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  • Awesome Song Alert! Jason Derulo’s “The Sky’s the Limit”

    Here’s Jason Derulo, re-purposing both the chord progression as well as the unabashedly cheesy inspirational vibe of Irene Cara’s “Flashdance… What a Feeling” for “The Sky’s the Limit”, the great fifth single from his self-titled debut album. Track-by-track, Jason Derulo is one of the most likeable pop records of the year. As its promotional sticker states “9 songs. 9 hits.” Here’s further proof. Although the album’s fourth single – the hypothetical love-(and marriage)-at-first-sight ballad “What If” – has so far missed the charts here in the U.S., “The Sky Is the Limit” is already taking off in Europe.

    Jason Derulo “The Sky’s the Limit”

  • New Michael Jackson Album Announced

    I’d been wondering when the new Michael Jackson album was going to be released. Originally, I believe that mid-November was a target date to get new material out there for Michael Jackson fans.

    But according to Michael’s website, the date for the posthumous album is now December 14th and the album is simply titled, Michael.

    In the press release, which I’ve added below, there’s only one song mentioned, titled Breaking News, which was recorded in 2007. That song will start streaming on www.michaeljackson.com starting November 8th for one week only.

    Also, scheduled to be on the website tomorrow is an exclusive teaser. Check www.michaeljackson.com for details.

    New York, NY – The much anticipated album of newly completed recordings from Michael Jackson entitled MICHAEL will be released on December 14 by Epic Records in conjunction with the Estate of Michael Jackson. Tomorrow, an exclusive teaser for the project will appear on www.michaeljackson.com; on Monday, November 8th the world premiere of “Breaking News,” a full track from the album, will stream on the site for one week only.

    The creative process never stopped for the King of Pop who was always planning for his next album; unbeknownst to many fans around the world Michael Jackson was writing and recording songs continuously everywhere from a friend’s home in New Jersey to studios in Las Vegas and Los Angeles with a small group of handpicked collaborators. Now, through the unique stories that will be told about the songs that comprise MICHAEL, fans will get mind-blowing insight into how this artist worked and a chance to hear the songs he most recently created along with tracks that Michael had a desire to bring to fruition.

    “Breaking News,” a never heard before song by Michael that appears on the new album was recorded in New Jersey in 2007 and recently brought to completion. Fans can begin pre-ordering the album on www.michaeljackson.com in the next 24 hours.

    The attached image of the album cover of MICHAEL was created by painter Kadir Nelson in 2009. In the oil painting, Kadir – who is known for story telling through his art – takes us on a journey through some key moments and important people in Michael Jackson’s life.

    Stay tuned for the worldwide launch of the official first single from MICHAEL later this month.

  • Taylor Swift Puts Up Huge First Week Numbers

    Is Taylor Swift pop music’s biggest star?

    Check out my man Big Money Mike’s Chart Stalker post for this week:

    Well, reports immediately started flying around suggesting that Taylor would come close to the coveted million mark, and now the dust has settled for the week, and Swift scores the biggest debut week for an album in half a decade. “Speak Now” starts with nearly 1.05 million units, EASILY making it this week’s #1 album.

    Mike goes on to note that Swift is only the second female artist to sell at least one million albums in the first week of release. Britney Spears performed the trick with her second album, at a time when many more albums were being sold weekly.

    So who is pop music’s biggest current star? Eminem? Lil’ Wayne? I still go with Swift. She reaches so many different demographics, including the one that is most important when the goal is to sell albums. She reaches the music buying audience.