All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.

Now that spring has sprung, it’s a good time to start cleaning up your collection of vinyl records, especially if you plan on celebrating Record Store Day on Saturday (April 20). It’s no secret that vinyl records are hotter than ever, and regardless of whether you have a huge record collection or a small one, it’s good to keep them clean and organized.

Just like any other forms of physical media, vinyl records need to be kept clean so that they work properly. Fingerprints, dust and scratches can damage the surface of the record itself, which can diminish the sound and add unwanted noise. Even natural oils from your hands can erode the surface of your vinyl records.

When it comes to cleaning your vinyls, there are special solutions, vinyl record brushes and cleaning kits that are designed to keep your records in pristine shape. For example, the Vinyl Buddy record cleaning kit ($20) has a near-perfect customer rating on Amazon and you’ll get a lot of items for a decent price.

Vinyl Buddy Ultimate Vinyl Record Cleaning Kit | Includes: Record Cleaner, Velvet Brush, Microfiber Brush, Stylus Brush & Storage Pouch – Restore & Revive Your LPs


The five-piece kit comes with a velvet brush, microfiber brush, stylus brush, cleaning solution and a storage pouch. The Groove Washer Walnut Record Cleaning Kit ($44.95) is another favorite of music lovers.

For something easier and possibly cheaper, depending on what you already have around the house, you can always go for Simple Green All-Purpose Cleaner and water. Not familiar with Simple Green? It’s a natural, all-purpose cleaning solution that works on just about everything. From surfaces to soft carpets, Simple Green is designed to remove direct grease and stains on countertops, floors, fabric, equipment, vehicles and more. And it’s gentle enough to use on your vinyl records.

Simple Green retails for about $2-$5 for a 32-ounce spray bottle and around $10 for a gallon. You can get it at Amazon, Walmart, Home Depot, Lowe’s and other retailers.

To clean your vinyl records, grab a microfiber cleaning cloth to remove the dust and static from the record. Next, dampen a clean microfiber cloth (preferably with distilled water) and lightly wipe the record surface in a circular motion — but steer clear of the middle of the record. Next, add a splash of Simple Green (the company recommends a 1:30 ratio) to a bowl of water and clean the record following the same circular motion as the earlier steps. Lastly, grab a dry microfiber cloth to dry the vinyl record (you can also use compressed air to blow away any residual dust).

After your record is clean, all that’s left to do is enjoy the music! Just make sure to check the needle on your record player so that there’s no leftover dust particles that could distort the sound. For additional shopping recommendations check out our list of best record players and turntables, best speakers for music lovers and storage options for your music collection.

All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.

The 2024 NBA playoffs are here and one of the most anticipated matchups pit the Los Angeles Lakers against the Denver Nuggets. The Western Conference series has no shortage of star power, with Nikola Jokic and last season’s NBA champs Nuggets facing off against LeBron James and the always-powerful Lakers.

Want to watch the Lakers vs. Nuggets on TV and online? Here’s what you need to know.

L.A. Lakers vs. Denver Nuggets Playoff Games: Date, Time

The Lakers and Nuggets open the best-of-7 series tonight, Saturday, April 20 at 8:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. PT from Ball Arena in Denver.

Last-minute tickets to watch the Lakers vs. Nuggets in person are still available on sites like Stubhub, Vivid Seats and SeatGeek. All three sites guarantee that your tickets will be delivered digitally in time for the game or your money back. BONUS: use promo code BILLBOARD10 to save $10 off your purchase at SeatGeek.com.

How to Watch Lakers vs. Nuggets on TV

If you want to watch the Lakers vs. Nuggets on TV, tonight’s game is airing live on ABC. You can watch the Western Conference playoff game on TV through your local ABC affiliate.

How to Watch Lakers vs. Nuggets Online Free

Want to watch the Lakers vs. Nuggets online without cable? Get this five-day free trial to DirecTV Stream, which includes a live ABC feed as part of its channel offerings. DirecTV Stream is one of the best streaming services for live sports and one of the easiest ways to stream live TV without cable.

Another way to livestream the Lakers vs. Nuggets online free is through Fubo, which offers a seven-day free trial for its streaming service. Fubo lets you watch the Lakers vs. Nuggets playoff game online on ABC from your phone, tablet, laptop or TV. Fubo also includes free DVR so you can record the game to watch an LA vs. Denver game replay on-demand.

You can also sign up for NBA League Pass to stream out-of-market NBA playoff games as well as have 24/7 access to highlights, replays, live stats and more.

Lakers vs. Nuggets Odds, Predictions, Favorites

The Nuggets are looking to become back-to-back NBA champs after taking home the title last year, and Denver is the odds-on favorite to win the series over the Lakers. Denver also swept L.A. in the Western Conference finals last year.

Still, this is a resilient L.A. team that hopes to continue the Lakers dynasty. Aside from last year’s lopsided loss, the Lakers have won seven of the eight playoff series between them and Denver. Los Angeles also leads the all-time series 138-91.

Livestream the Lakers vs. Nuggets online free on ABC through Fubo here.

Patti Smith has acknowledged being named alongside Dylan Thomas on Taylor Swift‘s “The Tortured Poets Department,” the title track from the prolific pop poet’s 31-song anthology released on Friday (April 19).

“You’re not Dylan Thomas/ I’m not Patti Smith/ This ain’t the Chelsea Hotel/ We’re modern idiots,” Swift broods out loud in the chorus of the track, on which she asks her lover who else will be there to hold him and to know him in the way that only she does, then just answers the question herself: “Nobody. No-f—ing-body.”

Friday night, Smith sent a note Swift’s way via her Instagram page, where she shared images of herself reading Dylan Thomas’ Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog, a collection of his short stories first published in 1940.

In fittingly poetic form, Smith posted:

“This is
saying I was
moved to be
mentioned in
the company
of the great
Welsh poet
Dylan Thomas.
Thank you Taylor.”

Related

Swift’s Tortured Poets Department mentions various artists in the lyrics heard throughout the double set. Smith and Thomas’ names come up first on “The Tortured Poets Department” (song), which also brings up a personal conversation about Charlie Puth — plus references to Jack Antonoff and Lucy Dacus, associates from Swift’s social circle.

As the album goes on, listeners will pick up on the obvious name-drops of Clara Bow and Stevie Nicks on the song “Clara Bow. “Guilty as Sin?” opens with a line about The Blue Nile’s “The Downtown Lights,” and anthology track “The Black Dog” sets the atmosphere in its reference of a song by The Starting Line.

Nicks makes a genuine mark on The Tortured Poets Department, having penned a poem “For T — and me…” that Swift opted to print and showcase on the album case.

See Patti Smith’s message to Taylor Swift below.

Post Malone, Taylor Swift‘s duet partner on The Tortured Poets Department opener and lead single “Fortnight” — and the leading man in Swift’s new music video for the track — posted a heartfelt message for Swift on Saturday (April 20).

“It’s once in a lifetime that someone like @taylorswift comes into this world,” Post, also a co-writer on “Fortnight,” wrote alongside a snapshot of the two. “I am floored by your heart and your mind, and I am beyond honored to have been asked to help you with your journey.”

“I love you so much,” he wrote. “Thank you Tay.”

The pair’s “Fortnight” music video premiered Friday night.

A “cinephile in black and white” Tortured Poets Department muse from album track “loml” seems to inspire Swift’s first visual from her new 31-song anthology. The video introduces more color only when it comes to all the creative energy billowing out from the typewriters of two poet protagonists, portrayed by Swift and Malone.

Swift wrote and directed the music video, with Rodrigo Prieto taking lead on cinematography. Primarily a director of photography in film (most recently credited for Barbie and Killers of the Flower Moon), Prieto’s resume previously crossed paths with Swift’s for her “Cardigan,” “Willow” and “The Man” music videos.

“Pretty much everything in it is a metaphor or a reference to one corner of the album or another,” Swift wrote of the “Fortnight” video on Instagram, explaining that the artistic clip is representative of more than just the single. “For me, this video turned out to be the perfect visual representation of this record and the stories I tell in it.”

She added, “@postmalone blew me away on set as our tortured tragic hero and I’m so grateful to him for everything he put into this collaboration.”

“Fortnight” on Friday became Spotify’s most streamed song in a single day, while The Tortured Poets Department became Spotify’s most streamed album in a single day in 2024 so far, the only album in Spotify history to see over 300 million streams in just a day.

When Swift announced the first single from The Tortured Poets Department, her 11th original studio full-length that dropped on April 19 and turned out to be a double album, she said, “I’ve been such a huge fan of Post because of the writer he is, his musical experimentation and those melodies he creates that just stick in your head forever. I got to witness that magic come to life firsthand when we worked together on Fortnight.”

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Swifties might need at least a fortnight to recover from Taylor Swift‘s new YouTube Shorts video.

On Friday night (April 19), after the premiere of her “Fortnight” music video from her just-released Tortured Poets Department album, Swift took to the video-sharing platform to encourage fans to share their “fortnight recap” with the hashtag #ForAFortnightChallenge. A fortnight is 14 days, so the point of the video challenge is for fans to show highlights from a two-week span of time.

Related

Swift herself got the ball rolling with her own #ForAFortnightChallenge video, and she shared quite a few fun glimpses into her life — both personal and professional. From the “Fortnight” set, we see a mirror video of her Post Malone face tattoos as well as a tongue-out selfie with co-star Ethan Hawke.

Highlights of the YouTube Short include a video of her cooking with boyfriend Travis Kelce as he steals a kiss and a belly-up shot of Swift’s youngest cat, Benjamin Button.

We also see her jamming out in the studio, signing autographs, working out, sewing floral fabric, icing cinnamon rolls, playing pickleball with a Kansas City Chiefs paddle while wearing a lavender tennis skirt, blowing out a smoke bubble on an elaborate cocktail and cheersing Aperol spritzes on a boat.

All in all, there are 14 individual scenes – one for each day of her song’s titual fortnight.

Watch the YouTube Short below:

Swift released her 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, first thing Friday (April 19), following up the initial 16 tracks with 15 brand-new songs at 2 a.m. ET, for a surprise double album. Find Billboard‘s ranking of all 31 tracks here.

All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.

Get your pucks ready! Game 1 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs goes down on Saturday (April 20).

The Carolina Hurricanes and New York Islanders will take the ice at PNC Arena in Raleigh, N.C. The game will air on TBS.

Keep reading for details on ways to watch and stream the NHL playoffs without cable.

Stanley Cup Playoffs: Schedule, Ways to Stream

Game 1 between the Hurricanes and Islanders will air on Saturday at 5 p.m. ET on TBS.

Other games scheduled for the weekend include the Boston Bruins vs. Toronto Maple Leafs airing Saturday at 8 p.m. ET on TBS and the Florida Panthers vs. Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Also on Sunday, the New York Rangers vs. Washington Capitals at 3 p.m. on ESPN.

The first three games in the Eastern and Western Conference will broadcast across TBS, TNT, ESPN and ESPN2.

Want to stream the Stanley Cup Playoffs online? No cable necessary! We’ve rounded up a handful of streaming options that are perfect for hockey lovers on a budget.

Starting at the most budget-friendly plan: SlingTV is discounted to just $20 for the first month to stream live sports, news, entertainment and more.

The subscription gives you access to dozens of channels such as TNT, TBS, ESPN, ESPN2, ABC, Fox, NBC, BET, CNN, Cartoon Network, Bravo, AMC, A&E, TLC and more.

You can also watch TBS and ESPN live on DirecTV Stream, Hulu + Live TV and Fubo.

DirectTV Stream offers a free trial for five days and budget-friendly streaming packages with lots of live channels, on-demand streaming and DVR. Join DirecTV Stream for $69.99 and get instant access to 75+ channels such as ESPN, TBS, TNT, HGTV, Bravo, MTV, BET, ABC, NBC and CBS.

The higher-priced streaming plan include more channels, plus free Max, Paramount+ with Showtime, Starz and Cinemax (when you subscribe to the Premier plan). DirecTV also offers an Optimo Más plan for Spanish-speakers.

Fubo is another solid choice for sports content at $79.99/month for nearly 200 channels (including 100+ sporting events) and a free trial for a week.

Select games in the Stanley Cup playoffs will be available to stream on Max. Plans start at $9.99/month to stream with ad, $15.99/month for ad-free streaming and $19.99/month for the Ultimate Ad-Free plan.

For a limited time, Max subscribers can add the B/R Sports Add-On for free. The package, which includes stream NBA on TNT, NHL on TNT, TBS and USA, is $9.99/month after the promo ends.

Can you live stream the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs internationally? Use Express VPN to access select channels and streaming platforms from outside of the U.S.

And if you want to watch games live, there’s still time left to score tickets to the playoffs and the Stanley Cup Final on sites like StubHub and Vivid Seats. Pricing and availability may vary.