Music News

Some things actually are surprising: Taylor Swift, performing on ABC's Good Morning America in New York City on Oct. 30, sold over a million copies of her new album, 1989, in its first week.

Music & Culture

Taylor Swift, Platinum Party Of One

5:53pm November 05, 2014

by Sam Sanders

Taylor Swift's latest album, 1989, sold 1.287 million copies its first week alone, making it the first album released in 2014 to go platinum. The last musician to go platinum in a week? Taylor Swift.

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Music & Culture

Digging Through The Latin Grammy Nominations: Who's Worth Checking Out

12:40pm November 04, 2014

by Jasmine Garsd

Alt.Latino co-hosts Felix Contreras and Jasmine Garsd stop by to talk Latin Grammy nominations.

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Otis Redding in 1967. Redding was also known as "The Mad Man From Macon."

Music & Culture

Capricorn In Retrograde: Macon's Endangered Musical History

7:34pm November 03, 2014

by Adam Ragusea

The Georgia town was home to Otis Redding, Little Richard and Capricorn Records, a label that played a key role in the birth of Southern rock. Now, many of the city's musical landmarks are threatened.

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Music & Culture

Latin Music Celebrates Lives For Day Of The Dead

5:14pm November 02, 2014

In Latin America, the Day of the Dead is a time to remember family and friends who have died. Felix Contreras and Jasmine Garsd of Alt Latino share their favorite music for this celebration of life.

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Taylor Swift has called her fifth album, 1989, her "very first documented, official pop album."

Music & Culture

The Many New Voices Of Taylor Swift

7:27pm October 30, 2014

by Ann Powers

Swift has received accolades and damnation mostly for her image or the messages she supposedly sends, which must be irritating for a musician so clearly devoted to perfecting her techniques.

Robert Schumann wrote his Violin Concerto in 1853.

Music & Culture

A Violin Concerto Back From Beyond The Grave

2:40pm October 30, 2014

by Nina Totenberg

After composer Robert Schumann died, his Violin Concerto languished in a library — until a grandniece of the man he wrote it for got out her Ouija board.

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Mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, who is singing the national anthem at Game 7 of the World Series tonight in Kansas City, Mo.

Music & Culture

Just Who Is This Opera Star Singing At The World Series Tonight?

4:39pm October 29, 2014

by Anastasia Tsioulcas

Joyce DiDonato — a Kansas native and lifelong Royals fan — happens to be one of the world's greatest opera singers. Here's what makes her so extraordinary.

Music & Culture

SBTRKT: 'There's Always A Space You Can Go'

6:30pm October 28, 2014

Hear the electronic-music producer discuss how his late brother and the "journey of the album" inspired the title track from Wonder Where We Land.

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Sunflower Bean performing in New York during the CMJ Music Marathon.

Music & Culture

Bob Boilen's Top 10 Discoveries From The 2014 CMJ Music Marathon

9:50am October 28, 2014

by Bob Boilen

Every fall, hundreds of bands migrate to New York City for the annual CMJ Music Marathon. Bob Boilen wants to share a few standouts from this year's lineup.

Singer and songwriter Ronnie Milsap is a new inductee into the Country Music Hall Of Fame in Nashville, Tenn.

Ronnie Milsap Joins Country Music's Hall Of Fame

8:39pm October 27, 2014

by Bill Chappell

Milsap's career ranged from playing on the 1960s Elvis hit "Kentucky Rain" to his own solo success in the '70s and '80s. One of his biggest hits was 1980's "Smoky Mountain Rain."