Gary Jules did not originally sing “Mad World”. Tears for Fears did. Their original arrived in 1982. And if you only know Jules’ haunting piano version, hearing the original can be confusing. It is faster.…
SoundExchange and the UAE’s MusicNation have signed a new reciprocal agreement that will allow neighbouring rights royalties to flow between the United States and the United Arab Emirates. The agreement represents another important step in…
Stevie Nicks didn’t originally write “Rhiannon” about a Welsh goddess. She didn’t even know the mythology. She found the name in a novel. Loved it. Wrote a song around a mysterious woman. Then discovered afterwards…
Listen to VYRMA for a few minutes and you might reasonably assume the artist is Norwegian. There are Viking themes everywhere. One release is literally called Noregr Rís — “Norway Rises”. There is even a…
Yes. “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” is about death. But it isn’t telling people to die. Songwriter Donald “Buck Dharma” Roeser wrote the song while thinking about mortality and the possibility that love could continue beyond…
“Dream On” has a particular trick. It doesn’t begin enormous. It earns enormous. Piano. Voice. Slow build. More guitar. More tension. Then Steven Tyler finally explodes. If that’s the part you love, simply searching for…
No. “Hotel California” isn’t really about a specific hotel. The hotel is a metaphor. Eagles used it to represent the seductive side of California, fame, wealth, excess and the American dream. You arrive because everything…
Record labels and music publishers perform different jobs. A label may control the master recording while the artist retains their songwriting rights. That means a label receiving streaming money does not automatically mean the songwriter’s…
Some of dance music’s biggest classics are getting another life. Amazon Music has launched a new series of Amazon Music Originals that will see contemporary producers remix iconic dance records, connecting some of electronic music’s…
“Dream On” is about time. Ambition. Ageing. And refusing to abandon what you want before time runs out. Which is extraordinary when you remember Steven Tyler began developing the song while still a teenager. Long…
