Portal:Record production

Portal topics: Activities; Culture; Geography; Health; History; Mathematics; Nature; People; Philosophy; Religion; Society; Technology; Random portal

The Record Production Portal

Noted audio engineer Roger Nichols at a vintage Neve recording console

P:RECORD

This portal is focused on music production within the era of written records through sound recordings, digital downloads, and beyond. Its scope includes articles that document the considerations and mechanisms used by, and consistent with, the purview of the production element. As an art form, music predates transcription and simultaneously transcends descriptive limitations. As an industry, music has demonstrated consistent viability over time. The record producer conjoins these potential, and serves as a broker to bridge the demand (spawned by their aspirations) with supply and satisfaction. The results are measurable and attributable, derived from effort and skillful application of craft, to a manifestation of the art in its melodic form. (Read more)

The music industry consists of the individuals and organizations that earn money by writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling recorded music and sheet music, presenting concerts, as well as the organizations that aid, train, represent and supply music creators. Among the many individuals and organizations that operate in the industry are: the songwriters and composers who write songs and musical compositions; the singers, musicians, conductors, and bandleaders who perform the music; the record labels, music publishers, recording studios, music producers, audio engineers, retail and digital music stores, and performance rights organizations who create and sell recorded music and sheet music; and the booking agents, promoters, music venues, road crew, and audio engineers who help organize and sell concerts. (Read more)

Refresh with new selections below (purge)

Featured articles - load new batch

Featured articles are displayed here, which represent some of the best content on English Wikipedia.

Image 1
Portrait by Ernest Walter Histed, c. 1906
Sir Henry Joseph Wood (3 March 1869 – 19 August 1944) was an English conductor best known for his association with London's annual series of promenade concerts, known as the Proms. He conducted them for nearly half a century, introducing hundreds of new works to British audiences. After his death, the concerts were officially renamed in his honour as the "Henry Wood Promenade Concerts", although they continued to be generally referred to as "the Proms".

Born in modest circumstances to parents who encouraged his musical talent, Wood started his career as an organist. During his studies at the Royal Academy of Music, he came under the influence of the voice teacher Manuel García and became his accompanist. After similar work for Richard D'Oyly Carte's opera companies on the works of Arthur Sullivan and others, Wood became the conductor of a small operatic touring company. He was soon engaged by the larger Carl Rosa Opera Company. One notable event in his operatic career was conducting the British premiere of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin in 1892. (Full article...)
Image 2
Loveless (stylized in lowercase) is the second studio album by the Irish-English rock band My Bloody Valentine. It was released on 4 November 1991 in the United Kingdom by Creation Records and in the United States by Sire Records. The album was recorded between February 1989 and September 1991, with vocalist and guitarist Kevin Shields leading sessions and experimenting with guitar vibrato, non standard tunings, digital sampling, and meticulous production methods. The band recorded at nineteen different studios and hired several engineers during the album's prolonged recording, with its final production cost rumoured to have reached £250,000 (equivalent to £560,000 in 2024).

Preceded by the EPs Glider (1990) and Tremolo (1991), Loveless reached number 24 on the UK Albums Chart and was widely praised by critics for its sonic innovations and Shields' "virtual reinvention of the guitar". However, after its release, Creation owner Alan McGee dropped the band from the label as he found Shields too difficult to work with, a factor alleged to have contributed to the label's eventual bankruptcy. My Bloody Valentine struggled to record a follow-up to the album and broke up in 1997, making Loveless their last full-length release until their eventual reunited effort m b v in 2013. (Full article...)
Image 3
Joseph Szigeti

Joseph Szigeti (Hungarian: Szigeti József, [ˈsiɡɛti ˈjoːʒɛf]; 5 September 1892 – 19 February 1973) was a Hungarian violinist.

Born into a musical family, he spent his early childhood in a small town in Transylvania. He quickly proved himself to be a child prodigy on the violin, and moved to Budapest with his father to study with the renowned pedagogue Jenő Hubay. After completing his studies with Hubay in his early teens, Szigeti began his international concert career. His performances at that time were primarily limited to salon-style recitals and the more overtly virtuosic repertoire; however, after making the acquaintance of pianist Ferruccio Busoni, he began to develop a much more thoughtful and intellectual approach to music that eventually earned him the nickname "The Scholarly Virtuoso". (Full article...)
Image 4
Joy Division were an English post-punk band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist, guitarist and lyricist Ian Curtis, guitarist and keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris.

Sumner and Hook formed the band after attending a June 1976 Sex Pistols concert. While Joy Division's first recordings were heavily influenced by early punk rock, they soon developed a sparse sound and style that made them one of the pioneering groups of the post-punk genre. Their self-released 1978 debut EP An Ideal for Living drew the attention of the Manchester television personality Tony Wilson, who signed them to his independent label Factory Records. Their debut album Unknown Pleasures, recorded with producer Martin Hannett, was released in 1979. (Full article...)
Image 5
Mother's Milk is the fourth studio album by American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, released on August 16, 1989 by EMI Records. After the death of founding guitarist Hillel Slovak and the subsequent departure of drummer Jack Irons, vocalist Anthony Kiedis and bassist Flea regrouped with the addition of guitarist John Frusciante and drummer Chad Smith. Frusciante's influence altered the band's sound by placing more emphasis on melody than rhythm, which had dominated the band's previous material. Returning producer Michael Beinhorn favored heavy metal guitar riffs as well as overdubbing. Frusciante perceived Beinhorn's taste as excessive, and as a result, the two constantly fought over the album's guitar sound.

Mother's Milk was a greater commercial success than the band's first three albums, peaking at number 52 on the US Billboard 200. It received widespread airplay for the three singles which are the cover of Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground", "Knock Me Down" and "Taste the Pain", and it became their first gold record in early 1990. Although it was not met with the same positive critical reception that its predecessor The Uplift Mofo Party Plan (1987) had garnered, Mother's Milk was the first step for the band in achieving international success and, according to Amy Hanson of AllMusic, "turned the tide and transformed the band from underground funk-rocking rappers to mainstream bad boys with seemingly very little effort." (Full article...)
Image 6
Tragic Kingdom is the third studio album by American rock band No Doubt, released on October 10, 1995, by Trauma Records and Interscope Records. It was the final album to feature original keyboardist Eric Stefani, who left the band in 1994. The album was produced by Matthew Wilder and recorded in 11 studios in the Greater Los Angeles area between March 1993 and October 1995. Between 1995 and 1998, seven singles were released from it, including "Just a Girl", which charted on the Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart; and "Don't Speak", which topped the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay and reached the top five of many international charts.

The album received mostly positive reviews from music critics and became the band's most commercially successful album, reaching number one on the Billboard 200 as well as topping the charts in Canada and New Zealand. At the 39th Annual Grammy Awards, No Doubt earned nominations for Best New Artist and Best Rock Album. It has sold over 16 million copies worldwide, and was certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in the United States and Canada, platinum in the United Kingdom, and triple platinum in Australia. Tragic Kingdom helped to initiate the ska revival of the 1990s, persuading record labels to sign more ska bands and helping them to attract more mainstream attention. The album was ranked number 441 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. (Full article...)
Image 7
Fearless is the second studio album by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. She wrote the majority of the album while touring in 2007–2008 and produced it with Nathan Chapman.

Inspired by Swift's adolescence, Fearless explores love and heartbreak using references to her personal life and fairy tale–inspired lyrical imagery. It features co-writing credits from Liz Rose, Hillary Lindsey, Colbie Caillat, and John Rich. A country pop album, Fearless features acoustic arrangements driven by a wide variety of string instruments such as banjos, fiddles, mandolins, and electric guitars. Its songs follow the standard verse–chorus–bridge form with dynamic bridges and choruses. The elements of pop, folk, and rock of Fearless led to some critics arguing against its categorization as a country album. (Full article...)
Image 8
Maxinquaye is the debut album by English rapper and producer Tricky, released on 20 February 1995 by 4th & B'way Records, a subsidiary of Island Records. In the years leading up to the album, Tricky had grown frustrated with his limited role in the musical group Massive Attack and wanted to pursue an independent project. Shortly after, he met with vocalist Martina Topley-Bird, who he felt would offer a wider vision to his music, and signed a solo contract with 4th & B'way in 1993. Tricky recorded Maxinquaye the following year primarily at his home studio in London, with Topley-Bird serving as the album's main vocalist, while Alison Goldfrapp, Ragga and Mark Stewart performed additional vocals.

With assistance from fellow producer Mark Saunders, Tricky used dub music techniques and heavily altered samples taken from a variety of sources to produce Maxinquaye. Its resulting groove-oriented downbeat, hazy and fragmented sound incorporates elements from hip hop, soul, rock, ambient techno, reggae and experimental music. Tricky's lyrics throughout the album explore themes of cultural decline, dysfunctional sexual relationships, fear of intimacy and recreational drug use, as he drew on his experiences in British drug culture and the influence of his late mother Maxine Quaye, after whom the album is titled. (Full article...)
Image 9
Faryl is the debut album by British mezzo-soprano Faryl Smith, released on 9 March 2009 by Universal Classics and Jazz. Smith rose to fame after her appearance on the second series of Britain's Got Talent and signed with Universal after the competition. The album was recorded during December 2008 and January 2009 and features the track "River of Light", a song set to The Blue Danube with new lyrics. Faryl was produced by Jon Cohen, and the backing music was provided by a 60-piece orchestra. As part of the album's promotion, Smith made numerous television and radio appearances and filmed a music video for "River of Light". Around this time, she met with then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown at 10 Downing Street.

After its release, Faryl became the fastest-selling classical solo album in British chart history, selling 20,000 copies in the first four days, and a total of 29,200 copies in the first week, more than any other debut album of a classical singer. Faryl entered the UK Albums Chart at number 6, rising to number 4 the next week, and was the third album by a Britain's Got Talent contestant to reach the top ten in Britain. Smith subsequently embarked on a promotional tour in the US to publicise the album, where it reached number 6 on the classical chart. (Full article...)
Image 10
"One Tree Hill" is a song by Irish rock band U2 and the ninth track on their 1987 album The Joshua Tree. In March 1988, it was released as the fourth single from the album in New Zealand and Australia, while "In God's Country" was released as the fourth single in North America. "One Tree Hill" charted at number one on the New Zealand Singles Chart and was the country's second-most-successful hit of 1988.

The track was written in memory of Greg Carroll, a New Zealander the band first met in Auckland during the Unforgettable Fire Tour in 1984. He became very close friends with lead singer Bono and later served as a roadie for the group. Carroll was killed in July 1986 in a motorcycle accident in Dublin. After Carroll's tangi (funeral) in New Zealand, Bono wrote the lyrics to "One Tree Hill" in his memory. The lyrics reflect Bono's thoughts at the tangi and during his first night in New Zealand when Carroll took him up Auckland's One Tree Hill. They also pay homage to Chilean singer-songwriter and activist Víctor Jara. Musically, the song was developed in a jam session with producer Brian Eno. The vocals were recorded in a single take, as Bono felt incapable of singing them a second time. (Full article...)
Image 11
"My Happiness" is a song by Australian rock band Powderfinger. It was released via record label Universal Music Australia in August 2000 as the first single from the band's fourth album, Odyssey Number Five. Powderfinger frontman Bernard Fanning wrote the lyrics for "My Happiness" as a reflection on the time the band spent touring to promote their work, and the loneliness that came as a result. It was inspired by his love of gospel and soul music. The rest of the band are co-credited with Fanning for composing the track. Despite its melancholy mood, "My Happiness" is considered by many to be a love song, a suggestion Fanning regards as mystifying.

"My Happiness" is Powderfinger's highest charting single; it peaked at number four on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart, number seven on the New Zealand Singles Chart, and number 23 on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart—the first Powderfinger song to do so, making it their most successful single in the US. In June 2020, the song was certified 5× Platinum in Australia. It won an ARIA Award and an APRA Award and topped the Triple J Hottest 100 in 2000 as well as coming 27th in the Triple J Hottest 100 of All Time in 2009. "My Happiness" was highly praised by critics, with even negative reviews of Odyssey Number Five noting it as a highlight, especially for its catchy chorus. One of the highlights of Powderfinger's United States tour with Coldplay was a performance of "My Happiness" on the Late Show with David Letterman; they were only the fourth Australian act to appear on the show. (Full article...)
Image 12

Side A of retail US single

"Like a Rolling Stone" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on July 20, 1965, by Columbia Records. Its confrontational lyrics originated in an extended piece of verse Dylan wrote in June 1965, when he returned exhausted from a grueling tour of England. Dylan distilled this draft into four verses and a chorus. "Like a Rolling Stone" was recorded a few weeks later as part of the sessions for the forthcoming album Highway 61 Revisited.

During a difficult two-day preproduction, Dylan struggled to find the essence of the song, which was demoed without success in ³
₄ time. A breakthrough was made when it was tried in a rock music format, and rookie session musician Al Kooper improvised the Hammond B2 organ riff for which the track is known. Columbia Records was unhappy with both the song's length at over six minutes and its heavy electric sound, and was hesitant to release it. It was only when, a month later, a copy was leaked to a new popular music club and heard by influential DJs that the song was put out as a single. Although radio stations were reluctant to play such a long track, "Like a Rolling Stone" reached No. 2 in the US Billboard charts (No. 1 in Cashbox) and became a worldwide hit. (Full article...)

More featured articles

Did you know (auto-generated) - load new batch

... that according to Billboard magazine, Laufey created a blueprint for jazz music in the modern music industry and helped push it back into the mainstream?
... that when Divine's song "Lately" topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 1998, it became the first number-one single for the performers, the songwriters, the producers, and the record labels?
... that to promote the Buffalo Club, Rising Tide Records sent packages of plastic buffalo to music industry executives in Nashville?
... that until the release of the documentary Predator: The Secret Scandal of J-Pop, sexual abuse claims involving record producer Johnny Kitagawa went widely unreported in Japanese media?
... that one critic interpreted a SZA song as being about her fears about the growing influence of AI in the music industry?

Born this day

Birthdays in Music: November 15

Petula Clark, Brit singer and actress, turns 92.
Rick Kemp, Brit bassist with Steeleye Span, turns 83.
Daniel Barenboim, Argentine-born pianist and conductor, turns 82.
Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Swedish pop music singer with ABBA, turns 79.
Steve Fossen, American bassist with Heart, turns 75.
Neil Swainson, Canadian bass player, turns 69.
Michael Hampton, American guitarist with Funkadelic, turns 68.
Kevin Eubanks, American jazz guitarist, turns 67.
Joe Leeway, Brit percussionist for Thompson Twins, turns 67.
E-40, (born Earl Stevens) American rapper, turns 57.
DJ Rolando, American disc jockey, turns 54.
Jack Ingram, country music singer, turns 54.
Chad Kroeger, Canadian guitarist and vocalist with Nickelback, turns 50.
Ace Young, American singer-songwriter and actor, turns 44.
Dan Trapp, American drummer, Senses Fail, turns 38.

Ol' Dirty Bastard (Record production, 1968 –November 13, 2004), American rapper with the Wu-Tang Clan, a musical collective, would have turned 56 this year.
Little Willie John (Record production, 1937 –May 26, 1968), American R&B singer, would have turned 87 this year.
Pete Welding (Record production, 1935 –November 17, 1995), American music producer, would have turned 89 this year.
Clyde McPhatter (Record production, 1932 –June 13, 1972), American vocalist with The Drifters, would have turned 92 this year.
Ike Turner (Record production, 1931 –December 12, 2007), American musician and 2001 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, would have turned 93 this year.
C. W. McCall (Record production, 1928–April 01, 2022), American country music singer and songwriter, would have turned 96 this year.
Seldon Powell (Record production, 1928 –January 25, 1997), American tenor saxophonist, would have turned 96 this year.
Eddie Harvey (Record production, 1925–October 09, 2012), (born Edward Thomas Harvey) Brit trombonist, would have turned 99 this year.
Jurriaan Andriessen (Record production, 1925 –August 23, 1996), Dutch composer, would have turned 99 this year.
Jerome Richardson (Record production, 1920 –June 20, 2000), American saxophonist and piccolo player, would have turned 104 this year.
Curtis Lowe (Record production, 1919 –October 29, 1993), American baritone saxophonist, would have turned 105 this year.
Jack Towers (Record production, 1915–December 23, 2010), American audio engineer, would have turned 109 this year.
Conrad Johnson (Record production, 1915–February 03, 2008), American saxophonist, would have turned 109 this year.
Gus Johnson (jazz musician) (Record production, 1913 –February 06, 2000), American drummer, would have turned 111 this year.
Mantovani (Record production, 1905 –March 29, 1980), Italian easy listening conductor/entertainer, would have turned 119 this year.
Achille Joseph Baquet (Record production, 1885 –November 20, 1956), American clarinetist, would have turned 139 this year.

List of musical events • Anniversaries • More birthdays...

Selected albums - load new batch

These are all Good articles, which meet a core set of high editorial standards.

Image 1
Jack Johnson (also known as A Tribute To Jack Johnson on reissues) is a studio album and soundtrack by the American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader Miles Davis. It was released on February 24, 1971, by Columbia Records.

The album was conceived by Davis for Bill Cayton's documentary of the same name, on the life of boxer Jack Johnson. Its two 25-minute-plus tracks were produced from recordings made on February 18 and April 7, 1970, at 30th Street Studio in New York City. Davis was inspired by the political and racial subtext of Johnson's saga as well as the hard rock and funk sounds of his own era, leading a rock-inspired line-up of musicians in the studio: guitarists John McLaughlin and Sonny Sharrock, keyboardists Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea, bass clarinetist Bennie Maupin, electric bassist Michael Henderson, and drummers Jack DeJohnette and Billy Cobham. (Full article...)
Image 2
Tago Mago is the second studio album by the German krautrock band Can, originally released as a double LP in August 1971 on United Artists Records. It was the band's first full studio album to feature vocalist Damo Suzuki after the departure of Malcolm Mooney the year prior, though Suzuki had been featured on most tracks on the 1970 compilation album Soundtracks. Recorded at Schloss Nörvenich, a medieval castle near Cologne, the album features long-form experimental tracks blending rock and jazz improvisation, funk rhythms, and musique concrète tape editing techniques.

Tago Mago has been described as Can's best and most extreme record in sound and structure. The album has received widespread critical acclaim and is cited as an influence by various artists. Ned Raggett of AllMusic called it "not merely one of the best Krautrock albums of all time, but one of the best albums ever, period." (Full article...)
Image 3
Rock 'n' Roll is the sixth and final solo studio album by English musician John Lennon. Released in February 1975, it is an album of rock and roll songs from the late 1950s and early 1960s as covered by Lennon. Recording the album was troubled and spanned an entire year: Phil Spector produced sessions in October 1973 at A&M Studios, and Lennon produced sessions in October 1974 at the Record Plant (East). Lennon was being sued by Morris Levy over copyright infringement of one line in his Beatles song "Come Together". As part of an agreement, Lennon had to include three Levy-owned songs on Rock 'n' Roll. Spector disappeared with the session recordings and was subsequently involved in a motor accident, leaving the album's tracks unrecoverable until the beginning of the Walls and Bridges sessions. With Walls and Bridges coming out first, featuring one Levy-owned song, Levy sued Lennon expecting to see Lennon's Rock 'n' Roll album.

The album reached number 6 in both the United Kingdom and the United States, later being certified gold in both countries. It was supported by the single "Stand by Me", which peaked at number 20 in the US, and 30 in the UK. The cover photo was taken by Jürgen Vollmer during the Beatles' stay in Hamburg. It was to be Lennon's last solo album; with no recording contract obligation, he was on hiatus from the music business to raise his son Sean. Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono staged a comeback with their joint release Double Fantasy in 1980. (Full article...)
Image 4
Christmas Queens 2 is a holiday compilation album by various artists. It was released by Producer Entertainment Group on November 11, 2016. Consisting of 30 tracks, the album is a sequel to Christmas Queens (2015) and features RuPaul's Drag Race contestants alongside Jackie Beat, Michelle Visage, and Carnie Wilson performing mostly original material; exceptions include ensemble covers of "Deck the Halls" and "Auld Lang Syne, as well as Visage's rendition of "O Holy Night". The compilation was promoted by a music video for "Working Holiday", which features Alaska Thunderfuck and Manila Luzon, a web series entitled Christmas Queens, and a tour by various artists with December 2016 shows in the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States. It received mixed reviews from music critics and peaked at number two on Billboard's Comedy Albums chart. (Full article...)
Image 5
Ki (/ˈkiː/ KEE) is the eleventh studio album by Canadian musician Devin Townsend, and the first album in the Devin Townsend Project series. The album was released on May 25, 2009, on Townsend's independent record label HevyDevy Records.

Townsend, the founder, songwriter, and frontman of extreme metal band Strapping Young Lad and progressive metal group The Devin Townsend Band, dissolved both bands in 2006 to spend time with his family and avoid the burnout of touring and interviewing. After a period of self-discovery and a year-long break from songwriting, Townsend began work on a four-album series to clarify his identity as a musician. Ki includes themes of self-control and sobriety, and is musically subtler than much of the artist's previous work, consisting of ambient rock music interlaced with tentative bursts of heavy metal. (Full article...)
Image 6
Stay Trippy is the third solo studio album by American rapper Juicy J. The album was released on August 27, 2013, by Kemosabe Records and Columbia Records. The album was Juicy J's first solo album since distancing himself from Three 6 Mafia and joining Wiz Khalifa's Taylor Gang Records, who makes three appearances on the album.

Stay Trippy's production was handled between 2011 and 2013 by producers such as Juicy J himself, Mike Will Made It, Cirkut, Lex Luger, Sap, Supa Dups, ID Labs, Timbaland and Young Chop, among others. The album also features additional guest appearances from Justin Timberlake, Chris Brown, Lil Wayne, 2 Chainz, The Weeknd, ASAP Rocky, Wale, Trey Songz, Young Jeezy, Big Sean, Pimp C, Trina, Yelawolf and Project Pat. (Full article...)
Image 7
Life of Pi is a 2012 adventure-drama film directed and produced by Ang Lee and written by David Magee. Based on Yann Martel's 2001 novel, it stars Suraj Sharma in his film debut, Irrfan Khan, Tabu, Rafe Spall, Gérard Depardieu and Adil Hussain in lead roles. The storyline revolves around two survivors of a shipwreck who are on a lifeboat stranded in the Pacific Ocean for 227 days. One is a sixteen-year-old Indian boy named Pi Patel (Suraj Sharma) and the other is a ferocious Bengal tiger named Richard Parker.

The film began development shortly after the release of the book and would see directors M. Night Shyamalan, Alfonso Cuarón and Jean-Pierre Jeunet involved at various stages before the hiring of Lee. Filming was split between India, Taiwan and Montreal in 2011, with Rhythm & Hues Studios (R&H) handling the visual effects work. (Full article...)
Image 8
It Was Written is the second studio album by American rapper Nas, released on July 2, 1996, by Columbia Records. After the modest commercial success of his debut album Illmatic (1994), Nas pursued a more polished, mainstream sound for It Was Written. Produced largely by Trackmasters, it departed from the debut's raw, underground aesthetic and embraced mafioso and gangsta themes.

The album was a commercial success, selling 270,000 copies in its first week and debuting at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, while receiving mostly positive reviews. It also heralded Nas's mainstream popularity and contributed to the rise of mafioso rap. However, Nas's more commercial sound fostered accusations of selling out within the hip hop community, and its critical standing suffered with comparisons to the acclaimed Illmatic. (Full article...)
Image 9
The Division Bell is the 14th studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 28 March 1994 by EMI Records in the United Kingdom and on 5 April by Columbia Records in the United States.

The second Pink Floyd album recorded without the founding member Roger Waters, The Division Bell was written mostly by the guitarist and singer, David Gilmour, and the keyboardist, Richard Wright. It features Wright's first lead vocal on a Pink Floyd album since The Dark Side of the Moon (1973). Gilmour's fiancée, the novelist Polly Samson, co-wrote many of the lyrics, which deal with themes of communication. It was the last Pink Floyd studio album to be composed of entirely new material, and the last recorded with Wright, who died in 2008. (Full article...)
Image 10
Never Let Me Down is the seventeenth studio album by the English musician David Bowie, released on 21 April 1987 through EMI America Records. Co-produced by Bowie and David Richards and featuring guitarist Peter Frampton, the album was recorded in Switzerland and New York City from September to November 1986. Bowie's goal for the project was to record it differently following his disappointment with 1984's Tonight. Musically, Never Let Me Down has been characterised as pop rock, art rock and hard rock; Bowie himself considered the record a return to rock and roll music. The cover artwork features Bowie surrounded by numerous elements from the songs.

Released with different runtimes on vinyl and CD, Never Let Me Down was commercially successful, reaching the UK top 10; its three singles all reached the UK top 40. Despite this, the album was poorly received by fans and was met with negative reviews from critics, with most criticising the "overblown" production. Bowie supported it on the Glass Spider Tour, a world tour that was at that point the biggest, most theatrical and elaborate tour of his career. The tour, like the album, was commercially successful but critically panned. The critical failure of the album and tour were factors that led Bowie to look for a new way to motivate himself creatively, leading him to create the rock band Tin Machine in 1989; he did not release another solo album until Black Tie White Noise in 1993. (Full article...)
Image 11
Britney Spears: In the Zone is the sixth video album and first extended play (EP) by American singer Britney Spears. It was released on April 6, 2004, by Jive Records, accompanying her fourth studio album, In the Zone (2003).

Britney Spears: In the Zone contains her American Broadcasting Company (ABC) concert special of the same title, as well as footage from live performances to promote In the Zone. Its DVD also includes the accompanying music videos for "Me Against the Music" and "Toxic", while its four-track CD includes previously unreleased tracks. Upon its release, the video received mixed reviews from critics. It debuted atop the US Top Music Videos and was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). (Full article...)
Image 12
Zaireeka is the eighth studio album by the American rock band the Flaming Lips, released on October 28, 1997, by Warner Bros. Records. The album consists of four CDs designed so that when played simultaneously on four separate audio systems, they would produce a harmonic or juxtaposed sound; the discs could also be played in different combinations, omitting one, two or three discs. Each of its eight songs consists of four stereo tracks, one from each CD. The album's title is a portmanteau of two words: Zaire, chosen as a symbol of anarchy after Wayne Coyne heard a radio news story about the political instability of the African nation (which, at the time, was undergoing the transition from the Mobutu dictatorship to a democratic regime which would result in the country restructuring itself as the Democratic Republic of the Congo), and Eureka (literally: "I have found it"), an expression of joyous discovery.

Zaireeka was the first album by the band after the departure of guitarist Ronald Jones. It acted as a preview of the music and style that would surface on the next album The Soft Bulletin (1999), which was recorded during the same sessions as Zaireeka, and is the predecessor to the band's more conventional surround sound releases. (Full article...)

More selected albums

General images - load new batch

The following are images from various record production-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Mixing desk with twenty inputs and eight outputs (from Multitrack recording)
Image 2Engineers and producers watch a trumpet player from a window in the control room during a recording session. (from Recording studio)
Image 3Korg D888 eight-track digital recorder (from Multitrack recording)
Image 4A selection of instruments at a music studio, including a grand piano (from Recording studio)
Image 5The TASCAM 85 16B analog tape multitrack recorder can record 16 tracks of audio on 1-inch (2.54cm) magnetic tape. Professional analog units of 24 tracks on 2-inch tape were common, with specialty tape heads providing 16 or even 8 tracks on the same tape width, for greater fidelity. (from Multitrack recording)
Image 6Scully 280 eight-track recorder at the Stax Museum of American Soul Music (from Multitrack recording)
Image 7Neve VR60, a multitrack mixing console. Above the console are a range of studio monitor speakers. (from Recording studio)
Image 8Digital audio interface for the Pro Tools computer-based hard disk multitrack recording system. Digital audio quality is measured in data resolution per channel. (from Multitrack recording)
Image 9The studio at Ridge Radio in Caterham, England (from Recording studio)
Image 10Home studio setup (from Recording studio)
Image 11Control room at the Tec de Monterrey, Mexico City Campus (from Recording studio)
Image 12Danny Knicely records with Furnace Mountain Band in Virginia (2012) (from Recording studio)
Image 13The TEAC 2340, a popular early (1973) home multitrack recorder, four tracks on ¼ inch tape (from Multitrack recording)
Image 14The Siemens Studio for Electronic Music c. 1956. (from Recording studio)
Image 15Hip hop producer and rapper RZA in a music studio with two collaborators. Pictured in the foreground is a synthesizer keyboard and a number of vinyl records; both of these items are key tools that producers and DJs use to create hip hop beats. (from Hip hop production)
Image 16Donna Summer wearing headphones during a recording session in 1977 (from Recording studio)

Featured lists - load new batch

Featured lists have been determined by the Wikipedia community to be the best lists on English Wikipedia.

Image 1
The Grammy Award for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical is an honor presented to producers for quality remixed recordings at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Honors in several categories are presented at the ceremony annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position".

The award was first presented as the Grammy Award for Remixer of the Year, Non-Classical at the 40th Grammy Awards in 1998 to Frankie Knuckles. While the award was under this name, it was presented without specifying a work; when it shifted to its current name in 2002 works were named. According to the category description guide for the 52nd Grammy Awards, the award is presented "to recognize an individual(s) who takes previously recorded material and adds or alters it in such a way as to create a new and unique performance". The prize is given to the remixer(s), not the original artist(s). (Full article...)
Image 2
The Grammy Award for Best Music Video is an accolade presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to performers, directors, and producers of quality short form music videos. Honors in several categories are presented at the ceremony annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position".

Originally called the Grammy Award for Best Video, Short Form, the award was first presented in 1984, as was a similar award for Best Long Form Music Video. From 1986 to 1997, the category name was changed to Best Music Video, Short Form. However, in 1988 and 1989, the award criteria were changed and the video awards were presented under the categories Best Concept Music Video and Best Performance Music Video. The awards were returned to the original format in 1990. The category was called Best Short Form Music Video until 2012, from 2013 it was shortened to Best Music Video. Award recipients include the performers, directors, and producers associated with the winning videos, except for its first two years when the Grammy went to the performing artist only. For unknown reasons, the award for the Best Music Video in 1987 - Brothers in Arms by Dire Straits - went to the band only, not to the director(s) and/or producer(s). (Full article...)
Image 3
Waylon Jennings had the longest-running number one of 1977.

Hot Country Songs is a chart that ranks the top-performing country music songs in the United States, published by Billboard magazine. In 1977, 31 different singles topped the chart, which was at the time published under the title Hot Country Singles, based on playlists submitted by country music radio stations and sales reports submitted by stores.

Waylon Jennings spent the most weeks at number one, with eight, including a run of six weeks at the top with "Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love)"; no single since 1967 had spent longer at number one. Crystal Gayle and Dolly Parton came closest to Jennings's total number of weeks at number one, each spending five weeks in the top spot. Parton's time at number one comprised a five-week run with "Here You Come Again", the second-longest running chart-topper of 1977, in the issues of Billboard dated December 3 through December 31. Conway Twitty was the only artist to take three different songs to the top of the chart. Thanks to the prevalence of crossover-friendly country pop, several country number ones of 1977 also charted highly on Billboard's all-genres singles chart, the Hot 100, including Glen Campbell's "Southern Nights", which reached number one on the Hot 100 in the issue of Billboard dated April 30, the second time that Campbell had taken a song to the top of both charts. Crystal Gayle's "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue" reached number 2 on the Hot 100 and Dolly Parton's "Here You Come Again" made number 3. (Full article...)
Image 4
MercyMe recorded seven number-one singles during the decade including "Word of God Speak", the longest-running number-one single of the decade.

The Christian Songs chart is a record chart compiled by Billboard magazine. Launched on June 21, 2003, the chart was ranked during the decade by overall audience impressions (the approximate number of audience impressions made for each play, as determined by BDS data cross-referenced with Arbitron listener information). While the chart covers all Christian radio formats, it is dominated by Christian adult contemporary (Christian AC) radio stations, which cater to a mostly adult audience. As opposed to Christian stations that cater to young audiences, Christian AC stations tend to play hits often and for long periods. As a result, number-one singles on the Christian Songs chart often had lengthy stays at the top position.

During the 2000s, 44 singles reached the number one position on the Christian Songs chart. MercyMe was the most successful group, with seven of their singles topping the chart during the 2000s. The band's "Word of God Speak" was the longest-running number one single of the 2000s, having spent a total of 23 non-consecutive weeks atop the chart. Casting Crowns spent the longest time atop the chart during the decade, as their six number one singles spent a combined total of 62 weeks at the summit. Out of the 44 singles that hit the number-one position during the 2000s, 15 singles spent two separate runs atop the chart. Three singles ("Word of God Speak", "My Savior My God", and "Cry Out to Jesus") returned to the top position for three distinct runs. Nineteen artists recorded number-one singles during the decade. The first number-one single of the 2000s on the chart was Third Day's "You Are So Good to Me", which led the chart's debut week of June 21, 2003, and seven consecutive weeks afterward; the final number-one single was TobyMac's "City On Our Knees", which led the chart for the final eleven weeks of the 2000s, and continued to lead into 2010. (Full article...)
Image 5
Erskine Hawkins and his orchestra had the year's longest-running chart-topper.

In 1943, Billboard magazine published a chart ranking the "most popular records in Harlem" under the title of the Harlem Hit Parade. Placings were based on a survey of record stores primarily in the Harlem district of New York City, an area noted for its African American population which has been called the "black capital of America". The chart is considered to be the start of the lineage of the magazine's multimetric R&B chart, which since 2005 has been published under the title Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs.

Most of 1943's number ones were in the jazz and swing genres, which were among the most popular styles of music in the early 1940s. The year's longest-running chart-topper was "Don't Cry Baby" by Erskine Hawkins and his Orchestra, which spent a total of 14 non-consecutive weeks atop the chart between August and December. Two acts each achieved the feat of topping the chart with three different songs. Lucky Millinder and his Orchestra topped the listing with "When the Lights Go On Again", "Apollo Jump" and "Sweet Slumber", which was the final number one of 1943. Duke Ellington and his Famous Orchestra reached the top spot with "Don't Get Around Much Anymore", "A Slip of the Lip (Can Sink a Ship)" and "Sentimental Lady". The latter two songs were the two sides of the same record, but Billboard listed each in the number-one position for one week. Ellington's recording of "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" was one of two versions of the song to top the chart during 1943; the Ink Spots also reached number one with a vocal version of the track. Ellington had originally composed and recorded the track in 1940 as an instrumental with the title "Never No Lament", but it was re-titled and re-released after other artists recorded a vocal version with lyrics written by Bob Russell. (Full article...)
Image 6
Pianist Ludovico Einaudi spent 54 weeks at number one on the Official Classical Singles Chart, longer than any other artist.

The Official Classical Singles Chart was a record chart based on downloads and streaming of classical music in the United Kingdom. Each week's chart was compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC) and was first published on Monday afternoon on their official website. The chart ran for 140 weeks from 2012 to 2015, during which time a total of 23 singles by 22 artists reached number one. The most successful artist was the Italian pianist Ludovico Einaudi, who topped the chart with three singles for a total of 54 weeks, while the most successful record label was Decca Records, which spent 89 weeks at number one with six singles. Einaudi's track "I Giorni" from his album of the same name spent 51 weeks at number one, longer than any other single. In January 2013, following the release of Einaudi's album In a Time Lapse, singles by the pianist accounted for 13 of the Top 20 on the Official Classical Singles Chart. Martin Talbot, managing director of the OCC, described him as one of the chart's "biggest and most consistent stars".

Singles would often top the chart as a result of exposure in popular media, including films such as Fifty Shades of Grey, The Dark Knight Rises and Man of Steel. In July 2012, a rendition of Spem in alium by the Tallis Scholars topped the chart following its usage in Fifty Shades of Grey. E. L. James, author of the original novel on which the film was based, said that she was delighted that her readers had been introduced to the piece of music, and that it was a "deserved number one". Three weeks later, the London Symphony Orchestra reached number one after their version of "Chariots of Fire" by Vangelis was used in the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony. Three of the top five singles on that week's chart were related to the 2012 Summer Olympics. (Full article...)
Image 7
The UK Singles Chart is the official record chart in the United Kingdom. Record charts in the UK began life in 1952 when Percy Dickins from New Musical Express (NME) imitated an idea started in American Billboard magazine and began compiling a hit parade. Prior to this, a song's popularity was measured by the sales of sheet music. Initially, Dickins telephoned a sample of around 20 shops asking for a list of the 10 best-selling songs. These results were then aggregated to give a Top 12 chart published in NME on 14 November 1952. The number-one single was "Here in My Heart" by Al Martino.

According to The Official Charts Company and Guinness' British Hit Singles & Albums, the NME is considered the official British singles chart before 10 March 1960. However, until 15 February 1969, when the British Market Research Bureau chart was established, there was no universally accepted chart. Other charts existed and different artists may have placed at number one in charts by Record Mirror, Disc or Melody Maker. Alternatively, some considered the BBC's Pick of the Pops, which averaged all these charts, to be a better indicator of the number-one single. (Full article...)
Image 8
Westlife had 11 No. 1 singles between 2000 and 2009, including a cover of Phil Collins' "Against All Odds", which they released as a duet with Mariah Carey in 2000

The UK singles chart is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC) on behalf of the British record industry. In the 2000s the chart week ran from Sunday to Saturday, and the top 40 singles were revealed each Sunday on BBC Radio 1. At the start of the decade, before the advent of legal music downloads, it was based entirely on sales of physical singles from retail outlets, but in 2005 permanent downloads began to be included in the chart compilation.

During the 2000s, 275 singles reached the No. 1 position on the chart, the most of any decade so far. Over this period, Westlife were the most successful group and music act at reaching the top spot, with 11 No. 1 singles. Rihanna and Jay-Z's song "Umbrella" spent 10 weeks at No. 1 in 2007, the longest spell at the top of the charts since Wet Wet Wet's 1994 hit "Love Is All Around", which topped the charts for 15 weeks. The Internet allowed music to be heard by vast numbers of people on social networking sites such as YouTube and Myspace; it also increased piracy. This and the introduction of the UK Singles Downloads Chart in 2004 led to a decrease in record sales and a reduction in the number of copies sold of a No. 1 record on the singles chart. Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" became the first song to reach the top of the charts based on downloads alone in 2006, remaining at No. 1 for nine consecutive weeks. (Full article...)
Image 9
Garth Brooks achieved four number ones in 1991.

Hot Country Songs is a chart that ranks the top-performing country music songs in the United States, published by Billboard magazine. In 1991, 30 different songs topped the chart, then published under the title Hot Country Singles & Tracks, in 52 issues of the magazine, based on weekly airplay data from country music radio stations compiled by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems.

George Strait's song "I've Come to Expect It from You" began the year at number one, having held the top position for the last four weeks of 1990. The next week, Garth Brooks achieved the first of his eventual four number ones of the year with his song "Unanswered Prayers". Brooks' four was the most number ones for the year by any act, though Alan Jackson and George Strait would each have three songs reach the top of the chart. Ricky Van Shelton reached number one twice as a solo performer, and once in collaboration with Dolly Parton on her song "Rockin' Years". Three songs spent three weeks each at the top of the chart, the most of any song for the year: "Down Home" by Alabama, "Don't Rock the Jukebox" by Alan Jackson, and "You Know Me Better Than That" by George Strait. (Full article...)
Image 10
Marty Robbins spent 10 weeks at number one with "Don't Worry".

Hot Country Songs is a chart that ranks the top-performing country music songs in the United States, published by Billboard magazine. In 1961, nine different singles topped the chart, which at the time was published under the title Hot C&W Sides, C&W being an abbreviation for country and western. Chart placings were based on playlists submitted by country music radio stations and sales reports submitted by stores.

Each of the nine number ones during the year was by a different artist. In the first issue of 1961, dated January 9,^[A] Johnny Horton reached number one with "North To Alaska", replacing Ferlin Husky's "Wings Of A Dove", the final chart-topper of 1960. Horton's single spent five weeks at number one before Husky's song returned to the top of the chart for two further weeks. "North to Alaska" was a posthumous number one for Horton, who had died in an automobile accident the previous November. Following Husky's spell in the top spot, Marty Robbins had the longest unbroken run at number one of the year, spending ten consecutive weeks atop the chart with "Don't Worry". Immediately after this run, Faron Young had a nine-week spell atop the listing with "Hello Walls", an early songwriting success for Willie Nelson, who would go on to be one of the most successful and celebrated singers in country music history. Despite continuing to chart regularly, Young would not reach number one again until 1972. (Full article...)