Nothing is original, says Kirby Ferguson, creator of Everything is a Remix. From Bob Dylan to Steve Jobs, he says our most celebrated creators both borrow, steal and transform.

How Architecture Helped Music Evolve | David Byrne

As his career grew, David Byrne went from playing CBGB to Carnegie Hall. He asks: Does the venue make the music? From outdoor drumming to Wagnerian operas to arena rock, he explores how context has pushed musical innovation.

Music & Emotion Through Time | Michael Tilson Thomas

In this epic overview, Michael Tilson Thomas traces the development of classical music through the development of written notation, the record, and the re-mix.

How Sampling Transformed Music | Mark Ronson

Sampling isn't about "hijacking nostalgia wholesale," says Mark Ronson. It's about inserting yourself into the narrative of a song while also pushing that story forward. In this mind-blowingly original talk, watch the DJ scramble 15 TED Talks into an audio-visual omelette, and trace the evolution of "La Di Da Di," Doug E. Fresh and Slick Rick's 1984 hit that has been reimagined for every generation since.

The anatomy of Taylor Swift’s “Style”

Taylor Swift's new video for "Style," just one of three of Swift's songs currently in the Billboard top 20, completes Taylor's evolution from country to pop. But what is pop? We broke down both the musical and music video anatomy of "Style" to find out.

Why we really really really like repetition in music

In episode #5 of Vox Pop's Earworm, producer Estelle Caswell, comes to appreciate the art of repetition with the help of Colin Morris and Elizabeth Margulis. Colin is a computer scientist who created two really amazing ways to visualize repetition in song lyrics and how they've increased over the last 50 or so years. Elizabeth Margulis has dedicated her career to music research and runs the music cognition lab at the University of Arkansas. Her book "On Repeat: How music plays the mind" delves deep into the science behind musical repetition and explores the many ways our brains react to it.

Record Collectors Preserve Our Cuture | Alexis Charpentier

For generations, record collectors have played a vital role in the preservation of musical and cultural heritage by "digging" for obscure music created by overlooked artists. Alexis Charpentier shares his love of records -- and stories of how collectors have given forgotten music a second chance at being heard. Learn more about the culture of record digging (and, maybe, pick up a new hobby) with this fun, refreshing talk.

Music was my Plan G | Kid Cudi

"Music was my Plan G," says Scott Mescudi, actor and the Grammy-winning rapper known as Kid Cudi. "It wasn't like I didn't try everything else. I tried everything else." Returning to his high school, he explains how he found success as an artist through a combination of hard work, determination and blocking out the haters. "There's no difference from me and you. I just really wanted this. And I wanted it bad."

There's a Problem with Using Samples

The host of this YouTube show talks about the weird nature of sampling, modern music creation, and how one artist became labeled as a thief.

Did Led Zeppelin Steal Their Music

Are Led Zeppelin music thieves and does it matter? This video explores the several melodies and lyrics that Led Zeppelin took from other artists and explores the nature of creative ownership.

Rap IS Music | Zuby vs Ben Shapiro

Rapper Zuby Tries To Change Ben Shapiro's Mind On Rap Music

FINNEAS Explains How He Builds Songs For Billie Eilish

Grammy Award-winning musician and producer FINNEAS sits down with Pitchfork and closely examines his creative process while working on some of the biggest hit songs of the past couple years. FINNEAS explores the sounds that brought upon some of his greatest musical breakthroughs in songs such as bad guy, bury a friend, ocean eyes, when the party's over, I Lost a Friend, Used to This and much more.

How Mac Miller Created a Musical Circle

Dissect connects the dots between Mac Miller's companion albums Swimming In Circles, including a hidden musical circle never before revealed.

Dissect is a serialized music analysis podcast that unpacks the music, lyrics, and meaning of one album per season, one song per episode. We have full seasons on Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar, Frank Ocean,, Childish Gambino, Tyler The Creator, Beyonce, and more.

Kurt Cobain's Influence in Hip Hop

Seattle’s Nirvana redefined rock music in the ‘90s as leaders of the grunge movement. Decades later, the band—and its late frontman, Kurt Cobain—continues to make an impact on hip-hop. More established artists influenced by Nirvana include JAY-Z, Lil Wayne, and Kid Cudi. The band has seen a resurgence with the newer generation as well, with the late rappers Lil Peep and XXXTentacion paying tribute to Nirvana in their music. Other recent examples include Denzel Curry and Lil Nas X.

How J Dilla humanized his MPC3000

There's a halo of reverence around J Dilla, a producer and beatmaker from Detroit who made some of the most fascinating and influential beats in hip hop history. Before his early death in 2006, J Dilla worked with countless artists and producers - from Erykah Badu and Janet Jackson to Busta Rhymes and Madlib - and developed an off-kilter style of rhythm and sampling that transcended the machine he used to create music, the Akai Midi Production Center, otherwise known as the MPC.

How a recording-studio mishap shaped '80s music

Over the past few years a general nostalgia for the 1980s has infiltrated music, film, and television. I deeply love those gated reverb drums of the '80s - you know that punchy percussive sound popularized by Phil Collins and Prince? So for my second episode of Vox Pop’s Earworm I spoke with two Berklee College of Music professors, Susan Rogers and Prince Charles Alexander, to figure out just how that sound came to be, what makes it so damn punchy, and why it’s back.

See "Vox Music" on Youtube for more compelling music-related videos.

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