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A Pi-Based LiDAR ScannerAlthough there are plenty of methods for effectively imaging a 3D space, LiDAR is widely regarded as one of the most effective methods. These systems use a rapid succession of laser pulses over a wide area to create an accurate 3D map. Early LiDAR systems were cumbersome and expensive but as the march of time continues on, these systems have become much more accessible to the average person. So much so that you can quickly attach one to a Raspberry Pi and perform LiDAR imaging for a very reasonable cost.
This software suite is a custom serial driver and scanning system for the Raspberry Pi, designed to work with LDRobot LiDAR modules like the LD06, LD19, and STL27L. Although still in active development, it offers an impressive set of features: real-time 2D visualizations, vertex color extraction, generation of 360-degree panoramic maps using fisheye camera images, and export capabilities for integration with other tools. The hardware setup includes a stepper motor for quick full-area scanning, and power options that include either a USB battery bank or a pair of 18650 lithium cells—making the system portable and self-contained during scans.
LiDAR systems are quickly becoming a dominant player for anything needing to map out or navigate a complex 3D space, from self-driving cars to small Arduino-powered robots. The capabilities a system like this brings are substantial for a reasonable cost, and we expect to see more LiDAR modules in other hardware as the technology matures further.
Thanks to [Dirk] for the tip!A Pi-Based LiDAR Scanner
hackaday.comAlthough there are plenty of methods for effectively imaging a 3D space, LiDAR is widely regarded as one of the most effective methods. These systems use a rapid succession of laser pulses over a w…
“Do we need another 909 kick drum? No we don’t”: Why Will Clarke opts for this obscure Russian drum machine when crafting beatsWhen it comes to choosing your beat-making hardware, is it best to pick something tried and tested like the Roland TR-808 or 909, or opt for something a little more obscure in pursuit of new drum sounds?
British DJ, producer and podcast host Will Clarke thinks it’s wiser to choose the latter, as he explains in the first episode of MusicTech’s My Forever Studio Season 7.READ MORE: 19,000 sq ft music education campus opens in Shoreditch, with 13 studios, Dolby Atmos mixing facilities and a dedicated DJ space developed with Pioneer DJ
Speaking to MusicTech’s Chris Barker and Will Betts, Clarke notes how he opts for a little-known Russian drum machine – the AVP ADS-7 – when it comes to crafting certain elements for his beats.
Clarke first became aware of the ADS-7 – an analogue drum machine with an onboard sequencer, MIDI, CV and individual outputs – after seeing a clip online around 2018, when he was beginning to dip his toes into techno music.
“I was like, ‘I really want to change drums. I really want to have a specific sound of what my techno side sounds like.’ And I said, ‘What can help me get that?’” He reached out to AVP via DM, who said each ADS-7 is made by hand to order.
“So I ordered the MkI and it just rocked up from Russia on my doorstep,” he says. “It’s very easy to use. It’s a very unique sound – it’s very noisy.
“Everyone can get a 303, everyone can get a 909. Do we need another 909 kick drum? No we don’t. I still use it to this day.
In terms of what he regularly uses the ADS-7 on, Clarke replies: “Hats, all of my hats, all of my shakers. It’s just really noisy. I like twisting shit. I’m not a super nerdy synth guy [who knows] everything about synths, but I know what I need to know to get the job done.
Even the most seasoned synth nuts will attest to the intimidating nature of the ADS-7’s interface. As Clarke so eloquently puts it, “It looks Russian as fuck.”
“It’s not a clean sound,” he concludes, “but I’m not looking for a clean sound. I’m looking for something gritty. I’m looking for something to get textures that you wouldn’t get from a sample.”[products ids=”46KMPPCynrf3lxfAakOBap”]
The My Forever Studio podcast – created in partnership with Audient – sees artists, producers, and engineers create their dream fantasy Forever Studio. However, hosts Chris Barker and Will Betts impose some strict rules. Our guests are permitted a limited number of items in their creative space, so they must choose carefully. There will be nostalgia. There will be anecdotes. There may be gags. But there will be no bundles!
You can subscribe to My Forever Studio on Apple Podcasts and Spotify and check out all episodes so far via MusicTech.
The post “Do we need another 909 kick drum? No we don’t”: Why Will Clarke opts for this obscure Russian drum machine when crafting beats appeared first on MusicTech.“Do we need another 909 kick drum? No we don’t”: Why Will Clarke opts for this obscure Russian drum machine when crafting beats
musictech.comWhen it comes to choosing your beat-making hardware, is it best to pick something tried and tested like the Roland TR-808 or 909, or opt for something a little more obscure in pursuit of new drum sounds?
- in the community space Tools and Plugins
Concatenator from Datamind Audio Datamind Audio have announced the launch of a new AI-powered plug-in that’s capable of creating complex new sounds and textures based on any audio file or input source.
Concatenator from Datamind Audio
www.soundonsound.comDatamind Audio have announced the launch of a new AI-powered plug-in that’s capable of creating complex new sounds and textures based on any audio file or input source.
- in the community space Tools and Plugins
Sonarworks update SoundID VoiceAI With the latest update installed, SoundID VoiceAI is capable of generating up to eight unison parts from a single voice recording.
Sonarworks update SoundID VoiceAI
www.soundonsound.comWith the latest update installed, SoundID VoiceAI is capable of generating up to eight unison parts from a single voice recording.
Best free plugins 2025: 14 free drum machines that’ll help you make beats fasterPhysical drum machines are brilliantly tactile and can give you punchy percussion sounds that aren’t always immediately available in your DAW. However, there are plenty of plugins that can get you in the groove and shake up your workflow with functions that most hardware is simply not capable of achieving. We love the charm of hardware, but sometimes it’s best to build interesting beats in the box and experiment with the power of software.
READ MORE: Best free plugins 2025: 15 free synths that you didn’t know you needed
What’s even better is there is a range of drum machine plugins out there that are free to download, with many compatible on both macOS and Windows. We’ve collated some of the most impressive drum machine plugins that come at no cost at all and are far more fun than lining up samples in your DAW’s arrangement window.
The best freeware drum machines at a glance:Native Instruments Beats Collection
BPB Cassette Drums
99 Sounds Drum Machine
606 Koncept
Synsonic BD-909
AudioSpillage MiniSpillage
Beat Factory Drums
Drum Pro
MeldaProduction MDrummer Small
Manda Audio MT Power Drum Kit 2
Jamstix 4 Free
Speedrum Lite
Triaz Player
BFD PlayerNative Instruments Beats Collection
Image: Native Instruments
NI’s Beats Collection is part of Native Instruments’ free Komplete Start plugin suite. It offers 288 pre-made Grooves across 90 kits for fast rhythmic patterns. You can play your own rhythms with a keyboard or pads, export Groove patterns with MIDI drag and drop, and customise drum sounds with studio-grade effects like chorus and reverb.
Features:288 pre-made Grooves across 90 kits
Customisable drum sounds with studio-grade effects
Dedicated parameters for tweaking built-in effects
Grooves page for pattern playback adjustmentFind out more at Native Instruments.
BPB Cassette DrumsThe BPB Cassette Drums plugin bundle includes three digital drum machines, using sounds sampled from BPB’s Cassette 606, Cassette 808 and Cassette 909 drum sample packs. You get Roland TR-606, TR-808 and TR-909 replicas that sound pretty convincing. Not bad, considering you’re not paying a dime for them.
Each of these lovely-looking and easy-to-use plugins have three modes, effectively giving you nine separate drum machines to play with. The clean original sounds of each drum machine are available, while the Warm and Hot modes give you saturated recordings and have been re-sampled from an audio cassette deck, giving each engine a slightly different feel.
Features:Compatibility: VST/AU, 32-bit, 64-bit, PC/macOS
Number of voices: 7
Clean, Warm and Hot kits
Release and volume knobs
Options to route drums to individual outputs
On-screen keyboardFind out more at BedroomProducersBlog.com.
99 Sounds Drum MachineThe simply named Drum Machine by 99Sounds is a nifty little thing used, in the developer’s video tutorial, to make bright, energetic EDM beats. But, of course, it can be used to build drum patterns for any genre and style, so long as you spend the time getting to know it.
It boasts 12 kits with the ability to include eight drum sounds per kit, with each sound being sourced from the 99Sounds Drum Samples library. Users can pan each drum sound, or the whole pattern, to their preference. There is also a low-pass filter and a high-pass filter, giving you options to tweak your sound within the plugin.
Features:Compatibility: 64-bit VSTi/AUi Host, macOS & PC
Number of voices: 8
12 drum kits
Low filter & high filter
Multiple outputs606 Koncept
Sample Science’s 606 Koncept plugin is a free 606 emulation with its unique own processing capabilities.
You can pitch sounds down or up using the plugin’s intriguing pitch control feature, change the decay of each track, and set the individual levels and panning. There are multiple LFO options including the depth and rate of filters. You can add glide, reverb and set the cutoff of your drum sequence, and, on top of all that, users are able to add vinyl, tape and sub sound layers to provide a layer of texture over everything.
Features:Compatibility: 64-bit VSTi/VST3/AUi Host, PC & Mac
Number of voices: 7, each with polyphonic, monophonic and legato modes
Vinyl, tape-hiss & sub sound
Multi-pitch sum mixers
LFO & room reverb effects
Amplitude range controlsFind out more at Sample Science.
Synsonic BD-909You didn’t think we could possibly do a freeware drum-machine round-up without including at least one TR emulation, did you? This is (obviously) a 909 emulator, but only the actual kick drum from that machine. Okay, that’s not a lot, you might think, but the 909 kick has backed tens of thousands of dance tracks and there are plenty of controls to shape it into just any incarnation of that sound you can imagine. There are 16 presets, too, if you think you need them.
Features:Compatibility: macOS and PC, 32/64-bit
Multiple tweaking controls: pitch, accent, decay, tune decay, attack, hold, tune depth, noise decay, distort
Distortion effect
MIDI control
Factory presetsFind out more at Synsonic.
AudioSpillage MiniSpillageA returning drum favourite and must inclusion is MiniSpillage, a synth/drum plugin. It’s still macOS only, we’re afraid, but an essential download for that platform. It’s a cut-down version of AudioSpillage’s DrumSpillage with three drum pads for kick, hat and hollow drum. It comes with several kits and synth features – LFO, filter, modulation and distortion – to stretch those kit sounds far and wide. It’s been around for aeons, but several updates keep this as one of the best macOS drum/synth freebies.
Features:Compatibility: macOS (AU), 64-bit
LFO, filter, modulation & distortion
12 exclusive drum models
Classic analogue, physical modelling and FM synthesisFind out more at Audio Spillage.
Beat Factory DrumsSome of our free drum plugins do dance music, some rock – and Beat Factory Drums is designed to fill in the gaps, since it’s aimed primarily for hip-hop, dubstep and more. It features 10 kits, limited but essential sonic tweaks and hands-on MPC pads. It sounds great and is very well worth the 50MB download, which gives you the kick sounds and a plugin that runs on any system, old or new.
Features:Compatibility: macOS & Windows/ 32/64-bit
10 drum kits
120 drum hits includedFind out more at Beat Skillz.
Drum ProMake no mistake, Drum Pro is unashamedly a shell drum machine to add paid-for kits later, but it does come with 20 kits sampled from nine drum machines (from Roland, Boss, Novation and more) so you get a very decent start, without paying a thing. You get MPC-style pads and basic mixing and while it won’t quite cover all your drumming needs as developers Studio Linked claims from the off – but will with their paid-for packs – it still delivers a great variety of beats, for free.
Features:Number of voices: 12
Compatibility: macOS and PC, 32/64-bit
Attack, decay, sustain & release
Global ADSR/ reverbFind out more at Studio Linked.
MeldaProduction MDrummer SmallMelda doesn’t seem to be shouting about MDrummer Small as much as it once did, but you can still download it from the download/archive part of the company’s website. It’s well worth it, featuring hundreds of drum sets, components, multisamples, rhythms and loops and some of the features from the larger, paid-for MDrummer. So it might be worth downloading fast before it (possibly) disappears.
Features:Compatibility: macOS and Windows
30 drumsets
500MB of samples
400 drumset components
AI engine loads new editable loops (2,500 available)Find out more at Melda Production.
Manda Audio MT Power Drum Kit 2It was all getting a little bit too electronic around here, so how about a piece of freeware to rock your world? This will still shake your cones like any TR drum machine, though, because MT Power Drum Kit 2 is all about power sounds, albeit from a pop, rock or metal perspective. You get plenty of kit sounds and groove, fill and rhythm MIDI files to get you up and running. It’s a great real and acoustic option if your world is to machine led.
Features:Compatibility: macOS and Windows
32/64-bit
Number of voices: 13
1000s of assorted rhythms
In-built compresser
Easy-to-use Composer tool
DAW-like track dashboard
MIDI capabilityFind out more at Power Drum Kit.
Jamstix 4 Free
Jamstix 4 Free. Image: Press
This lite version of Rayzoon’s drum modelling instrument has no restrictions that will slow you down – just a smaller content set than the paid version. In VST and AAX formats for Windows only, it has 8 drummers and 21 style models as well as 200 acoustic drum samples. Focusing on the feel and style of a real drummer, it provides 3D models of real drums that sound great when programmed by MIDI or played by hand.
Features:VST for Windows
Onboard sequencer
Onboard FX
200 drum samples
Can be upgraded to the full version with all contentFind out more at Rayzoon.
Speedrum Lite
Speedrum Lite. Image: Press
This cool MPC-style sampler instrument comes for macOS, Windows and Linux. Designed to be quick and easy to use with a fast workflow, it provides 16 MPC-style pads onto which you can drag and drop samples, plus swap samples between pads.
There are a couple of filters and mono or poly voice modes, and flexible pad behaviours, including cut and cancel for more advanced performance styles. Edit waveforms inside the plugin and route each pad to one of 16 outputs if required.
Speedrum Lite has support for all major audio formats so you don’t even have to convert files first – just get making beats and loops! Also check out Transperc by the same developer, a transient shaper that pairs well with the instrument.
Features:16 MPC-style pads
Supports multiple audio file formats
Onboard sample waveform editing
Cut and choke groups for pads
Multiple audio output routingFind out more at Apisonic Audio.
Triaz Player
Triaz Player. Image: Press
Triaz Player by Wave Alchemy is a surprisingly fully-featured free version of Triaz, a sample player plugin for macOS and PC. It comes with 4,000 samples and 200 presets and lets you tweak sounds with filters, envelopes, LFOs and other effects. You can import expansion packs, and though some features of the full instrument are disabled in this free version, you are able to export beats by dragging and dropping audio stems, mixes, one-shots or MIDI right into your DAW. While the full version offers more content, this free one has a ton of cool stuff to get you started.
Features:4,000 samples
200 presets
Mac or PC plugin
Sound tweaking
Drag and drop from plugin to DAWFind out more at Wave Alchemy.
BFD Player
BFD Player. Image: Press
BFD is a legendary “real” drum plugin, and the Player version is completely free! With a slick interface based on the paid version, it runs as a plugin or in standalone mode, and the developers have provided a mixture of professional drum kits sorted into separate elements and grooves to get you up and running, making beats in no time. It also supports expansions, should you want to grow your sound set in future.
Though you can play it manually, BFD Player encourages you to use any of the 340 bundled grooves across the different kits to make a backbone for your tracks. Then, use the built-in mixer to tweak your sound, even routing the drum sounds out individually for more processing with your favourite effects plugins.
FeaturesPlugin or standalone for Mac and PC
340 bundled grooves
Expandable with new packs
Built-in mixer
Kits split by drum elementFind out more at BFD.
For more buyer’s guides, check here. Looking for more freeware? Head this way.
The post Best free plugins 2025: 14 free drum machines that’ll help you make beats faster appeared first on MusicTech.6 of the best freeware drum machines
musictech.comLooking for a good drum machine software? We round up the best freeware drum machines every producer and musician needs right now.
Apple’s ‘Mythic Quest’ is ending with an updated Season 4 finale“Mythic Quest,” the Apple TV+ workplace comedy about the making of a popular online roleplaying game, is ending after four seasons. A new version of the show’s fourth season finale — first aired on March 26, and now the de facto series finale — will premiere on Apple TV+ next week, with a new ending. […]
Apple’s ‘Mythic Quest’ is ending with an updated Season 4 finale | TechCrunch
techcrunch.com“Mythic Quest,” the Apple TV+ workplace comedy about the making of a popular online roleplaying game, is ending after four seasons. A new version of the
Audeze’s LCD-S20 headphones are the most affordable in its LCD series – and pack in its ground-breaking SLAM technologyAudeze has unveiled the most affordable instalment in its LCD series of headphones to date. The LCD-S20 Closed-Back headphones channel the company’s high-end audio quality and SLAM spatial imaging into a much more affordable package, costing just $499.
First introduced for the company’s CRBN2 headphones, Audeze’s SLAM technology – Symmetric Linear Acoustic Modulator – improves the way air pressure is distributed across each diaphragm using precisely-tuned acoustic channels to boost certain frequencies. CRBN2s cost $5,995 – and the LCD-S20 loads in the same technology for much less.READ MORE: Depeche Mode’s Memento Mori tour will live on forever through Depeche Mode: M
The LCD-S20s also boast magnetic ear pads, allowing users to swap out and replace them with ease. As well as offering rich acoustics, the ear cups have reliable noise-cancellation, meaning your listening wont be disturbed by external noise or microphone bleed.
There’s also a detachable single-sided cable, meaning you can switch your wire to either earcup and avoid getting tangled up in the studio.
The headphones also boast the same design as Audeze’s Maxwell line, with a spring-steel headband, forged aluminium and glass-infused nylon components. There’s also the same 90mm planar magnetic drivers, which includes Audeze’s Fluxor magnets, Fazor waveguides, and Uniforce voice coils.
Credit: Audeze
“With the LCD-S20, we’re bringing Audeze’s renowned studio-quality sound to a broader audience without compromising on innovation or performance,” Audeze CEO, Sankar Thiagasamudram, explains. “The integration of our SLAM technology is a leap forward in both audio fidelity and user experience.”
“LCD-S20 is not just an entry point into the Audeze family; it’s a testament to our commitment to making world-class audio accessible to everyone, from budding musicians to seasoned audiophiles,” he adds.
The headphones have also already received praise from audio engineer Marc Urselli. The three time Grammy-Winner has insisted that the LCD-S20s “a game-changer for tracking headphones in the studio”.
LCD-S20 headphones are available now for $499.The post Audeze’s LCD-S20 headphones are the most affordable in its LCD series – and pack in its ground-breaking SLAM technology appeared first on MusicTech.
Audeze's LCD-S20 headphones are the most affordable in its LCD series – and pack in its ground-breaking SLAM technology
musictech.comAudeze's has launched its new LCD-S20 headphones, offering its SLAM audio technology for far less than its existing LCD models.
- in the community space Tools and Plugins
Sound Radix receive Academy Plaque for Auto-Align Post 2 Sound Radix have announced that they are to be honoured with a Scientific and Engineering Award (Academy Plaque) for their popular Auto-Align Post 2 plug-in.
Sound Radix receive Academy Plaque for Auto-Align Post 2
www.soundonsound.comSound Radix have announced that they are to be honoured with a Scientific and Engineering Award (Academy Plaque) for their popular Auto-Align Post 2 plug-in.
a16z backs Base Power in $200M round for home backup batteriesThe money will fund a rapid expansion, including dozens more megawatt-hours of battery storage and plans for a domestic battery factory.
a16z backs Base Power in $200M round for home backup batteries | TechCrunch
techcrunch.comThe money will fund a rapid expansion, including dozens more megawatt-hours of battery storage and plans for a domestic battery factory.
How a Tiny Relay Became a USB Swiss Army KnifeMeet the little board that could: [alcor6502]’s tiny USB relay controller, now evolved into a multifunction marvel. Originally built as a simple USB relay to probe the boundaries of JLCPCB’s production chops, it has become a compact utility belt for any hacker’s desk drawer. Not only has [alcor6502] actually built the thing, he even provided intstructions. If you happened to be at Hackaday in Berlin, you now might even own one, as he handed out twenty of them during his visit. If not, read on and build it yourself.
This thing is not just a relay, and that is what makes it special. Depending on a few solder bridges and minimal components, it shape-shifts into six different tools: a fan controller (both 3- and 4-pin!), servo driver, UART interface, and of course, the classic relay. It even swaps out a crystal oscillator for USB self-sync using STM32F042‘s internal RC – no quartz, less cost, same precision. A dual-purpose BOOT0 button lets you flash firmware and toggle outputs, depending on timing. Clever reuse, just like our mothers taught us.
It’s the kind of design that makes you want to tinker again. Fewer parts. More function. And that little smile when it just works. If this kind of clever compactness excites you too, read [alcor6502]’s build log and instructions here.How a Tiny Relay Became a USB Swiss Army Knife
hackaday.comMeet the little board that could: [alcor6502]’s tiny USB relay controller, now evolved into a multifunction marvel. Originally built as a simple USB relay to probe the boundaries of JLCPCB…
- in the community space Tools and Plugins
Dom Morley launches Multiband.io Multiband.io has been designed to align every stage of the production process and help creators to ensure that everyone involved with a project is working from the same page.
Dom Morley launches Multiband.io
www.soundonsound.comMultiband.io has been designed to align every stage of the production process and help creators to ensure that everyone involved with a project is working from the same page.
- in the community space Music from Within
Music subscriber market shares 2024: Slowdown? What slowdown?Record label streaming revenue growth slowed to 6% in 2024 but there was no such slowdown in subscriber growth. In our just published ‘Music subscriber market shares Q4 2024’ report, we reveal that the 85 million net* new subscribers added in 2024 was only two million less than in 2023, resulting in 818 million subscribers and growth of 12% i.e., around double label revenue growth.
So, just what is going on? How could subscriber and revenue growth become so de-coupled? Normally, the answer for music industry questions like this is ‘it’s complicated’ –but this time it is not. It can be boiled down to two key things: Global South and incentivised growth.
On to those in a bit, but first market shares:
Spotify continues to set the pace: Spotify’s market share (32%) is around where it was in 2015 and has remained relatively stable in all the intervening quarters. That might sound like stasis, but it is anything but. Between 2015 and 2024, the global base of music subscribers grew by more than 850%. So, to maintain market share, Spotify has had to grow at a similar rate. During 2024, Spotify added 28 million subscribers in 2024, that is more than the combined total number of subscribers added by the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th largest DSPs (Tencent, Apple, and Amazon). The simple arithmetic is that when you command a strong market lead, you have to add a lot more subscribers than the rest to maintain your market share. It is easy to take Spotify’s success for granted. Don’t! This is what a highly effective company that retains an obsessive appetite for growth looks like
Tencent Music Entertainment: Even though it operates in China, Tencent is the 2nd largest DSP globally, with 120 million subscribers. What is more, it grew so strongly that it slightly increased global market share in 2024. Though its key competitor NetEase Cloud Music grew even faster and so gained China market share at Tencent’s expense
Apple Music and Amazon Music: Apple and Amazon held onto 3rd and 4th spots respectively, but both had underwhelming 2024s, adding just six million subscribers between them
YouTube making up ground, fast: In percentage terms, YouTube was the fastest growing global DSP in 2024, growing market share and only missing out on knocking Apple off 4th spot by a margin in the low hundreds of thousands. Spotify and YouTube are the ones setting the global pace and though YouTube is far behind Spotify globally, it is the top DSP in a number of key Global South markets, including India
Now, on to why subscriber growth is so much faster than revenue growth:
1 – The Global South
The Global South (by which we mean regions that are not North America and Europe) is now the music industry’s growth engine. Last year we entitled our music forecasts report ‘Rise of the Global South’ and our view was borne out in 2024, with these regions accounting for 78% of all subscribers added in 2024. Let that settle in for a moment: four fifths of all subscriber growth came from outside of Europe and North America. Of course, those two regions still account for the majority of revenues, but as subscriber growth slows in those markets, it is lifting off elsewhere. This is nothing less than a rebalancing of the global music industry.
Which creates a major uncoupling of growth metrics for Western rights holders. Global South markets have lower ARPU and Western repertoire share is low there. So, Western rights holders see a double discount on subscriber value compared to Western markets.
2 – Incentivised growth
In the first phase of streaming growth, ad supported users acted as the key means of converting subscribers. In mature Western markets, most people on free tiers are there because they like free stuff rather than being prospective subscribers. This is why free trials have become the key tool for driving conversion. In saturated Western markets, it seems that these trials are being used liberally to try to squeeze out the last pockets of subscriber growth. In turn, denting ARPU.
Consider the case of the US: According to the RIAA’s figures, subscription revenue grew by 5.3% and ARPU growth was 1.9%. Meanwhile US inflation was 2.9% but the streaming price ‘inflation’ rate was 9.1%. So, a $1 price increase resulted in ARPU decreasing by one percentage point in real terms (ie inflation adjusted).
Foundations for more growth
2024 was a great year for global subscriber growth and was a particularly good year for Spotify, YouTube, Tencent, and NetEase. The divergence between revenues and users is clearly cause for concern, but it is better for the long term to be growing subscribers as once you have them monetised you can start focusing on growing monetisation. Hello supremium.
*All growth figures refer to net additions i.e., the difference between the total number of subscribers one year to another. They do not account for churn. The total (gross) number of subscribers added is significantly higher. The net figure thus refers to the total after churned out subscribers have been removed from the totals.
Music subscriber market shares 2024: Slowdown? What slowdown?
musicindustryblog.wordpress.comRecord label streaming revenue growth slowed to 6% in 2024 but there was no such slowdown in subscriber growth. In our just published ‘Music subscriber market shares Q4 2024’ report, we reveal that…
- in the community space Tools and Plugins
Sonuscore release THE PULSE Sonuscore's latest composition tool draws inspiration from iconic scores such as Tenet, Blade Runner 2049, The Social Network and Stranger Things.
Sonuscore release THE PULSE
www.soundonsound.comSonuscore's latest composition tool draws inspiration from iconic scores such as Tenet, Blade Runner 2049, The Social Network and Stranger Things.
Qobuz is the first streaming platform to have its average payout per stream officially validated – this is its rate and how it achieves itQobuz, the platform for high-resolution music streaming and purchasing, has shared the results of an independent review into its average royalty payout per stream.
The platform is the first of its kind to have its average payout rate per stream officially validated, which it says forms part of its “commitment to fairer compensation for artists”. The review reveals that on average, it pays five times more revenue per user than the market average.READ MORE: The music streaming revolution is here, thanks to these new streaming platforms
In the 2024 fiscal year, Qobuz paid an average of US $0.01873 per stream to labels and publishers. As a press release from the brand clarifies that if a track reaches 1,000 plays on Qobuz, this represents US $18.73 paid to these rights holders, who then pay out to the artists, songwriters and composers, according to the terms of their contracts.
In terms of average revenue per user (ARPU), Qobuz generated an average revenue of US $121.13 per year, where the market average is US $22.38 per year. The platform offers alternative approaches to streaming compared to its industry competitors, by offering an exclusive paid model only (no ad-free tier) to ensure higher compensation, for example.
Qobuz also offers access to uncompressed (lossless) and high-resolution audio quality to justify its premium positioning, and also has a download store where users (not limited to streaming subscribers) can buy albums in Hi-Res and CD quality.Georges Fornay, Deputy CEO at Qobuz, comments, “Although numerous reports highlight our payout rates as among the highest in the industry, no streaming service had officially disclosed its rates until now. Today, we are taking this step for greater transparency.
“Our payout rates are now public. This unprecedented move in our industry is a necessary first step toward promoting a fairer and more sustainable streaming model. Choosing Qobuz means taking concrete action for fairer compensation for all artists and supporting musical diversity, values that our customers cherish.”
Find out more via the official Qobuz website.
The post Qobuz is the first streaming platform to have its average payout per stream officially validated – this is its rate and how it achieves it appeared first on MusicTech.Qobuz is the first streaming platform to have its average payout per stream officially validated – this is its rate and how it achieves it
musictech.comQobuz, the platform for music streaming and purchasing, has shared the results of an independent review into its average payout per stream.
- in the community space Music from Within
Bedroom Pop, Music Creation and ‘More Likes, Fewer Gigs’Is the traditional music career model dead? Learn about Bedroom Pop and how a new generation of artists are building fanbases without leaving their bedrooms.
The post Bedroom Pop, Music Creation and ‘More Likes, Fewer Gigs’ appeared first on Hypebot.Bedroom Pop, Music Creation and 'More Likes, Fewer Gigs'
www.hypebot.comLearn how bedroom pop is transforming the music industry as artists build fanbases without ever leaving their homes.