Jon Matsumoto is a Recording Academy/GRAMMY.com contributor.
From Bob Dylan's protest songs in the '60s to Rage Against The Machine's leftist rants in the '90s, socially conscious music has often been celebrated for its boldness and progressive vision. In the early '90s, riot grrrl emerged as a vibrant feminist punk movement in the Pacific Northwest, led by bands such as Bikini Kill, the Butchies, Excuse 17, Heavens…
While South Korea is a vital part of the growing economic boom in Asia, the country of nearly 50 million people is exporting more than just consumer electronics and cars these days. Its native popular music, universally known as K-pop, is also finding a growing international audience in places such as the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and South…
As the music industry readies to turn the page on 2011, things are looking up, literally.Through August, cumulative album sales in the United States had increased 4.8 percent compared to the prior year. Interestingly, catalog album sales were up 3.5 percent, but sales of new releases were down 9.5 percent. And while physical album sales showed a 4 percent decline,…
(View the No One Knows About Persian Cats trailer.)In the '50s, Elvis Presley incurred the wrath of many critics for his then-risqué, hip-gyrating performances. In the late '70s and early '80s, the presence of Mohawk-wearing artists playing anti-authoritarian music led some alarmists to believe that punk rock would lead to the moral decline of Western civilization.With rock and punk having…
It's shaping up to be quite the year for GRAMMY-nominated multi-instrumentalist Nils Lofgren. In April Lofgren was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, a rare distinction for a backing group. The induction underscored how valuable the E Street Band has been to Springsteen's timeless music and live performances.Lofgren…
Welcome to Forgotten Videos. For some, these videos are forgotten, for others just filed away, and for others still, a totally brand-new discovery. Whichever category you fall into, each week we'll feature a video that's possibly been collecting dust when what it really deserves is a fresh look. Or vice-versa. … We're not here to judge, we just want to…
With the unemployment rate in the United States at or above 9 percent since 2009, there are plenty of examples of Americans struggling to find work or pay bills. But for music fans immersed in the suddenly red-hot world of dance/electronica music, it might be hard to tell that the United States is still in the midst of a recession.This…
