The Goodnewspaper The 2024 Music Edition

HELLO HELLO! Join in on a group of extended family members unabashedly singing “Sweet Caroline” on the dance floor of a wedding. Cut off your circulation with an unfathomable amount of friendship bracelets to trade at a stadium show for your favorite pop star. Click on the bookmarked tab that takes you to a live video of “Lo-Fi hip hop beats to study and relax to” and find yourself in the company of over 14 million other subscribers. Hum a Katy Perry song from 2010 at the dentist’s office while they fill your cavity. Throw your graduation cap in the air as the Pomp and Circumstance Marches play on a booming speaker. Share a pack of tissues with a stranger when the bagpipes holler across a rolling green cemetery. Repost…

The opera just got a whole lot more inclusive for Deaf and hard of hearing audience members at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. This is thanks to a pilot program to bring the SoundShirt to opera lovers: a device worn as a jacket that’s equipped with 16 haptic actuators that transmit sound from the stage into pulses, vibrations, and other sensations. While the Lyric has championed accessibility measures like performances with American Sign Language interpretation, projected subtitles, and assisted listening devices, as well as Braille and large-print programs, audio-described performances, and pre-performance “touch tours,” the SoundShirt brings a newfound innovation to the performing arts. “It doesn’t re-create the experience of listening to music,” Brad Dunn of the Lyric told the Washington Post. “It’s its own thing. It translates the music…

According to the American Tinnitus Association, more than 25 million adults in the United States have tinnitus, a condition that includes phantom sounds like ringing and buzzing in the ears, and may even lead to hearing loss. There is no cure. However, with the help of tools like hearing aids, mindfulness therapies, or even acupuncture, many are able to reduce their symptoms. There’s also a new device called the Lenire, which was recently approved by the FDA. It introduces the use of electrical stimulation of the tongue to help treat tinnitus. By shifting the brain’s attention away from the buzzing or “phantom sounds,” Lenire re-trains the brain to understand that those sounds are not important information and can be quieted. “It’s kind of like if I lived near a waterfall…

Unfettered AI use is a growing concern around the world. Young Guru, Jay-Z’s sound engineer, rang the alarm bells last year when he shared a clip of a Jay-Z song — that was made with an AI Jay-Z. “I’ve been trying to tell everyone that this is where we are now with AI,” Young Guru wrote on Instagram after the video went viral. “For some reason, this one got everyone’s attention. So what do we do? On one hand, I’m well aware that you can’t stop technology. Once the genie is out of the box you can’t put him back in. On the other hand, we have to protect the rights of the artist.” Young Guru’s online stunt raised questions: Who gets money when an artist’s voice is used to…

GOOD Enjoy the unique perspective disabled artists bring to all kinds of music! A great place to start? Watching Gaelynn Lee’s Tiny Desk Concert by NPR. You’ll love her “untraditional” way of playing Irish fiddle tunes. BETTER Support Open Up Music, the nonprofit behind the National Open Youth Orchestra; the world’s first disabled-led national youth orchestra of 11-25-year-old musicians. Visit openupmusic.org. BEST Learn American Sign Language! Classes can be found at colleges, libraries, churches, and more. Many advocates recommend learning ASL from a Deaf or hard of hearing person, so keep that in mind as you find a teacher!…

WE HAVE GOOD NEWS Snorkelers playing saxophones? Stranger things have happened. Every year at the Lower Keys Underwater Music Festival, local musicians and divers gather for a “subaquatic sound experience.” When Bill Becker — the news director of local radio station WWUS 104.1 — founded the festival over 30 years ago, his goal was to raise awareness for coral preservation. The annual event brings people to Looe Key Reef, part of the only living coral barrier reef in North America, to learn more about coral reefs and enjoy them in a whole new light. Attendees can engage with a pre-selected radio playlist, which is streamed live from underwater speakers and includes hits like “Yellow Submarine” or Jimmy Buffett’s “Fins.” Musician-divers and “mermaids” also play whimsical instruments created by a local…