Lady Gaga joins Beyonce, Chris Brown, and Michael Jackson as artists whose YouTube channels had artificially inflated views struck from the video site’s coveted counts. It’s as if 156 million voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. As NME notes, it’s likely not her fault. Fans and hackers will often inflate the counts using automated video viewing techniques to either support or attempt to get the artists in trouble. There are other factors taken into account during these sweeps, including auto-play views that YouTube doesn’t like to count. If someone didn’t specifically…

It was her last dance today. Donna Summer, 5-time Grammy winner who shot to superstardom in the ’70s with iconic hits including Last Dance, Hot Stuff and Bad Girls, died in her Florida home from her long battle with lung cancer. While tears are shed and records are played in commemoration to her legacy, one can help but wonder what the revenue is behind music sales after a celebrity’s passing. When Amy Winehouse passed away, there was an incredible flux of record sales. After the confirmation of her death and the closure of the charts, Winehouse’s second studio album made a return to the charts,…

There’s something so bizarre about posthumous album releases. Like, what’s the deal with 2pac? I think I read somewhere that he’s released more music while dead than alive at this point? That’s probably untrue, but that the claim can even be made and reasonably believed at all renders it pretty bizarre, at any rate. Then again, I don’t listen to rap. Anyway, seems the latest corpse to be cranking out the hits will be none other than the King of Pop, whose forthcoming album ‘Michael’ will feature new music featuring the likes of 50 Cent and Lenny Kravitz, as well as a previously-unreleased jam from…