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Best cheap wireless headphones in 2022

Posted on November 21, 2022

Whoever said you must spend big to get premium wireless audio hasn’t kept tabs on the headphone market. All you have to do is Google the best cheap wireless headphones and a plethora of high-quality options will pop up on your screen.

Sure, some of these bargain entries won’t match the superior sound quality or active noise cancellation (ANC) of category leaders like the Bose 700 or Sony WH-1000XM5. A few may even lack modern features like touch controls and wear detection. That doesn’t make these headphones any less valuable, especially when their pros outweigh their cons by a ratio of 2 to 1.

To save you time and money, we’ve ranked the top selections under $100. Expect to find consumer favorites like Anker, Jabra, and Sennheiser on this list, along with new Amazon darlings such as 1More and Monoprice. Scroll down to see which ones best suit your needs and your budget.

What are the best cheap wireless headphones?

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Coming in at No. 1 on our best cheap wireless headphones list is the Jabra Elite 45. These on-ear cans pack high-end features into a sleek, lightweight design. Notables include a customizable EQ, Find My Headphones function, sleep mode, and firmware updates. Battery life is also some of the longest at up to 50 hours. You can purchase the Elite 45 in four attractive colors: Copper Black, Gold Beige, Navy, and Titanium Black.

A close second is the 1More SonoFlow. The company’s first noise-cancelling headphones are a triumph that squeezes a powerful soundstage, sufficient ANC, and 70 hours of playtime into a streamlined design. Comfort and fit are standouts. LDAC support lets you stream music from hi-fi music services (e.g., Tidal, Qobuz), while Bluetooth multipoint connects the headphones to two devices at the same time.

The Sennheiser HD 4.40 BT comes in third place. This mid-range entry has remained a top seller for the past three years, thanks to strong audio performance with deep bass and pleasant frequency range. Build quality is on par with Sennheiser’s more expensive models. Pairing is seamless via NFC functionality; simply tap the headphones on a compatible Android device for instantaneous connectivity. A full charge gets you 20 hours of listening time as well.

See our full rankings of the best cheap wireless headphones below.

The best cheap wireless headphones you can buy today

(Image credit: Regan Coule/Laptop Magazine)

1. Jabra Elite 45h

The best cheap wireless headphones overall

Specifications

Size and Weight: 8.82 x 7.2 x 1.97 inches, 6 ounces

Battery Life (Rated): 50 hours

Bluetooth Range: 40 feet (12.2 meters)

Special Features: Customizable EQ, Call Experience mode, Multi-Connect technology up to 8 devices

Reasons to buy

Superior battery life

Personalized sound

Reliable comfort

Strong connectivity

Reasons to avoid

–

Zero isolation

–

Plastic design

Several models make a strong case for best cheap wireless headphones under $100, but the Jabra Elite 45h remains the clear-cut winner based on performance. The 40-millimeter audio drivers deliver entertaining sound that can also be customized by manually adjusting the EQ or selecting from a handful of music presets. It’s the only available feature at the moment, but with the headphones supporting firmware updates, we’re expecting more to come in the following months. Bluetooth 5.0 operates superbly to offer stable connectivity across all devices, while 50 hours of playtime ensures you have enough juice to enjoy music and movies for nearly two weeks before recharging.

We can look past the plastic construction, especially when factoring in how light and comfortable these headphones feel. Our biggest complaint is the lack of noise isolation, which, due to the on-ear design, leaks a lot of sound. However, it’s no big deal if you’re listening at mid-level volume.

Read our full Jabra Elite 45h review.

2. 1More SonoFlow

Best cheap noise-cancelling headphones for battery life

Specifications

Size and Weight: 6.6 x 7.5 x 3.2 inches; 8.8 ounces

Battery Life (Rated): 50 hours (ANC on); 70 hours (ANC off)

Bluetooth Range: 70 feet (21 meters)

Special Features:: Active noise cancellation, ambient listening mode, equalizer

Reasons to buy

Category-leading battery life

Lively soundstage with customizable settings

Chic design

Good ANC

Bluetooth multipoint

Reasons to avoid

–

Wired mode is awful

–

Ambient listening needs work

There aren’t many cheap noise-cancelling headphones that can get you 50 hours of ANC use. The SonoFlow is one of the few. A full charge keeps these cans operating for weeks. Turning off ANC extends battery life to 70 hours. An aux cable comes bundled with the purchase, if ever you forget to recharge, but you’ll want to leave it in the carrying case since it hinders audio performance. When in wireless mode, you can expect the SonoFlow to pump out engaging sound and powerful bass, thanks to 1More’s 40mm dynamic driver with DLC (diamond-like-carbon) composite diaphragm. LDAC codec support also improves connection quality and lets you hear details clearly when jamming out to tracks on lossless streaming services (e.g., Tidal, Qobuz).

Noise cancellation is fine for the price, blocking out low frequencies very well, though the transparency mode is disappointing and doesn’t let in much incidental noise.

3. Sennheiser HD 4.40 BT

Sennheiser sound on a budget

Specifications

Size and Weight: 7.1 x 3.9 x 10.2 inches, 7.8 ounces

Battery Life (Rated): 25 hours

Bluetooth Range: 30 feet (10 meters)

Special Features: aptX codec support, low latency, NFC

Reasons to buy

Thunderous bass response

Impressive craftsmanship for $100 headphones

Solid battery life

Reliable Bluetooth performance

Reasons to avoid

–

Becomes uncomfortable after an hour of use

–

No ANC

If money is tight and you want something that can fulfill your audio needs for cheap, we highly recommend these budget wireless cans. The Sennheiser HD 4.40 BT is one of the best cheap wireless headphone deals under $100 you’ll find, delivering full, energetic sound highlighted by its monstrous low end and well-tuned midrange.

Despite being an older model, these headphones provide you a generous amount of playtime (24 hours) and Bluetooth range (30 feet). The bundled aux cable is also clutch for listening in passive mode, granted it’s pretty fragile and has no buttons to manage playback or volume. Still, those are small compromises to live with for the asking price.

(Image credit: Alex Bracetti/Laptop Magazine)

Best cheap wireless headphones noise-cancelling value

Specifications

Size and Weight: 7.8 x 7.09 x 3.07 inches, 9 ounces

Battery Life (Rated): 40 hours (ANC off), 60 hours (ANC off)

Bluetooth Range: 50 feet (15 meters)

Special Features: Active noise cancellation, customizable EQ, transparency mode

Reasons to buy

Satisfying playtimes

Strong audio

Multiple ANC modes

Lots of features

Reasons to avoid

–

Big and heavy

–

Extremely limited touch controls

Bigger sound, noise cancellation, and bonus features: Anker blessed this set of cans with the works. The Life Q30 comes equipped with 40mm silk drivers that generate thumping lows and crisp mids to enjoy music across multiple genres. Anker also made these headphones compatible with the Soundcore app, so you can personalize the soundstage to your liking by manually adjusting the EQ or by picking any of the 22 presets available. You don’t see that on many noise-cancellers priced under $100. Noise neutralization is improved from the previous model, so you’ll be able to block out a higher level of external sounds. The three ANC modes (Transport, Indoor, and Outdoor) are engineered to cancel out noises found in different settings too.

We applaud Anker for giving the Life Q30 a more premium look and better aesthetics, though this is still one big, heavy pair of ‘phones to lug around.

Read our full Anker Soundcore Life Q30 review.

5. Sol Republic Soundtrack Pro

Mid-range ANC headphones with upscale sound

Specifications

Size and Weight: 9.57 x 8.15 x 3.39 inches, 10.4 ounces

Battery Life (Rated): 32 hours (NC on)

Bluetooth Range: 50 feet (15 meters)

Special Features:: Active noise cancellation, aptX support, transparency mode

Reasons to buy

Loud, crisp audio

Comfortable on the head

Respectable ANC

aptX support

Reasons to avoid

–

Very heavy

–

Aux cable and noise cancellation harshen sound

Sol Republic’s noise-cancelling headphones are a plausible entry in the category that packs powerful battery life and sound into a robust, professional-looking design. The 500mAh battery built into these cans generates up to 30+ hours of playtime, which, when listening in moderation, equates to about a month of use. Listening to orchestral songs demonstrates the Soundtrack Pro’s wide frequency range, as lows and highs are well-defined to distinguish sonic elements. You can also snag a pair in three stylish finishes: Glossy Black, Gray, and Champagne.

Active noise cancellation won’t blow you away. It’s adequate to silence office rumblings, though you’re bound to hear street noises when sporting these hefty suckers around town. Something else we noticed is that enabling the feature scales back the bass response, while listening in aux mode produces a fuzzy noise in the background.

6. AKG N700NC

Beautiful cans with elegant sound

Specifications

Size and Weight: 9.8 x 3.78 x 9.1 inches, 9.2 ounces

Battery Life (Rated): 23 hours (NC on)

Bluetooth Range: 37 feet (10.6 meters)

Special Features: Active noise cancellation, customizable EQ, transparency mode

Reasons to buy

Detailed and balanced audio

Business-class design

Excellent connectivity

Companion app with personalized sound options

Reasons to avoid

–

Listening modes are useless

–

Bleeds sound at high level

If you want noise-cancelling headphones with an upscale design and soundstage, the N700NC is a suitable option. It’s not only a handsome noise-canceller, but also upholds the elite sound performance we’ve come to expect from the pro-audio heritage brand. Frequencies are well balanced to deliver clean, detailed sound. Toying with the AKG Headphones app also grants access to personalize sound by tweaking the different EQ settings. AKG’s noise-cancelling technology is effective as well at blocking out ambient chatter. Battery life seems pretty average at 23 hours with ANC on, but playtime is still higher than what the Bose 700 offers.

Where the headphones lose points are in the listening modes (Smart Ambient and TalkThru), which perform poorly in comparison to other models, and the alarmingly high sound leakage that will draw unwanted attention when blasting music in public spaces.

Samsung is currently selling the N7000NC for $99.

7. Monoprice BT-600ANC

Impressive ANC and sound for the price

Specifications

Size and Weight: Not stated; 10.1 ounces

Battery Life (Rated): 25 hours (ANC of); 40 hours (ANC off)

Bluetooth Range: 40 feet (12 meters)

Special Features: Active noise cancellation, aptX HD, transparency mode

Reasons to buy

Solid ANC

Very good sound

Long battery life

Noteworthy features

Reasons to avoid

–

Lacks a companion app

–

No wear detection

An audio brand known for selling some of the best computer speakers under $100, Monoprice has jumped into the cheap wireless headphones market and given us the noteworthy BT-600ANC. These inexpensive noise-cancellers reduce ambient sound at a high level, keeping the soundscape clear of disruptions, while also dishing out strong bass. Having longer playtimes than any Bose headphone adds to the product’s credibility, along with cool features like aptX support for hi-res audio streaming and multipoint technology.

These headphones do not come with a companion app or wear detection, but then again, not many sub-$70 models do.

Bass blasters with decent noise cancellation

Specifications

Size and Weight: 10 x 8.4 x 4.8 inches, 11.18 ounces

Battery Life (Rated): 20 hours

Bluetooth Range: 30 feet (10 meters)

Special Features: : Active noise cancellation, multi-level bass EQ, voice assistant activation

Reasons to buy

Great audio for electronic music

Clear and punchy low-end

Selectable bass levels

Extremely soft earcups

Reasons to avoid

–

ANC causes bass distortion

–

You have to feel around for the controls

Panasonic might be more known for its home appliances and grooming devices, but creations like the RB-M700B show the brand can create a quality pair of cans. Bass performance is monstrous, thanks to proprietary XBS (Extreme Bass System) DEEP technology and 40mm Neodymium drivers with built-in Bass Reactor. Pressing play will feel like you’re at a concert or nightclub. A 15-minute quick charge produces 1.5 hours of listening.

Be wary of listening to music in ANC mode because it can affect bass performance and produce distortion on certain tracks. Something else to keep in mind is that the controls are a little difficult to access since Panasonic inconveniently placed them at the bottom of the right earcup.

Read our full Panasonic RB-M700B review.

How to choose the best cheap wireless headphones for you

The same criteria for selecting the best wireless headphones will apply here. That means prioritizing wireless functionality. Search for headphones operating on the latest Bluetooth version (Bluetooth 5.0 or higher). There are older models running on Bluetooth 4.2, which is still effective, but only when maintaining a strong signal during calls and streaming sessions. It doesn’t hurt to seek out cool wireless features either (e.g., Google Fast Pair, multipoint technology, NFC).

Sound is the next hallmark you should check off. Several of the brands featured on this list have legitimate audio backgrounds, while others are new to the game. Check for driver size because the bigger they are, the more powerful your headphones will sound. Some models have customizable settings to personalize audio. There are a select few that come with hi-res codec support (e.g., aptX, LDAC) to play lossless audio on compatible devices. Some even have a latency mode to reduce lag when mobile gaming or watching videos.

Going wireless means relying on portable power, which is why you’ll want something with long battery life. The standard for wireless headphones is around 20 hours or higher, though we’ve seen newer models nearly triple that amount, which is excellent. Quick charging support is another feature to keep in mind.

Lastly, look at the design. Any headphones that offer the right balance of form, function, and fashion is worth the purchase. Don’t overlook accessories either, specifically a carrying case to protect and transport your headphones.

How we test the best cheap wireless headphones

Laptop Magazine thoroughly tests the best cheap wireless headphones by evaluating several factors, including design, comfort, sound, and value. Our team then compares these selections to similar products in the category in terms of features, fit, and pricing.

Wireless headphones are worn over the course of a week for 2 to 3 hours daily. We assess comfort, ease of use, noise cancellation, and audio quality. In addition, sample tracks across several music genres are tested, including hip-hop, rock, jazz, EDM, and classical. Reviewers analyze clarity, depth, imaging, and volume. Audiobooks, games, podcasts, and videos are accounted for too.

Any headphones featuring the latest audio codecs (e.g., aptX, LDAC) and spatial audio are tested using compatible hi-res streaming services (e.g., Apple Music, Deezer, Tidal). You can learn more about how these services that improve sound quality by checking out this expert audio codec FAQ, which breaks down all you need to know about FLAC files, MP3s, and other audio file codecs.

After completing the testing phase, we rate every model based on our five-point system, (1 = worst, 5 = best). Any product that is truly exemplary is awarded an Editor’s Choice.

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The Four-Valve Trumpeter Who Uses Sharon Stone and Charlie Chaplin to Make Jazz

Posted on November 21, 2022

A trombone with six valves? “I don’t know if anyone played this ever,” the Lebanese French trumpeter Ibrahim Maalouf said the other day at the Met, where he was taking in a display of extravagant, even bizarre, brass instruments. Maalouf, who is forty-two, lives in Paris and was in town for a concert. He had been curious about the museum’s horn collection, which includes not just the six-valve trombone—most have none—but also a vaguely bassoon-like thing (an ophicleide!) with a bell decorated to look like a dragon’s mouth, and a tuba with two bells that resemble conjoined twins. In Maalouf’s view, much of what was on display—arcane, intestinal-looking contrivances of coiled brass—was more a tribute to the metalworker’s craft than anything a working musician might want to play.

Not that Maalouf is a fussy traditionalist. His own preferred instrument is a unique trumpet with four valves (one more than the usual three), which allows him to play the quarter tones of classical Arabic music. He studied European classical music at the Conservatoire de Paris, but made his name playing jazz. He has since embraced electronic music, R. & B., hip-hop, Arabic pop, and other styles, collaborating with such musicians as Wynton Marsalis, Sting, Angélique Kidjo, Juliette Gréco, Josh Groban, and the Kronos Quartet. He’s a superstar in Europe, where he regularly sells out arenas; in American instrumentalist terms, he might be placed on a continuum between Kenny G and Jon Batiste, closer to the former in fame and to the latter in style and critical respect. At the Met, dressed in black, with a groomed beard, he could have passed for Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s better-adjusted kid brother.

Maalouf’s father, Nassim Maalouf, a renowned soloist in both European and Arabic classical music, invented the four-valve trumpet that both men play. Ibrahim grew up listening to his father practice. One day, he asked if he could try. “My father said, ‘If you want me to teach you, you will be a trumpet player.’ I was seven. I didn’t know what that commitment meant.” He quickly showed promise, but there were bumps along the way. For one thing, if you live with your trumpet teacher, you can’t cheat on practicing.

“He gave me lessons every day, until I was fourteen or fifteen,” Maalouf recalled. Home life was otherwise hard. He was born in Beirut in 1980, but the family soon fled Lebanon’s violence for France; the loss and the upheaval, he said, affected his parents deeply. Nassim was a very strict father. “The only moments he was really soft were when I was taking trumpet lessons,” Maalouf said. He laughed. “Maybe that’s why I kept playing.”

In a sad turn of family melodrama at least as old as “The Jazz Singer,” Maalouf’s embrace of more modern and popular music contributed to an estrangement between father and son. For Nassim, who had no formal education outside of music, the trumpet had been a way out of rural poverty. “It was his tool to escape his destiny,” Maalouf said. “And he expected I would exactly continue his way of playing.” Today, they exchange only the occasional text. “We disagree on pretty much everything.”

Maalouf’s latest album, “Capacity to Love,” his seventeenth—not including the many French film scores he has composed, plus a couple of symphonies—may push his father even farther away. Overtly polemical, it is meant as a musical riposte to the right-wing nationalism gripping Europe and other places around the world. Maalouf enlisted a diverse array of collaborators, including the rappers Pos (of De La Soul) and Erick the Architect; the jazz singer Gregory Porter; musicians from South America and Africa; and, perhaps most daringly, Sharon Stone, a movie star not previously known for her musical gifts. On one track, over a mournful orchestral backdrop and Maalouf’s trumpet, Stone recites an original poem, an angry address to an unnamed American politician (we all know who).

Maalouf approached Stone, he said, because he admires her “strong voice” and her willingness to speak her mind even at the risk of sounding “stupid.” He had wanted a Hollywood figure to help close the album, which begins with an audio clip of Charlie Chaplin’s final speech from “The Great Dictator.” The film, with its plea for tolerance and “universal brotherhood,” had made an impression on Maalouf when he first saw it, in grammar school, as the only Arab in his class.

“When I do a concert, I like that there are all kinds of people listening to me, even people who don’t believe in the same things as me,” he said. “If they’re moved, then we’ve shared something.” Would he welcome even Marine Le Pen or Donald Trump as a fan? “Why not?” he said. “Sometimes little things can change opinions on big things. Maybe they would have some part of their mind that thinks, Maybe, you know, maybe—maybe—I’m wrong.”

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‘I just don’t really get the Beatles’: Roman Kemp’s honest playlist | Music

Posted on November 21, 2022

The first single I bought
Daniel Bedingfield’s If You’re Not the One. I remember that it came out around Christmas. Me and my best friend at the time, Elliott, really liked that tune and we went to HMV on our own and bought it. I just listened to it over and over again, pretending I was in a music video.

My karaoke go-to
Tom Jones – It’s Not Unusual. I think Tom and I have a similar range and karaoke is built for 60s music, with the cheese and the dancing. You have to pick a song that everyone knows, and that’s a tune. And it’s two minutes, so you’re not up there too long.

The song I inexplicably know every lyric to
I’m Back by Eminem. My mum actually bought The Marshall Mathers LP for me when I was six or seven. At the time Eminem was being targeted by everyone – the media, the police – and he decided to come back with a record that was just as offensive, and just as personal to him. Of course it’s inappropriate for a child – but my mum always had this amazing outlook on music as a way of expressing emotions. She said: “Here’s a boy who’s got a lot wrong in his life, and isn’t as privileged as you are, and here he is turning his experience into lyrics.”

The last song I streamed
Stormzy’s Mel Made Me Do It. I love Mike, he’s the nicest guy and he deserves all the success he’s had. In a world where artists are definitely pressured to make songs for TikTok, up to two minutes long, to come out with an eight-minute single and an 11-minute video is quite a rebellion. The video and the song are flawless.

The best song to play at a party
Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond. No, I haven’t seen the video of Boris Johnson dancing to it with Carrie at their wedding, but if there’s anyone who knows parties, it’s our UK government, so fair play. It’s the easiest crowdpleaser ever, in England specifically.

The song I’d want for my stadium entrance music
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’s In Motion. I love soundtracks, so I could go for John Williams or Hans Zimmer here, but the score for The Social Network by the chap from Nine Inch Nails is brilliant. There is a tune called In Motion that would be the absolute bollocks to walk out to. I often work listening to that score, it’s brilliant.

The song I want played at my funeral
Elvis Presley’s If I Can Dream. There’s a real Elvis affinity in my family: he’s been played throughout my life, and I can remember hearing The Wonder of You at my nan’s funeral. This song is about: “Did I achieve everything I wanted to? Did I do everything I can? Can I still do it?”

The song I can’t help singing
B.O.T.A. (Baddest of Them All), the new song by Eliza Rose and Interplanetary Criminal. I can’t say that I’m the biggest fan but I always catch myself singing it. It reminds me of early 2000s pop, like Sweet Like Chocolate – you know, when it sounds like a little baby is singing it.

The song I can’t stand
This is going to be really controversial but Starman by David Bowie. [Sings] “There’s a staaar-MAN! … ” Oh, God, shut up! Does everybody actually like it, or do they just pretend to like it? Put it this way: I love everything that David Bowie stood for, I think it’s fantastic; I can see that he was a trailblazing artist. My dad is a big Bowie fan. However, it’s one of those where I listen to it and I’m like: “Is this it?” I’m yet to hear one David Bowie song that makes me go: “Yes, phenomenal.” Is it so many different styles, or is it just a bit boring? I’ll level with you on one: I like Let’s Dance, but that’s just a Nile Rodgers record.

The song I pretend to hate that I secretly like
John Lennon’s Imagine. The Beatles, I just don’t really get it. Yes, I know this is the Guardian but I want to be honest. However, that is a phenomenal song. I would put Hey Jude in the same category.

The song I tell people is my favourite
Slipknot’s Wait and Bleed. It was one of the first songs that I remember making me feel a certain way about metal. I had a huge metal time in my life, and I still love it, how it makes me feel. I will still say Wait and Bleed is my favourite song of all time, just because I’ve listened to it so many times, but now I listen to it and I’m a bit like: “I could switch this off, after a minute.” I think it means more to me than I actually enjoy it.

My actual favourite song
Back Down South by Kings of Leon. I can say that, hands down. I actually think Come Around Sundown is their best album. I have such a soft spot for country music and that song is so in the vibe of where Kings of Leon are really from. I love singing it, and how I feel when I sing it: it will always make me feel good. Kings of Leon are one of those bands that I’ll keep going back to, along with a couple of albums by Arctic Monkeys and Nirvana.

Roman Kemp’s book Are You Really OK? is out now, published by Mirror Books.

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Singer Sukhwinder Singh: Don’t run a race with the west

Posted on November 21, 2022

Indian singers often find themselves looking to collaborate with their contemporaries in the West, with an aim to carve a niche in the international music scene. Ask the globally acclaimed singer Sukhwinder Singh what he feels about this, and he says artistes should focus on their art, and not the outcome.

The 51-year-old was the voice behind the AR Rahman’s composition Jai Ho (Slumdog Millionnaire; 2008), which won the Academy Award for Best Original Song and put Hindi film music on the global map. However, he feels that one shouldn’t be obsessed with competing with the West. “Yeh humari zidd mein nahin hona chahiye ki humein Hollywood se compete karna hai. As artistes, all we have to do is work hard. Arrogance, competition ya zidd nahin rakhna chahiye mann mein,” he says, adding that Hollywood doesn’t “reject” Indian music: “Hollywood films do not have songs, but there are at least seven of them with Indian songs, six of which are mine. So, it’s not like they reject it.” All one needs to do, he says, is work with “dedication”, and the rest will follow.

Recently, many singers and composers have spoken up against music labels not giving them due credit for their compositions. The most recent case was singer Amar Kaushik — the voice behind the song, Kala Chashma (Baar Baar Dekho; 2018) — who called out rapper Badshah for taking all the credit for the track’s success after it got viral. Speaking about it, Singh says, “There are a few people who do wrong with the power they have, but not everyone is like that… Nobody will ever be able to take something from you if it is meant for you.”

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AMAs 2022: Taylor Swift makes SURPRISE appearance to accept Favorite Pop Album award

Posted on November 21, 2022

Taylor Swift made a surprise appearance at the 2022 American Music Awards in LA on Sunday to accept a trio of awards – amid her tour ticket fiasco with Ticketmaster.

Accepting her first gong for Favorite Pop Album for Red (Taylor’s Version), the star, 32, was visibly emotional as she reflected on the win for the 2021 release – which was one of six albums she re-recorded after Scooter Braun purchased her entire music catalog out from underneath her and then sold it without her knowledge for $300million to Shamrock Holdings.

The Anti-Hero singer, who earlier skipped the red carpet, was delighted as she picked up the first of a trio of awards on the night, saying: ‘Wow. This album is a re-recorded album, and I cannot tell you how much my rerecorded albums mean to me, but I never expected or assumed that they would mean anything to you.

‘So I can’t thank you enough for caring about this album that I’m so proud of. I have some people who made this happen who I really want to thank.

She added: ‘Chris Row who co-produced this album with me, hours and hours and hours in the studio recreating Red, an album I love so much. I want to thank all the artists who featured on the vault tracks,

Wow: Taylor Swift made a surprise appearance at the 2022 American Music Awards in LA on Sunday to accept a trio of awards – amid her tour ticket fiasco with Ticketmaster (pictured accepting the Favorite Pop Album for Red (Taylor’s Version)

‘Chris Stapleton, Phoebe Bridgers. I want to thank my live touring band who played on this album, and I want to take a moment — there was a music video that I did that I was very happy about, so I want to say thank you to Sadie Sink and Dylan O’Brien, and my brilliant director Blake Lively, and Mike Teller and Kelly Teller for being in the music video.

‘I want to thank you guys for making this a possibility for To the fans, I cannot thank you enough. This is so special. Thank you.’

Taylor, who last week revealed she was ‘p****d off’ following Ticketmaster’s botched handling of sales for her The Eras Tour, looked radiant in a glittering gold backless jumpsuit.

The Bejeweled hitmaker showed of a hint of her cleavage in the Hollywood glamor number, with her tresses styled in soft waves.

What fiasco? Taylor, who last week revealed she was ‘p****d off’ following Ticketmaster’s botched handling of sales for her The Eras Tour, looked radiant in a glittering gold backless jumpsuit – she would win three awards on the night

Feud: Red (Taylor’s Version) was one of six albums Taylor re-recorded after Scooter Braun purchased her entire music catalog out from underneath her and then sold it without her knowledge for $300million to Shamrock Holdings (Braun pictured 2019)

Release: The star released Red (Taylor’s version) in 2021 and the album achieved renewed success – the original album was released in 2012

Delight: Taylor looked emotional as she accepted the award for her re-recorded album

Back in 2019, Taylor called Scooter out over the sale in a social media post and claimed that he intentionally kept her in the dark while he turned a hefty profit on her hard work.

Prior to that, in 2019 Braun had purchased Nashville-based independent record label Big Machine, first taking the rights to Taylor’s body of work and at the time, she voiced public outrage at being cut out of the deal.

Swift said the news made her ‘sad and grossed out’ because, in part, she claims Braun perpetuated ‘incessant, manipulative bullying’ against her for years.

She also released Fearless (Taylor’s Version in April 2021. Red was originally released in 2012 and Fearless in 2009.

In September 2022, entertainment executive Braun responded to the controversy, telling Wendy Williams, ‘I learned an important lesson’ from the purchase.

Stunning: The Bejeweled hitmaker showed of a hint of her cleavage in the Hollywood glamor number, with her tresses styled in soft waves

Glitz: The star looked incredible in her gold bejewelled number as she accepted the award

Emotional: The star was emotional as she addressed the crowds at the Microsoft Theater

Hug: Taylor embraced Karrueche Tran as she accepted the award

He appeared to be referring to Big Machine owner Scott Borchetta, 60, when he claimed, ‘When I did that deal, I was under a very strict NDA with the gentleman who owned it, and I couldn’t tell any artist.’

Braun also indicated in the interview he wasn’t as realistic as he should have been when signing on the dotted line.

‘I was excited to work with every artist on the label. So when we finalized the deal, I started making phone calls to say, hey, I’m a part of this. And before I could even do that – I made four phone calls; I started to do those phone calls – all hell broke loose.’

‘So the regret I have there,’ he continued, ‘is that I made the assumption that everyone, once the deal was done, was going to have a conversation with me, see my intent, see my character and say, great, let’s be in business together. And I made that assumption with people that I didn’t know.’

The New York native claimed he learned an important lesson from the controversy. ‘I can never make that assumption again. I can’t put myself in a place of, you know, arrogance to think that someone would just be willing to have a conversation and be excited to work with me.’

Taylor also won the awards for Favorite Music Video for All Too Well: The Short Film and Artist of the Year. She released the track and its accompanying 10-minute short film towards the end of 2021 and sparked rumors that the ‘red scarf’ she sings about was still in the possession of ex-boyfriend Jake Gyllenhaal, 41.

However, she has now admitted that the garment was simply a storytelling device, with the color chosen after its parent album’s title.

The ‘Shake It Off’ hitmaker alleges in the lyrics that she left a scarf at the house of a sister to a man she was dating and fans believe that she is alluding to the ‘Brokeback Mountain’ actor – whom she dated from October 2010 until January 2011 – and his sister Maggie.

True to life? All Too Well is believed by fans to be inspired by her brief relationship with Jake Gyllenhaal whom she dated from October 2010 to January 2011; Sadie Sink and Dylan O’Brien in All Too Well

Doppelgängers: Taylor, who made her directorial debut with the short and also wrote and produced it, appeared in it as an older version of Sadie’s character

All Too Well originally debuted in a five-minute version on her hit 2012 album Red, but Taylor had originally written a 10-minute draft of the song with her cowriter Liz Rose, who helped her edit it down for the album.

After Taylor set about rerecording her catalogue, she finally recorded the original 10-minute version of All Too Well and included it as a bonus track on the album.

To accompany the new song, she created the nearly 15-minute short film to serve as its music video.

The film was deemed eligible for Oscar consideration in the best live action short film category, The Hollywood Reporter revealed last month.

The film appears to act out a version of Taylor’s relationship with Jake, with Sadie Sink, 20, playing the Taylor stand-in — referred to only as Her — while Dylan O’Brien plays a version of Jake, known as Him.

Taylor is also featured toward the end of the short as an older version of Sadie’s character, and she sports red hair to match.

In addition to making her directorial debut, Taylor also wrote and produced the short film.

Win three: The star looked emotional as she collected the gong for Artist of the Year

Two icons: Taylor posed up with Smokey Robinson at the event

Accepting the award Taylor said: ‘Alright! This short film was ten years in the making, and the only reason I got to write and direct the film is because you the fans chose the song all too well. You chose it. No one at a record label chose it. You picked it. You said that is the song that matters to us, and it was just so happens that it was the song that matters the most to me.

‘I’m very happy we all agreed on that. So the people who helped me make this, I really want to ssay this forever, Sadie Sink and Dylan O’Brien, thank you so much for trusting me as a director with your immense talent… I’m so proud of it. I’m so happy you like it too. This is so special and wonderful and — ahh, thank you. Thank you for this.’

And accepting her third award of the night, Taylor said: ‘You know, in the past few years, I have released more music than I did in the entire decade preceding that, and I really feel like that’s down to the fact that you, the fans, made it clear that you wanted to hear lots of music that I would make.

‘You encouraged me. And so, I found that the more music I made and the more music I put out, the happier I was. The more I just kept that channel open and just kept creating, kept making things, and the more that happened, the more you guys were like, yeah, keep doing it.

And the happier I was, so I have the fans to thank, essentially, for my happiness and — [ cheers and applause ] — And I love you more than I can say. I cannot express how unbelievable it is to me that I still get to do this and that you still care, so thank you underlined with 13 exclamation points. I don’t know what to say. I love you.’

This comes as Ticketmaster blamed a ‘staggering number of bot attacks’ for causing a tidal wave of problems for Taylor fans seeking to purchase tickets for her Eras Tour.

On November 1, Swift announced a 27-date tour across 20 U.S. cities, running from March to August next year – sparking fan chaos.

Tickets went on sale on Tuesday, but what Ticketmaster termed a ‘historically unprecedented demand’ from millions of fans saw the site crash repeatedly and the process descend into a fiasco, with her supporters furious at the soaring prices and spending hours waiting in line.

Last week Swift has blasted Ticketmaster for the mayhem surrounding her recent ticket sale, claiming that she was ‘assured’ the company could handle the high demand ‘multiple times’

Ticketmaster canceled her public sale due to ‘insufficient remaining tickets’

Taylor blasted Ticketmaster for the mayhem surrounding her recent ticket sale, claiming that she was ‘assured’ the company could handle the high demand ‘multiple times’ and calling it ‘excruciating’ to ‘watch mistakes happen with no recourse.’

Ticketmaster has cancelled the scheduled public sale of tickets for Taylor Swift’s Eras tour on Friday, citing ‘high demands on ticketing systems and insufficient remaining ticket inventory.’

In a tweet, Ticketmaster said ‘Due to extraordinarily high demands on ticketing systems and insufficient remaining ticket inventory to meet that demand, tomorrow’s public on-sale for Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour has been cancelled.’

Now, Taylor has spoken out about the situation in a statement posted to her Instagram Stories, and she said she is just as ‘pissed off’ as everyone else is.

‘It goes without saying that I’m extremely protective of my fans,’ she began in the lengthy post.

‘We’ve been doing this for decades together and over the years, I’ve brought so many elements of my career in house.’

Taylor went on to explain – without mentioning the company by name – that she chose to use Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan system because she thought it would ‘improve the quality of her fans’ experience,’ despite it being ‘really difficult’ for her to ‘trust an outside entity.’

Swift accomplished the record-breaking feat of having all 10 of the Billboard Top 100 singles at once, with 10 songs from her new album Midnights

Response: The site has issued a lengthy response blaming bots and fans without invite codes for causing ‘unprecedented traffic’ of 3.5billion users – four times the normal amount.

‘I’ve done this SPECIFICALLY to improve the quality of my fans’ experience by doing it myself with my team, who care as much about my fans as I do,’ she continued.

‘It’s really difficult for me to trust an outside entity with these relationships and loyalties, and excruciating for me to just watch mistakes happen with no recourse.’

The Cardigan songstress added that there were ‘multiple reasons why people had such a hard time trying to get tickets’ and that she’s currently ‘trying to figure out how the situation can be improved moving forward.’

‘I’m not going to make excuses for anyone because we asked them, multiple times, if they could handle this kind of demand and we were assured they could,’ she said.

‘It’s truly amazing that 2.4 million people got tickets, but it really pisses me off that a lot of them feel like they went through several bear attacks to get them.’

She concluded her message with a note to those who weren’t able to get their hands on a ticket, writing, ‘All I can say is that my hope is to provide more opportunities for us all to get together and sing these songs.

‘Thank you for wanting to be there. You have no idea how much that means.’

Now, after Tennessee’s attorney general Jonathan Skrmetti revealed he was launching an investigation into Ticketmaster, the site has issued a lengthy response blaming bots and fans without invite codes for causing ‘unprecedented traffic’ of 3.5billion users – four times the normal amount.

A statement read: ‘The Eras on sale made one thing clear: Taylor Swift is an unstoppable force and continues to set records. We strive to make ticket buying as easy as possible for fans, but that hasn’t been the case for many people trying to buy tickets for the Eras Tour. We want to share some information to help explain what happened.

Ticketmaster explained that fans needed to register with their system Verified Fan before the sale began, which is designed to ‘help manage high demand shows – identifying real humans and weeding out bots.’

The statement continued: ‘Based on fan interest at registration we knew this would be big. Over 3.5 million people pre-registered for Taylor’s Verified Fan, which is the largest registration in history.

‘The huge demand for Taylor’s tour informed the artist team’s decision to add additional dates – doubling the tour and number of tickets available so more fans could make it to shows.

‘Historically, around 40% of invited fans actually show up and buy tickets, and most purchase an average of 3 tickets. So working with the artist team, around 1.5 million people were invited to participate in the on sale for all 52 show dates, including the 47 sold by Ticketmaster.

‘The remaining 2 million Verified Fans were put on the waiting list.’

Adding the demand for Taylor ‘broke records and parts of our website’, the statement continued: ‘Historically, working with Verified Fan invite codes has worked as we’ve been able to manage the volume coming into the site to shop for tickets.

‘However, this time the staggering number of bot attacks as well as fans who didn’t have invite codes drove unprecedented traffic on our site, resulting in 3.5 billion total system requests – 4x our previous peak.

‘Never before has a Verified Fan on sale sparked so much attention – or uninvited volume. This disrupted the predictability and reliability that is the hallmark of our Verified Fan platform.

‘It usually takes us about an hour to sell through a stadium show, but we slowed down some sales and pushed back others to stabilize the systems. The trade off was longer wait times in queue for some fans.

‘Overall, we estimate about 15% of interactions across the site experienced issues, and that’s 15% too many, including passcode validation errors that caused fans to lose tickets they had carted.’

They added: ‘The biggest venues and artists turn to us because we have the leading ticketing technology in the world – that doesn’t mean it’s perfect, and clearly for Taylor’s on sale it wasn’t. But we’re always working to improve the ticket buying experience. Especially for high demand on sales, which continue to test new limits.

‘Even when a high demand on sale goes flawlessly from a tech perspective, many fans are left empty handed. For example: based on the volume of traffic to our site, Taylor would need to perform over 900 stadium shows (almost 20x the number of shows she is doing)…that’s a stadium show every single night for the next 2.5 years.

‘While it’s impossible for everyone to get tickets to these shows, we know we can do more to improve the experience and that’s what we’re focused on.’

The Eras Tour would sell a staggering and record-breaking 2 million tickets in just one day.

The situation also launched an investigation into Ticketmaster from the the Justice Department, according to the New York Times.

‘The Justice Department has opened an antitrust investigation into the owner of Ticketmaster, whose sale of Taylor Swift concert tickets descended into chaos this week, said two people with knowledge of the matter,’ the outlet reported.

‘The investigation is focused on whether Live Nation Entertainment has abused its power over the multibillion-dollar live music industry.’

Fans of Swift had been vocal Tuesday about problems purchasing tickets for her The Eras Tour with a pre-sale code through Ticketmaster

Coming soon: Swift will kick off the American leg of her tour March 18 at Glendale, Arizona’s State Farm Stadium, and will continue through an August 5 at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles (pictured last week)

Puerto Rican rapper and singer Bad Bunny landed the most nominations at this year’s American Music Awards.

He leads fellow rapper Drake and pop superstars Beyonce and Taylor Swift on the list of contenders.

Bad Bunny received a total of eight AMA nominations and will compete for artist of the year against British singers Adele and Harry Styles and Canadian musician The Weeknd.

Drake, Beyonce and Swift also are in the running for artist of the year and received six nominations each.

The nominations are based on performances on the Billboard music charts, streaming and album sales, radio play and social media engagement.

Winners will be determined by fan votes and announced at the ceremony at Microsoft Theater at L.A. LIVE in Los Angeles.

Bad Bunny’s other nods included favorite male pop artist, favorite music video and favorite touring artist.

The singer set a record this year for the highest-grossing tour by a Latin artist in history. His album ‘Un Verano Sin Ti’ just topped the Billboard charts for a 13th week.

The latest: Dove Cameron won the honors for best new artist of the year at the 2022 American Music Awards

Cameron defeated fellow nominees GAYLE, Latto, Måneskin and Steve Lacy for the honor

If Bad Bunny wins all eight awards he is eligible for, he would tie 1980s superstars Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston for the most AMA wins in a single year.

Organizers added a category this year for favorite K-pop artist. Contenders are BTS, BLACKPINK, SEVENTEEN, Tomorrow X Together and Twice.

First-time AMA nominees included rapper Jack Harlow, K-pop band BLACKPINK and Scandinavian DJ group Swedish House Mafia.

In country music categories, Chris Stapleton, Luke Combs and Morgan Wallen are among the nominees for favorite male country artist.

Carrie Underwood, Maren Morris and Miranda Lambert will compete for favorite female country artist.

Pink is set to honor the late Olivia Newton–John with a musical performance at the show.

The performance in Newton–John’s memory follows her death at age 73 in August from a years-long battle with breast cancer.

The beloved British–Australian singer and actress had a lengthy association with the award show.

She co-hosted the ceremony with Aretha Franklin and Glen Campbell in 1976, two years before her success in films spread to the US with her role in 1978’s Grease.

Newton–John was also presented with 10 AMAs during her lengthy career.

Machine Gun Kelly took home the honors for favorite rock artist

He bested a field including Imagine Dragons, Måneskin, Red Hot Chili Peppers and The Lumineers

Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney of Dan + Shay were seen accepting the honors for favorite country duo or group

Pink (real name: Alecia Moore) was previously announced as a performer at the AMAs, and her tribute number will be her second performance of the evening.

The hitmaker is also scheduled to give her new single Never Gonna Not Dance Again its live performance debut.

Lionel Richie will also be honored at the ceremony, where he is set to receive the Icon Award.

Stevie Wonder will be leading the performance for his contemporary, while Charlie Puth and Ari Lennox will be joining the keyboard virtuoso for a medley of Richie’s most popular material.

The ceremony, which is being hosted by Wayne Brady, was previously announced to have performances from Carrie Underwood, Imagine Dragons, JID, and Yola, among others.

Presenter Kelly Rowland accepted an award on behalf of Chris Brown, who was not present to accept the honor for favorite male R&B artist

Anitta, 29, won favorite female Latin artist, prevailing in a category including Becky G, Kali Uchis, Karol G and Rosalía

Presenter Latto accepted the honors on Wizkid’s behalf after his win in the category of favorite Afrobeats artist

Måneskin members (L-R) Victoria De Angelis, Damiano David, Ethan Torchio and Thomas Raggi accepted the honors for the favorite rock song award for their song Beggin’

Wayne Brady was the host for Sunday’s proceedings stemming from Southern California

Presenter Kim Petras accepted the honors on behalf of Harry Styles, who was not at the show on Sunday.

Bebe Rexha and David Guetta will be performing their hit I’m Good (Blue), while Dove Cameron will make her debut at the show with a performance of her song Boyfriend.

The rapper GloRilla and Anitta will also be making their performance debuts at the show.

The 2021 ceremony saw K-Pop icons BTS earn the most wins with three including top honor artist of the year as the most nominated singer Olivia Rodrigo earned new artist of the year.

The seven member South Korean pop boyband – who also earned favorite pop group or duo and favorite pop song – was given the most coveted crystal pyramid trophy of the night as they beat out heavy hitters including Ariana Grande, Drake, Olivia Rodrigo, Taylor Swift, and The Weeknd.

American Music Awards 2022: NOMINATIONS

ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Adele

Bad Bunny

Beyoncé

Drake

Harry Styles

Taylor Swift (Winner)

The Weeknd

NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Dove Cameron (Winner)

GAYLE

Latto

Måneskin

Steve Lacy

COLLABORATION OF THE YEAR

Carolina Gaitán, Mauro Castillo, Adassa, Rhenzy Feliz, Diane Guerrero, Stephanie Beatriz & Encanto Cast – We Don’t Talk About Bruno

Elton John & Dua Lipa – Cold Heart – PNAU Remix (Winner)

Future ft. Drake & Tems – WAIT FOR U

Lil Nas X ft. Jack Harlow – INDUSTRY BABY

The Kid LAROI & Justin Bieber – STAY

FAVORITE TOURING ARTIST

Bad Bunny

Coldplay

Ed Sheeran

Elton John

The Rolling Stones

FAVORITE POP SONG

Adele – Easy on Me

Carolina Gaitán, Mauro Castillo, Adassa, Rhenzy Feliz, Diane Guerrero, Stephanie Beatriz & Encanto Cast – We Don’t Talk About Bruno

Harry Styles – As It Was (Winner)

Lizzo – About Damn Time

The Kid LAROI & Justin Bieber – Stay

FAVORITE COUNTRY ALBUM

Carrie Underwood – Denim & Rhinestones

Luke Combs – Growin’ Up

Cody Johnson – Human: The Double Album

Taylor Swift – Red (Taylor’s Version)

Walker Hayes – Country Stuff: The Album

FAVORITE COUNTRY SONG

Chris Stapleton – You Should Probably Leave

Cody Johnson – Til You Can’t

Dustin Lynch ft. MacKenzie Porter – Thinking ‘Bout You

Jordan Davis ft. Luke Bryan – Buy Dirt

Morgan Wallen – Wasted on You

FAVORITE MALE HIP-HOP ARTIST

Drake

Future

Kendrick Lamar

Lil Baby

Lil Durk

FAVORITE FEMALE HIP-HOP ARTIST

Cardi B

GloRilla

Latto

Megan Thee Stallion

Nicki Minaj

FAVORITE MALE R&B ARTIST

Brent Faiyaz

Chris Brown (Winner)

Givēon

Lucky Daye

The Weeknd

FAVORITE FEMALE R&B ARTIST

Beyoncé

Doja Cat

Muni Long

Summer Walker

SZA

FAVORITE MALE LATIN ARTIST

Bad Bunny

Farruko

J Balvin

Jhayco

Rauw Alejandro

FAVORITE FEMALE LATIN ARTIST

Anitta (Winner)

Becky G

Kali Uchis

Karol G

Rosalía

FAVORITE ROCK ARTIST

Imagine Dragons

Machine Gun Kelly (Winner)

Måneskin

Red Hot Chili Peppers

The Lumineers

FAVORITE ROCK SONG

Foo Fighters – Love Dies Young

Imagine Dragons x JID – Enemy

Kate Bush – Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)

Måneskin – Beggin’ (Winner)

Red Hot Chili Peppers – Black Summer

FAVORITE ROCK ALBUM

Coldplay – Music of the Spheres

Ghost – Impera

Imagine Dragons – Mercury – Act 1

Machine Gun Kelly – mainstream sellout

Red Hot Chili Peppers – Unlimited Love

FAVORITE DANCE/ELECTRONIC ARTIST

Diplo

Marshmello

Swedish House Mafia

The Chainsmokers

Tiësto

FAVORITE AFROBEATS ARTIST

Burna Boy

CKay

Fireboy DML

Tems

Wizkid (Winner)

FAVORITE MUSIC VIDEO

Adele – Easy On Me

Bad Bunny ft. Chencho Corleone – Me Porto Bonito

Harry Styles – As It Was

Lil Nas X ft. Jack Harlow – INDUSTRY BABY

Taylor Swift – All Too Well (Taylor’s Version) (Winner)

FAVORITE MALE POP ARTIST

Bad Bunny

Drake

Ed Sheeran

Harry Styles

The Weeknd

FAVORITE FEMALE POP ARTIST

Adele

Beyoncé

Doja Cat

Lizzo

Taylor Swift

FAVORITE POP GROUP OR DUO

BTS

Coldplay

Imagine Dragons

Måneskin

OneRepublic

FAVORITE POP ALBUM

Adele – 30

Bad Bunny – Un Verano Sin Ti

Beyoncé – Renaissance

Harry Styles – Harry’s House

Taylor Swift – Red (Taylor’s Version) (Winner)

The Weeknd – Dawn FM

FAVORITE MALE COUNTRY ARTIST

Chris Stapleton

Cody Johnson

Luke Combs

Morgan Wallen

Walker Hayes

FAVORITE FEMALE COUNTRY ARTIST

Carrie Underwood

Lainey Wilson

Maren Morris

Miranda Lambert

Taylor Swift

FAVORITE COUNTRY DUO OR GROUP

Dan + Shay (Winner)

Lady A

Old Dominion

Parmalee

Zac Brown Band

FAVORITE HIP-HOP ALBUM

Future – I Never Liked You

Gunna – DS4EVER

Kendrick Lamar – Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers

Lil Durk – 7220

Polo G – Hall of Fame 2.0

FAVORITE HIP-HOP SONG

Future ft. Drake & Tems – Wait For U (Winner)

Jack Harlow – First Class

Kodak Black – Super Gremlin

Latto – Big Energy

Lil Nas X ft. Jack Harlow – Industry Baby

FAVORITE R&B ALBUM

Beyoncé – Renaissance

Drake – Honestly, Nevermind

Silk Sonic (Bruno Mars & Anderson .Paak) – An Evening with Silk Sonic

Summer Walker – Still Over It

The Weeknd – Dawn FM

FAVORITE R&B SONG

Beyoncé – Break My Soul

Muni Long – Hrs And Hrs

Silk Sonic (Bruno Mars & Anderson .Paak) – Smokin Out The Window”

SZA – I Hate U

Wizkid ft. Tems – Essence

FAVORITE LATIN DUO OR GROUP

Banda MS de Sergio Lizárraga

Calibre 50

Eslabon Armado

Grupo Firme

Yahritza Y Su Esencia

FAVORITE LATIN ALBUM

Bad Bunny – Un Verano Sin Ti

Farruko – La 167

J Balvin – Jose

Rauw Alejandro -Vice Versa

Rosalía – Motomami

FAVORITE LATIN SONG

Bad Bunny ft. Chencho Corleone – Me Porto Bonito

Becky G x Karol G – MAMIII

Karol G – Provenza

Rauw Alejandro – Todo de Ti

Sebastián Yatra – Dos Oruguitas

FAVORITE INSPIRATIONAL ARTIST

Anne Wilson

for King & Country

Katy Nichole

Matthew West

Phil Wickham

FAVORITE GOSPEL ARTIST

CeCe Winans

DOE

E. Dewey Smith

Maverick City Music

Tamela Mann

FAVORITE SOUNDTRACK

ELVIS

Encanto

Sing 2

Stranger Things: Soundtrack from the Netflix Series, Season 4

Top Gun: Maverick

FAVORITE K-POP ARTIST

Blackpink

BTS

Seventeen

Tomorrow X Together

Twice

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Phony Ppl Returns With ‘euPHONYus’ Album

Posted on November 21, 2022

Welcome back, Phony Ppl!

The Brooklyn-reared quintet of Elbee Thrie, Aja Grant, Matthew “MaffYuu” Byas, Elijah Rawk, and Bari Bass have dropped their first project since 2018’s mō’zā-ik, euPHONYus. “euPHONYus is a harmonic celebration of sound and color through rhythm and melody; a jubilant event where you acknowledge the beauty of sound through concert/dance/ living,” the band says. “Long before we were born, we made a vow to never make the same album twice, and this is another chapter in the evolution of who yaBoy phony ppl Grows up to be! It’s enticement, it’s about comfort, familiarity and the safety and security that comes with that.”

A 12-track release, the likes of Megan Thee Stallion, JoJo, Leon Thomas iii, The Soul Rebels, Ivan Barias, and KAYTRANADA are among the contributors to the album. The project is led by the singles “Nowhere But Up,” Megan-guested “Fkn Around,” and “dialtone.”

Stream euPHONYus below.

Phony Ppl Returns With ‘euPHONYus’ Album was last modified: November 18th, 2022 by Meka

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An Essential Playlist And Brief History In 20 Songs

Posted on November 21, 2022

We have thankfully now left behind an extended period when ambient music seemed to have gone out of fashion, being seen as some sort of embarrassing mistake of the recent past. Without a doubt, ambient is back! Settle yourself in for a long, relaxing journey through some of the best ambient music in history.

Listen to the best ambient music on Spotify.

The Virgin label was home to a huge number of records influential on the formation of the ambient genre during the 70s. An obvious place to start is Mike Oldfield’s absolutely magical 1973 album Tubular Bells. Its main theme’s use as the theme for horror film The Exorcist maybe leaves it with rather scarier connotations than originally intended, but also remains one of the best ambient music recordings of all time, and makes the case for Mike Oldfield providing a precursor to the later development known as “dark ambient.” Greek composer Vangelis was also at work on minimal soundtrack work for Polydor, and tracks such as “La Mort Du Loup,” from L’Apocalypse Des Animaux, clearly prefigure much of the best ambient music of the decades ahead. Virgin signed Germany’s Tangerine Dream around the same time: the group had issued some excellent but challenging material in the years beforehand, but created one of the ultimate ambient albums in 1974’s timeless Phaedra (which boasts a formidable 18-minute title track) before repeating the success with other albums such as Rubycon.

Ambient isn’t a genre known for its snappy pop songs, but French composer Jean-Michel Jarre came as close as it was going to get with 1976’s “Oxygène, Pt.4” for Polydor, which now sounds beguilingly vintage and still effectively conjures a highly evocative portrait of the gas that underpins human life. Brian Eno popularised the term “ambient music” with his series of Ambient albums, but had already dipped his toe in the water with flawless compositions such as 1977’s Cluster collaboration and future Balearic vocal “By This River,” from Before And After Science. Virgin also hit again with prog explorer and future Orb collaborator Steve Hillage’s 1979 album Rainbow Dome Musick, the two side-long synth pieces on which including the tinkling “Garden Of Paradise.”

In the 80s, the age of lengthy, prog-friendly album tracks waned, but the cause was taken up by some of the burgeoning electronic scene’s frontrunners, including Art Of Noise, whose hardy perennial from 1984, “Moments In Love,” topped 10 minutes in its most blissed-out version. It’s also easy to see why some of the output of Simon Jeffes’ Penguin Cafe Orchestra has long been popular for chill-out purposes, as witnessed on “Wildlife,” from 1987’s Signs Of Life, which was later compiled on all manner of ambient collections.

Ambient really returned to popularity as the rave scene called for rooms in which the addled could reflect and recover. Perhaps the genre’s most totemic act emerged in the shape of The Orb, whose shuffling, stargazing “Little Fluffy Clouds” was inescapable in the early 90s, and who made a long and continuing career for themselves in and around the genre. While remembered as perhaps a little less hip, Virgin signing Enigma’s “Sadeness Part 1” almost single-handedly kickstarted a craze for Gregorian chant records in 1990 and had an easily translatable vibe that helped make the German project internationally popular right up to the present day. Likewise BBG’s “Snappiness,” which came out on Polydor the same year and has graced sun-drenched terraces ever since.

The extent to which the hottest acts of the time were toying with the genre becomes clear with previously unreleased material such as the 1991 ambient mix of Underworld’s “Dirty Epic”, included on the recent super-deluxe version of dubnobasswithmyheadman. By 1993, the floodgates had opened and ambient standards such as William Orbit’s “Water From A Vine Leaf” (for Virgin) were everywhere, that track epitomising an increasingly mobile young population’s desire to zip off to somewhere more tranquil. The following year also saw the label release one of The Future Sound Of London’s classic albums, Lifeforms, featuring then state-of-the-art pieces such as “Dead Skin Cells.” The album was lapped up by a highly receptive public, and the FSOL duo and their more obviously psychedelic alias, Amorphous Androgynous, have remained a cult favorite ever since. Typical of the time was also Union City act Voyager (better known as Tony Thorpe, aka The Moody Boys), who turned in 20 blissful minutes of gas escaping into the ether with 1993’s “Arrival,” alongside his more stock-in-trade acid numbers.

In the mid-90s, ambient was rapidly absorbed into other electronic genres, resulting in stunning, chilly crossovers such as Goldie’s drum’n’bass high-water mark “Inner City Life.” There were also so many cash-in ambient, Balearic and chill-out releases that one could be forgiven for overlooking Island’s 1997 Dreams Of Freedom (Ambient Translations Of Bob Marley In Dub). This one was, however, overseen by seasoned producer Bill Laswell, with Tetsu Inoue assisting on “The Heathen.” Likewise, you had to dig deep to find Astro’s 2000 remix of Watergate’s pop-trance release “Heart Of Asia” (on the commercially minded Positiva imprint). Based on Ryuichi Sakamoto’s theme for the film Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, it was a useful, fully ambient take on a piece that had always been adaptable to a bit of feet-up contemplation.

One of the factors driving the current revival in ambient music is the recognition finally being received for the newer wave of composers working between that genre and classical music, something which has been a factor of ambient recordings since the beginning. In 2008, techno producers Carl Craig and Moritz Von Oswald ReComposed parts of the Deutsche Grammophon catalogue, including the gently looping “Movement 6.” Max Richter’s landmark 2015 piece, Sleep, also for Deutsche Grammophon, has been another major new chapter in the story, not least “Dream 3 (in the midst of my life),” which enters the best ambient music canon with ease.

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8 of the best music biopics and where to watch them

Posted on November 21, 2022

Music biopics are successful for a reason, and they never fail to entertain. Groovy and addictive music enveloped in nostalgic magnetism and madness of some of the biggest western classical musicians in the world is the main ingredient of a brilliant music biopic.

Chronicling the lives of musicians from various genres including blues, jazz, rock, pop, hip-hop and rap, these films, considered to be a some of the best music biopics, evoke strong emotions among the masses. As most of us relate to music, especially during both high and low points in our lives, we develop a wistful longing to go back to the glorified old days. Additionally, the language of music is universal and hence the global market is open for such movies which mostly never fail to do well at the box office.

Movies profiling the biggest and most famous musicians across the world have one common tone which is to inspire and entertain us with the tales of these great personalities who have gone through extraordinary individual journeys and lived memorable lives. Apart from the rags-to-riches story which again is a common thread of these movies, the sole reason for the popularity of a musical biopic is the utmost importance that is given to the crazy worship of music shown by these gems. Consequently, the charm of a good music biopic never fades.

Some of the most famous films based on brilliant musicians include the recently released Elvis (2022) which follows the life and times of the ‘The King’ of rock n roll to Bohemian Rhapsody (2018), capturing the unconventional life of Freddie Mercury.

Exhilarating and captivating in every sense, watch these music biopics and go on an unforgettable journey filled with melody and excitement.

Here are some of the best music biopics to watch:

Directed by: Baz Luhrmann

Cast: Tom Hanks, Austin Butler and Olivia DeJonge

Synopsis: Butler plays the titular role in this classic real-life story of the American rock-and-roll legend Elvis Presley. Hanks plays his manager Colonel Tom Parker with whom he shares an interesting relationship.

Awards: Best actor for Butler at Hollywood Critics Association Midseason Awards (2022)

Image credit: IMDb

Directed by: Bryan Singer

Cast: Rami Malek, Lucy Boynton and Gwilym Lee

Synopsis: The film takes viewers on the eventful journey of Freddie Mercury played oh-so-perfectly by Malek.

Awards: Best performance by an actor in a leading role for Malek, Best Achievement in Film Editing for John Ottman, Best Achievement in Sound Editing for John Warhurst and Nina Hartstone, Best Achievement in Sound Mixing for Paul Massey, Tim Cavagin and John Casali at the Academy Awards, USA 2019 (Oscars); Best Leading Actor for Malek, Best Sound for Massey, Cavagin, Hartstone, Warhurst and Casali, Nomination for Outstanding British Film Of The Year at BAFTA Awards (2019).

Image credit: IMDb

Directed by: Dexter Fletcher

Cast: Taron Egerton, Jamie Bell and Richard Madden

Synopsis: Egerton plays Elton John in all his glory in this flick that portrays his early life, a breakthrough in career and how he transformed into ‘Rocketman Elton John’ from an ordinary British boy, Reginald Kenneth Dwight.

Awards: Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song) for Elton John and Bernie Taupin at Academy Awards, USA 2020 (Oscars)

Image credit:IMDb

Directed by: Taylor Hackford

Cast: Jamie Foxx, Regina King and Kerry Washington

Synopsis: Foxx plays the legendary breakout blues star Ray Charles, with the movie revolving around the way he dominated the music scene in the 1950s and 1960s. It is also an inspiring story of a boy who lost his eyesight in childhood but that did not deter him from his commitment to music.

Awards: Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for Foxx, Best Achievement in Sound Mixing for Scott Millan, Greg Orloff, Bob Beemer and Steve Cantamess at Academy Awards, USA 2005 (Oscars)

Image credit: IMDb

Directed by: Clint Eastwood

Cast: John Lloyd Young, Erich Bergen and Michael Lomenda

Synopsis: The movie is centred around the lead singer of the band The Four Seasons, Frankie Valli (Young), and the other members who despite belonging to a modest background became one of the most loved rock bands in the 1960s.

Awards: Best Foreign Language Film at Blue Ribbon Awards 2015

Image credit: IMDb

Directed by: Jim McBride

Cast: Dennis Quaid, Winona Ryder and John Doe

Synopsis: Quaid plays the bold and controversial rock-and-roll star of the 1950s, Jerry Lee Lewis, who made headlines for his controversial choices including marrying his minor cousin aged 13. Ryder plays his wife Myra.

Image credit: IMDb

Directed by: Bill Pohlad

Cast: John Cusack, Paul Dano and Elizabeth Banks

Synopsis: Cusack plays the Beach Boys frontman Brian Wilson — an award-winning songwriter and composer of the hit solo album Pet Sounds and also the single “Good Vibrations” in the 1960s. In a career spanning almost six decades, the movie is an insight into Wilson’s troubled childhood and turbulent relationship with his father, his resultant psychosis and substance abuse at a later stage in life.

Image credit: IMDb

Directed by: F. Gary Gray

Cast: O’Shea Jackson Jr, Corey Hawkins and Jason Mitchell

Synopsis: The movie is an ode to the hip-hop music and culture of West Coast hip-hop pioneers NWA. Jackson Jr essays the lead role of prolific gangsta rapper Ice Cube whose hit lyrics questioned everything from sexism to politics.

Awards: Nomination for Best Writing, Original Screenplay for Andrea Berloff, Jonathan Herman, S. Leigh Savidge, Alan Wenkus at the Academy Awards, USA 2016 (Oscar)

Image credit: IMDb

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Yellowstone music soundtrack playlist on Spotify: Every song

Posted on November 21, 2022

Creator Taylor Sheridan regularly features Texas country, Red Dirt and Americana staples on the hit show.

FORT WORTH, Texas — Love Yellowstone or not, it’s hard to deny one thing: The show’s selection of music is top-notch.

Creator Taylor Sheridan regularly features Texas country, Red Dirt and Americana staples on the hit show, which premiered Season 5 on Sunday, Nov. 13.

And if you’ve seen any of Sheridan’s movies – Hell or High Water and Wind River, to name two – that’s no surprise. Watching Yellowstone sometimes feels like listening to 95.9 The Ranch, the Fort Worth station that veers from mainstream country music.

Robert Earl Keen, Zach Bryan, Hayes Carll and Shane Smith and the Saints were all featured on Sunday night’s Season 5 premiere, and Shane Smith and the Saints played a show in one scene. And, of course, there’s Ryan Bingham, the Grammy-winning country singer who plays the role of “Walker” on the show.

Fortunately, Yellowstone keeps a Spotify playlist of each song featured on the show. As you’ll see, there’s a heavy Texas influence.

Check the full Yellowstone soundtrack playlist:

Here are a few of the highlights with Texas connections:

Shane Smith & the Saints
Ryan Bingham
Robert Earl Keen
Hayes Carll
Cody Johnson
The Panhandlers
Willie Nelson
Charley Crockett
Casey Donahew
Red Shahan
Cody Jinks
Rob Baird
Waylon Jennings
Kacey Musgraves

And more local ties are reportedly on the way. Wide Open Country this week featured Denton artist Isaac Hoskins, whose newest release, “Bender,” was released Friday ahead of one song appearing in Yellowstone this season.

Hoskins met Sheridan a few years ago while playing a set at a Fort Worth bar, according to a report.

The music isn’t the only local ties to Yellowstone.

Sheridan grew up in Texas and went to high school in Fort Worth. And just this week, the show was filming a “speech scene” in the city of Venus, in Johnson County, which was temporarily transformed into Montana.

And yes, Kevin Costner was there, playing catch with a football in between takes.

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Exclusive! Mithoon: This is the first time an Indian artiste has got credit & royalty for his music in an international song | Hindi Movie News

Posted on November 21, 2022

Composer-writer Mithoon’s title track of Sanam Re (2016) inspired many to recreate and sample the song, not just in India, but all over the world. Among th
em was the 2020 version Whoopty by American rapper CJ, which featured a prominent sample of the composition. Recently, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) awarded it the Song of the Year and Top Streaming Song. They also recognised and credited Mithoon for it. This is probably the biggest news in the Indian music industry in a long time. Talking exclusively to Bombay Times, Mithoon says, “I am thrilled as this is a massive breakthrough for all Indian composers I represent today.”

Mithoon says, “This is the first time in the history of Indian music that an Indian artiste has received credit and royalty for the use of a sample/melody of their music in an international track. This recognition is all because of the relentless efforts made by Javed Akhtar saab and his team, who spearheaded the Copyright Act (Amendment) Bill in 2012, which stated that the right to royalty was non-transferable. I feel very fulfilled as an artiste and Indian music composer, and am very excited about this, not just personally, but for our industry. It is time Indian composers are celebrated for what they are contributing to the world with the melody and content we artistes have.”

While there have been instances of Indian artiste’s works being used by prominent names like Britney Spears, Black Eyed Peas, Nelly Furtado, Kanye West and others, they haven’t been credited for it. Mithoon says, “I am really glad that now the system is so strong that if you use, or sample anybody’s music, it actually tracks it on fingerprinting and it gives you credit as well as royalty.”

(Top) 2020 version Whoopty by American rapper CJ, which featured a prominent sample of Mithoon’s title track of Sanam Re (2016) .

‘It is good to see one artiste give credit to another when using their work’

AR Rahman says, “It is also good to see one artiste give another credit when using their work, as in this case. As the world comes closer through art, by breaking boundaries of geographies and language, solidarity amongst the fraternity is a fantastic milestone. And enablers like ASCAP have only made it more transparent and fairer to all involved. This, indeed, is a step in the right direction. I hope there will be many more success stories of Indian

artistes in the future.”

‘People are getting their deserved royalty’

Javed Akhtar says, “I am very proud of Mithoon and the kind of impact his music has made. Many people across the globe have recreated his melody and given him credit. He is getting his due royalty. There was a time when musicians were importers of Western music, and it influenced Indian film music. Today, the importers have become exporters, and we are sending our music there. Hundreds of our songs, compositions, preludes and interludes are being used by major stars of the world. What is great now is that people are getting their deserved royalty thanks to the law that came into force in 2012. I see a very bright future now for musicians and creative people.”

What creators need to know about royalty

There isn’t any singular action that determines efficient royalty collection. A creator signs up with a publishing administrator who is familiar with the systems and procedures and ensures that no money is left on the table anywhere. Royalty-collecting organisations use metadata (song information) to identify the song so they can pay the creator when their songs are used.

NEED OF THE HOUR: Accurate metadata collation for all our music

Publishing Administrator Sherley Singh says, “Today India is no longer a niche market amongst global players. Our music has a vast reach and with accurate metadata collation, musicians in India can have the same benefits as their counterparts in the west. The money flow is consistent as consumption of media has never been at this scale before. The back end of this system is what needs to be given more attention. This is why publishing administration is in today’s times an integral part of a musicians business.”

Kinds of royalties

As a music creator and a songwriter making music is exciting and challenging but it’s the part you love. Once your song is released through a film, OTT platform, TV or directly with a distributor, your music reaches your listeners. For every listen, stream, view or download music makes two kinds of royalties: Publishing Royalties (based on the underlying composition and lyrics) and Master Recording Royalties (based on the specific recording of the song).

Publishing royalties are fundamental but often overlooked by authors and composers. To collect these royalties, song information (Metadata) must be registered and uses must be tracked by a range of royalty collecting societies (IPRS, PRS, ASCAP) from around the world. While master recording royalties come directly to you from distributors or labels, publishing royalties are collected from royalty collection societies. Global music publishing includes multiple kinds of rights, each of these rights come from many kinds of song usage plus many many different pay sources in hundreds of countries.

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