THE DEATH OF PRINT JOURNALISM, PART 8,623

19/Arista Nashville’s Carrie Underwood is back with a vengeance, as her Storyteller adds another superstar release to an already dazzling Q4 schedule. With her “Smoke Break” flying to Top 5 at Country radio, pre-orders high and big TV looks arrayed ahead of her 10/23 release, the superstar is poised to bring an early Christmas gift to Sony Nashville’s Randy Goodman and team. But after appearing on the cover of this rag, Underwood may yearn to change the story.

Our Contents page VIP, RCA Prexy/COO Tom Corson, meanwhile, is singing the praises of a cappella wonders Pentatonix, whose first full-length of original music bowed atop the HITS Album Sales Chart on Friday. The band’s escalating success is a vindication of Corson’s belief that last year’s holiday smash was only the beginning; the exec spearheaded the deal after watching the band’s viral growth and sales success on indie Madison Gate. Meanwhile, he, CEO Peter Edge and team are also psyched about new music from Sia, including a single co-penned by Adele, and the continued growth of breakouts Elle King and R. City. But when Corson saw us coming, he probably hoped Nipper would bare his fangs.