics
(Radio.com) Steve Aoki has interviewed Stan Lee of Marvel Comics fame about the future, and the results are just as entertaining as you would predict. A conversation about our collective fate indicates that despite Stan Lee's wild imagination about the world to come, society has surpassed even his expectations with regards to technological advancements.

Things take a somber turn when Lee reveals, "I think eventually the world will blow itself up." "We are getting so good at explosions and missiles," Lee said, "and eventually some nut will come along and launch a missile over at another country and they'll launch one back there."

Though this is a grim forecast for the world, at least the interview has some animators on board to make the scenario fit for a comic book. In the end, though, Lee takes the optimistic approach, admitting that things should "be getting better since science is coming along with so many wonderful things."

"If we don't blow ourselves up," Lee concludes, "the future will be wonderful." Check out the full interview here.

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Nick Jonas Performs 'Jealous' at Miss Universe
(Radio.com) It might have been Nick Jonas' girlfriend, Olivia Culpo, who was jealous Sunday night (Jan. 25) as he hit the stage in Miami, Florida for the 63rd annual Miss Universe Pageant.

The youngest Jo Bro brought a medley of songs off his 2014 self-titled debut including"Jealous," "Chains" and his latest single, "Teacher." For his performance, the top 10 Miss Universe finalists, from Miss Argentina to Miss Venezuela, helped out with a little light choreography while they showed off their evening gowns.

But it was Jonas who seemed to have all the right moves and didn't look too bad himself in that all black suit, polka dot button down and blaring white sneakers. Watch his performance on the Miss Universe Pageant here.

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Florida Georgia Line Teach Luke Bryan How To Fall Down
(Radio.com) The latest Radio.com Minimations, where they animate select portions of interviews with legendary rock and country artists, features a 2014 interview where Florida Georgia Line's Tyler Hubbard and Bryan Kelley talk about sharing the stage with Luke Bryan.

Two country juggernauts hit the road together. What do you expect they'd discuss during their downtime? Guitars? Pickup trucks? Girls? To hear Florida Georgia Line's Tyler Hubbard and Bryan Kelley tell it, they spent time discussing on stage choreography with Luke Bryan.

Which is not to say that they're discussing dance moves. As Hubbard explains here, "I taught him how to fall." And he taught him by example, by falling onstage in front of a full house. "Luke thought it was the funniest thing in the world," he added.

"I think we all did," Kelley offers. "It was pretty hilarious. We're teaching him a few things, but it's definitely not anything about being graceful or having dance moves."

Florida Georgia Line will be playing CBS Radio's The Night Before concert on Jan. 31, 2015, in Phoenix, Ariz., with Dierks Bentley and Jason Aldean at US Airways Center. Read more and check out the video here.

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Julia Roberts Talks New Batkid Movie
(Extra) Julia Roberts attended the SAG awards Sunday night rocking a black Givenchy jumpsuit. The Oscar winner who announced Friday that she will be making a feature film adaptation of the new documentary "Batkid Begins: The Wish Heard Around the World".

She tells "Extra's" Mario Lopez, "We're just super excited, my sister and I have a production company, Red Om Productions, we were lucky enough to see this documentary and we loved it and I think it will be a really beautiful movie."

Roberts who was nominated for her role in HBO's "The Normal Heart" attended the awards solo, "No Danny, he starts a movie tomorrow and we have one of our three children is under the weather."

Mario asking what her three kids, twins Hazel and Phinnaeus, 10, and Henry, 7 are into these days, Julia saying "Soccer, soccer, soccer�I've been a soccer mom for a while, but its soccer, basketball, aerial yoga."

Inside the awards show Julia gushed over her "The Normal Heart" co-star Mark Ruffulo when she took the stage to present the award for Outstanding Male Actor in a Leading Role, she gushed, "I just wanted to say that Mark Ruffalo is one outstanding actor. And I am just tickled to my toes that he won tonight."

Check out video here.

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Drake Called Out For Hitting On Porn Star Mia Khalifa
(Radio.com) Florida State University student Mia Khalifa has seemingly overnight become the No. 1 porn star across the internet, so much so that she's being hit up by world-famous rappers who are looking for a little personal time with the adult actress.

It's not just any rapper hitting Khalifa, however, but none less than hip-hop superstar Drake, who was allegedly on his "Worst Behavior" when he hit her up over Instagram.

Khalifa let the cat out of the bag during an interview with Miami's Page Q Sports Show on WQAM (a CBS Radio station) after being asked if any famous people have tried contacting her directly.

The revelation came after some goading and the porn star dished that the name of the most famous person who'd tried hitting her up via Instagram rhymed with "rake."

"All I know is it's not Eddie Vedder, so I didn't pay attention to it," she added in reference to the famous frontman of Seattle rock icons, Pearl Jam. "It was flattering, but his intentions were obviously clear. It was so cringeworthy. The whole thing was cringeworthy."

Read more here.

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