Switching DAWs: FL Studio producer tries Studio One Pro 7 for a week
Expert producer Isaac Duarte shares his experience around switching DAWs for a week, transitioning from FL Studio to Studio One Pro 7.

Klevgrand’s Richter Tectonic Compressor is Now FREE for a Limited Time
Production Expert and Klevgrand are currently offering Klevgrand’s Richter Tectonic Compressor (normally $70) for free. Richter is a macOS and Windows release for AAX, AU, VST, and VST3.  Production Expert announced the giveaway in a post dated March 15, 2025. The company didn’t list an end date for the giveaway, but as the plugin is [...]
View post: Klevgrand’s Richter Tectonic Compressor is Now FREE for a Limited Time

Fender Introduces New Models and Finish Options for the “Brand New Again” American Vintage II SeriesToday, Fender introduces more finish options for existing models and the new 1965 Stratocaster and Limited Edition American Vintage II 1951 Telecaster®.  The Fender® American Vintage II series is built with period-accurate bodies, necks, and hardware, premium finishes, and meticulously voiced, year-specific pickups. Each instrument captures the essence of authentic Fender craftsmanship and tone. American Vintage II 1965 Stratocaster®: In the middle of one of music’s most electrifying decades, the Stratocaster in 1965 was an instrument on its way to becoming rock’s greatest electric guitar. A perfect example of a Strat in a transition year, the 1965 Stratocaster® features a 1965 “C”-shaped maple neck, this time with a round-laminated rosewood fingerboard and larger pearl dot inlays. Other authentic features include an 11-hole three-ply white pickguard, the incredibly cool transition logo with larger lettering, and a set of amazing “gray bottom” Pure Vintage 1965 pickups.

Limited Edition American Vintage II 1951 Telecaster® in Prototype White: Just one year after launching the Broadcaster®, Fender received a cease-and-desist telegram from the Fred Gretsch Mfg. Co. and was faced with renaming its flagship electric guitar. Taking inspiration from the booming growth and expansive reach of television, the first blackguard Telecaster rolled off the line in 1951. The American Vintage II 1951 Telecaster features an ash body. The substantial '51 "U"-shaped hard rock maple neck plays like a dream with a 7.25" radius fingerboard and vintage tall frets. Characteristic of production in 1951, 12th fret face-dot spacing is narrow and the sole Phillips-head fastener on the guitar is at the truss rod nut. The triple brass saddle bridge, single-line "Fender Deluxe" tuners and Pure Vintage '51 Telecaster pickups deliver classic twang and authentic Fender style. Now available in a very limited Prototype White finish!Fender sits down with English singer-songwriter and guitarist James Bay to commemorate today's releases. Get a front-row seat with the acclaimed musician as he plays the new American Vintage II Stratocaster in Candy Apple Red and shares why a Strat has been his go-to from the beginning.The post Fender Introduces New Models and Finish Options for the “Brand New Again” American Vintage II Series first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

A model for a new streaming industryThe music industry is approaching a pivot point. On the one hand, things look positive: we have UMG’s Streaming 2.0, artist centric licensing, the impending launch of supremium and expanded rights revenue hitting $4.0 billion. But on the other we have streaming growth slowing to 6.2% growth in 2024, Artists Direct revenue growing three and half times slower than the number of artists and independent labels beginning to voice concern over the lost royalties that may result from artist centric. The real challenge facing the music industry is that both of these views of the world are true. In short, if you are big, you can see a path to getting bigger and if you are small you can see a path to getting smaller. This is Bifurcation Theory a concept MIDiA introduced a year ago. 2025 is going to be the year that the bifurcation rubber hits the road. And in doing so, it creates a major (pun intended) opportunity for all those that are not majors.

The long tail is being demonetised

Artist Centric might, just might, result in ‘”many” independent artists and labels [seeing] their royalties increase’ but what is inarguable is that many artists and labels will earn less. This is inarguable because the very essence of the model is that songs with less than 1,000 streams in the prior 12 months will not get paid royalties. To be absolutely clear, what this means is that a body of labels and artists will see their music demonetised on streaming. To be clear, demonetising the long tail is not something new, it is widely employed by the big social platforms, who set earning thresholds for their creators (e.g. you need 1,000 subscribers to share ad revenue on YouTube). But it is something new for the music business.

The groundswell of discontent is coming

When you add this to the long term challenges of feeding insatiable appetite of the algorithms with endless releases and social posts, a growing body of artists and labels are going to asking why they should bother. That this has not happened yet is probably because the majority of artists hit by this were smaller, non-label artists who were already used to small royalties and probably do not have the industry awareness to understand what is at play. The same cannot be said of smaller independent labels, who absolutely do understand the dynamics of royalty mechanisms and will already be doing the arithmetic on how the new system will impact their revenues. Distributors will be doing a similar analysis of the labels and artists they distribute. 2025 will be the year in which we see a groundswell of discontent as these industry constituents start to comprehend what is coming.

A solution…

So much for the problems, what about solutions? Now is the time to build a place for the long tail. A place where the smaller players do not have to compete on unequal terms with the bigger ones. Asymmetric models are not designed for the small players to win. That is the entire point. But simply creating an indie Spotify will not be enough. The pro rate royalty pot model was never designed for a massive long tail and porting it over somewhere else will bring the same superstar dynamics, just with smaller superstars. So, here’s a model for an independent alternative to streaming:

Curation: A highly curated place for smaller labels and artists with human curation at the fore

Play credits: A credits based system, whereby people can subscribe for a certain number of credits and top up if they want, with each credit equalling one play (thereby guaranteeing a fixed per stream rate rather than a wish and a prayer that the royalty pot does not get divided too many ways this month

Discretionary pricing: Whereby labels and artists can determine (on a track-by-track basis) how many credits each track requires. Despite us having been educated so by streaming, not all music is worth the same. Labels and artists  might decide they want some of their songs to be zero credits, some to be 1 and others 10. It is a model that works well in other areas such as stock photography libraries

Curated freemium: Instead of simply a free tier, and in addition to zero credit streams, the free, ad and brand supported ‘front door’ would be an Apple Music Radio-like set of live streaming radio stations. All with clickable ‘now playing’ track details and some with, you know, actual human DJs

Not just music, but about the music too: Artist interviews, album reviews etc. Taking the bets of What Bandcamp and Apple Music do

Alternative remuneration: Artist subscriptions, tipping, social commerce, Shopfiy-like artist stores, virtual items. Not each and every one of these will fit every artist and label, so these would be opt-in extras

This might sound like pie in the sky thinking, but the simple fact is much of this is already been done, some of it in the music business (e.g. Apple Music Radio for curation and interviews, Bandcamp for reviews) and some outside it (Audible and Getty Images for credits). And we actually laid out a lot of detail for a similar model in our Bifurcation report last year.

However, there is one really difficult thing needed to make this really work: artists and labels would have to remove some or all of their music from mainstream DSPs, even if this is only done on a windowing basis. But if you are a smaller label or artist facing the prospect of demonetisation then really, how much is there to lose other than the vanity metrics of stream counts? Is this way easier for an analyst to write as a blog than for a label or artist to actually do? Of course. But the alternative for many will be to play the role of the slow boiled frog.

But what is great about this approach is that it benefits both sides. The long tail gets a place where it is both welcome and stands a fair and reasonable chance of monetisation. Meanwhile, the big labels and artists have more space (and therefore monetisation) for themselves on traditional streaming.

This will not be some huge Spotify killer. It will be a Bandcamp move for the 2020s. A place for alternative-minded super fans who do not want to spend their entire time lost in the algorithm’s mainstream maelstrom. Music is not all the same, it has never been. It is time to stop pretending that it is.

Fast Company names 10 Most Innovative Music Companies 2025Fast Company has released its annual list of the 10 most innovative music companies for 2025. Not one of the major streamers or record labels made the list.
The post Fast Company names 10 Most Innovative Music Companies 2025 appeared first on Hypebot.

“We will be indefinitely suspending production”: Moog’s Subsequent 25 has been discontinuedAfter five years, the Moog Subsequent 25 has run its course. Initially unveiled at NAMM 2020 as an affordable take on the Subsequent 37, the Subsequent 25 will now no longer be in production. Production of the Subsequent 37 will continue as normal.
The discontinuation became effective on 13 March. “We will be indefinitely suspending production of Subsequent 25 and offering the remaining available units through our global dealer network,” the company announced on its website.

READ MORE: Serum 2 is finally here: new features, pricing and everything else you need to know

While the Subsequent 25 captured the essence of the 37 in a design similar to 2013’s Sub Phatty, it also offered a slew of improvements. The newer model offered double the headroom and a re-tuned Multidrive circuit for dirtier tones. Moog also worked to reshape the synth’s gain staging with its Ladder Filter, which allowed for greater harmonic saturation, compression and richer low ends.

While no new synths will be created, Moog isn’t leaving current Subsequent 25 owners out in the cold. The company will still offer parts and repairs for the discontinues model. “We remain dedicated to supporting all owners of the Subsequent 25 and will continue to provide repairs, maintenance, and parts to ensure your instrument operates at its best for years to come,” Moog promises.
Though we’re waving off the Sub 25, this may be a sign of the Moog moguls conjuring up a new take on the Sub 37.
It’s also a sign of the Sub 37 prevailing as a timeless piece of gear. To this day, synth-heads continue to discover and love the Sub 37. YouTuber Yaahn Hunter Jr named the Sub 37 as the “epitome” of his style just four months back.

We even crowned the Sub 37 as our Gear of the Year Best Hardware Instrument in 2016, and it’s continued to be a favourite.
“With a machine like the 37, you interact to your heart’s content, just dialling, connecting unusual sources and destinations and, more importantly than anything, learning,” reviewer Andy Jones said at the time.
“This beast oozes quality at every turn, following solid analogue formulae at one instance and then bizarre twisting snake sonics the next,” he praised. “Beware, you will lose a day or two of your life just playing. And make sure you record everything, as you will come up with wonderful music.”
The Sub 25 is still available for purchase, though stocks are limited.

The post “We will be indefinitely suspending production”: Moog’s Subsequent 25 has been discontinued appeared first on MusicTech.

Groover expands Artist Services and ToolkitMusic promotion platform Groover expands artists services with the goal of empowering musicians and DJs by providing them with the tools they need to gain visibility and meaningful opportunities in the music industry.
The post Groover expands Artist Services and Toolkit appeared first on Hypebot.

UJAM announce Vox Humana plug-in All proceeds from the sales of UJAM's new Vox Humana plug-in will be donated in support of the Bob Moog Foundation’s educational and preservation initiatives.

“Why not do what we’re doing in the studio, and then create that live?”: Carl Cox on why DJs are intimidated by performing with a live setupOver 40 years into his career, Carl Cox is an indisputable veteran of electronic music. And while the decks have been his home for decades, he’s also reignited his burning passion for fully live sets, using synthesizers and machines to create music that will never be heard again.
In a new interview with MusicTech, Cox explains how live sets allow him to connect with audiences in a way that pre-existing tracks don’t permit — and wonders why more DJs aren’t trying the same.

READ MORE: Deadmau5 sells his catalogue for $55 million: “We inherit a legacy that changed music forever”

“The idea of my performance is always excitement,” he says. “What’s going to happen? The creativity of that – what can I achieve? How do I connect with people?”
While DJs rely on a library of pre-existing tracks to spin, a fully live set forces Cox to think on his feet and create something from scratch. “Coming down from the DJ pedestal to go into realms of creativity… the machines don’t play themselves,” he explains. “You have to create the sounds, you have to find the rhythm, you have to find its soul.”
With a cockpit of synths and drum machines feeding into his Pioneer V10 mixer, Cox is able to find the soul and rhythm in real-time. “I create the energy of my music through the mixer,” he says. “Cuts, fades, and effects. I use it as an instrument… Having a V10 as my only DJ tool within my live set keeps me on my toes.”

While the process can be tough, the end result is absolutely worth it, Cox explains. “When it all comes together, it comes through the speakers, and everyone’s got their hands in the air – there’s your moment,” Cox smiles. “That’s where I’m happiest because I’m being challenged.”
This focus on producing a DJ set to be “almost like a concert” is why Cox grew tired of DJing.“It’s the reason why a lot of DJs are bored,” he says. “They’re playing the same tune, week in, week out.”
That said, many DJs find comfort in pre-recorded sets, but Cox says these people would be intimidated by a live setup. “If you stick most DJs in front of [a live setup], they’ll just walk away,” he says.
“I feel there’s laziness to that, because when you go in the studio to record, you use these machines. You use a drum machine, you use synths, you use keyboards. Why don’t you do what we’re doing in the studio, and then create that live?”
When performing, Cox’s goal wants to keep active and in the moment. Ditching computer screens has been a big help, as he’s either got his hands on his Pioneer or is actively scanning the crowd. “I don’t want to be seen scrolling the menu,” he insists. “It makes me a very dull looking performer!”
“I’ve always had aspirations of being a live electronic artist,” Cox explains. “I didn’t want to come out of Covid and just continue to DJ. I [like to] dive into the machines, swim around in all their components, and find out all these wonderful things that can come out of them that turn a corner on people’s expectations.”
Cox is set to debut his latest live set, Evolution, at Ultra Music Festival on 29 March.
The post “Why not do what we’re doing in the studio, and then create that live?”: Carl Cox on why DJs are intimidated by performing with a live setup appeared first on MusicTech.

Serum 2 is finally here: new features, pricing and everything else you need to knowFor the last few weeks, software synth fans have had their suspicions that Serum 2 has been on the horizon. From Serum 2 mentions on the Xfer Records website to extensive communication from creator Steve Duda, it seemed the next generation of the legendary synth was imminent.
Since its launch nearly 11 years ago in September 2014, Xfer Records’ Serum software wavetable synth has become a favourite among music producers. Championed by the likes of deadmau5, Skrillex, Martin Garrix and more of the world’s top producers, Serum is touted for its versatility and superior sound.

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

Now, Serum 2 – the synth’s widely anticipated second generation – has officially arrived. Let’s take a look at what’s new:
Serum 2: What’s new?
Chief among the updates is a new Oscillator section, in which users can experiment with new sound synthesis methods.
In addition to an improved Wavetable Oscillator – which has fresh warp modes, dual warp functions and phase distortion – there are new Multisample, Granular and Spectral Oscillators.
Credit: Xfer Records
Within the Multisample Oscillator, producers can recreate real-world instruments with a library of piano, guitar and orchestral samples in open SFZ format. The Granular Oscillator allows you to break sounds apart to create wildly experimental soundscapes, and the Spectral Oscillator offers real-time harmonic resynthesis which redesigns samples down to their transient components.
Elsewhere, Serum 2’s effects section has been completely redesigned, now offering more flexible signal routing for new sound design and modulation options.
There’s also a new Arpeggiator and Clip Sequencer – which enhances Serum’s ability to be used as a performance instrument – as well as 626 new presets and 288 wavetables, so its sound capabilities straight out the gate are tremendously strong.
Serum 2: Pricing and specifications
If you’re already a Serum owner, Serum 2 will cost you absolutely nothing. If you’re new, Serum 2 currently has an introductory price of $189, available until 1 June, when it will rise to $249. It’s available in VST3, AU and AAX 64-bit formats.
Serum 2: Here’s what people are saying
“Serum version 2 blasts the sonic palette wide-open, offering the user ridiculous power, control and expression over their sonic output – with many oscillator types, flexible effect routing, arpeggiator and clip sequencer – the goal with Serum 2 was to empower Serum users to fully realise their sound and music ideas into form. Did we mention that Serum 2 is a free upgrade for Serum 1 owners? Lifetime free updates actually means lifetime free updates.”
In a post on social media, deadmau5 writes: “Grats to Steve Duda and the team on their release day! Serum 2 is out now, go get it at you know where. It’s pretty neat.” Asked by one commenter whether he’s used the new synth on any new music, deadmau5 replies: “I’ve been using it for about a year.”

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To learn more about Serum 2, head to Xfer Records.
The post Serum 2 is finally here: new features, pricing and everything else you need to know appeared first on MusicTech.

“Perhaps the best tool ever created for producers of soundtracks and ambient music”: Beetlecrab Tempera review€670, beetlecrab.audio
I get to see so much cool music-making and sound-wrangling gear here at MusicTech that it can feel like I’ve seen it all. Not that I’m jaded, mind you — I’m regularly impressed, often delighted, and occasionally blown away. It’s just that surprises are more rare.

READ MORE: Beetlecrab Tempera: “As soon as we placed our hand on the grid and played a chord, we knew immediately, ‘Okay, this is it’”

Huge kudos must therefore go to Prague-based Beetlecrab for reminding me what it’s like to be hit with simultaneous doses of “wha..?” and “wow!”

What is Tempera?
At its heart, the compact and solidly built Tempera is a sampler, so the unit’s eight-by-eight grid of pads, four rotary encoders and assorted buttons don’t look out of place. But hang on a moment! Contrary to expectations, those touch-sensitive pads are not trigger pads like those found on MPC-style samplers or MIDI pad controllers.
Instead, each column of the grid hosts an audio sample, and each pad (or cell) within a column represents 1/8th of that sample. Touching or swiping across a cell causes it to light up, either momentarily whilst being touched or via various latching options, and when a note is played into the instrument the sample segments associated with any lit cells will sound.

Touching the grid to change the cells that are lit modifies the sound in real-time, making for a delightfully tactile and accessible experience that’s unlike anything else. But what you actually hear, and the colour of a cell’s lighting, is determined by which of the four colour-coded ‘Emitters’ is active when the cell is touched.
What is an Emitter?
An Emitter is, in essence, a granular synth engine that derives its grains from the audio contained within all cells lit in that Emitter’s colour. (A quick recap: granular synths loop and layer snippets of audio data, referred to as grains, to create constant or repeating sounds.)
The Emitter specifies the size of the grain, from just a fraction of a cell’s length, through the entirety of the cell, and up to the whole sample loaded into a column. In this way, Emitters can produce static pitched notes, shifting textures, or loops and beats (depending on the source sample).

Emitters can also pull in sample data from other cells in the X and Y dimensions on the grid, either via an offset or via a pair of ‘Spray’ parameters that cause additional cells to be triggered along with the selected cells.
Offsets and spray values can produce particularly striking results, especially when bringing in grains taken from different columns within the grid. This has been made even more flexible in the v2.1 firmware released just before this review was published, with an Emitter’s X offset now crossfading between different columns and samples where previously it would snap to one column/sample or another.
Image: Simon Vinall for MusicTech
What is a Canvas?
A Tempera patch is referred to as a Canvas and incorporates all samples, Emitter settings, and the status of the grid cells at the time the Canvas was saved. The Canvas also includes additional sound processing stages.
A set of 10 modulation slots is provided, each with a choice of simple attack/decay or attack/release envelope, various LFO shapes, noise-based randomisation, and real-time input from the modulation wheel and aftertouch. The most recent firmware adds keyboard tracking and velocity to these available sources. Each modulator can only be mapped to a single destination, unfortunately, but this can be practically any Canvas- or Emitter-level parameter. With 10 modulators available, you’re unlikely to run out of options.
Similarly, each of the eight Macro slots, which are controlled via the unit’s rotary encoders when in Macro mode, can only drive a single parameter. This feels a bit restrictive – macros tend to be at their best when controlling multiple parameters simultaneously – but it does allow specific parameters to be made easily accessible for real-time performance control.
Image: Simon Vinall for MusicTech
Another duty of the rotary encoders is to set the volume of each Emitter. The mixed signal is then fed through a multi-mode resonant filter, offering low-pass, band-pass, high-pass and formant filter models. The v2.1 firmware adds keyboard tracking to the filter’s cutoff frequency, the ability to choose which Emitters are routed via the filter, and a new Rake filter model. This is similar to a comb filter, and features amplitude modulation when the filter emphasis is turned up above 0.5, resulting in exceptionally interesting resonances.
The signal then flows to an ADSR amplitude envelope triggered by the notes played into Tempera. Meanwhile, individual Emitters have fade up and down parameters to shape the volume of grains, and the v2.1 update adds the option to apply a fast attack to the first grain that’s triggered, allowing an Emitter to react quickly to a played note whilst also creating smooth-sounding grains.
Finally, there’s a Canvas-wide effects chain consisting of chorus, delay and reverb (with the latter two having been enhanced and improved in the new firmware). Each Emitter has its own send level into the chain, although per-effect sends from each Emitter would have been preferable. Hopefully, we’ll see this in a future firmware update.

Sampling with Tempera
Creating custom Canvases is relatively straightforward. Samples are recorded (or imported) directly into a column and can be resampled from the unit itself, or be taken from a line or mic signal connected to the unit’s balanced jack input. There’s also a built-in mic for instant sound capture. It’s not the best quality, yet incredibly convenient.
My only complaint here is that any one sample is limited to just over 11 seconds in length. This is ample for creating textures and pitched sounds but is a definite drawback when designing samples to use as rhythmic or musical loops.

Recording samples involves placing one of Tempera’s columns into a record-enabled mode, and the v2.1 firmware has added an intriguing new feature here: the ability to use the record-enabled track as a real-time effects processor. When you do this, rather than the cells moving across the audio, the audio moves across the cells, whilst the Emitters continue to do what they do. If you are already struggling to grasp Tempera’s concept, then this will make you want to hide in a corner with a blanket over your head!
The results of this real-time processing are best suited to rhythmic effects, and so rely heavily on Tempera’s MIDI clock being synced to the incoming audio. They’re somewhat unusual and unpredictable too. It certainly plays to Beetlecrab’s penchant for the experimental and is a fascinating sound effect in its own right, but the jury’s still out on how useful or usable it actually is.
Tempera has 8GB of internal storage, some of which is used for the firmware and for preset Canvases and samples, but the vast majority is available for storing your own creations. Additional storage can be added via a micro SD slot, or by connecting a USB stick to the USB Host port.
The Host port can be used to connect USB-equipped keyboards and controllers, although standard MIDI in and out is also supported via mini-jacks. If you have no controller to hand, part of Tempera’s grid can be set to act as note triggers, although this then limits the area in which you can interact with the Emitters.
An additional USB Device port allows Tempera to connect to a computer, where it appears as a MIDI source and destination. When connected in this way, the unit can be switched to USB Bridge mode, allowing the computer to read and write directly to Tempera’s micro SD card.
Image: Simon Vinall for MusicTech
What is Tempera like to use?
Tempera is enormously engaging and satisfying from the get-go, its inviting touch-pads making it astonishingly easy to start exploring fascinating noises with barely any introduction to the hardware.
Beetlecrab’s ingenious user interface plays a big part in its accessibility. The combination of colour-coding, rotary encoders, mini displays and mode buttons have been implemented in such an elegantly intuitive way that you find yourself dancing effortlessly around the instrument in no time.
Admittedly, it takes more effort to fully get your head around what Tempera is actually doing and how to fully exploit its abilities and idiosyncrasies. But hey, that’s half the fun of it!
Like all granular synths, Tempera is well suited to creating evolving sonic textures and soundscapes. This ability is supercharged by its interactive tactility, not to mention the astonishing sonic flourishes and details that can emerge from exploratory touches and swipes.
Put simply, Tempera could be the best tool ever created for producers of soundtracks and ambient music.
However, this is not the only instrument that is suited to this. With the right samples loaded, and the Emitters configured appropriately, Tempera can be an expressive lead synth, an emotive pad machine, or the maddest loop-and-rhythm box you ever laid hands on.
Being so open-ended does mean that, no matter how familiar you are with Tempera itself, you have to invest time in exploring the Canvases you wish to use, learning their particular abilities and nuances. Thankfully, doing this is a lot of fun.
Tempera will be fascinating to anybody interested in synthesis or sound design, but there’ll be fewer for whom it will have a tangible practical application. At a lesser price, this may not have mattered, but at €670 Tempera is not exactly a toy.
What it is, though, is an amazing, unique, quirky and endlessly engaging machine, and I absolutely love it.

Key features

16-voice polyphony
4 rotary encoders with colour-coded rings
8-by-8 grid of touch-sensitive pads
Colour-coding fully customisable
4 high-resolution displays
8GB internal storage
Micro SD slot
USB Host port for USB sticks, keyboards and controllers
USB Device port for connection to computer
Stereo line/headphone out (headphone jack uses the left-hand jack socket)
Stereo sampling line input via a single TRS jack
Built-in mic
Optional live grain processing of incoming audio
MIDI in/out via TRS mini-jack
ARM Cortex A72 quad core processor
32-bit internal processing
VESA mounting holes on rear panel

The post “Perhaps the best tool ever created for producers of soundtracks and ambient music”: Beetlecrab Tempera review appeared first on MusicTech.

ALM/Busy Circuits introduce the S.B.G-PRO The S.B.G-PRO is capable of operating in mono or stereo, supports balanced and unbalanced equipment, and also allows for CV-based control of external devices.

Alex Lifeson Discusses Envy of None's New Album, Rush's Music, and…Taylor SwiftRush guitarist Alex Lifeson spoke to AllMusic shortly before the release of the second album from his band Envy of None, and explained how it differs from the group's debut, in addition to chatting about songwriting, aspects of his personal life, and even a few Rush-related topics.

KALI UCHIS SIGNS WITH CAPITOL RECORDSGlobal superstar and GRAMMY®-winning recording artist Kali Uchis has signed with Capitol Records, working with the same team that saw enormous success across the release of her albums Red Moon in Venus and ORQUÍDEAS. The signing is a continuation of Uchis’ longstanding partnership with Tom March, now Chairman and CEO of Capitol Records – and given the interrelationship between Interscope and Capitol Records – allows her to continue working with IGA EVP of A&R Matt Morris, who has been an integral part of her artistry and career since 2018. This marks the start of an exciting new chapter for the Colombian-American singer-songwriter as she prepares for the widely anticipated release of her fifth studio album, Sincerely, revealed today via Instagram vignette – watch HERE.  “Kali Uchis is not only a true artist with a unique vision and an incredible amount of talent — she’s also a culture-shifting force of nature. Her music transcends boundaries and borders, and it’s an honor and a privilege to continue to head into this new era together.” – Tom March, Chairman & CEO, Capitol Records“Thank you all for the well-intentioned wishes on this journey, and thank you to my team! I have boundless gratitude for my silent ascent throughout the years and am very much looking forward to what’s next...“ – Kali UchisUchis has been hailed as a rare talent since she emerged, but ORQUÍDEAS launched her career to new heights. Her highest charting album to date (debuting at #2 on the Billboard 200), the critically adored record — which was her fourth album overall and second in Spanish — was led by crossover singles like the Platinum-certified “Igual Que un Ángel”with Peso Pluma (#1 on Hot Latin Songs, #23 on the Hot 100) and Gold-certified “Labios Mordidos” with KAROL G (#10 on Hot Latin Songs, #97 on the Hot 100). ORQUÍDEAS was nominated for Best Latin Pop Album at the 2025 GRAMMY® Awards, Best Pop Vocal Album at the Latin GRAMMYs, and took home trophies from the Billboard Latin Music Awards and Latin American Music Awards. The set closed the year on numerous “Best Albums” lists, racking up glowing praise from countless outlets including Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, Complex, and The New York Times. With artful forays into R&B, alt-pop, reggaeton, and Latin strains, Uchis has released several of the most lauded albums of the past decade: from her 2015 mixtape Por Vida, to her 2018 debut LP Isolation, her 2020 Spanish set Sin Miedo (del Amor y Otros Demonios), and 2023's Red Moon in Venus, which features the 2x Platinum-certified “Moonlight,” and was regaled by TIME Magazine as the ‘Best Album of the Year.’ Amid consistent acclaim and honors — including nine GRAMMY®-nominations and a 2021 win in the category of Best Dance Song for her appearance on Kaytranada’s “10%”— Uchis’ major breakthrough came with her own 2021 smash hit “telepatía,” which has been streamed more than 2 billion times to date and was the Hot 100’s longest running Spanish-language song by a solo act this decade with a 23-week streak. Uchis is now on the way to reaching the Spotify Billions Club three times over with the smash success of songs “telepatía,” Tyler, The Creator’s “See You Again” (featuring Kali Uchis),” and soon to be “Moonlight.” Raised between Virginia and Colombia, Uchis has gone on to collaborate and share the stage with the likes of SZA, Tyler the Creator, Lana Del Rey, Gorillaz, Snoop Dogg, Rauw Alejandro, and her longtime partner Don Toliver, with whom she welcomed her first child last year. Uchis has toured the world over on multiple sold-out headlining runs, the most recent of which saw her playing arenas, as well as celebrated sets at Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, Austin City Limits, Tropicalia, Governors Ball, Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, and many more.Photo credit Amaury NessaibiaFollow Kali Uchis:INSTAGRAM | TIKTOK | X | FACEBOOK | YOUTUBE | WEBSITEThe post KALI UCHIS SIGNS WITH CAPITOL RECORDS first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

OpenAI exec leaves to found materials science startupLiam Fedus, OpenAI’s VP of research for post-training, is leaving the company to found a materials science AI startup. The Information initially reported Fedus’ plans. In a statement on X, Fedus confirmed the report and added a few additional details. “My undergrad was in physics and I’m keen to apply this technology there,” Fedus said […]
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