Britney Sweeps 3 VMA Awards

The ladies pull in 12 of 15 awards yesterday, led by Adele with 4

(NEWSER) - Katy Perry won the top prize at last night's MTV Video Music Awards, in an event that was dominated by women. Perry took home three Moonmen, including one for video of the year for "Firework," reports the Hollywood Reporter. "There's nothing like your first time, your first Moonman, right?" said Perry as she accepted her award. "Now this is a time you want to interrupt me right, Kanye?" she asked Mr. West, who has been known to do that sort of thing . Perry also won for best collaboration (with Kanye West) and best special effects for "ET." More»

Singer's 'GagaVille' farm will release exclusive tracks

(NEWSER) - Gaga for Gaga? It’s time to start a virtual farm. Lady Gaga is releasing exclusive new tracks from her album via a special “GagaVille” estate in FarmVille, the AP reports. Players of the online game must accomplish certain tasks to hear one new song per day between May 17 and 19; non-exclusive songs can be unlocked in the following days, ahead of the release of her album Born This Way on May 23. More»

Though she probably had little to do with its edginess, critics say

(NEWSER) - Britney Spears’ new record is actually pretty innovative for a pop album—though Britney herself may have little to do with that.

• Femme Fatale is “the rare dance-pop album that never flags, each track preposterously overstuffed with hooks and sensations,” writes Jody Rosen in Slate . Spears is “a great avant-gardist”: These are some “absurd” tracks, but her “star power provides cover for the weirdness—anything she records, no matter how strange, instantly becomes pop.”

Forbes was wrong about the singer's payday, writes Annie Lowrey

(NEWSER) - Thanks to a song that’s inspired unrestrained hatred, Rebecca Black has been proclaimed a millionaire by no less an authority than Forbes —but that’s unlikely, writes Annie Lowrey in Slate after a quick analysis. For one thing, "Friday" has sold 30,000 copies, Billboard says; Forbes had reported that it had been bought 2 million times on iTunes. The lower figure means about $26,000 for Black. Forbes also estimated that Google makes $1 per thousand YouTube views, meaning the singer would get a $20,000 cut of the $30,000 made from 30 million views. (It's now at 47 million.) More»

Meghan Daum: To be really popular, you have to be really unpopular

(NEWSER) - With Friday, 13-year-old Rebecca Black has a top 20 song on iTunes and a video that’s reached 35 million views—but what she’s most noted for is widespread derision. “We don't hate you because you're famous. You're famous because we hate you,” reads one of the printable tweets. But that’s what fame is in the age of the Internet, writes Meghan Daum in the Los Angeles Times : "To do anything in a public arena is to invite an insta-response that will echo just as loudly with harsh critics as with fans." More»