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Tuesday, Nov. 6, wasn't just Election Day for Jay Brown. It was also the day the Roc Nation president/co-founder had to hand over the final cut of Rihanna's seventh album, [...]

Aloe Blacc Lift Your Spirit PRODUCERS: DJ Khalil, Pharrell Williams, Rock Mafia LABEL: Interscope RELEASE DATE: March 11 Even if you aren't aware of it, you've probably heard Aloe Blacc [...]

Pharrell Girl PRODUCER: Pharrell Williams LABEL: Columbia 'Different.' It's not just the first word spoken by Pharrell on Girl--preceded by a 30-second string overture composed by Hans Zimmer, no less--but [...]

2012 IS SHAPING up to be an exceptionally strong year for synchs, with two of the year's biggest hits--fun.'s 'We Are Young' (featuring Janelle Monae) and Kelly Clarksen's 'Stronger (What [...]

X Ambassadors VHS Kidinakorner/Interscope *** Jingle-friendly alt-rockers take a page from Imagine Dragons THE STALLED MOMENTUM OF 2013'S alt-radio breakouts Imagine Dragons has left the door open for another genre-neutral [...]

RITA ORA 'POISON' COLUMBIA/ROC NATION *** Rita Ora's first solo single in more than a year follows last spring's shoulda-been-huge 'I Will Never Let You Down,' produced by ex-flame Calvin [...]

MEGHAN TRAINOR 'LIPS ARE MOVIN'' EPIC ***** Trainor has just one hit to her name thus far, and on her 'All About That Bass' follow-up, she can't help but work [...]

MIKKY EKKO 'SMILE' RCA RECORDS Don't let his stark duet with Rihanna (the top three hit 'Stay') fool you: Ekko introduces himself as a powerhouse-piped singer-songwriter on the woundedly optimistic [...]

When you score features on standout tracks from Drake and Kendrick Lamar before your first EP has even come out, there's bound to be high hopes. Jhene Alko's 'The Pressure' [...]

HILARY DUFF "Chasing the Sun" RCA Records Hilary Duff sounds refreshingly familiar on "Chasing the Sun," co-written by Colbie Caillat, Toby Gad and Jason Reeves. Released just in time for [...]

MEGHAN TRAINOR "All About That Bass" Epic Records Body-image awareness is having a moment in pop, from Colbie Caillat's "Try" and John Legend's "You & I (Nobody in the World)" [...]

Ariana Grande's 'Problem' is still duking it out with Iggy Azalea's 'Fancy' for Song of the Summer status, but that hasn't stopped Grande, 21, from delivering another perfectly on-trend smash [...]

PRODUCER: Greg Kurstin LABEL: Monkey Puzzle Records/RCA RELEASE DATE: July 8 SIA FURLER'S FIRST BREAK came when her dirge-like 2004 ballad 'Breathe Me' was used as the bleak closing song [...]

ESTER DEAN "Get My Dough" Zone4/Interscope Ester Dean has been working diligently to forge a new identity outside of her work as a Midas touch songwriter for Katy Perry and [...]

ONEREPUBLIC "Love Runs Out" Mosley/Interscope Hitmaker Ryan Tedder tackles the daunting task of following up OneRepublic's biggest single yet ("Counting Stars") head on by churning out an arena-ready Mississippi blues [...]

ALTERNATIVE BROKEN BELLS After the Disco PRODUCER: Brian "Danger Mouse" Burton LABEL: Columbia RELEASE DATE: Feb. 4 James Mercer follows his most shameless bid for indie-pop stardom, 2012's Greg Kurstin-produced [...]

Shakira makes a highly anticipated return to pop music following 2010's Spanglish project Sale el Sol with 'Can't Remember to Forget You,' a pop-rock anthem so stadium-sized it even recruits [...]

MAGIC TRICK River of Souls PRODUCER: Tim Cohen LABEL: Empty Cellar Records RELEASE DATE: Dec. 3 Since 2009, Tim Cohen has released a staggering seven-plus albums' worth of material with [...]

POP LEONA LEWIS Christmas With Love PRODUCERS: Biff Stannard, Ash Howes LABEL: RCA RELEASE DATE: Dec. 3 Released 50 years ago, Phil Spector's A Christmas Gift for You and its [...]

] Lily Allen 'Hard Out Here' (3:31) PRODUCER: Greg Kurstin WRITERS: Lily Allen, Greg Kurstin PUBLISHERS: Universal Music Publishing/Kurstin Music/ EMI April Music LABELS: Parlophone/Warner Bros. Lily Allen has achieved [...]

Calvin Harris & Alesso Featuring Hurts 'Under Control' (3:04) PRODUCERS: Calvin Harris, Alesso WRITERS: Calvin Harris, Alessandro Lindblad, Theo Hutchcraft PUBLISHERS: Sony/ATV, Universal Music Publishing, EMI Music Publishing LABEL: Deconstruction/Fly [...]

ALTERNATIVE MILOSH Jetlag PRODUCER: Milosh LABELS: Deadly/eOne Music RELEASE DATE: Nov. 26 For his first solo set since breaking out with collaborative project Rhye earlier this year, Mike Milosh again [...]

POP ONE DIRECTION "Story of My Life" (4:06) PRODUCER: Julian Bunetta WRITERS: Jamie Scot, John Ryan, Julian Bunetta, One Direction PUBLISHERS: various LABELS: Syco Music/Columbia Records One Direction becomes the [...]

Lady Gaga ARTPOP PRODUCERS: Zedd, White Shadow, RedOne LABEL: Interscope RELEASE DATE: Nov. 11 Gaga's ARTPOP is just as stuffed with ideas as it is hooks, but unlike 2011's message-laden [...]

Celine Dion Loved Me Back to Life PRODUCERS: various LABEL: Columbia RELEASE DATE: Nov. 5 Celine Dion has very little to prove, as one of the world's biggest-selling artists of [...]

KELLY CLARKSON "Underneath the Tree" (3:50) PRODUCER: Greg Kurstin WRITERS: Kelly Clarkson, Greg Kurstin PUBLISHERS: Kobalt Songs Music Publishing, EMI Music Publishing LABEL: RCA Records Many artists have tried, and [...]

ALTERNATIVE LOS CAMPESINOS! No Blues PRODUCERS: John Goodmanson, Tom Campesinos! LABEL: Wichita Recordings RELEASE DATE: Oct. 29 Each Los Campesinos! LP since 2008 breakout Hold On Now, Youngster has gotten [...]

KATY PERRY "Unconditionally" (3:49) PRODUCERS: Dr. Luke, Cirkut WRITERS: Katy Perry, Dr. Luke, Max Martin, Henry Walter PUBLISHERS: When I'm Rich You'll Be My Bitch (ASCAP) administered by Warner- Chappell/Kobalt [...]

Paul McCartney NEW PRODUCERS: Paul Epworth, Mark Ronson, Giles Martin LABEL: Concord RELEASE DATE: Oct. 15 'Everybody's busy doing better than me/And I can see why it is/They got someone [...]

ELTON JOHN The Diving Board PRODUCER: T Bone Burnett LABEL: Capitol Records RELEASE DATE: Sept. 24 John has plenty of big, brassy pop/rock showstoppers in his catalog, but you won't [...]

ARTIST: John Mayer ALBUM: Paradise Valley LABEL: Columbia RELEASE DATE: Aug. 20 PRODUCERS: Don Was, John Mayer MANAGEMENT: Michael McDonald, Mick Management PUBLISHING: Goodium Music (ASCAP) BOOKING AGENT: Scott Clayton, [...]

"Exotic" (4:06) PRODUCER: RedOne WRITERS: various PUBLISHERS: various Interscope It would be easy to dismiss "Exotic" as a reproduction of Jennifer Lopez's most recent dance hits, especially given producer Red-One's [...]

MUTYA KEISHA SIOBHAN "Flatline" (3:52) PRODUCER: Dev Hynes WRITERS: various PUBLISHERS: Copyright Control/Domino Publishing Co. Polydor Dev Hynes, aka Blood Orange, has gone three-for-three as an indie-pop producer for female [...]

KELLY ROWLAND Talk a Good Game PRODUCERS: various Republic Records RELEASE DATE: June 18 Former Destiny's Child member Rowland comes into her own as a solo artist on her fourth [...]

GAVIN DeGRAW "Best I Ever Had" (3:47) PRODUCER: Martin Johnson WRITERS: Gavin DeGraw, Martin Johnson PUBLISHERS: various RCA Pop-rock singer DeGraw apparently couldn't ignore the dual EDM and folk resurgences [...]

NEKO CASE "Man" (3:31) PRODUCER: M. Ward WRITER: not listed PUBLISHER: not listed Anti For her first single in four years, Case adopts the jangly power-pop of her side project [...]

KARMIN "Acapella" (3:21) PRODUCER: Martin Johnson WRITERS: various PUBLISHERS: various Epic Karmin's Amy Heidemann settles into her own rhythm as a rapper/ singer on "Acapella," the duo's first single to [...]

MILEY CYRUS "We Can't Stop" (3:53) PRODUCER: Mike WiLL Made-It WRITERS: Miley Cyrus, Mike WiLL Made-It, Rock City PUBLISHERS: various RCA Records "It's my mouth/I can say what I want [...]

POP BRUNO MARS "Treasure" (2:56) PRODUCERS: The Smeezingtons WRITERS: Bruno Mars, Philip Lawrence II, Ari Levine, Phredley Brown PUBLISHERS: various Atlantic Whereas "Locked Out of Heaven" was a paean to [...]

POP CARLY RAE JEPSEN FEATURING NICKI MINAJ "Tonight I'm Getting Over You" (3:39) PRODUCERS: Lukas Hilbert, Max Martin WRITERS: various PUBLISHERS: various 604/School Boy/Interscope It's unfortunate that it took a [...]

POP JENNIFER LOPEZ FEATURING PITBULL "Live It Up" (4:04) PRODUCER: RedOne WRITER: not listed PUBLISHER: not listed 2101/Capitol Lopez, Pitbull and RedOne attempt to score a hat trick for their [...]

MARIAH CAREY FEATURING MIGUEL "#Beautiful" (3:22) PRODUCERS: Mariah Carey, Miguel WRITERS: Mariah Carey, Miguel Pimentel PUBLISHERS: ASCAP, BMI Island Def Jam With guitar and first-verse duties handled by Miguel, Carey [...]

Camera Obscura overcomes illness and bad weather for diverse fifth album Scottish indie-pop quintet Camera Obscura has amassed a sizable stateside following during the past decade with the release of [...]

ELECTRONIC Daft Punk Eaturing Pharrell "Get Lucky" (4:07) PRODUCER: Daft Punk WRITERS: various PUBLISHERS: various Ultra/Columbia "Get Lucky," already Daft Punk's biggest hit in its 16-year career, has all the [...]

CHARLI XCX True Romance PRODUCERS: Ariel Rechtshaid, Patrik Berger, Blood Diamonds IAmSound RELEASE DATE: April 16 Charli XCX proves she has plenty of monster hooks, killer beats and equally bratty [...]

JONAS BROTHERS Pom Poms (3:18) PRODUCER: Nick Jonas WRITERS: Nick Jonas, Kevin Jonas, Joe Jonas, Paul Phamous PUBLISHERS: Jonas Brothers Publishing (BMI), Kid Brother Media (SESAC) Jonas Brother Recording The [...]

REDFOO Bring Out the Bottles (3:59) Producer: RedFoo Writers: A. Smith, B. Garcia, S. Gordy Publishers: RedFoo LLC dba Yeah Baby Music/RedFoo LLC dba Chebra Music (ASCAP) Interscope For his [...]

JOSH GROBAN Brave (3:59) Producer: Rob Cavallo Writers: J. Groban, T. Salter, C. Kreviazuk Publishers: various Reprise 'Rhythmic' is a word not often associated with the music of Josh Groban, [...]

SANTIGOLD Girls (2:18) Producers: Switch, Trooko Writers: S. White, D. Taylor, J. Penalva Publishers: Downtown Music Publishing, Little Jerk, Werd Music (ASCAP) Fueled by Ramen HBO's "Girls" didn't have an [...]

NIKKI WILLIAMS Kill, Fuck, Marry (5:19) Producer: Stargate Writers: S. Furler, M.S. Eriksen, T.E. Hermansen Publisher: EMI Music Publishing (ASCAP) Island Def Jam The popular drinking game becomes surprisingly potent [...]