Sean Michaels, The Guardian

A university in New York state has announced a course on the sociology of Miley Cyrus. Assistant professor Carolyn Chernoff will use the twerking pop star as "a lens into cultural conflict", exploring race, class, gender and the "core issues of intersectionality theory".

Lily Allen has denied accusations that her new music video is racist, insisting that Hard Out Here's scantily clad black and Asian dancers were chosen for their twerking skills, not the colour of their skin.

A Beverly Hills police officer has been accused of ogling the naked corpse of Whitney Houston after she was found drowned at her hotel. According to another officer at the scene, detective sergeant Terry Nutall "contaminated" and "mistreated" the body of the singer, removing a sheet that was being used to "preserve the dignity of the remains".

Singer claims to have rejected invitation from oligarch friend to perform at ceremonies over concerns about recent legislation

Neil Young has issued an update on his Pono Music project, promising the "high-resolution" audio service will be ready to launch in early 2014. Although details remain scarce, Young hopes his service will replace the MP3 through a combination of a new portable music player, new compression technology and "special access" to musicians' original recordings.