Arena tours leave little to trickle down to this indie Iowa venue

Sep 11, 2023
Smaller stages want a slice of your entertainment budget, but blowout events like the Beyoncé and Taylor Swift tours are eating them up.
Tobi Parks, owner of xBk, above, says the joy in operating an independent venue is helping her community discover new artists.
Courtesy Lucius Pham

Beyoncé and Swift fans turn to fast fashion for concert glam attire

Sep 1, 2023
Cheap, sometimes single-use apparel that fill malls and online shops that may also swiftly end up in landfills. But there may be a surge in recycling those outfits too.
Attendees at events of the summer like Taylor Swift's Eras Tour, pictured here, often purchased a specific outfit to be worn just to the concert.
John Shearer/TAS23/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management

With rising home prices and stagnating wages, a new savings goal: Beyoncé tickets

Aug 4, 2022
Concert tickets might not break your soul like, say, buying a home in this market could.
The last time Beyoncé went on tour was 2016.  Floor tickets in some cities went for over four figures on the resale market.
Frank Micelotta/Parkwood Entertainment via Getty Images

Who gets to decide what “feminism” looks like?

Jan 5, 2021
Read an excerpt from the new book “White Feminism: From the Suffragettes to Influencers and Who They Leave Behind,” by Koa Beck.
"Like any sorority, white feminism does have specific parameters for anyone who wants to join their cause," writes Beck. "Just ask those beyond the parameters." Above, a woman removes two masks after disinfecting a hospital room used by a COVID-19 patient.
Karen Ducey/Getty Images

Ed Sheeran is about to pull off the highest-grossing concert tour of all time

Jul 3, 2019
More than Taylor Swift. More than Beyoncé. Sheeran's winning formula comes down — in part — to volume.
Ed Sheeran performs at Mt. Smart Stadium in 2018 in Auckland, New Zealand.
Phil Walter/Getty Images

Beyoncé and her brand, by the numbers

Who run the world? Queen B, probably.
Beyonce performs onstage during The 59th GRAMMY Awards in February 2017
Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images for NARAS

A conversation with Hiro Murai, the guy behind Childish Gambino's "This Is America" and "Atlanta"

Jun 15, 2018
The filmmaker is a constant collaborator with Donald Glover.
Hiro Murai has collaborated on multiple projects with Donald Glover, aka Childish Gambino, including his 2018 music video "This Is America."
Donald Glover/Youtube

For public good, not for profit.

Beyoncé left a "big pair of beautiful silvery boots" to fill at Coachella

Apr 16, 2018
The artist used her two-hour set at the highest-grossing music festival in the country to celebrate black culture.
“Beyoncé opened up a whole can of blackness to the world,” at Coachella, writer Danielle Young says.
Larry Busacca/Getty Images for Coachella

Can Tidal and Jay-Z get Sprint new users?

Jun 19, 2017
The phone carrier is offering its users a 6-month free trial of the streaming service.
Rapper Jay-Z performs onstage at Barclays Center of Brooklyn in 2015.
Theo Wargo/Getty Images for TIDAL