Search results for

The recent settlement between New York's attorney general and Sony exposed schemes to boost airplay for certain artists. But the practice of payola has persisted from the days of Tin Pan Alley's "song pluggers."

If you're looking for unusual gift ideas, New York Times technology columnist David Pogue has picked out some off-beat gadgets, both practical and prankish.

For some musicians good song writing is elementary. For others it's elementary school. A CD called Kid Pan Alley collects tunes created in classrooms around the country and recorded by top Nashville artists, including Amy Grant.

Composers seem to equate villainy with the bass voice. All the better for Samuel Ramey, whose resonant low tones have thrilled opera audiences worldwide as he plays libertines, devils and scoundrels.

NPR's Ari Shapiro provides an update on the condition of the American twins evacuated from Ukraine earlier this week. The two were too small to move in the days after they were born into a war zone.

Families of victims killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting have reached an agreement that should end their lawsuit with the gunmaker that produced the murder weapon.

Scarlett Johansson is suing Disney for releasing Black Widow on streaming and in theaters at the same time, saying the simultaneous release breached her contract.

Arturo Sandoval's virtuosity is on full display in his newest album, Trumpet Evolution. On each of 19 songs, he imitates the style and technique of a great trumpeter who has come before him -- from Louis Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie to Miles Davis and Wynton Marsalis. NPR's Linda Wertheimer speaks with Sandoval about his musical tribute.

The Sundance Film Festival opens Thursday in Park City, Utah. But so far, festival organizers have largely ignored an independent film genre thriving in their backyard: Mormon cinema. As NPR's Howard Berkes reports, films with Mormon-centered themes fill a niche market, and some have won critical acclaim.

NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro plays the Sunday puzzle with puzzle master Will Shortz and puzzle winner Gail White.