Ted Gioia

The contemporary pop music world can sound mighty bland. Only a few of the musicians featured here are famous, but each has the potential to shake up the current scene.

Tunes for the unconscious are a hot music trend. But how do you assess songs you sleep through?

A couple of decades ago, the guitar still ruled in rock and pop, but now it’s in eclipse. These 14 albums reveal how guitar music is reinventing itself in the new millennium.

From Banksy to Daft Punk, innovators in the new millennium are increasingly hiding their identities behind aliases, masks, and avatars.

61 years after jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker died, a new album of hitherto unheard recordings is being released, and yet no one will say where they came from.

Within ten years, dead musicians will generate more revenues than live ones. Not only is this creepy—it does a real disservice to living musicians who need an audience.

Other artists in their seventies are going retro, but not Paul Simon, who sounds as creative as ever in his new album, ‘Stranger to Stranger.’

The music is hot again, but it’s happening outside of the traditional jazz economy and some jazz musicians are scornful when they should be jumping for joy.

Did any American popular vocalist of the 20th century possess so much talent, yet do so little with it?

Twitter desperately needs an overhaul, lest it become the next MySpace and Friendster. It could start by becoming friendlier to artists, musicians, and writers.