NEW YORK, (AP) — Whether it’s the Beatles or Beethoven, people like music for the same reason they like eating or having sex: It makes the brain release a chemical that gives pleasure, a new study says.

BERLIN — Rumors that German film-maker Wim Wenders will stage “Der Ring des Nibelungen” for Wagner’s 200th anniversary at Bayreuth in 2013 are soon to be confirmed. Katharina Wagner has told the German newspaper “Die Welt” that the festival is in the midst of negotiations.

When young Milun Tesovic arrived in Canada from Bosnia in 1995, he could only manage a “tiny, tiny” bit of English – a few basic words and phrases. Five years later, at 15, he created a website that would help boost the lyrics literacy of young music fans everywhere, and the legitimacy of the online lyrics business by embracing an above-board, licensed model.

IN New York’s classical-music world most of the attention falls on the big boys: the New York Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera, the major international orchestras that pass through Carnegie Hall, the glamorous soloists who can earn tens of thousands of dollars an appearance.

Beware orchestras with the word ‘Peace’ in their name, says Jessica Duchen – their misguided idealism devalues the term.

The Observer’s classical music critic looks back on a good year for Mahler, opera at the movies and legends of the past on YouTube.

Former Sony president Norio Ohga, who helped transform the music industry with the development of the compact disc format, has died at the age of 81, the company said.

AT THIS Friday’s ceremony in Oslo honouring 2010 Nobel Peace Prize recipient Liu Xiaobo, an empty chair will represent the missing honouree.

Andreas Scholl, arguably the world’s most famous countertenor, has found a new way to stun his fans and anger his critics – with a daring approach to Purcell’s love duets. He talks gender-bending and jealous sopranos with Tom Service.

BEIJING—When Italian opera star Leo Nucci set off in 2009 on his first-ever working visit to China, he concedes he felt a measure of excitement.