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Music Features

Tuesday

Maxwell's, The Beloved New Jersey Venue, Closes

Maxwell's, in Hoboken, N.J., hosted Bruce Springsteen, Nirvana and the Replacements, to name a few. George Kopp hide caption

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George Kopp

The Record

Maxwell's, The Beloved New Jersey Venue, Closes

The club, which booked bands like R.E.M., the Replacements and Yo La Tengo before and after they hit the big time, is shutting down while "people still love us," says an owner.

Maxwell's, The Beloved New Jersey Venue, Closes

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Sunday

Paying The Piper: Music Streaming Services In Perspective

Thom Yorke of Radiohead and Atoms for Peace is one of many musicians concerned with Spotify's small royalty payments. isifa/Getty Images hide caption

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isifa/Getty Images

Opinion

The Record

Paying The Piper: Music Streaming Services In Perspective

As more music becomes available for free online, concepts of music ownership start to break down. A musician, a songwriter and Spotify's director of Artist Services share their viewpoints on the ongoing controversy over royalty payments made by streaming services.

Paying The Piper: Music Streaming Services In Perspective

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Wednesday

Saturday

Thundercat On Making Music Outside The Lines

Stephen "Thundercat" Bruner B+/Courtesy of Motormouth Media hide caption

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B+/Courtesy of Motormouth Media

The Record

Thundercat On Making Music Outside The Lines

Session musician Stephen Bruner has played bass in other people's bands for more than a decade. He can play metal, R&B, hip-hop, jazz. With his second album, he's stepping to the front of the stage.

Thundercat On Making Music Outside The Lines

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Friday

20 Years Ago, Tupac Broke Through

Tupac Shakur on the set of Poetic Justice. Everett Collection / Rex USA hide caption

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Everett Collection / Rex USA

The Record

20 Years Ago, Tupac Broke Through

In January of 1993, Tupac Shakur was 21 years old. He was about to drop his contradictory second album, which would launch him to superstardom.

20 Years Ago, Tupac Broke Through

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Wednesday

Monday

Sub Pop Celebrates 25 Years Of Artisanal Music

Touch Me I'm A Local Institution: Mudhoney plays from more than 500 feet above Seattle, on the roof of the Space Needle, as part of a set celebrating Sub Pop's Silver Jubilee broadcast by KEXP Morgen Schuler/KEXP hide caption

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Morgen Schuler/KEXP

The Record

Sub Pop Celebrates 25 Years Of Artisanal Music

For 25 years, Sub Pop has been putting out music that speaks to Seattle. Today, the music may not all be local, but the label's artists are mostly specialists who have perfected a certain style.

Watch The Civil Wars Live Up To Their Name In A Behind-The-Scenes Video

John Paul White (left) and Joy Williams of The Civil Wars. The duo's second album will be released on August 6. Allister Ann/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Allister Ann/Courtesy of the artist

The Record

Watch The Civil Wars Live Up To Their Name In A Behind-The-Scenes Video

The personal differences that surfaced during the studio sessions of the spellbinding country duo The Civil Wars resulted in a canceled tour, a dissolved partnership and a second album that crackles with tension.

Tuesday

A Music Festival Grows In The Rainforest

Palsandae, a South Korean troupe, whose wild, very loud music is at times not far removed from the ecstatic free-playing of Sun Ra's Arkestra or the Art Ensemble of Chicago. Leslie Liew/Courtesy of the photographer hide caption

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Leslie Liew/Courtesy of the photographer

The Record

A Music Festival Grows In The Rainforest

Staged spectacularly between a beach and a rainforest mountain peak in Malaysian Borneo, the festival grows its local music scene and tourism industry, while also raising consciousness — along with, in this case, some uncomfortable questions — about its environmental stewardship.

Sunday

Small-Town Audio Geeks Bring Big Sounds To The Dance Floor

Fulcrum Acoustic engineer Rich Frembes (left) and founder Dave Gunness pose in their workshop. The company produces more than 2,000 speakers a year, often testing and tweaking the units obsessively to meet each client's specific needs. Andrea Shea hide caption

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Andrea Shea

The Record

Small-Town Audio Geeks Bring Big Sounds To The Dance Floor

Fulcrum Acoustic speakers are in some of the hottest clubs in Hollywood, Vegas and Singapore. They're also in Bible-Belt churches and Disney World. Joan Baez uses them for her stage rig. They're made in a tiny enclave outside Boston, by a small team that prides itself on making its work "invisible."

Small-Town Audio Geeks Bring Big Sounds To The Dance Floor

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Wednesday

New Jay-Z Album Tests The Musician And Samsung

A still of Jay-Z from the commercial for his new album. YouTube hide caption

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YouTube

The Record

New Jay-Z Album Tests The Musician And Samsung

On July 4, Jay-Z will release his album, Magna Carta Holy Grail, via an app that will be available to Samsung smart phone users three days before its wider release. It's not the first branding promotion between the tech and music industries, but it may be the highest profile.

New Jay-Z Album Tests The Musician And Samsung

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Saturday