Universal Audio UAD Capitol Chambers Located below the iconic Capitol Tower in Los Angeles, Capitol Studios is arguably the most recognized studio in the world — and much of its legend can be traced to its hallowed, subterranean... Read More

Beggars Group’s revenue up 13.9% YoY in 2022, but inflation, stagnant streaming prices take bite out of profitUK-headquartered firm recently revealed its earnings for 2022 in a regulatory filing to UK Companies House
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Elon Musk’s X files motion to dismiss music publishers’ $250m+ copyright lawsuit; NMPA says platform has ‘consistently failed’ to stop ‘rampant piracy’ on its platformTwitter / X has filed a motion to dismiss the complaint 'in its entirety'
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Wide Blue Sound Offers FREE Audio Plugin Uninstaller For macOS
I doubt I’ve ever covered anything here with a name that more accurately and succinctly describes the software’s primary function than Audio Plugin Uninstaller by Wide Blue Sound. We typically talk about effects, sounds, instruments, and more creative aspects of music, so I understand if uninstalling plugins doesn’t generate the same excitement. But I also [...]
View post: Wide Blue Sound Offers FREE Audio Plugin Uninstaller For macOS

Best Wireless Earbuds: Best all-purpose wireless earbuds for under £150Whether it’s a crying baby or a bulldozer, everyday soundscapes can never be as blissful as birdsong. That’s why when you’re out and about, a reliable pair of earbuds can help drown out the noise of normality, and whisk us away to a new sonic world of your choosing – be it a podcast, music or Facetime with a friend. Wireless earbuds are the way to go if you don’t want to spend 50 per cent of your life angrily untangling your headphones from your house keys. Just make sure you don’t lose them.

READ MORE: Jayda G: “If you try to sound like someone else, you’ll be chasing your tail”

We’ve gathered a list of the best wireless earbuds on the market that come in at under £150. Not only do these offer pristine sound quality, noise cancellation and ease of use, they’re affordable and comfortable on the ear. Some even offer advanced features like Alexa pairing and sound personalisation. From brands such as Nothing, Denon and Sony, if you’re in the market for a new pair of Bluetooth earbuds that won’t break the bank, this is the definitive list.
Nothing Ear 2
Nothing Ear 2. Image: Nothing

Price: £129
Contact: Nothing
Find deals via Amazon

Nothing, developer of the Ear 2, is backed by musical instrument developer Teenage Engineering and its products share a similar bold aesthetic. These striking buds come in a clear case that features USB-C and wireless charging, with a total of 36 hours’ battery life. Even though the buds provide only 6.3 hours with ANC on, the case can be fast charged in 10 minutes to hold 8 hours of total charge.
The impressive feature set boasts in-ear detection, multiple ANC modes and sound personalisation, including variable amount sliders so you can really tailor the sound. With a sonic depth and richness that rivals pricier competitors, you also get the LHDC codec for up to 24-bit Bluetooth streaming on compatible devices, though this excludes Apple devices which do not support it. They employ a pinch-to-press system rather than touch surfaces for interaction which some people will find much less prone to accidental taps when in use.
Anker Soundcore Liberty 4
Anker Soundcore Liberty 4. Image: Anker

Price: £139.99
Contact: Soundcore
Find deals at Amazon

Anker’s pedigree in multiple areas of audio technology informs these feature-heavy and affordable buds. There are up to 9 hours of playback in the buds and 28 in the wireless charging case, personalized adaptive noise cancelling and customizable EQ.
The Liberty 4s are also quite unusual in featuring both 360 degree spatial audio support and dynamic head tracking, as well as a squeeze-to-control system and even heart rate tracking via their sensors. None of this distracts from the business of audio reproduction, with dual drivers and LDAC codec support providing a pleasurable listening experience and an accurate soundstage.
Denon AH-C830NCW
Denon AH-C830NCW. Image: Denon

Price: £138.99

Contact: Denon
Find deals at Amazon

Denon’s acquisition of Nura will see it incorporating the company’s product line, presumably complete with sound personalisation features, but the hi-fi specialist already makes some great buds of its own. The AH-C830NCWs support Google Fast Pairing, have IPX4 water resistance and up to 6 hours of battery life in the buds and 24 hours in total from the charging case.
Active noise cancelling and an ambient listening mode are powered by built-in microphones, and Denon Sound Master Tuning ensures strong audio performance across a range of genres.
Yamaha TW-E5B
Yamaha TW-E5BG. Image: Yamaha

Price: £129
Contact: Yamaha
Find deals at Amazon

Offering sonic quality that is easily a match for pricier rivals, Yamaha’s buds have a relatively lightweight build but provide 8.5 hours of playback via the buds and an additional 21.5 hours in the case, which charges over USB-C. IPx5 waterproofing is a little better than some competitors manage and manual buttons on the buds allow control of playback, taking and making calls and so on.
Although there’s ambient listening mode, there’s no noise cancelling – for that you’d need Yamaha’s E7Bs – but the focus here is on fidelity. Two 7mm drivers and a number of tuning ports inside the buds create a superb soundstage, while the companion app allows for simple but effective EQ tweaking. These buds perhaps lack the wow factor of some others but definitely deliver when it comes to sound.
Sony WF-C500
Sony WF-C500. Image: Sony

Price: £59
Contact: Sony
Find deals at Amazon

Sony’s WF-C500s make a few compromises to achieve their low price but still manage to tick a lot of boxes for the budget-conscious listener. There’s 10 hours of power in the buds and another 10 in the case, plus 10 minutes quick charging providing an hour of playback in an emergency. IPX4 water resistance is good for protecting against splashes, and you get Sony’s 360 degree Reality Audio to listen in a more immersive fashion.
Despite lacking ANC they do have a mic for making calls and invoking your phone’s voice assistant and the companion app has adjustable EQ with presets. Sonically they perhaps lack the finesse of pricier models but on the other hand, they are very affordable.
Audio-Technica ATH-SQ1TW
Audio-Technica ATH-SQ1TW. Image: Audio-Technica

Price: £79.99

Contact: Audio-Technica
Find deals at thomann

Audio Technica’s compact buds come in a range of colours and though battery life isn’t up there with the competition at 6.5 hours in the buds and up to 20 with the case, they do support fast charging. Although they lack noise cancelling the buds do contain two microphones that facilitate making calls and also an ambient mode for greater awareness of your surroundings when used in public.
There’s no companion app – another consequence of Audio Technica’s focus on the basics here to keep costs down, but the buds offer a much better sound than their budget price tag might lead you to believe, winning praise for their excellent isolation and pleasing soundstage. It’s not all compromise though, and you get Android Fast Pairing, the ability to use a single bud at a time as an earpiece and IPX4 splash proofing. They’re a great bet for the budget-conscious listener.
JBL Tune Flex
JBL Tune Flex. Image: JBL

Price: £79.99
Contact: JBL
Find deals at Amazon

JBL’s affordable buds don’t skimp on features, with both ambient listening and active noise cancellation available, powered by four microphones and a clever system called VoiceAware that lets you choose how much of your own voice is fed back into the buds while making calls. Battery life is impressive with 8 hours in the buds and an extra 24 in the case, and quick charging giving you 2 hours of playback time in just 10 minutes.
The drivers have a frequency response of 20Hz – 20kHz and deliver a punchy sound, even if buds costing around the £100 mark offer a little more finesse. The companion app lets you tweak things to your liking with user-definable EQ and helpful tools like Find My Buds which will play a loud sound to help you in the event you misplace them. JBL makes a fairly wide range of wireless earbuds but the Tune Flex give you a lot of goodies for not much cash.
Panasonic RZ-S500WE-K
Panasonic RZ-S500WE-K. Image: Panasonic

Price: £147
Contact: Panasonic
Find deals at Amazon

Panasonic’s buds may fly a little under the radar but are extremely capable with some advanced tech that makes them a bit of a bargain when you consider their street price is considerably less than the list price. While battery life is average at 6.5 hrs + 19.5 in the case, a 15 minute quick charge will give you 70 minutes of playback and there’s clever dual hybrid active noise cancelling that uses both analogue and digital processing to create excellent isolation. The six onboard microphones also power making calls and ambient listening mode.
One earbud can be used at once for calls and there’s IPX4 splash proofing plus touch sensors on the buds and a basic companion app that allows some sound customisation via preset EQ curves. Sonically, reviews praise the buds’ accuracy, depth and richness, which is perhaps not surprising from a company with such a long history of hi-fi design. For the price you’re able to grab hold of them, the Panasonics are hard to ignore.
The post Best Wireless Earbuds: Best all-purpose wireless earbuds for under £150 appeared first on MusicTech.

This new AI music generator can generate over one billion different soundtracksA new AI music generator has hit the market, with the capability to potentially generate over one billion different songs.

READ MORE: “I’ve seen things that have extremely blown me away. I do worry about the future of art a bit”: Grimes – creator of AI music software Grimes AI – voices concerns over artificial intelligence

Named Loudly, the generator gives users the option to not only create a soundtrack to suit their project but also customise it, as it can be exported to any DAW of choice.
There’s also the option to get recommendations when describing a project, as well as a variety of pre-made tracks with access to over 200,000 samples.
According to the developer, users can select instruments, duration, energy level, and genre. There is even the option for genre-blending.
“A good song requires more than just well-produced samples – the composition as a whole has to make sense and take us on a journey,” explains Loudly CEO Rory Kenny. “Our talented team of music producers apply unique genre parameters like song structures, instrumentation, energy dynamics, and mixdown so that Loudly delivers playlist-ready compositions.”
The subject of AI is still a very hotly debated topic, with artists arguing on both sides about the technology. One strong advocate, Grimes, has recently shared her trepidation about artificial intelligence, and more specifically the impact on children.
“The thing that freaks me out is that AI can remove incentives for learning. LLMs (large language models) are great, but I would maybe only have them in school. Is that something that I want my kids to have access to 100 percent of the time? Probably not.”
“I want them to learn how to write; we are in a bit of a literacy crisis. That worries me a lot. Maybe that makes me sound old. But being able to read and write well deeply impacts the way you think.”
You can find out more over at Loudly. 
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“This was the place that kept a struggling musician like me from giving up”: Hans Zimmer becomes co-owner of BBC’s historic Maida Vale StudiosOscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer is now co-owner of the historic BBC Maida Vale studios, which has hosted sessions from the Beatles, to David Bowie and beyond.

READ MORE: The new Stylophone Beat is an ultra-affordable stylus-operated drum machine small enough to fit in your pocket

According to the BBC, the complex will remain a “centre for pioneering music-making” regardless of the change in ownership. Throughout the years, it has become a cornerstone of the BBC’s music output, including John Peel’s famous Radio 1 sessions, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and more.
Zimmer too has said he wants Maida Vale to continue to be “a place that inspires, teaches, technologically serves the arts and humanity, and gives the next generation the same opportunities I was given: to create and to never give up”.
As a result, the BBC Symphony Orchestra will be relocated to BBC’s new studios in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in east London in 2025.
“I still remember the strong pull, the desire to touch the walls, as if that would somehow allow me to connect to the artists whose extraordinary music had resonated against these walls on a daily basis,” explains Zimmer about his first visit to the studios 45 years ago.
“This was a place of revolutionary science in the service of art, this was a place that inspired you to give your best, where music was performed around the clock and art was taken seriously. For the people by the people.
“This was the place that kept a struggling musician like me from giving up.”
The other two co-owners are Love Actually and Cats producers Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner, however it is not known how much each owner paid in the deal.
The post “This was the place that kept a struggling musician like me from giving up”: Hans Zimmer becomes co-owner of BBC’s historic Maida Vale Studios appeared first on MusicTech.

Vote for our SXSW panel ‘Who Gives A Sh!t About Marketing Live Music’The SXSW PANELPICKER is open, and we need your vote for the “Who Gives A Sh!t About Marketing Live Music” panel. Anyone can sign up for a free SXSW account. Continue reading
The post Vote for our SXSW panel ‘Who Gives A Sh!t About Marketing Live Music’ appeared first on Hypebot.

Can Taylor Swift and Beyoncé save the economy? What the data says about music tourismTatiana Cirisano of MIDiA Research looks at how concerts by big-name artists like Taylor Swift and Beyoncé boost tourism and stimulate local economies. Be sure to join Tatiana, her MIDIA. Continue reading
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The Weeknd will only ever do another feature if it’s with Daft Punk, he saysThe Weeknd has stated he would be keen to feature on a Daft Punk project if the iconic dance duo were to get back together.

READ MORE: “Stanley Kubrick level of planning” went into Daft Punk’s RAM, says Chilly Gonzales

During a recent show in Warsaw as part of his After Hours Til Dawn tour, the Blinding Lights singer introduced a new song with Diddy called Another One of Me. “And I just wanna say, this is gonna be the last feature I ever do, ever in my career,” he told fans, “so I wanna perform it for you guys tonight.”
However, later, he took to Twitter to write, “the final feature… unless daft punk ever get back together.” The Weeknd, it seems, could be holding on for Daft Punk reunion just as much as the rest of us.

the final feature… unless daft punk ever get back together pic.twitter.com/shpRFz7nnt
— Abel Tesfaye (@theweeknd) August 11, 2023

Since the legendary dance duo’s departure in 2021, rumours have speculated as to whether Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo would ever don their robot helmets one more time.
This year, Todd Edwards stoked the flames by telling Zane Lowe, “I wouldn’t count it out”, when quizzed on a Daft Punk reunion. He went on to say that “the world needs more Daft Punks” and “there’s a lot of followers, but not a lot of… innovators”.
On their breakup, Bangalter recently told BBC Radio 6 “I’m relieved to look back and say ‘Okay, we didn’t mess up too much’”, adding that it “felt good” to bring things to an end.
Bangalter has been recalling many of Daft Punk’s key moments recently. It was also revealed that 1997’s Homework and 2001’s Discovery albums were recorded in a bedroom with an old-school JVC boombox.
The dream of a Daft Punk reunion goes on. While we longingly wait, The Weeknd plays at Wembley Stadium this Friday 19 August. Tickets can be bought at theweeknd.com.
The post The Weeknd will only ever do another feature if it’s with Daft Punk, he says appeared first on MusicTech.

Internet Archive faces $412 million copyright infringement lawsuit from record labelsAn online music library including the likes of Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, and Louis Armstrong has become the target of a lawsuit filed by a number of major record labels.

READ MORE: PRS for Music and PPL are using Audoo’s audio meters to detect songs at public spaces for fairer royalty payments

The Great 78 Project, a library on Internet Archive, which is a non-profit digital library offering free universal access to books, movies and music, was created to preserve pre-1972 music. It consists of 2,749 tracks.
Universal Music Group, Sony Music, Capitol Records, and other labels have sued Internet Archive and its founder Brewster Kahle, alleging copyright infringement. It seeks damages of $150,000 per protected sound recording infringement, possibly exceeding a whopping $412 million, when legal costs and injunctive measures are factored in, according to Rolling Stone.
The labels have stated that the collection of songs breaches copyright by distributing protected sound recordings without permission. They argue that Internet Archive’s actions surpass preservation, offering unrestricted music access that disregards copyrights and artists’ rights.
This lawsuit is supported by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), which stated to Rolling Stone: “The record company Plaintiffs bring this case to address Defendants’ industrial scale infringement of some of the most iconic recordings ever made – including classic works by Frank Sinatra, Thelonious Monk, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Miles Davis, Louis Armstrong and many more. Congress took decisive action to protect pre-1972 recordings in the Music Modernization Act.
“Defendants’ mass scale copying, streaming and distribution of the thousands of pre-1972 recordings identified in the complaint — all of which are commercially available on multiple legitimate streaming services – are blatant violations of those established rights. Just as Internet Archive’s supposed ‘emergency library’ of copyrighted books was recently ruled unlawful by a federal judge, its ‘Great 78’ project is yet another mass infringement scheme that has no basis in law.”
In June, Twitter was sued for copyright infringement by Sony Music, UMG and more after “rampant infringement” of copyrighted music. In this case, the labels are seeking damages of $250 million.
The post Internet Archive faces $412 million copyright infringement lawsuit from record labels appeared first on MusicTech.

How Travis Scott used Single + Shopify to livestream surprise concertDespite immense pressures and technical challenges, Single was able to work with Travis Scott’s team to bring an extraordinary livestream performance to the whole world, here’s how… by Single xyz. Continue reading
The post How Travis Scott used Single + Shopify to livestream surprise concert appeared first on Hypebot.

Mixing Night Audio introduce LOLCOMP The eccentric-looking LOLCOMP offers a combination of compression and tone-shaping tools, and aims to provide users with a fast and intuitive way to find the sound they’re looking for.

“I’ve seen things that have extremely blown me away. I do worry about the future of art a bit”: Grimes – creator of AI music software Grimes AI – voices concerns over artificial intelligenceThere’s a good chance you’re getting bored of reading about artificial intelligence. But like it or not, the technology is here to stay.
It has shown signs of its potential to revolutionise the music world, and as a result has had prominent figures in the industry chiming in left, right and centre offering their opinions. And like any topic of such magnitude, the tech has both its supporters and opposers.

READ MORE: Google and Universal Music in talks over AI “deepfake” royalties

Grimes is one artist who has fully embraced the rapid emergence of artificial intelligence, even launching her own AI software – Grimes AI – allowing users to mimic her voice in their own songs. And the software features a forward-thinking approach to royalty distribution, too, with revenue from songs generated divided 50/50 between Grimes and the creator.
Now, in a new interview with Wired, Grimes has spoken at length about AI in music, and where she thinks things are headed.
I do think AI is gonna be the next thing. I have a lot of opinions about how it should be pursued,” she says. “So another reason I’m here [in San Francisco] is that I’m trying to meet with all the people making generative AI music to try to convince them to do things in ways that are safe for the human psyche.”
When questioned on what she means by doing things that are “safe for the human psyche”, she replies: “We should go to the edge of creativity. But I think we should do it very carefully.
“The thing that freaks me out is that AI can remove incentives for learning. LLMs (large language models) are great, but I would maybe only have them in school. Is that something that I want my kids to have access to 100 percent of the time? Probably not.
“I want them to learn how to write; we are in a bit of a literacy crisis. That worries me a lot. Maybe that makes me sound old. But being able to read and write well deeply impacts the way you think.”
Then, when questioned on whether a piece of AI-generated music can have soul, she responds, cryptically: “Yes. I signed an NDA, so I’m not allowed to say, but I’ve seen things that have extremely blown me away. I do worry about the future of art a bit.”
Her comments echo those of Black Eyed Peas star will.i.am, who recently reminded people that AI is still in its relative infancy.
“You know it’s gonna make better songs than you,” he said. “It’s Pac-Man right now, we ain’t even got to Halo. We’re in freakin’ Super Mario Bros., we ain’t even got to Call of Duty yet. This thing’s gonna make better songs than you soon.”
Elsewhere in the Wired interview, on a lighter note, Grimes is asked which recording session in history she’d go back and see if she could, to which she replies: “I would go see Beethoven. But that’s not a recording session. I’d try to check if Beethoven was actually deaf. But the Ninth, that’d be sick. That’s what I like. I know it’s basic, but I love, love Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. So I’d probably go see that, I guess.”
The post “I’ve seen things that have extremely blown me away. I do worry about the future of art a bit”: Grimes – creator of AI music software Grimes AI – voices concerns over artificial intelligence appeared first on MusicTech.

The new Stylophone Beat is an ultra-affordable stylus-operated drum machine small enough to fit in your pocketDubreq has launched a new affordable pocket-sized drum machine, the Stylophone Beat.

READ MORE: The Chainsmokers to sponsor a year of rent for an aspiring artist in New York City

The battery-powered drum machine is a redesign of the original Stylophone Beatbox, offering the same capabilities, but in a pocket-sized form.
The engine consists of 4 drum kits and four bass drums featuring everything from classic sounds to “real” beatbox samples, which are spread out on a silver metal plate that you can play using the accompanying stylus. This also allows users to mix all eight sounds and create unique grooves.
The key difference between the full powered Beatbox, is that there’s no drum sequencer, but there is a looper, allowing you to capture the sounds in drum loops. In addition to this is an automatic tempo lock, and the option to record multiple layers.
You can hear a demo of the drum machine below:

The Beat drum machine also features a built-in-speaker on the top side of the unit and an audio output to be plugged into external sources.
Considering the small size, the Beat drum machine is retailing for the modest price of £29.95/$39.95.
You can sign up to pre-order now at Stylophone.
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