We're still relatively early in the days of music streaming and its impact on the recording industry. And Nicki Minaj has some thoughts on how it should go.

The rapper and singer went on Instagram Wednesday to celebrate the one-year anniversary of her album "The Pinkprint," and asserted that it is triple platinum, even though sales figures dictate that it hasn't even hit platinum.

#1YearOfThePinkprint this album is now TRIPLE platinum worldwide (3.3 Million), even though we have to wait for a March court date to be credited for tracks & streams. Some artists removed their work off Spotify and other services of that nature, but for the ones who did not, we have to be patient for justice in our industry & it finally looks like it's coming. This judgement, when passed, will work retroactively so that we can receive our plaques, etc for all of the free music given away on these services. On Spotify alone, the sales of this album is 1.4 Million worldwide. The music business doesn't really seem designed to reward our culture with the sales & accolades we deserve, as we don't normally cater to middle America, but I'm so happy that some amazing ppl have been fighting for us. To my fans, thank you for your support. Nothing made me happier than seeing your faces this year on #ThePinkprintTOUR ~ Thank you for this Grammy nominated album. 😘😘😘😘😘😘😘 To all the artists out there working hard on your music and feeling discouraged, I feel your pain & completely understand your frustration. Don't let anything stop the love you have for your passion. 💕💕💕💕💕 #ThePinkprint

A photo posted by Nicki Minaj (@nickiminaj) on Dec 15, 2015 at 8:05pm PST

 A platinum certification in music, given by the RIAA, signifies that a record has sold at least a million copies, and triple would be three million. "The Pinkprint" has sold less than a million copies in the US, with a gold certification (over 500,000 copies).

But on Twitter, Minaj provided this breakdown from her labe, Universal. As you can see, it combines actual album sales with "TEAs" (a la carte song purchases that are used to count toward album sales) and "SEAs" (the same but for streaming) across the world. The combined numbers make for the 3.3 million figure.

Minaj references a "March court date," which she says will decide whether streaming plays count in the official numbers for certifications and plaques awarded to musicians.

"Some artists removed their work off Spotify and other services of that nature, but for the ones who did not, we have to be patient for justice in our industry & it finally looks like it's coming," she wrote on Instagram.

Minaj further defended her reasoning on Twitter, saying musicians should get more credit than they currently do for their streaming numbers.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Watch Donald Trump get attacked by an eagle

On Thursday night, Star Wars fans all over the world went wild while waiting for the public premiere of the new movie, "The Force Awakens."

Fans from Brazil to Japan to Florida got in costume, had lightsaber fights, and probably annoyed their bosses with their enthusiasm. Snapchat's "Star Wars" live story captured that exuberant feeling, showing people of all ages letting their Star Wars flag fly.

Live events coverage has been a recent focus at Snapchat, and included events like the Pope's visit to New York, one particular day of Ramadan in Mecca, and the GOP Debates.

If you didn't get to attend a opening night, or just want to relive the moment, these 17 photos will give you a taste of what it was like.

Warning: spoilers ahead.

If I’m going to nitpick about the otherwise thrilling “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” I'll say one thing: There isn’t enough Captain Phasma.

The flashy Stormtrooper with chrome armor and cape played by “Game of Thrones” star Gwendoline Christie has been all over the marketing of the film, but the captain of the First Order (what we're calling the Empire now) gets the least screen time out of the newest main cast members in the movie.

This could be for a lot of reasons, most likely the movie’s running time, which is already at two hours and 15 minutes. There are a lot of different storylines going on in “Awakens,” so perhaps Phasma’s arc had to get squeezed down to keep things relatively trim.

But it’s still a bummer that Phasma isn’t in the film more. (I sense a Twitter backlash coming because of it.) That's because you can instantly see the potential for her to be a great character in the saga.

In the original trilogy, there was never anyone under Darth Vader with any authority (and I don't mean the captains of the Star Destroyers; I mean scary authority). So it’s fascinating to have this person of power below new villain Kylo Ren in the film. Are they allies in the destruction of the Resistance? Or is Phasma as conflicted as Ren seems in his place in the First Order?

The way things are left in “Awakens,” it’s tough to tell how or even if those questions will be answered going forward, in regards to Phasma.

[Major spoilers coming!]

In the scene where we see her onscreen the longest, toward the end of the movie, Phasma is captured by Han Solo, Chewbacca, and Finn after they sneak onto Starkiller Base and force her to lower its shields so the X-wing fighters can try to destroy it. They then put her in the base’s trash compactor (an homage to “A New Hope”).

Starkiller Base is later destroyed. Did Phasma make it out alive?

She did. And I know that not because I have any inside information.

Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy told the LA Times before the movie opened that Phasma will be in the next sequel, “Episode VIII.”

"She's an important character," Kennedy told the paper, "a baddie in the best sense of the word."

So, thankfully, it looks like Captain Phasma will not be going the way of Darth Maul and Boba Fett — evil characters from the saga we wish could have stuck around longer.

It's just too bad we don’t get deeper into her storylines until 2017.

SEE ALSO: The real-world origins of the names and languages in "Star Wars"

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: 2 Millennials watched the original ‘Star Wars’ for the first time

There's a disturbance in the force, but this time it's coming from scientists.

Disney's new "Star Wars" movie, "The Force Awakens," picks up years beyond where the last film in the series, "Return of the Jedi," left off: after the cataclysmic explosion of Death Star II, a moon-size weapon.

The colossal ship orbited the forest world Endor and, after it blows up, the Rebel Alliance and its hairy Ewok friends party in the trees. Everyone and everything is hunky-dory.

Until you ask a physicist — or a dozen, as Tech Insider did — what happens when you detonate a giant metal sphere above a lush green world. The answer is downright chilling.

"The Ewoks are dead. All of them," said one researcher and self-professed "Star Wars" fan, who wrote a white paper exclusively for Tech Insider.

Each scientist who responded to our emails quibbled over the exact details, yet a strong consensus emerged in support of a popular fan theory: The "Endor Holocaust" is inevitable, and a threat to the plausibility of any future movies (galactic bankruptcy be damned).

Here's why.

The "Endor Holocaust" fan theory dates back to 1997, when it first appeared on a website called TheForce.net.

Source: TheForce.net

Curtis Saxton, an astrophysicist and "Star Wars" super-fan, wrote it as part of a technical series that analyzes the movies frame-by-frame with scientific rigor.

Source: TheForce.net

Saxon's 10,000-word essay about the Endor holocaust claims that the doom of Endor and the Ewoks who live there "is an inevitable consequence of observable facts."

Source: TheForce.net

The biggest sci-fi hit of 2015 all began with Andy Weir and his best-selling book "The Martian," which is a thrilling survival story based on the planet Mars.

Weir is a software engineer by profession and American novelist by hobby. So, he's got a mind for science.

But he's also a wise-creaking jokester, just like his novel's hero, Mark Watney.

In celebration of the film's release to Digital HD and 3D Blu-ray on Dec. 22, Weir recently spoke with Business Insider, and we couldn't help but appeal to his comedic side.

So, we asked him to tell us a couple of his favorite science jokes, and he didn't disappoint!

While Weir could have a crowd of mathematicians and physicists chuckling with his collection of ready-upon-request jokes, the rest of us might need a quick science refresher to appreciate the punch lines.

Here are two of Weir's favorite science jokes with a brief science refresher:

Andy Weir Joke #1

The joke starts out:

"An ion walks into a bar and says 'I think I left an electron here last night.' And the bartender say 'Are you sure?'"

What does the ion say?

Here's a basic review of atoms and ions. See if you can guess what the ion says as you refresh your brain with some chemistry.

At a basic level, atoms are made of electrons that orbit around a nucleus. But sometimes atoms gain or lose electrons.

When that happens, we call that atom an ion. When an ion gains an electron it is negatively charged and when it loses an electron, it's positively charged.

Here's the full joke:

"An ion walks into a bar and says 'I think I left an electron here last night.' And the bartender says 'Are you sure?' And the ion says 'I'm positive.'"

Andy Weir Joke #2

The joke begins like this:

"What do you get when you cross a mountain climber with a mosquito?"

See if you can guess after this brief review of mathematics.

This joke involves what mathematicians call scalars and vectors.

Basically, scalars and vectors are quantities that mathematicians and physicists use to express the world around us.

What you need to know is that you can multiply vectors together using a "cross product", but vectors can't be combined with scalars in this way. It's just a mathematical no no.

Here's the full joke:

"What do you get when you cross a mountain climber with a mosquito? Nothing! You can't cross a scalar with a vector."

We know that Weir's science jokes are a bit on the nerdy side, but that's why we enjoy them!

We wouldn't expect anything less from a guy who wrote the book that spawned one of the most scientifically accurate sci-fi films of all time.

READ MORE: NASA is accepting astronaut applications, and this quiz will tell you if you qualify

SEE ALSO: Here's how ridiculously fast we could visit everything in the solar system if we traveled at the speed of light

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: 9 ways Matt Damon sciences the s--- out of Mars in 'The Martian'

Over the summer, people freaked out when Simon Pegg told a reporter that James Bond himself, Daniel Craig, had a cameo in "Star Wars: The Force Awakens."

Pegg also has a cameo in the film, playing one of the aliens. We saw the British actor featured in a video Disney released during San Diego Comic-Con.

While giving an interview, Pegg said: “I wasn’t a Stormtrooper. Daniel Craig, he was a Stormtrooper... I shouldn’t have said that.”

But when Craig was asked about the cameo, he shot down the rumor in typical gruff Craig fashion:

“Why would I ever bother doing something like that?” the Bond actor told Entertainment Weekly. “F-----g hell! Pffft. Play an extra in another movie?”

But now it looks like he was doing a bit of acting. With "The Force Awakens" in theaters, EW reports that according to numerous sources close to the film, Craig plays a Stormtrooper in it.

Now, there are a lot of stormtroopers in "The Force Awakens," so Craig could be any of them and you wouldn't know it. 

However, EW reports that Craig is a Stormtrooper that you will remember when you see the film.

[Spoiler coming!]

In a moment that is important to the evolution of the Rey (Daisy Riley) character and a nod to "Star Wars: A New Hope," while Rey is held captive in Starkiller Base, she uses the Jedi mind trick to get the Stormtrooper on guard to come over and remove her restraints and leave with the cell door open. After Rey tries the trick a few times, the Stormtrooper finally concedes.

The Stormtrooper who becomes overtaken by the Force is Craig, according to EW.

You can't tell from watching the movie. The voice of the Stormtrooper is not Craig's but the usual voice all the troopers have when wearing their masks. 

But a source with inside knowledge says that's 007 in the costume. 

“He did it for s---s and grins,” the source told EW.

It certainly is a fun moment, even if we didn't know who was in the helmet.

SEE ALSO: Here are the intense workouts and diets the actors in 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' went through to prepare for their roles

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Business Insider's full interview with Jeb Bush

Amy Poehler broke down and just couldn't fake caring about "Star Wars" anymore during Thursday's "Late Night with Seth Meyers."

Poehler appeared alongside Tina Fey and their cast mates from the new movie "Sisters": Ike Barinholtz, Rachel Dratch, Paula Pell, and Maya Rudolph.

The comedy premieres this weekend, just like "Star Wars: The Force Awakens." So Meyers thought it would be fun to sell "Sisters" using "Star Wars" characters' action figures.

Barinholtz and Fey played along, but Poehler just couldn't hold in her true feelings any longer.

First, she couldn't recall the name of her figure, Constable Zuvio. And then she just lost it.

"I don't care. I don't care about 'Star Wars'!" she yelled. "And I never f--king did!"

As the audience cheered, she continued, "I'm sorry. I'm tired of pretending. I don't care about it."

She then tried to go on with the game, but just couldn't complete the task.

Watch her hilarious confession at about 1:10 into the video below:

SEE ALSO: Tina Fey and Amy Poehler keep in touch with the funniest people in Hollywood via epic group text

MORE: Amy Poehler won't win an Emmy for 'Parks and Recreation'

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Tina Fey and Amy Poehler just made a hilarious behind-the-scenes 'Star Wars' parody

Now that you can go out and see “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” you can also stream the score, created by the franchise’s maestro, John Williams, who has scored its every film.

The music is a lot like “The Force Awakens” itself — a jumble of familiar classics and new additions.

Particularly great is the “Rey Theme” that follows the film’s hero (played by Daisy Ridley) throughout the movie.

Williams, at 83 years young and a 5-time Oscar winner, hasn’t lost any zip on his fastball.

Listen to the complete “The Force Awakens” score via Spotify below:

SEE ALSO: I saw "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," and I have one big complaint about the movie

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Scientists have solved one of the biggest mysteries about hummingbirds

In the fight over who produces the best streaming shows, Netflix and Amazon are the two heavyweights.

Both have poured significant resources into making original shows over the last two years, and have been rewarded with good showings at the Golden Globes.

This year, Netflix led all TV networks in Globes nominations, and last year Amazon's hit, "Transparent," took home two. We should note that Hulu also scored its first Golden Globe nomination this year (for its comedy "Casual").

But since neither Netflix nor Amazon releases viewership numbers, it can be hard to tell how good their shows are on average. We know the top shows for each, but what about the rest of the catalog? We recently used data from reviews aggregator Metacritic to rank Netflix and Amazon's drama and comedy shows from best to worst — leaving out kids shows and documentaries.

But we still wanted to understand how Netflix and Amazon compared to each other, so we looked a bit closer at the data.

Our first takeaway was that there is no absolute winner, though Netflix seems to have an edge.

The whole catalog

The average critic rating for the entire show catalog gave Netflix a 69/100 on average, and Amazon a 70/100. Netflix fared better in the average audience rating, getting a 7.9/10 to Amazon's 7.2/10.

The upper tier

When we narrowed the focus to the top, Netflix's audience lead widened and it overtook Amazon with critics as well. Looking at just the top five shows from each network, Netflix got an average critic rating of 81/100 to Amazon's 76/100. The audience scores were 8.8/10 and 7.5/10 respectively.

Just the hits

Finally, we looked at just the hits, the top three three shows from each company. Netflix maintained its critics lead (84/100 versus Amazon's 80/100), and its audience lead (8.9/10 versus 7.7/10). 

The rundown

While Amazon led in overall critics score, it was only by a narrow margin, and Netflix took all other categories. Netflix especially fared well with audiences. One reason for this is because Amazon's critical darlings, "Transparent" and "The Man in the High Castle," both had much lower audience ratings than critic scores.

It's important to also note that Amazon has produced half as many shows as Netflix, 8 to 16 (in the drama and comedy categories), and that both are new to the market. Netflix and Amazon both produced their first original series in 2013. 

If you are curious how Netflix and Amazon's 24 shows compared on a show-by-show basis, below is a comprehensive ranking from worst to best, based on critical reception data from Metacritic:

SEE ALSO: Hackers are selling lifetime access to stolen Netflix accounts for less than $1

24. "Hand of God" (Amazon) — 44/100

Average critic score (19 critics): 44/100

Audience score: 6.8/10

Amazon description: "A psychological drama about a morally-corrupt judge who suffers a breakdown and believes God is compelling him onto a path of vigilante justice."

23. "Hemlock Grove" (Netflix) — 45/100

Average critic score (17 critics): 45/100

Audience score: 7.5/10

Netflix description: A quaint town links a mangled corpse to a dark outsider with a carnivorous secret. But monsters come in many forms. 

22. "Between" (Netflix) — 47/100

Average critic score (10 critics): 47/100

Audience score: 4.7/10

Netflix description: After a mysterious disease kills every resident over 22 years old, survivors of a town must fend for themselves when the government quarantines them.

"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" has topped the Thursday night preview showing record for gross with an incredible $57 million take in the US.

The previous record holder was "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2," which earned $43.5 million in July 2011.

Though Disney has not released any internal projections of how "The Force Awakens" will do, rival studios project the film will make around $210 million in the US alone this weekend, according to Variety. That would break the existing opening weekend record currently held by the summer's hit "Jurassic World" with $208.4 million.

However, some projections have "Awakens" making upwards of $220 million by Sunday.

Whatever the end number is, it's highly likely we're looking at a record-breaking weekend.

And just showing that no other studio should have stood in its way. Variety reports that "The Force Awakens" grossed about 70 times the amount taken in Thursday night by Universal's release "Sisters," starring Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. It took in $769,000.

"The Force Awakens" is also opening in 32 foreign markets this weekend. It's already broken records overseas.

Expect "Star Wars" collecting more records over the weekend.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: The best car of the year — the Volvo XC90

Photos that just emerged online may further support fan theories that Kit Harington will reprise the role of Jon Snow on the upcoming sixth season of HBO's "Game of Thrones," even though Snow died last season.

The photos allegedly show that Harington attended the show's wrap party. The man in the photos does appear to be the English actor who plays Jon Snow, though it's hard to be certain as the photos are quite blurry. 

See them below:

When we last saw Jon Snow on season five, he had been attacked by members of the Night's Watch — each taking a turn at stabbing the newly elected Lord Commander. He was left to bleed out in the snow.

After Jon Snow's death, fans instantly began to rally around the character.

While HBO top brass, co-stars, and Harington himself have said Jon Snow is either dead or not returning, fans have continued a constant vigil for the beloved character's return.

Harington sightings have propelled fans to believe that the character will be back. Others feel the show hasn't completed his story.

HBO has even cleverly played off the speculation with a season-six poster featuring Jon Snow and suggesting he may remain important. But pictures like the above are still quite in demand.

And Harington recently said he hasn't come to accept it.

"Do I think people taking photos of you without your permission is rude? Of course I do. I deal with it a lot," Haringtonhe told Vulture while promoting his newest movie, "MI-5." "There's a lot of camera phones being pointed at me in not such a subtle manner." 

"Game of Thrones" returns in April 2016.

SEE ALSO: HBO just released a 'Game of Thrones' season 6 poster and it's driving Jon Snow fans crazy

MORE: Someone's getting resurrected on 'Game of Thrones' — here are 5 likely candidates

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: How the 'Game of Thrones' cast reacted when a Comic Con audience member shouted about Jon Snow

If you head to Yorkdale Shopping Centre in Toronto this holiday season, you're likely to find a line of people anxiously waiting to take a picture with Santa. Only, you may notice that the line is made up of of more mothers than children. That's because the mall has reimagined the staple Christmas character.

"There was a really cute line I think someone said. 'You go into Legoland, mommy's going to go see Santa," said Paul Mason, the male model behind Fashion Santa.

Mason sports the signature snow-white hair and beard, but that's where the similarities end. Mason is photographed wearing designer clothes, usually involving at least a hint of red, and he's thinner than the Santa Claus you grew up with. And it's not the children coming to the mall to see the 21st century St. Nicholas.

"It's the moms," Mason said.

Mason came up with the idea last year, but he became a viral sensation this holiday season.

Though the long-time model keeps his his beard year-round, he said he reserves wearing red for the month of December alone. 

Story and editing by Andrew Fowler

INSIDER is on Facebook: Follow us here

SEE ALSO: New mom Kelly Rowland refuses to feel bad about loving her work

Join the conversation about this story »

Going to see a "Star Wars" movie on opening night is a rite of passage for die-hard fans. 

But I am not the world's most die-hard "Star Wars" fan.

Sure, I've always enjoyed the franchise, but I was never somebody who went opening night, bought all the merchandise, and brainstormed fan theories all day.

But in the past year, "Star Wars" has basically taken over the world in anticipation of the release of "The Force Awakens." My appreciation for the franchise has grown exponentially over the past year.

Partially to avoid an onslaught of spoilers, I decided it was time to buy a ticket to see "The Force Awakens" on opening night here in New York City. Sure, it required a long wait, but two hours, instead of two weeks, in advance was good enough. It also helped to be around an intensely energetic crowd. Nights like this remind you why going to the theater is both fun and important.

"Star Wars" is, we all know, more than just a movie. Here was my experience going to my first ever "Star Wars" opening night.

SEE ALSO: I saw 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens,' and I have one big complaint about the movie

I arrived at the theater at 7:30 p.m. The movie wasn't until 10:15 p.m., but I was told to arrive early. There was already a massive line.

Surprisingly, there weren't many people in costume.

Luckily, I came prepared.

With "The Force Awakens" now out in theaters — opening with a record-breaking $57 million — everybody has "Star Wars" fever.

Two die hard "Star Wars" fans decided to use the film's opening night at the Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles to throw "Star Wars"-themed nuptials.

While some people bring their dogs to their wedding, this couple had R2-D2 as a ring bearer. Meanwhile, Stormtroopers and Chewbacca alike gathered for the occasion.

The first thing the newlyweds did together? They watched "The Force Awakens," which is now playing in theaters.

Story by Ian Phillips and editing by Stephen Parkhurst

INSIDER is on Facebook: Follow us here

INSIDER is on YouTube: Subscribe here

SEE ALSO: What it's like seeing 'Star Wars' during the madness of opening night

Join the conversation about this story »

The stars of AMC's "Into the Badlands" look like martial arts professionals on TV, which took some intense work making use of their unique strengths and a team of actual pros.

"That was a big challenge. These actors had no martial arts experience and we had to make them look badass," star and executive producer Daniel Wu, who's a veteran of martial arts movies, told Business Insider.

On "Into the Badlands," the highest-rated series debut of the fall, Wu plays Sunny, a warrior who meets a young boy named M.K. (Aramis Knight). They must travel across the Badlands controlled by seven barons in a post-apocalyptic America.

"We knew we had to have strong actors," Wu said. "We couldn’t have great martial artists and crappy actors, because that would just ruin the plotline. And so the priority was getting the good actors first and then making them look good onscreen."

First the producers brought on martial arts choreographer Master Dee Dee Ku. His packed resume includes working with Keanu Reeves for "The Matrix," Uma Thurman for "Kill Bill," and Zhang Ziyi for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon."

Master Dee Dee had the actors attend a six-week intensive training camp. For about six hours a day, they worked on basic kung fu, weapons, choreography, and working with wires.

"He would send them through these phases on a daily basis and then pick and choose what was great or what they were naturally good at, and then use that for their ability," Wu explained.

As "Into the Badlands" heads into its first season finale, here's how the creators worked with the cast to nail those moves:

SEE ALSO: What it's like seeing 'Star Wars' during the madness of opening night

The Widow (Emily Beecham)

"Emily has a very graceful way of moving, and so he decided to make that her style," Wu said of Emily Beecham, who plays the Widow. "The way she slips and ducks and dives around attacks, as well as attacking in a crazy, very violent, but beautiful way, was all based on qualities [Master Dee Dee] saw in her while we were doing the training."

Wu also explained why the Widow uses weapons in both hands:

"Double-weapons traditionally in Chinese martial arts, especially daggers and swords and that stuff, have a very strong feminine quality to it, and she has a very strong feminine quality to her," he said. "Her weapons are a little more dainty, a little more elegant than Sunny’s more brutal sword, but the way she masters them or the way she uses them is a little more intricate. Instead of using brute force, she’s like a snake. Her weapons match that."

M.K. (Aramis Knight)

"He’s a really good athlete for a 15-year-old kid," Wu said of Aramis Knight, who plays M.K.

At this point in the show, M.K. is still early in his training. As Sunny's colt, he trains under the seasoned warrior. But he holds a mighty power inside him that's unleashed when he bleeds, and which makes him an important weapon for anyone who controls him.

"I think Aramis is a mine that we can pull from," Wu said. "And so he was really good at doing flips and twists and all the wire work stuff. And so that’s why when you see the dark chi stuff, the dark energy stuff, that happens with him, we use those kinds of moves."

Tilda (Ally Ioannides)

Ally Ioannides seems perfectly cast as the Widow's daughter, Tilda. Although she's young, her mother would've started training her in martial arts at a very young age. Tilda is fast, quiet, and a pro with ninja stars.

“Emily is very good with daggers, I’m very good at hand-to-hand combat, and Ally is very good all around," Aramis Knight told io9.

Of course, because of the magic of Hollywood, the cast's natural talent gets some help from the crew.

"There are also very skillful doubles," Wu said. "They definitely have people that fight for them at certain points, especially the dangerous stuff, and so the integration of all that really has to do with Master Dee Dee’s skill and experience."

The "Into the Badlands" season finale airs Sunday at 10 p.m. 

Kelly Rowland talked to INSIDER about losing her mother less than a month after she had her first child. Rowland said her mother's death, which was little more than a year ago, came as a surprise.

"I remember telling her I was pregnant. She had been waiting for me to be a mom. And she was excited," Rowland said. "I was just happy that she got a chance to meet her grandson."

Rowland said her one-year-old son, Titan, is still surrounded by a loving and supportive family.

"He had a first birthday party. I was thinking cake and tacos, and his extended family saw something different. So they went all out," Rowland said.

The former Destiny's Child star said the biggest lesson she's learned from being a parent is about patience, something that, before having Titan, she did not think she possessed. 

"The first year has been awesome. I think that for me it's blown my mind. It's challenged me," Rowland said.

As for getting by without her mom, the Grammy-winner said it's tough.

"I know she's here. I just would have loved for her to be here physically, but I know she's here spiritually."

Story and editing by Andrew Fowler

INSIDER in on Facebook: Follow us here

SEE ALSO: New mom Kelly Rowland refuses to feel bad about loving her work

Join the conversation about this story »

A video produced by the hostel-booking site Hostelworld shows two parents getting quite the surprise from their son Roger while he was vacationing in Australia.

Roger was one of six people traveling in Sydney to Skype his parents while jumping out of a plane for a marketing stunt. His parents first thought he was calling them from a bus, and were petrified to realize he was falling towards earth for 14,000 feet.

A standalone video of Roger's jump has garnered over 700,000 views on YouTube in two days. While some have questioned whether the video is real, a spokesperson from Bounce Hostel Sydney — where the people in the video were guests — told INSIDER that the calls were legit.

"A representative from Hostelworld came to our hostel and interviewed a large number of guests before picking the chosen few to participate in the video," he said. "The Skype calls were live and in real time."

Story by Tony Manfred and editing by Stephen Parkhurst

INSIDER is on Facebook: Follow us here

INSIDER is on YouTube: Subscribe here

SEE ALSO: This earthquake-proof bed is the stuff of nightmares

Join the conversation about this story »

Now that music comes out on Fridays, and superstar artists are increasingly keeping their work off Spotify, it can be hard to know where to find the next great song. So Business Insider is helping you with this rundown of the best of what's new in the music world that you can listen to right now.

All songs available to stream on Spotify.

SEE ALSO: THE A-LIST: The 30 coolest, most famous people in Hollywood right now

David Bowie - "Lazarus"

David Bowie's return after 2013's revitalizing "The Next Day" would be on this list even if it weren't for Bowie's haunting vocals or the beautiful gusts of sax and guitar riffs that make it all go down easy. This is easily one of his most remarkable songs in years, even decades.

Youtube Embed:
http://www.youtube.com/embed/ZSt9RDIIa0k
Width: 800px
Height: 450px

Chris Brown - "Anyway" (feat. Tayla Parx)

Chris Brown is back with his new album “Royalty.” Despite a past riddled with controversy and encounters with the law, Brown seems to want to put that aside —“Royalty” is dedicated to his daughter. The album’s best song is “Anyway.”

Youtube Embed:
http://www.youtube.com/embed/fnHbUerD7Ts
Width: 800px
Height: 450px

Belly - "Might Not" (feat. the Weeknd)

The rapper Belly is the main credit here, but the Weeknd can't help but steal the show with something like an X-rated sequel to his hit "Can't Feel My Face."

Youtube Embed:
http://www.youtube.com/embed/u1YRjCTxR80
Width: 800px
Height: 450px

While Marissa Mayer may be under fire for her excessive spending during her tenure as president and CEO of Yahoo, she still has at least one fan at the company.

Yahoo global news anchor Katie Couric tells INSIDER exclusively: "Marissa is in the spotlight. I think every move she makes is dissected, and she seems to just forge ahead and focus on what she's doing, and I think that's a valuable lesson for everybody." 

Couric continued, "When you're a high-profile woman, I think that it can sometimes be uber-challenging, and I think she's putting her head down and trying to do the work, and I know it must be challenging at times for her. I admire her fortitude, and she is certainly a brilliant engineer, and understands many aspects of this whole industry that I don't understand, and I think she appreciates there are things that I can do that she doesn't necessarily understand."

For example, said Couric, "She [Mayer] wouldn't necessarily know how to do a great piece on the tiny house movement. So I think that we each appreciate each other's skill set."

In 2013, after a longstanding career in TV news, Couric signed a reported $6 million contract with Yahoo to become a global news anchor. She has since landed interviews with everyone from Dr. Ben Carson to Ellen Pao, Gloria Steinem, and "Star Wars" actor John Boyega.

In June, Couric renewed her contract with Yahoo, reportedly raising her salary from $6 million a year to $10 million. 

Story by Aly Weisman and editing by Adam Banicki

INSIDER is on Facebook: Follow us here

SEE ALSO: Skinnygirl founder Bethenny Frankel has some great advice for working moms

Join the conversation about this story »

The Beatles might be hitting Spotify, Apple Music, or another streaming music service, just in time for Christmas, reports Billboard. 

Billboard's report is frustratingly vague. But it says that "there's a strong indication" that the music of the Fab Four will be available on one or all of the major streaming services by Christmas Eve, or Thursday, December 24th. 

That means it could come to Spotify, Apple Music, or smaller upstarts like Rhapsody, Tidal, or Deezer. 

That report also indicates that the deal would cover the Beatles' studio albums. Those albums are already available on Pandora, which operates under a radio station-like licensing structure, mainly because users can't actively choose which songs to listen to. 

That said, it would be a huge leap forward, kind of like in 2010 when the Beatles finally came to the iTunes Music Store after lots of hand-wringing and licensing delays. And it would make a nice little Christmas miracle to be able to bump "Paperback Writer" from the Chromecast via Spotify while we stuff some stockings. 

It would just be kind of funny if Spotify ends up able to play the Beatles, but not Taylor Swift's 2014 album "1989."

Apple Records, which owns the rights to the Beatles' albums, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

SEE ALSO: Spotify has a new plan to fix its beef with Taylor Swift

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Taylor Swift on being a boss: 'You actually lose power when you scream at people.'