Music

Inside the Song Machine: How Today’s Hits Are Manufactured

Who are the hit makers? They are enormously influential culture shapers—the Spielbergs and Lucases of our national headphones—and yet they are mostly anonymous. Directors of films are public figures, but the people behind pop songs remain in the shadows, taking aliases, by necessity if not by choice, in order to preserve the illusion that the…

Tech News John Seabrook

Rod Stewart Has a New Song Called “Batman Superman Spiderman” and It’s Driving Me Insane

Just an FYI: Rod Stewart has a song on his new album, Another Country, that is really called “Batman Superman Spiderman.” It’s apparently a lullaby he wrote his 4-year-old kid, which is kind of sweet, until you listen to the song and life stops making sense. I don’t personally listen to a lot of lullabies…

io9 Rob Bricken

Meet the Prodigy Who Made 11 Bandcamp Albums That Eventually Got Him a Record Deal

Will Toledo hit the indie rock lottery one Monday last February. Chris Lombardi, founder of legendary independent label Matador Records, rang him up wanting to know more about the 11 albums the 21-year-old Toledo had published online in near anonymity since he was a teen. Lombardi had followed a tip to the Bandcamp page for…

Tech News Mario Aguilar

Facebook’s iOS App Now Makes 30-Second Previews of Your Favorite Songs

If you wanted to communicate just how “raw and emotional” that new cover of a cover of a cover of a Taylor Swift song is, Facebook probably wasn’t the website of choice. But now you can share 30-second clips on iPhone from Apple Music or Spotify for whenever you listen a song that is just…

Tech News Darren Orf

Adele’s “Hello” Has Broken All Records By Selling One Million Downloads In One Week

Adele’s remake of Lionel Richie’s classic ballad has hit a milestone that has not been achieved by any other song in history. According to Nielsen Music, the singer sold one million downloads of the song in just seven days. 1,112,000 downloads to be exact. And the only other artist to come close to that was…

Tech News Alissa Walker

The Ultimate Evil Playlist for a Sinister Weekend

We’ve done the spookiest songs before, but this year we decided to be a bit more fiendish in our Halloweening. So treat yourself to twenty-five songs sung by, for, or about villains. A few small caveats—we were limited to what was available on Spotify. Sadly, no “In the Dark of the Night” from Anastasia. And…

Movies Katharine Trendacosta

You Need Geniuses at MIT, Harvard, and Columbia To Make an Animal-Shaped Xylophone

The same research and technological innovations that a team from MIT, Harvard, and Columbia University used to create a pitch-perfect xylophone with bars shaped like animals could one day help make your electronics quieter. You might be asking yourself why Fisher-Price hasn’t created a fun animal-shaped xylophone already. Turns out, it’s not as easy as…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski

This Villains Medley Is All That’s Great About Disney Musicals

The villain song is the best. I know it, you know it, and the cast of Aladdin on Broadway know it. Jonathan Freeman takes the lead on this video from Oh My Disney, which showcases some of the best ones in a slick medley. While “Oogie Boogie Song” is my personal overlooked favorite in this…

io9 Katharine Trendacosta

Philip K. Dick Inspired a Whole Wave of Trippy Euro Prog Rock

You think U.S. and U.K. prog rock groups like Emerson Lake & Palmer or Yes were trippy and futuristic. But some groups in France and Italy, inspired by the works of Philip K. Dick, went even further. Over at RedBullMusicAcademy, there’s a great article about some of these European prog bands like Heldon, Magma and…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders

Apple Doesn’t Get That U2 Is Lame as Hell

When Apple took its first public adventure into virtual reality, the company needed a subject that represented the bright, infinite possibilities of this new medium. WHAT? NO! Not U2! Not again! Remember that U2 iTunes disaster last year? Apple put the new U2 record nobody wanted on everyone’s computer and everyone did not see this…

Tech News Mario Aguilar

Couple Uses Sensors to Turn Sex into a “Depersonalized” Experience

Between our smartphones, Fitbits, and other wearable sensors, we have tons of opportunity to capture how we move during the day. So it’s not surprising that some people opt to capture the data when they have sex. But as far as I know, only one person has made music from it. That’s the newest project…

Tech News Diane Kelly

What If… Linda Ronstadt Started a Band With Captain America and Dr. Strange?

It’s a question we’ve all asked ourselves at one point or another—but only semi-classic ‘80s magazine Pizzazz had the wherewithal to commission this blindingly awesome artwork of the supergroup that would result. There’s just an unbelievable amount of awesomeness here. Why is Cap so happy? Why is Dr. Strange so unhappy? Can Dr. Strange only…

io9 Rob Bricken

The Avengers Aren’t Fans Of Drake’s New Song

Nope. They’re not a fan at all. Especially the Hulk. [EW]

io9 Andrew Liptak

Watch Neil DeGrasse Tyson And Bill Nye Get Autotuned In This Music Video

Symphony of Science is back! The project, helmed by John D. Boswell (aka Melodysheep) had been putting together some fantastic music videos featuring autotuned scientists. Now, he’s collaborated with the Planetary Society for the latest video, Beyond the Horizon. The video puts together Bill Nye, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Emily Lakdawalla and Carl Sagan to sing…

io9 Andrew Liptak

Access Your Local Music From Anywhere With Microsoft Groove

Microsoft has its own streaming music service, just in case you’d forgotten, and while its feature set is rather par-for-the-course in a lot of areas, there is one interesting trick that’s worth trying out—the ability to stream music tracks stored in your OneDrive folder to any computer connected to the web. Anyone with a OneDrive…

Gadgets David Nield

Pandora Has to Stump Up $90M For Its Use of Pre-1972 Songs

Earlier this year, the Record Industry Association of America began to pursue Pandora on behalf of record labels to seek royalties for the use of tracks recorded before 1972. Now, it’s reached a settlement that will see Pandora stump up $90 million for using the songs. Federal copyright law covering music actually only applies to…

Tech News Jamie Condliffe

A Beginner’s Guide to the Synth

You know the sound. Listen to Devo’s “Whip It” or Parliament’s “Flash Light.” Like countless modern pop songs, they’re full of sounds that aren’t made by acoustic instruments; the sound is pure synthetic. You’re listening to electricity manipulated by a machine. The machine of course is the synthesizer, and it’s been one of the most…

Tech News Meg Neal

Cassettes Should Stay Dead, No Matter What Urban Outfitters Says

Urban Outfitters, one of the largest vinyl sellers, began a new push last week to sell cassettes, including exclusive pressings from Run the Jewels and Halsey. I see this sentimentality-fueled cash grab and I do not respect it. Urban Outfitters peddles all sorts of flotsam, but cassettes are an especially obnoxious genre of junk, offering…

Tech News Kate Knibbs

Traditional Japanese instruments playing Michael Jackson songs is pretty cool

The music of Michael Jackson is so popular that it’s pretty much universal and probably timeless and can even transcend instruments. I mean, just watch Yoshimi Tsujimoto play Michael Jackson’s Smooth Criminal on a shakuhachi (a bamboo flute) with the help of two backup koto instrument players. It’s Michael Jackson across different cultures and traditional…

Sploid Casey Chan

Critter & Guitari’s New Instrument Is a Totally Programmable Box of Whimsy

Critter & Guitari’s Brooklyn-based workshop is the source of beautiful, if borderline esoteric electronic instruments. Its latest box, based on the colorful metal-and-wood design the company is known for, is fully programmable, so that those lovely lacquered keys can make any sound you want. https://gizmodo.com/inside-the-small-brooklyn-studio-making-the-wackiest-sy-1692188992 The new Organelle is perhaps the logical extension of the…

Tech News Mario Aguilar

Inside the Song Machine: How Today’s Hits Are Manufactured

Rod Stewart Has a New Song Called “Batman Superman Spiderman” and It’s Driving Me Insane

Meet the Prodigy Who Made 11 Bandcamp Albums That Eventually Got Him a Record Deal

Facebook’s iOS App Now Makes 30-Second Previews of Your Favorite Songs

Adele’s “Hello” Has Broken All Records By Selling One Million Downloads In One Week

The Ultimate Evil Playlist for a Sinister Weekend

You Need Geniuses at MIT, Harvard, and Columbia To Make an Animal-Shaped Xylophone

This Villains Medley Is All That’s Great About Disney Musicals

Philip K. Dick Inspired a Whole Wave of Trippy Euro Prog Rock

Apple Doesn’t Get That U2 Is Lame as Hell

Couple Uses Sensors to Turn Sex into a “Depersonalized” Experience

What If… Linda Ronstadt Started a Band With Captain America and Dr. Strange?

The Avengers Aren’t Fans Of Drake’s New Song

Watch Neil DeGrasse Tyson And Bill Nye Get Autotuned In This Music Video

Access Your Local Music From Anywhere With Microsoft Groove

Pandora Has to Stump Up $90M For Its Use of Pre-1972 Songs

A Beginner’s Guide to the Synth

Cassettes Should Stay Dead, No Matter What Urban Outfitters Says

Traditional Japanese instruments playing Michael Jackson songs is pretty cool

Critter & Guitari’s New Instrument Is a Totally Programmable Box of Whimsy

Getting Stuck Inside a Glitching Robotaxi Is a Whole New Thing to Be Scared of

Artemis 2 Live Updates: Humanity’s Epic Return to the Moon 🔴

NASA’s Artemis 2 Mission Blasts Off

Disney’s Robot Olaf Dying Is the Funniest Thing to Happen in 2026

Kia’s EV3 Is Headed to the US This Year With Up to 320 Miles of Range

This Is the Way to Lego’s April Releases

Group Pushing Age Verification Requirements for AI Turns Out to Be Sneakily Backed by OpenAI

Amazon Facilities in Bahrain Hit Again as Iran Follows Through on Threat, Report Says

The Best Gadgets of March 2026

AirPods Max 2 Review: Still Ridiculously Expensive and Ridiculously Nice

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Aqara Smart Lock U400 Review: Hands-free Unlocking at Its Best

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Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

Sonos Era 100 SL Review: The Cheapest Way Into Wired Sonos Sound

Asus ROG’s Massive Swift OLED Gaming Monitor Epitomizes Excess in the Best Way

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