Music

A new record comes off the press machine at the GZ Media factory in Lodenice, Czech Republic in 2013

Vinyl Presses Struggle to Keep up with the Resurgent Demand for Records

Only a handful of pressing plants can make records in the U.S. and their machinery is finicky

History in the making: Sam Smith performs with Mary J. Blige, one of his main influences.

Why We Should Teach Music History Backwards

Rock fans do their own investigative work to understand their favorite groups’ influences. So why can’t the rest of us get with the program?

Why You Can’t Listen to Radio On Your Smartphone

There’s an FM radio on your phone…but you likely can’t use it

The 20 Best Small Towns to Visit in 2015

From sea to shining sea, our top picks for the most amazing American small towns to see this year

Jazz singer Billie Holiday wears a large white flower in her hair for a performance in New York City.

What Makes Billie Holiday's Music So Powerful Today

Musicians including Cassandra Wilson pay homage to the jazz legend with new albums for Lady Day's 100th birthday

Male Mice Sing Sexy Songs to Woo Females

New research shows that mice can change their mating songs according to context

Billy Strayhorn playing piano in a home, May 26th,1952.

This New Collection of 12,000 Photographs Chronicles the American Jazz Scene

A donation from the family of photographer and historian Duncan Schiedt captures the music's "essence"

As We Get Older We Get More Tolerant of Discordant Music

Hearing loss isn’t the only thing that changes our music perception as we age

Why is music so important to so many of us?

Here’s How Music Really Could Soothe Your Soul

A leading scholar theorizes that music developed as an evolutionary adaptation to help us deal with the contradictory nature of life

Numbers Don’t Lie: The CD Really Is Dead

Streaming revenues surpass CD revenues for the first time ever

When Breathtaking Rock Billboards Dominated the Sunset Strip

A new exhibition showcases the Sunset Strip's "rock 'n' roll billboards"

Here’s What Music Specially Composed for Your Cat Sounds Like

Research shows that cats prefer “species-specific” with frequencies and tempos that mimic the sounds of purring and birds

Popular Music Changed the Most in 1964

Scientists use genomic data to show how pop music evolves

Chuck Brown (1936-2012), the Godfather of Go-Go, owned this six-string Gibson guitar, now in the collections of the Smithsonian's Anacostia Community Museum.

Chuck Brown's Guitar Drove the Musician's Persuasive "Wind Me Up" Rhythm

The Godfather of Go-Go's family recall how the musician crafted the innovative sound that would define a local tradition

Björk’s music video “All Is Full of Love” received wide acclaim and was deemed a milestone in computer graphics. In 2011, it was placed in Time’s list of The 30 All-TIME Best Music Videos.

Bjork Is Getting a Retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art

The Icelandic singer's iconic style will be on view at the New York institution

Physarum polycephalum in the wild, sans piano

A Scientist And a Slime Mold Are Set To Play a Duet

The blob-like creatures’ movements inspired a composer to create a way for slime mold to play the piano

These Bells Play Seismic Shifts

Watch as UC Berkeley’s bells play the earth’s “natural frequencies”

What is the Most Important Innovation in the History of Rock 'n' Roll?

Musicians, historians and critics tell us what they consider to be the greatest game changers for the industry

Eddie Van Halen, 1985

The Electric Guitar's Long (And Louder), Strange Trip

From its gentle 16th-century acoustic origins to the souped-up ‘Frankenstein,’ a Smithsonian scholar strums the historic chords of the guitar

This personal robot can listen, talk, take photos and even feel temperature.

Five Wild Ideas That Just Got Funded: From an Automated Home Brewery to a Personal (Robot) Assistant

Two other quirky inventions teach music in novel ways

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