Superhuman acquires AI detection startup GPTZeroSuperhuman, which also has an AI detection tool as part of Grammarly, has snapped up GPTZero.

FILM - TV - THEATER - GAMES: PROPS AND OPPS FOR JUNE '26PROPS

Mega Ran, the GRAMMY-nominated rapper and educator known for pioneering nerdcore hip-hop and bringing the worlds of videogames and music closer together, returned to Morocco for a second national tour this spring. He was joined by rapper and gaming culture innovator Richie Branson, for a cross-country tour that brought the duo’s unique blend of hip-hop and video game culture to 12 cities. Through a partnership with the American Cultural Association and the American Language Centers, the tour was able to engage students and adults through live shows, workshops, and creative sessions focused on hip-hop fundamentals and game design for beginners. Together, the artists are using music and gaming as vehicles for storytelling, creative expression, and cross-cultural connection. Contact Jeff Moses at management@megaran.com for more information.

A live audience recording of Experiencing the Dream: MLK the Musical recently took place this spring at Greater Emmanuel Temple in Lynwood, California. Written by Kesha L. Ealy and co-written and composed by Marcus S. Mason, the 26-song production featured a 27-piece orchestra and explored the less-public side of the lives of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King from their courtship through the civil rights movement. Rather than focusing solely on King's legacy, the musical takes a look at the fear, love, and personal sacrifice in his private life, inviting audiences to see his story as an unfinished, living call to purpose. For more information, contact Tim Choy at t.choy@dcpublicity.com.

Five-time Emmy-winning composer Jeff Beal brought a newly imagined score for Fritz Lang's landmark 1927 silent film Metropolis to the stage at the Karlín Musical Theatre in Prague this past April. Conducting the Czech National Symphony Orchestra in a live-to-picture performance, Beal wove electronic sound design into the orchestral presentation to create a fully immersive experience for the audience. The event served as a highlight of the 5th Edition of Composers Summit Prague, an international gathering of leading film, television, and video game music composers. Beal drew on the film's themes of wealth inequality, artificial intelligence, and humanity's relationship with technology to connect Lang's vision to the modern age. For further details, contact Rebekah Alperin at ralperin@costacomm.com.

Orchestral Soundtracks, a San Diego-based community orchestra devoted to video game and anime music, teamed up with Scarlet Moon recently to present their free 2026 Spring Concert at Canyon Crest Academy. Founded in 2023 by volunteer musicians from across San Diego County, the group offered free admission on a first-come, first-served basis. The program featured arrangements drawn from popular titles and series including Xenoblade Chronicles, Genshin Impact, Frieren, Arcane and Beastars, among others. San Diego game music labels Scarlet Moon Records and Streaming Arrow Records also participated in the event. The orchestra was created by musicians with a shared passion for soundtrack music and a desire to keep performing together after college. Contact Jayson Napolitano at jayson@scarletmoonpromotions.com for further details.

OPPS

July 30 is the deadline to submit your work (the registration deadline is July 24) to the Indie Film Music Contest, a competition that focuses on musical storytelling without giving consideration to sound quality, so beginners have a fair chance. The winner will be announced September 18. This international competition is open to amateur composers of all ages who will have the chance to get feedback on their work from professionals in the field. Learn more at indiefilmmusiccontest.com.

Though applications for professionals are closed, pre-professional dancers can still video audition until June 15 for the Laguna Dance Summer Stage Festival, August 7-9. Video submissions will be fully reviewed by the Laguna Dance Artistic Team and stand an equal chance as live auditions. Laguna Dance is a nonprofit arts organization that offers world-class dance performances across theaters, film, and public spaces. Apply at lagunadance.org/about.

The Small Plates Choreography Festival, open to both emerging and seasoned choreographers, will accept applications until August 1. The November 13 and 14 event in New York entails a series of two curated dance performances with facilitated dialogue between the artists and audience. Learn more about this unique festival and how to apply by visiting smallplatesdance.com/performances/nyc.

The post FILM - TV - THEATER - GAMES: PROPS AND OPPS FOR JUNE '26 first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

MIDI editing tips for producing better tracks
From quantization to automation, level up your music with these key MIDI editing tips.

Mark Zuckerberg ordered Meta staff to develop moneyless prediction market: NYTThe Meta CEO reportedly plans for the company to launch a prediction market independent of its other apps allowing users to place wagers using a points system rather than money.

Reviving MSN Messenger’s i-Buddy USB AccessorySome of our esteemed readers were not yet out of diapers back in 2013 when Microsoft decided to put MSN Messenger out to pasture, but the memories that this instant messenger’s (IM) interface and notification sounds have left are hard to erase. This also includes some of the weirdest accessories that this IM spawned, such as the USB-connected i-Buddy. Recently [Rayly Retro] got his mittens on a new-in-box one to revive alongside an era-appropriate Windows 7 PC.
What the i-Buddy gets you is the ability to light up the head in seven different colors, twist the torso and flap the butterfly wings, all of which can correspond to certain events in the MSN IM or for more general notifications, as set by software running on the connected PC. Interestingly, this i-Buddy is recognized by Windows as a USB HID, so no special driver is needed. A range of ways to program it exist too, including a .NET-based library from back when it was still being sold for around $20.
Although the MSN Messenger network’s servers have long since been dumped into an e-waste dumpster over at Microsoft HQ, an alternative exists in the form of the Escargot service using which a range of official clients can work again.
In the video it’s demonstrated how to create a user account with the Escargot site and how to patch the messenger – here Window Live Messenger 2009 – before signing in. With that step completed, getting the i-Buddy up and running is next. This took a lot of struggling, since the version of the i-Buddy software that comes with the device didn’t like Windows 7 much. Fortunately an old forum post led to a download of version 2.10, using which the gadget jumped to life, happily lighting up and flapping its wings.

KORG Collection 6 is 50% OFF at Plugin Boutique
Plugin Boutique is offering 50% off KORG Collection 6, dropping the software instrument bundle from $399 to $199 until July 21st. KORG Collection 6 is a huge bundle of official KORG software instruments and effects. It covers A LOT of stuff, including analog classics, digital workstations, physical modeling, pianos, organs, grooveboxes, and effects. If you [...]
View post: KORG Collection 6 is 50% OFF at Plugin Boutique

Undertone Audio’s MPEQ-1 goes virtual Undertone Audio’s MPEQ-1 plug-in is said to capture the sound and flexibility of the real thing, while adding some creative tools that extend its capabilities beyond what was possible in the hardware version.

UMG’s Bravado targets A$AP Rocky merch bootleggers on ‘Don’t Be Dumb’ tour with trademark suit, seizure orderA trademark infringement complaint was filed on Thursday June 11
Source

Karanyi Sounds Cloudmax 3Cloudmax 3 turns any audio into rhythmic patterns, harmonic layers, or musical textures. Cloudmax 3 is not a reverb and not a straight granular tool. It pairs a granular texture engine with a tuned modal resonator — so you get both the smear and a musical body underneath it. If you've tried to get this sound with reverb + granular + EQ chained together, you'll understand what's different in 30 seconds of demo. Vocals Make vocals huge. Smear a single take into a wall of breath. Cloud Models stack grains under the dry signal, dual reverb pushes it into the room. Guitars Add depth to guitars. Slide a granular tail under a clean DI. Resonator adds body, motion modulates the air around it. Percussion Build crazy rhythmic FX. Tempo-synced grains chop loops into new patterns. Texture Pitch Modes lock everything in key. Foley & Sound Design Ambiences from anything. Drop in a field recording, footstep, or breath. Cloudmax 3 stretches it into a cinematic bed. Read More

James Blake is frustrated with the “fake” music industry : “If you’re an artist…You’re probably doing better than you think”James Blake has vented his frustrations about the music industry in 2026, noting how today’s artists are contending with bot farms and promotion tactics that are fuelled by financial incentives.
In his Instagram Story, Blake spotlights comment sections filled with bots, AI slop, and an entire system that is “faked”. Blake also believes many music critics (but not all) are now driven by financial backing from labels, and has since clarified that he feels bad for those who are underpaid and are being replaced by these figures.

READ MORE: “If you’re a musician and you support this degenerate shit, you’re disgusting”: SZA calls out the “vultures” training AI on tracks without permission

In his story, he writes, “Can’t trust a review because blogs/mags stopped making money so journalists now get paid off by labels. Can’t trust a comment section cause it’s full of fake fan accounts saying ‘omg their voice’ to create bandwagon effect. Can’t trust YouTube numbers because labels buy them.
“Can’t trust streaming numbers because labels pay for bot farms to drive discovery. Can’t even trust that a song was made by human beings. If you’re an artist, remember that in 2026 there’s not a single part of the system that isn’t faked. You’re probably doing better than you think.”
In the comment section, he goes on to add: “Just to be clear, I didn’t say *all journalists* – there are of course journalists who are not paid off or given perks for their critiques. Sadly they are becoming rarer and it has cheapened the craft (that I respect) for everyone else. It has also cast doubt upon the work being reviewed, which is a shame.
“This is obviously not a particularly new thing. In entertainment, and media at large, this has always existed. It has just become far more prevalent with the algorithms and bots making it easier to sway the public.”
He concludes, “I feel bad for the increasingly underpaid critics and journalists with integrity, that they’re dragged into it. I have come up alongside many of you and respect your work and dedication. But I’m watching you be replaced one by one for figures who will say what is asked of them.”

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Blake often speaks out against modern music industry struggles, including low royalty rates from streaming services and how artists lack ownership of fan data, meaning they don’t know how to directly reach out to those who support them. In 2024, he launched his own streaming platform, Vault.
Find out more about James Blake or view his full list of tour dates via the official James Blake website.
The post James Blake is frustrated with the “fake” music industry : “If you’re an artist…You’re probably doing better than you think” appeared first on MusicTech.

DNA Track Purifier is a FREE Trackspacer-style plugin for Windows
Mike Sorrentino has released DNA Track Purifier, a free Trackspacer-style sidechain dynamic processor designed to reduce frequency masking between competing tracks. Mike is a musician, composer, producer, and solo developer from Rome, Italy. DNA Track Purifier is his first software release, and it comes as a free plugin with an optional paid PRO version. The [...]
View post: DNA Track Purifier is a FREE Trackspacer-style plugin for Windows

Minimal Audio launch Memory Rites Minimal Audio's latest Current expansion kits the soft synth out with an array of new sounds, and launches alongside a new plug-in that provides users who don’t own Current with access to the sounds in its individual expansion packs. 

Orra Audio releases Orra Pump, a FREE tempo-synced modulation filter
Orra Audio has released Orra Pump, a free (pay-what-you-can) tempo-synced modulation filter for macOS and Windows. David from Orra Audio reached out to let me know about the new release, and I was very happy to see another freebie from their team. We covered Orra Audio’s Tone Zone in April, and that one got a [...]
View post: Orra Audio releases Orra Pump, a FREE tempo-synced modulation filter

Tributes pour in for Clive Davis, the music executive behind Whitney Houston, Bruce Springsteen and others, after he dies at 94Music executive and record producer Clive Davis has passed away at 94, his family have confirmed.
Davis founded Arista Records, and helped to shape the music careers of Whitney Houston, Bruce Springsteen, Aretha Franklin, Christina Aguilera, and many others. He had recently been in hospital due to respiratory problems and was recovering at his home in Manhattan, New York, where he passed away surrounded by loved ones.
In a statement shared by his family (via the BBC), they say, “To the world, our father was the iconic music legend whose vision, instincts, and relentless pursuit of excellence shaped the soundtrack of countless lives. He discovered, mentored, and championed the greatest artists in modern music history, leaving an indelible mark on culture that will endure for generations.”
They add, “To his family, Clive was Dad and Granddaddy, the steady presence at the centre of our lives, the source of wisdom, strength, encouragement, and unconditional love.”

Born in Brooklyn in 1932, Davis spent seven decades working in music, and was active within the industry until his death. Davis received a full scholarship to study at Harvard Law. He had no prior knowledge of the music industry when he joined Columbia Records at the age of 28, and took night classes to learn about copyright law, contracts and litigation.
Davis was promoted to vice-president of the record label in 1965 and eventually became president. He signed artists such as Santana, Aerosmith, Pink Floyd and more. He was played by Stanley Tucci in the Whitney Houston biopic, I Wanna Dance With Somebody, and also worked as one of its producers. He earned five Grammy Awards across his career, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer in 2000.
A number of musicians and industry figures who worked with Davis throughout his long career have paid tribute online. Springsteen writes on his website, “Over here on E Street, we mourn the death of the great record man and close friend Clive Davis. At 22 years old, he changed my life when he signed me to Columbia Records. He treated me with the same respect and kindness as a 22-year-old nobody as he did after all my success. A great man. All our prayers and love.”

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Santana states, (via Variety), “Clive Davis was a visionary. He could hear the intangible before anyone else could see it. He believed in Santana from the beginning, and years later he believed in us again. That kind of faith is a beautiful blessing, and I will always be grateful.
“Clive understood that music is more than entertainment. Music is a healing force. It brings people together beyond fear, beyond separation, beyond borders. He dedicated his life to championing artists and helping them share their gifts with the world… I thank Clive for his friendship, his trust, and his belief in Santana.”
Billy Joel states, “Clive Davis convinced me to sign with Columbia Records many years ago. He recognised the talent of great musicians and understood the power of contemporary music.
“I will always be grateful to Clive for his recognition of the critical importance of songwriting. He undoubtedly enhanced the stature of the music industry during his tenure as president of Columbia Records.”
The post Tributes pour in for Clive Davis, the music executive behind Whitney Houston, Bruce Springsteen and others, after he dies at 94 appeared first on MusicTech.

Is Oeksound’s Soothe3 the most transparent resonance suppressor yet?£199 / £45 upgrade / rent-to own available, oeksound.com
I reviewed Soothe2 in 2020. At the time, it was the undisputed champion of resonance suppression plugins. But since then, there’s been a tidal wave of competitors vying for the crown. Not content to rest on its laurels, Oeksound has finally released an update with improved sound, a streamlined interface and unique new features. It may be just enough to keep Soothe at the top of every producer’s essentials.

READ MORE: Imagine Plugins is changing who gets to make plugins

Soothe is the perfect tool to reach for when you’re wanting to tame multiple unwanted resonances. Although you could potentially notch these out using a standard EQ, it would be incredibly time consuming, whereas Soothe reacts dynamically in real-time to remove these out as they appear. The plugin window has had a re-jig since version 2, but it won’t take long to readjust if you’re upgrading. The separate controls for Sharpness and Selectivity have been simplified to a single Detail dial which you turn up if you want to target narrow notches, or down to make broader reductions.
Other controls, like Attack and Release have been made more prominent, and the stereo section that lets you switch between and edit the Left/Right and M/S balance has been moved to a collapsible sidebar. It’s here that we find the Tilt section, which is one of Soothe3’s new features. This lets you increase or decrease the Detail, Attack and Release amounts in the upper or lower portions of the spectrum. This is a welcome addition as it gives you more flexibility to target something like a kick drum more broadly, whilst narrowing in on sharp cymbal resonances within the same instance. That said, it would be even better if you could control the Detail amount via each node instead, which is something you can do with Baby Audio’s Smooth Operator Pro. Technically, the more you boost a node, the narrower the cuts become, but we find the results relatively negligible in practice. In fairness, the Tilt controls are effective for most tasks.

The sidebar also includes a new Max Cut control that raises a line to set the maximum amount of reduction Soothe is allowed to make. This is useful to drive the processing harder without any massive cuts from rogue frequencies.
The largest part of the interface provides a live visual of the suppressed frequencies. I’m not sure what tweaks have been made to the ballistics, but it feels smoother and easier to read than its predecessor. Here you can double-click to add up to eight nodes, with eight shapes including a new tilt and bandpass. I’m especially happy about the bandpass as it means you have a much quicker way to focus on a small region whereas before, you had to use a combination of low-cut and high-cut.
There are Soft and Hard modes, as before. Soft is the mode that most will use as it has an adaptive threshold that reacts to the relative levels of resonances, and works well with more dynamic sources. Hard mode has a fixed threshold and is used for more aggressive control, or when using the plugin to sidechain duck another instrument. Both algorithms have been improved to give a cleaner, more transparent output.
Oeksound Soothe3 Max Cut. Image: Press
To get a better idea of how they sound, I push things to the extreme and compare the delta (removed) signal of Soothe3 with both Soothe2 and Waves Curves Equator. There’s a positive leap in cleanness between Soothe 2 and the Waves, and then a further leap with this new algorithm. On Ultra quality Soothe3 is silky smooth, with an open high end and minimal artefacts. It also has an improved ability to focus on resonances when the Detail control is turned up, which means less damage to the surrounding material. More than the various new features and user interface, this is what really makes the upgrade worthwhile to me. Some engineers complain that these kinds of tools can ruin mixes by making them sound over-processed, but this new algorithm allows you to dig into the signal while keeping things more transparent. Of course, you do still need to use your judgement to make sure you don’t overcook things.
Quality settings have been simplified to just Normal, High and Ultra in version 3, with no separate controls for oversampling. You can engage a separate feature in the settings menu that will always render on Ultra, giving the cleanest and most accurate sound. Also added is the ability to run Soothe3 in both linear phase and low latency mode. Linear phase might give better results if you’re processing in parallel, or provide more stable panning when using unlinked stereo. Oeksound released Soothe Live a few years back to provide an ultra-low-latency option for live sound and tracking, but this new version improves on that even more, with zero samples of latency at base sample rates. This makes it a fantastic option for controlling unpredictable live performances whether on-stage or whilst tracking.
For anyone working in Atmos and surround, the final new feature will be a legitimate game-changer; Soothe can now function in multichannel setups up to 9.1.6. There are various options for grouping and linking channels, and you can assign nodes to only affect certain channels. You also get separate metering and delta controls so you can hone in on problem areas, making Soothe3 a useful tool for taming multichannel masters.
Oeksound Soothe3 controls. Image: Press
If you’re looking for a simple resonance suppressor plugin and you don’t need some of Soothe3’s features such as the super transparent sound, low-latency mode and surround support, then there are cheaper options available such as Baby Audio’s Smooth Operator Pro and Three Body Technology SpecCraft, to name a couple.
Soothe3 isn’t cheap, but it’s a worthwhile investment if you’re serious about audio. Tweaks and new additions have refined an already excellent plugin. The sound quality now keeps up with—and often surpasses—the competition, while the interface is quicker and more pleasurable to work with. It’s definitely worth the upgrade price of £45 for existing users.
Despite a flood of competition, it turns out the real Soothe2 killer ended up being Soothe3.

Key features

Resonance suppression plugin
VST3, AU, AAX (requires iLok account)
Updated algorithms
Transparent Soft mode with adaptive threshold
More aggressive Hard mode with fixed threshold
New Low Latency mode adds zero samples at base sample rates
Streamlined, resizable window with simplified Detail control
Flexible nodes with 8 band shapes
Tilt controls for Detail, Attack and Release
New Linear Phase mode & Max cut parameter
Up to 9.1.6 multichannel support

The post Is Oeksound’s Soothe3 the most transparent resonance suppressor yet? appeared first on MusicTech.