Best Music 2012

Spotlight
Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom (R), attending the North Shore court in Auckland on January 25 / AFP/Getty Images

Down By Law: The Year Downloading Took a Dive

In the early dawn hours of January 20, 2012, in a small village on the outskirts of Auckland, New Zealand, heavily armed police (with help…
David Peisner / December 14, 2012
Spotlight
PSY / Photo by Marianna Massey/Getty Images

K-Pop Fizz Fizz: Life After PSY

One year ago, Y.G. Entertainment, now South Korea's most successful incubator and purveyor of pop music, celebrated its 15th birthday with three "Family Concerts" in…
David Bevan / December 12, 2012
Year-End Lists

Hear SPIN’s Favorite Songs of 2012 in a 101-Track Spotify Playlist

Forget all the lists, features, thinkpieces, and interviews we've been doing to celebrate the chaotic jumble that is 2012. When it gets right down to it,…
SPIN Staff / December 12, 2012
Year-End Lists
41 Photos

SPIN’s 40 Best Hip-Hop Albums of 2012

The anarchy of the Internet — and the major-label system's attempt to harness it — has fractured the hip-hop narrative into its most diverse smash-up…
SPIN Staff / December 11, 2012
Year-End Lists
31 Photos

SPIN’s 30 Best Live Photos of 2012

The most electric photos from 2012's live shows weren't taken on your Instagram. SPIN's crack team of photogs caught everything from some Cage rage, to…
Ken Bachor / December 10, 2012
Year-End Lists
11 Photos

SPIN’s Director of the Year Tom Scharpling on 2012’s Buzziest Music Videos

 When Tom Scharpling isn't hosting the much-loved, free-form The Best Show on WFMU or interviewing the likes of Fucked Up's Damian Abraham for his Low Times podcast,…
Brandon Soderberg / December 6, 2012
Best Albums
51 Photos

SPIN’s 50 Best Albums of 2012

In 2012, R&B crooned underwater, metal went not-metal, and hip-hop fell into a K-hole, and these were just a few of the ways to make…
SPIN Staff / December 3, 2012