Kacey Musgraves: Middle of Nowhere review – weary, rootsy and wry, it’s her richest album since Golden Hour

After two underwhelming pop-leaning records, the country star gets back to basics on this sparsely produced gem filled with wit and hard-won lessons

‘Major labels are trying to scoop up everything’: the chaotic future for indie music companies – and why vinyl isn’t working

As stalwarts Sub Pop and Rough Trade celebrate big anniversaries, insiders speak candidly about the challenges they face. Can streaming ever ensure their survival?

‘A profound depiction’: Michael Jackson fans support divisive biopic as film smashes records

The long-delayed film has fans dancing in the aisles and has taken more than $200m at the box office

‘I did receive bottles on stage. There might have been urine’: Melanie C on Spice Girls mania, impostor syndrome and her date with a Chili Pepper

As she releases a clubby new album, Sweat, the former Sporty Spice answers your questions on her raver days, scouse cuisine and Sex Pistols covers

Di’Anno – Iron Maiden’s Lost Singer review – metal act’s original singer is a tough act to follow

This entertaining profile of Paul Di’Anno – the heavy metal band’s lead vocalist from 1978 to 1981 – is dragged down by its subject’s irascible nature

Amyl and the Sniffers win Apra award for song of the year for second year in a row

Melbourne punk quartet wins for Jerkin’, while Guy Sebastian wins most performed Australian work and most performed pop work

Ne-Yo and Akon review – joyous joint tour is like time-travelling to a messy night out in 2010

From So Sick to Smack That, this double-headliner provides major millennial nostalgia – but goes to show how varied their respective careers were at their peak

Nedra Talley Ross obituary

Singer with the Ronettes girl group who renounced show business for gospel music

Indie music has been invaded by fake fans and cynical viral campaigns​. Here’s how deep it all goes

Companies such as Chaotic Good are confecting social media buzz to promote Geese, Oklou and other indie darlings. Industry insiders reveal how widespread the practice is – even if no-one is sure it actually works

The Australians dressing pop’s biggest stars – from Taylor Swift to Beyoncé to Shakira

While the reach from costuming a superstar can be ‘astronomical’, the designers who have done so say material rewards can be harder to predict

Beverley Martyn, spirited British folk singer, dies aged 79

Singer-songwriter was known for collaborations with former husband John Martyn as well as star-studded 1960s singles and 2014 comeback album

Dave Mason obituary

Singer, songwriter, guitarist and co-founder of the British rock group Traffic who clashed with the frontman Steve Winwood

The Primitives: ‘A reviewer said that Crash would finish the band. Then it was in Dumb and Dumber’

‘The label added ukulele and steel guitar without bothering to tell us. We couldn’t complain – it made the song a worldwide hit’

Nedra Talley Ross helped make the Ronettes the platonic ideal of a girl group

Even though she was unwell, the last surviving Ronette was full of poignant memories and saucy asides when I met her last year. And she had a rich life after pop success

Mane character energy: part-nag pop provocateur HorsegiirL on burnout, eco tunes and pompous idiot DJs

The half-human, half-horse star has bounced back from the brink with a grass-themed album that’s ‘a love letter to Mother Earth’. Is it true she was discovered by Whitney Horseton?