Major investor of Native Instruments and iZotope bids to acquire AVIDUS firm Francisco Partners, a major investor of Native Instruments and iZotope, is among private equity firms competing to acquire AVID, otherwise known as Avid Technology Inc.

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Earlier this year, Francisco Partners backed up the new partnership with iZotope and Native Instruments, which saw the two manufacturers team up to “shape the future of music making and audio production”.
Another company that is currently bidding for acquisition of AVID is Symphony Technology Group, a private-equity firm focused on technology investments. Earlier in the year, STG made a deal to take Momentive Global Inc, the parent company of SurveyMonkey.
AVID provides valuable software for the music industry, owning both digital audio workstation Pro Tools and music notation software Sibelius. Its products are widely considered to be industry standard, with Pro Tools likely the most used digital audio workstation in the world.
Sibelius is also one of the most commonly used scoring softwares in the composition world, and counts the likes of Hans Zimmer among its users.
Therefore, the potential purchase is a monumental move, especially considering that AVID has a current value of $1.2 billion.
According to Reuters, AVID started exploring options, including the sale of the company with the help of investment bank Goldman Sachs, earlier this year. Anonymous sources have since told Reuters that a deal could be signed as early as this month.
The post Major investor of Native Instruments and iZotope bids to acquire AVID appeared first on MusicTech.

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EastWest ComposerCloud+ discount offer Until 10 August 2023, new subscribers signing up for ComposerCloud+ are able to gain access to EastWest's extensive product range for just $149 for the year.

Universal Audio’s UAFX Max compression pedal is overkill for guitarists, but fun for the studioAs part of the latest releases in its UAFX line-up, Universal Audio has launched the Max Preamp and Dual Compressor. This pedal has two separate channels of compression, each with three different flavours of compression to choose from. And just for good measure, UA has thrown in an emulation of one of its own preamps for a touch of drive and colouration.

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The format of Max is consistent with other UAFX pedals, featuring two footswitches, six rotary knobs and three small selection switches. The back panel features stereo in/out sockets, a 9v power jack, a USB-C socket for firmware updates, plus a tiny button for pairing the pedal with its app via Bluetooth. As with other models in this line-up, the Max pedal is relatively big and heavy, so should stand up well to abuse on stage.

Sounds
Compression in a guitar pedal is an interesting concept. Because a clean guitar has a significant transient and can be tamed by compressor, it is frequently used by funk guitarists and country players to smooth out their volume. However, a distorted guitar is already inherently compressed due to the way overdrive occurs, so compressors are less important as part of the signal chain for a rockier sound. However, in a production context, anything that doesn’t naturally distort is likely to need some compression. We begin with drums and load up a relatively dynamic loop with lots of toms to hear the impact of the compressors.
We route our DAW’s audio to the pedal, and notice immediately how hot the signal is coming in above the Max’s threshold. The colour-changing LEDs on each channel are extremely helpful when setting the threshold. Although it only has three colours (green: on, yellow: gentle compression, red: heavy compression), when combined with our ears, it makes setting the input gain relatively easy. This gain structure means we have to use the output knob around 3 o’clock to get the signal back up to unity.
Universal Audio’s UAFX Max compression pedal. Image: Universal Audio
The 1176 emulation should sound excellent given UA’s history with the unit (its founder Bill Putnam Snr designed it). Happily, it compresses well and responds as expected, catching the early transients and controlling the fast dynamics, but it doesn’t have quite the warmth that we get from our analogue units.
The second emulation has a warm valve tone that one expects from the Teletronix LA-2A original. But when we stack the compressors, the sound really comes to life. An 1176 into an LA-2A is one of our favourite signal chains because of the way one smooths out the transient and the other the tail of the audio, respectively.
The ability to do this in a single unit is extremely useful. The LEDs again help identify the threshold point of the second compressor in the chain whilst our ears do the rest. The ability to have everything laid out physically in one unit and jump between them is a really efficient way to work.
By default, the pedal has its compressors running in series, but the UAFX smartphone app allows access to additional controls that affect the operation of the pedal including the option to run the channels in parallel, or to flick between two settings. There are also some other controls in here including the EQ response of the preamp, but these are all set-and-forget controls.
Universal Audio’s UAFX Max compression pedal and app. Image: Universal Audio
The MXR Dyna Comp emulation adds a lot of sustain but really emphasises the transients of the sound, so needs something after the signal to control these – given its history as a guitar effect, this would normally be a guitar amp. It sounds horrible on drums and vocals but creates a distinct, squashed clean sound when applied to a guitar.
The preamp section, based on the UA 610, adds some welcome distortion, but doesn’t quite flatter the drums. When applied to some vocals and guitar though, it adds pleasing harmonic overdrive and a bit of grit to the sound prior to the compression stage.
Max is an interesting concept as a guitar pedal. For most guitarists, it’s complete overkill. However, as a studio tool, it’s much more useful.
The ability to have hands-on control of compression settings is a productive way to work, but the UA plugin emulations of the studio limiters are just as good. If we’re using hardware, we’d prefer to have genuine analogue units to truly embrace their inherent flaws and characteristics.
Key features

2 independent channels of compression
3 different styles of compression
Tube mic preamp emulation
Can be run in series or parallel
LED compression level indication
Full stereo operation

The post Universal Audio’s UAFX Max compression pedal is overkill for guitarists, but fun for the studio appeared first on MusicTech.

DDJ-REV5: a scratch-style controller, sans motorized jogwheels – for $1099
While last week’s turntable/DVS controller announcement was a huge surprise to many, today Pioneer DJ is launching something more expected: a budget-friendly scratch controller, the DDJ-REV5. It slides in naturally at a slightly lower price point than its bigger-brother DDJ-REV7, which runs at $1,999 new and has motorized jogwheels. The DDJ-REV5 has a lot of […]
The post DDJ-REV5: a scratch-style controller, sans motorized jogwheels – for $1099 appeared first on DJ TechTools.

Curve Finance opens bounty after exploiter's return deadline expiresCurve Finance is extending a $1.85 million bug bounty offer to anyone who can identify the exploiter of its stable pools.

Paramore at the Kia ForumPhotos by Zachary Gray

Paramore are currently on the second leg of their North American tour in support of their seventh studio album This Is Why. During the final of two shows at The Kia Forum in Los Angeles, they invited Bethany Cosentino and Rico Nasty to share the stage with them.

Following a set than spanned their greatest hits such as "That's What You Get", "Decode", "Rose Colored Boy", and "Last Hope", Paramore invited Best Coast's Bethany Cosentino on stage to perform "Big Man, Little Dignity" which features on their latest album, This Is Why. Joining the likes of PinkPantheress, and Lil Uzi Vert, they invited their "brand new friend" Rico Nasty on stage for "Misery Business."

rico nasty came out for misery business at the paramore concert, this SHIT HAD MY CREMAING pic.twitter.com/N4ZTlz1nHV— Pooh Sheistenberg (@CultureSwine) July 21, 2023

Setlist 

You First

The News

That's What You Get

Playing God

Caught in the Middle

Rose-Colored Boy(With snippet of “I Wanna Dance With Somebody)

Running Out of Time

Decode

Last Hope

Big Man, Little Dignity(with Bethany Cosentino)

Liar

Crystal Clear(Hayley Williams song) (Intro “Lovers or Friends”)

Hard Times(With snippet of Blondie’s “Heart of Glass”)

Told You So

Figure 8

The Only Exception

Crave

Baby(HalfNoise cover)

Misery Business(with Rico Nasty)

Ain't It Fun

Encore:

Still Into You

This Is Why

Excerpted by Tyler Damara Kelly

Taking another look at venture debtSilicon Valley Bank’s nosedive has soured many on venture debt, and for early-stage companies, it bears being cautious. As an option for growth-stage companies with more predictable cash flow, however, things may be a little different. TechCrunch+ spoke with David Spreng, founder and CEO of Runway Growth Capital and author of “All Money Is Not Created Equal” to help to clear up some of the misconceptions that surround debt.
Even though the interest on venture debt is usually astronomical, venture debt’s main advantage is that it doesn’t require startups to give up any equity. Not diluting shares in order to raise money can have a huge impact on the economic outcomes, and raising money through a bank loan is usually much easier than raising a round of venture capital.

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Though taking on debt isn’t always the best option, there are some circumstances you may find yourself in where it makes the most sense.
Venture debt is a way of borrowing money, usually between $1 million and $100 million, without any tangible assets to secure it. This is where it differs from a business loan. You might be able to get yourself an unsecured business loan early on in your company’s life, but it’ll be for a relatively small sum of money and the interest rates on it will be on the high side. In some cases, founders have to supply a personal guarantee when they take one out. A secured loan, on the other hand, takes tangible assets as collateral. Startups might not have a whole lot by the way of tangible assets, but they could have other valuable assets. This is where venture debt comes in.
Venture debt is borrowing that’s secured against your intangible assets: predictable future revenue, your IP, and your future VC backing, for example. There are effectively two types of venture debt: early stage and late stage. Early-stage debt tends to be offered on the basis of a startup’s VC backers. Spreng’s own shop, Runway, on the other hand, provides only late-stage debt. It’s for companies that are on the verge of profitability but need an injection of funds to help them obtain the growth they need in order to reach it.

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4 ways generative AI makes founders more interesting to journalists

Craig Corbett
Contributor

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Craig Corbett is a partner at Publicize, a PR agency helping tech leaders and investors push their brands to the front and center of a rapidly evolving media landscape.


The advent of generative AI will lead to a tectonic shift in how startups do PR over the next few years. In July, the Associated Press became the first major news company to sign a deal with OpenAI, while media job cuts have reached record highs.
Gutted newsrooms could stymie one of the greatest engines of startup growth. While generative AI will enhance the capabilities of many publications, they’re also creeping onto news sites in ways we can’t foresee while journalists are laid off. Inevitably, some startups will choose to use AI to churn out thought leadership and PR content.
The problem with that is, if anyone and everyone can do something, then it becomes devoid of value. If any founder can ask ChatGPT to create a listicle on “5 reasons e-commerce will grow in 2023,” then the internet will become even more saturated with that kind of content. And that content is professional-sounding, yes, but impersonal, starved of real-life narratives, and flair-less.


Startups that want to be seen amid the flurry as AI enters the media will need to remember that what most people really want is a human story.


The good news is, this will actually push startup PR to evolve. In-house PR teams will want to elevate their content above the tedious noise. PR agencies will strive to show startups why they shouldn’t be using ChatGPT to do their job. Editors will scream out for original articles over rehashed content. PR and human-written thought leadership will have to sharply differentiate itself from the unoriginal content of overused AI.
Seeing a strong voice of reason or controversy, a provocative response to current events and rapidly unfolding topics — that’s something people are always hungry for. It’s alive, shaped by the world around us, and helps us make sense of it.
Ironically, AI could make PR more responsive, human, relevant. So, where do AI’s limits lie — and where will successful PR strategies shine in the age of ChatGPT?
Embed yourself in current (and future events)
AI does not exist in the present. It’s trained on past datasets, but it can’t follow today’s news, much less if that news hasn’t been published online.
I know from my PR work that journalists take a heightened interest in a business leader when they can speak knowledgeably (and quickly) on unfolding events. As do readers: 62% of professionals want to see thought leadership on current trends.
But how will generative AI change this scenario? It’s likely that the role of journalists will move away from what’s generally achievable by AI — generic advice articles, listicles, etc. — and they’ll have more time to write articles on current events and hard-hitting trends, imbued with relevant commentary.
So, that’s what they’ll want to see more of from founders — commentary on the Senate just passing a new immigration bill and how that will affect tech talent; a thought piece on how startups can leverage a new TikTok trend for growth.
An effective PR strategy will involve a shift in behavior:

Monitoring daily media for current events.
Inserting yourself and your company into breaking news.
Being a founder who can provide punchy opinions on select themes.
Assessing which topics you can speak to beyond your niche: for example, a fintech founder can seek to become an expert in emerging regulation.
Linking this kind of outreach back to your core mission and messaging.

Other than being timely, the difference between you and ChatGPT is that you have friends. You have your finger on the pulse of specific “offline” circles in a way that’s not possible for an AI bot. Journalists will value you being able to bring insights on the word on the street — what the sentiment is over X news story among your peers, the conversations you have with colleagues over the state of the industry.
Finally, you can also peer into the future. A true industry expert can read what’s happening on the ground — not just online — ask for peers’ opinion on a matter of interest, and offer predictions on where a trend is going. Be careful only to do so when your margin of error is small.

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