The time has come once again for the Billboard Music Awards 2013, broadcasting live on Sunday at 8|7c on ABC. Each year the finalists are comprised of some of the most played and certainly most visible artists of the year. The show will also feature performances from Miguel, Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Lopez, Lil Wayne, Macklemore, while Prince will be taking home the Billboard Icon Award.

It’s hard to choose just one winner, but we took our best shot of breaking down the finalists and our predictions in 10 Top categories. Do you agree? We’ll all know for sure come Sunday. Listen to the highlighted artists and more on the Music Unlimited service.

1) Top Artist:


Justin Bieber

Maroon 5

One Direction
Rihanna 
Taylor Swift

Reason: These guys put out two albums in a single year. By breaking convention, they made sure that there were few moments between those albums where you weren’t surrounded by One Direction.

2) Top Hot 100 Song:


Fun. “Some Nights”
Gotye feat. Kimbra  “Somebody That I Used To Know”
Carly Rae Jepsen “Call Me Maybe”
Carly Rae Jepsen “One More Night”
Maroon 5 feat. Wiz Khalifa
 “Payphone”
Reason: It’s great to see a band break out as the dark horse of the year, but they also managed two smash singles. That’s something to celebrate.

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This week, we are obsessing over the brand new single from Sara Bareilles, “Brave,” from her upcoming new album, The Blessed Unrest. For this song, she called on friend and mentor Jack Antonoff, multi-instrumentalist of the band fun., to co-write the relentlessly catchy anthem. Once you know that fact, you hear some of the musical themes he clearly influenced, an often-exercised new set of ears and ideas that many artists explore.

Today, we list off our Top 10 favorite co-writing collaborations, some you may not have known, including significant others (Lambert and Shelton, Lavigne and Kroeger), boy band bro-mances (One Direction and Ed Sheeran, The Wanted and Olly Murs), unlikely pairings (KISS and Michael Bolton?) and more.

1. Sara Bareilles – “Brave”
   Co-written with Jack Antonoff (fun.)
2. One Direction – “Little Things”
   Co-written with Ed Sheeran
3. Adele – “Rumour Has It”
   Co-written with Ryan Tedder (OneRepublic)
4. Ke$ha – “Die Young”
   Co-written with Nate Reuss (fun.)
5. Kelly Clarkson – “Breakaway”
   Co-written by Avril Lavigne
6. Flo Rida – “Right Round”
   Co-written by Bruno Mars
7. KISS – “Forever”
   Co-written by Michael Bolton
8. Avril Lavigne – “Here’s to Never Growing Up”
   Co-written by Chad Kroeger (Nickelback)
9. Olly Murs – “Dear Darlin”
   Co-written by Ed Drewitt (The Wanted)
10. Miranda Lambert – “Over You”
    Co-written by Blake Shelton

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As mentioned in our daily updates from the festival and our Video Round-Up of favorite performances, we got to see a lot last at the first weekend of Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival. Since we’re unable to transcend time and space (yet!) we weren’t able to make it to everything, especially those with conflicting set times, during a much-needed Spicy Pie dinner or perhaps sets that were a bit too early for our sleepy selves. Some die-hard fans are going both weekends and have the opportunity to not only see their favorite bands again, but squeeze in ones they missed the weekend prior.

We enjoyed everything we saw, but that said, we’ve compiled a list of the Top 10 artists we’d see if we were making the trip out to the desert again this weekend. Have fun out there!

1. Two Door Cinema Club
Album: Beacon
Song: “Sleep Alone”

2. Jake Bugg
Album: Jake Bugg
Song: “Slide”

 3. Lord Huron
Album: Lonesome Dreams
Song: “The Wind”

 4. Little Green Cars
Album: Absolute Zero
Song: “The John Wayne”

 5. Spiritualized
Album: Ladies and Gentleman, We are Floating in Space 
Song: “Ladies and Gentleman, We are Floating in Space”

 6. Descendants
Album: Milo Goes to College
Song: “Suburban Home”

 7. James Blake
Album: Overgrown 
Song: “Retrograde”

 8. How to Destroy Angels
Album: Welcome oblivion
Song: “How Long?”

 9. Tanlines
Album: Mixed Emotions 
Song: “All of Me”

 10. Divine Fits
Album: A Thing Called Divine Fits
Song: “My Love is Real”

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After last week’s Lil Wayne domination, the Top 10 songs played on the Music Unlimited service seemed to have evened off, with many of the usual suspects making their way back up and Macklemore holding strong at the top. However, amidst a heavy list of hip-hop, Imagine Dragons are carrying the torch for rock with their runaway 2nd single, “Radioactive.” Tyler, The Creator peaks at #6 played artist after the release of Wolf and the Artist Rewind: Lil Wayne retrospective seems to be on par to stick in the Top 10 for a while to come.

Check out the rest of the charts and listen to your favorites on the Music Unlimited service.

Week Ending 4/8/13 [US]

Top 10 Songs

1. Macklemore – “Thrift Shop (feat. Wanz)”
2. Drake – “Started From the Bottom”
3. Lil Wayne feat. Drake and Future – “Love Me”
4. A$AP Rocky feat. Drake, 2 Chainz & Kendrick Lamar – “ F**kin’ Problems”
5. Kendrick Lamar – “Swimming Pools (Drank)”
6. Chief Keef – “Love Sosa”
7. Lil Wayne feat Detail – “No Worries”
8. Juicy J feat. Lil Wayne and 2 Chainz – “Bandz A Make Her Dance”
9. 2 Chainz – “I’m Different”
10. Imagine Dragons – “Radioactive”

Top 10 Artists

1. Lil Wayne
2. Eminem
3. Wiz Khalifa
4. Bruno Mars
5. Drake
6. Tyler, The Creator
7. T.I.
8. Macklemore
9. Justin Timberlake
10. Rihanna

Top 10 Channels

1. Favorites
2. Rap Top 100
3. Local Top 100
4. Hot Songs
5. Global Top 100
6. R&B Top 100
7. Pop Top 100
8. Country
9. Artist Rewind: Lil Wayne
10. Rock & Metal Top 100

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April is most certainly a banner month for country music, with new albums from The Band Perry & Gretchen Wilson this week, plus Brad Paisley, Willie Nelson, Kenny Chesney, and Tate Stevens on deck the next few weeks.

All these new albums coupled with new episodes of Nashville and Stagecoach Music Festival in Indio are enough to make a country fan’s year all on their own, but this Sunday’s Academy of Country Music Awards is like the senior prom.

Today’s Top 10 highlights the performers at this year’s awards, including hosts Blake Shelton and Luke Bryan as well as newcomer Hunter Hayes and the legendary George Strait. Tune in Sunday at 8PM EST/PST on ABC.

1. Blake Shelton
Album: Based on a True Story
Song: “Sure Be Cool if You Did”

2. Luke Bryan
Album: Spring Break . . . Here to Party
Song: “Buzzkill”

 3. The Band Perry
Album: Pioneer
Song: “Better Dig Two”

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You may have noticed that the Music Unlimited service has been rolling out some new channels, featuring new and more in-depth genres and even a new era (2010’s)! We already told you about the Game Music Channel, but see the list below of more that are sure to satisfy whatever mood you’re in.

1. 2010’s
Featuring artists such as: Adele, LMFAO, Justin Bieber, Mumford and Sons


2. Classic Rock
Featuring artists such as:  The Who, Aerosmith, The Doors, Fleetwood Mac


3. Old School Hip-hop
Featuring artists such as: Run DMC, LL Cool J, Ice Cube, A Tribe Called Quest

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Macklemore continues his streak at #1, with his impossible-to-miss smash, “Thrift Shop,” alongside pickup for The Heist itself. Other chart stalwarts dig their heels into the top slots, but they better watch out for Lil Wayne, whose Tuesday release of I Am Not a Human Being II is sure to eclipse some of the stuff that has been dominating the first part of the year.

Check out who made it to the top below and listen to more on the Music Unlimited service.

Top 10 Songs

1. Macklemore – “Thrift Shop (ft. Wanz)”
2. Lil Wayne ft. Drake and Future – “Love Me”
3. Drake – “Started From the Bottom”
4. A$AP Rocky featuring Drake, 2 Chainz & Kendrick Lamar – “F**kin’ Problems”
5. Kendrick Lamar – “Swimming Pools (Drank)”
6. 2 Chainz – “I’m Different”
7. Lil Wayne ft. Detail – “No Worries”
8. Juicy J ft. Lil Wayne and 2 Chainz – “Bandz A Make Her Dance”
9. Chief Keef – “Love Sosa”
10. Kendrick Lamar – “Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe”

Top 10 Artists

1. Eminem
2. Drake
3. Wiz Khalifa
4. Bruno Mars
5. T.I.
6. Kendrick Lamar
7. Rihanna
8. Macklemore
9. Linkin Park
10. Lil Wayne

Top 10 Channels

1. Favorites
2. Rap Top 100
3. Global Top 100
4. Hot Songs
5. Local Top 100
6. R&B Top 100
7. Country
8. Pop Top 100
9. Rock & Metal Top 100
10. Rap

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This week, thousands of artists from all around the world have landed in Texas for SXSW, the annual conference and music festival that engulfs all of downtown Austin (and then some). Left and right you’ll find musicians from big cities and small towns, but what about those that call Austin home? Check out our Top 10 list of artists from the capital city and their essential albums.

Spoon
Album: Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Song: “The Underdog”

Willie Nelson
Album: Heroes
Song: “Roll Me Up”

Dixie Chicks
Album: Fly
Song: “Cowboy Take Me Away”

Fastball
Album: Keep Your Wig On
Song: “Drifting Away”

. . . And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead
Album: Source Tags & Codes
Song: “Relative Ways”

Riverboat Gamblers
Album: The Wolf You Feed
Song: “Comedians”

Explosions in the Sky
Album: Those Who Tell the Truth
Song: “Greet Death”

The Black Angels
Album: Indigo Meadow (coming 4/2)
Song: “Don’t Play With Guns”

Blue October
Album: Foiled
Song: “Hate Me”

Ben Kweller
Album: Sha Sha
Song: “Wasted and Ready”

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This weekend, Justin Timberlake will once again host and perform on Saturday Night Live. This makes him part of an elite group of artists who have pulled double duty – and this will make five times! Timberlake has proven himself not only as a solo artist, but as the ultimate superstar in music, dancing, TV and film, which has made him a hot commodity across all of those mediums. Below we count out our Top 10 favorite Timberlake musical appearances, from when we first met him in *NSYNC, to his early solo work, plus guest performances with artists like Jamie Foxx, T-Pain and the SNL supergroup, The Lonely Island.

1) *NSYNC
Album: No Strings Attached
Song: “It’s Gonna Be Me”

2) Justin Timberlake
Album: The 20/20 Experience
Song: “Suit & Tie”

3) The Lonely Island
Album: Turtleneck & Chain
Song: “Motherlover”

4) Jamie Foxx
Album: Best Night of My Life
Song: “Winner”

5) *NSYNC
Album: Celebrity
Song: “Pop”

6) Justin Timberlake
Album: Justified
Song: “Cry Me a River”

7) T-Pain
Song: “Can’t Believe It (Remix)”

8) Ciara
Album: Fantasy Ride
Song: “Love Sex Magic”

9) Justin Timberlake
Album: The 20/20 Experience
Song: “Mirrors”

10) Duran Duran
Album: Red Carpet Massacre
Song: “Falling Down”

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This week’s launch of the Tegan & Sara Artist Picks Channel shines a spotlight on the Canadian twins and their new album, Heartthrob. They’ve been on the scene a while, but so have other pairs of ladies across multiple genres. Check out our list of Top 10 Female Duos, from established artists like Heart to one-time collaborations like Lady Gaga & Beyonce and even the unlikely plot pairing of old & new country from the show Nashville.

Monica & Brandy
Song: “It All Belongs to Me”

Mary Mary
Album: Go Get It
Song: “Go Get It”

Lady Gaga & Beyonce
Album: The Fame Monster
Song: “Telephone”

Heart
Album: Bad Animals
Song: Alone

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