Music & Culture

A quick guide to some of the best musical archives on the Internet.

Music & Culture

12 Essential Archives For Internet-Era Music Historians

3:52pm June 05, 2015

by Ann Powers

Some of the places where we dig up sounds from the past are obvious, others obscure. Here are a dozen sources for diving deep into music history, shared by some of our favorite writers.

The pop charts have been subtly transformed by the addition of data from streaming services like Spotify and YouTube.

Music & Culture

How Streaming Services Are Remaking The Pop Charts

3:51pm June 05, 2015

by Chris Molanphy

For 50 years, Billboard's Hot 100 pop chart counted just two things: radio play and retail sales. The addition of streaming data is shaking up how the charts are made and which songs reach the top.

There's an abundance of classical music on the major streaming services, but it can be nearly impossible to find a specific recording.

Music & Culture

Why Can't Streaming Services Get Classical Music Right?

3:50pm June 05, 2015

by Anastasia Tsioulcas

The big sites miss the mark, and yet the specialist services serve a small audience. What's a classical-curious listener supposed to do?

Music & Culture

Looking For A Connection In An Infinite Jukebox

3:48pm June 05, 2015

by Hazel Cills

With more than 20 million streaming songs at our fingertips, is the idea of owning music becoming a thing of the past? Or are we redefining the connection between songs and listeners?

Does the world of streaming music change us, as listeners?

Music & Culture

How Streaming Is Changing Music

3:47pm June 05, 2015

by Jacob Ganz

Over the next week, in a series called Streaming At The Tipping Point, we'll look at how streaming music services are reshaping the way we find, hear and experience music.

Music & Culture

Streaming Utopia: Imagining Digital Music's Perfect World

3:45pm June 05, 2015

by Marc Hogan

We asked everyone we could think of, from fans to musicians to label owners what the ideal streaming service should look like. Turns out the new world, even in our fantasies, is a work in progress.

Over time, Aether's Cone speaker uses an algorithm to learn the taste of its owner, and offers time- and location-specific recommendations.

Music & Culture

Would You Like To Hear A Song, Dave?

3:44pm June 05, 2015

by Jillian Mapes

The rise of the music recommendation algorithm suggests that the future of music curation may be in tracking individuals' behavior, not just mapping their taste.

Deaf percussionist Evelyn Glennie says she thinks of the entire body as "a big ear."

How Do We Listen When We're Unable to Hear?

9:43am June 05, 2015

by NPR/TED Staff

Percussionist and recording artist Evelyn Glennie is almost completely deaf, which means she listens to music with her body, not her ears.

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Composer, librettist and conductor Matthew Aucoin in rehearsal.

Music & Culture

A 25-Year-Old Opera Composer Who Does It All

8:31am June 05, 2015

by Andrea Shea

At age 11, Matthew Aucoin memorized and performed at a piano all of Mozart's Marriage of Figaro. As one of his own operas debuts, some critics are calling him the next big thing.

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Crank up the volume and give the All Things Considered road-trip playlist a test drive.

Music & Culture

NPR Asks: What's On Your Road-Trip Playlist?

8:50pm June 04, 2015

The All Things Considered road-trip playlist is adding songs every week, thanks to your suggestions. Here, listeners share some of the stuff they like to belt on a long car ride.

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