"In Times of Dragons" by Tori AmosUniversal/FontanaProducer: Tori Amos

Tori Amos’ 18th album sees the alt-pop veteran in full myth-maker mode, spinning political dread into fire-breathing allegory, where tyrants lurk like serpentine villains and hope flickers stubbornly underneath. It’s a sprawling 76-minute velvet coup that demands total surrender to its intricate, moss-covered melodies and, despite the record’s sheer density and occasional self-indulgence, it impressively navigates that tension between ancient folklore and modern chaos. In essence, it’s shadowy and just unhinged enough to remind us why she remains a high priestess of the avant-garde. Few artists could craft a campfire story for the end of the world that feels quite this essential. 

The post "In Times of Dragons" by Tori Amos first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Go eyes robotaxis and acquisitions after Japan’s biggest IPO of 2026. Here’s why it mattersGo’s IPO — Japan’s biggest so far this year — has done more than provide a much-needed boost to the country’s languishing listing season. It has also supplied the taxi-hailing app with the capital required to address an existential issue: Japan’s shortage of drivers. Go, which went public Tuesday, plans to use the ¥88.6 billion […]

Charles Schwab to enter prediction markets with S&P 500 wagers: WSJThe offering from the financial services company will reportedly only include yes-or-no bets on whether the S&P 500 closes above or below a target price.

FruityAlfred Software Track ManagementTrack Management is an offline audio workstation that turns your own track library into a production resource: database, analysis, stem separation, loop extraction, VST3 processing, BPM matching, mix discovery and export — in one continuous workflow. Import and analyze thousands of tracks locally (BPM, key, beats). The proprietary Loop Finder uses pure DSP — musical beat scoring, zero-crossing snap, bar quantization — to pull the best loops out of any track in your collection. Splice searches their library; Track Management searches yours. Split tracks into drums, bass, other and vocals with intelligent caching, then mix stems across tracks: drums from song A, vocals from song B — with per-stem 5-band EQ and VST3 inserts on every level (per-stem, master bus, single-track). Lock stems to a target BPM with high-quality time-stretching. Record your stem mix live, exactly as you hear it. The Mix Recommender finds compatible tracks by BPM, key, groove and energy. Offline-first: no subscription, no cloud. One-time purchase with lifetime updates. EN, DE, ES, FR, IT. Free unlimited trial. Works on any modern PC; NVIDIA GPU (CUDA) accelerates AI features. Read More

PCBs Straight from the MagazineIt’s never been easier to get a printed circuit board made. In fact, almost every electronics video out on the internet will incessantly remind you of this fact now. But making a custom PCB wasn’t always as straightforward as sending a KiCad file to a board house. Many DIY methods involve harsh chemicals and tedious processes, but did have the potential benefit of taking much less time than waiting on boards to arrive in the mail. [Bettina Neumryr] is demonstrating one of these older methods, called the toner transfer method, using a circuit that was printed directly in an old magazine.
The first part of the toner transfer method is to create an image that can be printed. Since this circuit came from a magazine, it is first scanned in to a computer and imported into GIMP, where it can be scaled to match the size of the components and then sharpened to make a crisp print. With the image ready, it’s time to print the image onto some toner transfer paper, ensuring that the printer in question is a laser printer which actually uses toner. From there, a sheet of blank copper PCB is prepared and then the toner is transferred by heating, in this case using a laminator. After that its etched, removing all of the copper not protected by the toner, and then the toner itself can be removed which leaves behind the copper traces.
For those of you who were around when toner transfer was in vogue, this video might not have much value. But for anyone who can’t use a board manufacturer for whatever reason or is looking for alternatives, a modern video showing the method could be much more useful and have better context for beginners than videos made a decade or more ago now. Some of those older methods include similar processes using inkjet printers instead, but there are more modern DIY methods as well using lasers or CNC machines too.

Two Notes Audio Engineering releases Genome Intro, a FREE amp and FX suite
In tandem with the release of Genome 2.0, Two Notes Audio Engineering has launched a free entry-level version, Genome Intro. Genome Intro is available in AU, VST3, and AAX formats for macOS and Windows. Even as a free offering, Genome Intro is a fairly comprehensive collection, including four amp models, fourteen pedals, five cabinets, and [...]
View post: Two Notes Audio Engineering releases Genome Intro, a FREE amp and FX suite

Akai Pro’s MPC One & MPC Key 37 get G2 upgrade The MPC One G2 and MPC Key 37 G2 both come loaded with a new eight-core processor, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage, and are powered by the company’s latest MPC operating system. 

“Until the major labels go through their lawsuits, there’s no way for artists or labels to fight back”: A massive music dataset is allegedly allowing AI to train on 12 million+ songs without permissionIf you’ve ever believed that your use of AI could go under the radar, think again. While The Atlantic’s AI Watchdog has been around for a while now, it’s currently gaining traction amongst musicians of all shapes and sizes – and the results seem to suggest that nobody is safe from their work being used against their will.
Last year, independent artists began filing lawsuits against Suno and Udio for “trampling” on the rights of smaller creatives. And, if the AI Watchdog’s findings are correct, the problem could be worse than it originally seemed.
Introduced in September 2025, the launch of the AI Watchdog tool found that more than “7.5 million books, 81 million research articles, 15 million YouTube videos, and writing from tens of thousands of movies and television shows” were allegedly all included in data sets used to train AI products.

READ MORE: Is AI seriously in mics now?

Prior to the release of the AI Watchdog tool, The Atlantic was hot on AI’s tail. Writer Alex Reisner in particular covered lots of oddities across the web, from noting AI’s “sneaky” addition to YouTube videos (the option to ‘improve clarity’ seemed to be a way of training AI), to calling out a The Common Crawl Foundation for allegedly “funnelling paywalled articles to AI developers”.
Earlier this week, Reisner discovered that “giant datasets of songs” have been shared within AI-development spaces. “One has 12 million tracks,” the writer claims. “Another has 9 million. The two smaller datasets each have more than 100,000. “The 12-million-track dataset, on its own, would take 91 years to listen to.”
Scarily, Reisner notes that the mass datasets have also already been downloaded “thousands of times”. Apparently, Google is among those who have downloaded one of the smaller datasets, reportedly downloading from the Free Music Archive to train AI models. Stability AI has also revealed it has trained on the Free Music Archive to train its systems.
In light of the new findings, many artists have been sharing their worries over their music being used against their will. Producer DJ Sabrina The Teen DJ in particular has clapped back at anyone calling their music “AI slop”, taking to X to say: “it’s funny how there were no accusations of my music sounding like AI slop until these datasets started getting used to generate slop.”

to everyone who thought my music sounded like ai slop, did you ever think it was because Suno was using a dataset that contained 22 of my songs?
it’s funny how there were no accusations of my music sounding like ai slop until these datasets started getting used to generate slop pic.twitter.com/SerSnaLO46
— DJSabrinaTheTeenDJ (@DJSTTDJ) June 18, 2026

Another X user also searched up Quedeca’s catalogue on AI Watchdog – and found that there were “295 grabs across 8 known data sets from various releases, snippets, videos, and corresponding lyrics from Genius”. In response, the artist could only respond with a bleak note of sarcasm: “Yayyyyy!”
Even smaller breakcore producer sophia_hjkl, who only has around has a combined following of around 10,000 across their X and Instagram accounts, is being looped into the shitstorm. “Suno and Udio [have] used138 of my songs across two of their datasets,” the artist writes. “This is almost my entire catalogue of music.”

the atlantic just published a searchable database of the music used by suno and udio. they used *one hundred and thirty eight* of my songs across two of their datasets. this is almost my entire catalogue of music. it's just about everything i've released from 2017 to 2024. pic.twitter.com/dnudQKY83J
— Sophiaaaahjkl;8901 (@sophia_hjkl) June 18, 2026

Currently, it seems no massive artists have spoken out about the AI Watchdog figures. But producer Vince Valholla, the head of Valholla Records, has posted a damning video on X. “Late last night I found out over 100+ songs from our catalogue were used to train AI models,” the owner says.
“To be honest, until the major labels go through their lawsuits, there’s no way for artists or labels to fight back,” he continues. “They literally scraped the best songs from our catalogue. I’m sick.”

Late last night I found out over 100+ songs from our catalog were used to train AI models. Thanks to The Atlantic, they leaked a database of millions of songs that have been used by the biggest AI music companies like Udio and Suno.
To be honest, until the major labels go… https://t.co/7D0kcVybwS pic.twitter.com/3d2cmei0u9
— Vince Valholla (@VinceValholla) June 19, 2026

Australia’s official music copyright team, APRA AMCOS, has also annoyed that it will be launching an investigation into The Atlantic’s findings. Opening on a list of notable acts – from Nick Cave to Kylie Minogue – a press release entitled “PROOF OF THEFT” condemns AI companies that have allegedly stolen mass datasets for training purposes.
With Australia officially rejecting copyright exception for AI platforms in October, APRA AMCOS isn’t too pleased with the findings. According to the press release, the company will be launching an investigation into the Australian and New Zealong songs that have been compromised. “No permission, no licence, no payment,” the company’s Chief Executive, Dean Ormston, writes. “These are not bargaining chips, they are the life’s work of Australian and New Zealand songwriters.”
Over on Reddit, many fans are frantically trying to find a way of helping their favourite artists from being used in AI training. “I doubt [someone] like [hypercore rapper] Jane Remover would want their shit used as birdfeed for an AI model,” one user writes.
Another user named Scott The Pisces, a small British producer, even notes that his own work is apparently included in some of the datasets. “Found 10 songs of mine on the dataset, and I’m not even famous,” he writes.
The post “Until the major labels go through their lawsuits, there’s no way for artists or labels to fight back”: A massive music dataset is allegedly allowing AI to train on 12 million+ songs without permission appeared first on MusicTech.

From Lionel Richie’s voice trademark bid to the Michael Jackson biopic box-office record… it’s MBW’s Weekly Round-upThe biggest headlines from the past few days...
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Unsurprisingly, the Akai MPC Sample is the best-selling piece of music tech gear on Reverb this monthFew machines are as iconic among music producers and beatmakers as the Akai MPC. Still very much alive and kicking, the series just welcomed its latest models this week, in fact; “Generation 2” versions of the MPC One and MPC Key 37 – both with 4x the processing power of their predecessors.
In the case of the MPC Key 37 G2, in particular, it’s clear producers still have an appetite for retro-inspired aesthetics. So much so that the MPC Sample – the most hyped piece of gear of 2026 – is the best-selling item of music tech gear on Reverb this month, the online music marketplace has revealed. 

A portable hardware sampler combining the retro vibe of the late-‘80s MPC60 with a plethora of modern features, the MPC Sample arrived this year as a direct competitor to existing portable samplers like the Roland SP-404 Mk2, and Teenage Engineering’s EP-133 K.O. II.
Boasting a rechargeable lithium-ion battery with up to five hours of use, the MPC Sample rocks 16 RGB velocity-sensitive pads with polyphonic aftertouch, a 16 Levels button for manipulating sounds, 23 stereo voices of polyphony, eight sound banks, and over 100 included factory kits.
There’s also an Instant Sample Chop mode for slicing up samples, real-time Timestretch and Repitching functions, a legacy MPC parameter fader and four effects engines with 60 effects types. These effects range from a lo-fi mode, a range of filter options and distortion, as well as utilitarian effects like a pumper and limiter.
Additionally, there’s a 2.4-inch LCD screen, plus a three-watt speaker for monitoring your sound, as well as 8GB of internal storage, and 2GB of RAM.
Put simply, the Akai MPC Sample might be the ultimate portable hardware sampler. Loads of your fellow producers and beatmakers seem to think so, so join them and get yours today!
Learn more at Reverb.
The post Unsurprisingly, the Akai MPC Sample is the best-selling piece of music tech gear on Reverb this month appeared first on MusicTech.

Kobito ChordGenius is FREE for a limited time: crate digging for chords
Developer Kobito has made its ChordGenius free for a limited time. We’ve covered a few MIDI Chord generators recently; we’ve had the Bloomer emotional chord engine by The Freequency, UChord by Ultimate MIDI Plugins, and we can now add ChordGenius to the list. Additionally, if you want to add the right bassline to your chord [...]
View post: Kobito ChordGenius is FREE for a limited time: crate digging for chords

Bitwig Studio 6.1 has arrived, with a “radically updated Sampler” – here’s everything you need to knowBitwig has unveiled an update for Bitwig Studio, with features headlined by a “radically updated” Sampler.
Bitwig Studio 6.1 comes just three months after the launch of Bitwig Studio 6, which introduced a number of new automation features and workflow enhancements.
The updated sampler available in 6.1 offers quick vertical slicing with advanced functions, as well as two new play modes – the time-stretching Spectral mode and the granular Fragments mode.

READ MORE: “The most powerful standalone MPC we have ever built at these prices”: Akai launches “generation 2” MPCs with four times the processing power

Now, clicking the Sliced icon within Bitwig Studio instantly converts a sample into slices, which can then be triggered using a MIDI controller or the piano roll. Slices can also be distributed evenly across a sample, or at beat intervals. They can also be placed at onsets or at pitch changes – using the Bitwig sampler’s new automatic pitch detection feature.
There’s also a number of additional new features for the Bitwig sampler, including per-slice looping – which can be used to create complex textures and layers – and per-slice modulation, making any parameter in Sampler behave differently for each slice, “blurring the lines between a sampler and a step sequencer”.

Bitwig Studio 6.1 also introduces Intelligent Pitch Analysis, which aims to speed up the process by which producers match samples to their projects.
“Working with a sample traditionally starts with setting a Root Key, aligning its pitch with the notes on the keyboard. Sampler lets the user manually define a root, but it also revolutionises this process with dynamic pitch analysis. Clicking the orb icon creates an analysis of the sample. Now the entire sample will dynamically match whatever pitch is played,” says Bitwig.
Bitwig Studio 6.1 also now features powerful time-stretching functions, a new expressive Granular Engine, and updated Hardware Emulation and Sample-Based Synthesis modes.
A number of workflow improvements have also been made, including better playhead visualisation, edits that are snapable to onsets, new looping options, a new bell filter and more.
Pricing & availability
Bitwig Studio 6.1 is now in public beta, free to all existing Bitwig Studio, Producer and Essentials users with an active upgrade plan as of 18 June.
Bitwig is also now hosting its Summer Sale, which sees each tier of Bitwig discounted by 25 percent. Find updated prices below:

Bitwig Studio – €399/$399 €299/$299
Bitwig Studio Producer – €149/$149 €199/$199
Bitwig Studio Essentials – €75/$75 €99/$99
Bitwig Connect + Bitwig Studio Producer – €499

Learn more at Bitwig.
The post Bitwig Studio 6.1 has arrived, with a “radically updated Sampler” – here’s everything you need to know appeared first on MusicTech.

Bitwig Studio 6.1 enters beta testing Bitwig Studio 6.1 focuses on the built-in Sampler tool, which has been treated to a significant overhaul and now boasts a whole host of new capabilities. 

Dreeemwave Bassliner: Instant no-AI baselines and exclusive discount
We first covered Bassliner during its open beta stage in late 2024. It’s been a while since then; Bassliner is now a fully fledged commercial plugin, and I’ve been putting it to the test over the last couple of days. What is Bassliner? Bassliner (25% off using the promo code “BPB25”) is a MIDI bassline [...]
View post: Dreeemwave Bassliner: Instant no-AI baselines and exclusive discount

How to write a bassline for different genres (free MIDI and presets included)
Learn how to write a bassline across eight genres—from house and disco to trap and drum and bass—with free MIDI files and Serum presets included.