Live Nation invests $1B in new venues in 18 smaller U.S. citiesLive Nation invests $1B in 18 new venues across the U.S. "bringing more big shows to smaller cities."
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These free music-making apps for iPhone and Android are a must-have for creatorsMobile apps for phones and tablets are the perfect way to make beats and tracks on the move and even in the studio, often capable of transferring projects and data to your desktop computers via the cloud. With some incredible paid apps now available, including pro-level DAWs like Logic Pro for iPad and Cubasis, you’ll also want to get your hands on some of these excellent free ones, ranging from serious synths to beatboxes and composition tools.

READ MORE: Best freeware for music-making: Top free apps, DAWs, plug-ins, instruments and more

In fact, if you wanted to keep things as affordable as possible, it’s quite easy to record, arrange, mix and edit entire tracks using only the free apps in this guide. You will notice that many are for iOS — that’s because Apple’s software and devices have a more consistent approach to their design, making developers more inclined to make apps for them. Nonetheless, Android users are well catered for too, and you’ll find plenty to like here, whatever your OS. Get downloading and start making music for free today.
The best free mobile apps for making music – at a glance

Animoog Z for iOS
AudioKit Synth One
Auxy Studio
Reason Compact
BandLab
Splice
Soundtrap
Hypertron for iOS
Korg Gadget 2 Le
Apple GarageBand
Roland Zenbeats

Animoog Z for iOS
Image: Moog
Designed by legendary synth brand Moog Music, the Animoog Z runs on iPhone, iPad or Mac and is free to download with a series of optional unlocks for individual sound packs, or just £15 for the lot. Running as a standalone app or as a plug-in on your device inside a mobile DAW, it has 16 voices of polyphony and uses a bespoke synth engine with a novel “orbit system” that lets you sculpt sounds in a 3D space. You can play and program it using its own built-in keyboard or via a connected MPE-compatible controller, taking advantage of the extra expression allowed by the advanced MIDI format.
Experience new sonic worlds by using the polyphonic modulation and pitch-shifting capabilities with configurable scales, key distances, pitch correction and glide, all in a unique interface. Choose from a large selection of built-in timbres or make custom sounds by recording your own timbres directly in, or importing your own samples. A battery of advanced effects rounds out the compelling feature set.
Audiokit Synth One

Claiming to be the world’s first free, open-source professional synth app, Audiokit Synth One is the product of a collaboration between industry experts, volunteers and others that easily rivals paid mobile synths for sound and features. With a slick and powerful interface, its list of capabilities is impressive, a six-voice hybrid analogue / FM polysynth with over 300 presets, Audiobus 3 and inter-app audio support, compatibility with mobile DAWs like Cubasis, GarageBand and Logic Pro, five oscillators, a 16-step sequencer, Ableton Link and tons more.
There’s also a bunch of onboard effects, support for MIDI control and input from a physical controller as well as the touch pads, MIDI learn and an arpeggiator. While “free” can sometimes be a byword for middling sound and performance with paid upgrades unlocking the real functionality, here there aren’t even any annoying ads – just download the app to your device – a relatively tiny 50MB – and start patching and making presets wherever you are.
Learn more at audiokitpro.com.
Auxy Studio
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80OhUoQXIk8
With a slick, minimal interface that’s reminiscent of Reason and Ableton Live, Auxy Studio can be downloaded for free, with a 7-day trial of the full feature set, after which you can opt to pay for a subscription. Its colour-coded, touch-based interface makes Auxy ideal for newcomers and seasoned beatmakers alike.
To begin with, draw in notes to create beats and melodies. Then, arrange loops into tracks or just experiment as you go, using the thousands of downloadable sounds including the ability to import your own samples. Onboard effects and automation let you add interest to your mixes while finished tracks can be uploaded straight to the cloud.
Learn more at auxy.co
Reason Compact (iOS)

Reason’s powerful synth and drum engines in the palm of your hand, for free? Surely it’s too good to be true? For Android users, it is. Still, Reason Compact is a nifty app that integrates with the desktop version of Reason, and has the ability to export sounds as WAVs for use in other DAWs. It sports a unique and user-friendly interface, with tempo-sync via Ableton Link, Inter-App Audio and Audiobus support. The downside is that you’re limited to three tracks, and most of the creation tools are locked behind a paywall.
Read our guide on how to use it, here.
BandLab

[Editor’s note: BandLab and MusicTech are both part of Caldecott Music Group.]
With no in-app purchases, cross-platform compatibility and a free download, BandLab is an ideal solution for getting your musical ideas down and collaborating with your peers. With an extensive library of built-in instruments, free loops and samples (including packs created by established artists), you can create compositions up to six minutes long, with 12 instrument channels.
BandLab doubles as a social platform, so you can share your tracks instantly, participate in competitions, explore new music and connect with other users. Collaboration is achieved via ‘forking’, in which other users dive into your project with your permission and add their own ideas. With more than 16 million users, worldwide competitions and an ever-increasing roster of contributing artists, BandLab should be on your radar regardless of your skill level. Just make sure you have a stable internet connection or you could run into latency issues.
For more information on BandLab, check here.
Splice Mobile
Credit: Splice
Splice makes its vast sample collection available for you to access and work with anywhere in its free iOS app. Browse the entire catalogue from your phone, audition samples and loops and then stack them up using the straightforward sequencer to create songs. You can even use the record function to capture live audio over your productions; vocals, guitars and other sources.
If you’re struggling for inspiration, simply use the app’s Create Mode to call up an auto-generated, genre-specific set of stacks, then tweak and edit these as you wish to make them your own. You can AirDrop your projects or mixdowns to friends to collaborate, or go via the cloud. If you want to transfer to your desktop DAW to continue working, you’ll need a paid subscription — there are various options here — but if you’re happy to stay in the app it remains free.
Learn more at splice.com
Hypertron

Keeping its layout and design super simple, Hypertron brings an MPC-style of sampling and sequencing to your Mac, iPhone or iPad. Able to run both as a standalone app or as an AUv3 plug-in inside a DAW, you can customise your workspace, sample and edit, sequence and even use the onboard monophonic synthesizer to add more dimensions to your sample-based productions. Ableton Link is also supported.
Each pad can be a loop with up to 64 bars and can have its own individual bar length. Build your song by toggling pads on and off during a performance, add multiple effects from the selection provided and load and edit your own samples with ease. You can even generate totally unique sounds with text-to-audio AI generation of new samples – this feature is free to try, and a one-time purchase of $4.99 unlocks the full feature set.
Learn more at hypertron-insrtument.com
Korg Gadget 2 Le

Korg’s fun yet powerful Gadget software is a unique combination of a large selection of Korg’s own instruments, synths and beatboxes and a bespoke sequencer plus a ton of FX. It’s really a self-contained MIDI programming studio with a focus on creating everything from cool loops and beats to entire tracks.
While the paid version of Gadget is at V3, the free Le version is still available both for iOS and for Mac. Here you get just three Gadgets plus a further two if you connect an official Korg MIDI controller to the software. When you’re done programming, you can upload your tracks to the cloud for sharing with other users.
While the app contains fewer features and instruments than the full version, it’s a stellar introduction to the world of Gadget, and you can upgrade to the newer version at any time should you want to. 
Learn more about Korg Gadet 2 Le on the App Store.  

Soundtrap

Available for Android, iOS and desktop browsers, Soundtrap is similar to BandLab. It gives you a DAW approach to mobile music-making with MIDI instruments, sample and loop libraries (albeit not as vast as BandLab’s), and the ability to record in your own audio and import MIDI data. You’ll get tutorials as soon as you create an account, so you won’t need to spend ages getting to grips with it, and even if you skip the tutorials, it’s fairly user-friendly.
Unfortunately, to unlock some of the more advanced features like automation, Auto-Tune and Time Restore, you’ll need a subscription of £6.49 per month. Plus, as it requires a constant internet connection, you’ll need reliable speeds. For a quick jam or getting ideas down, this is easily a go-to application, though.
For more information on Soundtrap, check here.
Apple GarageBand (iOS only)

Don’t underestimate the power of Garageband iOS – many pros have made hit records using this app. Apple’s iOS DAW integrates into its big brother, Logic Pro X, and includes a loop feature for quick jamming, and a library of comfortable touch instruments. You’ll also get an array of built-in pedals to run your signal through. It’s ridiculously capable, with the ability to load AUv3 instruments and effects such as the Minimoog Model D, or Fabfilter’s iOS plug-ins. The only downside is that it isn’t available on Android devices.
For more information on GarageBand, check here.
Roland Zenbeats

After purchasing Stagelight, Roland rebranded the mini music-making station to Zenbeats and packed plenty of genuine vintage Roland synth and drum machine sounds into it. You can create multi-track projects and export them to your DAW, and use it alongside other apps with AUv3 support. Unfortunately, despite its great intentions, it can be fiddly and almost has too many features. You’ll need to make a few in-app purchases to get the best sounds, though there’s an offer at the moment that gives you Zenbeats Unlock for free. Those with limited storage will have to be careful not to overload on sounds as well, as they take up a lot of space.
Why You Can Trust MusicTech
MusicTech reviews hundreds of new products every year, from powerful synthesizers, DAWs and pro plugins through to everyday headphones and portable speakers. Our expert reviewers are producers, engineers and enthusiasts with hundreds of years of collective experience, with a keen ear to the ground on new trends and technologies.
Every guide on MusicTech is created by a producer, musician and tech enthusiast just like you. We understand what you’re looking for when searching for a new MIDI controller, and we want to ensure you purchase genuinely useful products for your craft. So you can guarantee that every product MusicTech recommends to you is a product we’d be happy to have in our studios.
Check out more buyer’s guides on MusicTech here.
For more buyer’s guides, check here. Looking for more freeware? Head this way.
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How to Upgrade Your Online Presence in just One DayStale social media might be costing you fans, but a quick DIY refresh can turn that around in just one day. Learn how to upgrade your online presence, optimize your profile, boost engagement, and convert casual visitors into loyal listeners, without a big budget.
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Mary Droppinz went from juvie DJ sets to global stages — now, her Virtual DJ University is giving others a head startIt’s been about a decade since Mary Droppinz first took her place behind the decks. In that time, she’s gone from a local DJ in LA to a Twitch partner and international touring artist, performing at Lightning in a Bottle, Infrasound Festival, Shambhala, Friendship, Coachella’s Do LaB, and many more.
READ MORE: Best DJ gear: 9 of the best USB sticks for DJs in 2025
Before she was a mainstay on the road, Mary (real name Alyssa Johnson) DJ’d somewhere most people work all their lives to avoid: juvie. For two years, she worked with Give a Beat, an organisation that offers music and arts courses to “communities affected by incarceration.” Through this program, she went to juvenile detention centres to teach incarcerated youth how to become a DJ.
“They obviously struggle — they’re stuck there, locked up,” Johnson tells MusicTech. “To hear them say, ‘I can’t wait to get my DJ equipment when I get out,’ to give them hope and something to work towards, is really special.”
Sharing that hope through knowledge has been an essential aspect of her career. Now, she’s started Virtual DJ University — and she wants her students to find success much sooner than she did.
“If I’d known the stuff in this course when I first started [as an artist], I’d be where I’m at now five years ago,” Johnson says.
To make it work, Johnson developed the DJ training course to dive into the entire process and lifestyle of becoming a headlining DJ. With the help of production studio Killed With Kindness, she filmed a series of videos to comprise the curriculum, allowing students to move through the course at their own pace.
There are lessons on preparing for a set, such as finding new tracks, picking the right USBs and headphones, and organising playlists in Rekordbox. For when you’re actually on stage, the Virtual DJ University has tutorials for switching between genres, using DJ mixer effects, strategies for reading the crowd, and how to play best as an opener or headliner. Moving into the business aspect of DJing, Johnson explores topics like branding and finding a manager and agent.

“I’m very good at simplifying and sharing things that seem complicated”, Johnson says, doing her best to appeal to her students as both a teacher and a friend. “The best way to learn to DJ is one-on-one with someone you’re hanging out with who knows how to DJ. I’m their friend, teaching them what I know and how I learned it.”
But after so much time learning the craft on her own, Johnson knows that to fast-track success, a DJ has to understand their inner self in addition to having technical skills and a professional network.
“My thing is healing blocks”, she says. “I really explain in the University, ‘Find what your story is’. A lot of people are like, ‘Pick a lane,’ so everybody’s built up these walls. I’m trying to break them all down and plant the seed — let your flowers grow wherever they may.”
Johnson’s confidence as an educator comes from being involved in teaching since 2017. In 2020, she started teaching with Femme House, LP Giobbi’s platform for giving women, gender-diverse, LGBTQ+, and BIPOC people more opportunities in electronic music. Today, she is the organisation’s DJ curriculum director.
“[Giobbi] and Lauren [Spalding] from Femme House were the first ones to say that I’m a gifted teacher. When I heard them say that, I was like, ‘Maybe I am?’” Johnson says. “My mom was a teacher. My aunt was a teacher. My grandma. All these women in my family were teachers. So it’s actually not so random anymore to me. I just didn’t realise it. I know I’m a DJ teacher and not a first-grade teacher. But still, I’m a teacher.”
Learn more about Mary Droppinz’ Virtual DJ University. 
This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
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My Forever Studio: Luxxury goes punk rock in the BahamasLuxxury might be known for the One Song show but on this podcast, we’re all about Six Items. How will he fare in Studio Foreverdom?
If you’ve got absolutely no idea what we’re talking about, that’s fair — let’s break it down.
Luxxury, the LA-based musicologist, producer, DJ and remixer (real name Blake Robin) is renowned for his groove-laden remixes and edits. But you might also know him as the co-host of the critically-acclaimed One Song podcast, where he and Diallo Riddle strip back iconic tracks to find out how they were produced. In this episode of My Forever Studio, brought to you in partnership with Audient, we chart his journey from drummer to producer via a collection of important four-track tapes.
We dive deep into discussions around musical gatekeeping, explore how to keep a DIY punk-rock ethos alive in the studio, and discover which legendary artists Luxxury dreams of ‘borrowing’ instruments from.
Listen to the full episode on your favourite podcasting platform.

When Luxxury’s not pulling apart your favourite music, he’s blending disco, funk, and house to make bona fide bangers. His remixes and original tracks have found mainstream appeal and have been played on dance floors worldwide, making him a sought-after figure in the contemporary electronic music scene.
In the previous episode of My Forever Studio, producer and viral content creator Ellie Dixon joined us to share her home recording secrets — including which kitchen utensils double as the ultimate percussion instrument. You can check out the full video, recorded at TYX London, below, or listen on your favourite podcasting platform.

The My Forever Studio podcast – created in partnership with Audient – sees artists, producers, and engineers create their dream fantasy Forever Studio, wherever they want in the universe. However, hosts Chris Barker and Will Betts impose some strict rules in the Forever Studio. Our guests are permitted a limited number of items in their creative space, so they must choose carefully. There will be nostalgia. There will be anecdotes. There may be gags. But there will be no bundles!
Subscribe to My Forever Studio on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and check out all episodes so far via MusicTech.
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Telegram founder Durov on arrest, detention in France: ‘I’m confused’In an interview with Tucker Carlson, Pavel Durov’s first since being indicted on six charges in 2024, said his company did nothing wrong.

Sir Lucian Grainge’s interview with Spotify’s Alex Norström at Brilliant Minds: 5 things we learned…Universal Music Group's Chairman and CEO sat down for a fireside chat with Spotify's Co-President, Chief Business Officer at the Brilliant Minds conference last week
Source

Still no AI-powered, ‘more personalized’ Siri from Apple at WWDC 25Apple announced a slew of updates at the Worldwide Developer Conference with one notable exception. It still hasn't revealed its previously announced AI-powered Siri.

Evergreen Audio introduce free Mini Meter plug-in Evergreen Audio have announced the release of a new free metering plug-in designed to provide users with fast visual feedback of audio levels in their DAW and devices. 

Gigi Perez Creates Pride T-shirt With Bravado to Benefit The Trevor ProjectSinger, songwriter, and producer Gigi Perez has, according to a report on Monday, "created a new t-shirt for Pride month, with 100% of the artist’s proceeds to benefit The Trevor Project, the leading suicide prevention and crisis intervention nonprofit organization for LGBTQ+ young people. Perez is signed to Bravado, the world’s leading artist merchandise and lifestyle company, which worked closely with her to launch this charity t-shirt to celebrate and support Pride. The shirt is available starting today in Gigi’s shop here: https://shop.gigiperezmusic.com/pages/the-trevor-project."The shirt, seen above, has been designed by Perez and her younger sister Bella. "The t-shirt’s typography and black and white imagery match the style of her most recent album, At The Beach, In Every Life (Island Records), and its accompanying animated lyric videos. The artwork also echoes the cover art for Perez’s viral breakthrough hit, 'Sailor Song.' The black t-shirt features the words “Love Is The Law” handwritten in block letters in white above a drawing of two figures standing on a black and white abstract, graphic globe."“Gigi’s music is deeply rooted in vulnerability and introspection, both of which have quickly earned her legions of devoted fans who see themselves in her songs,” said Matt Young, President of Bravado. “From the start, Gigi has been a strong voice for the LGBTQ+ community and champion of mental health, speaking out and supporting causes throughout the year. This collaboration for Pride Month is a powerful statement of her commitment to the community. We’re proud to stand with her and The Trevor Project in this important work.”"The Trevor Project offers 24/7 crisis services, connecting highly trained counselors with LGBTQ+ young people whenever they need support," a statement reads. "To drive prevention efforts, The Trevor Project also operates robust research, advocacy, education, and peer support programs. The Trevor Project envisions a world where all LGBTQ+ young people feel safe, seen, and accepted exactly as they are. More info at https://www.thetrevorproject.org."Photo by Caity KroneThe post Gigi Perez Creates Pride T-shirt With Bravado to Benefit The Trevor Project first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Run A Lawnmower on Diesel With Hot Bulb HackIf you’re into automotive hacks and don’t watch [Robot Cantina], you are missing out. This hack has [Jimbo] taking a break from automotive hacking to butcher a poor, innocent Tecumseh lawnmower to run diesel fuel (or anything else) by converting the motor into a hot bulb engine. (Video embedded below.)
The secret is a long stack of anti-fouling adapters, which are essentially extension tubes that move the spark plug out of the combustion chamber to keep it from getting crudded up in an engine that’s burning too much oil. In this case, burning is what’s happening inside the anti-fouling adapters: by stacking seven of them, [Robot Cantina] is able to create a hot-bulb– volume that stays hot enough between strokes to induce spontaneous combustion of the fuel-air mix.
Hot-bulb engines were popular for certain tractors (the Lanz Bulldog being the most famous) and stationary engines from the late 19th century until Rudolf Diesel’s eponymous invention drove them out of their niche completely sometime after WWII.

Traditionally, a torch would have been used to heat the hot bulb, but here [Jimbo] starts the engine on gasoline with a spark plug at the end of the stack, and disconnect the spark once the hot bulb has warmed sufficiently. Given how rough the engine runs before the ersatz hot bulb heats up enough for spontaneous combustion, tradition seems like the way to go. Even once heated up, the “chaos in the combustion chamber” (probably knocking) is enough to pop the (now disconnected) spark plug from the end of the stack of adapters at one point.
While shockingly an inspection revealed no obvious damage to the engine after the first day’s experiments, this is probably not a hack you would want to use on a motor you intended to keep — or run for very long, for that matter. Practical or not, it is fascinating to know you can go back in time to the hot-bulb era with such a simple modification. Watching this motor pop and snarl while drinking down diesel fuel, acetone, or 190 proof alcohol is a bit like watching the proverbial dancing bear: the point is not how well it dances, but that it can dance at all. If you can’t get enough of it, they made a second video that features further fuel-testing fun, and even a mowing montage.
We’ve featured other [Robot Cantina] hacks that were arguably more practical, like hacking an old Saturn’s ECU to allow for Honda Insight-style lean burning or this DIY dynomometer for similarly small engines.

Visions TNT Music MORPHED 2 - Analog AtmospheresMORPHED 2 – Analog Atmospheres Kontakt Player & NKS Ready · Visions TNT Music. Crafted from classic analog synths. Designed to create sounds never heard before. MORPHED 2 is the second installment in the MORPHED series, built from the ground up, crafted entirely from classic analog synths and designed to let you create and perform evolving sounds in real time. Pick and blend three layers, morph between them while playing, or let the randomizer surprise you with unexpected inspiration. With 154 expressive Morph Snapshots and 135 Single Instruments, MORPHED 2 delivers analog warmth, sonic depth, and raw character, all inside a flexible, redesigned engine made for composers, producers, and sound designers alike. YouTube/IwICr2-41u4 "Playthrough" (no talking) video showcasing some of the sounds of MORPHED 2. https://youtu.be/Ds7UZjf51-Q Features: - 135 crafted Single Instruments - 154 curated MORPH Snapshots - 3-Layer Morph Engine - Design your own MORPHS - One-Click Morph Randomizer - Live Morphing while playing - Global Filter & FX Controls - 9755 individual Samples - Size: 13.6 GB (uncompressed). Read More

UJAM announce Beatmaker 3 With the launch of Beatmaker 3, virtual instrument experts UJAM have combined all of their Beatmaker titles into a single, unified plug-in that sports a redesigned user interface and enhanced browsing features.

Give your mixes a lo-fi flavour with the second iteration of Lese’s Codec pluginLese has launched the second version of its Codec plugin, which uses internet compression algorithms to give your mixes a vintage, lo-fi quality.
Codec 2.0 introduced a smattering of new features designed to give you greater control over how your mixes are affected.

READ MORE: The best free and paid-for plugins you need to know about this week

Essentially, Codec divides an audio file into individual packets, and users can drop some of them out using its Loss control. The plugin then attempts to conceal the packet loss, leading to a digitally degraded sound. Additionally, there’s a choice of three modes, with each affecting how the packet loss is handled by the plugin.
New to Codec 2.0, though, is a new Disorder control, which tweaks the order of the packets processed by the internal decoder to create a somewhat glitchy effect, and a new Noise function which adds noise to an audio file before it’s fed into the encoder.

Before the encoding stage, a Crunch control lets you turn up the gain on a frequency range and dials it back down once the plugin compresses the audio. This helps you to create more distortion artefacts on your track without any extra volume.
“Unlike other plugins that simulate degradation in “old school” ways like vinyl, tape or cassette, Codec degrades sound in the most common way we hear today, through internet compression algorithms!” Lese explains.
“Codec is essentially a container that holds an audio compressor (not that kind of compressor) so you can compress and then decompress your sound, in real time, in your DAW of choice.”
Codec 2.0 is available to both PC and Mac users in AU and VST formats. You can download it free of charge from Lese.
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New York kills ticket resale restrictionsVotes on bills that would put modest restrictions on New York State ticket resellers have been delayed until at least next year. Instead, a one-year extension of the existing ticketing laws until June 30, 2026 was introduced on Sunday night.
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