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Hot 107.1 reborn online as Beatgasm.com

In its short life span, HOT 107.1 managed to build a decent following with its EDM format -- decent, but not quite big enough, as the station ended up flipping formats. At first the frequency was unveiled as Pot 107.1, which turned out to be a stunt (what a brilliant format that would've been, thoug ... More >>

Are mixtapes even a thing anymore?

Even the most casual music fan has made or received a mixtape at some point. For the kind of people who see music as the soundtrack of their lives, assembling a list of songs for a friend or lover is a compulsion that is difficult to deny. But in the age of file-sharing and iTunes, does this form of ... More >>

So that story of the Smiths fan who held a station here hostage in the '80s? It's true...well, sort of

By Dave Herrera and Josiah Hesse Well, so, we finally got to the bottom of this whole alleged Smiths radio ambush we told you about earlier this week that supposedly took place over two decades ago. We set out on a mission to once and for all debunk this long held myth involving a deranged gunman w ... More >>

Why EDM is thriving while other genres aren't

DJs are the new rock stars? Maybe. (Although chefs are already the new rock stars.) Still, the big name DJs do seem to be living pretty large, what with the constant travel to exotic locations, goofily-clad fans, eager women, drugs and parties. Just swap MacBooks for guitars and it doesn't look so d ... More >>

Backbeat writers sound off on the year's best national albums

See also: Moovers and Shakers 2012: Backbeat writers praise the year's best local albums

Obama in Boulder: Libertarian zealots, Romney bashing and (maybe) a 3OH!3 sighting

Barack Obama's appearance in Boulder on Sunday brought out Rich Black Mormons (one of them, anyway) and thousands of others -- a fascinatingly varied swath of humanity willing to swelter in the heat for hours for a chance to stand on CU-Boulder's Norlin Quad, sight of the annual 4/20 celebration, to ... More >>

The copyright standoff: Technology pits bad rules vs. no rules

Squeeze's Glenn Tilbrook on the band's new album and working with Chris Difford

While Squeeze (due at Denver Botanic Gardens at Chatfield on Wednesday, July 4) has had a few hiatuses in its almost forty year history, singer and guitarist Glenn Tilbrook says the band sounds more energized these days. So energized, in fact, that the group has even started work on a new album, a p ... More >>

Our complete guide to the June 23 Westword Music Showcase

See also: Twelve types of Denver musicians

Brian Jonestown Massacre's Anton Newcombe on Beck, living in Germany and Bright Channel

The Brian Jonestown Massacre (due tonight at the Bluebird Theater) has been through ups and downs since 1990. But through it all, singer and primary songwriter Anton Newcombe, has steered the band through releasing more great albums per decade than most bands have across entire career. For the unini ... More >>

Chartbreaker: Bruce Springsteen shows Adele who is Boss with his new album, Wrecking Ball

Adele finally fell from the top this week, thanks to none other than the Boss. That's right -- Bruce Springsteen's new release, Wrecking Ball, his seventeenth studio album, managed to end Adele's reign at the top of the Billboard 200, shifting 224,000 units to Adele's 195,000. Sales for Adele's 21 d ... More >>

Beatport's new Baseware Distribution aims to spread electronic music to the masses

​Late last month, Beatport announced its newest venture, Baseware Distribution, a service geared toward helping the electronic musicians who already use Beatport to get their music to more outlets, including iTunes, Spotify, Rdio and Stompy.

Songza tops our list of music apps this week

Music apps are quickly taking over our smartphones, turning music into toys, productivity tools and providing free tunes no matter where we are. This week, we've got a few great ways to find music and stream it, plus one of the best score readers for iPad yet.

At f8 conference, Facebook announces integration with Spotify, Turntable, Rhapsody

Via FacebookZuckerberg announcing Facebook's new music integration at f8 today.​At the F8 Developers Conference today, Facebook's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg announced the launch of a new music service that allows you to listen to music with friends through Facebook or just see what all of your frien ... More >>

Music streaming service MOG goes free, provided you're willing to work for it

​Up until this morning, MOG was one of the few streaming services that didn't offer a crippled free version for people to try out. Sure, you could score a fourteen-day trial, but there was no version of the service that was ultimately free. Now, through a combination of ads and a rather clever ... More >>

Century Media exits Spotify: Is there value for indie labels in making their catalogs available?

​In a press release last week, Century Media announced it would be pulling its music from the streaming music service Spotify. The metal-centric label is certainly not the first to express its distrust of streaming services, and it probably won't be the last. As fans and consumers have been pu ... More >>

Turntable.fm gets more investors, Lady Gaga and Kanye West supposedly among them

​It seems to be nothing but good news for Turntable.fm. Hot on the heels of snagging licensing deals with BMI and ASCAP, the music-sharing service is closing a $7.5 million deal with Union Square Ventures, bringing Turntable's value up to somewhere around $37.5 million. That's not all, Busines ... More >>

Music App Roundup: Play by AOL, Pixies Official, Spotify, VinylLove and Björk: Biophilia

​The music app business has been booming enough recently that we decided it was time we start sifting through it all on a regular basis. It's a strange digital world when everyone out there can create a mobile application for whatever purpose they desire, but that also means there are a lot of ... More >>

Turntable.fm snags licensing agreements with BMI and ASCAP, ensuring that artists are compensated accordingly for their work

​It's still in beta, but interactive music startup Tuntable.fm has just sealed deals with BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc.) and ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) to ensure they'll not just have an extensive catalog of music, but that performers and labels will receive the ... More >>

Spotify finally launches in the U.S. What is it?

​It might not have been on purpose, but Spotify's constant delays in coming stateside have somehow managed to create an organic buzz for the streaming music service unlike anything that could have been done intentionally.

Rhapsody, Spotify headed for showdown

​Music streaming services look more and more like they'll eventually do to MP3s what MP3s did to CDs, and what CDs did to tapes, and so on. We're still a long way from a paradigm shift, but as the popular European streaming service Spotify makes headway in its mission to invade America, Rhapso ... More >>

How the music industry will change in 2011

​In the past decade, the music industry has seen a lot of changes, but it has struggled to keep pace with technology, piracy and consumer demands. Already this year we've started to see a few more changes take shape, from crackdowns on piracy websites, a resurgence of interest in the currently ... More >>

The French are fighting piracy in a new and interesting way, but could it work here?

​The French government has revealed a plan to combat piracy that could either be the most brilliant gesture ever or the most monumental waste of government resources of all time (okay, maybe not all time, but close). The proposal: French residents can buy a 50-euro gift card with which they ... More >>

Five ways to stave off an iTunes store monopoly

​ With the disintegration of Lala coming May 31st, we've been left with one less choice for downloading. Lala was one of the best digital music distributors in town, offering full album streaming and low prices for downloading. After the website was gobbled up by Apple in December of last ... More >>