This list of NPR Music's best songs of 2023 looks unlike any we've ever made before. It's not just the number of songs that has changed. There are no rankings here — in fact, the 123 songs below ...

Where do songs come from? For now, they come from us — from our needs, our wants, our regrets, our scorn. Next year, they might come from a box brought to near-sentience by all the songs that came ...

Music has increasingly become a part of modern life. Research today suggests that music can help alleviate negative emotions such as stress, anxiety, and depression. Over time, the way we consume ...

It seems I’ve been singing the same refrain ever since 2017, the year of our blessed “Despacito.” In 2023, Latin music continued its exponential growth in commercial value. The Recording Industry Assn ...

While the streaming-age unbundling of albums broke down the idea of what a single could be even further, the year’s best songs all shook things up in their own right. Club-ready tracks from Beyoncé, ...

Before the widespread adoption of music streaming services like Spotify and YouTube Music, we primarily accessed music by downloading it to our devices from websites ...

Here are the 30 best rock and metal songs of 2023. New music was everywhere this year. With a couple thousand albums falling under the rock/metal/punk/etc. umbrella, we're talking about well over ...

The artists we love and respect most have a tendency to drop a cover song here and there. It’s a perennial occurrence at this point, as performing renditions of other people’s art has become a ...

No matter your relationship status, it's hard not to appreciate a sweet lil love song. Even if you're single as a Pringle, a romantic ballad or loved-up bop never fails to give ya an instant serotonin ...

Seventy-one tracks that asked big questions, found new kinship between genres and helped us see the good in Ken. By Jon Pareles Jon Caramanica and Lindsay Zoladz Jon Pareles The album may be imperiled ...

R&B girlies sampling hip-hop classics, Latin divas tag-teaming for a knockout hit and Billie channeling Barbie were among favorites of THR's senior music editor. By Mesfin Fekadu It’s hard to think of ...

In a year when Taylor Swift took up an atmosphere’s worth of media oxygen (sorry), artists large and small continued the long trudge uphill, attempting to stand out in an increasingly crowded field.