Artists
The songwriters behind the hooks you know by heart
"...Baby One More Time," "Livin' on a Prayer," "I Will Always Love You" — the most familiar choruses in pop were often written by people you never saw on stage.
Artists
Musicians covered through their work: how a record was made, what changed between albums, and the influences audible in the arrangements.
Artists
Why some artists make their best record late in a career
Johnny Cash at 62, Bob Dylan at 56, Leonard Cohen at 82 — the documented conditions behind late-career masterpieces, from producer matchmaking to mortality itself.
Artists
Artists without autotune: who really sounds like that live?
Pitch correction is everywhere, live and in the studio. Here is what it actually does, and why the debate around it says more about us than about the singers.
Artists
Artists who reinvented their sound mid-career — and what it cost
Bob Dylan going electric, Radiohead deleting their guitars, Fleetwood Mac moving to Los Angeles — documented reinventions that changed the records and, in some cases, the backlash.