In just under one generation, we moved from appreciating albums as cohesive works to consuming individual tracks, and then to music becoming reduced to muzak: background noise for gaming, viral videos, or endless scrolling. Disappearing is music as an art in its own right, which commands sustained attention and deep engagement. A song’s success is... See more

Music has always adapted to the culture enabled by its dominant format . When radio was king, you needed to grab attention in the first 15 seconds or risk getting skipped. But radio DJs were gatekeepers who could champion unique picks to their taste if they believed in them. When Jay-Z and Kanye West 's “Otis” premiered in 2011, Funkmaster Flex... See more

I asked Abumrad what a traditional radio producer would make of his meticulously constructed bruup bruup fhewm fhewm . “They would say it’s insane,” he said. Early on, he had to deal with “radio people” who thought he was wasting time on “artsy-fartsy namby-pampy” technical distractions. “But do you want to know why ‘Radiolab’ has worked beyond... See more