NEW YORK (AP) — Here’s something to wag a tongue at: MTV says Miley Cyrus is the best artist of the year. The former child star twerked her way to the top. Her eye-popping duet with Robin Thicke on the MTV Video Music Awards was one of the year’s most talked about cultural events. MTV…

The imprisoned members of Pussy Riot may be released early, according to a Russian paper referencing an amnesty bill submitted to Parliament by President Vladimir Putin himself. NPR cites “Kremlin-friendly daily Izvestia” as breaking the news that Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alekhina would be included in the legislation, which is meant to coincide with the…

Barely 24 hours after news broke that Trent Reznor was splitting from longtime manager Jim Guerinot of Rebel Waltz, the Nine Inch Nails mastermind landed new management with Silva Artist Management, which counts Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age, Ryan Adams and Beck among its stable of clients….

Calvin Broadus has called himself Snoop Dogg for his rap, Snoop Lion for his reggae, and now Snoopzilla for his funk. His new name is a tribute to legendary Parliament/Funkadelic bassist Bootsy Collins, also known as Bootzilla: “We’re the babies of the Mothership,” Snoopzilla told Rolling Stone recently. Teamed up with Dam-Funk, Snoopzilla recorded an…

  Let’s face it, most everyone with a home studio mixes in the box these days. In fact, the smaller the studio, the more likely it’s going to happen. But for those of us in the box, we still want that big analog sound that only a console or an analog summing mixer can bring….

T.I. speak on his new record deal and Pharrell producing his next solo album….

We featured a lot of creative MIDI controllers on Synthtopia recently, but DrumPants spank the competition in the ‘wear it in your pants’ department. DrumPants have the advantage of being both inexpensive (pricing starts at $89) and being wearable (in your pants). DrumPants comes with 100+ built-in sounds, including drums, percussion, synthesizers, guitars and pianos. And…

Very few producers can claim to have the level impact on Hip Hop culture and music in general as Def Jam co-founder Rick Rubin. Along with Russell Simmons, Rubin helped push rap music onto the international stage with early records by LL Cool J, Run-D.M.C., and The Beastie Boys. Before Rubin became a recording industry…

1. Don’t get trapped by dead ideas We’ve seen it happen time and time again with record labels and management companies: pouring thousands of hours and millions of dollars into flopped albums that no one wants to listen to. The myth of easily gaining popularity and fans through the right amount of promotion and muscle…

Contostavlos was arrested after acting as a go-between for an £800 cocaine deal, and today the Crown Prosecution Service confirmed that the singer had been charged and faces prosecution. The deal was set-up as part of a sting operation by The Sun On Sunday, and an undercover reporter caught a conversation with Contostavlos on tape…