Benson Ibeabuchi/AFP via Getty Images
Holidays should be a time for children to relax both their bodies and their brains.
‘Joy to the World’ may be one of the most famous hymns, but the Yuletide season isn’t always cheery.
Ben Birchall/PA Images via Getty Images
Songs of the season – sacred and secular music alike – sometimes acknowledge that Christmas isn’t all joy.
Use of Spotify Wrapped has quadrupled since its inception in 2017.
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Spotify Wrapped bills itself as a playful musical year in review – but for its users, its omnipresence on social media can inspire more negative feelings.
What does something have to have to give us pleasure?
Kelly Sikkema / Unsplash
Why do we have such different and changing tastes? Why do we love what others hate, and vice versa? How is it possible to stop liking something we used to love, or vice versa?
Taylor Swift was accused of fatphobia over her ‘Anti-Hero’ music video.
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By only discussing fatphobia in the context of eating disorders, Taylor Swift illustrates how deeply individualized and depoliticized white feminism is.
Tik Tok earned USD $12 billion (£10.5 billion) in advertising revenue in 2022.
Daniel Constante
TikTok is shaping the music industry like never before, but with rumours that the app may soon launch its own streaming service, the stakes for creative freedom are high.
Stormzy performs during the 56th Montreux Jazz Festival.
Gabriel Monnet
Stormzy’s new album contains some deeply personal reflections on faith.
Hayley Williams of Paramore – one of the bands making a comeback in the ‘emo revival’ of 2022.
Paul Bergen
With tours from emo mainstays My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy and Paramore, this year has heralded new life for a genre fans thought had died out.
AAP Image/Supplied by Daniel Boud
Research shows we make better judgements about music when hearing and seeing it, and classical music was designed to be experienced live.
Bob Dylan performing with George Harrison in 1971.
AP
Critic Greil Marcus sees Bob Dylan as constantly rewriting the national songbook. And in his weird, funny new book, Dylan does just that.
dpa picture alliance/Alamy
The pianist and vocalist helped Fleetwood Mac weather the changes in the music world.
Spotify
Part of the fascination with end of year roundups is that they’re a stocktake of the year – but they also give insights into the way we listen to music that might surprise some people.
Maslow Entertainment
The documentary Kickin’ Down the Door offers something far more nuanced than the well-thumbed tale of these national music icons.
Clara Haskil in a photograph used in the documentary ‘Clara Haskil. Le mystère de l'interprète’.
Louise Productions
Charlie Chaplin once said: “I have known three geniuses in my life: Einstein, Churchill and Clara Haskil”. So why are only
English rock duo Nova Twins: Georgia South (left) and Amy Love (right).
Nova Twins Ltd
Black artists have been fundamental to the history of alternative music – the introduction of the Mobos’ alternative category mustn’t forget that.
The more often you expose yourself to loud noise, the greater your risk of hearing loss.
Melinda Nagy/ Shutterstock
Noise-induced hearing loss is permanent, which is why looking after your hearing while you’re young is so crucial.
Music influences our brain from an early age.
Alireza Attari/Unsplash
When we listen to music, our brain predicts what will happen next. This prediction then influences whether or not we enjoy a song.
Whether you’re 16 going on 17 or 79 going on 80, singing classics and new numbers virtually with a group brings joy.
(Shutterstock)
I’m happy again: A pandemic-induced move to virtual music theatre presents a paradigm shift for the genre, yet reveals surprising benefits in facilitating new access to music in community.
King David playing the lyre in a scene from a 15th-century manuscript of the Book of Psalms.
Historica Graphica Collection/Heritage Images/Hulton Archive via Getty Images
Gratitude and praise are not only some of the most common themes in Christian music, but also some of the oldest.
Literary devices abound in Taylor Swift’s body of work.
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Swift, like all writers, draws from her literary forebears to craft new works.