‘American Idol’ winner Scotty McCreery made history this week (becoming the first country music star to ever have an album reach #1 on the Billboard 200 charts with his debut “Clear As Day.” Speaking of moments in music history, The Vaccines, a british indie rock band, released the first-ever Instagram crowdsourced video. While it seemed like an awesome idea, the video falls a little flat…like watching a slide show of someone’s photos of their summer — in the 1970s — traveling from one hipster music festival to another, set to music. In other music news, Opera is upping its cool cache with performances in bars and featuring popular singers, like Karen O, lead singer of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs) (Billboard) (Mashable) (Trendcentral)
Barbie is suddenly badass! (Her latest makeover includes an adorable pink bob and some sensational Tokidoki tattoos. While parents may not be excited about this latest look, we’re sure some teens and tweens will think it’s hot! If something sweet is more your style, check out Teen Vogue‘s story on Alexa Chung; the UK It Girl is making it in the U.S. these days, with girls fighting over her collections at Madewell) (Ms. Twixt) (MTV Style)
Occupy Colleges is an offshoot of Occupy Wall Street (encouraging students on campuses throughout the U.S. to walk out of class this Thursday at 4:30pm. More than 90 colleges are confirmed to participate. Who says today’s youth aren’t politically minded?)
We’re big fans of CollegeHumor.com, so we’re curious to see (how it goes when the site charges for a 30-minute episode of it’s popular “Jake and Amir” series. It’s the first time CollegeHumor.com has charged for its videos. At a mere $2.99 for a digital download, we think it’ll be a success; after all, our research has shown students are happy to pay a nominal amount to support the artists they’re big fans of) (All Things D)
Marvel’s The Avengers are set on retail domination (sealing an apparel deal with P.S. from Aeropostale, a kids store. This comes on the heels of a deal with USC to merge Marvel’s superheros with the school’s Trojan mascot. Now the company just needs a deal with a teen retailer to fill the gap!) (Kidscreen)
A whopping 91% of kids aged two to 11 are gamers (according to a new research study from NPD Group. Nearly half play videogames on a portable gaming device, and another 38% play on mobile devices. Although mobile gaming is the fastest growing platform, kids and their parents spend five times as much money on games for other devices as on gaming apps for smartphones) (NPD Group)
Scary movies are a common part of Halloween celebrations (but they can have a lasting effect on children, especially the younger they are. Kids under age eight have a hard time distinguishing between reality and fantasy, and scary movies can be particularly traumatic for them. Even teenagers can be affected by horror films, developing fears and having nightmares) (Common Sense Media)