Portal:Record production

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The Record Production Portal

Noted audio engineer Roger Nichols at a vintage Neve recording console

P:RECORD

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 industry consists of the individuals and organizations that earn money by writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling recorded music and sheet music, presenting concerts, as well as the organizations that aid, train, represent and supply music creators. Among the many individuals and organizations that operate in the industry are: the songwriters and composers who write songs and musical compositions; the singers, musicians, conductors, and bandleaders who perform the music; the record labels, music publishers, recording studios, music producers, audio engineers, retail and digital music stores, and performance rights organizations who create and sell recorded music and sheet music; and the booking agents, promoters, music venues, road crew, and audio engineers who help organize and sell concerts. (Read more)

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Featured articles are displayed here, which represent some of the best content on English Wikipedia.

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Of Human Feelings is an album by American jazz saxophonist, composer, and bandleader Ornette Coleman. It was recorded on April 25, 1979, at CBS Studios in New York City with his band Prime Time, which featured guitarists Charlie Ellerbee and Bern Nix, bassist Jamaaladeen Tacuma, and drummers Calvin Weston and Coleman's son Denardo. It followed the saxophonist's failed attempt to record a direct-to-disc session earlier in March of the same year and was the first jazz album to be recorded digitally in the United States.

The album's jazz-funk music continued Coleman's harmolodic approach to improvisation with Prime Time, whom he had introduced on his 1975 album Dancing in Your Head. This approach emphasized natural rhythmic and emotional responses in a way that Coleman compared to a spirit of collective consciousness. He also drew on rhythm and blues influences from early in his career for Of Human Feelings, which had shorter and more distinct compositions than Dancing in Your Head, while applying free jazz principles from his music during the 1960s to elements of funk. (Full article...)
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Sheet music cover (1897)

"On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away" is a song written and composed by the American songwriter Paul Dresser in 1897. It is among the best-selling songs of the 19th century, earning over $100,000 from sheet-music revenues. Written and composed by American songwriter Paul Dresser, it was published by the Tin Pan Alley firm of Howley, Haviland and Company in October 1897. The lyrics of the ballad reminisce about life near Dresser's childhood home by the Wabash River in Indiana, United States. The song remained popular for decades, and the Indiana General Assembly adopted it as the official state song on March 14, 1913. The song was the basis for a 1923 film of the same title. Its longtime popularity led to the emergence of several lyrical versions, including an 1898 anti-war song and a Swedish version that was a number-one hit.

The song was composed during a transitory time in musical history when songs first began to be recorded for the phonograph. It was among the earliest pieces of popular music to be recorded. Dresser's inability to control the distribution of phonograph cylinders led him and his company to join other composers to petition the United States Congress to expand federal copyright protections over the new technology. (Full article...)
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Disintegration is the eighth studio album by English rock band the Cure, released on 2 May 1989 by Fiction Records. The band recorded the album at Hookend Recording Studios in Checkendon, Oxfordshire, with co-producer David M. Allen from late 1988 to early 1989.

The record marks a return to the introspective gothic rock style the band had established in the early 1980s. As he neared the age of 30, vocalist and guitarist Robert Smith had felt an increased pressure to follow up on the band's pop successes with a more enduring work. This, coupled with a distaste for the group's newfound popularity, caused Smith to lapse back into the use of hallucinogenic drugs, the effects of which had a strong influence on the production of the album. Following the completion of the mixing, founding member Lol Tolhurst was fired from the band. (Full article...)
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Laborintus II is an album by the Belgian orchestra Ictus Ensemble, the vocal group Nederlands Kamerkoor, and the American vocalist Mike Patton, which was recorded live at the 2010 Holland Festival. It was released on July 10, 2012, by Ipecac Recordings, and debuted at number 23 on the American Billboard Classical Albums Chart. It was not well received by critics.

The album is a recording of the 1965 work of the same name by Italian composer Luciano Berio, whose composition employs elements of jazz and electronic music. The libretto by Edoardo Sanguineti borrows ideas from the works of Dante Alighieri, T. S. Eliot and Ezra Pound, and his own 1956 poem "Laborintus". Berio named "memory, death and usury" as the work's main concerns, believing these themes to be present in Dante's work. (Full article...)
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Title page of Handel's autograph score

Messiah (HWV 56) is an English-language oratorio composed in 1741 by George Frideric Handel. The text was compiled from the King James Bible and the Coverdale Psalter by Charles Jennens. It was first performed in Dublin on 13 April 1742 and received its London premiere a year later. After an initially modest public reception, the oratorio gained in popularity, eventually becoming one of the best-known and most frequently performed choral works in Western music.

Handel's reputation in England, where he had lived since 1712, had been established through his compositions of Italian opera. He turned to English oratorio in the 1730s in response to changes in public taste; Messiah was his sixth work in this genre. Although its structure resembles that of opera, it is not in dramatic form; there are no impersonations of characters and no direct speech. Instead, Jennens's text is an extended reflection on Jesus as the Messiah called Christ. The text begins in Part I with prophecies by Isaiah and others, and moves to the annunciation to the shepherds, the only "scene" taken from the Gospels. In Part II, Handel concentrates on the Passion of Jesus and ends with the Hallelujah chorus. In Part III he covers Paul's teachings on the resurrection of the dead and Christ's glorification in heaven. (Full article...)
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Rhythm Killers is an album by Jamaican musical duo Sly and Robbie, released in May 1987 by Island Records. By the time of the album's recording, Sly and Robbie had transitioned away from their prolific work in the reggae genre. They spent the 1980s experimenting with electronic sounds and contemporary recording technology on international, cross-genre endeavors, which influenced their direction for Rhythm Killers.

Sly and Robbie enlisted producer Bill Laswell and an ensemble of musicians to record the album at the Quad studio in New York City. Along with their live instruments, the duo used electronic recording equipment such as the Fairlight CMI synthesizer and electronic drums. The predominantly funk and dance-oriented album is arranged into two side-long gapless suites of songs. Other styles featured on the record include hip hop, hard rock, worldbeat, and downtown music. Laswell's densely layered production incorporated electronic grooves, hard beats, string synthesizers, and cross-rhythms produced by turntable scratches, African and Latin-influenced percussion, and percussive raps. (Full article...)
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Thriller is the sixth studio album by the American singer and songwriter Michael Jackson, released on November 29, 1982, by Epic Records. It was produced by Quincy Jones, who previously worked with Jackson on his album Off the Wall (1979). Jackson wanted to create an album where "every song was a killer". With the ongoing backlash against disco music at the time, he moved in a new musical direction, resulting in a mix of pop, post-disco, rock, funk, synth-pop, and R&B sounds, and darker themes. Paul McCartney is the first credited appearance of a featured artist on a Jackson album. Recording took place from April to November 1982 at Westlake Recording Studios in Los Angeles, California, with a budget of $750,000.

Thriller became Jackson's first number-one album on the US Billboard Top LPs & Tapes chart, where it spent a record 37 non-consecutive weeks at number one, from February 26, 1983, to April 14, 1984. Seven singles were released: "The Girl Is Mine", "Billie Jean", "Beat It", "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'", "Human Nature", "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)", and "Thriller". They all reached the top 10 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, setting a record for the most top 10 singles from an album, with "Beat It" and "Billie Jean" reaching number one. Following Jackson's performance of "Billie Jean" in the Motown 25 television special, where he debuted his signature moonwalk dance, the album began selling one million copies per week. Sales doubled after the release of the "Thriller" music video on MTV in December 1983. (Full article...)
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Dion in 2012

Céline Marie Claudette Dion (/seɪˌliːn diˈɒn/ say-LEEN dee-ON, French: [selin maʁi klodɛt djɔ̃]; born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Referred to as the "Queen of Power Ballads", she is noted for her powerful and technically skilled vocals. Her music has incorporated genres such as pop, rock, R&B, chanson, and classical music. Her recordings have been mainly in English and French, although she has also sung in several other languages including Japanese, Italian, German, Mandarin, Spanish and Neapolitan.

Born into a large family in Charlemagne, Quebec, Dion was discovered by her future manager and husband, René Angélil, and emerged as a teen star in her home country with a series of French-language albums during the 1980s. She gained international recognition by winning the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest, where she represented Switzerland with the song "Ne partez pas sans moi". Her debut English-language album, Unison (1990), established her as a viable pop artist primarily in North America and several English-speaking markets, while The Colour of My Love (1993) gave her global success. Dion continued her success throughout the 1990s with several of the best-selling albums in history, such as Falling into You (1996) and Let's Talk About Love (1997), which were both certified diamond in the U.S. She has accumulated a catalog of numerous high-charting tracks, including "Beauty and the Beast", "The Power of Love", "Think Twice", "To Love You More", "Because You Loved Me", "It's All Coming Back to Me Now", "All by Myself", "I'm Your Angel", "That's the Way It Is", "I'm Alive" and "My Heart Will Go On", the theme for the 1997 film Titanic. (Full article...)
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"Irreplaceable" is a song by American singer and songwriter Beyoncé for her second studio album, B'Day (2006). The song was written by Shaffer "Ne-Yo" Smith, Tor Erik Hermansen, Mikkel S. Eriksen, Espen Lind, Amund Bjørklund, and Beyoncé; and produced by Stargate and Beyoncé. "Irreplaceable" was originally a country record; it was re-arranged as a mid-tempo ballad with pop and R&B influences by modifying the vocal arrangements and instrumentation. During the production and recording sessions, Beyoncé and Ne-Yo wanted to create a record which people of either gender could relate to. The song's lyrics are about the breakdown of a relationship with an unfaithful man and the song contains a message about female empowerment.

Following the moderate chart performances of "Déjà Vu" and "Ring the Alarm", "Irreplaceable" was released internationally on October 23, 2006, as the album's second single, and the third in the United States on December 5, 2006. The single was released through Columbia Records. Pitchfork Media and Rolling Stone placed it on their lists of Best Songs of the 2000s. "Irreplaceable" won several awards, including Best R&B/Soul Single at the 2007 Soul Train Music Awards. It was nominated for the Record of the Year award at the 50th Grammy Awards. (Full article...)
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Is This It is the debut studio album by American rock band the Strokes. It was first released on July 30, 2001 in Australia, with RCA Records handling the release internationally and Rough Trade Records handling the United Kingdom release. It was recorded at Transporterraum in New York City with producer Gordon Raphael during March and April 2001. For their debut, the band strived to capture a simple sound that was not significantly enhanced in the studio. Building on their 2001 EP The Modern Age, the band members molded compositions largely through live takes during recording sessions, while lead singer and songwriter Julian Casablancas continued to detail the lives and relationships of urban youth.

After completing the album, the Strokes embarked on a promotional world tour before its release. The album was released progressively to coincide with their tour dates, with it being released in Japan on August 22 and the United Kingdom on August 28. The album's cover photograph was deemed too sexually explicit for the US market, and was replaced there.
After the September 11 attacks, the American compact disc release was delayed from September 25 to October 9 and had its track list amended, with the song "New York City Cops" being removed and replaced with the newly written track "When It Started"; however, the American vinyl release still includes the track as a result of its release falling on September 11. Three singles were released from the album: "Hard to Explain", "Last Nite", and "Someday". (Full article...)
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Solti by Allan Warren, 1975
Sir Georg Solti (/dʒɔːrdʒ ˈʃɒlti/ JORJ SHOL-tee, Hungarian: [ˈʃolti]; born György Stern; 21 October 1912 – 5 September 1997) was a Hungarian-British orchestral and operatic conductor, known for his appearances with opera companies in Munich, Frankfurt, and London, and as a long-serving music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Born in Budapest, he studied there with Béla Bartók, Leó Weiner, and Ernő Dohnányi. In the 1930s, he was a répétiteur at the Hungarian State Opera and worked at the Salzburg Festival for Arturo Toscanini. His career was interrupted by the rise of the Nazis' influence on Hungarian politics, and being Jewish, he fled the increasingly harsh Hungarian anti-Jewish laws in 1938. After conducting a season of Russian ballet in London at the Royal Opera House, he found refuge in Switzerland, where he remained during the Second World War. Prohibited from conducting there, he earned a living as a pianist.

After the war, Solti was appointed musical director of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich in 1946. In 1952, he moved to the Oper Frankfurt, where he remained in charge for nine years. He took West German citizenship in 1953. In 1961, he became musical director of the Covent Garden Opera Company, London. During his 10-year tenure, he introduced changes that raised standards to the highest international levels. Under his musical directorship, the status of the company was recognised with the grant of the title "the Royal Opera". He became an honorary citizen of the coastal holiday town of Castiglione della Pescaia, and a British citizen in 1972. (Full article...)
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Metallica at the 2024 Gershwin Prize ceremony. From left to right: Kirk Hammett, Lars Ulrich, Robert Trujillo and James Hetfield.

Metallica is an American heavy metal band. It was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrumentals and aggressive musicianship made them one of the founding "big four" bands of thrash metal, alongside Megadeth, Anthrax and Slayer. Metallica's current lineup comprises founding members and primary songwriters Hetfield and Ulrich, longtime lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo. Guitarist Dave Mustaine, who formed Megadeth after being fired from Metallica, and bassists Ron McGovney, Cliff Burton and Jason Newsted are former members of the band.

Metallica first found commercial success with the release of its third album, Master of Puppets (1986), which is cited as one of the heaviest metal albums and the band's best work. The band's next album, ...And Justice for All (1988), gave Metallica its first Grammy Award nomination. Its fifth album, Metallica (1991), was a turning point for the band that saw them transition from their thrash roots; it appealed to a more mainstream audience, achieving substantial commercial success and selling more than 16 million copies in the United States to date, making it the best-selling album of the SoundScan era. After experimenting with different genres and directions in subsequent releases, Metallica returned to its thrash metal roots with its ninth album, Death Magnetic (2008), which drew similar praise to that of the band's earlier albums. The band's eleventh and most recent album, 72 Seasons, was released in 2023. (Full article...)

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... that until the release of the documentary Predator: The Secret Scandal of J-Pop, sexual abuse claims involving record producer Johnny Kitagawa went widely unreported in Japanese media?
... that when Divine's song "Lately" topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 1998, it became the first number-one single for the performers, the songwriters, the producers, and the record labels?
... that one critic interpreted a SZA song as being about her fears about the growing influence of AI in the music industry?
... 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?
... that to promote the Buffalo Club, Rising Tide Records sent packages of plastic buffalo to music industry executives in Nashville?

Born this day

Birthdays in Music: November 21

Fairuz, (born Nouhad Haddad) Lebanese singer, turns 90.
Peter Warren, American bass player, turns 89.
David Porter, American songwriter, turns 83.
İdil Biret, Turkish pianist, turns 83.
Lonnie Jordan, (born Leroy Jordan) American multi-instrumentalist for War, turns 76.
Rainer Bruninghaus, German pianist, turns 75.
Livingston Taylor, American singer and songwriter, turns 74.
Michel Doneda, French soprano saxophonist, turns 70.
Peter Koppes, Australian guitarist for The Church, turns 69.
Terry Lewis, American record producer (see also Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis), turns 68.
Francesca Tanksley, Italian-American pianist, turns 67.
Brian Ritchie, American vocalist for Violent Femmes, turns 64.
Steven Curtis Chapman, American Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter, turns 62.
Björk, (born Björk Guðmundsdóttir) Icelandic singer with The Sugarcubes, turns 59.
Margrét Örnólfsdóttir, Icelandic keyboardist with The Sugarcubes, turns 57.
Alex James, Brit bassist with Blur, turns 56.
Chauncey Black, (aka Chauncey Hannibal) American R&B singer of BLACKstreet, turns 56.
Eli Yamin, American pianist, broadcaster, and composer, turns 56.
Francis Macdonald, Scottish drummer for BMX Bandits, Teenage Fanclub, turns 54.
Pretty Lou, American rapper with The Lost Boyz, turns 53.
Kelsi Osborn, American country music singer with SHeDAISY , turns 50.
Tobias Sammet, German singer with power metal act, Edguy, turns 47.
Kim Dong Wan, Korean singer with Shinhwa, turns 45.
Ryan Starr, American singer of American Idol fame, turns 42.
Carly Rae Jepsen, Canadian singer-songwriter, turns 39.

Alphonse Mouzon (Record production, 1948–December 25, 2016), American drummer, would have turned 76 this year.
James DePreist (Record production, 1936–February 08, 2013), (born James Anderson DePreist) American composer, would have turned 88 this year.
Émile Normand (Record production, 1936–November 07, 2008), (or Cisco Normand) Canadian percussionist and pianist, would have turned 88 this year.
Jean Shepard (Record production, 1933–September 25, 2016), (born Ollie Imogene Shepard) American country music singer, would have turned 91 this year.
Malcolm Williamson (Record production, 1931 –March 02, 2003), Australian composer and Master of the Queen's Music, would have turned 93 this year.
Sal Salvador (Record production, 1925 –September 22, 1999), American bop guitarist, would have turned 99 this year.
Joonas Kokkonen (Record production, 1921 –October 02, 1996), Finnish composer, would have turned 103 this year.
Claire Austin (Record production, 1918–June 17, 1994), American dixieland vocalist, would have turned 106 this year.
Alvin Burroughs (Record production, 1911 –August 01, 1950), American drummer, would have turned 113 this year.
Lloyd Glenn (Record production, 1909 –May 23, 1985), American arranger and pianist, would have turned 115 this year.
Buck Ram (Record production, 1907 –January 01, 1991), (born Samuel Ram) American songwriter with The Platters, would have turned 117 this year.
Coleman Hawkins (Record production, 1904 –May 19, 1969), American tenor saxophonist, would have turned 120 this year.
Arthur Schutt (Record production, 1902 –January 28, 1965), American arranger and pianist, would have turned 122 this year.
Charlie Johnson (Record production, 1891 –December 13, 1959), American bandleader and pianist, would have turned 133 this year.

List of musical events • Anniversaries • More birthdays...

Selected albums - load new batch

These are all Good articles, which meet a core set of high editorial standards.

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The Now Now is the sixth studio album recorded by the British virtual band Gorillaz, released on 29 June 2018 via Parlophone and Warner Bros. Records. Recording for the album began in late 2017 – according to Gorillaz co-creator Damon Albarn, it was recorded quickly so the band would have new material to play at future concerts.

The album spawned six singles, including "Humility" (the lead single), "Hollywood" and "Tranz". The Now Now debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 and at number five on the UK Albums Chart. It received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised the album's minimalist sound and lyrical content – however, some reviewers criticised its perceived lack of ambition and focus. (Full article...)
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Green Bullfrog is a blues album recorded by an ad hoc band and produced by Derek Lawrence. The bulk of the album was recorded over two sessions at De Lane Lea Studios, London in 1970, with later string and brass overdubs. It was originally released in 1971, with reissues in 1980 and 1991.

The album listed pseudonyms in the credits for contractual reasons and was commercially unsuccessful. The musicians were eventually confirmed as including Deep Purple's Ritchie Blackmore and Ian Paice, Procol Harum's Matthew Fisher, Chas & Dave's Chas Hodges and session guitarists Albert Lee and Big Jim Sullivan. (Full article...)
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Permanent Record: Al in the Box is a four disc compilation box set of songs by "Weird Al" Yankovic, released on September 27, 1994. The album, released by Scotti Brothers Records so that the label could make monetary projections for the fiscal year, collects Yankovic's favorite songs from his first eight studio albums. The collection also includes alternate versions of "My Bologna", "Happy Birthday", "UHF" and the new single, "Headline News", a parody of "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" by Crash Test Dummies. It peaked at number 104 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The collection was met with mostly positive critical reviews, with many appreciating the gathering of some of Yankovic's best works. However, the box set was not a high seller, and near the end of the 1990s, it ranked as Yankovic's least-purchased album. In 2006, due to a mishap by Volcano Records, the artwork for the set was lost, and the collection went out of print. Yankovic refused to scan existing copies of the album to make new ones, fearing that it would lead to an inferior product. Yankovic would later release a second box set called Squeeze Box: The Complete Works of "Weird Al" Yankovic in 2017. (Full article...)
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Club Future Nostalgia is a remix album by English-Albanian singer Dua Lipa and American DJ the Blessed Madonna. A DJ mix edition of it was released on 28 August 2020, with the standard edition following on 11 September of the same year. The album was crafted by remixes of tracks from Lipa's second studio album, Future Nostalgia (2020), with the remixes being created by an assortment of DJs and producers, including Masters at Work, Larry Heard, Mark Ronson and Stuart Price.

Club Future Nostalgia is primarily a house, pop, and soul record, with Baltimore club, dance, disco, drum and bass and piano house influences. Guest appearances are included from Missy Elliott, Jamiroquai, Madonna and Gwen Stefani and Blackpink. The album received generally favourable reviews from music critics, with many praising its danceability and merging of sub-genres; however many preferred its parent album. It appeared on year-end lists published by Billboard, Variety and the Los Angeles Times. Commercially, the album reached number 28 on the US Billboard 200 and number 13 on the Canadian Albums Chart, and became both Lipa and the Blessed Madonna's first entry on the US Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart, reaching the summit on the chart. (Full article...)
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Tin Machine is the debut studio album by the Anglo-American hard rock band Tin Machine, released on 22 May 1989 through EMI America Records. The band consisted of the English singer-songwriter David Bowie, the American guitarist Reeves Gabrels and brothers Tony Fox and Hunt Sales on bass and drums, respectively, while Englishman Kevin Armstrong acted as an additional guitarist. The project was spearheaded by Bowie, who felt disconnected in his career by 1987 and looked to reinvent himself. After meeting Gabrels through his Glass Spider Tour, the two agreed to work together and would collaborate frequently for the next decade. Bowie hired the Sales brothers, neither of whom he had worked with since the 1970s, after a meeting in Los Angeles, while English producer Tim Palmer was hired to co-produce.

The album was recorded in August 1988 at Mountain Studios in Montreux, Switzerland, and later at Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas in the spring of 1989. The sessions were productive despite personality clashes among the members. The tracks were mostly recorded live in few takes, with Bowie improvising lyrics while standing at the microphone, resulting in a predominantly hard rock sound and lyrics discussing world issues and love. Tin Machine named themselves and the album after one of the tracks. Unlike Bowie's previous backing bands, Tin Machine acted as a democratic unit, which was reflected in promotional interviews. (Full article...)
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1000 Forms of Fear is the sixth studio album by Australian singer Sia. It was released on 4 July 2014 by Monkey Puzzle and RCA Records worldwide, and Inertia Records in Australia. Primarily an electropop album, the record also incorporates influences from reggae and hip hop. Lyrically, the record is focused on Sia struggling to deal with drug addiction and a diagnosis of bipolar disorder at the time, later rediagnosed as complex PTSD in 2019.

1000 Forms of Fear received generally favorable reviews from music critics, who praised Sia's vocals as well as the album's lyrical content. The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 52,000 copies. The release also charted atop the charts of Australia and Canada, and reached the top five charts of Denmark, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. As of 26 October 2015, it has been certified gold by the RIAA denoting 500,000 equivalent-album units sold in the United States. As of January 2016, the album has sold 1 million copies worldwide. (Full article...)
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Jack Johnson (also known as A Tribute To Jack Johnson on reissues) is a studio album and soundtrack by the American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader Miles Davis. It was released on February 24, 1971, by Columbia Records.

The album was conceived by Davis for Bill Cayton's documentary of the same name, on the life of boxer Jack Johnson. Its two 25-minute-plus tracks were produced from recordings made on February 18 and April 7, 1970, at 30th Street Studio in New York City. Davis was inspired by the political and racial subtext of Johnson's saga as well as the hard rock and funk sounds of his own era, leading a rock-inspired line-up of musicians in the studio: guitarists John McLaughlin and Sonny Sharrock, keyboardists Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea, bass clarinetist Bennie Maupin, electric bassist Michael Henderson, and drummers Jack DeJohnette and Billy Cobham. (Full article...)
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Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice, Chapters 1–13 is the seventh studio album by Finnish gothic rock band HIM. Released on 8 February 2010, the album was recorded at The Lair Studios and NRG Studios in Los Angeles with producer Matt Squire. Following his time in rehab, Screamworks was the first HIM album vocalist Ville Valo worked on completely sober. This resulted in the band rehearsing the material more than ever before, as Valo had set out to prove himself and the band following his new-found sobriety. Musically Screamworks featured a more accessible and straightforward sound than many of its predecessor, reminiscent of the music of the 1980s. Much of the album's material was inspired by Valo's relationship with an undisclosed partner, whom he referred to as his muse for the record.

Screamworks received generally positive reviews from critics. Valo's vocals and songwriting received praise, although the "lighter" tone of the album received mixed opinions. Screamworks charted in eleven countries, including the top ten in Finland, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, eventually being certified gold in the band's home country. Two singles were also released, with "Heartkiller" peaking at number five in Finland. The release of Screamworks was followed by a world tour, starting with several European dates and a tour of Australia as a part of the Soundwave Festival. This was then followed-up by several dates throughout the UK and the US in 2010. In December 2010, HIM released a companion album to Screamworks, titled SWRMXS, featuring remixes done by various different artists, such as Tiësto and Morgan Page. (Full article...)
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Impossible Princess (briefly retitled Kylie Minogue in Europe) is the sixth studio album by Australian singer Kylie Minogue, released on 22 October 1997, by Deconstruction, BMG and Mushroom Records. The singer asserted greater creative control over the project — writing every song on the album and producing material for the first time — compared to her previous work, assisted by Brothers in Rhythm, Manic Street Preachers, David Ball and Rob Dougan. Influenced by the techno and Britpop revolution in the mid-to-late 1990s, sonically, Impossible Princess is a departure from Minogue's previous work. Conceived as an experimental record, the material encompasses a variety of darker styles from dance music, including trip hop, electronica, and rock. Lyrically, the album focuses on Minogue's self-discovery after a series of trips worldwide and delves into freedom of expression, relationships, and emotions.

Upon its release, critical and public reception of Impossible Princess was divided over its new musical direction and Minogue's intimate lyrics. Commercially, the album reached the top 10 in Australia, Scotland, and the United Kingdom; the British media, however, mocked its lack of success in Europe. Four singles were released from the album, including two UK top-20 entries "Did It Again" and "Breathe". Minogue embarked on the Intimate and Live tour in 1998 to support the album. (Full article...)
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Meaning of Life is the eighth studio album by American pop singer Kelly Clarkson. It was released on October 27, 2017, by Atlantic Records. Executive produced by Clarkson and Craig Kallman, the album is her debut release for the label after completing her recording contract and leaving previous label, RCA Records, which she had signed after winning the first season of American Idol. Weary of the structure of the previous record deal where she was strictly limited to releasing pop music, Clarkson wanted to pursue a different genre—soul and R&B music, which she had previously wanted to make and had only finally found the opportunity to do so after being signed by Kallman to the label.

Meaning of Life is Clarkson's second foray into soul and R&B music, after her debut single "Miss Independent", departing from the predominant pop and pop rock sound established from her previous studio releases and returning to her multi-genre performances on American Idol. Inspired by the music of the 1990s and prominent singers Aretha Franklin, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, En Vogue and Bonnie Raitt, Clarkson wanted the album to evoke a music similar to the early works of those artists—with the overall goal of emoting a "soulful" spirit. To achieve this, Clarkson commissioned several collaborators—from previous associates Jesse Shatkin, Greg Kurstin, Mozella and Jason Halbert, to new project partners The Monarch, Mick Schultz, Harlœ and James Morrison. The album's tracks share a cohesive theme of interpersonal connections in life, centered on the subjects of love and living the moment. (Full article...)
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Music – Songs from and Inspired by the Motion Picture is the ninth studio album by Australian singer-songwriter Sia. It was released on 12 February 2021 by Monkey Puzzle and Atlantic, in connection with the release of the musical film Music, which was directed and co-written by Sia.

Sia wrote 10 original songs for the film's soundtrack following its transformation into a musical, half of which are included on the album. The album also includes songs inspired by the film, such as "Saved My Life", co-written by Dua Lipa. Primarily a pop album, it received mixed reviews from critics. Three singles preceded the album's release; "Together", the album's lead single, "Courage to Change", co-written with Pink (credited as Alecia Moore), and "Hey Boy". "Floating Through Space", a collaboration with David Guetta, was released as the fourth single shortly after the album came out. (Full article...)
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Enamorada de Ti (English: In Love with You) is the second remix album by American Tejano singer Selena. It was released posthumously on 3 April 2012 through Capitol Latin and Q-Productions. Enamorada de Ti was produced by Sergio Lopes, Leslie Ahrens, Andres Castro, Moggie Canazio, Cesar Lemons and Chilean record producer Humberto Gatica. Gatica had the idea of modernizing songs recorded by Selena into today's popular music genres. Selena's family had already been working on a similar idea, but they set it aside in favor of Enamorada de Ti, which had gained the approval of Capitol Latin. The selection of artists to sing duets with Selena began in late summer 2011. Gatica and Selena's family chose American singer and actress Selena Gomez, Puerto Rican singer Don Omar, Samuel "Samo" Parra from the Mexican rock band Camila, Mexican singer Cristian Castro, Spanish DJ mixer Juan Magan, and the Carlos Santana band, while the remaining songs selected were remixed.

Recording sessions began shortly after the selected artists had been chosen. Once Selena's family released confirmation of a duets album in January 2012, it quickly caught media attention. Gomez used her Twitter account to promote the album's release, a move that Gatica praised. Castro and Samo performed their respective duets from the album during the 2012 Latin Billboard Music Awards. The duet version of "Amor Prohibido" was released digitally on iTunes on 7 February 2012. It peaked at number eight on the US Billboard Latin Pop Airplay chart. Other songs on the album, including the title track (duet with Magan), "Como la Flor" (duet with Castro), "Bidi Bidi Bom Bom" (duet with Gomez), and "Fotos y Recuerdos" (duet with Omar), entered the Billboard Latin digital charts for the first time since their original release in the 1990s. (Full article...)

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General images - load new batch

The following are images from various record production-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Scully 280 eight-track recorder at the Stax Museum of American Soul Music (from Multitrack recording)
Image 2Engineers and producers watch a trumpet player from a window in the control room during a recording session. (from Recording studio)
Image 3Digital 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)
Image 4Mixing desk with twenty inputs and eight outputs (from Multitrack recording)
Image 5The studio at Ridge Radio in Caterham, England (from Recording studio)
Image 6The TEAC 2340, a popular early (1973) home multitrack recorder, four tracks on ¼ inch tape (from Multitrack recording)
Image 7Danny Knicely records with Furnace Mountain Band in Virginia (2012) (from Recording studio)
Image 8A selection of instruments at a music studio, including a grand piano (from Recording studio)
Image 9Hip 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 10The 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 16 or even 8 tracks on the same tape width, for greater fidelity. (from Multitrack recording)
Image 11The Siemens Studio for Electronic Music c. 1956. (from Recording studio)
Image 12Donna Summer wearing headphones during a recording session in 1977 (from Recording studio)
Image 13Control room at the Tec de Monterrey, Mexico City Campus (from Recording studio)
Image 14Home studio setup (from Recording studio)
Image 15Korg D888 eight-track digital recorder (from Multitrack recording)
Image 16Neve VR60, a multitrack mixing console. Above the console are a range of studio monitor speakers. (from Recording studio)

Featured lists - load new batch

Featured lists have been determined by the Wikipedia community to be the best lists on English Wikipedia.

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Hot Country Songs is a chart that ranks the top-performing country music songs in the United States, published by Billboard magazine. In 2000, 19 different songs topped the chart, then published under the title Hot Country Singles & Tracks, in 52 issues of the magazine, based on weekly airplay data from country music radio stations compiled by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems.

Singer Faith Hill's song "Breathe" was at number one at the start of the year, having risen to the top in the issue dated December 25, 1999. The song remained at number one for six consecutive weeks until it was knocked off by "Cowboy Take Me Away", performed by the girl group the Dixie Chicks, in the issue dated February 5. "Breathe" was also named the most successful single of the year on the magazine's main singles chart, the Hot 100. Hill returned to the top of the country charts with her next single, "The Way You Love Me", which spent four weeks at number one in May and June. Only two other acts, Lonestar and Hill's husband Tim McGraw, had more than one Hot Country Songs number one during the year. Other singles with extended runs at number one include "How Do You Like Me Now?!" by Toby Keith, "I Hope You Dance" by Lee Ann Womack featuring Sons of the Desert and "That's the Way" by Jo Dee Messina, each of which topped the chart for five weeks. "How Do You Like Me Now?!" was ranked number one on Billboards year-end chart of the most popular country songs. ('Full article...)
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Justin Timberlake scored his first Billboard Hot 100 number-one single with "SexyBack", which stayed at the top spot for seven straight weeks.

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 and digital sales, and airplay. In 2006, 18 singles reached the top of the chart, the most number-ones in a chart year since 1991. A 19th single, Mariah Carey's "Don't Forget About Us", started its run at number one in 2005.

In 2006, 20 acts achieved their first U.S. number-one single, either as a lead artist or featured guest, including D4L, Paul Wall, Ali & Gipp, Slim Thug, James Blunt, Ne-Yo, Daniel Powter, Rihanna, Chamillionaire, Shakira, Wyclef Jean, Taylor Hicks, Nelly Furtado, Timbaland, Fergie, T.I., and Akon. Krayzie Bone and Justin Timberlake, despite having hit number one with Bone Thugs-n-Harmony and NSYNC respectively, earns their first number one songs as solo acts. Justin Timberlake and Beyoncé each had two number-one singles in this year. During the year, eight collaboration singles topped the chart, breaking the record set in 2003 and 2004, both of which had seven. (Full article...)
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From January 2007 to May 2007, the number-one singles in Canada were compiled by the American-based music sales tracking company, Nielsen SoundScan. The chart was compiled every Wednesday, and was published by Jam! Canoe on Thursdays. On March 31, 2007, Billboard magazine created the Canadian Hot 100, a chart specifically designed for Canada and the first Hot 100 chart that Billboard created for a country outside the United States. The chart was made available for the first time via Billboard online services on June 7, 2007, and it served as the successor to the Canadian Digital Song Sales Chart. (Full article...)
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The Grammy Award for Best Music Film is an annual accolade for performers, directors, and producers of quality videos or musical programs. It is presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony established in 1958 when it was called the Gramophone Awards. (Full article...)
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The Billboard Latin Music Award for Hot Latin Song of the Year (formerly Hot Latin Track of the Year) is an honor presented annually at the Billboard Latin Music Awards, a ceremony which honors "the most popular albums, songs, and performers in Latin music, as determined by the actual sales, radio airplay, online streaming and social data that informs Billboard's weekly charts." The award is given to the best performing singles on Billboard's Hot Latin Songs chart, which measures the most popular Latin recordings in the United States. The Hot Latin Songs chart was established by the magazine in September 1986 and was originally based on airplay on Latin music radio stations. Since October 2012, chart rankings are based on digital sales, radio airplay, and online streaming. From 1995 to 1998, each music genre's field (pop, tropical/salsa and Regional Mexican) had their own Hot Latin Track of the Year category.

Enrique Iglesias and Nicky Jam are the most awarded acts in the category with three wins each. Alejandro Fernández, Wisin & Yandel, Don Omar, Romeo Santos, Ozuna, Nicky Jam, Peso Pluma and Grupo Frontera are the only acts with two nominated songs in the same year, a milestone achieved twice by Santos. Bad Bunny became the only act to have three nominated songs in the same year. As of 2017, only Iglesias and Nicky Jam have won Hot Latin Song of the Year twice in a row. As of 2023, the holders are Eslabon Armado and Peso Pluma for the song "Ella Baila Sola". Enrique Iglesias and Bad Bunny became tied for the most nominations as of 2023. (Full article...)
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The USS Density (later renamed to MV Galaxy) was the vessel used to broadcast the pirate radio station Big L.

The Fab 40 (or Fab Forty) was the playlist for the station Wonderful Radio London. Also known as Big L, Wonderful Radio London was a pirate radio station that operated from the MV Galaxy about three-and-a-half miles out from the coast of Frinton-on-Sea, Essex. It was founded by American Don Pierson with a backing of around £500,000, and first "BROADCAST" shortly before Christmas 1964. The station is credited with introducing to Britain the contemporary hit radio style seen in the United States and the Fab 40 chart is said by Music Week to have been "influential". During its tenure, it had disc jockeys such as John Peel, Tony Blackburn and Kenny Everett. Based on airplay (not physical music sales) the chart was broadcast on Sunday afternoons. The station closed on 14 August 1967 when the Marine, &c., Broadcasting (Offences) Act 1967 came into effect, with the last Fab 40 chart show presented the previous week by Tommy Vance. Later, when an official chart had been established, rival charts would factor airplay into their charts.

The Fab 40 had a significantly higher turnover of singles than the Record Retailer chart; it had 118 different singles top the chart between 23 January 1965 and 12 August 1967 (by comparison Record Retailer had 53). Additionally, only one single spent three weeks at number one – The Beatles double A-side "Day Tripper" / "We Can Work It Out" – while on the Record Retailer chart, 23 singles spent at least three weeks at the top of the chart in the same period. On the Fab 40, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones each had eight number-ones and the Hollies had seven (six of which did not top the Retailer chart). (Full article...)
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Drake currently holds the record for the most number-one hits on the Billboard rap chart.

Hot Rap Songs is a record chart published by the music industry magazine Billboard that ranks the most popular hip hop songs in the United States. 77 songs topped Hot Rap Songs in the 2010s. The first number-one song of the decade was "Empire State of Mind" by Jay-Z featuring Alicia Keys. In 2012, Drake broke the record for the most Hot Rap Songs number-one songs, previously held by Diddy. During the 2010s, Drake spent the most weeks at number one and attained the most number-one songs on Hot Rap Songs, with 19 chart-toppers spanning 118 weeks. In 2019, "Old Town Road" by Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus spent a record-breaking 20 weeks atop Hot Rap Songs. The final number-one song of the decade on the chart was "Roxanne" by Arizona Zervas.

At the start of the decade the chart was airplay-based, with rankings based on each track's estimated audience as monitored by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems from a panel of 134 radio stations. In October 2012, Billboard altered the chart's methodology to include digital download sales and streaming data. Under the new methodology, the Rap Songs chart became a distillation of the main Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, which according to the magazine "highlight[s] the differences between pure R&B and rap titles in the overall, wide-ranging R&B/hip-hop field." "Gangnam Style" by Psy was the first number-one song to benefit from these changes, ascending from number 20 to the top spot on the chart dated October 20, 2012. (Full article...)
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The Latin Grammy Hall of Fame is a hall of fame established by the Latin Recording Academy to recognize "early recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance that were released more than 25 years ago". LARAS is also the same organization that distributes the Latin Grammy Awards. The albums and songs are picked by a panel of recording-arts professionals, such as musicologists and historians, and selected from all major categories of Latin music.

The first inductions were made in 2001 to honor 17 recordings. These included Santana's cover of Tito Puente's "Oye Como Va", Javier Solís's rendition of "Sabor a Mí" and the 1948 performance of Joaquín Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez by Regino Sainz de la Maza and the Orquesta Nacional de España. The inductions have each occurred six years apart from one another. (Full article...)
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Jamelia performing live on stage.

The discography of Jamelia, a British R&B singer, consists of three studio albums, one greatest hits album, and fourteen singles, fifteen music videos, and one live DVD of a concert performance. She has contributed to the albums of two other artists, and appeared on two soundtrack albums. Jamelia signed with Capitol Records in 1996, and her debut single, "So High", was released on 3 May 1999. It failed to chart and she left the record company before an album was released. Later that year, Jamelia released "I Do" with Parlophone, which was followed up in 2000 with her first top five single, titled "Money", and her debut album Drama.

Jamelia's second album, Thank You, released in 2003, is her most successful to date, peaking at number 4 on the United Kingdom Albums Chart, at number 16 in New Zealand, and at number 21 in Ireland. It also charted in Australia and mainland Europe, but in much lower positions. The album's lead singles were "Bout", a reggae-style song that features a rap from Rah Digga, and pop/dance song "Superstar". "Bout" charted at 37 on the UK Singles Chart, but "Superstar" fared much better, entering the singles chart at number 8 and climbing to number 3, its peak position, after four weeks. It was also the 26th best selling single of 2003. The next single taken from Thank You was the title track, which peaked at number 2 in the UK. Both "Superstar" and "Thank You" are Jamelia's most successful single releases to date, appearing in many singles charts worldwide. Thank You was subsequently re-released with two new songs: "See It in a Boy's Eyes" and "DJ". (Full article...)
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Big & Rich topped the chart for the first time in 2007.

Hot Country Songs is a chart that ranks the top-performing country music songs in the United States, published by Billboard magazine. In 2007, 25 different songs topped the chart in 52 issues of the magazine, based on weekly airplay data from country music radio stations compiled by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems.

In the first issue of the new year, Brad Paisley reached number one with "She's Everything", replacing "Want To" by Sugarland, which had been number one in the issue dated December 30, 2006. This was the first of three number ones for Paisley in 2007, a feat only matched by Kenny Chesney. Paisley, however, spent significantly less time at number one in 2007, occupying the top spot for five weeks compared to Chesney's twelve. Chesney's song "Never Wanted Nothing More" was the longest-running number one of the year, with five weeks at the top. Acts who achieved their first number ones in 2007 included Canadian band Emerson Drive, whose song "Moments", which topped the chart in June, was the first ever Hot Country Songs number one by a band from Canada. Big & Rich also reached number one for the first and only time, topping the chart with the wedding ballad "Lost in This Moment" in July. (Full article...)