Music News

A luthier assembles the rosewood sides of a guitar at C.F. Martin & Co. in Nazareth, Pa. Instrument-makers and musicians will likely be able to transport instruments containing rosewood around the world without a burdensome permit process.

Musical Instruments To Be Exempt From Restrictions On Heavily Trafficked Rosewood

4:27pm August 27, 2019

by Robert Benincasa

An international endangered species treaty that placed trade restrictions on rosewood is poised to exempt musical instruments from the regulations.

Lizzo performs at the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards in Newark, New Jersey.

Music & Culture

10 Things You Might As Well Know About The 2019 VMAs

4:08pm August 27, 2019

by Stephen Thompson

Monday night's MTV Video Music Awards telecast brought viewers lots of Taylor Swift and Missy Elliott, not to mention Lizzo, Normani, Lil Nas X, Rosalía and more.

Kendrick Lamar performs at the 2015 BET Awards in Los Angeles.

Music & Culture

Both Party And Protest, 'Alright' Is The Sound Of Black Life's Duality

9:34pm August 26, 2019

by Andrew Limbong

The Kendrick Lamar song turned protest chant against police violence identifies a daily balancing act: There is hope, and there is despair. There's the ideal world, and there's the real one.

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"I just feel like that kind of just followed me all throughout my life. I've always kind of been slept on a bit," Ari Lennox says.

Music & Culture

Ari Lennox Has Always Felt Slept On. That's What Motivates Her.

5:09pm August 25, 2019

Lennox became the first female signee to J. Cole's Dreamville label in 2015. Now, with the release of her debut album, Shea Butter Baby, fans are showing up for her soulful sound and storytelling.

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Composer John Williams and violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter during a studio session for Across the Stars.

Music & Culture

John Williams And Anne-Sophie Mutter, 2 Geniuses For The Price Of One

8:32am August 24, 2019

by Tim Greiving

John Williams is an honored film composer, but he began as an arranger. Williams is now arranging again, this time with the acclaimed violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter on the album Across the Stars.

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Tanya Tucker's While I'm Livin', out now, builds on her storied country legacy.

Music & Culture

Tanya Tucker Is Back And Taking No Prisoners

8:07pm August 23, 2019

After first shooting to fame in the 1970s, Tucker is back with her first full-length studio album in more than a decade called While I'm Livin'.

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An audience in los Angeleles share its love for Celso Piña.

Music & Culture

Accordion Master Celso Piña Dead At 66

1:25pm August 23, 2019

by Felix Contreras

Piña mined the traditions of cumbia and expanded the limits of the accordion.

"I feel like people are not educated at a young age to know like, 'OK, you have a choice to go behind bars and become a number and for somebody to profit off you for free labor and it's enslaving your brain," Raphael Saadiq says.

Music & Culture

Raphael Saadiq Sets His Dark Meditation To Music With 'Jimmy Lee'

10:44am August 23, 2019

Raphael Saadiq says his latest album, Jimmy Lee, is an examination on cycles of addiction and issues plaguing black communities. The album is inspired by the deaths of his brothers.

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Taylor Swift performs on ABC's "Good Morning America" at SummerStage at Central Park on Thursday.

Music & Culture

Look What They Made Her Do: Taylor Swift To Re-Record Her Catalog

12:00pm August 22, 2019

by Anastasia Tsioulcas

The pop star said Thursday she plans to record new versions of her self-titled album, Fearless, Speak Now, Red and 1989.

Music & Culture

Cambridge Engineers Set Out To Break Piano Playing Record

7:06am August 22, 2019

The Daily Mail reports they wanted to break the record for most people playing the piano at the same time. They had school kids design long mechanical fingers to allow 88 people to play at once.

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