Video Feature & Web-Exclusive Interview   Musician:  SOFI VONN   Video:  “what u started”       ELECTRONIC POP SINGER-SONGWRITER SOFI VONN PREMIERES NEW SINGLE “WHAT U STARTED”     London-based New York-born electronic pop singer-songwriter Sofi Vonn premieres new single “what u started.” It follows the success of recently released singles “Ghost” and “Best I Can,” as well as the... 

Video Feature & Web-Exclusive Interview Artist:  TEDDY SWIMS Video:  “Broke” TEDDY SWIMS RELEASES THE CATCHY, FUNK-INFUSED, SOULFUL “BROKE”  When Teddy Swims sings “Broke” you can feel the pain he must have felt when $20 would have changed his world, yet you can also experience his joy that shines from inside because he is part of a family. Jaten Dimsdale is Teddy Swims, but as he says, “I’m Jaten Dimsdale—we are Teddy... 

VIDEO FEATURE & WEB-EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW Songwriter:  MIKE CAMPBELL Music Video: “Sit Still, Look Pretty” Mike Campbell is an award-winning, multi-platinum singer/songwriter based in Brooklyn, NY. He is one of the cowriters of the 2014 Grammy Award winning hit “Say Something” (made popular by the duet of A Great Big World and Christina Aguilera). It sold over 6 million copies worldwide—that’s RIAA certified 6x Platinum status. And... 

BENNY BLANCO A prodigious talent schools the music business in Hit-making 101         By Michael Gallant Benny Blanco has crafted pop magic in the studio for today’s biggest stars, including Katy Perry, Maroon 5, Rihanna and Bruno Mars. He’s scored more than a dozen No. 1 hits and was named Songwriter of the Year at this year’s BMI Pop Awards. Oh, and he’s 24. That’s an impressive career at any age, but only more so considering its... 

Alex Greenwald, Michael Runion, Z Berg, James Valentine, Jason Boesel JJAMZ Five successful artists go from musical friendship to supergroup  It’s a steamy summer afternoon, and Elizabeth “Z” Berg is in a van with the rest of the newly formed band JJAMZ, ready to embark on a 24-hour trip from Austin, Texas, to Billings, Mont. “Well, I’ll get a book read. That’s a positive,” Berg chuckles. “Somehow I am built for tours, which is good... 

PLAYING IT BY EAR How the right live monitor can take your stage show to the next level  Whether you’re playing a grungy blues set at a local club or headlining a stadium rock festival, delivering a show to remember is impossible if you can’t hear what you’re doing. What sounds perfectly harmonious to you could sound like a broken chainsaw out in the crowd—and vice versa. So how can you ensure you’re getting the onstage mix that you need... 

MAROON 5 From Switzerland to Nashville, finding the way forward on a make-or-break album On their 2007 album, It Won’t Be Soon Before Long, Maroon 5 enlisted a team of producers to help shape the material. For their latest disc, Hands All Over, the pop rockers turned to one—Robert John “Mutt” Lange, famed for his cinematic productions of AC/DC, Def Leppard and others. “The producers on the last album did a great job, but it was hard to...