How do you get to Nashville's famed Bluebird Cafe, the launchpad of dozens of country music's biggest stars? If you're Bob Garfield - and you’re trying to make it big in country music in less than 36 hours - "practice, practice" is not an option. Luckily, Bob has chutzpah and ...

Instrumental rock ‘n’ roll - the genre that once made many a beach party spectacular in the ‘50s and ‘60s - today is relegated to a few artists that hope to succeed despite having no chance of cracking the top 40 radio scene. Luckily, OTM has a correspondent who specializes ...

The songs are familiar, the lyrics the same, but we guarantee you’ve never heard versions quite like this. A group of fair-use artists have created songs using the spoken pronunciation guides of words in online dictionaries. The result is an entertaining blend of computerized music and monotone singing. Bob talks ...

Record companies have a long and sordid history of paying off radio stations to get DJs to spin their tunes. Public radio stations have traditionally steered clear of such deals. But with noncommercial radio making more and more unknown artists into stars, the record industry has come knocking, cash in ...

A pop song’s got to have a hook if it expects to get some serious radio play. So stations are now researching these hooks by having listeners rate 10-second samples of potential hits. Are the listeners being served when statistics, not disc jockeys, choose what's played and when?

Yes, the French-Canadian diva’s latest CD has built-in copyright protection software that won’t allow you to copy-or even listen to-her love ballads on your PC. And if a bill in Congress gets enough votes, consumers won’t be able to copy any new CDs they buy. Brooke talks to NPR Cultural ...

America’s largest radio broadcast company has been accused of muscling the music and radio businesses for some time. Clear Channel’s hardball business practices have finally gotten the attention of Washington regulators and legislators, but can the beltway get the bully of the radio industry to back down? Bob talks to ...

Over the last two decades, hip-hop music has moved from underground to over-ground, becoming one of the most popular music genres in America. The mainstreaming of hip-hop has created not only a new cultural aesthetic, but a new advertising market as well. Brooke investigates the allure of urban culture.

During some time away from Harvard University, famed African American Studies Professor Cornel West cut a hip-hop album. His boss, President Lawrence Summers, dubbed West’s behavior “unbecoming of a Harvard professor.” Brooke and Bob discuss the implications of an academic spat.

Years ago the making of music videos was a million-dollar industry. But as James Surowiecki explains, with MTV opting for more traditional programming, videos are becoming less important. Apparently though, no one thought to tell that to the recording artists: spending a pot-load of their advance on the best director ...

OTM loves the theme music to TV news shows. That’s why, when we heard that CNN is debuting an updated version of its long-running news program, CNN Headline News, complete with celebrity hosts and slicker graphics, we couldn’t resist getting a sneak peak of the new theme song. Bob sits ...

Adolescence was far from awkward for this cable TV outlet. On its 20th anniversary, MTV has not only survived its teenage years, but influenced a generation of filmmakers, broadcasting and advertising executives, not to mention more than one generation of teenagers. Bob talks to New York Times pop music critic ...

VH-1’s “Behind the Music” perfected and popularized the classic tale of the rise and fall of the rock-star. But what happens when the band defies the formula? Brooke talks to New York Times pop music writer Neil Strauss who, along with members of the heavy metal band Motley Crue, wrote ...

Back in 1970 an English farmer decided it would be nice to invite some hippies round to listen to some free music in his fields. By the year 2000 over 100,000 people were camping out to listen to bands like Macy Gray, Oasis and Elvis Costello. This year though, technology ...

The 45 was once the dominant musical medium. From Elvis, to the Beatles, to the Supremes, that round little disc with the big hole in the middle defined the early rock 'n pop era. New technologies have since swept the single aside, but there are some die-hards who refuse to ...

It's hard for a major corporate music company to generate much sympathy. But even these multi-national behemoths have challenges, most notably, reining in the powerful independent promoters that govern radio airplay. But with "Bootylicious", the newest single from Destiny's Child, one record label is trying to change that tune. Brooke ...

Over the last two decades hip hop music has moved from underground to over ground, becoming one of the most popular music genres in America, second only to rock. The mainstreaming of hip hop has created not only an new cultural aesthetic, but a new advertising market. Brooke investigates the ...

If this weekend’s Oscar nominees for best song are any indication, movie music has become less about the movie, more about radio airplay, and definitely about big business. Brooke takes a look at how the “best song” has evolved from a Tin Pan Alley classic to a pop star hit.

Movie musicals used to win both at the box office and at the Oscars, but now they are rarely even seen on the silver screen. Where has the traditional American movie musical gone? Its relocated to the small screen. On The Media’s Tony Maciulis has the story.

The big-time rapper Marshall Mathers, known as Eminem, is up for four awards at the Grammys next week. The superstar has enraged people across the political spectrum with violent, homophobic and misogynistic lyrics. He says he means these things ironically, and that's how his young fans take it, but his ...