Celebrity Life
The Heartbreak Key
D minor plays on our rawest emotion — but in contemporary music, even the most somber of artists tend to avoid it
Leave It to Berlin to Turn Vaccination Into a Rave
The German capital has been hosting thumping raves to incentivize young people, whose infection rates are higher than average, to get their Covid-19 jabs
Who Called the Paps?
Celebrity snaps used to result from hostile stalking. Now, thanks to Instagram and a pandemic, Hollywood’s paparazzi industry is flourishing off pre-planned “candids” organized by stars themselves
Spotify Needs to Fix Its Stalling User Growth
The music-streaming service didn't delight investors with its latest quarterly financial results — but still has a chance to return to its roots of innovation and originality before it's too late
Inside the 24/7 Influencer Competition for a Major Record Deal
The round-the-clock livestream competition Song House Live — basically the twisted love child of The Real World and Songland — will offer a Capitol Records label contract to one winner
NFTs May Seem Like Frivolous Fads. They Should Be the Future of Music
The wild boom and bust of art NFTs made many onlookers wary of blockchain-based technology — but new developments in gaming, ticketing, and music royalties reveal NFTs' true power
The Rosy ‘Creator Economy’ Is Music’s Biggest Lie
Platforms of the so-called "passion economy" tell us everyone can make bank. The reality of this scam is nowhere more evident than in the numbers out of the music industry
The Mad Pandemic Bottleneck of Indie Bands
In the post-quarantine rush back to concerts and live music, venue calendars are filling up with superstars and baby bands are falling to the wayside: "It’s a lot of chasing dead ends"
How to Break a New Artist: Start a Fiction Podcast?
Companies like Audio Up, which wrote a fictional origin story for Lava Records' Hero the Band, want to take music podcasts and turn them into intellectual-property empires
Universal Music’s SPAC Deal Gives It Armor — and a Potential Weak Spot
The world's biggest music rightsholder will soon be owned by a panoply of players. One of them wants to keep its costs in check
When Will Indie Venue Owners Get the Funding They Were Promised?
"We're up to our necks in water waiting for help. And they just don't see it," says a Montana venue owner who's waiting for aid from the federal government
On the Road Again: Tour Crews Are Hopeful But Wary as Concerts Return
Live-music professionals who work with Green Day, James Taylor, and others share their thoughts as Covid restrictions ease and the concert business gets back into gear