John Seabrook
John Seabrook has been a contributor to The New Yorker since 1989 and became a staff writer in 1993. Seabrook explores the intersection between creativity and commerce in the fields of technology, design, and music. Seabrook is the author of “Nobrow: The Culture of Marketing—The Marketing of Culture,” which was published in 2000; “Deeper: My Two-Year Odyssey in Cyberspace,” which was published in 1997; and “Flash of Genius, and Other True Stories of Invention,” which was published in 2008. His most recent book, “The Song Machine: Inside the Hit Factory,” was published by Norton in October, 2015. Before joining the magazine, Seabrook was a contributing editor at Vanity Fair and a senior writer at Manhattan, inc. magazine.
Inside the Music Industry’s High-Stakes A.I. Experiments
Lucian Grainge, the chairman of UMG, has helped record labels rake in billions of dollars from streaming. Can he do the same with generative artificial intelligence?
Johnny Marr Loves his Axes
In his new book, “Marr’s Guitars,” the co-founder of the Smiths describes how each of his hundred and thirty-two instruments turned his daydreams into sound.
A Drummer’s-Eye View of the Arctic Monkeys
Matt Helders, the band’s drummer—and now its album-cover photographer—explains why a life at the rear of the stage has made him captivated by people’s backs.
Chess Records, Revived
Marshall Chess never got to run his father’s label, which recorded musicians like Muddy Waters and Chuck Berry. Now he has an album of reinterpreted classics.
Margo Price Puts a Hurtin’ on Some (Alcohol-Free) Bottles
Over alternative whiskey sours, the singer-songwriter explains how a psilocybin-induced revelation prompted to her to go secretly sober.
The Case for and Against Ed Sheeran
The pop singer’s trial for copyright infringement of Marvin Gaye and Ed Townsend’s “Let’s Get It On” highlights how hard it is to draw the property lines of pop.
How Graham Nash Still Does It
The newly remarried rock star ponders life without David Crosby and why he still sends roses to Joni Mitchell.
The Ministers of the Lap-Steel Revival Tour
The sisters Rebecca and Megan Lovell, of the rock band Larkin Poe, hit up a guitar store before a gig at Webster Hall.
The Women of Wet Leg
How Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers, two friends from the Isle of Wight, got a music career and five Grammy nominations by fixating on an old chaise longue.
Beth Orton’s Deciduous Sound
Before a show at Bowery Ballroom, the singer-songwriter takes a stroll through New York City’s last old-growth woodland, in the Bronx.
So You Want to Be a TikTok Star
The social-media platform is transforming the music industry. Is that a good thing?
What Should a Nine-Thousand-Pound Electric Vehicle Sound Like?
E.V.s are virtually silent, so acoustic designers are creating alerts for them. A symphony—or a cacophony—of car noise could be coming to city streets.
Third Period, a Thousand Feet Over Brooklyn
Gerard Renodo and his architecture-crazy high-school classmates finagled a private tour of the Brooklyn Tower, the borough’s first supertall skyscraper, where they pondered Batman vibes and gentrification and searched for a souvenir to take home.
America’s Favorite Pickup Truck Goes Electric
Ford’s F-series trucks make up the best-selling vehicle line in the U.S. Can its new F-150 Lightning compete with Tesla in the E.V. market?
An Ex-Drinker’s Search for a Sober Buzz
Can the booming market for non-alcoholic drinks offer a safe way to return to the bar?
The E-Scooters Loved by Silicon Valley Roll Into New York
Fleets of electric scooters have taken over city streets worldwide. With New York finally climbing aboard, do they represent a tech hustle or a transit revolution?
Has the Pandemic Transformed the Office Forever?
Companies are figuring out how to balance what appears to be a lasting shift toward remote work with the value of the physical workplace.
The Treasure in Frank Zappa’s Secret Subterranean Vault
Taking a break from “Bill & Ted,” Alex Winter dug into the rock star’s archives to make a documentary that frames him as a First Amendment culture warrior in the tradition of Lenny Bruce and Richard Pryor.
The Promise and the Peril of Virtual Health Care
During the coronavirus pandemic, telemedicine looks like the future of health care. Is it a future that we want?
The Band, Disbanded
Discussing the documentary “Once Were Brothers,” Robbie Robertson talks about writing the “movie songs” that, along with cocaine, money squabbles, Martin Scorsese, and Big Pink, made the Band what it is.
Inside the Music Industry’s High-Stakes A.I. Experiments
Lucian Grainge, the chairman of UMG, has helped record labels rake in billions of dollars from streaming. Can he do the same with generative artificial intelligence?
Johnny Marr Loves his Axes
In his new book, “Marr’s Guitars,” the co-founder of the Smiths describes how each of his hundred and thirty-two instruments turned his daydreams into sound.
A Drummer’s-Eye View of the Arctic Monkeys
Matt Helders, the band’s drummer—and now its album-cover photographer—explains why a life at the rear of the stage has made him captivated by people’s backs.
Chess Records, Revived
Marshall Chess never got to run his father’s label, which recorded musicians like Muddy Waters and Chuck Berry. Now he has an album of reinterpreted classics.
Margo Price Puts a Hurtin’ on Some (Alcohol-Free) Bottles
Over alternative whiskey sours, the singer-songwriter explains how a psilocybin-induced revelation prompted to her to go secretly sober.
The Case for and Against Ed Sheeran
The pop singer’s trial for copyright infringement of Marvin Gaye and Ed Townsend’s “Let’s Get It On” highlights how hard it is to draw the property lines of pop.
How Graham Nash Still Does It
The newly remarried rock star ponders life without David Crosby and why he still sends roses to Joni Mitchell.
The Ministers of the Lap-Steel Revival Tour
The sisters Rebecca and Megan Lovell, of the rock band Larkin Poe, hit up a guitar store before a gig at Webster Hall.
The Women of Wet Leg
How Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers, two friends from the Isle of Wight, got a music career and five Grammy nominations by fixating on an old chaise longue.
Beth Orton’s Deciduous Sound
Before a show at Bowery Ballroom, the singer-songwriter takes a stroll through New York City’s last old-growth woodland, in the Bronx.
So You Want to Be a TikTok Star
The social-media platform is transforming the music industry. Is that a good thing?
What Should a Nine-Thousand-Pound Electric Vehicle Sound Like?
E.V.s are virtually silent, so acoustic designers are creating alerts for them. A symphony—or a cacophony—of car noise could be coming to city streets.
Third Period, a Thousand Feet Over Brooklyn
Gerard Renodo and his architecture-crazy high-school classmates finagled a private tour of the Brooklyn Tower, the borough’s first supertall skyscraper, where they pondered Batman vibes and gentrification and searched for a souvenir to take home.
America’s Favorite Pickup Truck Goes Electric
Ford’s F-series trucks make up the best-selling vehicle line in the U.S. Can its new F-150 Lightning compete with Tesla in the E.V. market?
An Ex-Drinker’s Search for a Sober Buzz
Can the booming market for non-alcoholic drinks offer a safe way to return to the bar?
The E-Scooters Loved by Silicon Valley Roll Into New York
Fleets of electric scooters have taken over city streets worldwide. With New York finally climbing aboard, do they represent a tech hustle or a transit revolution?
Has the Pandemic Transformed the Office Forever?
Companies are figuring out how to balance what appears to be a lasting shift toward remote work with the value of the physical workplace.
The Treasure in Frank Zappa’s Secret Subterranean Vault
Taking a break from “Bill & Ted,” Alex Winter dug into the rock star’s archives to make a documentary that frames him as a First Amendment culture warrior in the tradition of Lenny Bruce and Richard Pryor.
The Promise and the Peril of Virtual Health Care
During the coronavirus pandemic, telemedicine looks like the future of health care. Is it a future that we want?
The Band, Disbanded
Discussing the documentary “Once Were Brothers,” Robbie Robertson talks about writing the “movie songs” that, along with cocaine, money squabbles, Martin Scorsese, and Big Pink, made the Band what it is.