Sidney Robertson Cowell

A Bag of Old Songs from Elsewhere

Sidney Robertson Cowell might be starting to get the attention her rich life, first-rate writing, and broad work as an ethnomusicologist deserve.
The Tornadoes

The Linguistics of My Next Band Name

Why do certain combinations of words make good band names? Linguistic research points to "semantic space."
Earbuds

Why Do Some People Get “Skin Orgasms” from Listening to Music?

Have you ever been listening to a great piece of music and felt a chill run up your spine? The science behind "skin orgasms," or frisson.
The Queen of the Night by Alexander Chee

A Conversation with Alexander Chee

While fact-checking his critically acclaimed novel about an enigmatic soprano of the Paris Opera , Chee happened upon a piece of information on JSTOR he could not ignore.
Cover art for the album 25 by artist Adele © Adele/Facebook

Does Vocal Talent Translate into Album Sales?

The correlation between vocal talent and album sales is a telling indicator of what consumers want.
Imagine John Lennon Memorial

The John Lennon Memorial

Strawberry Fields, the John Lennon memorial in Central Park, has become somewhat of a pilgrimage for Beatles and non-Beatles fans alike.
Disco ball with blurred purple lights in the background

Do the Hustle: How Disco Was Marketed

Disco changed the way the music industry marketed music to the public. The genre innovated an industry and changed our interaction with popular music.
Scattered paper money in various denominations

The Grateful Dead, Tape Trading, and the Music Industry

What the difference between tape trading and bootlegging in rock music?
"We Are The World" album cover

“We Are the World, We Are the Children” (Or Are We?)

Megahit "We are the world" turns 30 this year.