The lead-up to Easter weekend didn't bring much new music to the Digital Downloads charts, but it did greatly improve the sales of tracks by those who were already there. Nearly every performer in the Top 10 saw a boost in downloads. Read this

It's finally warming up in our little corner of New York, but the album sales climate remains Frozen. Read this

Austin City Limits, the last of the American mega festivals to release its lineup for the 2014 season, has finally dropped its lineup for both weekends of the event, which will go down between October 3 and 5, plus between October 10 and 12. Read this

Tell us if you've heard this one before: Internet radio and music streaming services are looking for ways to avoid paying royalties. Turns out that Pandora is a little more hardcore than its competition and isn't paying for anything recorded pre-1972. The service argues that records from that era aren't subject to federal copyright laws, and therefore Pandora's in the right. Various recording labels are coming together to sue the internet radio service in the New York State Supreme Court. Read this

The most recent rumor to come out regarding the lineup for next season of NBC's competition is that Gwen Stefani will be replacing current judge Christina Aguilera. Read this

Recently, upcoming country crooners Natalie Stovall & The Drive performed Aerosmith's "Living on the Edge" while visiting radio. Check out the two live videos and decide what you think about the country version. Read this

When talking about his songwriting, Kurt Cobain was once said “music comes first and lyrics come second.” Most songwriters and music fans place the importance of a song’s music over its lyrical content, but there are some singers whose lyrics are actually the best parts of their songs. Here are five artists whose lyrics are better than their music. Read this

There are countless lyrics that sound totally idiotic when spoken instead of sung, but sometimes a songwriter will come up with some lyrics that can’t really be pinned onto to a melody. Here are seven great songs with spoken word lyrics. Read this

The lead-up to Easter weekend didn't bring much new music to the Digital Downloads charts, but it did greatly improve the sales of tracks by those who were already there. Nearly every performer in the Top 10 saw a boost in downloads. Read this

It's finally warming up in our little corner of New York, but the album sales climate remains Frozen. Read this

The lead-up to Easter weekend didn't bring much new music to the Digital Downloads charts, but it did greatly improve the sales of tracks by those who were already there. Nearly every performer in the Top 10 saw a boost in downloads. Read this

It's finally warming up in our little corner of New York, but the album sales climate remains Frozen. Read this

An album should ideally be no longer than 50 minutes, but artists regularly push this boundary and give us albums that are well over an hour long. There are some instances where this works (somehow, all two hours of Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness is worth hearing), but most of the time, these albums are simply too long. Here are seven classic albums that should have been much shorter. Read this

Music Times writers share an office area of roughly 45 sq. ft, which makes having face-to-face conversations totally impossible. Junk Mail is these millenials' attempt to discuss and review the week's hottest album releases... without needing to look at each other. Read this

Jay Z and Roc-A-Fella Records thought that they had lost four years worth of master tapes a decade ago, but it turns out they lucked out: The tapes were actually stolen by an idiot. Chauncey Mahan, a producer who had worked with Jay at the time, made off with the recordings and recently made a less-than-skillful attempt to extort the rapper. Read this

When talking about his songwriting, Kurt Cobain was once said “music comes first and lyrics come second.” Most songwriters and music fans place the importance of a song’s music over its lyrical content, but there are some singers whose lyrics are actually the best parts of their songs. Here are five artists whose lyrics are better than their music. Read this

There are countless lyrics that sound totally idiotic when spoken instead of sung, but sometimes a songwriter will come up with some lyrics that can’t really be pinned onto to a melody. Here are seven great songs with spoken word lyrics. Read this

It's finally warming up in our little corner of New York, but the album sales climate remains Frozen. Read this

An album should ideally be no longer than 50 minutes, but artists regularly push this boundary and give us albums that are well over an hour long. There are some instances where this works (somehow, all two hours of Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness is worth hearing), but most of the time, these albums are simply too long. Here are seven classic albums that should have been much shorter. Read this

With many artists, there’s absolutely no mystery as to where they hail from. The Beach Boys are quite obviously from Southern California, and Bruce Springsteen has made a career out of being a New Jersey native (at least, he might be). These six artists, however, sound as if they came from one place, but are actually from somewhere else entirely. Read this

Congrats to Lady Antebellum's Dave Haywood and his wife Kelli - they have announced that they are expecting their first first baby together in September. Read this

Yesterday, three days after getting out of the hospital, Jana Kramer celebrated with new ink. Read this

The Bee Gees' Barry Gibb and his wife Linda bought the former home of Johnny and June Carter Cash in December 2005 with plans to restore the 13,880-square-foot home. After a fire destroyed it in 2007, the plan was to build a second home on the lot, but the couple sold it last month to a Tennessee company. Read this

Recently, upcoming country crooners Natalie Stovall & The Drive performed Aerosmith's "Living on the Edge" while visiting radio. Check out the two live videos and decide what you think about the country version. Read this

Some songs hold more personal meaning for the songwriters, and for Lee Brice, his latest single, "I Don't Dance," is as personal as it gets. Written for his wife Sara for their 2013 wedding, the song was never meant to be released but it was too beautiful to keep under wraps. Read this

Could jazz music be considered the predecessor to modern hip-hop and funk form? Well, potentially, and this year even Snoop Dogg gave props to Herbie Hancock as that very forefather to the rap movement. Read this

Broadway composers are demanding illegal-download websites stop offering unauthorized downloads of copyrighted sheet music. Read this

Mariss Jansons is to leave the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, once dubbed by Gramophone as "the world's best orchestra". Who can follow him? Read this

Emerson continues their exploration of the late quartets of Shostakovich, who is surely one of the masters of the 20th-century form. Interestingly enough, Emerson's program will pair Shostakovich's 13th and 14th quartets with the third one of Benjamin Britten. Read this

Here comes the unaskable question - what is it with The Lark Ascending? The Vaughan Williams work has again topped the Classic FM Hall of Fame poll. It might have been edged out by the Rach 2 for the last few years, but it is a Read this

Could jazz music be considered the predecessor to modern hip-hop and funk form? Well, potentially, and this year even Snoop Dogg gave props to Herbie Hancock as that very forefather to the rap movement. Read this

Pop stars from Ricky Martin to Carly Rae Jepsen have ventured onto Broadway and West End stages, with mixed results. Read this

The word shakina--lowercase--is a distinctly Hebraic one. Specifically, it refers to the feminine presence of the divine spirit. Washed in the blood of Jimmy Carter's Southern Baptist on my mother's side, myself, I'm wont to call it the most important side of Elohim (as per that old Gnostic notion of... Read this

In the spring of 1930, in a damp and dimly lit studio, on a Wisconsin village off Lake Michigan, Thomas and Wiley recorded a session of songs that for over half a century had been named masterpieces of pre-war Americana. Read this

If you haven't already heard (and since we reported on it, you should have), April is not only Jazz Appreciation Month...it's also National Poetry Month. And to celebrate, the good people at The Lambda Literary Review are clearly excited to share an excerpt from the famous writer James Baldwin. Read this

The lead-up to Easter weekend didn't bring much new music to the Digital Downloads charts, but it did greatly improve the sales of tracks by those who were already there. Nearly every performer in the Top 10 saw a boost in downloads. Read this

The most popular complaint against music venues is that they're just too loud (followed closely by "patrons behaving badly"), and Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado is facing similar charges. Residents of nearby Morrison have claimed that concerts are keeping them awake and even rattling the windows of homes as far as half-a-mile from Red Rocks. And of course the culprit isn't just any form of music: It's EDM. Read this

Austin City Limits, the last of the American mega festivals to release its lineup for the 2014 season, has finally dropped its lineup for both weekends of the event, which will go down between October 3 and 5, plus between October 10 and 12. Read this

More and more summer music festivals seem to be popping up all across the world, but a few outliers are shutting down for 2014. One example is the Oxegen festival in the County Kildare on the outskirts of Dublin, which won't take place for the second time since 2012. Read this

Society always celebrates the records that top the Billboard 200 album chart. Back of The Billboards is a Music Times weekly segment that looks at the opposite end: the new record that finished closest to the back of the Billboard 200 for the previous week. We hope to give a fighting chance to the bands you haven't heard of. Read this

Last week, critically acclaimed singer/songwriter/worship leader Phil Wickham released The Ascension: Deluxe Edition. The project contains the 11 songs from the original release, The Ascension as well as 10 new acoustic songs. Next month, he'll be taking the new music on the road to share it with fans both old and new. Read this

Word Entertainment has announced that it has partnered with international feature film production and distribution company Curb Entertainment, to distribute Word Entertainment’s faith-based films outside of the US. Read this

4K Records has announced that John Schlitt's "Live It Loud" from 'The Greater Cause,' has been released to both Christian and mainstream radio today. Read this

The U.S. leg of Scott Stapp's "Proof of Life" Tour ended on April 9th in Atlanta, Georgia. Now the rocker is taking it across the pond for a European leg. Read this

A snapshot of what's coming up in Christian music next week... Read this

Fans of folk rockers Cadillac Sky were surprised in 2010 when Bryan left the stage in the midst of a tour that found them opening for Mumford and Sons and seemingly disappeared from music altogether. While it seemed sudden, the move had actually been building for two years and now, four years later, Simpson is back with a new chapter in his story. Read this

Apple's iTunes Music Festival is next week and the brand recently made an exciting announcement. It's all going down in Austin as part of this year's South by Southwest (SXSW) music showcase. Read this

Are you a Country, Hip-Hop, Alternative, R&B, Rock or Pop complete artist, group or band who has what it takes to win $10,000? Read this

There's no denying it: 2013 was the year of the viral video music hit. Billboard began incorporating YouTube hits and other streaming video services into its Hot 100 formula this year, leading to some bizarre smash hits. As 2013 comes to a close, it's time to remember the viral videos that had an impact on Internet culture, the charts and out hearts. Read this

Matteo Setti got his "big break" from Luciano Pavarotti. He also sang lead in a Queen cover band. Which is to say the Italian vocalist can handle a wide range of styles. The performer is turning his attention to swing for the Christmas season however, having released his first holiday EP, Home For Christmas. Setti took some time to speak with Music Times prior to his December 10 show at The Cutting Room. Read this