Fast Forward

Tuning in to the many relationships between innovation and music

The Future of Music Is Not Male

Women are demanding respect, autonomy, and credit in an industry that has long rebuffed them.
Laura Snapes
5 min read

High Score: How Video Game Music Became the Soundtrack of a Generation

Game music has quietly infiltrated mainstream culture while retaining its unique appeal.
Duncan Jefferies
6 min read

The Rise and Fall of Unusual Instruments

Why did some of the 20th century’s most radically experimental instruments succeed–and others fail?
Ian Steadman
3 min read

Steven Johnson: In Conversation With Brian Eno

“Cheating is actually all I ever do.”
Steven Johnson
9 min read

Musicians: The Robots Are Coming for Your Jobs

The question isn’t whether robots can do what humans do–it’s about what we value about creativity.
Duncan Geere
5 min read

Starting a Band in 2040

Forget jamming in a garage–when the next generation starts to make music, it’ll enter an upside-down industry.
Andy Malt
8 min read

What Does Your Walk Sound Like?

If we can control music with location, why not with movement?
Nikita Taparia
2 min read

Bots Will Choose Your Music in 2030

The new ubiquity of streaming–from the cloud to your head.
David Emery
6 min read

Future Nostalgia: What We’ll Miss When the Music Stops

From the crackle of vinyl to the clipped edges of MP3s, the ways we listen to music influence why we love it.
Kate Solomon
4 min read

The History (and Future) of Live Music

From paleolithic flutes and church organs to wearables and virtual reality.
Vas Panagiotopoulos
7 min read

Putting Music on a Map

How about instead of a song playing out over time, it plays out over a space?
Duncan Geere
5 min read

Five Pioneering Music Videos That You Need To Check Out

A look at some of the most inventive ways artists have combined sound and vision.
Matt Locke
4 min read

The Future of Music: A Reading List

A crash course in the interplay between music and innovation.
How We Get To Next
2 min read

We Made Some Rappers Collaborate With a Rap-Writing AI and Got a Glimpse of the Future of Pop Music

Can a computer truly ever replace human creativity in pop music?
Dave Fawbert
7 min read

Making Music Hackable Again

A musical instrument designed to be hacked and modified into something new and unexpected.
Alice Bell
2 min read

This Little Recording Studio in the Desert Connects People Across Continents

An international festival for the world’s longest-standing refugee camp.
Alice Bell
3 min read

Five Innovation Podcasts Worth Putting Into Your Ears

Want to know how innovations are changing the world?
Alice Bell
1 min read

Piano Strings Tickled with Electromagnets, Not Hammers

Creating a new tool for composers and performers.
Alice Bell
2 min read

The Drummer Helping Us to Understand Human/Robot Interactions

Mortimer isn’t just a music machine–he’s also a scientific instrument.
Alice Bell
2 min read

Making Music From Bridges, Carrots, Guns, a Pig, and More

Most things can be an instrument, as long as you’re dedicated enough
Alice Bell
2 min read

How a Musician Used Beats to Build a Better GPS

How trying to tie sounds to place led to a breakthrough in geolocation.
David Hambling
3 min read