How Music Works with Howard Goodall

Back Beat

Country Music

Explore the history of a uniquely American art form: country music. From its deep and tangled roots in ballads, blues and hymns performed in small settings, to its worldwide popularity, learn how country music evolved over the course of the 20th century, as it eventually emerged to become America’s music.

John Safran's Music Jamboree

John Safran's Music Jamboree was a light-hearted Australian music documentary television series, hosted by John Safran for SBS television. The program was produced by Selin Yaman and directed by Craig Melville, Clayton Jacobson and a number of other directors under the production company Ghost of Your Ex-Boyfriend Productions in association with SBS Independent. It screened in 2002, and consisted of sketches and outlandish public stunts, typical of Safran's work. The series won two Australian Film Institute Awards; "Best Comedy Series" and "Most Innovative Program Concept". SBS followed the series up with the similarly styled John Safran vs. God in 2004.

Songbook

Exclusive interviews and acoustic performances with the legends responsible for some of the most famous songs of our times. Each acclaimed songwriter discusses their unique musical inspiration and writing processes before giving an exclusive intimate acoustic performance of some of their seminal songs.

Ke$ha: My Crazy Beautiful Life

The series sheds a completely different light on Ke$ha as she works through all the drama and adventures in both her personal and professional life over the course of two years. Filmed by her journalist brother Lagan Serbert, and filmmaker Steven Greenstreet, it also encompasses the artist as she creates her newest album, Warrior, and travels to various countries.

1971: The Year That Music Changed Everything

In a tumultuous era, 1971 was a year of musical innovation and rebirth fueled by the political and cultural upheaval of the time. Stars reached new heights, fresh talent exploded onto the scene, and boundaries expanded like never before.

Balade

Balade à Toronto

The Song

The multi-genre music, entertainment & lifestyle show reveals the incredible stories behind some of the biggest Rock, Pop, Country, Triple A, R&B and Hip Hop songs ever written and recorded while illuminating the power music has to influence our thoughts and feelings, impact society and inspire us all to live our dreams.

Bluegrass Underground

A musical adventure series emanating from The Caverns in Tennessee's majestic Cumberland Mountains. Celebrating the diversity of America’s musical heritage with artists from the full spectrum of genres: Bluegrass, yes but also Americana, Country, Soul, Blues, Rock N Roll, Gospel, Folk, and everything between.

Rock N' Roll Stories

Music Professionals share their most memorable stories of their career in the Rock N' Roll world.

Jubilee

KET’s Jubilee series features the performances of nationally known artists and popular local musicians at summer folk music festivals in Kentucky. Since its premiere in 1996, Jubilee has presented an eclectic mix of traditional and contemporary bluegrass, blues, folk, gospel, and other forms of music from around the world to your backyard.

This Is Pop

Unknown histories take center stage as the hitmakers themselves - from ABBA to T-Pain - explore dimensions of pop music you never knew existed.

They All Came Out to Montreux

This documentary mini-series retraces the incredible story of Claude Nobs and his now legendary event, the Montreux Jazz Festival. With over 70 performances and testimonials from: David Bowie, Ray Charles, Miles Davis, Deep Purple, Aretha Franklin, Gilberto Gil, Buddy Guy, Herbie Hancock, Alicia Keys, Questlove, Quincy Jones, John Mclaughlin, Marcus Miller, Prince, Rag’n’Bone Man, Keith Richards, Carlos Santana, Nina Simone, Sting, Shania Twain, Jack White and many more.

101 Songs that Moved Brazil

A music docuseries hosted by legendary music journalist and producer Nelson Motta about the songs that moved hearts and minds of the country, illustrated by selected archive and live performance footage.

$5 Cover

$5 Cover is an online series created by filmmaker Craig Brewer and produced by MTV and is a fictional series created to complement the documentary series "$5 Cover Amplified". The 15-part series debuted in May 2009 and feature artists from the city of Memphis, Tennessee, including Alicja Trout, Clare Grant, Jeff Pope, Amy LaVere, Al Kapone, Valerie June, Jack Oblivian, Brad Postlethwaite of Snowglobe, Muck Sticky, and Ben Nichols of Lucero. Each episode explores living and making rent in the historical, and still very active, Memphis music scene. The show is described in MTV's official press release: "$5 Cover is a rough-and-tumble show set in the clubs, all-night cafes and no-tell motels of present-day Memphis. The series follows a cast of young musicians as they fight for love, inspiration, and money to pay the rent." The show aired on MTV as 30-minute episodes and on MTV.com as short webisodes. The show aired with a series of companion documentaries called "$5 Cover Amplified".

Transatlantic Sessions

Folk musicians from both sides of the Atlantic come together in what have been called “the greatest backporch shows ever.” Collaborative live performances by various leading folk and country musicians playing music from Scotland, Ireland, England and North America.

Minnesota Hardcore

A fast-paced, musical docu-series that examines the punk scene in the Twin Cities from 1980 to 1985. The Minnesota scene was a close-knit community of artists and fans that encouraged culture and spawned huge talents like Hüsker Dü, The Replacements, Soul Asylum, Rifle Sport and more. Minnesota Hardcore is made possible by the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.

NOLA: Life, Death and Heavy Blues from the Bayou

A seven-part series examining the people and the culture that helped foster bands like Down, Eyehategod, Crowbar, Acid Bath, Goatwhore and many others. The documentary features in-depth interviews discussing the bands, catastrophe, drugs, suicide, murder, and records that helped shape the New Orleans sound known the world over.