music
Most popular songs are about love and heartache. But some great songs — albeit underrated and perhaps a bit weird — are about the cities we love.
We don’t know when or how music was originally invented, but we can now track its evolution across space and time thanks to the Global Jukebox.
When your passion becomes your day job, sometimes the day job becomes a chore.
Because Dylan “samples and digests” songs from the past, he has been accused of plagiarism. But imitatio isn't the same.
The Industrial Revolution changed music forever, thanks to a combination of technological advances and clever entrepreneurs.
Music and sounds only seem to reduce pain in mice when played at a specific volume.
Musical preferences are correlated with personality traits. This connection exists across cultures and continents.
For centuries, men prevented women from writing music. These classical composers broke with social norms and made their mark on history.
He wear no shoeshine, he got toe-jam football...
Listening to some songs can cause a powerful physiological response known as "frisson." What is it, and why does it happen?
Many contemporary composers live in the shadow of Bach and Beethoven, even though they’re just as interesting to listen to.
From Brahms to Tchaikovsky, here's a curated list of composers whose music has shaped the classical canon.
MIT neuroscientists have identified a population of neurons in the human brain that respond to singing but not other types of music.
Movie soundtracks don't just help us recall the plot of a film; they also allow us to better understand its meaning.
Flow occurs when a task’s challenge is balanced with one’s skill.
Undiagnosed brain disease or divine inspiration? The origins of the French composer’s most provocative composition remain up for debate.
Just as storylines make sense only when you have the context of the beginning and the end, listeners need to understand the impetus for why the album was even made.
The singer-songwriter distilled the essence of the holidays into a hit song, and for her efforts she was crowned the Queen of Christmas.
Why does hearing sad music feel so good?
Music therapy might boost memory, but the benefits are small. Just in case, tell your grandparents to listen to their favorite 1960s tunes.
The German thinker wrote both treatises and songs. He approached each form of expression with the same level of interest.
Music is often labelled a “universal language,” and according to the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, there is a good reason for that.
The way we imagine and listen to melodies sheds light on imagination.
Ernst Chladni proved that sound can be seen, and developed a technique of visualizing vibrations on a metal plate.
Companies can identify you from your music preferences, as well as influence and profit from your behavior.
Virtually enroll in beginner-to-expert guitar lessons to unleash your inner musician.
Take a journey through the maze of interpretations of one of the most famous paintings in history.