Music & Culture

'The Jingle King' Tracks Decline Of Original Music In Advertising

Steve Karmen wrote a number of famous jingles, including Budweiser Beer's, "When You Say Bud," the New York State song, "I Love New York", the jingle, "Here Comes the King," the Exxon Song and Wrigley Spearmint Gum's, "Carry The Big Fresh Flavor." He also composed several music scores for motion pictures during the 1960s, and performed briefly as a Calypso singer, achieving some recognition in Trinidad during that time. Karmen is the recipient of 16 Clio Awards. NPR explores how the business of writing the music for advertising has changed.
The Weeknd courts our shadow sides on his new album, Starboy.

Appetite For Dysfunction

by Barry Walters

Pop stars Abel Tesfaye and Ebba Nilsson court our shadow sides with songs about sex, drugs, sex on drugs, and — crucially — sex as drugs.
Emily Reo's new 10", Spell, is out now.

Songs We Love: Emily Reo, 'Spell'

by Marissa Lorusso

Reo's sprawling, vocoder-based ode to numbness is accompanied by a video that similarly bewitching. It's a "visual representation of the many ways you can become trapped by your own mind," she says.
Eric Johnson performs live at World Cafe Live in Philadelphia.

Eric Johnson On World Cafe

by David Dye

The renowned Texas musician lays down his electric guitar and picks up the acoustic for his new album, EJ. Watch him perform live onstage.
Jon Batiste carries his melodica with him pretty much all the time. "I always have it," he says. "It's kind of like my murse — a man purse."

A Very Jon Batiste Christmas

by NPR Staff

The bandleader for The Late Show With Stephen Colbert has released a new album of "funkified" holiday classics. "I love remixing things and making them fit in a different context," he says.