What's big, green and rolls on 6 wheels blasting music? Spotify on Tour! Our Big Green Bus is hitting the road to bring music to a city near you. Proudly sponsored by BACARDI, Spotify On Tour will take you behind-the-scenes at festivals, offer exclusive secret shows, artist sessions and more!

With a bold green exterior and a full tank of gas, our ginormous boombox-on-wheels hit the road last week. First stop - a star-studded kick-off party in East LA with Grouplove, JJAMZ, YACHT and The Henry Clay People. We then rolled up to San Francisco, meeting artists along the way including KENDRICK LAMAR, ScHoolboy Q, J. Rocc and Ab-soul. While in SF, fans were treated to a secret Spotify Session in the Portero Del Sol park with City and Colour and an epic party at the Haus of Hipstamatic with Geographer.

Get a sneak peek of our first 381 miles here!

Be sure not to miss the first Spotify Session from the tour featuring JJAMZ here and head to the Spotify on Tour Facebook app for more

Read More »from Spotify Big Green Bus Tour Diary #1

It's almost become a matter of course that spectacularly talented artists can seemingly arise out of nowhere--and to many, that will seem to be the case with wonderful new Scottish vocalist Emeli Sandé.

The singer, who won the 2012 Brit Award in the Critic's Choice category, has astounded many with her soulful, vibrant debut album Our Version Of Events--and that terrific set, which reached the Number One position on the UK charts, is seeing its American debut this week on EMI Records.

Sandé, an extremely adept songwriter, has already written a number of songs for such successful Brit artists as Susan Boyle, Leona Lewis, Tinie Tempah, Cheryl Cole, Cher Lloyd and Alesha Dixon, among others, and was dubbed his "favorite songwriter at the minute" by no less than Simon Cowell--reality TV kingpin and a man who rarely speaks so boldly unless he sees vast sums of money in the offing. As one listen to Our Version Of Events will attest, it was not an especially bold claim on his part. On the

Read More »from Emeli Sandé Arrives: The Latest UK Sensation Earns Her Kudos

Every South By Southwest conference typically features more than a handful of bands whose ascent to the top of the pop charts seems potentially likely if not exactly a certainty.

Having seen the New Cassettes in full live-and-electric mode, I'm inclined to count the Northampton, England band among them.

A five-piece of young, enthusiastic rockers with a powerful live set and a crackling new album in Winterhead, New Cassettes have garnered significant critical acclaim in the homeland and have made significant Stateside inroads as well: there music has already been heard on Grey's Anatomy, Jersey Shore, I Just Wants My Pants Back and much more. And in 2012, those sort of breaks may be even more significant than limited play on radio's tired rock 'n' roll formats.

All this being said, here's a treat: An early morning private performance during Austin's SXSW conference by just two of the band's members, unusually in a raw acoustic performance. Though they were a tad nervous in this

Read More »from New Cassettes, Rocking: On The Acoustic Side

Bahamas is the name under which which Toronto-based singer-songwriter Afie Jurvanen performs--which, all things considered, is a tad easier on the tongue than Madagascar or Rio De Janeiro--but the music he creates does not exactly seem geographic in origin. Instead, it offers up a mixture of coolness, emotional warmth, and, most notably, space. Space between notes, space between phrases, and, on occasion, space between people.

Sophisticated stuff, all of it, and it's amply on display via Barchords, the new Bahamas album on Brushfire Records.

The final session Y! Music would record while in Austin at this year's South By Southwest music conference, Jurvanen's performance was delightfully informal, featuring the guitarist, a percussionist (take a look at his instrument!), and two superb backing vocalists whose overall contributions were a wonder to hear.

Jurvanen is sharp--an interesting interview with an equally interesting musical pedigree--but above all else, his music is one

Read More »from It’s Better In The Bahamas!: The Texas Version