The year that killed music (best and worst of 2025)
From big-ticket albums by Taylor and Gaga, to a revival of the stomp-clap revival – 2025 had it all, for better and for worse. Now that the year has come to a close, it's time to take a look back at t...
16 Dec 202547min
Why pop songwriters break the rules (ft. Amy Allen)
Grammy-winning songwriter Amy Allen joins NYU Steinhardt students live to trace her path from early pitch songs to co-writing some of the decade's defining hits. She explains why Halsey's "Without Me"...
12 Dec 202557min
How Sombr’s bedroom recordings became his biggest hits
Sombr went from crafting raw, reverb soaked songs alone in his Lower East Side bedroom to finding his life shifting in ways he never could have predicted across 2024 and 2025. His biggest tracks kept ...
9 Dec 202539min
"It’s a Hail Mary every time" (ft. Marc Rebillet)
When it comes to improvisational loop jams, few have gone as viral as Marc Rebillet. From his 2020 lockdown-era video “How to Funk in Two Minutes,” which features him wearing nothing but a bathrobe, t...
2 Dec 202551min
Quitting Spotify (ft. Deerhoof)
In June 2025, indie veterans Deerhoof scrubbed their entire catalog from the world’s dominant streaming platform. The catalyst wasn't low royalties, but Spotify co-founder Daniel Ek’s investment in AI...
25 Nov 202544min
Is there a Disney curse?: Demi, Selena, and Miley
This year, there were a few records that delivered less-than-optimal returns on either the Hot 100 or the Billboard 200 – and they all came from former Disney pop stars. Demi Lovato’s latest album p...
18 Nov 202548min
Rosalía's 'LUX' brings the symphony to the club
Spanish pop star Rosalía is back with her new album, Lux. Over eighteen tracks, she trades in the dembow beats that filled her last record Motomami for maximalist orchestral sounds more in line with B...
11 Nov 202544min
Lily Allen and Tate McRae revive the revenge anthem
They say the best revenge is living well, but if you’re a pop star going through a break up, that’s false. The best revenge is releasing a searing scorched-earth revenge banger that calls out your ex ...
4 Nov 202533min
