In our office we have a company Pandora account, and often what really gets us going on a blah kind of day is finding a good station that everyone can enjoy.  It doesn’t always pan out that way.  One day, someone decided that going back to the 1980s would be a fantastic idea, but after about four hours of Rick Astley, The Bangles, and Duran Duran I was ready to pull my hair out and go hide under a rock.  We have our days!  But mostly, it can be easy to find good neutral music that most people won’t be utterly disgusted with.

First, just avoid all forms of Rap.  Or really heavy Metal.  Or even Pop/Rock with explicit lyrics.  If you go for a band like Cold Play, Foster the People, or The Script, you’re likely to hit into some music that’s rather benign for the most part, but still trendy and fun.  You don’t want to exclude anyone by putting on something with really foul or discriminatory language, or something really twangy in a room full of urbanites who clearly aren’t the Country type.  And you don’t want to bore everyone with Classical music and make the place sound like some stuffy bank.

Listening to music while working has been shown to increase levels of dopamine, a very important “feel good” neurotransmitter in the brain, to the point where it actually improves concentration in adult sufferers or attention deficit disorder.  Who doesn’t want to be more productive on the job?  I think we all do, and so the value of music to that experience is certainly nothing to sneeze at.

To anyone that has lost anyone close to them you know the feeling of wishing that you could just drive to heaven and visit them just to see their smile and talk to them one last time. All the things that you wish that they could be here on earth to see you could show them when you go and visit them. Like he says he’d introduce his kids to his grandpa or introduce a fallen soldier to his daughter that followed her dreams and became a doctor.

When you are in the mood to reflect on the people that you wish could be beside you again this song is perfect for that situation. It lets you cherish all the good times that you had but still wish you could have done more.

Check it out!

Ceremonials, Florence + The Machine

The sophomore album from Florence + The Machine is sure to please Florence Welch lovers.  It really is the perfect album to follow up Lungs.  The first single off of the album is the deep and thought provoking “What the Water Gave Me,” and it is indescribably good.  -November 1st

Twilight Saga:  Breaking Dawn

Just in time for the new movie release of Breaking Dawn, Part One comes the soundtrack album.  This album features tracks by varying artists like Bruno Mars, Iron & Wine, and Christina Perri.  You will recognize the Iron & Wine song “Flightless Bird, American Mouth” from the first Twilight film, but it has been newly recording as the wedding version.  Twi-hards and music lovers both will like this album.  -November 8th

Take Care (Deluxe Ed.), Drake

This album is the follow up to Drake’s phenomenal debut album Thank Me Later on the Cash Money label.  Two of the already hit singles on the album are “Marvin’s Room” and “Headlines.”  -November 15th

Under the Mistletoe, Justin Bieber

What’s Christmas without a little Bieber?  Christmas and holiday classics sung by the Biebs as well as some new holiday singles are found on this Christmas album.  One of the best songs is “Home This Christmas” featuring The Band Perry.  There are other duets too, including:  Usher, Boyz II Men, Mariah Carey, and Busta Rhymes.  -November 1st

Since summer is over and all we can do until next year is relive the musical festivals past, so let’s do that.  The infographic down below shows 6 music festivals that take place all over the world.  It gives you the inside on what musicians were headlining, how many people attending, and some other interesting facts that you might not have known.  So live on summer music, live on.

Jason Mraz, “I’m Yours”  This song got Jason Mraz international recognition for the first time, and it was his first single in the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100.  The tune is upbeat and fun, and you might be surprised like I was to find out that you actually know all of the words to the song.

OneRepublic, “Good Life” Another Billboard top ten song, “Good Life” is just another feel good song.  The beat is fun and contagious, and you will find that the entire 4 minutes and 13 seconds that the song is on time sped up and you got a lot done.  I like to also listen to this song when I have to work.  Seriously, it speeds up time; it’s magic.

House of Pain, “Jump Around” Let’s go back to the early 1990s, shall we?  This House of Pain masterpiece is just plain fun, and if you were interested it was in the top ten of Billboard Hot 100 too.  I love it the most though because my favorite team the San Francisco Giants play it when Brian Wilson comes in to close out a game.

What are some of the songs that you like to listen to when you are packing or cleaning?  I know there are so many great songs out there to help you get in the mood to just get the job done.

The Avett Brothers – “Pretty Girl From Cedar Lane”

I do not think that it is possible for any song with a banjo to not cause feelings of enjoyment deep down in your soul.  So crank this up in your cube or head phones and jam out to some modern bluegrassy folk that will put you in a happy hour mood no matter the time of day.

Hall and Oats -”Rich Girl”

It is a complete coincidence that the first two songs involve”girls.”  This song just makes for a good time.  Seriously.  If you’re looking for something a little more current, then check out Everclear’s version.

Neon Trees – “Animal”

If the beat of this song doesn’t get you pumped up, then I am at a loss and there is no helping you getting over your working late blues.  This song just makes me ready for a drink and possibly a little jig.

I personally have done my part in adding up these numbers. I have made 262 purchases from iTunes and have every intention to continue getting my music from there. My iPod is also stocked with thousands of songs that I had on CD before I transferred them to my iTunes account. I am huge fan of iTunes, it has made my life much easier as far as getting and downloading music. I have seen other people with other programs that claim that they work but none have worked as well as iTunes. I can safely say that they are the leader in music downloads.

When I say the actual numbers that were being downloaded and how quickly the number of iTunes users multiplied I was shocked. I knew that they were successful and that other peoples probably enjoyed the site like I did, but not that many people. It was also neat to see where iTunes buyers are located. People from all over the world are iTunes account holders.

So Foster the People’s “Pumped Up Kicks” may be on the edge of Top 40-dom, but the “Hood-Internet Remix” gives the widely-played track a different feel that refreshes the ears of the people who feel like Foster’s most popular track may be getting a little dated and overplayed. Same goes with their choosing of Phantogram’s track: instead of opting for MTV run “When I’m Small” or their popular title track “Mouthful of Diamonds”, “As Far As I Can See”, while not necessarily as thumping as the rest of their work, breaks from what the listener is used to. Ximena Sarinana may be Lilly Allen poppy mixed with TV on the Radio soul, but the Lolla Anniversary picks aren’t all swirling pop and Brit rock electronica. Titus Andronicus and The Black Lips provide the much needed punk sound on the album, especially considering Lollapalooza’s long and tried history with alternative/grunge/punk, it would just be wrong not to include at least some more serious rock and roll. To be honest, we think it needs a little bit more.

Switching gears back to the synth-pop dominance, two of the best tracks on the album are by solo artists Patrick Stump and Skylar Grey. Grey has may be the soulful anthemic songstress on smash hip-hop hits, but she holds her own genre of daft-punk gone bass-dancehall-pop on “Dance Without You”, pleading “for once just let me lose myself” and pushing the guys away “I can not take your whisperings”. Grey’s strong presence on guy-loaded tracks like Dr. Dre and Eminem’s “I Need A Doctor”, Lupe Fiasco’s “Words I Never Said” and more, this chick shows she can hold her own with the guys without just being the sexy female voice needed for the guys to fill their bad boy image.

Quite possibly the best song in the compilation is Patrick Stump’s “This City”, an upbeat and hippie-kind-of-love anthem for the city you grow up in. Stump expresses sentiment for a Lolla’s stomping grounds, Chicago, as the former Fall Out Boy frontman was raised just outside of the windy city. Stump’s song exemplifies the new Lollapalooza, settling down in Chicago in 2005 and claiming the city for the festival after getting off the road. We’re glad SPIN released the symbolic album, and hope that you download Park Life for free to see for yourself, don’t just take our word for it.

A playlist a list of music that you can choose and customize. Playlists can have as many or as few songs as you like. Many people like to make playlists for certain events, such as parties, weddings, etc. Other people like to make playlists that go along with their running routes. If you run a 9 minute mile that’s about 3 songs, so if you create a playlist that goes with the rhythm of your running it will help you keep a pace as well as tell you what kind of pace you are running at that day.

Playlists are great ways to organize your music but they can be hard to do at times… here’s how to create a playlist!

1. Open iTunes
2. Connect your device
3. Click the “File” menu in the top left hand corner of the screen.
4. When the menu drops down click “Add Playlist”
5. On the left hand side bar your new playlist will appear under the per set ones (ex: top rated, most played, recently added etc.)
6. Highlight your new playlist and double click to name your playlist
7. Go to “Music” or “Library” to see all of your music
8. To find songs more easily you can organize your music by title, artist, date purchased, genre, and rating
9. When selecting the songs that you want to add to your new playlist hold down the “Control” or “Ctrl” key on your keyboard to select multiple songs by clicking on them
10. Once you have selected all of the songs that you wish to add to your playlist place your cursor over a highlighted song and left click
11. A menu should appear, on the menu select “Send to” and then select the title of the playlist of your choice.

You can create a smart playlist that automatically filters through all of your music according to certain traits that you tell it to posses. You will follow the same steps as above but click “create smart playlist” instead. Once you have selected this a table will come up that has options that you can use and customize to create a playlist of certain artists, genres, albums and other traits.

Playlists are a helpful and creative way to organize your music. Whether you are preparing for a marathon or a dance off, having just the right playlist can make things run smoothly. Have fun listening to your favorite songs!

Artists compete against each other for the chance to have their musical dreams come true in competitions such as American Idol and America’s Got Talent. On these shows thousands of people come together from all over the United States to compete against each other showing off their talents in the hopes that they will be good enough to continue on to Hollywood and maybe beyond.

Artists not only compete in set competitions they also compete in everyday things like album sales, top songs, and fans. When their song makes it to the top they have won, beaten the others for a short while. When they have come back down the charts and others have begun to rise they go back to the studio and create new songs and albums in the hopes that they will be successful. The people that are the most successful are the ones that people can relate to the most. Artists that have fun songs do well also, but they don’t stay at the top like songs that have to do with real people. Some of the most memorable songs are ones have to do with real people and what they have been through.

Think about some of your favorite songs, do you like them because of who sings them or what they are about? Some people answer both while others have one answer. It’s easy to get in the habit of listening to certain people and not giving new comers a chance to get your vote. Be sure to give everyone a fair shot because they are all just trying to be at the top of the chart.

Who is toppin’ the charts this week?

The Billboard Hot 100 ranks songs according to how often they are played, purchased, and popularity. It has these songs being the top 5 for this week:

1. Party Rock Anthem by LMFAO. It has been the number one song for 2 weeks in a row and has been on the charts for 16 weeks.
2. Give Me Everything by Pit Bull. It is in the same position as last week and has been on the charts for 15 weeks total.
3. Rolling In The Deep by Adele. It has been on the charts for 27 weeks and as reached the number one song for a number of weeks but is now holding at number 3.
4. Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.) by Katy Perry. This song has been on the charts for 7 weeks and has reached it’s highest position being number 4 for the last 2 weeks.
5. Super Bass by Nicki Minaj. This song has been on the charts for 11 weeks and has reached it’s highest position so far at number 5.