Nineteenth-century US thought blacks can’t sing as well as whites. Elizabeth Greenfield changed that

Greenfield forced critics and audiences to reconcile their ears with their racism.

Adam Gustafson, The Conversation

· Feb 05, 2023 · 09:30 pm

How the songs of enslaved Africans in the US were transformed into gospel music

A brief history of the evolution of gospel music.

Robert Stephens, The Conversation

· Mar 03, 2018 · 11:30 pm

How a war provided the soundtrack for subversive Afrikaans rock

Rock music against military conscription during 1980s South Africa resonated with wider fault lines in Afrikaner society.

Schalk van der Merwe, The Conversation

· Jul 21, 2017 · 09:30 pm

Strings attached: A short history of the Western classical guitar in India

Indian composers haven’t fully exploited the opportunity to write for the guitar.

Kuldeep Barve

· Jul 16, 2017 · 11:30 am

Ali Ben Sou Alle: Was this 19th century Frenchman the Pied Piper of Mysore?

He may have been director of the Royal Music for the Maharaja of Mysore. Or, he may have invented the story out of thin air.

Paul Wehage

· Jun 05, 2017 · 11:30 am

In French opera ‘Padmavati’, sweetness, dread, and lots of sighing and twirling

Revisited by Sanjay Leela Bhansali in 2008 and the source of his upcoming movie, Albert Roussel’s 1923 work devotes much time to dance sequences.

Vignesh Sridharan

· Feb 12, 2017 · 01:30 pm

Watch: The mystery of why air horns are used in hip hop is finally solved (or not)

It was one DJ who revolutionised it into a 'global phenomenon' but its roots go deeper.

Scroll Staff

· Jan 15, 2017 · 08:00 pm

The harmonium was born in Europe – so how did it become synonymous with Indian music?

The journey of the instrument across continents and centuries.

Vishwas R. Gaitonde

· Aug 19, 2016 · 11:30 am

How courtesans paved the way for women in Indian showbiz

A new book maps the ways women singers changed the music industry.

Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri

· Jul 12, 2016 · 11:30 am

After 61 years, Mumbai's own music store Rhythm House says goodbye with this bittersweet video

Vinyl, cassettes, and then CDs – it was the go-to music shop for three generation of Mumbaikars.

Scroll Staff

· Mar 12, 2016 · 12:17 pm

Stand by for an up-to-date chronicle of India's independent music scene

Arjun S Ravi's six-part documentary series encompasses the jazz era, the arrival of rock in 60s and the recent explosion of electronic music in India.

Amit Gurbaxani

· Oct 14, 2015 · 05:30 pm

Not all variations of the world's most annoying ringtone are unbearable

Even better: Microsoft does not own it.

Mridula Chari

· Apr 30, 2014 · 05:50 am