“Investing in local music is more than good sense”: Music tourism pumped £10 billion to the UK economy in 2024, per new reportLive music isn’t just booming – it’s big business. Music tourism generated a staggering £10 billion for the UK economy in 2024, according to UK Music’s Hometown Glory report published today (1 July).
That figure marks a 26% increase from 2023’s £8 billion and comes off the back of blockbuster tours from artists like Taylor Swift, Bruce Springsteen, Charli XCX, Dua Lipa, and Sam Fender.

READ MORE: 93% of UK music fans support £1 ticket levy on large events to help fund grassroots venues

In total, a record-breaking 23.5 million ‘music tourists’ flocked to concerts and festivals across the UK, up 23% from 2023’s 19.2 million. Of those, 21.9 million were domestic visitors, while 1.6 million came from overseas – a sharp 62% increase on the previous year’s numbers.
And it’s not just artists and promoters who benefitted. The report estimates that music tourism supported 72,000 full-time equivalent jobs in the live music sector, up from 62,000 in 2023.
Of the £10 billion generated in 2024, £5.1 billion went directly to ticket sales, travel, food, accommodation, and on-site purchases. The remaining £4.9 billion came from indirect or secondary spending; think additional staffing, security, transport, and supply chains like bars and restaurants.
Notably, the Hometown Glory report also highlights strong public support for live music infrastructure. Half of surveyed adults say they’d attend more concerts if public transport aligned better with gig times, and 69% agree that builders – not venues – should bear the responsibility ‘to make sure noise isn’t a problem’ when building new homes near music venues.
In a statement, UK Music chief executive Tom Kiehl says that “while music generates huge benefits for our local areas, there remain a number of challenges facing our sector such as the rising cost of touring for artists and the threat of closure looming over venues, studios and other music spaces.”
“At a time when government is seeking growth, it is crucial to empower local leaders to make this happen to help boost our artists, creators, venues, studios and music businesses. The Local Music Action Charter, launched in this report, will embolden local actors, particularly in the face of change and disruption, to support sustained growth, and enable those that form part of our local music industries to truly fulfil their potential.”
Councillor Liz Green, Chair of the Local Government Association’s Culture, Tourism and Sport Board, adds that the latest figures “show just how important live music is – not just for our local economies, but for the happiness of our communities.”
“UK Music’s Hometown Glory report is a timely reminder that investing in local music isn’t just good sense – it’s a way to boost pride in place and breathe new life into our high streets. We’re committed to working with local partners to make sure music continues to thrive in every corner of the UK.”
The post “Investing in local music is more than good sense”: Music tourism pumped £10 billion to the UK economy in 2024, per new report appeared first on MusicTech.

“These are not songs coming out of Sabrina Carpenter’s head”: Rick Beato says most modern popstars are just “vehicles” for songs crafted by professional songwritersRick Beato has called out the machinery behind modern pop and the way most popstars today just function as “vehicles” for songs crafted by teams of professional songwriters.
Using Sabrina Carpenter’s latest hit Manchild as an example, the producer and YouTuber explains how most fans don’t realise just how curated the process really is – or how little of the song may actually originate from the artist themselves.

READ MORE: “Labels have found a new way to put artists in a position where they seem to be making a lot of money, but they essentially own nothing”: Rick Beato and Anthony Fantano discuss the impact of Spotify and streaming

“When an artist like Sabrina Carpenter is doing a new record,” says Beato, “she’s presented hundreds of songs to choose from. Or, she will go and ‘write’ with people she had hits with from the last record. Which she did – Amy Allen was one of the writers, and so was Jack Antonoff. And they will write new songs for this thing.”
“Yeah, she might be in the room for some of this stuff. But the fact of the matter is, these same people are all over multiple hit songs.”
According to Beato, hitmakers like Allen and Antonoff are part of a “professional songwriter group of people that write a majority of big hit songs out today that we hear constantly.”
“These things are created by the producers. And then they figure out what the image is going to be for the video, for the record. This stuff is all put together. And when I see people make videos on YouTube where they’re talking about her lyrics – what this Manchild thing means – it’s like ‘it doesn’t mean anything!’”
“They’re not written by these people. They’re no statement,” he says. “All of it is a completely calculated thing.”

While Beato acknowledges that artists like Carpenter may be musically capable – “I know she plays guitar and piano and everything. You can see videos of her doing that” – he remains skeptical of their involvement on the actual records.
“You think she’s playing anything on here? That’s Jack Antonoff playing that, I’m sure. These things are all just programmed. They bring her in, she sings over it, she reads all the lyrics, she might say ‘You know, I wouldn’t say that, I would say this,’ and she gets her songwriting credits on there. The fact of the matter is that these songwriters need artists that are young – let’s be honest about it – that are vehicles for their songs.”
“These are not songs coming out of Sabrina Carpenter’s head,” he continues. “I bet she doesn’t play one note on any of her records.”
At the heart of it, Beato says, is an old truth about the music industry: “This has been going on since the beginning of the music business. In order to get your song cut by a huge star, you have to give a piece of the song. Even if they wrote nothing, and it’s really terrible. Especially when there’s so little money in the business these days as compared to 25 years ago, even.”
The exception, in his view, is Billie Eilish and Finneas – one of the few major acts who not only co-write their music but play the parts too.
“She and her brother write the songs together. Not only do they write them, but he plays all the parts,” says Beato. “They’re one of the very few people.”

The post “These are not songs coming out of Sabrina Carpenter’s head”: Rick Beato says most modern popstars are just “vehicles” for songs crafted by professional songwriters appeared first on MusicTech.

InnerMost47 releases OBSIDIAN Neural Sound Engine, a FREE AI-powered jam partner
OBSIDIAN from InnerMost47 is a free and open-source AI-powered jam partner for macOS and Windows (VST3 plugin). If you’ve read any of my posts on artificial intelligence, you’ll know I approach it with caution. I don’t think AI is inherently bad, and I know we aren’t at the stage of being replaced by robot musicians. [...]
View post: InnerMost47 releases OBSIDIAN Neural Sound Engine, a FREE AI-powered jam partner

Why DIY Live Music Spaces are more important than everEven as streaming dominates music and the music industry, grassroots and DIY live music spaces remain the heart of real music culture. Learn how they build community and launch careers even in an increasingly algorithm-driven world.
The post Why DIY Live Music Spaces are more important than ever appeared first on Hypebot.

Softube and Weiss collaborate on Weiss Exciter Designed for professional mix and mastering engineers, Weiss Exciter uses a proprietary algorithm developed in collaboration between the two companies.

“Nothing changes. I’m still writing new music and doing everything I do”: deadmau5 speaks on selling his catalogueThree months after selling the rights to his entire catalog to Create Music Group, deadmau5 has spoken on the sale.
In a new interview with Billboard Canada, the DJ and producer – real name Joel Zimmerman – shares his reasoning behind the monumental sale, which reportedly netted him a cool $55 million.

READ MORE: Get Massive for £24.50 in Native Instruments’ Summer of Sound sale – yes, we’re serious

“It was time to just let it go,” deadmau5 says. “I’m not so attached to [my catalogue] that I think it would’ve been some huge asset 20 or 30 years down the line.” The sale included all of Zimmerman’s biggest hits, including Strobe and Ghosts ‘n’ Stuff.

 
The sale also included the entire catalogue of Zimmerman’s record label, mau5trap. Since its founding in 2007, a huge number of prominent dance music artists have contributed to its catalogue, including ATTLAS, Matt Lange, Rezz and Excision.
The label remains a space for exciting newcomers, too, including Skellytn, EMSKI and Lamorn.
“I mean, I’m sure they’ll make all their money back and more,” deadmau5 tells Billboard. “But for me, it was just time to reel everything back in, throw some money back into production for the next couple of years, and then start over. So, nothing changes. I’m still writing new music and doing everything I do.”
Zimmerman made the sale to Create Music Group, which reportedly agreed to a joint venture between Zimmerman and the mau5trap artists should they engage in any future plans for previous releases. Under this venture, Create Music Group has also opted to remaster certain staple tracks in addition to building on the brand with new content and partnerships.
Upon the sale in March, Create Music Group CEO Jonathan Strauss said: “Now, as the stewards of deadmau5 and mau5trap’s legendary catalogue, we inherit a legacy that changed music forever. Joel’s influence reaches far beyond sound – his mastery bridges music, gaming, and technology, inspiring a new generation to think bigger. This is more than an acquisition; it’s a responsibility.”
The post “Nothing changes. I’m still writing new music and doing everything I do”: deadmau5 speaks on selling his catalogue appeared first on MusicTech.

How to record vocals on your phone and mix them to perfectionIt’s now common practice for music-makers to capture their creative sparks and ideas with their smartphones. Many voice notes and quick recordings become the guidepost for fully realised records later on — even Skrillex is using an iPhone to capture final vocal takes in his productions.
Your phone may be the only microphone you’ll ever need for your next song, but you might find that the recording itself is full of noise, plosives, and generally feels unfit for a final track. Thankfully, there are a few production techniques you can use to clean up your smartphone recordings and make them sound professional. Let’s get into it.
READ MORE: Clive From Accounts: “Give me a phone and I’ll happily make you tunes all day”
The recording process
I’m recording a single vocal performance straight into my Apple iPhone 13 Pro and mixing it into a track.
I’m using BandLab so I can type the lyrics into the project file, but you can use any recording app on your phone, like Voice Memos on an iPhone. If you decide to record into the Voice Memos app, make sure that the Audio Quality is set to Lossless. You can find this option on your iPhone under Settings > Apps > Voice Memos > Audio Quality.
I’ll be recording in a place that doesn’t cause too many reflections, so I can have more control over the mix. Singing close to my phone’s built-in microphone leads to a cleaner, more focused recording. However, it also generates harsh plosives — the louder moments in my performance are nearly clipping, for example. It’s important to find an ideal distance between your mouth and the phone, which will take some trial and error.
Now that your phone is a handheld microphone, try singing without too much movement so that the microphone doesn’t pick up additional noise.

Exporting, importing
After recording a take I’m happy with, I export the audio file out of BandLab and import it into a new session in Ableton Live 12 — you can use your DAW of choice.
Since I had recorded my performance in free tempo, I’ll switch off the Warp and Snap to Grid functions. If you already have a tempo-locked track you want to pair your vocal with, feel free to keep these features on in your DAW.
Editing and cleaning
Ideally, a vocal recording will be clean so you can manipulate it to fit your song. However, recording with your smartphone, not in a studio, might mean your vocal take will need some cleaning up. Your first goal is to eliminate any hiss, rumbling sounds, excessive sibilance, and mouth clicks from the recording.
Insert a parametric EQ plugin and cut all frequencies below 100Hz — this will quickly address any issues in the sub range. Next, cut and remove silent sections of the recording and insert fades for a seamless edit.
You can also insert large fade-ins to control the volume of the breaths and cut the sibilant and plosive moments into separate clips to reduce their gain.
Next, insert a gate plugin on your chain — I’m using FabFilter Pro-G. After selecting the Smooth Vocal MTK preset, I tweak the threshold, attack, and release parameters.
Aim to minimise environmental sounds while preserving the integrity of your performance. iZotope’s RX Voice De-noise plugin is particularly useful for me. The Dialogue and Surgical settings work best for my recording, but I turn down the reduction amount to establish a gentle denoising balance.
Another iZotope plugin that comes in handy is the RX Mouth De-click. With it, I can clean up most of the undesirable mouth sounds automatically.

Tuning
In my recording, there are a couple of moments where I sounded slightly flat or sharp, so I’ll use the Antares Autotune Pro effect in Auto Mode. I select E minor as the key and turn the Retune Speed down to 50 for subtle tuning. You might want to try a similar pitch correction process if any parts of your performance sound a little off.

Shaping the dynamics and tone
To even out the volume fluctuations in the performance, try applying a double compression strategy.
The first compressor has a fast attack and release setting to keep transients under control. The second compressor is much gentler in comparison, with a built-in de-esser and EQ panel — you can use this to shape the tone.
After adding harmonic excitement with a saturation plugin, Soundtoys Decapitator, insert another EQ to reduce the volume of low and low-mid frequencies.

Adding reverb and delay
Time to create an ethereal space for your vocals to resonate in. By keeping each reverb and delay plugin in separate return channels, you can make low-cut and high-shelf EQ adjustments as needed.
The first time-based effect I’m using is the free reverb plugin, Valhalla Supermassive. Start with the SeaBeams preset but tweak the mix, feedback, and EQ parameters to your liking.

Next up is Soundtoys EchoBoy. Keeping it in default mode, tweak the low-cut, high cut, feedback, and echo time knobs. You should be aiming to add dimension without drawing attention away from the vocal.
To infuse my vocal mix with immediate and short reflections, I choose the Vocal Gloss preset in FabFilter Pro-R.

The last plugin in the chain is Ableton Live’s Hybrid Reverb — you can replicate this step with similar reverbs.
Set the Algorithm to Shimmer and set the Pitch to +12 semitones to hear your vocals reverberate an octave higher than their original pitch. Under Convolution IR, select Textures and Chains, and add some grit with the Vintage mode in Subtle.
By this point, you should barely be able to tell that this vocal performance was recorded with a phone.

 
Learn more music production tips in our MusicTech tutorials. 
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Moby at Cercle Odyssey: The closest I ever came to floating through spaceAs I walked the floors of a pop-up music venue within the LA Convention Center, pristine images of magenta-hued nebulas were projected on all four walls and the ceiling. The legendary recording artist, Moby, and his six-piece band were performing atmospheric electronic music on a stage in the center of the space. And the sound was being emitted evenly from every angle by L-Acoustics’ state-of-the-art L-Series speakers.

READ MORE: In 3 hours, Hans Zimmer Live reminds you why AI won’t replace real musicians

The word “immersive” gets thrown around a lot these days. However, after attending live music events constantly for the past 18 years, Cercle Odyssey was my first live music experience that actually fit that description.
This masterful and legitimate execution was to be expected from Cercle. Over the past decade, the innovative event brand has brought artists to perform among the most iconic and historic places in the world. From a modular synthesizer show in front of the Pyramids of Giza, to an elegant piano concert under the Northern Lights in Finland, and a bangin’ tech house track in the middle of Plaza de España in Sevilla, Spain.
Cercle Odyssey is the touring version of this concept. By building temporary spaces in different cities (so far, Mexico City, Los Angeles, and Paris), Cercle can now invite 5,000 people to be enveloped by beautiful visuals and music.
Image: Press
To best mirror the epic locations of their traditional events, Cercle called upon esteemed director Neels Castillon to capture footage throughout the globe to project at the show. But Cercle’s founder, Derek Barbolla, is clear that the visuals are there to support the sound, and has used L-Acoustics systems since the beginning of Cercle.
“[Cercle Odyssey] is a combination of visuals, lights, and sound, but the most important thing is the sound,” Barbolla told a select few journalists before giving us a tour of the venue.
For Cercle to succeed as a touring concept, the visuals had to go from 3D to 2D. But the expansive nature of its events lives on in the sound presentation. A traditional Cercle event uses standard stereo, but Cercle Odyssey expands to 360 audio.
“How do you recreate an experience of something that’s as beautiful as doing a set in front of the Pyramids in Egypt?” When L-Acoustics’ CEO, Laurent Vassié, poses the question, he remarks on the visuals being projected on all the walls and the ceiling. He also mentions that Cercle is filling the room with curated scents to capture as many senses as possible. But the true 360 aspect of Cercle Odyssey is the audio.
Image: Press
L-Acoustics was fully equipped to create a 360 audio landscape because of its prominent L-ISA (L-Acoustics Immersive Sound Art) system. It’s been used in many different environments, including Janet Jackson’s residency at Resorts World in Las Vegas and Max Cooper’s Immersive Audio Spatial Performance at Polygon Live Festival in London.
“The goal is to bring the idea of spatial audio, or immersive audio, or hyper-real audio to the live event at all scales,” says Scott Sugden, director of product management, solutions, at L-Acoustics.
Moby performed with a band, so Cercle’s engineer took full advantage of the agency provided to him through the spatial mixing software. More than once during the evening, different sonic elements would take sharp turns throughout the system. These moves drew my focus to different areas of the venue, which, due to its completely immersive nature, revealed imagery that I may have missed otherwise.

When it comes to the specific design of the L-ISA system at Cercle Odyssey, it is technically 16.1. All 16 channels are line arrays, the universally adopted speaker configuration that L-Acoustics invented in 1992. In total, 72 speakers are outputting 500,000 watts. There are 12 channels of immersive surround hanging around the perimeter, four main line arrays above the stage facing into the crowd, and a subwoofer unit suspended in the center point above the stage.
To prepare for this unique configuration, Moby’s team visited L-Acoustics’ studio in Los Angeles, where they have the facilities to virtually model exactly how the space will sound in advance. The sessions were vital to the success of the show because, in truth, immersive systems present choices that have never existed in live sound. Seasoned artists like Moby and his team have to completely reimagine what they’ve been doing for decades.
“You see artists’ eyes light up when they see this for the first time — ‘Holy cow, I never thought I could do this,’” Sugden says.
Image: Press
“There’s been a lot of evolutions of technology in the last 30 years. Most of them, the audience would never be aware of. Digital networks of audio. It makes it easier for us working at the show. I don’t think the audience knows the difference,” Sugden says. “I know the audience experienced a difference when the line array came out because it sounded better. Immersive audio, what L-ISA is doing, absolutely, the audience goes, ‘Something is different. Something is better.’”
I certainly knew something was better during Moby’s performance. No matter where I stood within the temporary venue, the audio was clear and even. While in reality, there is no sound in space — if the cosmos did produce natural music like deserts and jungles (two other environments projected during Moby’s set), it wouldn’t come from a singular point. It would surround me just as it did at Cercle Odyssey.
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Calvin Harris refutes claims that his new song Blessings plagiarises a particular 1996 trance track: “So far I’m not hearing it”Calvin Harris has just scored his 45th Top 10 hit in the UK with his new track, Blessings. With its thumping dance beat and bright vocal performance from Clementine Douglas, it’s a summer-ready anthem – and it’s inspired, in part, by Grateful Dead.
In a new Instagram video, the Scottish DJ explains how Blessings’ foundational riff exists thanks to his obsession with Grateful Dead. Last summer, he hunted down the guitars and bass guitars used by the rock group, and he’s been using them to aid his creative process.
“I became obsessed with the Grateful Dead, and I bought this guitar,” he explains, picking up a Martin D-28. “It was [Jerry Garcia]’s favourite guitar, apparently, for rhythm stuff.”

READ MORE: My Forever Studio: TOKiMONSTA nabs a historic synth

In terms of recording, he set up three equally spaced-out mics. “I’ve got the condenser in the middle, and then these two for a nice stereo pair,” he says. “Then I sat in [a] chair, and I recorded!”

He humbly notes that he’s “not the best player, let’s be honest”, and that he “sounds like shit” on guitar, so he instead tends to record “one note at a time”. But he makes up for his lack of guitar skill with energy, re-enacting how he plotted out the song’s rhythm with a “bam, bam, bam!”

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A post shared by Calvin Harris (@calvinharris)

He then digs into the tech side. Drawing up his DAW, Harris shows a “very basic” chain, noting the boosts, highs and smack attack. “Get slapping!” he cries, before hitting play.
The decision to showcase the process behind his new track could be a jab at producer Nick Bracegirdle, who claims that Blessings sounds similar to his 1996 trance track, Offshore.
As Bracegirdle highlights the alleged plagiarism on Logic Pro, he explains: “I am defending my copyright and my intellectual property here guys and I’d like to know what your comments are.”

@nickchicane
Copyright Alert feel free to share the truth & facts laid out here.
♬ original sound – nickchicane

Harris’s response? The DJ wasn’t too pleased. He disproved the claim in a TikTok response, laughingly calling the producer a “stupid bastard”.
In the TikTok, Harris tries to line up the two tracks, pitch-shifting and looping certain parts to find the similarities. “OK, so far I’m not hearing it,” he says as he hunts to find the supposed plagiarism.
Harris even counters Bracegirdle’s claim by pointing out Offshore’s similarities to an even older track. In his opinion, Tangerine Dream’s 1984 track, Love On A Real Train, sounds even more similar to Offshore.

@calvinharris
Response to the people calling me a plagiarist over the last couple of days after that guys video, all the best x
♬ Blessings – Calvin Harris & Clementine Douglas

The post Calvin Harris refutes claims that his new song Blessings plagiarises a particular 1996 trance track: “So far I’m not hearing it” appeared first on MusicTech.

A Portable M4 Mac miniThe Mac mini is the closest to an Apple-based SBC you can get, so it lends itself to unusual portable computers. [Scott Yu-Jan] is back to tackle a portable build using the latest and greatest M4 mini.
[Yu-Jan] walks us through his thought process of how to maximize the portability of the system without all that tedious mucking about with setting up a separate keyboard, monitor, and the mini while on the go. With the more complicated electronics, the monitor risked tipping the keyboard over when attached, particularly since [Yu-Jan] isn’t a fan of batteries for his portables.
By affixing the Mac mini to the side of the keyboard, it makes the whole thing easier to slip into a bag without being overly thick. We get a peek into his iterative process as well when he evaluates the build and decides that the closing of the lid wasn’t what he was hoping for. By adding some TPU rests for the monitor to rest on in the closed position, he says it’s really brought the whole project up a notch. We certainly have had our own projects where one little detail really moves it from sketchy to polished, and we appreciate when makers clue us in on where that happened for them.
You may recognize [Yu-Jan] from our previous coverage of his older portable all-in-one Mac mini and this luggable version where he explains why he doesn’t like laptops. If you like your computers more stationary, how about some G4 iMacs with the newer internals from an M-series mini?

Musician Song Licensing TipsReady to release that cover or remix? Don’t hit upload until you’ve read these 8 musician song licensing tips from Symphonic's recent Easy Song masterclass.
The post Musician Song Licensing Tips appeared first on Hypebot.

"My 16 Years" is a ballad by a young Belarusian singer and streamer Pchёlsh.
Musically, it is a mix of all possible styles, but all of this can be described as pop-rock. It is quite obvious that Pchelsh sings about his life, and this is always interesting to listen to...

https://explore.publme.com/post/48/pchelshs-sixteen-years

#Upcoming #Artist @Pchelsh

Soundtoys SpaceBlender is FREE until May 22
Soundtoys offers the SpaceBlender reverb plugin for free until May 22, 2025. Soundtoys is one of the most generous non-indie developers on the market. I recall them offering the Soundtoys Effect Rack for free during the pandemic. And they provided various premium plugins for free on different occasions. Our reader Wiseman summed it up nicely [...]
View post: Soundtoys SpaceBlender is FREE until May 22

ToneLib releases TL BaxEQ, a FREE classic Baxandall EQ Plugin
ToneLib is back with another freebie after updating popular plugins TL NoiseReducer and TL TubeWarmth late in 2024. The developer’s latest freebie is TL BaxEQ, which pays homage to the late Peter J Baxandall. Peter J. Baxandall developed the Baxandall EQ over seven decades ago, and although successful, he never quite received the credit he [...]
View post: ToneLib releases TL BaxEQ, a FREE classic Baxandall EQ Plugin

‘My interest is purely about what’s right for the artist… who also happens to be my daughter.’Dugi Lipa is the manager (and father) of Dua Lipa, one of the most successful global pop stars of recent years. His own story is pretty incredible in its own right...
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