Kevin Breuner exits CD Baby after 17 years to join BandlabCD Baby SVP of Artist Engagement and Education Kevin Breuner has exited the D.I.Y. distributor for musician services and social music platform Bandlab. He leaves CD Baby as the company. Continue reading
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A basic guide to Music Metadata and why it mattersByta in partnership with MusicBrainz is creating a guide to understanding and utilizing music metadata. This post covers the basics. by Byta and MusicBrainz Announcing a three-part article series, Metadata Matters. Byta and the. Continue reading
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Memphis Record Pressing Becomes Largest Vinyl Record ManufacturerLast month Memphis Record Pressing, already one of the biggest players in the fast-growing vinyl record pressing industry, held a pair of ribbon cuttings to commemorate the completion of a $30 million expansion that positions the eight-year-old company as the largest vinyl record manufacturer by volume in North America.

On April 13, the mayor of Bartlett, Tennessee, the Memphis suburb that Memphis Record Pressing has called home since its 2014 founding, joined company co-founders, CEO Brandon Seavers and COO Mark Yoshida, and other dignitaries to cut the ribbon on MRP’s $21.3 million expansion of its pressing plant. A week later on April 20th, Bar-Kays bassist James Alexander and Moneybagg Yo producer Ari Morris were among the guests who helped christen MRP’s new $7.5 million packaging and shipping hub at 7625 Appling Center Dr. 

The ribbon cuttings cap a dramatic growth phase that saw MRP triple its physical footprint and staff. MRP is actively recruiting workers to staff all levels of its expanded operation, with an additional 100 workers needed by June. Current open positions can be found on the company’s website at memphisvinyl.com/careers/.

Speaking at the April 20th event, CEO and co-founder Seavers announced that MRP, which presses records from most of the major labels as well as indie labels and artists, had set a new company record, making 1.3 million records already that month. The company is on track to produce 20-25 million records this year. When running at full capacity, MRP can press as many as 125,000 records a day or more than 45 million a year, making it the largest vinyl record manufacturer by volume in North America. 

Once thought to be an all-but-dead format, vinyl records have been mounting a steady comeback for more than a decade, with record sales steadily increasing for 17 years and surging during the pandemic. Last year, vinyl album sales overtook CD sales for the first time since 1987 with 43.46 million copies sold.  

About Memphis Record Pressing

Founded in 2014, Memphis Record Pressing (MRP) has quickly grown to become a global leader in LP vinyl production and one of North America's largest vinyl pressing plants, with vinyl output increasing from less than 1 million LPs in 2015 to over 8.5 million in 2022. Fueled by increased global attention on the vinyl resurgence, an insatiable appetite by vinyl consumers, and a strategic partnership with GZ Media (the world's largest vinyl manufacturer), there’s no end in sight. MRP's goal is to make the highest quality record, with the fastest turnarounds in the industry, backed by the best customer service around. MRP is proud of its Memphis Music heritage and dedicated to keeping all things vinyl alive and spinning for many years.  

ByteDance expands responsibility of TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew to include its Instagram rival Lemon8 (report)ByteDance is putting another of its apps, Lemon8, 'under Chew’s supervision', according to a report from The Information
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100+ CEOs and scientists, including ChatGPT boss Sam Altman, warn of ‘risk of extinction’ from future AI systemsAI experts issue statement warning about the potential dangers of advanced artificial intelligence
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YouTube kills Stories as Google emphasizes Shorts for fan engagementYouTube is discontinuing its Stories feature as of June 26th in a move designed to emphasize its TikTok-like YouTube Shorts feature. Much like Instagram Stories, YouTube Stories were considered an. Continue reading
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Fix The Tix coalition voices strong opposition to BOSS ticketing billThe Fix Tix has come out in strong opposition to the BOSS Act introduced in the U.S. Congress last week. The Fix The Tix coalition includes NIVA, NITO, UMG, See. Continue reading
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How remixes can revive old tracksSome songs just need a few tweaks and a new beat to top the charts again. Bobby Owsinski of Music 3.0 looks at the phenomenon and how to take advantage. Continue reading
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Tommy Stinson Talks Cowboys in the Campfire, the Replacements, Guns N' RosesTommy Stinson spoke to AllMusic shortly before the release of his new album and chatted about his latest project, if a reunion with Paul Westerberg is a possibility, and his thoughts on Chinese Democracy.

TOP POSTS: Last week’s most-read posts on HypebotCatch up on what everybody has been talking about with last week’s most-read posts. We’ve got topics ranging from the end of an era at CD Baby to ChatGPT plugins, the. Continue reading
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Cor-Tek Gets the DOD/DigiTech Band Together with Team of InnovatorsFollowing its acquisition of the DOD® and DigiTech® brands, Cor-Tek has rebuilt the brand’s Salt Lake City-based research and development team with an impressive staff of key, original members with over 70 years of collective experience with the brands. Longtime DOD/Digitech employees including Jim Pennock, Tom Cram, Roger Johnsen, and Parker Coons are back together again to head up innovation at the company known as “America’s Pedal”.

Jim Pennock is the General Manager and had all the right contacts to rebuild the Salt Lake team. His experience with DigiTech goes back to the mid-1980s when DOD Electronics first launched the DigiTech brand to focus on digital audio. Jim served as VP of Technology and Business Segment Director for DigiTech and holds 17 patents.  Highlights from Jim’s career include the industry’s first multi-effects product (DSP128), multiple generations of custom DSP chips (AudioDNA2), guitar multi-effects (RP1 through RP2000+), countless new DSP effects (think Space Station and GSP2101), and the first downloadable pedal (iStomp).

L-R: Parker Coons, Tom Cram, Jim Pennock, Roger Johnsen

DOD/DigiTech longtime marketer Tom Cram who launched his own pedal company, Spiral Effects, in 2018 has stepped up to lead the product strategy/vision, and social media operations for the team. His time at DOD/DigiTech dates back to 1995, when he started on the production floor but moved to marketing just a year later. After a brief hiatus to tour with his band Honest Engine, he returned to the company, gaining experience in dbx tech support and software. After helping to resurrect the DOD brand in 2012, he officially became the Digitech/DOD Marketing Manager in 2016. 

Roger Johnsen was lured away from designing military drones to come onboard as VP of Engineering at DigiTech/DOD. He’s a 35-year industry veteran who originally assumed the reins for DOD in 1988, taking over from founder David O. DiFrancesco when he left the company.  Roger is credited for being the silent “partner in crime” with DOD innovator Jason Lamb and managing the “Lamb Series” of extreme pedals. Roger is a true innovator and holds 32 U.S. patents from a wide range of start-up companies in Utah.

Parker Coons was working for Skullcandy when he got the call about joining the new team. He previously worked in the DOD/DigiTech engineering department for 10 years as a hardware designer with a deep love for guitar pedals. Parker is a world-class hardware designer with an impressive list of products that he has worked on including Rubberneck, Ricochet, Carcosa, and JamMan Express.

The bench strength of audio design engineers in the Salt Lake area is impressive. The team gets calls daily from many previous employees wanting to help the DOD and DigiTech brands come back to life and grow. 

Visit www.digitech.com

CRUEL WORLD FESTIVAL 2023: Brookside Park at The Rose Bowl@KevinEstradaPhotography

The Cruel World Festival returned to Brookside Park at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA for its second year.  Last year’s event resulted in such a quick sell-out that demand for tickets caused the promoter, Goldenvoice, to add an additional night.  Although Cruel World 2023 did not have the ticket sales to force a second night, the nearly sold-out festival took a turn of events that “magically” gave 80’s music fans a second night of music and quite possibly made Cruel World 2023 one of the most memorable and inspirational festivals in decades.  Cancelled talent, last minute replacements, and threatening thunder storms all helped to make the Cruel World Festival the talk of the town.

The day was bright with sun and light clouds, but the crowd was dark with fishnets and black eyeliner – Goth, Electronic, Pop, Rock, Industrial – if it was happening in the early 1980’s, there is a good chance your music heroes will be performing on one of the three stages at the Cruel World Festival.  But it’s not just all about the music at Cruel World, the festival has the unique ability to transport each and every one of its attendees back in time – making everyone feel like school just let out and summer break just began.

Main stage headliners Siouxsie (of the Banshees) were joined by a slew of jaw-dropping 80’s music talent: Iggy Pop, Billy Idol, Echo & The Bunnymen, Gary Numan, Love And Rockets, ABC, Modern English, The Vapors, Gang Of Four, The Human League, and Animotion are just a few of the performers that performed on one of the three festival stages.  As the show approached, Berkley legends, The Motels, dropped out of the festival – the first of a series of unlucky incidents that in the end, turn out to be happy accidents.

Berlin

Gary Numan

With just a week or so before the festival, New Wavers  Berlin, featuring Terri Nunn jumped in to fill the missing slot left by the Motels – making Berlin the only band to perform at Cruel World for two consecutive years.  The Cruel World curse continued as Adam Ant announced he was cancelling his Cruel World Festival performance just 24 hours before showtime.  At the last minute, UK New Wavers, Squeeze stepped in to save the day and fill the empty slot left by Adam Ant.

 KROQ-FM / Sirius XM on-air legend, Richard Blade jump started the Pasadena crowd by introducing acts throughout the day – Animotion, Berlin, Squeeze, The Human League, and Billy Idol.  Love And Rockets, whose members were all on stage at last year’s festival in the form of their Goth-Alter-Egos, Bauhaus – performed their first show in 15 years, making the band one of the most anticipated acts of the day, kicking off their 17-date U.S. reunion tour that is now fully underway.  Echo & The Bunnymen, who pulled out of Cruel World 2022, was also one of the fan favorites at this year’s event.  Q Inspiration Award winner, Ian McUlloch, and his Bunnymen nourished the fans with  hit after hit, keeping the Mercy Music Scene alive.

Squeeze

The Human League

Modern English

As the music roared on and night moved in, so did Mother Nature, causing Cruel World 2023 to come to an early and abrupt end.  Festival organizers were forced to evacuate the crowd due to severe weather and lightning before Siouxsie could take the stage.  The weather alert was issued during the sets of Iggy Pop and The Human League – the last two sets before Siouxsie was set to close out the event.  Pasadena Fire and Police were forced to order the festival closed to ensure the attendees’ safety.

Just as fast as the fans were forced out of the Rose Bowl area, social media was overwhelmed with posts by disappointed and outraged fans.  Festival organizers quickly devised an incredible and truly admirable plan to help remedy the mess that the severe weather conditions created.   Goldenvoice announced a make-up date for the following night featuring extended sets by Gary Numan, Iggy Pop and Siouxsie – unfortunately, The Human League was not asked to take part.  The logistics and costs involved in pulling the make-up date off is astronomical and it is an incredible feat by Goldenvoice and the Cruel World organizers.

Gang of Four

Love and Rockets

Echo and the Bunnymen

Sunday night’s 2023 Cruel World 2.0 went off without a hitch.  Free admission with your previously purchased ticket or bracelet, free parking and over 3 hours of supercharged performances.  Festival organizers had plenty of security on hand, food vendors, first aid teams, as well as merch booths for those who may have been forced to leave before buying their Cruel World goodies.  Of course, there are the fans who could not attend night 2.0 – especially those who travelled from afar to Pasadena for the event and were unable extend their stay.  But, for those fans, Goldenvoice and Cruel World are offering a partial refund for each of their tickets or passes.  Sure, it’s not the same as seeing Siouxsie on stage, but it helps take some of the sting away and it definitely shows that Goldenvoice and Cruel World care for their fans.

My wife and I attended Cruel World 2022 and returned to Cruel World 2023, this time with my cousin and her husband.  Will we be at Cruel World 2024?  Absolutely.  In a world of faceless music festivals, Cruel World has the makings of becoming one of the most important and unique festivals of our time. 

Queen music catalog could be sold this year for over $1 billion, say MBW sourcesMajor music companies including Universal Music Group have been in discussions for the acquisition, we're told, in addition to players from the world of private equity
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From the 120,000 tracks hitting streaming services daily to Universal’s AI sound partnership… it’s MBW’s Weekly Round-UpThe biggest music biz headlines from the past week, all in one place
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Music streaming is predicted to soar this summerAs lifestyles shift to active mode this summer, so will time spent on listening to audio, a medium they can consume wherever they go, according to a new survey. A. Continue reading
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