It was a chilly evening in 2006. My eighth-grade boyfriend and I were trading Christmas gifts in our local park by moonlight. We were shivering but dealing, because when you’re 13 and in search of ...

Emerson College entrepreneur Isabel Thottam is on a mission to soothe others through the power of music. Inspired by the lyrics of a Jonas Brothers song last August, the college junior founded Hold On ...

We get a lot of mail at NPR Music, and amid the shampoo samples we accidentally tossed into the fireplace is a slew of smart questions about how music fits into our lives — and, this week, the ...

The mix is true to its name, starting softly, almost inaudibly, in the first Dan Deacon song and then building, well, voice. It rises and falls, with gentle, folky love songs and stronger, more ...

Yeah. Sure. Great idea. If you guys still listen to CDs, which I’ll bet you don’t. Why does everyone feel the need to keep making mixtapes when we all have iPods and Pandora? I hate to rain on your ...

I can’t even remember the last time I actually held a CD mixtape, much less played one. But there’s a CD wallet kicking around in storage that’s filled with unassuming silver discs doodled on with ...