The Tower Records Project

"No music, no life." With that statement, Tower Records declared itself more than just a music store. From its founding in 1960 until its closure in 2006, Tower was a gathering place, a library, a barometer of cultural trends and one-time icon of the U.S. retail market. Ultimately, the Tower Records business model - large stores with deep music catalogs - couldn't compete in the age of digital downloads and discount retailers. But the spirit and history of this pioneering music store can live on. In fact, an effort to preserve the Tower experience is currently underway in Sacramento, California, the birthplace of Tower Records. In 2009, founder Russ Solomon donated over 200 boxes of Tower-related history - artwork, photographs, memorabilia, awards, business records and correspondence, office furnishings and even the neon signs from the first stand-alone store - to the Center for Sacramento History. The Tower Records Project, a campaign to fund the preservation of Russ' gift and make it publicly available, has kicked off
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Joe Smith donates recorded interviews with music's who's who to the Library of Congress

More than 25 years ago, retired music executive Joe Smith accomplished a Herculean feat - he got more than 200 celebrated singers, musicians and industry icons to talk about their lives, music, experiences and contemporaries. The Library of Congress has announced that Smith has donated this treasure trove of unedited sound recordings to the nation's library. The list of noted artists and executives is a veritable who's who in the music industry. They include Artie Shaw, Woody Herman, Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles, Barbra Streisand, Little Richard, Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Elton John, Paul Simon, David Bowie, Billy Joel, Sting, Tony Bennett, Joan Baez, James Taylor, Dick Clark, Tina Turner, Tom Jones, B.B. King, Quincy Jones, David Geffen, Mickey Hart, Harry Belafonte and many others. All types of popular music are represented - from rock 'n' roll, jazz, rhythm & blues and pop to big-band, heavy metal, folk and country-western
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A Point of View: Why are the Beatles so popular 50 years on?

The Fab Four's music endures because it mirrors an era we still long for, says Adam Gopnik
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hypetree

hypetree is a new way to discover independent music. It's also a new, free way for musicians to get exposure for their songs and albums
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NME apologises to singer Morrissey over article

The NME has publicly apologised to singer Morrissey over an article it published in 2007, which, the singer claimed, suggested he was racist
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Bonnaroo: Live on YouTube this weekend

YouTube Presents is bringing you the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival all weekend, starting this Friday at 1 p.m. CT/11 a.m. PT. Tune in to youtube.com/bonnaroo to watch three days of non-stop musical performances, in partnership with DELL
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Former Fleetwood Mac guitarist Bob Welch found dead in Nashville at age 65

Bob Welch, a former member of Fleetwood Mac who went on to write songs and record several hits during a solo career, died Thursday of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said. He was 65. Police spokesman Don Aaron said Welch's wife found him with a chest wound at their south Nashville home around 12:15 p.m. Welch was a guitarist and vocalist for Fleetwood Mac from 1971 to 1974. He formed the British rock group Paris in 1976, and had hits including "Sentimental Lady" in 1977 and "Ebony Eyes" in 1978. Fleetwood Mac's Christine McVie and Lindsey Buckingham did backup vocals on "Sentimental Lady." Aaron said Welch apparently had had health issues recently. He said a suicide note was left
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Elvis Presley to be digitally recreated

Elvis Presley is to be digitally recreated for a series of live shows and TV appearances. A virtual likeness of the late singer will be produced for the performances by the same company who made a Tupac "hologram" earlier this year. The digitally resurrected rapper made a headline-grabbing appearance at the Coachella music festival in April
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The Beatles' first visit to EMI, part 1

Fifty years ago, the Beatles recorded for the first time in a building that would eventually bear the name of their last venture. On Wednesday, 6 June 1962, the most important rock band of the twentieth century auditioned at the EMI Recording Studios in Abbey Road, London
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Internet meme Mr. Trololo dies in Russia at age 77

Soviet crooner Eduard Khil, who gained international stardom in 2010 when his 1976 video of a vocalized song known as Trololo became a global Internet hit, has died. He was 77
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Leanne Mitchell wins The Voice UK final

Tyler James, Leanne Mitchell, Bo Bruce and Vince Kidd competed to win The Voice UK 2012 in the grand final on Saturday night. Leanne Mitchell was bottom with the bookies but proved them wrong, winning the record contract
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