6 tips for speeding up your music production workflow
Virtual Riot, Pat Lundy, Isaac Duarte, and Max Rewak share six tips that will help you level up your music production workflow.

Musexpo Conference will honor Goldstein with Seymour Stein - Global A&R AwardMUSEXPO (www.musexpo.net) the renowned annual global music industry conference and showcase event, often dubbed the “United Nations of Music,” recently announced the establishment of the inaugural and annual Seymour Stein - Global A&R Award. The award will be presented by Richard Gottherer, Seymour’s longtime friend and co-Founder of Sire Records, and Seymour’s daughter Mandy Stein.

This prestigious accolade will honor the illustrious career of Wendy Goldstein, Co-President of Republic Records, one of the world’s most accomplished A&R executives. The award ceremony will take place during an A&R Worldwide gala dinner at the MUSEXPO conference, which takes place March 17 - 20 in Burbank, CA, “The Media Capital of The World,” on Wednesday, March 20, 2024, during an A&R Worldwide gala dinner post MUSEXPO, will mark the beginning of a tradition that celebrates excellence in A&R worldwide, and the indomitable spirit of discovery in music.

Seymour Stein, a legend in the music industry known for his discovery of iconic artists, serves as the inspiration behind this award. His unparalleled signings, including Madonna, Talking Heads, The Ramones, The Pretenders, Depeche Mode, The Cure, and many others have left an indelible mark on the music landscape. His dedication to the art of A&R makes him an enduring figure in the music industry, and this award seeks to celebrate and perpetuate his legacy.

Wendy Goldstein, who will be celebrating 30 years in A&R next year, is unquestionably one of the industry’s most gifted A&R executives. She has overseen the careers of renowned artists such as The Weeknd, Ariana Grande, Jonas Brothers, John Legend, Hailee Steinfeld, and many more. Her journey in the music business began as an assistant in the A&R department of Epic Records, followed by impactful stints at Geffen Records where she personally signed the Roots, Common, GZA, Mos Def, and The Bloodhound Gang. She then joined Priority Records/Capitol where she orchestrated a label deal with Disturbing the Peace and oversaw projects for Snoop Dogg, Chingy, Latoya Luckett, and others.

Goldstein joined Republic Records in 2009, initially as an A&R Consultant, later assuming the role of Senior Vice President of A&R in 2011. In 2014, she was appointed Executive Vice President and Head of Urban A&R, solidifying her place as a key figure in the label's leadership.

The Seymour Stein - Global A&R Award will honor Wendy Goldstein’s outstanding contributions to the music industry, highlighting her remarkable A&R skills and her dedication to nurturing talent.

Sat Bisla, President & Founder of A&R Worldwide and MUSEXPO, stated, “Wendy Goldstein’s career is a testament to her unwavering commitment to the art of A&R and her exceptional talent for identifying and developing artists who shape the music industry and impact global pop culture. Wendy’s unique abilities, instincts and musical foresight make her truly remarkable and impactful as an A&R afficionado. She is the embodiment of the spirit of Seymour Stein’s legacy.”

For further information about the Seymour Stein - Global A&R Award, please contact Sat Bisla at sat@anrworldwide.com or call 323.782.0770.

About MUSEXPO:

MUSEXPO is the leading international showcase and networking event for the global music industry, often referred to as the "United Nations of Music." Founded by Sat Bisla, A&R Worldwide, and MUSEXPO have played a pivotal role in connecting emerging artists, established acts, and music industry professionals on a worldwide scale. The conference serves as a dynamic platform for discovering, developing, and promoting musical talent across genres and borders. With a rich history of fostering connections and championing innovation, MUSEXPO continues to be a vital hub for shaping the future of the music industry.

For more information about MUSEXPO, visit www.musexpo.net.

About A&R Worldwide:

A&R Worldwide is an independent, forward-thinking company specializing in music, media, and technology. Leveraging extensive relationships and market knowledge, they facilitate the thriving of these elements in the global marketplace. The company and its team have been instrumental in the early discovery, development, and support of artists such as Muse, LMFAO, Lily Allen, Adele, Coldplay, Katy Perry, and many more. For more information about A&R Worldwide, visit www.anrworldwide.com.

‘AfroFuture’s vision is to bring African art, cuisine, fashion, and music to a global audience.’MBW's Trailblazers series interviews Abdul Karim Abdullah, Co-Founder and CEO of cultural entertainment platform AfroFuture
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Bitcoin options data highlights traders’ belief in further BTC price upsideOpen interest on Bitcoin options recently hit a year-to-date high, but what is fueling this newfound bullish sentiment?

Deezer’s ‘artist-centric’ model now has a new ‘user-centric’ element which, despite not really being ‘user-centric’, is quite a clever idea.MBW Explains: Digging into what Deezer's latest addition to 'artist-centric' really means
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Sonora Cinematic & SwishSwoosh launch Amber Sonora Cinematic’s latest release is a Kontakt Player instrument dedicated to creating dark, spine-chilling sounds aimed at those composing horror scores.

Dance music has sped up in recent years – and social media is the cause, says Sam PaganiniTechno producer and DJ Sam Paganini has shared his concerns about the increasing trend of faster music, especially in techno, connecting it to how music is consumed today via TikTok.

READ MORE: TikTok expands music streaming service beta test to Australia, Mexico and Singapore

As a DJ who himself is championed for playing pretty thunderous techno music, you’d be surprised to hear the Italian DJ slam today’s trend for faster techno. However, in a recent Instagram post, Paganini insists techno can still have a ‘hard’ feel to it without having to be fast, or more specifically at around 160 bpm, he writes.
He shared a photo on Friday 27 October with the text, “Techno is not about BPM… [It’s] all about groove”, followed by a request for producers to stop sending him techno tracks at 160bpm. The second slide reads, “I don’t care about trends”.

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A post shared by Sam Paganini (@sampaganini)

“Why are we all playing faster than ten years ago?” A follow up post reads. “Even tech house [in] 2013 was played at around 123/124 bpm and now on average 128 bpm… Won’t you tell me it is correlated to the social media bloody 15 seconds?”

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A post shared by Sam Paganini (@sampaganini)

Many major techno artists have reacted to the statement. FJAAK simply responds with “same” while Hadone and Radio Slave both react with praiseful emojis.
“Fully agree with you Sam,” German producer and DJ Thomas Schumacher comments. “One can play very ‘hard’ techno at 125 BPM! This whole ‘harder, faster’ hype has been done so many times and it’s usually a phase that lasts for two to three years before it dies down. Techno is so much more than just 160bpm ‘demolition’. But right now it’s an easy sell to generation TikTok. I say it is wise to stay your course and follow your vision instead of jumping on the bandwagon.”
Spanish duo Pig&Dan weigh in, writing, “Trends come and go. It’s all about what gets under our skin and I think that’s where groove comes in. Music with soul is often about the spaces it doesn’t fill, the gaps. The faster techno is the less space it has.”
This isn’t the first time a techno artist has spoken about how social media is affecting trends in dance music. In fact, in 2022, Scottish producer Frazi.er gave MusicTech his thoughts on how TikTok has affected techno, saying that it’s brought about a trend of low-quality edits of popular songs.
​​“It went through a stage where it was like ‘Who can make the hardest kick drum?’ or ‘Who can make the hardest Kylie Minogue edit?” He says.
“Imagine if you were a DJ grafting away for 20 years and you’ve been collecting vinyl, studying hardware and then somebody comes along making hard edits on SoundCloud, blows up and is getting four times your fee – you can see why it would be really annoying.
“It’s not as if they’re big tracks in terms of sales, it’s just social hype. That’s the difference.”
TikTok is becoming a main source of music consumption for many. According to research conducted by DemandSage, 67 per cent of TikTok users are more likely to search for a song on music streaming services like Spotify or Apple Music after hearing it on TikTok.
In September, the social media platform teamed up with Billboard to launch a new official TikTok Top 50 chart. This chart tracks the most popular songs on the app based on views, engagement, and use in videos.
Find more TikTok-related news via MusicTech.
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EastWest Hollywood Fantasy Orchestra Bundle WHAT'S INCLUDED? Includes all 5 highly detailed Hollywood Fantasy Orchestra libraries (Strings, Brass, Winds, Percussion, Voices), perfect for fantasy film, television, and... Read More

Psytrance legend Goa Gil dies at 72Renowned DJ and pioneer of the psytrance genre, Goa Gil, has passed away at the age of 72, following a battle with cancer.
His official website shared the heartbreaking news, stating, “Dear Global Community. Words are inadequate for what we wish to communicate with you. It is with heavy hearts that we share with you news of Shri Mahant Managalanand Puri aka Goa Gil has left his worldly body in the comfort of his home.”
Gil had been undergoing treatment for high-grade B Cell lymphoma, which led to him cancelling all his scheduled shows for 2023. He had relocated to California in February 2023 to commence treatment, but the cancer resurged at an alarming rate in June, sadly making the artist ineligible for surgery or chemotherapy. Consequently, he spent his final days at home.
Born in California, Gil played a pivotal role in the development of psytrance, also known as Goa trance, during his time in Goa, India. His distinctive electronic music style gained worldwide acclaim through his legendary 24-hour DJ sets and immersive events. In 1985, he met his future wife, Ariane MacAvoy, and together, they collaborated on the The Nommos project.

Gil was also a big advocate for yoga. He posted to his website recently: “Since the beginning of time mankind has used music and dance to commune with the spirit of nature and the spirit of the universe… We are using trance music and the trance dance experience to set off a chain reaction in consciousness…”
He added: “Through the trance dance experience hopefully people will become more sensitive and aware of themselves, their surroundings, the crossroads of humanity, and the needs of the planet… with this awareness comes understanding and Compassion… that is the need of the hour, and the true Goa state of mind!”
A GoFundMe page has been set up to cover “final expenses,” including the creation of ceremonial memorial sites. These sites include a samadhi temple in Ujjain, India, and a smaller samadhi temple at his burial site in California, honouring his lasting impact on the world of music and consciousness.
Listen to Goa Gil’s music via YouTube.
The post Psytrance legend Goa Gil dies at 72 appeared first on MusicTech.

Streaming empowered music’s long tail. Is Spotify about to cut it off? [Bill Werde]“The promise of the streaming age was always the long tail,” writes Bill Werse “We all cheered that it would lower barriers to entry and empower artists.” But new royalty. Continue reading
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Fans care about openers, says survey. But for acts, is bigger better?Fans care about opening acts, according to a recent survey by UTA and Variety, and these coveted slots remain a way to build a fanbase. Two graphics from the survey. Continue reading
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How musicians can grow (and keep) a fanbase using RedditReddit may not be the obvious choice for musician-fan engagement, but it has proven to be a great option. Here’s what you need to know to get started… by Chris. Continue reading
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TugSpect Is A FREE Spectral Filtering Effect By Tugrulakyuz
TugSpect is a new freeware spectral filtering effect plugin by Tugrulakyuz. Tugrulakyuz, the developer who brought us some great freebies in the past, such as TugMultiEffect and 2RuleSynth, has just released a new free experimental FX plugin called TugSpect. This amazing plugin delves into spectral processing with an approach similar to plugins like iZotope Iris [...]
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Audiomovers unveil Binaural Renderer for Apple Music Audiomovers' latest plug-in brings the ability to quickly audition Apple Music's binaural rendering to those working outside of Logic Pro. 

Max MSP Beginners Guide: How to build a monophonic software synthesizerEver considered building your own synthesizer? It might sound like tough work, but you’d be surprised how achievable it is with programming software Max by Cycling74, a touch of imagination, and a bit of guidance. This tutorial will give you all the information and knowledge to build your own monophonic soft synth.

READ MORE: The 12 best Max for Live devices in 2023

In preparation for this first tutorial, we recommend getting your favourite MIDI keyboard and downloading Max. There’s a free trial that lasts four weeks, giving you plenty of time to follow along and tinker with all of the components.
What is Max?
Max (or Max MSP) is a visual programming language for music and multimedia. You can use it to build plugins, visual performance effects, synthesizers and more. Max acts as a giant circuit board (known as a Patch), where you can build objects such as an oscillator or looper and connect them using ‘wires’ to create a signal chain.
These can then be exported and downloaded as applications that can be used independently with a MIDI keyboard or controller, and even via Ableton Live – Max4Live, anyone?
Understanding the basics
Before you get started, you should know some key functions used in Max MSP to access basic tools. Understanding these from the get-go will make your building journey a lot easier.
These three basic key functions are Object (N), Message (M), and Comment (C).
Object (N)
The Object key (N) allows you to search for objects to use from the Max MSP database. An example of this, and something you’ll use in the first tutorial is ‘notein’. This creates an input that will connect your MIDI keyboard/controller to the Max patch so that you can control all of the from your MIDI device.
Message (M)
Message (M) tells your objects what to do. For example, if you want to control your filter’s cutoff frequency, you can do so by sending a message to your filter, and it will set the cutoff to that number. Don’t worry if this is confusing right now – it’ll make a lot more sense when you start to build your synthesiser.
Comment (C)
Lastly, Comment (C). This is probably the most simple function. It allows you to write comments in your patch. The most common use for this is to plan out and explain what everything is doing in your synthesiser. You might find this tool useful when it comes to labelling objects in your patch to make things clearer.
Objects to make patching easier
You’ll want to note these hotkeys for commonly used objects, which can be found below:
Button (B)
This object is mainly referred to as a Bang and is used to trigger messages that tells objects what to do – whether that is setting a frequency for example.
Toggle (T)
This is used to toggle on or off, and can be used to turn certain functions, such as filter, on or off, and can even be programmed to turn an entire patch on and off.
Number (I)
This tool has two functions. Firstly, it can be used to set a number for an object, such as frequency. However, as that is mainly the function of a Message, it’s much more commonly used just to see that an object is actually doing its job and is outputting a number. As if it’s outputting a number, it means it is outputting a signal.
Floating Number (F)
This object is pretty much identical to Number, but the difference is that the number has a decimal in it, meaning it is useful for tracking smaller changes in signal (e.g. 4.5/4.6). Therefore, it’s a useful visual indication of how dials and sliders work to change certain aspects of your synthesizer such as an envelope.
If you need any reminders of these useful objects, they can be found at the top of a patch in Max MSP. However, it’s always quicker to use the hotkeys.
Laying out the patch
There are also some useful settings that will make your patching experience easier and ensure that everything is kept nice and neat.
Clicking “show grid” which is found at the bottom of the screen to the left makes it easier to layout where everything needs to be, as the dotted patch is quite hard to see.
Also, turning on “Snap To Grid” (alt ctrl G), ensures that all of your objects, messages, and comments can be laid out in an orderly fashion. We recommend this as when things get messy it is easy to make mistakes, and also hard to find where the mistake is.
Max also gives you the option to “lock” and “unlock your patch”. This gives you the ability to test out what you’re building without accidentally moving or deleting anything. This is turned on or off by ctrl/command + E, or by simply holding down ctrl/command.
To download a free trial of Max, head to Cycling74.com
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