popular music

"From Carolina Soul Records, . . . comes . . . [a] guide to every aspect of online record collecting in the digital era"--Provided by publisher.

"This title focuses on the history of Latin music and gives detailed information related to its origins and fun facts about superstars spanning from Tito Puente to Shakira"--Provided by publisher.

When an unknown Billie Eilish put her 14-year-old voice to some lyrics strung together by her older brother back in 2015, a stunning tidal wave of rave reviews and life-changing reactions quickly followed, catapulting the talented teen to the front of the line of industry-changing superstars. A lover of singing and dancing growing up in Southern California, Eilish was asked by her dance instructor to write and record a song that he could choreograph a routine around for an upcoming recital. When Finneas, her high school band-playing brother, handed over "Ocean Eyes" because he thought it would be a good fit for his sister, he proved to be spot on. Her magical voice melted into the life-changing words and produced a musical masterpiece still marveled about and cherished all these years later. Eilish recorded the three-minute and twenty-second song with her brother's helping hand at the family home, and they plopped it on the streaming platform SoundCloud for her dance teacher to check out. By the following day, he wasn't the only one who was listening to it, loving it, and sharing it, as it had gone viral. A music discovery website that sifts through thousands of uploads searching for talented works came across it, took a liking to it, and fueled an already-growing interest by sharing it. Amid the flurry of fans flocking to check it out and listening to it again and again, the youngster's inbox was filling up with admiring, flattering, and inquiring emails. Attention-grabbing and transformative, the song propelled Eilish past all the obstacles and career-crushing rejections that tend to pile up on the hopes and dreams of wannabe singers and songwriters looking to gain entrance into the hard-to-crack music industry. It also turned all-important heads in the fancy high-rise offices of music executives, leading to crucial connections and meetings. These are all boxes that young singers with hopes of heading down the path to fame, fortune, and a career of entertaining crowds of fans around the world must check, and Eilish was doing so remarkably quickly. Before she blew out the candles on her 15th birthday cake, she was already trending toward superstardom with a manager and a publicist in tow and a rapidly ballooning fan base that was beginning to push streaming numbers into the stratosphere. Plus, she had already struck gold by scribbling her name on a deal with Darkroom/Interscope Records, a moment every teenager who has ever stood on a stage, held a microphone, and sang a lyric dreams of doing.

Presents a collection of chronologically arranged entries that provide descriptions of a wide range of musical artists that the authors believe people should hear, from Frank Sinatra to The Stone Roses, and more.

[An] exploration of the poetic power of popular songs, from Tin Pan Alley to the Beatles to Beyonce and beyond. Encompassing a century of recorded music, this pathbreaking book reveals the poetic artistry of popular songs. Pop songs are music first. They also comprise the most widely disseminated poetic expression of our time. Adam Bradley traces the song lyric across musical genres from early twentieth-century Delta blues to mid-century rock 'n' roll to today's hits.

Nickelodeon television star Ariana Grande gave the entertainment world its biggest jolt in years when her single The Way rolled out in March 2013. The stunning 3-minute and 46-second vocal masterpiece generated comparisons to the great Mariah Carey while announcing the twenty-year-old's arrival as a massive game-changer in the music industry. Music fans worldwide devoured the hit-a creative meshing of rhythm and blues and pop performed with rapper Mac Miller-which was roundly applauded by music critics everywhere. It debuted at No. 10 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 list, peaked at No. 9, and rocketed to the top spot on iTunes within seven hours of its release. Grande also became the first lead female artist to crack the Top 10 with her first Hot 100 appearance since Yael Naim back in 2008. The Way sold more than 120,000 digital downloads within the first 48 hours of its release, and with more than 215,000 copies sold in its opening week it nailed down the fourth-largest first-week sales figure of 2013, trailing only Katy Perry's Roar, Justin Timberlake's Suit & Tie, and One Direction's Best Song Ever. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has also certified it triple platinum. For the tireless, hard-working Grande, the hit put an exclamation point on countless hours of grinding long after the sun had set. While co-starring on the Nickelodeon cable TV network program Sam & Cat, she spent her time away from the production set in the recording studio piecing together the dozen songs that would eventually comprise her first album Yours Truly, which debuted at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart. The Way, the eighth track on the album, not only ignited her career but also put her in high demand. Near the end of May 2013 she appeared on popular daytime talk show The Ellen DeGeneres Show and delivered her first national performance of the song, and soon after appeared on the show Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. She joined Justin Bieber for three shows on his Believe Tour and then staged her own 11-city tour she dubbed The Listening Sessions for the intimate venues she chose.

"Provides . . . trivia about popular music and the music industry"--Provided by publisher.

Offered a spot at the Star Academy, one of the biggest K-pop companies, seventeen-year-old singer Alice Choy must navigate culture clashes, egos and extreme training practices to come out on top, despite the efforts of an influential blogger trying to tear her down.

"From one of the preeminent cultural critics of her generation, a radiant weave of memoir, criticism, and biography that tells the story of black women in music--from the Dixie Cups to Gladys Knight to Janet, Whitney, and Mariah-- as the foundational story of American pop"--.