Birdman Denies Involvement In Lil Wayne Tour Bus Shooting

Sources confirm that Birdman did receive a phone call shortly after tour bus shooting.

by DANIELLE HARLING

Days after it was reported that both Birdman and Young Thug were named in an indictment stemming from Lil Wayne’s tour bus being shot at in Atlanta, Georgia in April, Birdman has reportedly denied any involvement in the incident.

According to TMZ, sources close to Birdman revealed that the Cash Money Records co-founder “was not involved in any way.”

Sources also confirmed that Birdman did receive a phone call shortly after the shooting, a piece of information that was included in the indictment, which was made public earlier this month.

“Sources close to Wayne and Birdman confirm to TMZ what police docs insinuated ... that Birdman got a phone call on April 26, shortly after the bus was shot up in Atlanta,” TMZ reports. “As we reported, police knew the call was placed between 2 phones registered to Birdman…Our sources say Birdman assured Wayne he was not involved in any way, and vowed to help figure out who was behind it.”

Cash Money associate Jimmy Carlton Winfrey was arrested and charged following the shooting. Winfrey was charged with aggravated assault, terroristic threats and acts, criminal damage, possession of a firearm by a felon, criminal gang activity, reckless conduct, and discharging a weapon near the street.

Lil Wayne’s tour bus was shot at following the rapper’s appearance at Compound nightclubin Atlanta on April 26.

No one was seriously injured during the shooting.

Bobby Shmurda Enters Plea On Promoting Prison Contraband Charge

The rapper allegedly had a sharpened object.

Bobby Shmurda pled not guilty yesterday (July 23) to charges regarding an incident where his girlfriend attempted to give him a shank while visiting him in prison, the New York Times reports.

The New York rapper is being charged with promoting prison contraband, criminal possession of a weapon and perjury.

Prosecutors say Shmurda, born Ackquille Pollard, lied to the grand jury about the sharp metal object.

If found guilty, Shmurda could face seven years in prison. He and his GS9 crew are also facing more than 100 charges, including murder and weapons charges.

Shmurda's girlfriend, Kimberly Rousseau, pled not guilty on Wednesday (July 22) to charges of promoting prison contraband and criminal possession of a weapon.

Jay Z & Will Smith To Make Emmett Till Miniseries

Roc Nation is reportedly producing the HBO miniseries.

by VICTORIA HERNANDEZ

Jay Z and Will Smith are teaming up to tell the story of Emmett Till with an HBO miniseries, Entertainment Weekly reports.

Till was a Black teenager who in 1955 was beaten and killed in Mississippi for allegedly whistling at a White woman.

James Lassiter and Aaron Kaplan are executive producing the program alongside the two rappers. Jay Z's Roc Nation is listed as a production company for the project.

The miniseries has not released the title of the show or the writing credits.

Jay Z and Smith worked together to produce the 2014 remake of the film Annie.

Emmett Till was in Hip Hop headlines in 2013 when Lil Wayne referenced the teenager on Future's "Karate Chop Remix." Lil Wayne was criticized for rapping "beat that p*ssy up like Emmett Till."

Ludacris Hints At Role In Season 2 Of “Empire”

Fox has reportedly confirmed that Ludacris will be involved in the show’s second season.

by HENRY MANSELL

Ludacris recently hinted at his involvement in the second season of Fox’s Hip Hop-themed television show Empire.

Taking to his Instagram account this week, Ludacris posted a photo of himself alongside Empire star Terrence Howard, who plays Lucious Lyon.

In the photo, Howard—whose character was sent to jail at the end of the first season—is wearing an orange prison uniform and Ludacris is dressed as a prison officer.

The Atlanta, Georgia native captioned the picture: “This could get interesting..... #empireseason2”

According to Entertainment Weekly, shortly after Ludacris posted the photo, Fox confirmed that the rapper will guest star in an episode of the second season. The publication reports that he will play a “hard-working correctional officer and veteran of the Federal Bureau of Prisons who believes that celebrity inmates should be treated no differently than regular criminals - especially Lucious Lyon.”

Ed Sheeran 'Live at Wembley Stadium' Concert Special Coming to NBC

Ed Sheeran will soon headline television screens across the country in the upcoming NBC special Ed Sheeran - Live at Wembley Stadium.

Airing Aug. 16 at 8 p.m. ET, the special will showcase the six-time Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter as he performs some of his biggest hits and will also feature "unseen documentary footage with exclusive access that captures the build up around Ed’s historic, record-breaking shows at the iconic venue, where he played to 240,000 fans across three memorable, sold-out nights." 

EXCLUSIVE: 3Fifs - Blind The Sun (ft. Lydia Lyon, Garrett Julian)

“I can't say that performing at Wembley Stadium was a ‘dream come true,' because I honestly thought it was out of reach and didn't think it was possible,” the U.K. performer said. Fortunately for us, it was possible -- and so are free, front-row seats to the show in your living room.

Pandora Revenue Grows 30 Percent, Listener Growth Slows

Pandora listener growth has slowed and the company didn't turn a profit in the second quarter, but the online radio company was able to improve where it mattered most: revenue and local advertising.

Second-quarter revenue was $285.6 million, a 30-percent increase year over year, while net loss was $16.1 million, slightly worse than the $11.7-million loss in the prior-year period.

WPMG -- Streaming Live

Advertising revenue was $230.9 million, a 30-percent improvement. Mobile revenue grew 37 percent to $229.7 million, or 80.4 percent of revenue. Local advertising, an important component to Pandora's growth, improved 67 percent to $58.9 million. Subscription revenue grew 31.4 percent to $54.6 million.

Listener growth was low at 3.9 percent. Pandora had 79.4 million monthly listeners at the end of June, a gain of 200,000 since March and 3 million since June 2014. The small improvement in successive quarters can be at least partially attributed to June being what CEO Brian McAndrews called "traditionally a low seasonal point." Growth in listener hours was at better 5.2 percent, representing an improvement to 5.3 billion from 5.04 billion.

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RPM (revenue per thousand impressions) improved to $53.91 from $43.41. Advertising RPM improved to $49.94 from $40.11. Although listenership barely grew in the second quarter, Pandora was able to get more revenue from each listener. Revenue per active user increased to $4.00 from $2.86 in the prior-year period.

Royalties were slightly less of a financial burden. Royalties accounted for 45.6 percent of revenue in the second quarter, an improvement from 50.9 percent a year earlier. Through the first six months of 2015, royalties as a percent of revenue improved to 49.6 percent from 53.2 percent a year earlier. McAndrews said during Thursday's earning call royalties expense in the second quarter was helped by a reduction in listeners skipping songs, which reduces the number of songs for which Pandora owes a royalty. 

But net loss deepened because other costs grew at a fast. Sales and marketing expense increased 42 percent to $94 million. Pandora's head count grew 34 year over year, driven primarily by new additions to its local sales team. General and administrative expenses rose 50 percent to $38.8 million. Royalties grew only 16.8 percent.
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With Spotify already a popular streaming destination, Pandora now faces a tougher competitor since the launch of Apple Music on June 30. Pandora has continued to grow in spite of numerous new competitors, so Apple's impact is unclear at this point. McAndrews would only say the company expects "some short-term impact" as some listeners "experiment" with Apple Music, but it does not expect Apple Music to have either a short-term or long-term impact. 

Which Brands Are Advertising on Apple Music?

McDonald's, Nordstrom, Home Depot and Walgreens are some of the brands currently running ads on Apple's new streaming service that launched June 30.

Last month, Apple unveiled Apple Music -- its app combining iTunes, radio programming, a live show called Beats 1, and a social-media portal for artists called Connect.

The subscription-based radio part of the app costs $9.99 per month but also includes an ad-supported free version. Until June 30, brands were able to buy audio and video ads to play between songs through Apple's iAd network.

The Cupertino, Calif.-based company reworked iAd in November, but with Apple Music, it's uncertain whether brands will buy those same ads going forward.

Over the last couple of days, big brands' ads have started showing up in the ad-supported portion of Apple Music, but marketers say their campaigns are not built specifically for the newly launched music service.

WPMG -- Listen Live

Home Depot is currently running a 30-second audio campaign pushing its e-commerce sales. A spokeswoman for the brand said the campaign is part of an upfront media buy with Apple. Since iTunes Radio rebranded as Apple Music on June 30, the brand has not built any new ads specifically for the new platform.

Similarly, Mindshare confirmed that its campaign for Nordstrom -- which promotes the retailer's anniversary sale -- started running on July 17, two weeks after Apple Music launched. It also is a radio ad that was not created for Apple's new setup.

It's not clear if Apple will formally launch music-specific promos, but in the meantime, the ads look identical to iAds.
EXCLUSIVE: 3Fifs - Blind The Sun (ft. Lydia Lyon, Garrett Julian)

Meanwhile, Apple faces stiff competition from Pandora and Spotify for ad dollars in the music-streaming space. Both Spotify and Pandora have steadily been rolling out more sophisticated ad tools like programmatic buying, sponsored listening and targeted ads over the past couple of years.