Joe Riccitelli has been named executive vice president/GM of RCA Records, the label announced today. He was previously EVP, Promotion, RCA Records. Riccitelli will now oversee the Music Licensing and Brand Partnership departments which will continue to be run by Karen Lamberton. He will also continue to spearhead all pop promotions for the label. He…

Well, apparently Rihanna was rightfully unapologetic because her album is projected to debut at #1 with 238,949 copies sold. Unapologetic is the first of RiRi’s albums to debut at #1 and is also the best selling first week Rihanna has had in her career thus far. Congratulations.

This is now threatening to become an ingrained release strategy for chart-topping superstars. And the latest superstar holdout on Spotify is Rihanna, who has opted to keep her latest album, Unapologetic, off the streaming platform – at least during the critical initial release window. That closely follows a high-profile holdout from Taylor Swift, whose Red remains unavailable on Spotify…

Nicki Minaj is not one to hold her tongue. The Young Money rapper is firing back at former “American Idol” judge Steven Tyler after he slammed her and the new “Idol” judges.   “If it was Bob Dylan, Nicki Minaj would have had him sent to the cornfield!” the Aerosmith frontman told MTV News. “Whereas, if it was…