Diverse taste in music? Then you've got to get to Philly on Aug. 31 - Sept. 1 for the 2013 Made in America Festival.

The show, which is organized by Jay-Z and sponsored by Budweiser, will be headlined by an eclectic mix of headlining acts this year: Beyoncé, Nine Inch Nails, Deadmau5 and Phoenix. According to Rolling Stone, Queens of the Stone Age, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis and Wiz Khalifa will also perform, among others. (If you've got Spotify, see the entire lineup here.)

I personally love that there will be such a mixed bag of artists. But could it be a turn-off for some fans? Budweiser VP of marketing Paul Chibe doesn't think so:

"The point of having that diversity in our music lineup we’re trying to expose the people to different types of music. Much like last year, where if you never saw Pearl Jam but you're a Jay-Z fan, we want fans of Beyonce or Calvin Harris or Wiz Khalifa to have the opportunity to see Nine Inch Nails or stuff they might have seen for awhile like Public Enemy. That eclectic mix creates an opportunity for us to really show the impact of music and culture."

I like it! And, at the risk of sounding like a huge nerd, I'd be interested to see which promotional products are chosen for the event.

What do you think? Is the 2013 Made in America Festival's all-embracing lineup a positive or a negative?

It's hard to believe that it was almost one year ago that Watch The Throne, the collaborative album between hip-hop heavy-hitters Jay-Z and Kanye West. Some people are still heavily playing "...in Paris" on repeat and trying to memorize the fast-paced lyricism of "Otis"

What made this album a great success wasn't just the producers (Kanye West, Pharrell, Swizz Beatz) or the household names that were part of the musical project. What gave the album staying power on the charts was the fact that it was released digitally - before its physical release and before the album could even leak. 

It's no surprise that with the invention of the torrents, Youtube, P2P filesharing sites and closed filesharing services it is hard for an artist's albums to not get into the wrong hands before its official release date. So when it came to Watch The Throne Jay-Z and Kanye did something a tad unorthodox by releasing the album themselves about a week beforehand.

The result? An array of praise and a flurry of first week sales. (436,000 to be exact) It would become platinum one month later. 

So one year later, it is Watch The Throne guest vocalist/OFWGKTA member Frank Ocean that would follow in their footsteps - releasing his first full length album Channel Orange (not to be confused with his mixtape) a week before its official release. As a result, the album is already getting praise from the likes of Pitchfork, Huffington Post and Telegraph. Despite not being sold in some retailers, this album is expected to push over 100k copies.

Like the singles "Thinkin' Bout You" or "Pyramids"? Chances are you may be able to grab as a gift on a custom imprinted Digital Media Card - Music Download Card. 

Are you more likely to buy an album if released or leaked early? Have an opinion on Frank Ocean or his new album? 

I've seen The Flaming Lips perform 3 times, all within the last year. But if you followed The Flaming Lips around last night, you could have seen them eight times.

The Flaming Lips set a Guinness World Record early this morning, breaking the record for most concerts performed in a 24 hour period by a performing artist. The group used their tour bus to travel to various cities that included Baton Rouge and New Orleans. This record was originally set by Jay-Z who flew on a private jet to 7 different destinations over the course of 24 hours. This was back in 2006.

Each performance was stripped of its gimmicks, lightshow and festivities that seemed to coincide with The Flaming Lips' performances for the last few years. Each performance was also 15-20 minutes only. Special guests included Neon Trees, Jackson Browne, Gary Clark Jr. and Grace Potter. 

Wayne Coyne issued a statement regarding the record:

"To be published alongside the man who ate 10kg of his own boogers, beside the woman with the longest toenails or perhaps even to be published beside an individual who has had maybe 1,000 cockroaches stuffed into their ears...that, to me, would be one of life's absurd joys."

The above statement may seem bizarre until you realize that this band has done everything strange from collaborating with ke$ha, released music on a promotional flash drive in a gummy skull, wrote a song for an episode of Spongebob Squarepants and even wrote a song that is 24 hours long. 

Few album releases have been as long-awaited as this one.  Jay-Z and Kanye West, arguably two of the most influential hip hop artists of our time, have come together to bring the world 'Watch the Throne'-- a duo release which has already hit number one on iTunes in 23 countries, reports MTV.  The album, which has been quietly promoted for months, was digitally released yesterday.

While the album won't be available to purchase in-store until Friday, according to MTV, fans across the globe have already made it number one on the digital distributors chart.  One would think that such a highly anticipated CD must've had a killer promotional campaign.  But the truth is, despite a few low-key marketing efforts, the album has been somewhat hush-hush.  And the silence was actually part of the appeal for fans.

According to Rolling Stone, up until the its digital release, the collaboration had only been promoted through a variety of delays, teases and "closely guarded advance listening sessions."  So, if you were expecting to see a slew of custom products promoting 'Throne', you thought wrong.  However, as reported by Keith Caulfield for Billboard.com, retailer Best Buy teamed up with the two rap superstars to offer the deluxe CD in a rare promotional giveaway.

The physical copy of the deluxe CD comes in a custom imprinted CD case that, according to Time, is "made from gold mylar [that] unfolds into a cross and is embossed with images by Givenchy designer Riccardo Tisci."  Some argue that the album's decorative cover is over-the-top, but others feel it reflects the fact that its music is a piece of art.

While we're not about to see Throne-themed promotional mouse pads or Jay-Z and Kanye-covered customized totes, we can rest assured that this album will be worth the listen.  I can't wait to pick up my CD later this week!