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Downloading popular songs to use as personal cell phone ring tones has turned into a $3 billion global industry. A growing revenue stream for songwriters and publishers, ring tones are now outselling digital downloads of music. NPR's Michele Norris talks to Geoff Mayfield, the director of charts for Billboard Magazine, which has just launched a "Hot Ringtones" chart.

In terms of pop hits, the shadow of 2013 fell over most of 2014. But for NPR Music's Stephen Thompson, there were plenty of winners this year as well.

These 10 albums plumb emotional depths, deliver powerful messages and, just when you need them most, soothe worried minds in a year when a bit of calm is a priceless commodity.

It's been a year of complacency deferred and sleeping giants roused. So it's only natural that much of 2017's best music would reflect that tumult, albeit in radically different ways.

Hear the singer discuss her new album, Master of My Make Believe, and describe her attempts to "broaden the lane" of what constitutes pop music.

The organization that runs the prestigious tournament made the decision to ban all tennis players from Russia and Belarus.

This was a big year in politics. But readers also devoured stories on avoiding mosquitoes, raising courageous kids, and why taking notes by hand is still your best bet.

They broke taboos and stereotypes around the world. They include the co-recipient of this year's Nobel Peace Prize, a disability activist — and a 101-year-old runner.

Seven Democrats are still in the running for the party's presidential nomination, and they'll be competing in seven different state contests Tuesday. Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts leads in many polls after early victories in the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary. Hear NPR's Steve Inskeep and NPR's Adam Hochberg.

CIA Director George Tenet resigns, effective in July. The move, announced by President Bush on the White House's South Lawn, comes after Tenet faced harsh criticism over intelligence failures related to Iraq and the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The president praised Tenet's leadership and work in seven years at the CIA. NPR's Mary Louise Kelly reports.