This portal is focused on music production within the era of written records through sound recordings, digital downloads, and beyond. Its scope includes articles that document the considerations and mechanisms used by, and consistent with, the purview of the production element. As an art form, music predates transcription and simultaneously transcends descriptive limitations. As an industry, music has demonstrated consistent viability over time. The record producer conjoins these potential, and serves as a broker to bridge the demand (spawned by their aspirations) with supply and satisfaction. The results are measurable and attributable, derived from effort and skillful application of craft, to a manifestation of the art in its melodic form. (Read more)
Featured articles are displayed here, which represent some of the best content on English Wikipedia.
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"Irreplaceable" is a song by American singer Beyoncé for her second studio album, B'Day (2006). The song was written by Shaffer "Ne-Yo" Smith, Tor Erik Hermansen, Mikkel S. Eriksen, Espen Lind, Amund Bjørklund, and Beyoncé; and produced by Stargate and Beyoncé. "Irreplaceable" was originally a country record; it was re-arranged as a mid-tempoballad with pop and R&B influences by modifying the vocal arrangements and instrumentation. During the production and recording sessions, Beyoncé and Ne-Yo wanted to create a record which people of either gender could relate to. The song's lyrics are about the breakdown of a relationship with an unfaithful man and the song contains a message about female empowerment.
The Ecstatic is the fourth studio album by American rapper Mos Def, released on June 9, 2009, by the independent record label Downtown Records. After venturing further away from hip hop with an acting career and two poorly received albums, Mos Def signed a recording contract with Downtown and recorded The Ecstatic primarily at the Record Plant in Los Angeles. He worked with producers such as Preservation, Mr. Flash, Oh No, and Madlib, with the latter two reusing instrumentals they had produced on Stones Throw Records. The work of Stones Throw rapper MF DOOM was also cited by Mos Def as an influence, while singer Georgia Anne Muldrow, formerly of the record label, performed as one of the album's few guest vocalists, along with rappers Slick Rick and Talib Kweli.
Described by music journalists as a conscious and alternative hip hop record, The Ecstatic features an eccentric, internationalist quality. Mos Def's raps about global politics, love, war, spirituality, and social conditions are informed by the zeitgeist of the late 2000s, Black internationalism, and Pan-Islamic ideas, incorporating many Islamic references throughout the album. Its loosely structured, lightly reverbed songs use unconventional time signatures and samples taken from a variety of international musical styles, including Afrobeat, soul, Eurodance, jazz, reggae, Latin, and Middle Eastern music. Mos Def titled the album after one of his favorite novels, Victor LaValle's The Ecstatic (2002), believing its titular phrase evoked his singular musical vision. For the album's front cover, a still from Charles Burnett's 1978 film Killer of Sheep was reproduced in a red tint. (Full article...)
An instrumental jazz fusion record, Song of Innocence incorporates elements of classical, rock, funk, pop, and theatre music. Axelrod arranged the music for bass, drums, and string instruments, composing in a rock idiom with tempos centered on such rhythms played by Palmer. He used contrast in his orchestral compositions, interspersing their euphoric psychedelic R&B structures with dramatic, harrowing arrangements to reflect the supernatural themes found in Blake's poems. The resulting music's reverent, psychedelic overtones have been interpreted as evoking the poet's themes of innocence and spirituality. (Full article...)
After several years of grunge's dominance in popular music, Dookie brought a livelier, more melodic rock sound to the mainstream and propelled Green Day to worldwide fame. Considered one of the defining albums of the 1990s and of punk rock in general, it was also pivotal in solidifying the genre's mainstream popularity. Its influence continued into the new millennium and beyond, being cited as an inspiration by many punk rock and pop-punk bands, as well as artists from other genres. (Full article...)
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Title page of Handel's autograph score
Messiah (HWV 56) is an English-language oratorio composed in 1741 by George Frideric Handel. The text was compiled from the King James Bible and the Coverdale Psalter by Charles Jennens. It was first performed in Dublin on 13 April 1742 and received its London premiere a year later. After an initially modest public reception, the oratorio gained in popularity, eventually becoming one of the best-known and most frequently performed choral works in Western music.
Handel's reputation in England, where he had lived since 1712, had been established through his compositions of Italian opera. He turned to English oratorio in the 1730s in response to changes in public taste; Messiah was his sixth work in this genre. Although its structure resembles that of opera, it is not in dramatic form; there are no impersonations of characters and no direct speech. Instead, Jennens's text is an extended reflection on Jesus as the Messiah called Christ. The text begins in Part I with prophecies by Isaiah and others, and moves to the annunciation to the shepherds, the only "scene" taken from the Gospels. In Part II, Handel concentrates on the Passion of Jesus and ends with the Hallelujah chorus. In Part III, he covers Paul's teachings on the resurrection of the dead and Christ's glorification in heaven. (Full article...)
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Good Girl Gone Bad is the third studio album by Barbadian singer, Rihanna. It was released on May 31, 2007, by Def Jam Recordings and SRP Records. Rihanna worked with various producers on the album, including Tricky Stewart, The-Dream, Neo da Matrix, Timbaland, Carl Sturken, Evan Rogers and Stargate. Inspired by Brandy's fourth studio album Afrodisiac (2004), Good Girl Gone Bad is a pop, dance-pop and R&B record with 1980s music influences. Described as a turning point in Rihanna's career, it represents a departure from the Caribbean sound of her previous releases, Music of the Sun (2005) and A Girl like Me (2006). Apart from the sound, she also endorsed a new image for the release going from an innocent young woman to an edgier, more mature look.
Critics gave generally positive reviews of the album, praising its composition and Rihanna's new musical direction, though some criticized the album's lyrics and inconsistency. The album received seven Grammy Award nominations and one win in the Best Rap/Sung Collaboration category for "Umbrella" at the 2008 ceremony. The album debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 chart and sold 162,000 copies in its first week. Certified seven-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), it sold more than 2.8 million copies in the United States. The album reached number one in Canada, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. As of June 2017, the album has sold over nine million copies worldwide. (Full article...)
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Aaliyah is the third and final studio album by American singer Aaliyah. It was released on July 7, 2001, by Blackground Records and Virgin Records. Because of its packaging design, it is also known as "The Red Album". Aaliyah started to work on the album in 1998, but rescheduled its recording around her developing film career. She resumed recording in 2000 at Sing Sing Studios in Australia, where she shot her role for the 2002 film Queen of the Damned during the day and recorded songs at night. Additional recording took place at Manhattan Center and Sony Music Studios in New York and Westlake Recording Studios in Los Angeles, among other locations. Through her recording contract with Blackground, the singer worked primarily with the record label's in-house crew of writers and producers, including Bud'da, J. Dub, Rapture, and Eric Seats, as well as longtime collaborator Timbaland.
Aaliyah is described in critical commentaries as an album of R&B, neo soul, and dance-pop, while drawing on an array of other genres such as funk, hip-hop, alternative rock, electronica, and Latin music. The album's producers incorporated synthesizer melodies, fragmented beats, distorted guitar, and eccentrically manipulated vocals and song structures, while much of the lyrics were written by singer-songwriter Static Major, who shared a close friendship and strong rapport with Aaliyah. The resulting songs deal with the complexities of romantic love and different stages in a relationship. Aaliyah viewed the album as a reflection of herself as both a young adult and a matured vocalist. (Full article...)
The band's debut album, Gish (1991), was well-received by critics and became an underground success. In the advent of alternative rock's mainstream breakthrough, their second album, Siamese Dream (1993), established the band's popularity. Despite a tumultuous recording process, the album received widespread acclaim and has been lauded as one of the best albums in the genre. Their third album, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (1995), furthered the band's popularity; it debuted atop the Billboard 200, received a Diamond certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and continued the band's critical success. After the release of Adore (1998) and a two-part project in 2000—Machina and Machina II—the group disbanded due to internal conflicts, drug use, and diminishing sales by the end of the 1990s. With 30 million albums sold worldwide, the Smashing Pumpkins were among the most critically and commercially successful bands of the 1990s, and an important act in the popularization of alternative rock. (Full article...)
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Tell All Your Friends is the debut studio album by American rock band Taking Back Sunday, released on March 26, 2002, through Victory Records. Forming in 1999, the group underwent several lineup changes before settling on vocalist Adam Lazzara, guitarist and vocalist John Nolan, guitarist Eddie Reyes, bassist Shaun Cooper, and drummer Mark O'Connell. Taking Back Sunday released a five-song demo in early 2001, after which they toured the United States for most of the year. They rented a room in Lindenhurst, New York, where they wrote and demoed songs. In December 2001, the band signed with Victory Records; they began recording their debut album with producer Sal Villanueva at Big Blue Meenie Recording Studio in New Jersey.
"Great Romances of the 20th Century" was released as the lead single from Tell All Your Friends in March 2002. A few months later, Taking Back Sunday toured across the United States with Brand New and Rufio. At the end of the year, a Fight Club-inspired music video was released for "Cute Without the 'E' (Cut from the Team)", which was released as the album's second single in February 2003. The group spent the early part of 2003 touring with the Used and the Blood Brothers before headlining their own tour. After that, Nolan and Cooper left Taking Back Sunday and were replaced by Fred Mascherino and Matt Rubano. In September 2003, "You're So Last Summer" was released as the album's third single, and the band began co-headlining a tour with Saves the Day, which lasted until November 2003. By that point, a music video had been released for "You're So Last Summer". (Full article...)
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Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (transl. The Brave-Hearted Will Take the Bride), also known by the initialismDDLJ, is a 1995 Indian Hindi-languagemusicalromance film written and directed by Aditya Chopra in his directorial debut and produced by his father Yash Chopra. Released on 20 October 1995, the film stars Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol as Raj and Simran, two young non-resident Indians, who fall in love during a vacation through Europe with their friends. Raj tries to win over Simran's family so the couple can marry, but Simran's father has long since promised her hand to his friend's son. The film was shot in India, London, and Switzerland, from September 1994 to August 1995.
Elderly Instruments is a musical instrument retailer in Lansing, Michigan, United States, with a reputation as a "megastore", a repair shop and a locus for folk music including bluegrass and "twang". Specializing in fretted instruments, including acoustic and electric guitars, banjos, mandolins, and ukuleles, Elderly maintains a selection of odd or rare instruments. Elderly is known as a premier repair shop for fretted instruments, as one of the larger vintage instrument dealers in the United States, and as a major dealer of Martin guitars in particular.
Industry publications, music retail trade, and bluegrass music journals have featured articles about the Elderly repair staff. The company also provides consignment services for rare and vintage instruments. Since its founding in 1972, Elderly has undergone two major expansions: into mail order in 1975 and then into Internet sales in the 1990s. In 2005 it was the subject of a lawsuit by Gibson Guitar Corporation concerning trademark infringement. Today it is recognized internationally for its services and products; its mail order and Internet business account for 65–70 percent of its total revenue. Elderly grossed $12 million in 1999, and by 2007 was grossing $17 million annually. (Full article...)
These are all Good articles, which meet a core set of high editorial standards.
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Dystopia is the fifteenth studio album by American thrash metal band Megadeth. It was released on frontman and guitarist Dave Mustaine's Tradecraft label via Universal on January 22, 2016. It is the first Megadeth album to feature guitarist Kiko Loureiro, the only album with drummer Chris Adler, and their last with bassist David Ellefson. The album was produced by Mustaine and Chris Rakestraw and features cover artwork by Brent Elliot White.
Prior to Dystopias recording, longtime drummer Shawn Drover and guitarist Chris Broderick announced their departure from the band. These roles on the album have been filled by Lamb of God drummer Chris Adler and Angra guitarist Kiko Loureiro, respectively. Adler returned to Lamb of God shortly after the album's release, and was replaced by drummer Dirk Verbeuren. ('Full article...)
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Spit is the debut studio album by Canadian heavy metal band Kittie, originally released on November 13, 1999, through Ng Records. Kittie were formed in 1996, and signed a four-album deal with Ng following their performances at the Canadian Music Week festival in March 1999. Recorded over nine days in May 1999 with producer Garth Richardson at EMAC Studios in London, Ontario, Spit is a nu metal album that incorporates various elements from several heavy metal subgenres. Inspired by life experiences, its lyrical themes include sexism, hatred, ignorance, self-image, and betrayal. The album is Kittie's only release with their original line-up, featuring bassist Tanya Candler and guitarist Fallon Bowman. Following Candler's departure in September 1999, the band recruited bassist Talena Atfield.
Shortly after Spit's initial release, Ng was absorbed into Artemis Records, whom reissued the album with a new cover on January 11, 2000. Kittie promoted the album with the release of two singles, "Brackish" and "Charlotte". Assisted by internet word-of-mouth and an extensive touring regimen, Spit was a commercial success in the United States, reaching number 79 on the Billboard 200 chart and becoming certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in October 2000. It did not perform as well in Canada due to a lack of radio support and touring. As of April 2003, it has sold sold 660,000 copies in the United States, and 40,000 in Canada. Retrospectively, Spit is regarded as one of the greatest nu metal albums of all time, and an inspiration to women in metal. (Full article...)
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Cheshire Cat is the debut studio album by American rock band Blink-182 (then known as simply "Blink"), released on February 17, 1995, by Cargo Music. The trio, composed of guitarist Tom DeLonge, bassist Mark Hoppus, and drummer Scott Raynor, formed in 1992 and recorded three demos that impressed the San Diego–based Cargo label. In addition, their reputation as an irreverent local live act at venues such as SOMA alerted the label, who was seeking to expand into different genres.
Due to budget constraints, the album was recorded quickly with producer Otis Barthoulameu at Westbeach Recorders in Los Angeles. Producer Steve Kravac engineered the recording and advised the trio to record additional overdubs. As such, the band spent an additional week re-recording several tracks at Santee, California's Doubletime Studios. The album was originally released with the band's name as Blink, until an Irish band of the same name threatened legal action, after which the band appended "-182" to the end of their name. (Full article...)
Music for Cars is the third extended play (EP) by English band the 1975, released on 4 March 2013 by Dirty Hit, Polydor Records and Vagrant Records. Development of the record began after the band completed their eponymous debut album. Working with producer Mike Crossey, the 1975 created "Chocolate" during the album's recording sessions before building the other tracks of the EP around the song. The band sought to create a cohesive concept for the record, primarily producing the remaining four songs by themselves in the bedroom of singer Healy at Rose Cottage in Cheshire.
An electronic, ambient and experimental record, Music for Cars is composed of atmospheric songs containing a cinematic sound. The EP also incorporates elements of pop, rock, synth-pop, funk and R&B, among other genres. Upon release, the record received positive reviews from music critics, who praised the EP's exploration of electronic music and its balance of pop and atmospherics songs. Prior to the record's debut, the 1975 released "Head.Cars.Bending" and the single "Chocolate". The song was a sleeper hit, representing the band's commercial breakthrough when it became a radio staple in 2013. (Full article...)
Music critics highlighted the compilation's title track and Streisand's singing ability. Commercially, the soundtrack was once Streisand's lowest-performing entry on the Billboard 200, peaking at number 108 in September 1970. However, her other 1970 soundtrack album, The Owl and the Pussycat, would later take its place as Streisand's lowest-peaking album. Nonetheless, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever served as Montand's only charting effort in the United States. (Full article...)
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Glee: The Music, The Power of Madonna is the debut extended play (EP) by the cast of the musical television series Glee. It contains eight songs from the season oneGlee episode, "The Power of Madonna", which was a tribute episode dedicated to American recording artist Madonna. She had sold the rights to her entire catalog of music to Glee in 2009, and producers of the show developed the episode called "The Power of Madonna"; the show featured a number of cover versions of Madonna's songs by the cast. The accompanying EP released with the airing of the show was called Glee: The Music, The Power of Madonna.
After its release, it received generally positive reviews from the critics, who frequently cited Glee's cover version of Madonna's "Like a Prayer" as a stand-out track from the album. The EP debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 albums chart, with 98,000 copies in the first week in the United States, the highest debut for a Glee soundtrack. It also reached the top of the chart in Canada, and the top ten in Australia, Ireland and the United Kingdom. The release of the EP saw an increase in the catalog sales of Madonna's albums too. All songs from The Power of Madonna were released as singles with the exception of "Burning Up". "Like a Prayer" charted highest in all regions, reaching number 27 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and selling 87,000 digital downloads there. (Full article...)
Eventually selling 50,000 copies, the success of Through Being Cool helped Saves the Day to sign with Vagrant Records. It was named one of Alternative Press' 10 most influential albums of 1999. To celebrate the album's 15th anniversary, the band played the album front-to-back on tour and Equal Vision re-pressed the album on vinyl. Vocalist Chris Conley considers it "the most important record that we did." (Full article...)
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Come My Fanatics… is the second studio album by English band Electric Wizard. The album was released in January 1997 on Rise Above Records and was produced by Rolf Startin, Mike Hurst and band member Jus Oborn. It was the group's follow-up to their eponymous album Electric Wizard. Oborn described the release as a reaction to the music on the earlier album, which he had felt was not as heavy as he wanted the group to sound. The songs on Come My Fanatics… were described by Lee Dorrian, Rise Above Records owner, as breaking from the traditional doom metal style, with an unpolished and chaotic approach.
The thematic elements of the album draw from 1970s horror films, biker movies and the writings of H. P. Lovecraft; there are three songs about leaving Earth to avoid an impending environmental disaster. The album release was followed by a tour with the band Cathedral and positive reviews from heavy metal magazines Metal Hammer, Terrorizer and Kerrang!. Come My Fanatics… continued to receive praise in retrospective reviews, with Terrorizer declaring it "the wake-up that the UK doom scene needed" and Dorrian describing it as "the turning point of everything". (Full article...)
Musically, Kylie Minogue is a dance-pop album also containing elements of R&B and adult contemporary music. Lyrically, the album touches on themes of love, seduction and womanhood. Music critics praised the production and Minogue's vocals, while observing the start of a new phase in Minogue's career. The album peaked in the top five in the United Kingdom and Australia, alongside being certified gold in both countries. It attained top 40 positions in Switzerland, Sweden and Scotland. Minogue received three nominations at the ARIA Music Awards of 1995 for her work on Kylie Minogue, winning Best Video for "Put Yourself In My Place". (Full article...)
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Prior to the Fire is the second studio album by Canadian hard rock group Priestess. Recorded in Los Angeles with producer David Schiffman, the album was initially released on October 20, 2009, by Indica Records in Canada. By design, the album lacks the production values of the band's debut album, Hello Master, in order to achieve a more natural sound. As the band took more progressive rock influences and applied them to their songwriting, they changed their lyrical focus and wrote about themes considered to be more unusual for rock music, such as film and television characters, for this album.
The record is known for the difficulty Priestess encountered in trying to release it. The band's extensive touring schedule for their previous album Hello Master consumed much of the time they would have used to write new material, and after they began doing so, they had disputes with RCA Records, their international distributor at the time, as to whether the new songs were acceptable. After the completion of the recording sessions, which were themselves problematic, RCA ultimately refused to release the album, fearing it was not commercial enough, but allowed the group to release it on another label. Tee Pee Records signed the group thereafter and released the album internationally. Priestess were still signed to Indica Records, but only for Canadian distribution; the release on Indica was withheld until an international distributor was found. (Full article...)
The following are images from various record production-related articles on Wikipedia.
Image 1The TEAC 2340, a popular early (1973) home multitrack recorder, four tracks on ¼ inch tape (from Multitrack recording)
Image 2Digital audio interface for the Pro Tools computer-based hard disk multitrack recording system. Digital audio quality is measured in data resolution per channel. (from Multitrack recording)
Image 6Hip hop producer and rapper RZA in a music studio with two collaborators. Pictured in the foreground is a synthesizer keyboard and a number of vinyl records; both of these items are key tools that producers and DJs use to create hip hop beats. (from Hip-hop production)
Image 8The TASCAM 85 16B analog tape multitrack recorder can record 16 tracks of audio on 1-inch (2.54cm) magnetic tape. Professional analog units of 24 tracks on 2-inch tape were common, with specialty tape heads providing 8, or even 16 tracks on the same tape width (8 tracks for greater fidelity). (from Multitrack recording)
Image 9Mixing desk with twenty inputs and eight outputs (from Multitrack recording)
Featured lists have been determined by the Wikipedia community to be the best lists on English Wikipedia.
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Sam Hunt set a new record for the longest-running number-one country song when "Body Like a Back Road" spent 34 weeks atop the Hot Country Songs listing. Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay are charts that rank the top-performing country music songs in the United States, published by Billboard magazine. Hot Country Songs ranks songs based on digital downloads, streaming, and airplay not only from country stations but from stations of all formats, a methodology introduced in 2012. Country Airplay, which was published for the first time in 2012, is based solely on country radio airplay, a methodology which had previously been used for several decades for Hot Country Songs. In 2017, seven different songs topped the Hot Country Songs chart and 34 different songs topped Country Airplay in 52 issues of the magazine.
In the issue of Billboard dated February 25, singer Sam Hunt reached number one with the song "Body Like a Back Road", which would remain in the top spot through the issue dated October 14. In August, the song broke the record for the most weeks spent at number one on the Hot Country Songs listing, surpassing the 24 weeks spent in the top spot by Florida Georgia Line's "Cruise" in 2012 and 2013. Hunt's song was finally knocked from the top of the chart in the issue dated October 21 by "What Ifs" by Kane Brown featuring Lauren Alaina. Two months later, "Meant to Be" by Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line entered the Hot Country chart at number one, only the fourth time a song had debuted in the top position of the Hot Country Songs chart. The song would go on to break Hunt's record the following summer when it spent a 35th consecutive week at number one. On the Country Airplay chart, Dustin Lynch had the longest run at number one of 2017, spending four consecutive weeks at the top with "Small Town Boy". Lynch tied with Blake Shelton for the highest total number of weeks at number one on that chart, both artists spending five weeks in the top spot. Shelton took three different songs to number one, a feat also achieved by Thomas Rhett. No act achieved more than one chart-topper on the Hot Country Songs listing. (Full article...)
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With the issue of Billboard dated August 4, 2018, "Meant to Be" by Bebe Rexha(pictured) and Florida Georgia Line broke the record for the longest run at number one on the Hot Country Songs chart, having been in the top spot for 35 weeks. The song's run at number one ultimately extended to 50 weeks at the top. Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay are charts that rank the top-performing country music songs in the United States, published by Billboard magazine. Hot Country Songs ranks songs based on digital downloads, streaming, and airplay not only from country stations but from stations of all formats, a methodology introduced in 2012. Country Airplay, which was published for the first time in 2012, is based solely on country radio airplay, a methodology which had previously been used for several decades for Hot Country Songs. In 2018, three different songs topped the Hot Country Songs chart and 33 different songs topped Country Airplay.
The Country Airplay chart began the year with "Like I Loved You" by Brett Young holding the top position, while "Meant to Be" by Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line held the number one spot on Hot Country Songs, continuing a run that had begun on the chart dated December 16, 2017. When "Meant to Be" spent an eleventh week in the top spot in February, it overtook Taylor Swift's "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" as the longest-running number one song on the chart for a lead female artist. In August, the song spent a 35th consecutive week in the top spot and broke the record previously held by 2017's "Body Like a Back Road" by Sam Hunt for the most weeks at number one on the chart. "Meant to Be" ultimately held the top spot on the Hot Country Songs listing until the issue of Billboard dated November 24, 2018, when it was replaced at number one after 50 weeks by "Lose It" by Kane Brown. This was the second number one for Brown after "What Ifs", which had coincidentally ended Hunt's then-record run the previous year. The longest-tenured number one single on Country Airplay in 2018 was "She Got the Best of Me" by Luke Combs, with four weeks spent at the top. (Full article...)
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Ray Price was at number one on the first combined sales and airplay chart in October and remained in the top spot until the end of the year. At the start of 1958, Billboard magazine published two charts specifically covering the top-performing country music songs in the United States. The C&W Best Sellers in Stores chart ranked records based on their "current national selling importance at the retail level", based on a survey of record retailers "with a high volume of sales in country and western records". The Most Played C&W by Jockeys chart ranked songs based on the "number of plays on disk jockey radio shows" according to a weekly survey of "top disk jockey shows in all key markets". With effect from the October 20 issue of Billboard the magazine discontinued both charts and combined sales and airplay into one chart called Hot C&W Sides, which has been published continuously since that date, currently under the title Hot Country Songs. In 1990 it changed to being based solely on airplay from country music radio stations, before reverting to a combined sales and airplay chart in 2012 but utilizing airplay data from stations of all formats as well as digital sales and streaming.
The number one song on the Best Sellers chart in the first issue of 1958 was "Great Balls of Fire" by Jerry Lee Lewis, and the song at the top of the Jockeys chart was "The Story of My Life" by Marty Robbins; both songs replaced "My Special Angel" by Bobby Helms, which had topped both charts the week before. Eight different singles topped the Best Sellers chart, including two each by Johnny Cash, Don Gibson and the Everly Brothers. The longest unbroken run in the top spot was eight weeks, achieved by both of Cash's chart-toppers, "Ballad of a Teenage Queen" / "Big River" and "Guess Things Happen That Way" / "Come In, Stranger"; in each case the B-side of the single was listed jointly at number one for some or all of its time in the top spot under the methodology in use at the time. The sixteen weeks which Cash spent at number one was the most for any act. Gibson's "Oh Lonesome Me" also spent eight weeks at number one, but in two separate runs. The song gave Gibson his first number-one country song and he would go on to achieve his second later in the year with "Blue Blue Day". He remained popular in the 1960s, but did not return to the top of the country singles chart until 1972. (Full article...)
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Madonna had six number ones during the 1980s. The UK Singles Chart is the official record chart in the United Kingdom. Until 1983, it was compiled weekly by the British Market Research Bureau (BMRB) on behalf of the British record industry with a two-week break each Christmas. The BMRB used motorcycle couriers to collect the sales figures taken up to the close of trade on Saturday. This data was compiled on Monday and given to the BBC on Tuesday to be announced on BBC Radio 1 at lunchtime and later published in Music Week. On 4 January 1983, the chart was taken over by Gallup who expanded the chart from the Top 75 to the Top 100 and began the introduction of computerised tills which automated the data collection process. The chart was based entirely on sales of physical singles from retail outlets and announced on Tuesday until October 1987, when the Top 40 was revealed each Sunday, due to the new automated process.
During the 1980s there were a total of 191 singles which took the UK chart number 1 spot. In terms of number-one singles, Madonna was the most successful single act of the decade, as six of her singles reached the top spot. George Michael had significant involvement with eight number-one singles; with two number-one singles as a solo artist, four as a member of pop duo Wham!, one as a duet with Aretha Franklin and one as a member of charity supergroup Band Aid. The longest duration of a single at number one was nine weeks, achieved by Frankie Goes to Hollywood's "Two Tribes" in 1984. (Full article...)
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The Grammy Award for Best Traditional R&B Performance is an accolade presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally named the Gramophone Awards, to performers of quality traditional R&B vocal performances. The award was first given in 1999; until 2003, only albums were nominated, now just singles or tracks are. Honors in several categories are presented at the ceremony annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position." As of the 67th Annual Grammy Awards, the eligibility criteria for the category was amended to "more accurately represent recordings that embody the classical elements of R&B/soul music, distinguishing them from contemporary interpretations of the genre".
Between 1999 and 2002, this accolade was originally known as Best Traditional R&B Vocal Album. It was renamed in 2003 as Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance. Since 2012, the category has been known as Best Traditional R&B Performance. (Full article...)
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Willie Nelson (pictured in 2009) topped the chart both in his own right and in a duet with Waylon Jennings. Hot Country Songs is a chart that ranks the top-performing country music songs in the United States, published by Billboard magazine. In 1982, 48 different singles topped the chart, then published under the title Hot Country Singles, in 52 issues of the magazine, based on playlists submitted by country music radio stations and sales reports submitted by stores.
The band Alabama achieved the most number ones by a single act, topping the chart four times. Ronnie Milsap, T. G. Sheppard, Ricky Skaggs and Conway Twitty each had three number ones. Alabama, Twitty and Willie Nelson tied for the most weeks in the top spot with four each. Nelson's four weeks consisted of two weeks with "Always on My Mind" followed immediately by a further two with "Just to Satisfy You", a collaboration with Waylon Jennings. In October, Dolly Parton topped the chart with the double A-sided single "I Will Always Love You" / "Do I Ever Cross Your Mind". Both tracks were re-recordings of songs she had previously released in the 1970s, and the original recording of "I Will Always Love You" had reached number one in 1974, making Parton the first artist to top the chart with two different recordings of the same song. (Full article...)
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Randy Travis spent four weeks at number one in 1988. Hot Country Songs is a chart that ranks the top-performing country music songs in the United States, published by Billboard magazine. In 1988, 49 different songs topped the chart, then published under the title Hot Country Singles, in 53 issues of the magazine, based on playlists submitted by country music radio stations and sales reports submitted by stores.
Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay are charts that rank the top-performing country music songs in the United States, published by Billboard magazine. Hot Country Songs ranks songs based on digital downloads, streaming, and airplay not only from country stations but from stations of all formats, a methodology introduced in 2012. Country Airplay, which was published for the first time in 2012, is based solely on country radio airplay, a methodology which had previously been used for several decades for Hot Country Songs. In 2014, 13 different songs topped the Hot Country Songs chart and 35 different songs topped Country Airplay in 52 issues of the magazine.
Jason Aldean had the longest unbroken run at number one on the Hot Country Songs, spending 14 consecutive weeks in the top spot with "Burnin' It Down". Luke Bryan spent the most total weeks at number one during the year, however. His songs "Drink a Beer" and "Play It Again" totaled 14 weeks atop the chart and he spent a further 6 weeks in the top spot as a featured vocalist on Florida Georgia Line's chart-topper "This Is How We Roll" for a total of 20 weeks at number one. Bryan and Florida Georgia Line were the acts with the most number ones during 2014, as each act had two chart-toppers in addition to their collaboration on "This Is How We Roll". No other act had more than one number one during the year. Bryan also spent the most weeks at number one on the Country Airplay listing, but with a much smaller total of seven weeks. This figure included a run of four consecutive weeks with "Play It Again", which tied with Florida Georgia Line's "Stay" for the longest unbroken run at the top of the radio-based chart during 2014. Bryan and Florida Georgia Line were both associated with bro-country, an emerging subgenre which incorporated elements from hip hop music and emphasized lyrics about partying, drinking, and attractive young women. Blake Shelton had the most chart-toppers on the airplay listing, reaching the top spot with "Doin' What She Likes", "Neon Light" and "My Eyes". (Full article...)
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The Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals was an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality pop songs on which singers collaborate. Awards in several categories are distributed annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position."
The award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals was first presented to Al Green and Lyle Lovett at the 37th Grammy Awards (1995) for the song "Funny How Time Slips Away". According to the category description guide for the 52nd Grammy Awards, the award was presented to artists that performed "newly recorded collaborative pop performances" that "do not normally perform together." (Full article...)
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Trumpeter, bandleader and singer Louis Armstrong was an important innovator of early jazz. He introduced many contemporary popular songs to the jazz world that are now considered standards.Jazz standards are musical compositions that are widely known, performed and recorded by jazz artists as part of the genre's musical repertoire. This list includes compositions written in the 1920s that are considered standards by at least one major book publication or reference work. Some of the tunes listed were already well-known standards by the 1930s, while others were popularized later. The time of the most influential recordings of a song, where appropriate, is indicated on the list.
A period known as the "Jazz Age" started in the United States in the 1920s. Jazz had become popular music in the country, although older generations considered the music immoral and threatening to old cultural values. Dances such as the Charleston and the Black Bottom were very popular during the period, and jazz bands typically consisted of seven to twelve musicians. Important orchestras in New York were led by Fletcher Henderson, Paul Whiteman and Duke Ellington. Many New Orleans jazzmen had moved to Chicago during the late 1910s in search of employment; among others, the New Orleans Rhythm Kings, King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band and Jelly Roll Morton recorded in the city. However, Chicago's importance as a center of jazz music started to diminish toward the end of the 1920s in favor of New York. (Full article...)
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"Irreplaceable" is a song by American singer Beyoncé for her second studio album, B'Day (2006). The song was written by Shaffer "Ne-Yo" Smith, Tor Erik Hermansen, Mikkel S. Eriksen, Espen Lind, Amund Bjørklund, and Beyoncé; and produced by Stargate and Beyoncé. "Irreplaceable" was originally a country record; it was re-arranged as a mid-tempo ballad with pop and R&B influences by modifying the vocal arrangements and instrumentation. During the production and recording sessions, Beyoncé and Ne-Yo wanted to create a record which people of either gender could relate to. The song's lyrics are about the breakdown of a relationship with an unfaithful man and the song contains a message about female empowerment.
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The TEAC 2340, a popular early (1973) home multitrack recorder, four tracks on ¼ inch tape (from Multitrack recording)
Digital audio interface for the Pro Tools computer-based hard disk multitrack recording system. Digital audio quality is measured in data resolution per channel. (from Multitrack recording)
Korg D888 eight-track digital recorder (from Multitrack recording)
A selection of instruments at a music studio, including a grand piano (from Recording studio)
Hip hop producer and rapper RZA in a music studio with two collaborators. Pictured in the foreground is a synthesizer keyboard and a number of vinyl records; both of these items are key tools that producers and DJs use to create hip hop beats. (from Hip-hop production)
Danny Knicely records with Furnace Mountain Band in Virginia (2012) (from Recording studio)
The TASCAM 85 16B analog tape multitrack recorder can record 16 tracks of audio on 1-inch (2.54cm) magnetic tape. Professional analog units of 24 tracks on 2-inch tape were common, with specialty tape heads providing 8, or even 16 tracks on the same tape width (8 tracks for greater fidelity). (from Multitrack recording)
Mixing desk with twenty inputs and eight outputs (from Multitrack recording)
The studio at Ridge Radio in Caterham, England (from Recording studio)
Donna Summer wearing headphones during a recording session in 1977 (from Recording studio)
Engineers and producers watch a trumpet player from a window in the control room during a recording session. (from Recording studio)
Neve VR60, a multitrack mixing console. Above the console are a range of studio monitor speakers. (from Recording studio)
Home studio setup (from Recording studio)
Scully 280 eight-track recorder at the Stax Museum of American Soul Music (from Multitrack recording)
Control room at the Tec de Monterrey, Mexico City Campus (from Recording studio)
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