Music & Culture

The Orchestral-Rock-Folk-Synth-Jazz Sound Of L'anarchiste

9:35am July 19, 2015

NPR's Rachel Martin talks to Rob LeCheminant and Alex Gilvarry of the Utah-based band L'anarchiste. The band's new album, Giant, is a blend of classical and folk, synthesized and acoustic.

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Tanesha Mitchell, one of 80 amateur musicians who participated in the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra's Academy Week, describes the experience as life-changing.

Music & Culture

Amateur Musicians Go Pro With The Baltimore Symphony

11:50am July 18, 2015

by Ravenna Koenig

During the orchestra's Academy Week, amateur musicians get to rehearse and perform next to professionals.

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A screenshot of the now-removed page for Lucia Cole's album, Innocence, on iTunes.

Music & Culture

Can You Have An Album On iTunes If You Don't Exist?

7:21am July 18, 2015

by Jacob Ganz

The strange story of a made-up pop star who managed to keep an album on iTunes for six weeks and get 64,000 followers on Twitter, without recording a note of new music.

Popular Russian Balladeer Sang About Ordinary Life In The USSR

10:13am July 17, 2015

by Corey Flintoff

Vladimir Vysotsky, who died 35 years ago this month, was never given any recognition by the Soviet government. He became popular through bootlegged cassettes passed from hand-to-hand.

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Music & Culture

Don Henley's Releasing A Country Album — Hear Two New Songs

9:03am July 17, 2015

by Robin Hilton

Eagles drummer, singer-songwriter and producer Don Henley is back with his first solo album in 15 years. Cass County is a country album featuring an all-star list of collaborators.

The Runaways (from left, Jackie Fox, Joan Jett, Sandy West, Cherie Currie and Lita Ford) in January 1976.

Music & Culture

The Cruel Truth About Rock And Roll

3:01pm July 16, 2015

by Ann Powers

Recent allegations that one of The Runaways was raped by the band's manager remind us that sexual exploitation is part of rock's foundation — and challenge the very idea that it is worth loving.

Neil Portnow (left), president and CEO of The Recording Academy, talks with Lee Thomas Miller, head of the Nashville Songwriters Association International, at a music licensing hearing in 2014.

Music & Culture

Songwriters And Streaming Services Battle Over Decades-Old Decree

12:51pm July 15, 2015

by Joel Rose

The Department of Justice is exploring big changes to the music publishing business for the first time since World War II.

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Taylor Swift performs in Dublin. In June, Swift protested Apple's payments to musicians in its new Apple Music streaming service.

Music & Culture

Is Transparency The Music Industry's Next Battle?

12:48pm July 15, 2015

by Marc Hogan

A report on the music industry from Berklee College of Music offers recommendations for ensuring that royalties make it to their rightful owners.

Music & Culture

Jason Isbell's 'Something More Than Free' Rings With The Promise of Joy

6:47pm July 14, 2015

by Ken Tucker

The former member of the Drive-by Truckers unleashes his storytelling skills in his new album, Something More Than Free. Rock critic Ken Tucker says Isbell's lyrics reward a close listen.

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A federal police Black Hawk helicopter flies over a house at the end of a tunnel through which drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman could have escaped from Mexico's Altiplano prison.

LISTEN: El Chapo's Second Escape, As Told Through Mexican 'Corridos'

6:59pm July 13, 2015

by Eyder Peralta

Singers of the ballads have for decades detailed the lifestyle of drug dealers in Mexico, so it was no surprise that when the country's most notorious kingpin escaped, it was memorialized in song.