Tag: music

Posted on by — Leave a comment

MTV Channels come full circle with final clip: “Video Killed The Radio Star”

MTV shut down five of its music channels in the United Kingdom.

The television channel officially stopped broadcasting on its MTV Music, MTV 80s, MTV 90s, Club MTV and MTV Live channels in the country on Wednesday, Dec. 31, according to multiple reports, after reports of the move first surfaced in October. 24-hour music channels in other countries are also said to be off-air.

BBC journalist Jono Read captured MTV Music’s final moments in an X post on Wednesday. The station ended its run with The Buggles’ 1979 single “Video Killed the Radio Star” – the first video ever to air on MTV – followed by a sign-off animation. At the bottom, a news ticker read: “MTV Music is now closed. Continue watching over at MTV.”

USA TODAY has reached out to MTV for comment.

The flagship U.K. station MTV HD remains on air, and its American MTV channels – including MTV, MTV2, MTV Live, MTV Classic and MTV Tres – are unaffected.

Four decades after the revolutionary station aired music videos 24/7, MTV’s decision is a further sign of the times. MTV’s flagship channel began increasingly circulating reality-show-heavy programming in the 2000s with series like “The Real World,” “Teen Mom” and “Jersey Shore.” The network’s sister channels feature more music-centered content, though with significantly less reach, distribution and revenue.

In 2023, MTV shuttered its music news division and website, MTV News. Its campus-centered offshoot, MTVU, ceased airing at universities in 2018, and currently airs only as a digital cable channel.

MTV changed the television landscape with its launch in 1981, playing music around the clock and related programming guided by video jockeys, or VJs, and was influential in the growth of the music video as an artistic medium. The channel also evolved in the genres of music videos it promoted. MTV moved from rock to pop and R&B – and later, hip-hop – after it broke its own color barrier in the 1980s with the promotion of Michael Jackson’s music videos for “Billie Jean” and “Thriller.” (USAToday)

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Beyonce declared a billionaire by Forbes magazine

U.S. singer Beyonce is now a billionaire, Forbes magazine said, becoming only the fifth musician to achieve such a milestone.

The 44-year-old entertainer joins a select club that includes her husband, rapper Jay-Z, as well as Taylor Swift, Bruce Springsteen and Rihanna, according to the publication, known for its rankings of the world’s richest people.

Beyonce reached the landmark after several very lucrative years.

In 2023, her Renaissance World Tour grossed nearly $600 million.

She then reinvented her musical profile in 2024 with the Grammy-winning country album “Cowboy Carter” before staging the world’s highest-grossing tour of 2025.

Combining these earnings with income from her music catalog and other deals, Forbes estimated that Beyonce brought in $148 million in 2025 before taxes, making her the third highest-paid musician in the world.

The publication did not provide a more specific estimate of the former Destiny’s Child member’s net worth, who founded Parkwood Entertainment to manage her career and productions.

Forbes said that while Beyonce has expanded her business empire with ventures such as a hair care brand, a whiskey label and a clothing line, most of her personal wealth derives from her music, along with her global tours and controlling the rights to her back catalog. (JapanToday)

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Tyla tops Africa’s Spotify monthly listeners chart

South African singer Tyla has become the African artist with the highest number of monthly listeners on Spotify, overtaking Nigerian stars Burna Boy and Tems.

The achievement makes the 22-year-old singer the most-followed African artiste on the streaming platform, showing how quickly she has risen and gained international attention.

Born Tyla Laura Seethal, the Johannesburg-born singer broke into the global spotlight in 2023 with her hit single Water. The song became a viral success across social media platforms, especially TikTok, and helped introduce Tyla to a worldwide audience.

Water went on to chart in several countries and earned Tyla worldwide recognition.

The success of the track marked a turning point in her career, positioning her as one of Africa’s most visible music exports.

Since then, Tyla has released other songs such as Kick to Start, Truth or Dare, and Channel which have helped sustain her momentum and attract new listeners across different markets.

In 2024, Tyla won the Grammy Award for Best African Music Performance with Water, making her one of the youngest African artistes to receive the honour.

Beyond the Grammys, Tyla has also won several international awards. She has won the MTV Video Music Awards, the BET Awards and the MTV Europe Music Awards, recognising both her music and her impact as a rising pop figure.

Her growing list of accolades has helped position her as one of the most influential young artistes from Africa.

By surpassing Burna Boy and Tems in monthly listeners, Tyla joins a small group of African artistes whose music consistently attracts a massive global audience.

Burna Boy is known for his dominance and Grammy-winning career, while Tems has also enjoyed international success and also won several music awards, including the Grammys through collaborations and solo releases.

As Tyla’s fan base continues to grow, fans are glued to see more releases, tours and collaborations from her as we approach 2026. (Guardian)

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Spotify music catalogue hacked by piracy activists

Music streaming service Spotify said Monday it had disabled accounts from a piracy activist hacker group that claimed to have “backed up” millions of Spotify’s music files and metadata.

The group Anna’s Archives said in a blog post it had backed up 86 million Spotify tracks and the metadata for 256 million tracks — a process known as “scraping” — in order to start an open “preservation archive” for music.

Anna’s Archives said the 86 million music files represented more than 99.6 percent of Spotify “listens”, while the metadata copies represented 99.9 percent of all tracks on Spotify.

The breach, which has no impact on Spotify users, means that in theory anyone could use the information to build their own free music archive, though in practice they would be swiftly pursued by rights holders.

“Spotify has identified and disabled the nefarious user accounts that engaged in unlawful scraping,” the company said in a statement sent to AFP.

“We’ve implemented new safeguards for these types of anti-copyright attacks and are actively monitoring for suspicious behaviour,” it said.

“Since day one, we have stood with the artist community against piracy, and we are actively working with our industry partners to protect creators and defend their rights.” (Guardian)

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Kelly Osbourne lost ‘best friend’ after Ozzy’s death

Kelly Osbourne says she has lost her “best friend” following the death of her father Ozzy Osbourne.

The heavy metal pioneer died on Tuesday at the age of 76.

He died just a few weeks after performing with Black Sabbath at a big farewell show in his hometown of Birmingham.

The concert was particularly poignant for his daughter Kelly, who got engaged backstage to her long-time partner Sid Wilson, from the band Slipknot.

Many family members were at Villa Park to support the so-called Prince of Darkness for what turned out to be his final performance.

Famous musicians such as Ronnie Wood from the Rolling Stones, Metallica and Guns N’ Roses also took to the stage.

His band Black Sabbath are credited with inventing heavy metal.

In 2003, the father and daughter released a cover of the Black Sabbath song Changes, which reached number one on the UK singles chart.

In her first comments since his death, Kelly Osbourne posted the opening lyrics from the song on Instagram with a broken heart emoji: “I feel unhappy I am so sad. I lost the best friend I ever had.”

The father-daughter duo were known for having a close relationship.

They appeared together on the MTV reality TV show The Osbournes which ran from 2002-2005. It portrayed the star as the well-meaning, frequently befuddled patriarch of an unruly household.

More recently they reprised their family podcast alongside mother Sharon and brother Jack.

On Tuesday, the Osbourne family released a statement that said: “It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning. He was with his family and surrounded by love.”

They did not specify a cause of death, although the star had a series of health problems and was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2019. (BBC)