The best show of the week will be live streamed Wednesday from the White House of all place. That’s when the Smithsonian tribute to Ray Charles takes place, to be shown on Friday night on PBS.

“Soul Man” Sam Moore is the only performer on the guest list who actually knew Ray, so he’ll be leading a bunch of young -uns including Usher, Yolanda Adams, Anthony Hamilton, Brittany Howard of Alabama Shakes, Leon Bridges, Andra Day, Jussie Smollett from “Empire,” and, hmmm…. Demi Lovato through the massive Ray Charles songbook. Rickey Minor is musical director.

Moore, a youthful 80, and Howard ripped it up last fall at Eddie Murphy’s Mark Twain prize concert for PBS, so this will be a happy reunion.

As I wrote on Friday, the Sony-Kesha legal wrangle is a disaster for the record company. They must settle it now.

And really now because Taylor Swift has joined the long line of artists who are backing Kesha. Swift has donated $250,000 to Kesha’s legal fund so she can keep fighting.

Taylor Swift has just generously donated $250,000. to Kesha, as a show of support during this difficult time.AMAZING!!

— keshas mom (@grannywrapper) February 22, 2016

Kesha, as I wrote on Friday, claims producer Dr. Luke raped her and basically tortured her mentally and physically. She is trying to break her contract with Sony Music and get off the label and away from him. A judge in New York ruled on Friday that Kesha’s contract was binding and that she was stuck. It is now up to Sony to acquiesce and let Kesha go somewhere else. Taylor Swift follows Lady Gaga, Demi Lovato and a host of other singers who’ve come to Kesha’s aid. It’s only a matter of time before Sony’s biggest female artists– Barbra Streisand, Beyonce, and Adele– all come to this conclusion.

There are people all over the world who love you @KeshaRose. And I can say truly I am in awe of your bravery.

— Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) February 19, 2016

Years ago, Michael Jackson fought to get off of Sony under very different circumstances. He claimed they were racist and trying to destroy him. Unfortunately, he was hundreds of millions of dollars in debt to them, and things were quite different.

Recording artists, however, over the decades have found themselves legally attached to a label or mogul who held their future in their hands. Efforts to escape were futile. One such case was the long battle between John Fogerty and the late Saul Zaentz, who’d bought the Creedence Clearwater Revival catalog. Fogerty missed more than a decade of recording as he battled with Zaentz.

No good can come of these things, but before the internet and social networking, it was possible for record companies to destroy careers. Kesha’s supporters are already planning a public show of strength this Friday in front of Sony (although I think they have the wrong address). If you’re Sony, who needs this tsouris? Apologize and get out. Taylor Swift stood up against Apple and Spotify. It’s a lose-lose situation.

Pop star Kesha Sebert lost her legal effort to extricate herself from Sony Music today. A judge in New York ruled that despite Kesha’s assertions that producer “Dr. Luke” had abused and used her physically and mentally, raped her, drugged her, and tried to destroy her career, she must stay with Sony Music even if she is produced by someone else.

Here’s the complaint Kesha, as she is known, filed last fall:

Kesha Complaint

I have no idea who is right or wrong in this case. But Sony– the home of Barbra Streisand, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Beyonce and Adele– has no choice morally or ethically. They’ve got to suck it up, take the financial loss, and let Kesha leave the label. Do they really want to be associated with this? Do they really want to force an artist to work where she doesn’t want to? And do the good people who run Sony want to be remembered for ruining a career?

I’m surprised that the female artists at Sony haven’t spoken out yet on this situation. Regardless of the truth of Kesha’s complaint, the allegations raised are almost textbook in the record industry. Every female artist has a story like this. The most famous is that of Tina Turner, who was held hostage in an abusive relationship for years.

Maybe Kesha should file for assistance from MusiCares, and see if they will help her. But this is certainly not the look that Sony or any other music company wants to be associated with in 2016. I can’t even imagine how a P.R. expert would advise Sony to continue with this. Lady Gaga, Kelly Clarkson, Ariana Grande, and other pop stars are already on Twitter defending Kesha with #FreeKesha. Sony would do well to get out of this fast, and graciously. 

Here’s the pop chart round up: Adele is still a sold number 1 with her “25” album. Even the Grammys couldn’t knock her off. She sold 124,000 albums last week, god bless her. She can buy all the In and Out Burgers she likes. (She should really come to the Vanity Fair Oscar party. They serve them right out of a truck!)

The number 2 album is by Joey and Rory, a country duo couple. They sold half of Adele’s number. But it’s a sad story. Joey, the wife, is battling terminal cancer. They have three kids between them, but just one– a two year old girl with Down syndrome– is theirs together.

In Bieber land, “Purpose” sold just 38,000 copies this week. But you can add on 50,000 streams. His fans are listening to his music on Spotify and AppleMusic but they don’t necessarily want to buy it. What does that mean? Where is he now? Who knows?

Rihanna’s album “Anti” is number 9, with a total including streaming of 66,510. Sales (not streaming) were 28,532 according to hitsdailydouble.com. Not a hit. And she blew off the Grammys. I hope Tidal and Samsung paid her a lot of money.

Kanye is nowhere. The album is only on Tidal, it can’t be bought, he says it will never be on iTunes. My friends at DefJam must drink themselves to sleep. They don’t deserve to be treated this badly by a musical terrorist.