Dormant rock acts like Pavement, Soundgarden and Faith No More are reuniting for summer tours. But as music writer Michael Azerrad explains, not all fans want their favorite musicians to give it another go.

The current No. 1 album in America is the work of an elfin youth barely old enough to shave. Today, we hear about the Justin Bieber juggernaut from Los Angeles Times staff writer Amy Kaufman. Then, we look at the history of teen idols in pop music with Howie Dorough ...

Lady Gaga's new music video for "Telephone" is raising product placement to a grotesque degree: Ten brands appear in the 9-minute video, including Virgin Mobile, Hewlett Packard, and Chevrolet. While that may be an extreme example, many artists are increasingly selling their image and songs to products. Some say these ...

Google is poised to become a major player in the music industry. But the company with the “don’t be evil” motto is drawing criticism for its relationship with major labels and copyright detectives. Jon Healey of the Los Angeles Times explains Google’s rapid expansion into music. Then, writer Maura Johnston ...

Lampooned and celebrated in equal measure, Super Bowl halftime shows are a lightning rod. Some of the biggest stars in music take the stage -- but not without controversy. Performances can be underwhelming, predictable and even censored. (Or not, in the case of Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction in 2004.) As ...

The music industry hit a peak in the '90s, but never quite recovered from the advent of mp3s and online filesharing. Yesterday, Nielsen, the company that keeps tabs on physical and digital music sales, rolled out a trove of data that surprised even some industry watchers.  It seems that, even though album sales were down – about 8.5 percent, overall – digital music sales show BIG gains.   

So the question is, are those sales enough to signal an end to the industry’s decades-long slump in sales?  We're joined by Maura Johnston, writer and music business columnist for dailyfinance.com.

He died in June, but Michael Jackson is still selling lots of music. Early this morning Michaeljackson.com went live with the new single, "This is It." How long will Michael Jackson's sales juggernaut keep on going? To help answer this, we talk with Maura Johnston, editor of the music blog Idolator.

Oprah Winfrey is kicking off her show's fall season with sit-down interviews with pop stars like Jay Z, Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston. Another talk show host, Ellen DeGeneres, will determine the fate of contestants on the next season of American Idol. Today, a look at how media celebrities outside ...

The world's four biggest music companies are set to face off with Apple in a war of competing "digital album" formats. But Radiohead's Thom Yorke, leader of one of the most influential bands in rock, says making albums can be "creative hoo-ha." Today: Maura Johnston of music blog Idolator and ...

In the last 20 years the music industry has changed a lot: from vinyl to tapes to CDs and now streaming. Streaming is free music available online, but it is not downloaded so you don't have to worry about the RIAA knocking down your door. Joining The Takeaway with an overview of free music is Maura Johnston, editor of the music blog, Idolator.

Need some options for streaming online? Happy listening:

• Imeem
• LALA
• BLIP
• KEXP
• Spotify
• Pandora
• Hypem
• Grooveshark
• Last
• Myspace Music

Hip-hop and R&B magazine Vibe shut down last week, the latest victim in a series of music magazines like Blender, Harp, No Depression and Jazz Times that have folded in recent months. Some say that is a huge loss for in-depth music writing. Others argue they became dinosaurs in a ...

Not long ago, MTV and major labels dropped music videos. Now, videos are experiencing a renaissance online as artists -- and their fans -- take control of the medium. In our second broadcast from the Jerome L. Greene Performance Space, we debate the state of music videos with Rik ...

One of the best things about summer in New York City is the music. Blonde Redhead (pictured) are just one of the many acts playing free concerts in the city in the coming months. We preview don't-miss concerts, including festivals like River to River, Celebrate Brooklyn, and Central Park's SummerStage ...

Kelly Clarkson has claimed to have broken up with the American Idol machine that spawned her - to the point of rebelling against mogul producer Clive Davis and titling her second album "Breakaway". On today's Soundcheck Smackdown, Ricardo Baca, pop music critic for the Denver Post, and Maura Johnston, editor ...

Back in the swingin’ ‘70s, Peter Frampton won his fanbase on the strength of "Frampton Comes Alive." Today's concert recordings and DVDs don’t pack the same punch -- they often round out "deluxe editions" and pad record contracts. In another Soundcheck Smackdown, we debate the live album format with writer ...