TikTok Wants a Music Content Investment ManagerThe TikTok Music Content Investment Team is a newly formed team that focuses on partnership or acquisition opportunities in the music content space on a global level. The team will work with TikTok music content strategy team and operations teams in evaluating market opportunities, executing partnership or acquisition projects, performing detailed financial analysis and valuations of music content and related assets that would help shape the future of TikTok music businesses. Together, the team works with higher management on setting overall strategic direction, and be responsible for the results of partnership and acquisitions.Apply via LinkedIn.The post TikTok Wants a Music Content Investment Manager first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Jack White offers $20 tickets for Students to Sold Out tourJack White offers $20 tickets for students at every stop on his sold out No Name Tour.
The post Jack White offers $20 tickets for Students to Sold Out tour appeared first on Hypebot.

Electronic music contributed £2.4 billion to UK economy in 2024, with record-breaking ticket sales recorded for electronic music eventsElectronic music added an estimated £2.4 billion to the UK economy last year, according to a new report from The Night Time Industries Association (NTIA). Despite a drop in nightclub spending, 2024 also saw record-breaking ticket sales for electronic music events, raising £163 million alone (recorded by Skiddle).
The NTIA says electronic music “remains a dynamic economic and cultural cornerstone of the UK” off the back of the report, despite overall spending having dipped in certain areas since 2022, as the sector “shows extraordinary resilience and innovation, balancing commercial opportunities with community-driven values”.

READ MORE: Howard Benson: “The producer credit is different than it was 20 years ago, because so many people take it now”

The report’s key findings reveal that the economic contribution from nightclubs in 2024 was down 16 percent from £1,463 million in 2023 to £1,232 million, and that the number of nightclubs in the UK now sits at 851, a decrease from 875. However, £133.9 million was raised from recorded music and publishing for electronic music combined in 2024 – one percent higher than the previous year.
Economic contribution from music festivals is up by 14 percent to £646.2 million, though 72 independent festivals were cancelled, postponed, or closed in 2024, despite overall attendance growth for the sector. £26,000 is also reported to be the typical annual pay for grassroots venue operators, “who often work 60-hour weeks on slim profit margins”.
Other interesting stats reveal that the share of artists performing at UK festivals in 2024 that are electronic is 29 percent – the highest of any genre – and that 310 UK festivals in 2024 featured electronic music, up from 294 in 2023. Away from the stage, Calvin Harris takes the top spot as the UK’s most-played domestic electronic artist, with 165.7K radio spins. Joel Corry follows with 89.1K plays.
Looking ahead, The NTIA says that “fostering the next generation of talent and protecting cultural spaces are critical” to keeping electronic music thriving, and that “education, policy reform, and targeted financial relief for grassroots venues could preserve the UK’s unique sonic ecosystems.”
NTIA CEO, Michael Kill, comments: “The numbers speak for themselves. The electronic music ecosystem – spanning artists, venues, promoters, labels, and countless other stakeholders – drives employment, stimulates local economies, and enhances the UK’s standing as a global music powerhouse. Yet, unlike other cultural industries, it has historically been underserved when it comes to support, regulation, and recognition. This report makes clear that electronic music is not an afterthought – it is a vital force in the UK’s creative and night-time economy and must be treated as such.”
To download and read the full report, head over to The Night Time Industries Association.
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Playfair Audio launch Dynamic Grading 2.0 The latest version of Dynamic Grading sports a redesigned interface, enhanced features and expanded capabilities that promise to redefine what’s possible in dynamic audio control.

Kanye West’s Yeezy online store is selling Nazi T-shirtsThe online store of Kanye West’s Yeezy fashion brand is currently selling only one item: a white T-shirt featuring a swastika on its front. An advert from the rap artist – aired during the Super Bowl – encouraged people to visit the website.
West – also known plainly as Ye – shared a string of controversial posts on X over the last weekend, in which he withdrew his apology to the Jewish community for past anti-Semitic comments, and declared himself as “a Nazi”. His account appears to have now been taken down or deactivated.
Prior to his account being wiped from the platform, a spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said (via NME): “Once again, Ye has gone on an antisemitic rampage online. It couldn’t be any clearer that he is an unrepentant, proud antisemite. More people have viewed these posts than there are Jews on the planet.”
They go on to add, “It is obvious that Ye has not learned his lesson the first time, when Adidas ended its partnership with him, following our call to do so. At a time of unprecedented antisemitism, there can be no mistaking this incitement for exactly what it is.”
Along with the T-shirt, which is named as “HH-01”, West has also released a new song called Beauty And The Beast. It’s predicted to be featured on his upcoming album Bully, though it currently has no set release date. Some snippets of his new music were previewed by West last month, which featured a shout out to the disgraced rap artist Diddy.
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Majetone’s AC08 acoustic 808-style Kontakt Drum Sampler is Currently FREE
Majetone’s AC08 Roland 808-style drum sampler instrument (normally £25) is now available for free at Pulse Audio until March 1, 2025.  The drum machine requires the full version of Kontakt and, unfortunately, doesn’t work on the free Kontakt Player. AC08 is quite a unique plugin, as it’s an acoustic recreation of the hitmaking Roland 808 [...]
View post: Majetone’s AC08 acoustic 808-style Kontakt Drum Sampler is Currently FREE

Telefunken reintroduce Alchemy Stereo Sets Telefunken have announced that they are reintroducing four Stereo Set kits in their popular Alchemy Series of large-diaphragm valve microphones.

Classical Highlights for January 2025Our January classical reviews contain some radiant and recognizable music, highlighted by Trumpeter Romain Leleu (pictured) and pianist Julien Gernay creating an inventive program for Folies Parisiennes that not only shows off their skills, but also delights the listener.

Is AI making us dumb?Researchers from Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon University recently published a study looking at how using generative AI at work affects critical thinking skills. “Used improperly, technologies can and do result in the deterioration of cognitive faculties that ought to be preserved,” the paper states. When people rely on generative AI at work, their effort shifts […]
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Upgrading RAM on a Honda Infotainment SystemCar infotainment systems somehow have become a staple in today’s automobiles, yet when it comes down to it they have all the elegance of a locked-down Android tablet. In the case of the Honda infotainment system that [dosdude1] got from a friend’s 2016/2017-era Honda Accord, it pretty much is just that. Powered by a dual-core Cortex-A15 SoC, it features a blazin’ 1 GB of RAM, 2 GB of storage and runs Android 4.2.2. It’s also well-known for crashing a lot, which is speculated to be caused by Out-of-RAM events, which is what the RAM upgrade is supposed to test.
After tearing down the unit and extracting the main board with the (Renesas) SoC and RAM, the SoC was identified as being an automotive part dating back to 2012. The 1 GB of RAM was split across two Micron-branded packages, leaving one of the memory channels on the SoC unused and not broken out. This left removing the original RAM chips to check what options the existing pads provided, specifically potential support for twin-die chips, but also address line 15 (A15). Unfortunately only the A15 line turned out to be connected.
This left double capacity (1 GB) chips as the sole option, meaning a total of 2 GB of RAM. After installation the infotainment system booted up, but only showed 1 GB installed. Cue hunting down the right RAM config bootstrap resistor, updating the boot flags and updating the firmware to work around the LINEOWarp hibernation image that retained the 1 GB configuration. Ultimately the upgrade seems to work, but until the unit is reinstalled in the car and tested it’s hard to say whether it fixes the stability issues.
Thanks to [Dylan] for the tip.

Copyright Office to investigate PROs: ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, GMRThe U.S. Copyright Office has published a "Notice of Inquiry" to collect information on performance rights organizations (PROs). The inquiry into ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, Global Music Rights (GMR) and others comes at the behest of Congress and organizations representing venues, promoters, songwriters and music publishers.
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Blueprint Music Goes Live: A New Era for Artists and FansThe wait is over. Blueprint Music is officially live, ushering in a revolution for the music industry. Designed to give artists and fans direct control over music creation, revenue, and experiences, Blueprint challenges the exploitative status quo and puts power back where it belongs—with the artists and their fans.Unlike traditional streaming services and record labels, Blueprint ensures artists receive 50% of all revenue generated from their music—a stark contrast to current industry payouts that leave musicians with mere fractions of a cent per stream. Fans, meanwhile, gain unprecedented access, from exclusive content and early music releases to VIP experiences and voting rights on upcoming projects, all powered by Blueprint Tokens.“Musicians deserve better than the outdated industry model,” said Phil Ryan, Co-Founder of Blueprint Music. “Blueprint isn't just another platform—it’s a movement. We’re here to ensure artists are fairly compensated while giving fans a deeper, more meaningful way to connect with the music they love.”Blueprint Music is live, and fans and musicians can claim early access now early adopters are already signing up, and many are using this time to join now ahead of any exclusivity.  Artists and fans who sign up now can claim exclusive perks, VIP access, and the chance to help shape the platform before the full-scale launch in June 2025.  For artists who sign up now, they will secure their spot and start earning 50% of all revenue from their music. For fans who sign up now, they will gain voting rights, early access to unreleased music, and behind-the-scenes content from top artists.Blueprint Music is what the music industry needs and it is already attracting major artists and thousands of fans who are tired of an industry that underpays creators and limits fan interaction. The platform’s blockchain-powered ecosystem ensures:Fair artist payouts – 50% revenue share, no middlemen.

Direct fan engagement – Exclusive content, VIP access, and artist-fan voting.

True ownership – Secure transactions, transparent rights, and artist-first policies."Blueprint Music is a platform that finally puts the power back where it belongs—with artists and fans. As an artist myself, I know this is the change the music industry has needed," said Simon Webbe, Co-founder of Blueprint Music.Since its pre-launch announcement, Blueprint Music has seen a surge in signups from both artists and fans eager to take control of their music experience. The platform is already in talks with top-tier global artists preparing to launch exclusive content and interactive fan experiences.“The music industry is overdue for disruption,” said Oliver Moorhouse, Co-Founder of Blueprint Music. “Blueprint is built to empower artists and give fans a seat at the table. This is the future of music, and it’s happening now.”The post Blueprint Music Goes Live: A New Era for Artists and Fans first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Henry Naldjian promoted to Chief Technology Officer at Sony Music PublishingExec to oversee company’s ongoing "technological transformation efforts"
Source

Should voice actors be concerned about being replaced by AI? The Simpsons’ Hank Azaria thinks so – maybeHank Azaria, known for voicing multiple characters in The Simpsons, has given his thoughts on how AI may affect careers like his in the future.
In a video for The New York Times, Azaria records the voice he uses for the character of Moe in The Simpsons, to see how well AI can recreate it. Within the video, Azaria likens the future of AI in the voice acting industry to how streaming has currently impacted music – if something is readily available for free or at a low cost, he feels many people opt to use it, despite the ethics behind it.

READ MORE: Rights management platform for generative AI raises $2.1 million in investment for “trailblazing” attribution model

“I think there’s a humanness that the AI can’t do right now – at least vocally, and may never be able to do – that involves a character’s motivation, certain emotions, subtleties of physicality, facially or otherwise, that add up to a human being,” Azaria says.
Looking to the future, he adds, “People are going to listen to and enjoy and watch what they like, and they’re not going to care whether AI generated it or a human generated it, or some combination of the two. Right now, what AI generates by itself as Moe the bartender or anything else isn’t going to cut it. But if it does start to cut it, people are going to listen to it, and they’re going to be grateful that it’s so readily available.
“Look what happened to the music industry. Do you think I cried a tear because the record industry reinvented itself? I got to listen to all the music for free all of a sudden,” he explains. “I don’t think people are going to feel much differently about any of this.”
You can watch the full video below:

Currently, the UK government is considering proposed changes to copyright law, which could allow AI developers to mine from creators’ content on the internet. The suggested change would mean creative works could be used to develop AI models unless the rights holders actively opt out. A number of musicians have since spoken out about the suggested changes, including Paul McCartney, Elton John, and Max Richter.
Richter made his thoughts on the matter known earlier this week with a speech to MPs calling for greater protection for music creators: “Music is the closest thing humanity has to magic,” he said, “But all of this will fade into history unless we support creators’ rights because, unless artists can be fairly rewarded for their work through copyright, there is no future for human creators.”
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“The first take is ‘the take’… if you keep it on a loop, you get unlimited options which blocks your process”: Jungle’s J Lloyd on keeping creativity free and imperfectJungle’s J Lloyd has shared how he avoids over-producing and keeps the freedom of creativity present within their music.
Opening up the original multitrack session for Back On 74, Jungle’s massive hit from their fourth album, 2023’s Volcano, Lloyd shares a recording of the acoustic guitar for the track, which has a mistake in it. Explaining why the mistake is there, Lloyd shares that the recording is the very first take of the guitar part being played, and that the first take should also be your final in order to keep natural creativity running through a track.

READ MORE: My Forever Studio: Jungle’s foley and fake horn revelation

In a teaser video for his Mix With The Masters documentary on YouTube, Lloyd shares, “Something I learned a while back [is] the first take is the take, it’s the bit where you’re just reacting to it. If you keep it on loop and do 30,000 takes or 30 guitar takes you just end up with unlimited options which again just blocks the process because then you have to go into this editing thing…
“It’s the creation part of it, and then the editor – and these are two very separate roles. A lot of the creative is very free, it’s not thinking about it, it’s just feeling it, and you want to stay there. As soon as you go to the edit, you’ve got to be careful with software because it tries to pull you into being an editor very quickly,” he says.
“If you’re writing in a DAW, you’ve got to be very aware of not being drawn into being the editor because if you get drawn into being the editor, it’s a different mindset, and that mindset will essentially make you quite critical of things, and if you’re critical of things you’ll shut down ideas.”
You can watch the clip below:

Jungle are playing at a number of festivals through spring and summer – find out where you can catch them live.
The post “The first take is ‘the take’… if you keep it on a loop, you get unlimited options which blocks your process”: Jungle’s J Lloyd on keeping creativity free and imperfect appeared first on MusicTech.