Celebrating Fifty Years of Hip-HopAugust 11th is being celebrated as the 50th anniversary of the dawn of hip-hop. In honor of DJ Kool Herc's landmark block party, we've collected ten of the groundbreaking and influential albums that came out of that first decade of old-school rap.

Anthropic launches improved version of its entry-level LLMAnthropic, the AI startup co-founded by ex-OpenAI execs, has released an updated version of its faster, cheaper text-generating model available through an API, Claude Instant.
The updated Claude Instant, Claude Instant 1.2, incorporates the strengths of Anthropic’s recently announced flagship model, Claude 2, showing “significant” gains in areas such as math, coding, reasoning and safety, according to Anthropic. In internal testing, Claude Instant 1.2 scored 58.7% on a coding benchmark compared to Claude Instant 1.1, which scored 52.8%, and 86.7% on a set of math questions versus 80.9% for Claude Instant 1.1.
“Claude Instant generates longer, more structured responses and follows formatting instructions better,” Anthropic writes in a blog post. “Instant 1.2 also shows improvements in quote extraction, multilingual capabilities and question answering.”
Claude Instant 1.2 is also less likely to hallucinate and more resistant to jailbreaking attempts, Anthropic claims. In the context of large language models like Claude, “hallucination” is where a model generates text that’s incorrect or nonsensical, while jailbreaking is a technique that uses cleverly-written prompts to bypass the safety features placed on large language models by their creators.
And Claude Instant 1.2 features a context window that’s the same size of Claude 2’s — 100,000 tokens. Context window refers to the text the model considers before generating additional text, while tokens represent raw text (e.g. the word “fantastic” would be split into the tokens “fan,” “tas” and “tic”). Claude Instant 1.2 and Claude 2 can analyze roughly 75,000 words, about the length of “The Great Gatsby.”
Generally speaking, models with large context windows are less likely to “forget” the content of recent conversations.
As we’ve reported previously, Anthropic’s ambition is to create a “next-gen algorithm for AI self-teaching,” as it describes it in a pitch deck to investors. Such an algorithm could be used to build virtual assistants that can answer emails, perform research and generate art, books and more — some of which we’ve already gotten a taste of with the likes of GPT-4 and other large language models.
But Claude Instant isn’t this algorithm. Rather, it’s intended to compete with similar entry-level offerings from OpenAI as well as startups such as Cohere and AI21 Labs, all of which are developing and productizing their own text-generating — and in some cases image-generating — AI systems.
To date, Anthropic, which launched in 2021, led by former OpenAI VP of research Dario Amodei, has raised $1.45 billion at a valuation in the single-digit billions. While that might sound like a lot, it’s far short of what the company estimates it’ll need — $5 billion over the next two years — to create its envisioned chatbot.

Anthropic claims to have “thousands” of customers and partners currently, including Quora, which delivers access to Claude and Claude Instant through its subscription-based generative AI app Poe. Claude powers DuckDuckGo’s recently launched DuckAssist tool, which directly answers straightforward search queries for users, in combination with OpenAI’s ChatGPT. And on Notion, Claude is a part of the technical backend for Notion AI, an AI writing assistant integrated with the Notion workspace.

Federal judge suggests Q2 2024 trial for SEC case against Ripple execsAiming for a jury trial to start between April 1 and June 30, 2024, Judge Analisa Torres laid out deadlines for the SEC and Ripple defense lawyers to submit certain motions.

Beck and Phoenix at the KIA ForumBeck and Phoenix played the KIA Forum Monday night (8/7) with Jenny Lewis and Sir Chloe. 

Following sets from Sir Chloe and Jenny Lewis, French Pop group Phoenix took the stage. This was their second performance there this year having played the iHeart Alter Ego earlier this year in January. Two days later they played an intimate show at the Majestic Ventura Theater and last year played across the street at the YouTube Theater. It was the group’s Grammy winning fourth album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (2009) that they had breakthrough success with it being their first Gold album and it contained two of their major hits “1901” and “Lisztomania.” Phoenix performed on nearly every major late night show including Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Conan O’Brien (Tonight Show), Craig Ferguson, and David Letterman. Phoenix would have major success in the 2010’s playing Coachella, Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, Outside Lands, and Daft Punk would be surprise guests at their Madison Square Garden Performance. Since the release of Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, they have released three more albums with the most recent being Alpha Zulu (2022).

Phoenix opened with their Platinum single “Lisztomania.” The show features the same dual screen like a frame with another screen behind as it did on their tour last year. Phoenix played a 19-song set full of hits like “Entertainment” “If I Ever Feel Better,” and “Ti Amo.” “Everything is Everything” was played for the first time on this tour. The second to last song was “1901,” and singer Thomas Mars walked through the crowd all the way to back and crowd surfed back onstage. Their set ended with “Identical (Reprise).” Phoenix was formed by Mars, brothers/guitarists Laurent Brancowitz and Christian Mazzalai, and bassist Deck d’Arcy. Drummer Thomas Hedlund has been recording and touring with the group since 2005 and keyboardist Robin Coudert began working with the group in 2000 on United. 

Closing the show was Beck with an incredible band of bassist Justin Meldal-Johnsen (St. Vincent/ Nine Inch Nails) who was also with Beck from 1996-2016, drummer Joey Waronker (Roger Waters/R.E.M.) who has been on seven of Beck’s albums and multiple tours since 1996, guitarist Jason Falkner who has been working with Beck since Sea Change (2002), keyboardist Roger Manning Jr. (Air/ Jay-Z) whose first album with Beck was Mutations, and percussionist Ian Longwell who is also Beck's music technologist. Beck has released 14 albums over the last 30 years. Beck won the 2015 Grammy Album of the Year for Morning Phase which came as a big surprise across the globe in a category against Beyonce, Ed Sheeran, Pharell, and Sam Smith. 

Beck played a set of 20 songs beginning with “Devils Haircut.” Beck is not only a great writer, singer, and musician, but just a great performer overall. The graphics on the screen played a major part of the show. Beck’s set included his most famous song “Loser” and other hits like “E-Pro,” and “Que Onda Guero.” The second to last song was “Odyssey,” and Beck and his band were joined by Phoenix.  Johnsen let d’Arcy take over bass duties halfway through. For the final song “Where It’s At” beach balls were thrown out.

Hz Box Is A FREE Chorus Plugin by Higher Hz
Higher Hz release Hz Box, a free chorus plugin for Windows and macOS. I really am a sucker for strange effects. About half the time I spend with audio software is just manipulating things to sound like unearthly howls for whatever reason. If you’re a huge fan of off-kilter takes on traditional effects, then Hz [...]
View post: Hz Box Is A FREE Chorus Plugin by Higher Hz

Simon Cowell launches SYCO music publishing company in partnership with UniversalThe new joint venture is part of a growing partnership between Cowell and UMG
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Tom Becci hired as Chief Executive of Concord Label GroupThe announcement comes after a shakeup in the company's management, and a push towards expanding its presence among music labels
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Ampworx High-Gain pedals from TC Electronic The new Ampworx High-Gain series pedals promise to capture the sound of classic Marshall, Mesa/Boogie and Peavey guitar amplifers. 

Grandmaster Flash used to switch labels on records so other DJs wouldn’t copy his drum breaksDJ and producer Grandmaster Flash has shared the secret hack that he used to prevent other DJs from copying his drum breaks.
Flash became known for his Quick Mix Theory technique, where he elongated drum breaks through the use of duplicate copies of vinyl.

READ MORE: Dutch DJ breaks Guinness World Record with 11-hour set

In a new interview with Music News, the prestigious DJ (who also invented the slipmat) explains how he used a secret hack to prevent people from copying his work: “The way I would look for a break on a record is I would buy one copy and I would put it up with a light. And the area where it was the most shiniest was where the least band members was playing,” he explains.
“Now, if there wasn’t a turntable in a record shop, I would look at that, I’d go and I’d say, this is probably a drum break because this area of this composition is shiny. And I would buy two of these and I would take it home. And the shit might be someone on a violin. Them shits was called my stiffs.
“So I had crates and crates of stiffs. So what I would do is, for example, Take Me to the Mardi Gras, I would take two stiffs that I couldn’t return back because once you break the shrink wrap, you bought it. And I would soak the two copies of the stiffs in a bathtub and then sink and then put Take Me to the Mardi Gras in the bathtub until the labels came off. And what I would do is switch the labels on it, so if there was a person from another DJ crew that was trying to see what I was playing, the label was wrong,” he shares.

The DJ went on to explain how his secret gave him “big laughs” over the years, “They like, ‘Flash, we let the record play, we cleaned our house, and we just let the whole shit play from side A to side B, we never found it.’ It’s because I switched the label.
“So I mean, it was somewhat of a secrecy. Now, I don’t mind letting the secrets out now. But that was part of the fun. If I didn’t want to scratch it out, I knew there were spies from other DJ crews that wanted to know what I was playing,” he concludes.
Keep up to date with the latest news from Grandmaster Flash via his official website.
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Sample Logic Animation Station 2.0 The latest version of Sample Logic's MIDI sequencer and arpeggiator introduces more versatile pattern switching, a reworked modulation system, improved transposition and more.

“You know it’s gonna make better songs than you. It’s Super Mario Bros. right now – we ain’t even got to Call of Duty yet”: will.i.am on the future of AI in musicThe subject of AI is virtually inescapable these days, and it’s becoming an increasingly prevalent topic of debate in the music world.
Producers and artists far and wide have offered their opinions on the emerging tech, with David Guetta casting an optimistic view on whether it will lead to the surpassing of human musicians: “If you have terrible taste, your music is still gonna be terrible, even with AI”.
Elsewhere, gear reviewer Cucko recently said artificial intelligence is a “reminder of how important it is to take your artistry seriously”.

READ MORE: New AI plugin TextToSample lets you generate samples for free

Now, Black Eyed Peas’ will.i.am has offered his opinion, reminding people that as incredible as the tech might seem now, it’s still only in its infancy.
“If you’re a marketer, if you’re an artist that works for a brand, if you’re an agency that works for brands – this technology is gonna give super creatives agency,” he says in a new conversation on the Diary of a CEO podcast. “So why do they need agencies?”
“Just the vast transformation – and for hyper creatives, now they just need a new tool to help them birth stuff. It’s a new renaissance.
“It’s the ultimate dream if you’re preparing. A section of the world whose problems have always been ignored [can] now go out and solve those problems with this tool.”
He continues: “Are you using this tool to make songs? You know it’s gonna make better songs than you. It’s Pac-Man right now, we ain’t even got to Halo. We’re in freakin’ Super Mario Bros., we ain’t even got to Call of Duty yet. This thing’s gonna make better songs than you soon, bro.”

The post “You know it’s gonna make better songs than you. It’s Super Mario Bros. right now – we ain’t even got to Call of Duty yet”: will.i.am on the future of AI in music appeared first on MusicTech.

“Fix it. Everybody else is doing it”: Mac DeMarco calls on Spotify to add hi-def streaming optionMac DeMarco has praised Spotify for being “so easy” to use, but has called on the streaming giant to hurry up and add a high-definition playback option.
Those who keep up to date with Spotify will know that its Hi-Fi “supremium” plan was announced in 2021, but is still yet to arrive.

READ MORE: Mac DeMarco questions industry-standard 44.1kHz mastering: “I haven’t bought a CD since I was a teenager”

In a new interview with NME, DeMarco shares that he is a new user of Spotify: “I never did Spotify, no streaming service. I used YouTube until like two years ago. I got a new truck, and I wanted to be able to use Siri to play the music; [the] only way to do that was to get Spotify. And I was like ‘Okay, I’ll get Spotify’, after all these years.”
He adds, “I mean here’s the thing, all the artists say they don’t like it ‘cause of the pay scale and I understand that, I’m probably in the same boat, whatever. But my god, it’s amazing.
“It teaches you, you know? It’s so easy. I’ve never really used something like that but when you start using something like that and you come from a world of not having that before it’s kind of like, ‘Why don’t we just chuck it all on there?’.”
DeMarco goes on to call on the platform to add a hi-def option for playback: “And the other thing that I find really interesting is, well, Spotify is really funny ‘cause it’s still like standard-definition. They don’t really have a high-def option, which is stupid, and if anybody from the team sees this, what are you doing? What’s wrong with you? Fix it. Everybody else is doing it, just do it. What’s wrong with you?”

It was reported back in June that Spotify’s Supremium could be arriving anytime within the coming months, as it is speculated that the new tier should arrive this year. This new option will bring CD-quality audio listening and further audiobook access to users for a higher monthly fee.
Elsewhere, the streaming giant has now rolled out its DJ beta across 50 global markets.
The post “Fix it. Everybody else is doing it”: Mac DeMarco calls on Spotify to add hi-def streaming option appeared first on MusicTech.

First-generation iPod sells for $29,000A first-generation iPod bought in 2001 as a Christmas gift has been sold for $29,000 (approximately £22,750).
The iPod, sold on August 4 via Rally Alternative Asset Investment platform, was originally purchased by the parents of a teenager at an Apple store in Plano, Texas for $399. Its sky-high price now is commanded, in part, by the fact it remains in its original packaging.

READ MORE: Nearly 120 historic hip-hop artefacts – including a ring designed by Tupac – go on sale in Sotheby’s auction

“He wasn’t sure what he wanted to do with it, so he put it on a shelf, and then, inevitably, time passed,” explains Rally co-founder Rob Petrozzo.
He adds that the owner found the iPod in the original blue Apple bag while cleaning out his childhood home after the passing of his father. “It truly is a time capsule,” says.
Rally, the platform which hosted the sale, allows investors to own shares in collectible assets in an NFT-style framework.
Per NME, ownership of the iPod was originally split into 5,000 shares each valued at $5 through an LLC, but a private collector unexpectedly acquired all 5,000 shares and secured exclusive possession of the iPod.
Last year, Apple officially discontinued the iPod after more than 20 years. At the time, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing Greg Joswiak said: “Today, the spirit of iPod lives on. We’ve integrated an incredible music experience across all of our products, from the iPhone to the Apple Watch to HomePod mini, and across Mac, iPad, and Apple TV.
“And Apple Music delivers industry-leading sound quality with support for spatial audio — there’s no better way to enjoy, discover, and experience music.”
Legacy Apple products regularly command high resale prices. Just last month, an original factory-sealed 2007 4GB iPhone was sold for a record-breaking $200,000.
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