Next Big Sound (a/o May 24th):
Pepsi and Beyonce have reunited for a $50 million partnership in 2013, part of a broader branding initiative that includes the upcoming Super Bowl halftime appearance. Beyonce is one component in a music-focused program designed to take Pepsi well beyond traditional advertising.
Chief Creative Officer for Beats Electronics, Trent Reznor, hinted at a looming digital music service that will "allow the machine and the human [to] collide more intimately." Expected to launch next year, the service will be based on MOG, purchased by Beats in July.
The U.S. State Department has responded to a petition regarding Randy Blythe and the manslaughter charges he faces in the Czech Republic, saying only that the case could not be discussed but was closely being monitored. The Lamb of God frontman is returning to Prague to stand trial for the death of a fan that was pushed off a stage, and suffered life-ending head injuries as a result.
The LAPD has now apologized to the family of Notorious B.I.G. for graphic, leaked autopsy reports. Apparently the mistake was due to administrative errors, though the bigger errors have been happening since the 90s. Like the death of Tupac Shakur, Biggie Smalls' murder remains a high-profile, unsolved case.
Pandora has officially expanded internationally, launching in Australia and New Zealand, complete with country-specific genre stations. Pandora can now be accessed in these countries through apps for iOS and Android devices as well, the result of a rare, ex-US licensing handshake.
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