API startup Noname Security nears $500M deal to sell itself to AkamaiAkamai Technologies is in advanced acquisition talks with Noname Security, an API cybersecurity startup, according to a people person familiar with the deal.
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Benn Jordan says “more than half” of music gear owners “aren’t really making music on it”Musician Benn Jordan has estimated that “more than half” of music gear owners don’t use their equipment, but says there’s “no shame in it at all”.

READ MORE: Light as a feather: Nujabes’ lasting impact on hip-hop and electronic music

He made the statement during the latest episode of My Forever Studio, a podcast that invites musicians and producers to dream up their fantasy forever music-making space.
In this episode, Benn Jordan – The Flashbulb musician, music tech journalist, and scientist – tells listeners about a fantasy brutalist, forest-based studio and the high-end gear within it. He also touches upon synth collecting, telling a story about Herbie Hancock and talks about an unusual sound-checking method.
“The people who buy music gear and are keeping the companies afloat, I would say more than half of them are not really making music on it,” he says. “They’re just collecting it and playing with it.
“Even DAWs and software. They just buy the software, they play with the knobs, they listen to it for a second, and there’s no shame in it at all. Everybody pretends they’re making music, but there are a lot of people who just like collecting synths and collecting DAWs and learning. Because they’re not producing music that people are listening to, for some reason they’re not as validated. I think that’s nonsense because it is a hobby one way or another.”
Jordan goes on to further defend collecting music gear for the sake of collecting rather than using it make and publish music: “Collecting synthesizers is a way cooler hobby than, like, a lot of other hobbies that people have. I mean, people have crazy hobbies. People play pickleball. They do all sorts of things that, like… fly fishing. People stand in rivers all day. There are tons of hobbies that are kind of absurd. I think that collecting synthesizers…is one of the less absurd hobbies.
“I wish that that was a little bit less of a secret… ‘Oh, you know what? Actually, I do like collecting synthesizers, and I have no intention of using them in music, and that’s fine.’”
The My Forever Studio podcast is a weekly podcast, created in patnserhip with Audient and now in its sixth season, that challenges music makers to build their dream fantasy forever studio anywhere they want in the universe – or even further afield. The catch? They’re only allowed to name six dream items. There will be drool-worthy gear. There will be juicy stories. There will be… NO BUNDLES!
Listen to the latest episode featuring Benn Jordan below:

Find all episodes on MusicTech.
The post Benn Jordan says “more than half” of music gear owners “aren’t really making music on it” appeared first on MusicTech.

Taylor Swift’s music is back on TikTok, despite no resolution in its dispute with UMGIt’s likely no coincidence that Swift’s music has reappeared on TikTok little more than week before the April 19 release of her new albu
Source

Record labels have some bad news for radio [Bobby Owsinski]Radio is still an important medium, but it is not as popular - particularly with music fans - as it once was. So many record labels are cutting their radio promotion teams.....
The post Record labels have some bad news for radio [Bobby Owsinski] appeared first on Hypebot.

Trent Reznor: “The terrible payout of streaming services has mortally wounded a whole tier of artists”Did you know that Trent Reznor helped to build Apple’s music streaming service? The Nine Inch Nails frontman once worked as an executive for Beats and later at Apple, and it most certainly opened his eyes to the difficulties that face artists trying to make money through streams.
Although Reznor enjoyed working with Apple, he says the experience made him “realise how much I want to be an artist first and foremost”.

READ MORE: “Songwriters are generating record-breaking revenues via streaming services”: Spotify releases its annual Loud & Clear Report

In a new interview with GQ alongside bandmate and friend Atticus Ross, Reznor says that the opportunity was “unique” and “interesting” adding, “The scale of the people that you reach through those platforms, just the global amount of influence those platforms can have was exciting”. But on the other hand, “the political situation I was dropped into was not as exciting.”
Expanding on the latter statement, Reznor goes on to add, “I think the terrible payout of streaming services has mortally wounded a whole tier of artists that make being an artist unsustainable. And it’s great if you’re Drake, and it’s not great if you’re Grizzly Bear.
“And the reality is: Take a look around. We’ve had enough time for the whole ‘All the boats rise’ argument to see they don’t all rise. Those boats rise. These boats don’t. They can’t make money in any means. And I think that’s bad for art.”

He explains, “I thought maybe at Apple there could be influence to pay in a more fair or significant way, because a lot of these services are just a rounding error compared to what comes in elsewhere, unlike Spotify where their whole business is that. But that’s tied to a lot of other political things and label issues, and everyone’s trying to hold onto their little piece of the pie and it is what it is. I also realise, I think that people just want to turn the faucet on and have music come in. They’re not really concerned about all the romantic shit I thought mattered.”
Apple Music’s royalty rate reportedly sits around $0.007 and $0.01 per stream. Artists such as James Blake are currently trying to think of other ways they can generate income – the electronic musician recently launched his own platform called Vault, which allows artists to upload unreleased music, which fans pay a monthly subscription fee set by the artist for.
Over in the States, a Living Wage for Musicians Act was put to US Congress which would compensate artists at a minimum of a penny per stream.
The post Trent Reznor: “The terrible payout of streaming services has mortally wounded a whole tier of artists” appeared first on MusicTech.

“I don’t know how much it sold”: General Levy says he never received royalties for his classic track IncredibleGeneral Levy claims he’s never received any royalties from his classic 1994 jungle track Incredible, which he recorded with M-Beat.
The track was remixed a number of times following its release, with the original track peaking at 39 in the UK Official Singles chart in June ‘94, and a later remix rocketing to eight the following September.

READ MORE: GoFundMe launched to support the uncredited vocalist on DJ Deeon’s Freak Like Me after 28 years of no compensation

According to General Levy, despite the track featuring in “so many different compilations” and having been released across a range of countries around the world, he allegedly has not received “one pound” from the labels it was released through.
Speaking to DJ Mag, he says, “I’ve never received a royalties statement from London Records or from Renk Records… London Records saw the potential [of the independently made track], said, ‘Okay, he’s been a bit naughty, but we’re gonna try and negotiate something.’ So they had a meeting with Renk.
“I wasn’t there, nothing to do with me, I’m just the artist. Renk and London Records made an agreement, a licensing agreement, and they re-released the track.”
Following the success of the newly released mix, General Levy says he went to the labels to discuss royalties, but claims they continually passed on the blame in regards to the alleged missed payments.
“Everytime I talk to Renk, Renk says, ‘Well, I gave London all the paperwork, I’ve given London everything, London’s got everything’. They blame London. You go to London, London blames somebody else, and you end up running around in a circle. So I’ve never been able to get a royalties statement.”
He adds, “I don’t know how much money [it made], I don’t know how much it sold. There’s been so many different compilations, there’s been a release in so many countries around the world, and I’ve never ever received not one pound from that song from the industry.”

The post “I don’t know how much it sold”: General Levy says he never received royalties for his classic track Incredible appeared first on MusicTech.

Penteo 6 now available Penteo Audio Plugins have announced the launch of the latest version of their award-winning upmixing and downmixing plug-in

62M tracks are now paid No Royalties, and millions more are being deletedNew rules demanded by the major labels to devalue or delete so-called "junk tracks" are now in full force at Spotify, Amazon Music, Deezer, and several other music streaming services, according to multiple sources.....
The post 62M tracks are now paid No Royalties, and millions more are being deleted appeared first on Hypebot.

Get FREE LIMITER Plugin By Mastering The Mix — CLICK HERE! 🎁
Instead of making jokes on April 1st, we decided to do something more productive for our readers (thank you so much for supporting BPB!). Mastering The Mix kindly provided 25,000 FREE copies of the LIMITER (€58,95 value) plugin for Bedroom Producers Blog readers, and we will give them away on April Fools’ Day. To get [...]
View post: Get FREE LIMITER Plugin By Mastering The Mix — CLICK HERE! 🎁

How to choose a DAW as a beginner
In this in-depth guide, we break down how to choose a DAW as a beginner that's best for you, covering everything from budget to unique features and more.

Blipblox MPC-style sampler myTRACKS aims to make music production fun for allPlaytime Engineering are continuing to shape the next generation of child prodigies with their Blipblox line.
Specialising in child-friendly instruments for kids three and above, Playtime Engineering’s latest addition to the Blipbox line encourages young people to experiment and unlock their musical potential. The Blipblox myTRACKS swaps out the lunchbox for a groovebox.

READ MORE: NAMM 2022: Playtime Engineering reveals synth and groovestation for kids, grown-up synth fans rejoice

Blipblox myTRACKS embraces a childlike, colourful aesthetic while also capturing the spirit of a hip-hop groovebox. It’s designed to be safe and accessible to anybody, just like a toy, meaning it can be enjoyed by just about any age.
The Blipblox myTRACKS is a total music production studio. There’s a built-in microphone for sampling, two FX processors and a slew of over 50 acoustic, electronic and percussion instrumental sounds to play with. With sound packs also available to download online, creators have ample to work with.
Powered by 25 glowing playpads and two bright purple levers, the myTRACKS is delightfully colourful. Navigating the tool is as intuitive as playing with a toy, the levers allowing users to adjust effects and modulation. There’s also a randomise feature to spur on creativity, allowing users to experiment with new sounds and be inspired by the unpredictable tracks myTRACKS generates.
The journey to creating myTRACKS started off as a fleeting hobby for a Silicon Valley engineer Troy Sheets. With his wife, Kate Sheets, the pair transformed the hobby into a fully fledged business. “Bootstrapping and crowdfunding our business has allowed us the freedom to design and produce our wildly creative line of instruments,” Kate Sheets explains.

“We are tremendously grateful for our supporters who helped fund both the original Blipblox and Blipblox After Dark, and we look forward to introducing more friends to the Blipblox community with the launch of myTRACKS,” she continues.
“Creating music with synthesizers and modern music tech has always felt like play to me,” Troy sheets explains. “By merging the portability, durability, and safety of toys with high-quality and advanced functionality of a legitimate instrument, we’ve created a fun and accessible music-making machine that anyone can play.”
Blipblox myTRACKS’  Kickstarter campaign to support the launch will open on 9th April. The first round of products is expected to be delivered by November 2024.
Reservations are currently open on the BlipBlox website.
The post Blipblox MPC-style sampler myTRACKS aims to make music production fun for all appeared first on MusicTech.

Roland launch GO:KEYS portable keyboards The GO:KEYS instruments take a simple approach to production, but still boast some more advanced features that allow for more involved work as users develop their skills.

How to find vocal harmonies: A step-by-step guide
Explore the qualities that make a vocal harmony effective and learn how to write your own harmonies from scratch.

Oeksound Bloom is now available Bloom promises to take the place of dynamic EQs and multi-band compressors, despite not doing either of those things. 

Basic Music Theory For Music Producers
Music theory can seem daunting for self-taught musicians and producers, particularly when you haven’t had any formal musical education. However, ensuring you have a solid foundational understanding of theory can help you reach new heights of musical creativity. Music theory can help you with your musical projects by helping you understand the basics of melody [...]
View post: Basic Music Theory For Music Producers