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)
The music of the Lesser Antilles encompasses the music of this chain of small islands making up the eastern and southern portion of the West Indies. Lesser Antillean music is part of the broader category of Caribbean music; much of the folk and popular music is also a part of the Afro-American musical complex, being a mixture of African, European and indigenous American elements. The Lesser Antilles' musical cultures are largely based on the music of African slaves brought by European traders and colonizers. The African musical elements are a hybrid of instruments and styles from numerous West African tribes, while the European slaveholders added their own musics into the mix, as did immigrants from India. In many ways, the Lesser Antilles can be musically divided based on which nation colonized them.
The former British colonies include Trinidad and Tobago, whose calypso style is an especially potent part of the music of the other former British colonies, which also share traditions like the Big Drum dance. The French islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe share the popular zouk style and have also had extensive musical contact with the music of Haiti, itself once a French colony though not part of the Lesser Antilles. The former Dutch colonies of Curaçao, Bonaire and Aruba share the combined rhythm popular style. The islands also share a passion for kaseko, a genre of Surinamese music; Suriname and its neighbors Guyana and French Guiana share folk and popular styles that are connected enough to the Antilles and other Caribbean islands that both countries are studied in the broader context of Antillean or Caribbean music. (Full article...)
Paul celebrating 30 Years of playing at Passim Club, Passim October 17, 2019
Ellis Paul (born Paul Plissey; January 14, 1965) is an American singer-songwriter and folk musician. Born in Presque Isle, Aroostook County, Maine, Paul is a key figure in what has become known as the Boston school of songwriting, a literate, provocative, and urbanely romantic folk-pop style that helped ignite the folk revival of the 1990s. His pop music songs have appeared in movies and on television, bridging the gap between the modern folk sound and the populist traditions of Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger.
Paul grew up in a small Maine town. He attended Boston College on a track scholarship, majoring in English. Injured during his junior year, Paul began playing guitar to help fill his free time and soon began writing songs. After graduating college Paul played at open mic nights in the Boston area while working with inner-city school children. He won a Boston Acoustic Underground songwriter competition and gained national exposure on a Windham Hill Records compilation which helped him choose music as a career. (Full article...)
Blonde on Blonde is the seventh studio album by the American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released as a double album on June 20, 1966, by Columbia Records. Recording sessions began in New York in October 1965 with numerous backing musicians, including members of Dylan's live backing band, the Hawks. Though sessions continued until January 1966, they yielded only one track that made it onto the final album—"One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)". At producer Bob Johnston's suggestion, Dylan, keyboardist Al Kooper, and guitarist Robbie Robertson moved to the CBS studios in Nashville, Tennessee. These sessions, augmented by some of Nashville's top session musicians, were more fruitful, and in February and March all the remaining songs for the album were recorded.
Blonde on Blonde completed a trilogy of Dylan rock albums that began with 1965's Bringing It All Back Home and Highway 61 Revisited. Critics often rank Blonde on Blonde as one of the greatest albums of all time. Combining the expertise of Nashville session musicians with a modernist literary sensibility, the album's songs have been described as operating on a grand scale musically, while featuring lyrics one critic called "a unique mixture of the visionary and the colloquial". It was one of the first double albums in rock music. (Full article...)
"Angel of Death" led to accusations of Nazi sympathizing and racism against the band, which they vigorously denied but which followed them throughout their early career. Despite the controversy and the resulting delay in the release of Reign in Blood, the song remained a live favorite, and has appeared on all of Slayer's live albums. (Full article...)
When You Get a Little Lonely is the only solo studio album by American actress and singer Maureen McCormick. It was released on April 4, 1995, through the label Phantom Hill. After playing Marcia Brady in the sitcomThe Brady Bunch, she was offered a solo record deal in the mid-1970s but rejected the offer to attend school. McCormick had previously recorded four albums as part of The Brady Bunch and a duet album with her co-star Christopher Knight. In 1994, she signed with her brother's record label, Phantom Hill, and recorded When You Get a Little Lonely in Nashville, Tennessee and Hollywood, California. Barry Coffing was the executive producer and arranged and produced all the songs. McCormick wanted to fuse genres into the album's overall country sound.
The album received mainly negative reviews; some reviewers were critical of McCormick's choice to record country music. She promoted it through live performances and CD signings. Its title track and "Tell Mama" were released as singles. When You Get a Little Lonely was re-released in 2008 as a Circuit City exclusive. Since the album's release, McCormick has continued to perform country music and has participated in the reality television show Gone Country. In a 2008 interview, McCormick said she was disappointed by restrictions to the recording process and wished she had written at least one song for it. (Full article...)
Gabriel Urbain Fauré (12 May 1845 – 4 November 1924) was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th-century composers. Among his best-known works are his Pavane, Requiem, Sicilienne, nocturnes for piano and the songs "Après un rêve" and "Clair de lune". Although his best-known and most accessible compositions are generally his earlier ones, Fauré composed many of his most highly regarded works in his later years, in a more harmonically and melodically complex style.
Fauré was born into a cultured but not especially musical family. His talent became clear when he was a young boy. At the age of nine, he was sent to the École Niedermeyer music college in Paris, where he was trained to be a church organist and choirmaster. Among his teachers was Camille Saint-Saëns, who became a lifelong friend. After graduating from the college in 1865, Fauré earned a modest living as an organist and teacher, leaving him little time for composition. When he became successful in his middle age, holding the important posts of organist of the Église de la Madeleine and director of the Paris Conservatoire, he still lacked time for composing; he retreated to the countryside in the summer holidays to concentrate on composition. By his last years, he was recognised in France as the leading French composer of his day. An unprecedented national musical tribute was held for him in Paris in 1922, headed by the president of the French Republic. Outside France, Fauré's music took decades to become widely accepted, except in Britain, where he had many admirers during his lifetime. (Full article...)
The Sex Pistols are an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they became culturally influential in popular music. The band initiated the punk movement in the United Kingdom, with their clothes and hairstyles becoming a significant influence on the punk subculture and fashion.
The Sex Pistols' first line-up consisted of vocalist Johnny Rotten (byname of John Lydon), guitarist Steve Jones, drummer Paul Cook, and bassist Glen Matlock, with Matlock replaced by Sid Vicious in early 1977. Under the management of Malcolm McLaren, the band gained widespread attention from British press after swearing live on-air during a December 1976 television interview. Their performances at Manchester's Lesser Free Trade Hall inspired several successful bands to form and influenced the development of England's independent music scene. (Full article...)
A Momentary Lapse of Reason was the first Pink Floyd album recorded without founding member Roger Waters, who departed in 1985. The production was marred by legal fights with Waters over the rights to the Pink Floyd name, which were not resolved until several months after release. It also saw the return of Richard Wright, the group's keyboardist who had been fired by Waters during the recording of The Wall (1979). Wright returned as a session player. (Full article...)
Bedřich Smetana (2 March 1824 – 12 May 1884) was a Czech composer who pioneered the development of a musical style that became closely identified with his people's aspirations to a cultural and political "revival". He has been regarded in his homeland as the father of Czech music. Internationally he is best known for his 1866 opera The Bartered Bride and for the symphonic cycle Má vlast ("My Fatherland"), which portrays the history, legends and landscape of the composer's native Bohemia. It contains the famous symphonic poem "Vltava", also popularly known by its German name "Die Moldau" (in English, "The Moldau").
Smetana was naturally gifted as a composer, and gave his first public performance at the age of six. After conventional schooling, he studied music under Josef Proksch in Prague. His first nationalistic music was written during the 1848 Prague uprising, in which he briefly participated. After failing to establish his career in Prague, he left for Sweden, where he set up as a teacher and choirmaster in Gothenburg, and began to write large-scale orchestral works. (Full article...)
Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. One of the key bands in the grunge movement of the early 1990s, Pearl Jam has outsold and outlasted many of its contemporaries and is considered one of the most influential bands from that decade.
Love. Angel. Music. Baby. is the debut solo studio album by American singer Gwen Stefani, released on November 12, 2004, by Interscope Records. Stefani, who had previously released five studio albums as lead singer of the rock band No Doubt, began recording solo material in early 2003. She began working on Love. Angel. Music. Baby. as a side project that would become a full album after No Doubt went on hiatus. Stefani co-wrote every song on the album, collaborating with various songwriters and producers including André 3000, Dallas Austin, Dr. Dre, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, the Neptunes and Linda Perry. The album also features guest appearances by Eve and André 3000.
Designed to sound like a 1980s dance record, Love. Angel. Music. Baby. was influenced by artists and bands such as the Cure, Lisa Lisa, New Order, Prince, Depeche Mode and Madonna. The album incorporates a diverse range of genres, including electropop, dance-rock, new wave, and soul, while lyrically, it explores themes of fashion, wealth and relationships. Promotion of the album included the release of six commercially successful singles and the North American Harajuku Lovers Tour. While promoting, Stefani was often accompanied by backup dancers called the Harajuku Girls. (Full article...)
Aries is the ninth studio album by Mexican recording artist Luis Miguel. It was released by WEA Latina on 22 June 1993. After attaining commercial success in 1991 with his previous album, Romance, Luis Miguel decided to return to a style similar to his earlier work, featuring pop ballads and dance numbers with R&B influences. The record was produced by Miguel, who was assisted by Kiko Cibrian, Rudy Pérez, David Foster, and Juan Luis Guerra.
Three singles were released to promote the album. The first two singles, "Ayer" and "Hasta Que Me Olvides," topped the US Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart and the third, "Suave," peaked at number nine. Two other songs were released as promotional singles, "Hasta el Fin" and "Tú y Yo"; both peaked at number four on the Hot Latin Songs chart. To further promote the record, Luis Miguel launched the 1993 Aries Tour to some Latin American countries and the United States. (Full article...)
... that voice actress Rika Hayashi brought a golf club to the recording studio for Tonbo!, a golf-themed anime series?
... that according to Billboard magazine, Laufey created a blueprint for jazz music in the modern music industry and helped push it back into the mainstream?
Shelly Manne (Record production, 1920–September 26, 1984), (born Sheldon Manne) American bandleader and drummer, would have turned 106 this year.
Hazel Scott (Record production, 1920–October 02, 1981), Trinidad pianist and vocalist, would have turned 106 this year.
Pinetop Smith (Record production, 1904–March 15, 1929), American pianist and vocalist, would have turned 122 this year.
Kaiser Marshall (Record production, 1899–January 03, 1948), American drummer, would have turned 127 this year.
Alexandre Tansman (Record production, 1897–November 15, 1986), (born Aleksander Tansman) Polish-born French composer and virtuoso pianist (Some sources quote birthday date June 12), would have turned 129 this year.
Channel Orange (occasionally stylized as channel ORANGE) is the debut studio album by the American R&B singer-songwriter Frank Ocean. It was released on July 10, 2012, by Def Jam Recordings. After releasing his mixtape Nostalgia, Ultra the previous year, Ocean began writing new songs with Malay, a producer and songwriter who then assisted him with recording Channel Orange at EastWest Studios in Hollywood. Rather than rely on samples as he had with his mixtape, Ocean wanted to approach sound and song structure differently on the album. Other producers who worked on the album included Om'Mas Keith and Pharrell Williams. Its recording also featured guest appearances from Odd Future rappers Earl Sweatshirt and Tyler, the Creator, vocalist/songwriter André 3000, and guitarist John Mayer.
Noted by writers as musically unconventional, Channel Orange draws on electro-funk, pop-soul, jazz-funk, and psychedelic styles, as well as nonmusical sounds such as film dialogue and ambient noise that function as interludes. Vocally, Ocean uses a free-form flow as well as alternating falsetto and tenor registers throughout the album. His songwriting explores themes of unrequited love, decadence, social class, and drugs through the use of surrealistic imagery, conversational devices, and descriptive narratives depicting dark characters. He titled the album as a reference to the neurological phenomenon grapheme–color synesthesia, through which he had perceived the color orange during the summer he first fell in love. (Full article...)
Move is the tenth studio album by the Christian rock band Third Day. Released on October 19, 2010, the album was the band's first after guitarist Brad Avery left Third Day. The band wanted the album to be a departure from the modern rock stylings of Revelation (2008), intending to show more of their southern rock roots. Third Day chose to work with producer Paul Moak on the album and recorded it at their own studio, feeling it offered them more creative freedom. Primarily a southern rock album, Move also has significant influence from gospel music.
Move received positive reviews from music critics, many of whom praised the album's southern rock sound. It was nominated for multiple awards at the 42nd GMA Dove Awards, winning in the Recorded Music Packaging of the Year category. It sold 37,000 copies in its first week of release, debuting at number nine on the Billboard 200, number one on the BillboardChristian Albums chart, and number three on the BillboardRock Albums chart. In the United States, it ranked as the twenty-third bestselling Christian Album of 2010 and the fifth bestselling Christian Album of 2011. The album's four singles met with varying success at Christian radio, all of them appearing on the BillboardChristian Songs chart. Move has been certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), signifying shipments of over 500,000 copies. (Full article...)
A.M. is the debut studio album by the American rock band Wilco, released on March 28, 1995, by Sire Records and Reprise Records. The album was released only months after the breakup of Uncle Tupelo, an alternative country band that was the predecessor of Wilco. Prior to its release, there was debate about whether the album would be better than the debut album of Son Volt, the new band of former Uncle Tupelo lead singer Jay Farrar.
Although A.M. was released before Son Volt's Trace, critical reviews were modest and initial sales were low. The album was later regarded as a "failure" by band members, as Trace was a greater success. It was the band's last album to be recorded in a purely alternative country style, as following the record the band began to expand their sound across multiple genres. It is also the only Wilco album to feature Brian Henneman of The Bottle Rockets as a lead guitarist. (Full article...)
Slow Life is an EP by the Welsh alternative rock band Super Furry Animals, released in 2004. The EP was made available as a free download and also saw a limited CD release, bundled with remix album Phantom Phorce. Lead track "Slow Life" appeared on the 2003 album Phantom Power and was originally composed as a purely electronic song by keyboardistCian Ciaran several years earlier. The band were keen to finish the track and Ciaran encouraged them to jam over his original version—this jam was then edited and made into the finished song. The track "Motherfokker" is a collaboration between the Super Furry Animals and rap group Goldie Lookin Chain.
The EP received mixed reviews although "Slow Life" itself was singled out for praise by many critics. A music video was made to accompany the track directed by Dylan Jones and Paps O'Maoileoain. The Super Furries appeared in the 2004 film 9 Songs playing "Slow Life" live during a scene in which one of the characters attends a gig by the band at the Brixton Academy. (Full article...)
Omen is the fourth studio album by the Norwegian Christianextreme metal band Antestor, released by Bombworks Records on November 16, 2012. Recording began in 2011, and was mostly conducted at the home of vocalist Ronny Hansen. The album cover is a painting by Polish artist Zdzisław Beksiński, and depicts a deformed, many-fingered humanoid creature playing a trumpet. Antestor met with critical praise for its musicianship and the progressive sound on the recording. Critics described the sound as primarily black metal, though the band prefers the more general term "extreme metal" to describe the sound on Omen.
To promote the album, the band went on tour in Brazil in January 2013, but encountered difficulties. The venue at Belém was cancelled due to a banking error, and while at Belo Horizonte Antestor was stormed by violent protestors antagonistic to the Christian beliefs of the band members, and police had to usher the band to safety. Despite these setbacks, Antestor considered the tour a success, and wished no ill will on its attackers. On February 18, 2013, a music video was released for the song "Unchained". (Full article...)
Where You Go I Go Too is the first studio album by Norwegian electronica artist Hans-Peter Lindstrøm. It was first released in the United Kingdom on 18 August 2008 and was subsequently released the next day in the United States. The album comprises three tracks, roughly 30, 10, and 15 minutes in length. Where You Go I Go Too is usually labeled "space disco" due to its "spacey, psychedelic" feel and four-to-the-floor beats.
Production of the album followed the 2006 release of It's a Feedelity Affair, a compilation of singles. Lindstrøm had become dissatisfied with simply producing remixes and average length songs, which led to experimentation with lengthy tracks. The album received positive reviews from critics, who praised its slick production values and epic scope. At the 2009 Spellemannprisen award ceremony in Norway, the record won the award for "best electronica album". (Full article...)
The first popular rock bootleg, Bob Dylan's Great White Wonder, released in July 1969 A bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance not officially released by the artist or any other legal authority. Making and distributing such recordings is known as bootlegging. Recordings may be copied and traded among fans without financial exchange, but some bootleggers have sold recordings for profit, sometimes by adding professional-quality sound engineering and packaging to the raw material. Bootlegs usually consist of unreleased studio recordings, live performances or interviews without the quality control of official releases.
Bootlegs reached new popularity with Bob Dylan's Great White Wonder, a compilation of studio outtakes and demos released in 1969 using low-priority pressing plants. The following year, the Rolling Stones' Live'r Than You'll Ever Be, an audience recording of a late 1969 show, received a positive review in Rolling Stone. Subsequent bootlegs became more sophisticated in packaging, particularly the Trademark of Quality label with William Stout's cover artwork. Compact disc bootlegs first appeared in the 1980s, and Internet distribution became increasingly popular in the 1990s. (Full article...)
Off the Deep End is the seventh studio album by the American parody musician "Weird Al" Yankovic, released in 1992. This album was the first album self-produced by Yankovic, after six albums with Rick Derringer. Recorded between June 1990 and January 1992, the album was a follow-up to the unsuccessful soundtrack to Yankovic's 1989 film UHF. Off the Deep End and its lead single "Smells Like Nirvana" helped to revitalize Yankovic's career after a lull following his last hit single, "Fat", in 1988.
The musical styles on Off the Deep End are built around parodies and pastiches of pop and rock music of the late 1980s and early 1990s, including the newly arisen grunge movement. Half of the album is made up of parodies of Nirvana, MC Hammer, New Kids on the Block, Gerardo, and Milli Vanilli. The other half of the album is original material, featuring many "style parodies", or musical imitations of existing artists. These style parodies include imitations of specific artists like the Beach Boys, James Taylor and Jan and Dean. (Full article...)
The North Stands for Nothing is the third EP by English metalcore band While She Sleeps. The band recorded the album in a home studio between January and April 2010. It was released by Small Town Records on 26 July 2010, before later being released as a deluxe edition by Good Fight Music, featuring the single "Be(lie)ve" as a bonus track. The EP was produced by Mat Welsh, the band's rhythm guitarist. It received generally favourable reviews, with Big Cheese reviewer Lais Martins Waring championing the band as "very promising". Coupled with their extensive touring following its release, the album contributed to a significant increase in the band's popularity. (Full article...)
Slipknot is the debut studio album by the American heavy metal band Slipknot. It was released on June 29, 1999, by Roadrunner Records, following a demo containing a few of the songs which had previously been released in 1998. Later, it was reissued in December 1999 with a slightly-altered track listing and mastering as the result of a lawsuit. It was the first release by the band to be produced by Ross Robinson, who sought to refine Slipknot's sound rather than alter the group's musical direction. This is the only album to feature original guitarist Josh Brainard who left at the end of recording in late 1998 while the band was taking a brief break. Jim Root, who recorded one track at this point, would appear full time on subsequent albums starting with their next album Iowa.
The album spans several genres, but is generally noted for its extensive percussion and overall heavy sound. It was well received by fans and critics alike and was responsible for bringing Slipknot a large increase in popularity. The album peaked at number 51 on the Billboard 200, and has gone on to become certified triple platinum in the United States by the RIAA, making it the band's best-selling album. (Full article...)
Lights and Sounds is the fifth studio album by American rock band Yellowcard, released on January 24, 2006, in the United States through Capitol Records. Lights and Sounds is Yellowcard's first concept album, which was inspired to reflect what the band was feeling at the time of production and how they have matured in the process. Lights and Sounds also departs from the sounds on Yellowcard's previous album, Ocean Avenue (2003), scaling back much of the band's pop-punk sound in favor of a sound more generally characteristic of alternative rock.
Lights and Sounds debuted to mixed reviews from contemporary music critics, receiving criticism as the album fell short from the standard set by its predecessor, Ocean Avenue. Upon the album's release, it charted at number five on Billboard's 200 and Top Internet Albums' charts, making it the band's highest charting album to date. The album accumulated sales of just over 315,000 copies, which failed to match the 2 million sales of their previous album. Yellowcard went on to explain that the disappointment of the sales were due to their going "a bit too far" with the expectations they had thought the album would exceed. Lights and Sounds was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). (Full article...)
Image 4The 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 5Hip-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 9Digital 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)
Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1963 "I Have a Dream" speech was one of 50 recordings preserved in 2002, the first year of existence of the United States National Recording Registry. The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, and inform or reflect life in the United States". The registry was established by the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000, which created the National Recording Preservation Board, whose members are appointed by the librarian of Congress. The recordings preserved in the United States National Recording Registry form a registry of recordings selected yearly by the National Recording Preservation Board for preservation in the Library of Congress.
The National Recording Preservation Act of 2000 established a national program to guard America's sound recording heritage. The Act created the National Recording Registry, the National Recording Preservation Board, and a fundraising foundation. The purpose of the Registry is to maintain and preserve sound recordings and collections of sound recordings that are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant. In 2002, the National Recording Preservation Board selected recordings nominated each year to be preserved. On January 27, 2003, the first 50 recordings were announced by James Billington, the librarian of Congress. (Full article...)
Singer Elvis Presley sitting on a motorcycleThe early recordings of "King of Rock and Roll" Elvis Presley were successful on the country charts, and he achieved four number ones on the best sellers chart in 1956. In 1956, Billboard magazine published three charts covering the best-performing country music songs in the United States. At the start of the year, the charts were published under the titles Most Played in Juke Boxes, Best Sellers in Stores, and Most Played By Jockeys, with the genre denoted in an overall page heading. With effect from the issue of Billboard dated June 30, the genre was added to the specific titles of the charts, which were thus published as Most Played C&W in Juke Boxes, C&W Best Sellers in Stores, and Most Played C&W By Jockeys, the C&W standing for "country and western". All three charts are considered part of the lineage of the current Hot Country Songs chart, which was first published in 1958.
The number-one positions on both the juke box and best sellers charts were dominated in 1956 by Elvis Presley, who spent a total of 26 weeks in the top spot on the best sellers listing and 28 weeks (including one tied with another single) atop the juke box chart with four different singles. Presley achieved the first country chart-topper of his career in February when he reached the number one spot on the best sellers chart with "I Forgot to Remember to Forget"; its B-side, "Mystery Train" was listed jointly at number one for the first week of the run only. The release was the final single which he recorded for Sun Records, the label for which he had honed his early rockabilly style. After he signed for new label RCA Victor, his recordings began to show more of a pop music influence, but for a time continued to appear on the country charts, and one week after "I Forgot to Remember to Forget" was replaced at number one, Presley regained the top spot with the two-sided success "Heartbreak Hotel" / "I Was the One", which remained atop the listing for 17 consecutive weeks. He would go on to be regarded as the most successful and influential recording artist of all time and feted as the "King of Rock and Roll". (Full article...)
A bearded young man smiling broadly and playing a guitarThomas Rhett topped both charts throughout the month of January. 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 2016, nine different songs topped the Hot Country Songs chart and 40 different songs topped Country Airplay in 52 issues of the magazine.
In the first issue of Billboard of the new year, Thomas Rhett was at number one on both charts with "Die a Happy Man". On Hot Country Songs, the song would continue to hold the top spot through the issue of Billboard dated March 19, finishing with a total of 17 weeks at number one. The song spent six consecutive weeks atop Country Airplay, twice as long as any other song in 2016. Additionally, it was the longest run at number one on Billboard's airplay-based country chart since 2008. The longest run at number one on the Hot Country Songs during the year was 18 weeks, achieved by the song "H.O.L.Y." by Florida Georgia Line. This figure was also the highest total number of weeks spent in the top spot by any act, as no act achieved more than one chart-topper during the year. On the airplay listing, ten acts reached the top spot with more than one song; Luke Bryan and Florida Georgia Line each achieved three number ones during the year. Rhett's total of seven weeks at number one was the highest for any act. (Full article...)
Donovan never had a number-one single or number-one album in his native UK; however, his The Universal Soldier EP spent eight weeks at the top of the EP chart.
In the 1950s and 1960s, a "third vinyl format" was introduced alongside long-playing (LP) albums, and singles. The extended play (EP) used the same formats as singles but contained more tracks. Singles were the popular record format at the time – predominantly 10-inch 78 rpm and 7-inch 45 rpm formats – and the first singles chart was published by the New Musical Express in 1952, with many other publications also producing singles charts in the 1950s and 1960s. Record Mirror published the first album chart in 1956, and when Record Retailer began compiling an LP chart on 12 March 1960, they also compiled an EP chart. The EP chart consisted of a top ten, and was expanded to fifteen positions the following week, and twenty the week after that.
EPs "died out in the late 1960s", and Record Retailer reduced the chart to ten positions on 16 April 1966, publishing the final EP chart on 16 December 1967. For six weeks in 1966 and two weeks in December 1967, Record Retailer did not publish EP charts, but they were compiled, and Record Mirror published them; Record Mirror had begun publishing charts compiled by Record Retailer in March 1962, following a decision to stop compiling their own albums and singles charts. (Full article...)
Westlife had 11 No. 1 singles between 2000 and 2009, including a cover of Phil Collins' "Against All Odds", which they released as a duet with Mariah Carey in 2000 The UK singles chart is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC) on behalf of the British record industry. In the 2000s, the chart week ran from Sunday to Saturday, and the top 40 singles were revealed each Sunday on BBC Radio 1. At the start of the decade, before the advent of legal music downloads, it was based entirely on sales of physical singles from retail outlets, but in 2005 permanent downloads began to be included in the chart compilation.
During the 2000s, 274 singles reached the No. 1 position on the chart, the most of any decade so far. Over this period, Westlife were the most successful group and music act at reaching the top spot, with 11 No. 1 singles. Rihanna and Jay-Z's song "Umbrella" spent 10 weeks at No. 1 in 2007, the longest spell at the top of the charts since Wet Wet Wet's 1994 hit "Love Is All Around", which topped the charts for 15 weeks. The Internet allowed music to be heard by vast numbers of people on social networking sites such as YouTube and Myspace; it also increased piracy. This and the introduction of the UK Singles Downloads Chart in 2004 led to a decrease in record sales and a reduction in the number of copies sold of a No. 1 record on the singles chart. Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" became the first song to reach the top of the charts based on downloads alone in 2006, remaining at No. 1 for nine consecutive weeks. (Full article...)
The chart was founded in September 2004 as the UK Official Download Chart, with the first single to top the chart being a live version of "Flying Without Wings" by Irish boy band Westlife. By the end of the decade, 109 further singles had topped the chart. The most downloaded single of the 2000s was "Poker Face" by Lady Gaga. Released in 2009, the song was downloaded 779,000 times, and topped the chart for three weeks. "Just Dance", also by Gaga, and "Sex on Fire" by Kings of Leon were the third and second highest selling downloads of the decade respectively. The single that spent the longest time at number one was "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley, which spent 11 weeks at the top and became the UK's 18th best-selling download of the 2000s. (Full article...)
At the start of the year the number one was "Our Song" by Taylor Swift, which had risen to the top in the issue dated December 22, 2007. It remained at the top of the chart until the issue dated February 2, when it was replaced by "Letter to Me" by Brad Paisley. Both Swift and Paisley had three songs at number one in 2008. Paisley reached the top with "Letter to Me", "I'm Still a Guy" and "Waitin' on a Woman" and Swift with "Our Song", "Should've Said No" and "Love Story". Carrie Underwood also had three chart-toppers in 2008 with "All-American Girl", "Last Name" and "Just a Dream". Paisley and Swift tied for the most weeks at number one by an artist in the year, each spending eight weeks at the top. The last number one of the year was "Roll with Me", the final number one single by Montgomery Gentry. (Full article...)
At the start of the year, the number one song on the chart was "You're Easy on the Eyes" by Terri Clark, one of seven female vocalists to top the chart during the year; during the late 1990s, female performers achieved a level of success on the country charts greater than they did in the first half of the decade or would in the next decade. Two female vocalists achieved the first number one singles of their careers in 1999: Sara Evans with "No Place That Far" in March and Chely Wright with "Single White Female" in September, as did Mark Wills in May with "Wish You Were Here" and Brad Paisley with "He Didn't Have to Be" in December. Jo Dee Messina topped the chart in January with "Stand Beside Me", the third number one song taken from her album I'm Alright and became the first female vocalist to have multi-week runs at number one with three consecutive singles from one album since Billboard began tracking country albums in 1964. (Full article...)
Singers Blake Shelton and Gwen StefaniCountry star Blake Shelton (second left) and his partner, pop/rock singer Gwen Stefani (right), collaborated on two Country Airplay number ones in 2020. 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 began being published in 2012, is based solely on country radio airplay, a methodology that had previously been used from 1990 to 2012 for Hot Country Songs. In 2020, 13 different songs topped the Hot Country Songs chart and 39 different songs topped Country Airplay in 52 issues of the magazine.
Both charts began the year with songs at number one that had been in the top spot in the last chart of 2019; "10,000 Hours" by Dan + Shay and Justin Bieber holding the top spot on the Hot Country Songs chart, and "Even Though I'm Leaving" by Luke Combs atop the Country Airplay chart. Having spent the last 11 weeks of 2019 at number one on Hot Country Songs, "10,000 Hours" went on to spend its 15th consecutive week in the top spot in the issue of Billboard dated January 25, and in the same week topped the Country Airplay listing for the first time. The song remained at number one on Hot Country Songs until March 14, when it was displaced by "The Bones" by Maren Morris. It was the first number one on the chart for Morris and made her the first female artist to top the chart without an accompanying male act since Kelsea Ballerini with "Peter Pan" in September 2016. In May, "The Bones" spent its 11th week at number one on Hot Country Songs, surpassing Taylor Swift's "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" as the longest-lasting number one by a solo female artist on that chart. The song ultimately spent 19 weeks at number one. (Full article...)
Rapper Eminem's "Lose Yourself" was the longest-running number-one single released in 2002.
The Billboard Hot 100 is a chart that ranks the best-performing singles of the United States. Published by Billboard magazine, the data are compiled by Nielsen SoundScan based collectively on each single's weekly physical sales and airplay. In 2002, there were seven singles that topped the chart, the lowest number of singles to top the chart in a single year ever (if the two songs which peaked in 2001 are included, 2002 would have the second lowest number of chart-topping singles in a year, behind 2005). Although nine singles reached number one in fifty-two issues of the magazine in the calendar year, two songs began their peak position in 2001 and are thus excluded.
In 2002, five acts earned their first U.S. number one single, either as a lead artist or featured guest. These artists were Ashanti, Nelly, Kelly Clarkson, and Eminem. Kelly Rowland, despite having hit number one with Destiny's Child, also earns her first number one song as a solo act. In 2002, Ja Rule, Ashanti, and Nelly had two number-one singles in the Billboard Hot 100. (Full article...)
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