Coolio Is Just the Beginning, Says PornHub

A lot of conversations about artistic collaboration result in nothing, but when PornHub's head of PR and marketing, Matt Blake, and the rapper Coolio began chatting at the porn industry's annual AVN Awards, a lascivious creative partnership was struck.

 
"We threw a party at a strip club during the AVN Awards, and we invited Coolio," said Blake. "We had some drinks, and I pitched him the idea of coming out with new music on PornHub. He loved it."

The result of that meeting is "Take It to the Hub," a song and forthcoming music video featuring Coolio and the pornstars Alexa Aimes (as a twerking dinosaur), Phoenix Marie, Jessica Bangkok, Missy Martinez and Skin Diamond. The video is set to be released in the following weeks.

While TMZ broke the news, some of the details they put forward were inaccurate. As Coolio said to Rolling Stone: "I let them into the video shoot willingly and then the first thing they do is talk bullshit about me and try to make me look bad. They were trying to say it was my comeback. Man, I ain't trying to make no f--kin' comeback off some porn."

"The way TMZ spun it," Blake said, "they made it seem like we have the exclusive forever [on his music], which isn't true -- him and I have spoken about this, at the end of the day it's all about money. It would depend how much exposure it generates. If it works, we'll go forward. We love Coolio, he was a great sport. If he wants to do again, we'll be more than happy to set it up."

To the outside observer, PornHub may not be the most natural selection for an artist to distribute their work. But consider that PornHub draws 40 million visitors a day and is ranked the 47th most-visited site in the U.S. according to Alexa, and to an artist it starts to look pretty enticing.

While financial details of the deal weren't disclosed, Blake said that it included some money upfront for Coolio, with Coolio agreeing to include some branding in his lyrics (they're right there in the title, after all). PornHub will, instead of monetizing the video for advertisements as they do with the other content on the site, will direct viewers to wherever Coolio wishes -- his website, his iTunes page. The contract was not a record deal, akin to a label.

Pharrell to Leave ASCAP for Irving and Grimmet's Global Music Rights

Global Music Rights, the boutique performance rights organization being built by Irving Azoff and Randy Grimmett under the Azoff MSG Entertainment banner, has just signed another big name in Pharrell Williams, sources have confirmed. He joins stable mate Ryan Tedder -- they are both managed by Ron Laffitte of Front Line/Artist Nation -- at the new PRO.

Singer/songwriter/producer Williams has been a steady chart presence since last year. In addition to being featured on Daft Punk's "Get Lucky" (which he also co-wrote) and Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines" (which he co-wrote and produced), Williams spent 10 weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 with the self-written and self-produced "Happy." The Academy Award-nominated song from the Despicable Me 2 soundtrack is also the multiple platinum-selling lead single from Williams' second album Girl. Released in March via Williams' i Am Other label and Columbia, the set debuted and peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. Among Williams' current projects are his upcoming stint as a coach for The Voice and collaborating on T.I.'s upcoming Columbia album.

Meanwhile, Global Music Rights roster is expected to encompass between 30 and 60 writers, with about half of them expected to be drawn from the Azoff Music Management portfolio. But the new company has also sent out invitations to select songwriters, like Tedder and Williams.

Sources suggest that Williams has sent in his termination notice to ASCAP and will be officially taken over by Global Music Rights come Oct. 1. At press time, ASCAP and Global Music Rights couldn't be reached for comment.

Nicki Minaj Keeps Her 'Anaconda' Tamed, Won't Unleash Her Azz-ets Just Yet

Young Money's Nicki Minaj is going to leave fans hungry for more this week after announcing a delay for her highly-anticipated "Anaconda" single. 
#anacondawatch

Nicki broke the news to her fans Sunday (July 27) via photo-sharing social network Instagram.

"My darlingz, I've pushed the release of Anaconda to next week, Monday 8/4. I promise you will understand why before the week is out. Loveeeeeeee uuuuuu," Minaj captioned to a photo of herself July 27. (Nicki Minaj's Instagram)

Last week, Minaj resorted to dealing with some critics going after her neck over a steamy "Anaconda" single cover art reveal.

The rap diva took to Instagram to post a series of photos of models with their butts to the camera to illustrate the double standards in beauty. She wrote "acceptable" next to racy images of Kate Upton and Nina Agdal posing in swimsuits. "Angelic. Acceptable. Lol," she said of a Sports Illustrated cover with Agdal, Lily Aldridge, and Chrissy Teigen. To make her point, she then reposted her "Anaconda" cover art, which shows her squatting down in a G-string. She captioned the risqué photo "UNACCEPTABLE." (Rap-Up)

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R&B singer John Legend's model wife Chrissy Teigen also felt the wrath of Nicki's fans.

Some of Nicki's Barbz went on the attack, hurling insults at Teigen. "Nicki Minaj gets King magazine covers & @chrissyteigen can only get sports illustrated she a bum hoe," tweeted one. "I just landed and I have a nicki minaj fans going absolutely batshit on me. No idea why," wrote Teigen. (Rap-Up)

Minaj treated diehard fans to her cover art, which features herself in a hot pink g-string, Wednesday (July 23) night.

Can somebody please wipe me down? Nicki Minaj's new "Anaconda" cover art just turned the temperature up to boiling point. The Young Money rapper has been teasing a "surprise" for her Barbz on Twitter since yesterday, and I was expecting a new single, or a snippet of a new single, but somehow just the cover art for a new single managed to top an actual song. Now, this isn't the first time that we've seen Nicki in this rare squat position, but it just seems to get better every time. That poor g-string never had a chance. (MTV)

Dept. of Justice Looks to Make Illegal Streaming a Felony

A Department of Justice office told a House Judiciary hearing Thursday he supports a felony penalty for illegal streaming.

Noting the rise of streaming, David Bitkower, Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division, said tougher penalties would reflect the reality of today's media consumption. "Misdemeanor penalties are real, but when you look at the massive profits that infringing websites can make from streaming media, misdemeanor penalties are simply not sufficient to deter those large-scale infringers."

While the illegal downloading of copyrighted works is a felony under copyright law, illegal streaming violations are treated as misdemeanors. In more technical terms, copyright law treats differently the rights that cover downloading (reproduction and distribution) and streaming (public performance).

The disparity between public performance and other rights has been discussed before. In recent years, the Copyright Office and Attorney General Eric Holder have weighted in on the issue. In 2011, the White House recommended that illegal streaming be classified as a felony. Last year, a green paper from the Department of Commerce's Internet Policy Task Force also called for illegal streaming to be punished as a felony.

Bitkower's suggestion came during a hearing titled "Copyright Remedies" held by the same Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet that has recently held hearings on licensing and copyright issues pertaining specifically to the music business.

Illegal streaming is likely more of a problem with video than music. Bitkower cited research that indicates bandwidth consumed by illegal video streaming grew 470% between 2010 and 2012. But in citing players in the growing, legitimate streaming marketplace, Bitkower named popular music services Pandora and Spotify as well as leading video streaming services YouTube, Netflix and Hulu.

The new law would target commercial piracy rather than individuals. In his prepared remarks, Bitkower specified the law would apply only to "unauthorized public performances conducted for commercial advantage or private financial gain."

Kendrick Lamar Crowns NY Rap Moguls...

"They'll Always Be The King Of New York"

by Cyrus Langhorne

Top Dawg Entertainment's Kendrick Lamar finally dishes on his controversial "King of New York" proclamation from last year's "Control" song and revealed who he believes can wear the crown in the new Complex magazine. #kingofny

In K. Dot's opinion, the late Notorious B.I.G. and music icon Jay Z are the true Empire State kings.

On Lamar's earth-shattering verse he called himself the King of New York, a claim he shies away from now: "I feel B.I.G. and Jay will always be the King of New York." More important, Lamar called out nearly every rapper in his generation--from A$AP Rocky to J. Cole and even Big Sean and Jay Electronica--and claimed, "I got love for you all but I'm tryna murder you n*ggas." (Complex)

Earlier this year, rapper Maino said both local moguls would give him a pass over his King of New York underground project title.

"Biggie okay with that, man," Maino said in an interview. "Jay Z the king of the world. He ain't thinking about me, man. He don't care about my antics and my ways. He don't give a f*ck. Straight up." (Whoolywood Shuffle)

In 2011, fellow Brooklyn rapper Papoose crowned himself the "King of New York."

"The reason I chose that title is because I am the king of New York," the Brooklyn MC said with confidence to Mixtape Daily. "It feels good to be the king of New York so I just wanted to celebrate myself being the king of New York, so I figured I'd make it a self-titled mixtape...It's just basically breaking down some of the reasons of why I'm the king of New York. The reaction was both-sided, but it was a little bit more to the good side. A lot of my supporters, a lot of my fans reached out. And a lot of my haters reached out who disagree that I'm the king and I just let them know that I intend on proving it." (MTV)

Brooklyn rap veteran Fabolous previously said his "Get Back" record touched on the backlash K. Dot sparked with his now-infamous "Control" verse last summer.

"I want to talk about the 'Get Back.' It's over one of Jay Z's samples and it plays reference to what was going on with the whole Kendrick 'Control' verse thing. At first, it was a big thing to respond back and everybody was hyped off the response. What I loved about it to is that a lot of people responded back to it without really knowing what was going on. They just heard the blatant said, 'King of New York' line and 'The 'Get Back' is taken from, once you say something you also have to live and die by your words. But then now it becomes on other people to get back. It's almost the revenge of what you're saying. Do you relish in it? Do you back away from it? Do you step up to the plate? A lot of times, people don't always think about the backlash or what's going to come back to them." (FUSE TV)

Farrah Franklin Former Destiny's Child Member Arrested

Former Destiny's Child Member Farrah Franklin Arrested

 

Former Destiny's Child member Farrah Franklin is having another brush with the law.  TMZ says the singer was arrested for disorderly conduct in Conway, South Carolina early Sunday morning. 
The circumstances of the arrest are unknown, but sources tell the site she booked and released on bond Sunday afternoon.  Alcohol was reportedly involved. 

Farrah posted an Instagram photo of herself on the beach hours before the arrest. 

After news of her arrest started making the rounds, she also tagged herself at the Myrtle Beach International Airport along with a photo with the message, "May the Lord turn all your sour moments into sweet lemonade." 
It's her second arrest for disorderly conduct.  She was picked up in Los Angeles on the same charge in 2011.

Farrah was a member of Destiny's Child for just five months in 2000.  She joined the group at the same time as Michelle Williams, to replace another two exiting singers, and was fired shortly after. 

Netflix Passes 50 Million Subscribers

The company reported Monday that it added 1.69 million paying streaming subscribers worldwide in the second quarter.

 

Netflix's "Orange Is the New Black"

Netflix on Monday reported that it added 1.69 million paying streaming subscribers in the second quarter, enough to put it past 50 million for the first time.

Netflix had guided analysts to expect less than 1.5 million additions during the quarter, which would have kept it under the 50 million threshold. Instead, the company ended the quarter with 50.05 million streaming subscribers worldwide.

The company reported earning $1.15 per share on revenue of $1.34 billion, which were mixed results compared to Wall Street's expectations.

Analysts predicted the streaming-media company to post earnings per share of $1.16 on $1.33 billion in revenue.

Wall Street appeared mildly impressed with the financial results, as shares were trading 1 percent higher after the closing bell. During the regular session, Netflix shares were up 2 percent to $451.96.

At the end of the quarter, Netflix boasted 35.1 million paying subscribers to its domestic streaming service, up from 28.6 million a year ago. Domestic DVD subscribers fell to 6.2 million from 7.4 million last year.
Paid international streamers rose to 12.9 million from 7 million a year ago. Netflix does not offer an international DVD service.


In a letter to shareholders on Monday, CEO Reed Hastings and CFO David Wells noted that Netflix surpassed the 50 million threshold 15 years after its service first launched. Mostly, though, the letter focused on original programming, including its upcoming talk show hosted by Chelsea Handler that is slated to debut in early 2016.

"Fewer people are watching talk shows live and are instead watching stacked episodes on DVR or online in the days and weeks following initial airing," the executives wrote. "Our intent is to produce a show with Handler and her team that reflects this shift to on-demand enjoyment and that will appeal to a global audience."

On a conference call with analysts Monday, chief content officer Ted Sarandos enthused over the second season of Orange is the New Black. He also said that if 21st Century Fox were to acquire Time Warner, as Fox CEO Rupert Murdoch proposes, it would not impact Netflix's ability to acquire content from either conglomerate.

Also on the conference call, Hastings gushed about the adoption of international streaming, saying it's "an enormous moment in history" for Netflix.