“The demo CD (or tape if you remember the golden days of the cassette) has long been a staple of promotion for aspiring musicians. A demo of your music can be anything from rough DIY live recordings to a selection of two or three professional recordings of your best songs. Although sometimes a well-composed, well-performed…

With the release of Rockstar Games’ new Grand Theft Auto V, the numbers have spoken volumes. Twenty four hours after its Sept. 17 release, the game had earned $800 million. In three days, it reached $1 billion in sales — making it the fastest selling piece of entertainment ever. As a highly anticipated sequel in…

As the heartbeat of almost every song in music today, the drums have to sound great in order to really give the song the punch it needs. Unfortunately most engineers and musicians, and even a surprising number of drummers, aren’t sure what makes drums sound the way they do. Of course tuning is most important…

It was only a matter of time before Hollywood saw the potential in creating a movie about dance music. Diplo has decided to pair up with David Katzenberg, son of DreamWorks Animation’s Jeffrey Katzenberg. David is most recognized for his work on MTV’s “Awkward” as well as MTV’s “The Hard Times of RJ Berger.”…

Russian authorities have refused to investigate the alleged threat made against jailed Pussy Riot member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova by the deputy head of the prison she was incarcerated in until recently. The local Mordovia division of country’s Investigative Committee said they had discovered no evidence of any wrong-doing, reports Billboard. Tolokonnikova was recently moved to a…

During his 35 years as chief music critic at the Los Angeles Times, Robert Hilburn stood just off to the side for some of music’s most electrifying moments. He tagged along with the Sex Pistols when the English punk miscreants first toured America, followed Paul Simon’s Graceland tour to Zimbabwe, and was in the big…

Another Apple AAPL -1.12% special event spectacular has come and gone, and once again people are buzzing with what was announced and what wasn’t. Apple is clearly a consumer electronics company, but one that’s highly influential in the music world, and this series of products will influence music more than you might think….

Ke$ha is officially too hot for Malaysia. The pop star’s concert at the Kuala Lumpur stadium was canceled after authorities in the Muslim-majority country determined that it would “hurt cultural and religious sensitivities,” the Associated Press reports. The concert organizer Livescape told the AP that it had received a letter the night before Saturday’s show…

Jimmy Henchman was sentenced to life in prison today in a Brooklyn federal court. He had previously been convicted on charges of heading a massive nationwide drug trafficking operation. Henchman still faces conspiracy to murder charges in Manhattan over allegations of orchestrating a plot to kill an associate of 50 Cent. Henchman, whose real name…

Quincy Jones has filed a $10 million breach-of-contract lawsuit in connection with Michael Jackson projects released after the singer’s death. The legendary producer — who has won 27 Grammy Awards and produced the King of Pop’s best-selling albums including Off the Wall, Thriller and Bad — is going to war with Sony Music Entertainment and MJJ…