Portal:Record production

The Record Production Portal

Noted audio engineer Roger Nichols at a vintage Neve recording console

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)

Featured articles -

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

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The Pixies performing in 2023. From left: Joey Santiago, Black Francis, Paz Lenchantin, David Lovering

The Pixies are an American alternative rock band formed in 1986, in Boston, Massachusetts. Until 2013, the band consisted of Black Francis (vocals, rhythm guitar, songwriter), Joey Santiago (lead guitar), Kim Deal (bass, vocals) and David Lovering (drums). They disbanded acrimoniously in 1993 but reunited in 2004. After Deal left in 2013, the Pixies hired Kim Shattuck as a touring bassist; she was replaced later that year by Paz Lenchantin, who became a permanent member in 2016.

The Pixies are associated with the 1990s alternative rock boom, and draw on elements including punk rock and surf rock. Their music is known for dynamic "loud-quiet-loud" shifts and song structures. Francis is the Pixies' primary songwriter; his often surreal lyrics cover offbeat subjects such as extraterrestrials, incest, and biblical violence. Their jarring pop sound influenced acts such as Nirvana, Radiohead, the Smashing Pumpkins and Weezer. The Pixies' popularity grew in the years after their breakup, leading to a 2004 reunion, sold-out world tours and four further albums: Indie Cindy (2014), Head Carrier (2016), Beneath the Eyrie (2019) and Doggerel (2022). (Full article...)
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Madonna performing on The Celebration Tour in 2023

Madonna Louise Ciccone (/tʃɪˈkoʊni/; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known as the "Queen of Pop", Madonna has been widely recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, and visual presentation. She has pushed the boundaries of artistic expression in mainstream music while maintaining control over every aspect of her career. Her works, which incorporate social, political, sexual, and religious themes, have generated both controversy and critical acclaim. A prominent cultural figure spanning both the 20th and 21st centuries, Madonna remains one of the most "well-documented figures of the modern age", with a broad array of scholarly reviews, literature, and art works about her, as well as an academic mini subdiscipline devoted to her called Madonna studies.

Madonna moved to New York City in 1978 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing as a drummer, guitarist, and vocalist in the rock bands Breakfast Club and Emmy, she rose to solo stardom with her debut studio album, Madonna (1983). She followed it with a series of successful albums, including all-time bestsellers Like a Virgin (1984), True Blue (1986), and The Immaculate Collection (1990), as well as Grammy Award winners Ray of Light (1998) and Confessions on a Dance Floor (2005). Throughout her career, Madonna has amassed many chart-topping singles, including "Like a Virgin", "La Isla Bonita", "Like a Prayer", "Vogue", "Take a Bow", "Frozen", "Music", "Hung Up", and "4 Minutes". (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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Barbirolli in 1960

Sir John Barbirolli (né Giovanni Battista Barbirolli; 2 December 1899 – 29 July 1970) was a British conductor and cellist. He is remembered above all as conductor of the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester, which he helped save from dissolution in 1943 and conducted for the rest of his life. Earlier in his career he was Arturo Toscanini's successor as music director of the New York Philharmonic, serving from 1936 to 1943. He was also chief conductor of the Houston Symphony from 1961 to 1967, and was a guest conductor of many other orchestras, including the BBC Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia, the Berlin Philharmonic and the Vienna Philharmonic, with all of which he made recordings.

Born in London of Italian and French parentage, Barbirolli grew up in a family of professional musicians. After starting out as a cellist, he was given the chance to conduct, from 1926 with the British National Opera Company, and then with Covent Garden's touring company. On taking up the conductorship of the Hallé he had less opportunity to work in the opera house, but in the 1950s he conducted productions of works by Verdi, Wagner, Gluck, and Puccini at Covent Garden with such success that he was invited to become the company's permanent musical director, an invitation he declined. Late in his career he made several recordings of operas, of which his 1967 set of Puccini's Madama Butterfly for EMI is probably the best known. (Full article...)
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Poster from 2007 Philadelphia production

A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant is a satirical musical about Scientology and L. Ron Hubbard, written by Kyle Jarrow from a concept by Alex Timbers, the show's original director. Jarrow based the story of the one-act, one-hour musical on Hubbard's writings and Church of Scientology literature. The musical follows the life of Hubbard as he develops Dianetics and then Scientology. Though the musical pokes fun at Hubbard's science fiction writing and personal beliefs, it has been called a "deadpan presentation" of his life story. Topics explored in the piece include Dianetics, the E-meter, Thetans, and the story of Xenu. The show was originally presented in 2003 in New York City by Les Freres Corbusier, an experimental theater troupe, enjoying sold-out Off-Off-Broadway and Off-Broadway productions. Later productions have included Los Angeles, New York, Boston, Atlanta, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.

Early in the production of the musical, the president of the Church of Scientology in New York sent a letter to the producer pointing out the Church's history of litigation. This led Timbers and Jarrow to insert the word Unauthorized into the title, upon the advice of legal counsel. During the Los Angeles production, representatives of the Church of Scientology visited the production staff in the midst of rehearsals and handed out documentation of successful litigation against critics of Scientology. Parents of some of the Los Angeles cast members also received phone calls from Scientologists in the entertainment industry, asking them not to allow their children to perform in the musical. (Full article...)
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Reign in Blood is the third studio album by American thrash metal band Slayer, released on October 7, 1986, by Def Jam Recordings. The album was the band's first collaboration with producer Rick Rubin, whose input helped the band's sound evolve. The release date of the album was delayed because of concerns regarding the lyrical subject matter of the opening track "Angel of Death", which refers to Josef Mengele and describes acts such as human experimentation that he committed at the Auschwitz concentration camp. The band's members stated that they did not condone Nazism and were merely interested in the subject.

Reign in Blood was well received by both critics and fans, and was responsible for bringing Slayer to the attention of a mainstream metal audience. Today, it is often mentioned among the greatest heavy metal records ever. In their 2017 listing of the 100 Greatest Metal albums of all time, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Reign in Blood at #6. Alongside Anthrax's Among the Living, Megadeth's Peace Sells... but Who's Buying?, and Metallica's Master of Puppets, Reign in Blood helped define the sound of the emerging US thrash metal scene in the mid-1980s, and has remained influential since. The album was Slayer's first to enter the US Billboard 200, peaking at number 94, and was certified Gold on November 20, 1992. In 2013, NME ranked it at number 287 in its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. (Full article...)
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Bizet photographed by Étienne Carjat (1875)

Georges Bizet (né Alexandre César Léopold Bizet; 25 October 1838 – 3 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, Carmen, which has become one of the most popular and frequently performed works in the entire opera repertoire.

During a brilliant student career at the Conservatoire de Paris, Bizet won many prizes, including the prestigious Prix de Rome in 1857. He was recognised as an outstanding pianist, though he chose not to capitalise on this skill and rarely performed in public. Returning to Paris after almost three years in Italy, he found that the main Parisian opera theatres preferred the established classical repertoire to the works of newcomers. His keyboard and orchestral compositions were likewise largely ignored; as a result, his career stalled, and he earned his living mainly by arranging and transcribing the music of others. Restless for success, he began many theatrical projects during the 1860s, most of which were abandoned. Neither of his two operas that reached the stage in this time—Les pêcheurs de perles and La jolie fille de Perth—were immediately successful. (Full article...)
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"Nothing to My Name" (Chinese: 一无所有) is a 1986 Mandarin-language rock song by Cui Jian. It is widely considered Cui's most famous and most important work, and one of the most influential songs in the history of the People's Republic of China, both as a seminal point in the development of Chinese rock music and as a political sensation. The song was an unofficial anthem for Chinese youth and activists during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre.

Both in its lyrics and instruments, the song mixes traditional Chinese styles with modern rock elements. In the lyrics, the speaker addresses a girl who is scorning him because he has nothing. However, the song has also been interpreted as being about the dispossessed youth of the time, because it evokes a sense of disillusionment and lack of individual freedom that was common among the young generation during the 1980s. (Full article...)
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Lennon in 1969

John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 1940 – 8 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who gained worldwide fame as the founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's work included music, writing, drawings, and film. His songwriting partnership with Paul McCartney remains the most successful in history.

Born in Liverpool, Lennon became involved in the skiffle craze as a teenager. In 1956, he formed The Quarrymen, which evolved into the Beatles in 1960. Sometimes called "the smart Beatle", Lennon initially was the group's de facto leader, a role he gradually ceded to McCartney. Through his songwriting in the Beatles, Lennon embraced a myriad of musical influences, initially writing and co-writing rock and pop-oriented hit songs in the band's early years, then later incorporating experimental elements into his compositions in the latter half of the Beatles' career as his songs became known for their increasing innovation. Lennon soon expanded his work into other media by participating in numerous films, including How I Won the War, and authoring In His Own Write and A Spaniard in the Works, both collections of nonsense writings and line drawings. Starting with "All You Need Is Love", his songs were adopted as anthems by the anti-war movement and the larger counterculture of the 1960s. In 1969, he started the Plastic Ono Band with his second wife, the multimedia artist Yoko Ono, held the two-week-long anti-war demonstration Bed-ins for Peace, and left the Beatles to embark on a solo career. (Full article...)
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Silent Alarm is the debut studio album by English rock band Bloc Party. Recorded in Copenhagen and London in mid-2004 with Paul Epworth as producer, it was released on 2 February 2005, by Wichita Recordings. The album peaked at number three on the UK Albums Chart. In the United States, it entered the Billboard 200 at number 114 and the Billboard Independent Albums at number seven. The double A-side "So Here We Are/Positive Tension", "Banquet" and "The Pioneers" were released as singles. Silent Alarm went on to achieve worldwide sales of over one million copies.

Bloc Party aimed to create an album that appealed to followers of different musical genres. Building on the arrangements in their demo songs recorded in 2004, the band members moulded tracks largely through live takes during the Silent Alarm studio sessions. The compositional focus was on rhythm and the drum and bass parts, while lyricist Kele Okereke's writing examined the feelings and hopes of young adults, including views on global politics. Following the album's completion, Bloc Party embarked on promotional tours before its release. (Full article...)
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Song of Innocence is the debut album by American composer and producer David Axelrod. It was released in October 1968 by Capitol Records. In an effort to capitalize on the experimental climate of popular music at the time, Axelrod composed the album as a suite-like tone poem interpreting Songs of Innocence, a 1789 illustrated collection of poems by William Blake. Recording took place at Capitol Studios in Los Angeles with an orchestra and studio musicians from the Wrecking Crew collective, including keyboardist and conductor Don Randi, guitarist Al Casey, bassist Carol Kaye, and drummer Earl Palmer.

An instrumental jazz fusion record, Song of Innocence incorporates elements of classical, rock, funk, pop, and theatre music. Axelrod arranged the music for bass, drums, and string instruments, composing in a rock idiom with tempos centered on such rhythms played by Palmer. He used contrast in his orchestral compositions, interspersing their euphoric psychedelic R&B structures with dramatic, harrowing arrangements to reflect the supernatural themes found in Blake's poems. The resulting music's reverent, psychedelic overtones have been interpreted as evoking the poet's themes of innocence and spirituality. (Full article...)
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Tool performing in 2022

Tool is an American rock band from Los Angeles. Formed in 1990, the group's line-up includes vocalist Maynard James Keenan, guitarist Adam Jones and drummer Danny Carey. Justin Chancellor has been the band's bassist since 1995, replacing its original bassist Paul D'Amour. Tool has won four Grammy Awards, performed worldwide tours, and produced albums topping the charts in several countries.

To date, the band has released five studio albums, one EP and one box set. It emerged with a heavy metal sound on their first studio album, Undertow (1993), and became a dominant act in the alternative metal movement with the release of their follow-up album Ænima in 1996. The group's efforts to combine musical experimentation, visual arts, and a message of personal evolution continued with Lateralus (2001) and 10,000 Days (2006), gaining critical acclaim and international commercial success. Its fifth studio album Fear Inoculum was released on August 30, 2019, to widespread critical acclaim. Prior to its release, the band had sold more than 13 million albums in the US alone. (Full article...)

Did you know (auto-generated) -

... that the Guns N' Roses debut studio album Appetite for Destruction was recorded at a recording studio founded by 1970s pop duo Captain & Tennille?
... that to promote the Buffalo Club, Rising Tide Records sent packages of plastic buffalo to music industry executives in Nashville?
... 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 Castle Recording Laboratory, Nashville's first commercial recording studio, was established in a repurposed hotel banquet room?
... that Lisa Nishimura started out in the music industry before producing Netflix documentaries including Chef's Table and Making a Murderer?
... that the death of NME music journalist Dele Fadele was not known within the music industry for more than two years after the fact?

Born this day

Birthdays in Music: October 25

Terumasa Hino, Japanese trumpeter, turns 81.
Taffy Danoff, (nee Taffy Nivert) American folk singer of Starland Vocal Band , turns 79.
Jon Anderson, American lead vocalist of Yes, turns 79.
Marilyn Middleton Pollock, American guitarist and vocalist, turns 76.
Glenn Tipton, Brit lead guitarist for Judas Priest, turns 75.
Chris Norman, Brit singer with Smokie, turns 73.
Richard Lloyd (guitarist), American guitarist with Television, turns 72.
Matthias Jabs, German guitarist with Scorpions, turns 68.
Robin Eubanks, American trombonist, turns 68.

Franck Amsallem, Algerian pianist, turns 62.
Chad Smith, American drummer with Red Hot Chili Peppers, turns 61.
John Levén, Swedish bassist for Europe, turns 60.
Nick Thorpe, Brit bassist with jazz fusion band, Curiosity Killed the Cat, turns 58.
Speech, (born Todd Thomas) American rapper with Arrested Development, turns 55.
Paul Kotheimer, American singer-songwriter, turns 55.
Nicole (German singer), German Schlager vocalist, turns 54.
Ed Robertson, Canadian guitarist for Barenaked Ladies, turns 53.
Athena Chu, Hong Kong actress and singer, turns 52.
Midori Goto, Japanese violinist, turns 52.
Eman Lam, Hong Kong actress and singer of at17, turns 41.
Katy Perry, (born Katheryn Hudson) American pop rock singer-songwriter and actress, turns 39.
Sara Lumholdt, Swedish musician for A-Teens, turns 39.
Ciara, (born Ciara Harris) American R&B singer, turns 38.
Didi Benami, (born Vered Benami) American singer and former American Idol contestant, turns 37.
Austin Peralta, American jazz pianist, turns 33.

Chrissy Amphlett (Record production, 1960–April 21 , 2013), Australian vocalist and one-half of new wave music duo, Divinyls, would have turned 63 this year.
Helen Reddy (Record production, 1942 –September 29, 2020), Australian actress and pop music vocalist, would have turned 81 this year.
Jeanne Black (Record production, 1937 –October 23, 2014), (or Gloria Black) American countrypolitan singer; scored a hit with "He'll Have to Stay", would have turned 86 this year.
Barbara Cook (Record production, 1927 –August 08, 2017), American actress and singer, would have turned 96 this year.
Jimmy Heath (Record production, 1926 –January 19, 2020), American tenor saxophonist, would have turned 97 this year.
Galina Vishnevskaya (Record production, 1926 –December 11, 2012), Russian soprano, would have turned 97 this year.
Earl Palmer (Record production, 1924 –September 19, 2008), American drummer and tap dancer, would have turned 99 this year.
Don Banks (Record production, 1923 –September 05, 1980), Australian composer, would have turned 100 this year.
Chubby Jackson (Record production, 1918 –October 01, 2003), American bass player, would have turned 105 this year.
Dave Dallwitz (Record production, 1914 –March 23, 2003), Australian composer and pianist, would have turned 109 this year.
Minnie Pearl (Record production, 1912 –March 04, 1996), (nee Sarah Colley) comedienne and singer, would have turned 111 this year.
Kasper Malone (Record production, 1909 –May 30, 2005), American clarinettist, would have turned 114 this year.
Reuben Reeves (Record production, 1905 –September 08, 1975), American trumpeter, would have turned 118 this year.
Eddie Lang (Record production, 1902 –March 26, 1933), American jazz guitarist, would have turned 121 this year.
Edmond "Doc" Souchon (Record production, 1897 –August 24, 1968), American guitarist and writer, would have turned 126 this year.
Alexander Gretchaninov (Record production, 1864 –January 03, 1956), Russian romantic music composer, would have turned 159 this year.
Georges Bizet (Record production, 1838 –June 03, 1875), French composer and pianist, would have turned 185 this year.
Johann Strauss II (Record production, 1825 –June 03, 1899), Austrian composer, would have turned 198 this year.

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

Selected albums -

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

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Loyalty to Loyalty is the second studio album by American indie rock band Cold War Kids. It was released on September 23, 2008, by Downtown Records.

Following the success of their debut album Robbers & Cowards and spending the rest of 2007 touring across North America and Europe, the band started recording new material for their next album over the course of four months. Taking its title from the paper of the same name by American philosopher Josiah Royce, Loyalty to Loyalty carries a darker tone than its previous album by having a more experimental sound throughout and songs that deal with philosophies and politics, including suicide, crisis of faith, public security and job satisfaction. (Full article...)
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Fingerprints: The Best of Powderfinger, 1994–2000 is a greatest hits album by Australian alternative rock band Powderfinger, released on 30 October 2004 in Australia.

The album contained tracks from Powderfinger's first four albums, as well as two previously unreleased songs, "Bless My Soul" and "Process This". "Bless My Soul" was also released as a single. On 17 February 2009, Fingerprints was released in the United States with an alternate track listing including more recent songs and discarding older songs to align with releases that had previously been released in the US. The album was released on the back of the band's success on the TV show Grey's Anatomy, which featured two songs from the album Dream Days at the Hotel Existence. (Full article...)
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House of Rufus is a collection of six studio albums, two live albums (one being a double album), four additional albums of previously unreleased material, and six DVDs recorded by Canadian-American singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright, reissued as a 19-disc box set in the United Kingdom on July 18, 2011. Wainwright's official site claimed that the collection "spans Rufus' entire career and represents the most complete collection of Rufus Wainwright recordings to date."

The box set's title commemorates his five-night residency of the same name at London's Royal Opera House during July 18–23, 2011. Only 3,000 copies were produced for worldwide distribution. The collection contains "hard-to-find" tracks and is encased in a red velvet-covered book. While some reviewers questioned the need for such an extensive collection, critical reception of the box set was mostly positive. (Full article...)
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Act 1: Eternal Sunshine (The Pledge) is the debut mixtape by American rapper Jay Electronica, self-published onto MySpace on July 2, 2007. The mixtape plays as one 15-minute track, sampling five different tracks of American record producer Jon Brion's 2004 film score, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. The mixtape covers a range of themes and subjects, including hip hop, Islam, and unidentified flying objects. It is notable for its lack of drums.

The mixtape features a spoken word opening from Jay Electronica's frequent collaborators Just Blaze and Erykah Badu. Jay Electronica began recording Act 1: Eternal Sunshine (The Pledge) with his built-in laptop microphone before completing it in Detroit. It has received critical acclaim for its experimentation and has since been described as Jay Electronica's breakout project. A follow-up album titled Act II: Patents of Nobility (The Turn) leaked on October 4, 2020, but his debut album, A Written Testimony was released instead in 2020, nearly thirteen years later. (Full article...)
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Halfway to Sanity is the 10th studio album by the American punk rock band Ramones, and their last album to feature drummer Richie Ramone. It was produced by Daniel Rey and released on September 15, 1987, by Sire Records. Recording sessions began that April at Intergalactic Studios in New York City, with the band recording instruments before vocals in order to learn songs more quickly. It fared well on charts outside the United States, but peaked at No. 172 on the Billboard 200.

The band members disagreed on many things during the album's production, and producer Rey described them as impatient. The band toured the world following the album's release, but certain show dates were cancelled after Richie left the band due to financial conflicts with Johnny. The band hired Blondie drummer Clem Burke (who took the pseudonym "Elvis Ramone") for two shows, until Marky Ramone returned. (Full article...)
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Magna Carta Holy Grail (alternatively written and stylized as Magna Carta... Holy Grail) is the twelfth studio album by American rapper Jay-Z. It was made available at first for free digital download for Samsung customers via the Jay-Z Magna Carta app on July 4, 2013. It was released for retail sale on July 8, 2013 by Roc Nation, Roc-A-Fella, and Universal Music Distribution, as well as the final release by Roc-A-Fella before the label was shuttered. The album features guest appearances by Justin Timberlake, Nas, Rick Ross, Frank Ocean and Beyoncé. Most of the album was produced by Timbaland and Jerome "J-Roc" Harmon, while other producers included Boi-1da, Mike Will Made It, Hit-Boy, Mike Dean, No I.D., The-Dream, Swizz Beatz, and Pharrell Williams among others. The album was promoted through various commercials presented by Samsung and was not preceded by any retail singles.

The album spawned three successful singles, "Holy Grail", "Tom Ford" and "Part II (On the Run)" featuring Beyoncé. Multiple other songs on the album achieved chart success including, "FuckWithMeYouKnowIGotIt", "Oceans", "Heaven" and "Picasso Baby". Additionally, the album was supported by three concert tours: Legends of the Summer (co-headlined with Justin Timberlake), Magna Carter World Tour and On the Run Tour (co-headlined with his wife Beyoncé). (Full article...)
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Alesta is the third studio album recorded by Romanian recording artist Alexandra Stan. It was released both digitally and physically on 9 March 2016 through Victor Entertainment as a follow-up to Unlocked (2014). To achieve her desired sound, Stan collaborated with several producers on the record, including Andreas Schuller, Thomas Troelsen, Sebastian Barac and Marcel Botezan. The singer also took part at a music camp organized by Marius Moga, where she further worked on material featured on the album. Musically, Alesta, a dance record, draws influence from ethnic, Eastern and Western European music. Lyrically, Stan confessed during an interview with Cosmopolitan that every recording "[tells] a different story".

Upon its release, Alesta debuted and peaked at number 34 on the Japanese Oricon Albums Chart. Five tracks from the album were released as singles, with "We Wanna"—a collaboration with Inna and Daddy Yankee—reaching the top 60 in several countries. "I Did It, Mama!" was accompanied by a controversial music video, and experienced commercial success in her native country. Fellow singles "Balans", "Écoute" and "9 Lives" portrayed featurings with Swedish-Congolese singer Mohombi, Romanian band Havana and Bulgarian reggae performer Jahmmi, respectively. To promote Alesta, Stan embarked on a two-week venue in Japan, while appearing in many interviews and media coverages there. (Full article...)
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Nostalgia, Ultra (stylized as nostalgia,ULTRA. and occasionally nostalgia/ultra) is the debut mixtape by American singer-songwriter Frank Ocean. It was released on February 16, 2011. Ocean was inspired to make the mixtape after Hurricane Katrina in his native New Orleans and his subsequent relocation to Los Angeles. After joining alternative hip hop group Odd Future in 2009, he self-released the mixtape, without initial promotion. Nostalgia, Ultra has a unique R&B aesthetic and features surreal themes and nostalgic lyrics. The songs mostly focus on interpersonal relationships, personal reflection, and social commentary. Following its release, the mixtape received rave reviews from music critics. The cover features a picture of a bright orange BMW E30 M3, Ocean's "dream car", in plain sight amidst lush greenery.

In May 2011, Def Jam announced its plans to release the mixtape as an EP on July 26, 2011. However, the release of the EP was indefinitely delayed in July 2011 and has since been cancelled. Two singles were released from the aborted EP version: "Novacane", and "Swim Good". Both songs received music videos directed by Australian director Nabil Elderkin. Ocean embarked on a solo concert tour through North America and Europe to promote the record, playing a total of 7 shows. In addition, his 2012 performance at the Coachella Music Festival included several live renditions from the release including "Strawberry Swing" and "Lovecrimes". (Full article...)
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Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s is a music reference book by American music journalist and essayist Robert Christgau. A follow-up to Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), it was published in October 1990 by Pantheon Books.

The guide compiles approximately 3,000 capsule album reviews, most of which were originally written by Christgau for his monthly "Consumer Guide" column in The Village Voice through the 1980s. It covers a variety of genres and musical developments from the decade, which are given an overview in his introductory essays. Further insight is also given into his grading criteria. (Full article...)
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El Concierto (English: The Concert) is the second live album by Mexican recording artist Luis Miguel, released on 17 October 1995 by WEA Latina. It was recorded from his performances at the National Auditorium in Mexico and at the José Amalfitani Stadium in 1994 during his Segundo Romance Tour. The album features live covers of José Alfredo Jiménez's songs ("Si Nos Dejan", "Amanecí en Tus Brazos", and "El Rey"), which were previously unreleased. The first two songs were released as singles, the former reaching number one on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart and the latter peaking at number three on the same chart.

Upon its release, El Concierto received generally favorable reviews from critics, who praised its production, Miguel's vocals, and his renditions of Jiménez's rancheras. The album peaked at number two on the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart and both the album and video were certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. It topped the Argentine Albums Chart and the album was certified 4× platinum by CAPIF. The record also reached number two on the Chilean Albums Chart and achieved diamond status in the country and double platinum in Mexico, Platinum in Paraguay, and Uruguay. The album sold over two million copies within a year of its release. El Concierto won the Eres award for Album of the Year and received a nomination for Pop Album of the Year at the 1996 Lo Nuestro Awards. (Full article...)
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Party Never Ends is the third studio album recorded by Romanian singer Inna, released on 4 March 2013 by Roton, and re-issued on 14 October 2014, by Atlantic Records in the US. The singer collaborated with several producers on the record, including DJ Frank E, Orange Factory, Steve Mac, Lucas Secon, DJ Smash and Play & Win. Party Never Ends has been described as approaching dance music and its subgenres, with influences varying from Latin, hip hop and house to electropop, salsa and dubstep. The Times of India gave the album a mixed review; while commending some tracks, other were deemed passable or mediocre.

Commercially, Party Never Ends charted at number 88 on the Japanese Oricon album chart and at number 10 on Mexico's AMPROFON chart, while selling 6,967 copies in Japan as of June 2013. Six tracks from the record were released as singles, of which "More than Friends" experienced widespread commercial success. Additionally, five promotional singles were also made available. To promote Party Never Ends, Inna embarked on tours in Mexico and the United States. Her outfits were inspired by Mexican culture and Mexican painter Frida Kahlo. During promotional endeavors, she appeared in several television programmes and radio stations. (Full article...)
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Endgame (sometimes stylised as ENDGAME) is the twelfth studio album by American thrash metal band Megadeth. It was produced by Dave Mustaine and Andy Sneap and released through Roadrunner Records on September 15, 2009. Endgame was the first album to feature guitarist Chris Broderick, following Glen Drover's departure in 2008, and was the band's last studio album with bassist James LoMenzo until he rejoined after 2022's The Sick, The Dying, and The Dead, as original bassist David Ellefson rejoined the band several months after Endgame was released.

There are eleven tracks on the album, with lyrics inspired by subjects ranging from The Lord of the Rings and the Great Recession of 2008, to insanity, torture and crime. Two singles were released from the album: "Head Crusher" and "The Right to Go Insane"; the former was nominated for "Best Metal Performance" at the 2010 Grammy Awards. Endgame entered the Billboard 200 at number nine, and reached number one on the U.S. Top Hard Rock Albums chart. As of April 2011 it has sold about 150,000 copies in the U.S. The album received positive reviews from music critics, and was thought to continue the success of the band's previous album, United Abominations (2007). In 2009, it won two Metal Storm Awards: Best Thrash Metal Album and Biggest Surprise. It was also awarded Best Album in Burrn! magazine's 2009 Readers' Poll. (Full article...)

General images -

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

Image 1The 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 2Korg D888 eight-track digital recorder (from Multitrack recording)
Image 3The Siemens Studio for Electronic Music c. 1956. (from Recording studio)
Image 4Mixing desk with twenty inputs and eight outputs (from Multitrack recording)
Image 5A Mexican son jarocho singer recording tracks at the Tec de Monterrey studios (from Recording studio)
Image 6Donna Summer wearing headphones during a recording session in 1977 (from Recording studio)
Image 7The TEAC 2340, a popular early (1973) home multitrack recorder, four tracks on ¼ inch tape (from Multitrack recording)
Image 8Danny Knicely records with Furnace Mountain Band in Virginia (2012) (from Recording studio)
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)
Image 10An audio production facility at An-Najah National University (from Recording studio)
Image 11Engineers and producers watch a trumpet player from a window in the control room during a recording session. (from Recording studio)
Image 12Control room at the Tec de Monterrey, Mexico City Campus (from Recording studio)
Image 13Neve VR60, a multitrack mixing console. Above the console are a range of studio monitor speakers. (from Recording studio)
Image 14The studio at Ridge Radio in Caterham, England (from Recording studio)
Image 15Hip 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 16A selection of instruments at a music studio, including a grand piano (from Recording studio)
Image 17Allen & Heath GS3000 analog mixing console in a home studio (from Recording studio)
Image 18Scully 280 eight-track recorder at the Stax Museum of American Soul Music (from Multitrack recording)

Featured lists -

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

Image 1
Johnny Cash, pictured performing with his band The Tennessee Three, had a long-running number one with "Ring of Fire".

Hot Country Songs is a chart that ranks the top-performing country music songs in the United States, published by Billboard magazine. In 1963, 10 different singles topped the chart, at the time published under the title Hot Country Singles, although there were 21 distinct runs at the top, as the majority of the singles had multiple spells at number one. Chart placings were based on playlists submitted by country music radio stations and sales reports submitted by stores.

In the issue of Billboard dated January 5, Marty Robbins climbed to number one with "Ruby Ann", replacing "Don't Let Me Cross Over" by Carl Butler and Pearl, which had been in the top spot in the last issue of 1962. Robbins only held the number one position for a single week before the husband-and-wife duo returned to the top of the chart. "Don't Let Me Cross Over" had three separate runs at number one during the early part of the year, the last of which lasted for eight weeks, but it would be the only chart-topper of the duo's career. Separating the song's three runs in the top spot during the spring of 1963 were two spells at number one for "The Ballad of Jed Clampett" by Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, the first song in the bluegrass genre to top the chart. The song, the theme from television sitcom "The Beverly Hillbillies", was the only number one for the duo. In May, "Lonesome 7-7203" by Hawkshaw Hawkins topped the chart, his first and only single to reach number one. This was a posthumous success for the singer, who had died in a plane crash two months earlier. Later in the year, both George Hamilton IV and Ernest Ashworth achieved their first Hot Country number ones. (Full article...)
Image 2
Pee Wee King ended the year at number one on all three charts.

In 1951 Billboard magazine published three charts covering the best-performing country music songs in the United States: Most-Played Juke Box (Country & Western) Records, Best-Selling Retail Folk (Country & Western) Records and Country & Western Records Most Played By Folk Disk Jockeys. The juke box chart was compiled based on a "weekly survey among a selected group of jukebox operators whose locations require country and western records", the best sellers chart based on a "survey among a selected group of retail stores, the majority of whose customers purchase country and western records", and the jockeys chart based on a "weekly survey among a select list of over 400 disk jockeys specializing in country and western tunes". The juke box chart would be discontinued in 1957 and the other two charts merged in 1958 to form a multimetric chart, which has been published weekly since that date and since 2005 has been entitled Hot Country Songs.

In the first issue of Billboard of 1951, each chart had a different number one, although two were by the same artist. Lefty Frizzell was atop both the juke box and jockeys charts, with "If You've Got the Money I've Got the Time" and "I Love You a Thousand Ways" respectively, while the best sellers chart was headed by Hank Snow with "The Golden Rocket". During the year, each of the three charts had a song spend more than ten consecutive weeks at number one: Frizzell had an unbroken run of eleven weeks in the top spot of the best sellers chart with "Always Late (with Your Kisses)" and had a similar run at number one on the jockeys chart with "I Want to Be with You Always". The longest run at number one on any of the charts, however, was the fourteen consecutive weeks which Tennessee Ernie spent atop the juke box chart with "Shotgun Boogie". Frizzell reached number one for the first time in late 1950 and achieved five chart-toppers within 18 months, but soon afterwards his chart performance began to decline, his career suffering in part due to issues in his personal life. He was the only artist with four number-one country songs in 1951; Snow and Eddy Arnold each had three. Hank Williams had two number ones on the jockeys chart, but none on either of the other two charts. (Full article...)
Image 3
The Grammy Award for Best Rock Song is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality songs in the rock music genre. Honors in several categories are presented at the ceremony annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position".

The award, reserved for songwriters, was first presented to English musician Sting in 1992. According to the category description guide for the 52nd Grammy Awards, the award honors new songs (containing both melody and lyrics) or songs "first achieving prominence" during the period of eligibility. Songs containing prominent samples or interpolations are not eligible. (Full article...)
Image 4
Faron Young topped the chart in the fall with "Country Girl".

Hot Country Songs is a chart that ranks the top-performing country music songs in the United States, published by Billboard magazine since 1958, when the magazine amalgamated its separate C&W Best Sellers in Stores and Most Played C&W by Jockeys charts. In 1959, eleven different songs topped the chart, then published under the title Hot C&W Sides, in 52 issues of the magazine, based on playlists submitted by country music radio stations and sales reports submitted by stores.

At the start of the year the song at number one was "City Lights" by Ray Price. The song had been in the top spot since the issue of Billboard dated October 20, 1958, the first in which the magazine combined country sales and airplay into a single chart, and remained at number one until the issue dated January 19, 1959. Four artists achieved a number one country single for the first time in 1959: Johnny Horton with "When It's Springtime in Alaska (It's Forty Below)", George Jones with "White Lightning", which replaced Horton's song at number one, Stonewall Jackson with "Waterloo", and the Browns with "The Three Bells". Of these, Jones would prove to have the most prolific career, topping the Hot Country chart in four consecutive decades. At the time of his death in 2013, he had placed more singles on Billboard's charts than any other artist in any genre. (Full article...)
Image 5
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...)
Image 6
The duo Montgomery Gentry topped the chart for the first time in 2004.

Hot Country Songs is a chart that ranks the top-performing country music songs in the United States, published by Billboard magazine. In 2004, 21 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 SoundScan.

Singer Kenny Chesney's song "There Goes My Life" was at number one at the start of the year, having been at the top since the issue of Billboard dated December 20, 2003. It remained at number one for the first five weeks of 2004 before being replaced by "Remember When" by Alan Jackson. The highest total number of weeks spent at number one by a song in 2004 was seven, achieved by "Live Like You Were Dying" by Tim McGraw, which was ranked number one on Billboards year-end chart of the most popular country songs. As the song's seven weeks at the top were split into two separate spells, however, the longest unbroken run at the top was five weeks, achieved by three different songs, two of which were by Chesney: "There Goes My Life" and "When the Sun Goes Down", the latter a collaboration with Uncle Kracker. The third song with a five-week run at the top was "Redneck Woman" by Gretchen Wilson. ('Full article...)
Image 7
Moldovan group Carla's Dreams (member pictured in 2018) was the most-successful act on the Airplay 100 in the 2010s with nine number-one singles.

The Airplay 100 was the national music chart of Romania until its cancellation upon its 28 November 2021 issue. It was compiled weekly by broadcast monitoring service Media Forest, and measured the airplay of songs on radio stations and television channels throughout the country. Since its launch on 26 February 2012, the Airplay 100 had been broadcast on-air each Sunday as a radio show on Kiss FM hosted by Cristi Nitzu. The chart replaced the Romanian Top 100, which was also based on airplay data and had a similar compilation, in 2012.

During the 2010s and early 2020s, 118 singles have reached the number-one position, the first being "Ai Se Eu Te Pego" in 2012 by Brazilian singer Michel Teló. "Astronaut in the Ocean" (2019) by Australian rapper Masked Wolf has spent 13 weeks at the summit, longer than any other song. Multiple artists reached number one with several singles in a calendar year, most notably Moldovan musical project Carla's Dreams with four in 2016—"Te rog", "Sub pielea mea", "Acele" and "Imperfect". The most successful act was Carla's Dreams with nine number ones, followed by Romanian recording artist Smiley with four. (Full article...)
Image 8
Beyoncé's "Irreplaceable" was the best-performing single of the year, topping the Top Hot 100 Hits of 2007.

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 2007, 17 singles reached the top spot on the chart. An 18th single, Beyoncé's "Irreplaceable", began a run at the top in 2006 which continued into 2007.

In 2007, eight acts achieved their first US number-one single, either as a lead artist or featured guest: Mims, Avril Lavigne, Maroon 5, T-Pain, Yung Joc, Plain White T's, Sean Kingston, and Soulja Boy Tell 'Em. Producer Timbaland earned his first number-one single as lead artist with "Give It to Me"; he had previously appeared as featured guest on singer Nelly Furtado's number-one single "Promiscuous". T-Pain, Justin Timberlake, Nelly Furtado and Fergie each earned two number-one singles, either as a lead artist or featured guest. (Full article...)
Image 9
Keith Whitley, who died the previous year, had a posthumous number one in January 1990 with "It Ain't Nothin'".

Hot Country Songs is a chart that ranks the top-performing country music songs in the United States, published by Billboard magazine. In 1990, 24 different songs topped the chart in 52 issues of the magazine. The chart was published under the title Hot Country Singles through the February 10 issue and Hot Country Singles & Tracks thereafter. With effect from the January 20 issue, Billboard discontinued its longstanding methodology of compiling the chart based on playlists submitted by country music radio stations and sales reports submitted by stores and instead began basing the chart on weekly airplay data from radio stations compiled by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems.

At the start of the year, the number one song on the chart was Highway 101's "Who's Lonely Now", which had been at the top of the chart since the issue of Billboard dated December 30, 1989. It remained in the top spot for one further week in 1990 before being replaced by "It Ain't Nothin'" by Keith Whitley. This was the second of two posthumous number ones for Whitley, who had died in May of the previous year. Three months later, Whitley's widow Lorrie Morgan topped the chart for the first time with "Five Minutes". Other artists who topped the chart for the first time in 1990 were Travis Tritt, who spent one week at number one with "Help Me Hold On", and Joe Diffie, who reached number one with his debut single "Home". (Full article...)
Image 10
American Idol winner Carrie Underwood spent eleven weeks at the top of the chart in 2006.

Hot Country Songs is a chart that ranks the top-performing country music songs in the United States, published by Billboard magazine. In 2006, 23 different songs topped the chart in 52 issues of the magazine, based on weekly airplay data from country music radio stations compiled by Nielsen SoundScan.

The number one song at the start of the year was "Must Be Doin' Somethin' Right" by Billy Currington, which had reached number one in the issue of Billboard dated December 31, 2005, and remained at the top until the issue dated January 14 when it was replaced by "She Let Herself Go" by George Strait. This gave Strait his 40th number one, tying the record held by Conway Twitty for the highest number of Hot Country Songs number ones. Strait returned to the top spot in September with "Give It Away" to take the record outright. (Full article...)

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