Each year at NPR Music, we curate two flagship lists: The Best Albums of the Year and The Best Songs of the Year. But there's a lot more recommendations and criticism where those came from. You'll ...

To make a list is immediately to begin second-guessing it. This year that’s especially true below the Top 10, in my list of 20 runner-up albums, for which I had double that many candidates I could ...

The best indie, underground, and alternative music videos of 2025. It’s that time of the year where I regurgitate all the music videos I’ve consumed over the last 12 months into your eyes and ears ...

This is read by an automated voice. Please report any issues or inconsistencies here. Pop music was not at all safe this year from the encroachments of an AI industry determined to slop-ify everything ...

Holiday season is here—the time of year when the release schedule dries up and is replaced by tides of giftable band merch. What, you ask, does the devoted music fan in my life desire, and why is it a ...

Every year, we read a lot of new music books, and it’s not only so that music-loving readers have holiday gift ideas for their loved ones, or just themselves; it also saves you time reading the bad or ...

‘Tis the season to put on some brand-new holiday music. The best way to get festive is to sing along to Christmas classics new and old. But don’t know what to press play on? We’ve got you covered. In ...

As 2025 comes to a close, one of the most significant stories in music, which will surely grow in importance in the coming years, is who—or what—will be singing the songs of the future. Recently a ...

As DEI battles and funding shifts roil campuses, music programs from UCLA to Juilliard continue to grow. THR ranks the 20 schools shaping the next generation of composers. By Jeff Bond Conservatories ...

On Wednesday, one of the all-time greatest and most entertaining music documentaries will be made available in remastered and expanded form on Disney Plus. The Beatles Anthology originally aired on ...

Go beyond the hits with these powerful, intimate and often jaw-dropping documentaries that spotlight the artists, scandals and moments that shaped music history. Courtesy of Magnolia Picture; Courtesy ...

Finding the best gifts for the music lovers in your life can be pretty tricky when whole discographies are already a tap or two away on their phones. Fortunately for you, I’m one of CNN Underscored’s ...