Songtradr acquires Bandcamp from Fortnite maker Epic GamesNews arrives a year and a half after Epic Games acquired Bandcamp
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Ray-Ban launches Meta Smart Glasses collectionRay-Ban has launched a next-generation collection of smart glasses with Meta Connect, in partnership with EssilorLuxottica.
The new collection builds on the company’s first generation of smart eyewear, with a new design boasting improved features, and, for the first time, also having AI capabilities that have never been used on smart glasses before.

READ MORE: The Roland GAIA 2 has landed – featuring a new hybrid sound engine that combines wavetable and virtual analogue synthesis

The new Ray-Ban glasses enable users to take photos or videos handsfree, and can be even used for livestreams. They also use open-ear audio with new custom designed speakers featuring extended bass, a higher maximum volume and improved directional audio to reduce audio leakage, even in noisy or windy environments. The new-gen glasses have the capacity for double the bass and 50 per cent higher maximum volume than the first generation.
Furthermore, they contain five microphones to support immersive audio recording, which means videos taken on the glasses capture sound exactly how someone wearing them might hear them.
Meanwhile, a new ultra-wide 12MP camera delivers better photo quality and 1080p videos for up to 60 seconds. In addition, with a simple “send photo” voice command, wearers can send photos immediately to friends and family.
The glasses come with a redesigned charging case which holds up to eight charges for a total of 36 hours of use. They are also prescription-lens compatible and more prescription lens options have been made available to meet a variety of customer needs and price points.
In addition, the new design is lighter and slimmer than ever, with a more universal nose fit and water-resistant capabilities.
They will be available to buy from October 17 and are priced at £249.
For more information, head to Ray-Ban.
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Electric Keys Is A FREE Rhodes Piano For Kontakt Player
Fracture Sounds release Electric Keys, a FREE Rhodes Mk1 library for Kontakt Player. Electric Keys is the first release by Fracture Sounds from the Blueprint series, a collection of free sample libraries for Kontakt Player. It is one of the better free libraries for Kontakt we’ve seen in recent times. It’s always great to see [...]
View post: Electric Keys Is A FREE Rhodes Piano For Kontakt Player

Serato DJ Pro 3.1 Beta expands Stems Performance Pad ModeSerato has expanded its stem separation feature in Serato DJ Pro as part of its 3.1 update, which you can now install in its Beta stage.

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The update to the flagship software primarily focuses on bug fixes, but has a few exciting additions.
Most notably, the update expands the Stems Performance Pad Mode, enabling users to isolate stems like vocals, drums, and bass from mixed tracks using official Serato controllers.
Previously, this feature was only accessible on specific dedicated DJ controllers and standalone controllers, like the Pioneer DJ DDJ-FLX4 or RANE ONE. With the new Serato DJ Pro 3.1 beta, Stems Performance Pad Mode is available on popular Serato controllers such as Pioneer DJ’s SP1, Denon DJ S6000, CDJ-2000nxs2, and CDJ-3000 models.
This means you can have a dedicated controller for stems while using traditional HID mode for mixing, giving more tools for seamless mixing to DJs.
Additionally, Serato DJ Pro 3.1 beta includes stability and performance enhancements, minor GUI updates, and improved keylock detection algorithms for Pitch ‘n’ Time when scratching on a motorized platter.
Serato Stems lets you isolate instruments from your music in real time, letting you pick apart the melody, vocals, bass, drums, vocals. It’s a feature that was introduced as part of the Serato DJ Pro 3.0 launch in October 2022. in
Alongside stem separation, it also provides accompanying stem-specific effects – vocal echo, instrumental echo, instrumental braker and drums echo which can help DJs transition between isolated stems in the moment.
Serato, alongside its flagship DJ software, has released a multitude of tools over the years built to help both DJ and producers. UK dance duo Disclosure recently revealed that plugin and standalone tool Serato Sample played a vital role in the creation of their track, Simply Won’t Do.
Serato Sample is designed for slicing and reshaping imported audio. It provides time stretching, pitch identification and adjustment, as well as automatic sample detection. It also utilises a user-friendly cue-point system reminiscent of Serato DJ.
Download the latest version of Serato DJ Pro via serato.com.
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The Loog Piano is a portable, simplified digital piano for beginnersLoog, a brand that specialises in creating small and simplified instruments for young musicians, has launched a digital piano, the Loog Piano, on Kickstarter.

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Sporting a stripped-back, colourful design that’s supposed to be both easy to learn on and inviting to play, the Loog Piano acts as a portable solution for new piano players of all ages, says the brand.

The Loog Piano has full-sized velocity-sensitive keys, built-in speakers, a built-in rechargeable battery. It also has a keen focus on making learning the piano accessible and enjoyable by teaching beginners to play via handy flashcards.
In terms of design, the Loog Piano has certainly got a quirky look and feel to it compared to conventional pianos. It’s a small, compact unit and features a bright red fabric top, wooden volume knob, and responsibly sourced wood for the case.
When it comes to sound quality, the example video doesn’t fully reflect this due to it being captured via the camera’s mic. What we do know, however, is that there is just one style of sound available – Piano – and it has been achieved through sampling and modelling, focusing on “attack, decay, and air in between notes.”
Image supplied by Loog
According to Loog, the Loog Piano also has “piano dynamics” to replicate soft and loud piano sounds. It is, however, missing a sustain pedal input.
Someone who doesn’t need the Loog piano to learn how to play the instrument for the first time is Jordan Rudess. MusicTech were able to sit down with the keyboard and piano player as part of our My Forever Studio podcast in April.
In it, he tells listeners about a ‘Brian Eno trick’ he and Tony Visconti implemented when playing the piano part for David Bowie’s track, Slip Away. This involves using two pianos, one upright and one baby grand, placed close together. The sustain pedal on the upright piano is taped down, and the mics are positioned against the open upright piano to capture its resonance while playing the baby grand, creating a unique sound layer. This technique was used by David Bowie and Tony Visconti during a recording session.
The Loog Piano is priced at $229 for early bird backers on Kickstarter. The retail price is $300.
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Waves MetaFilter Is FREE Until September 30th!
Waves Audio and Black Octopus Sound Offer the MetaFilter ($149 list price, $29 sale price) plugin as a FREE download until September 30, 2023. Waves MetaFilter was offered for free in another limited-time deal in March this year, courtesy of ProducerGrind. This time, Waves Audio teamed up with Black Octopus Sound to provide the plugin [...]
View post: Waves MetaFilter Is FREE Until September 30th!

“You’ve done so many classics”: Pharrell and Timbaland debate who is the better producer in wholesome videoIt’s an age-old argument: who really has produced the best Jay-Z songs? Well, it’s very much still up for debate, it seems. Iconic producers Timbaland and Pharrell Williams have been captured in a video exchange at Swizz Beatz’s birthday party debating over who produced best out of the two.

READ MORE: Grandmaster Flash to host masterclass and Q&A in celebration of 50 years of hip-hop

The video, originally posted to Instagram by Swizz Beatz, at first seems as though each producer is arguing their case that they themselves are better, while it soon becomes apparent it’s the other way round.
“Don’t do this to me!” Shouts Timbaland in the video.
“Are you done?” asks Pharrell. “Dirt Off Your Shoulder. What are we doing? Dirt Off Your Shoulder. Yeah, exactly.”
“I’m still thinking because you’ve done so many,” responds Timbaland, who himself has worked with Justin Timberlake, Missy Elliott, Jay-Z, Drake, Rihanna and Beyoncé.
“Do you know why you stopped?” Pharrell chimes in. “Because you’ve done so many classics, you’re just going through your rolodex right now. The greatest Jay-Z records. Timbaland, the king. Period.” Pharrell says.
“No. Pharrell, the prince.”
“You hear what he said? Do you hear what he said?” Asks Pharell. “He said ‘Pharrell the prince, Timbaland the king’.”

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A post shared by I Still Love H.E.R. (@istillloveher.de)

One comment reads, “Fucking LOVE this!! We need more of THIS & less ego!!” while another fan writes “Two super producers having Black Excellence Dinner Debates over Candlelit Dinners ”. Another writes: “This is the ONLY drunken male back-and-forth, that I am willing to sit and listen to.”
While it’s fair to say Timbaland has slowed down in recent years, 50-year-old Pharrell, besides being appointed as men’s creative director of Louis Vuitton, is apparently making more music as N.E.R.D.
In an interview with Tyler, The Creator for GQ in August, he said on the new material: “They’re big choruses, but you know, out of nowhere, I’ll just come out of nowhere with the three-bar, crazy-nuts chords that go three-bar to four-bar to eight-bar. It’s good bro, it’s good.”
Follow Swizz Beatz on Instagram.
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AI legislation could unintentionally affect cover bands, law firm partner claimsDr Christian Mammen, an intellectual property expert and law firm partner, has said that if legislation is to be put in place to protect artists against AI-generated ‘sound-alike’ voices, this could have an “unintended consequence” on cover bands.

READ MORE: “Sampling led to hip-hop… AI music has the potential to do something similar”, says Holly Herndon

As stated in a recent interview with The Verge, Christian Mammen, an experienced lawyer with over 20 years of expertise in patent, intellectual property, and technology litigation, highlights the current laws surrounding cover bands.
He says that while the music industry has “struck a balance” with tribute bands so that labels and artists cannot sue cover bands as long as the groups don’t claim to be the original artists, this law could be affected if AI legalisation was to be introduced.
“If we change the law in order to restrict AI-generated audio ‘sound-alike’ recordings, we also need to consider whether the change in the law would upset the equilibrium for cover bands – an unintended consequence if the law is overbroad,” Mammen says.
Also in the piece, which explores the potential introduction of laws covering AI-generated voices that mimic other voices, Andrea Gleeson, CEO of TuneCore, says that there needs to be a process where artists have a say in who can use their voices.
“Generative AI that is transparent and very clear in what went into creating that AI art goes a long way, but we also need a process of control where artists have a say about how and who gets their likeness,” she says.
Many artists, streaming platforms and record labels are calling for legislation to protect artists in cases where AI is being used to copy the voices of others, such as Drake and The Weeknd. The Council of Music Makers recently outlined five key principles for AI use they want policymakers to adopt when considering how to regulate AI for use in music. These are:

Music-makers should give consent for AI model training
Protect music-makers’ publicity and personal rights
Share AI-generated music profits fairly
Collaborate with music-makers on revenue sharing
Clearly label AI-generated works and disclose training data sources

Read more about AI’s role in music via musictech.com.
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FMC - Film Music Contest 2023 This years Film Music Contest is now underway, with composers of film, television and video game music invited to register submit their original compositions.

SOS Awards 2024 voting now open! Once again, we need your help in selecting the most outstanding audio products from the past year across a variety of categories.

Best AI Graphic Generators for musicians, album covers, playlists, moreNot everyone is tech/artistically savvy, but luckily this list of online generative AI tools will create album covers, playlists, and marketing graphics with just a few words as a prompt.. Continue reading
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How the vinyl industry weathered pandemic disruptions to emerge stronger than everCOVID-19 hit the vinyl industry as a perfect storm. Making a recording, even at the best of times, demands an intricate and specialised production process. The pandemic introduced shortages of key materials and skyrocketing manufacturing costs that pushed lead times for new vinyl pressings to as long as 12 months.

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Stores shuttered. Global shipping delays kept existing stock off shelves. And, as the disruptions of 2020 stretched into 2022, stakeholders across the industry were left with the uneasy but not unfamiliar feeling that maybe the medium of vinyl truly might not recover this time.
However, if there’s one thing we should have learned over the last few decades, it’s that vinyl doesn’t go down easy. In 2023, the industry has not only weathered the tempest but has seemingly emerged stronger than ever, thanks to a dramatic expansion of production capacity at existing facilities and new pressing plants opening up around the world.
“The current lead times are a lot healthier,” says Anouk Rijnders, project manager of Artone Studio in The Netherlands. “When you have a new album recorded, you don’t want to have to wait a year to get it released. A turnaround time of 12 weeks is much better for the industry.”
DeWolff at Record Industry. Image: Jaap Kroon
Similarly, while some local record stores were forced to close permanently, many more pivoted to online sales. It proved effective in connecting with customers during the lockdowns and pushing through the pandemic slump, says Larry Jaffee co-founder of the annual Making Vinyl conference and author of Record Store Day: The Most Improbable Comeback of the 21st Century.
“The latest sales numbers suggest that consumer demand for vinyl remains strong,” says Jaffee. “New brick-and-mortar outlets have opened on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean since life has returned to normalcy.”
Esher Vollebregt, manager for Record Store Day in the Netherlands, sees a similarly encouraging trend: “Stores are doing really well and not many locations had to shut down. The total number of shops in the Netherlands has remained very stable over the years and vinyl sales are still growing. Fun fact: of the five or six new stores that opened after the pandemic peak, two are run by young girls – 20-year-old Sophie from Artistic Records and 14-year-old Quinty from Q-Records.”
That young people are interested in retaining these local hubs is an important victory for the industry. While online sales may offer convenience for customers, and a financial lifeline for businesses, the unique role that physical record stores hold is hard to replace.
Record Industry vinyl pressing plant. Image: Jaap Kroon
From crate-digging culture to community connection, these spaces are about more than making a purchase. “Record stores are places to get in touch with new music in an accessible way,” says Vollegregt. “They are the main physical meeting point for vinyl enthusiasts and the vinyl culture.”
Record stores are essential in maintaining existing vinyl communities on a local level. But large-scale in-person events have emerged as the best way to excite the wider public and introduce younger generations to the medium.
Jeffrey Smith, VP of marketing at Discogs, says events like the upcoming Haarlem Vinyl Festival in the Netherlands are pivotal in sustaining the culture and growing connections within the diverse communities who celebrate the medium.
“These events provide a space for collectors, fans, artists, sellers, and historians to celebrate their shared passion for music and vinyl,” says Smith. “In essence, they are the beating heart of the vinyl community, igniting connections, nurturing growth, and preserving the enduring appeal of vinyl records for generations to come.”
Featuring an open-air record fair, live performances, listening sessions, and a conference program, Rijinders says multi-day events like the Haarlem Vinyl Festival function as a generational bridge – where people can not only celebrate the medium but exchange knowledge.
Vinyl against the sunlight in the Netherlands
“The great thing about an event like this is that many people, young and old, can get together,” she says. “They can hear new music, share collections and stories, but perhaps also learn things; how to set up their system or the history of classic albums.”
The importance of connecting vinyl to Millennial and Gen-Z demographics is hard to overstate. For the medium to continue its renewed relevance, passion has to be passed down to the next generation. Here, there are many promising signs.
“There’s no better example than Taylor Swift selling nearly one million units of Midnights,” says Jaffee. “Seven of the top 10 US best-selling albums on vinyl in 2022 were artists popular with Gen Z and millennials. That included Harry Styles, Olivia Rodrigo, Kendrick Lamar, and Tyler, the Creator.”
Moving forward, Jaffee says he hopes this trend continues, with labels increasing vinyl releases for current artists with big streaming numbers. However, he also sees opportunities to revisit older albums that missed out on a vinyl release.
“Albums from 1990s artists, released during the CD era’s heyday, are still not available on vinyl,” Jaffee points out. “Let’s not forget the first decade of the vinyl comeback was driven by baby boomers like me who missed spinning on a turntable the beloved albums of our collective youth.”
In a similar manner, Jaffee continues, vinyl releases of classic Gen X and Millennial anthems could drive future growth for the industry by offering an entry point for middle-aged listeners who want a more tangible connection to the albums they’ve loved for years.
Vinyl shot against backdrop in the Netherlands
There are plenty of positive signs and future opportunities for vinyl – but there are still challenges to overcome. Both Jaffee and Rijnders point to the recent surge in production capacity as having potentially negative consequences. “There’s actually too much capacity at the moment,” Rijnders says. “This might lead to lower prices and perhaps even a price war between the smaller pressing plants.”
“The industry appears to be a victim of its success,” agrees Jaffee. “Vinyl record manufacturers must not make the same mistake that CD replicators did in the 1990s and embark in a cutthroat price war to win new business because it’s not sustainable.”
The process of manufacturing vinyl is far from streamlined. There is currently only one company – based in Japan – producing the lacquer needed to make a ‘master’ disc for vinyl pressings. Such bottlenecks in the supply chain leave the industry vulnerable to future disruptions.
Similarly, the machinery needed by pressing plants grows increasingly rare and specialised and there is a growing need to update both the industry’s tools and its materials. “It’s all vintage equipment,” says Jaffee. “Speaking of which, the vinyl industry continues to – and needs to – do its part to help reduce its carbon footprint amid the global warming reality, by developing non-toxic materials that go into the actual composition of a record.”
Overcoming these hurdles offers benefits not only for collectors, store owners, and manufacturers, but for artists as well. Given how financially precarious streaming is for the majority of artists, a thriving vinyl industry may offer an essential alternative source of income.
DeWolff signing their vinyl jacket at Record Industry. Image: Jaap Kroon
“Musicians make far more money from sales of their records than they’ll ever see from streaming royalties,” says Jaffee. “This is even more true for those artists who take records on the road to sell at gigs. They will earn far more profit – as much as a 50 per cent margin per record – when compared to the royalty stake from traditional vinyl sales.”
At the same time, Jaffee acknowledges that vinyl pressing remains a costly proposition when dealing in smaller quantities – something that is likely to be prohibitive for smaller or independent artists.
Decades after its supposed demise, the story of vinyl is one of remarkable resilience. A cat with nine lives, a phoenix from the ashes, Bruce Willis in Die Hard – not one of them can match the staying power of the humble LP.
The entire catalogue of recorded music is readily available at bargain bin prices, and yet people still gravitate to vinyl because it offers something that digital streaming platforms have been unable to replicate.
The vibe of a listening bar, the sense of accomplishment that comes with finding a rare gem, the feeling of owning a music collection rather than renting it via subscription, the personal connections offered by stores and events – these are much-needed counterpoints to the increasingly abstract and passive listening experience offered online.
Vinyl is the musical medium that just won’t quit – and we, in turn, can’t quit vinyl.
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Avid release Pro Tools Sketch Avid have announced the release of Pro Tools Sketch, a new non-linear, clip-based creation window in Pro Tools that is also available as a free iPad app.

NFTs promised to save music; now, they are officially WORTHLESSPromoters of NFTs promised that they would ‘revolutionize the music industry’ and provide a much-needed funding source for musicians. While I never quite drank a full glass of the Kool-Aid,. Continue reading
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Bootlegs, covers, and scammers: inside Slushii’s fight to reclaim digital ownershipIf having a hit viral song is the dream, then seeing your track go viral with someone else’s name on it must be the nightmare. Julian Scanlan had just such an experience.

READ MORE: Tycho’s $160,000 studio collection is flying off Reverb’s shelves

Better known as Slushii, the producers’ anime-inflected dance tunes have made him a favourite in EDM circles since the release of his full-length debut, Out of Light, in 2017.
However, Julian has a second creative outlet – the more ambient and experimental, sapientdream. It was under this moniker that he uploaded a bootlegged remix of BØRNS’ Past Lives, unwittingly kicking off a chain of events that would see the song garner 40 million daily views on YouTube, 140 million cumulative streams on Spotify, and somewhere north of 2 billion views on TikTok.
Quite an achievement for a song Julian says he originally released online for free and then forgot about.
“I initially heard Past Lives through an advert for iPhone X,” he recalls. “They did a campaign where they use just the intro vocoder part.” That minimalist rendition of BØRNS’ mega hit left Julian feeling inspired to make his own version. He eventually uploaded the resulting track as a bootlegged remix during the pandemic, “as a kind of therapy.”
“I kind of went renegade, against my team’s wishes, and leaked the sapientdream music out there,” he admits. “But, it ended up being for the best because somehow, someway, it gained traction on all these platforms.”
Slushii. Image: Jennica Abrams
Crucially, Julian says that while he sampled BØRNS without permission, he uploaded his remix without any intention to monetise it. It was months later that he discovered the track had been monetised, just not by him.
“I started looking on Spotify and I saw that another artist had distributed my remix,” Julian recalls. “When it initially went viral, there were 200,000 unique videos of the song. I was scrolling through YouTube Shorts, and every two or three Shorts was my version of Past Lives.”
Julian was left with deeply conflicted emotions regarding the track’s viral success. On the one hand, his work was being heard and shared on a massive scale; on the other hand, there were worrying legal and ethical implications.
“At that point, I was very afraid,” he says. “I had initially released that remix for free during the pandemic, and then this guy went ahead and just ripped it off of YouTube and distributed it to Spotify; not only breaking BØRNS’ copyright, but also taking my intellectual property. So, it ended up being extra uncool.”
With his remix spreading like wildfire on streaming platforms and social media, Julian began the daunting task of reclaiming copyright over the song. Working with record label, Trap Nation, they began the slow process of matching all versions of the track across the internet and issuing takedown requests.
Slushii. Image: Jennica Abrams
However, that was only the first step. The original bootlegged upload had featured an unauthorised sample of BØRNS’ voice and to legally monetize the track, Julian and Trap Nation produced a new, official cover version of the song.
“I recorded the vocals myself,” he says. “I’ve always had a love for vocoders, so mimicking it only took about an hour while I was packing for a flight.”
After years seeing his remix attributed to other producers and monetized against his wishes, the new version has now been released under both the artist’s Slushii and sapientdream aliases. While the process leading up to this point has been an unusual and complex one, Julian says it has ultimately all been worth it: “I’m over the moon. I feel so vindicated that people can finally see it’s by me – for years, I’ve gone under the radar and it feels good to be appreciated.”
At the same time, Julian hasn’t lost sight of his remix’s origins as a bootleg and has no plans to fight if the song’s original composer comes knocking: “For me, it’s never really been about monetary gain. If Interscope Records comes to us tomorrow and says ‘we want all of the money that you’re getting from the version with BØRNS vocals’ then that’s cool. I’m just happy that the song was able to have a second life.”
Slushii. Image: Jennica Abrams
While Past Lives was released under both of his artistic aliases, moving forward, Julian says he now sees a much firmer line separating the sapientdream and Slushii projects.
“Now, I’m able to differentiate what’s going to be a Slushii song and what’s going to be sapientdream song. Before, it was like playing with a new can of paint – but now I can actually mix the colours.
Fans won’t have to wait long to hear those new colours, as Julian says a new sapientdream album – his fourth – is nearly completed. In addition to that, Julian is currently in the process of founding his own record label – Sonic Dream. “I want to use it as a platform,” he says. “Not only to release my music, but to sign people who are musically like-minded and to create our own wave.”
Moreover, Julian says the label is part of a larger desire to pass along information, pay forward his own success, and nurture young talent. “I understand my role in the scene now, and I’m beginning to find my tribe of producers. I think once the seed is planted, and you bloom, then it’s your responsibility to keep it going for the next generation; I don’t believe in gatekeeping, I believe there’s really room at the top for everybody.”
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