Read Steve Albini’s incredible letter to Nirvana waiving ‘In Utero’ royaltiesWhile Steve Albini shepherded thousands of albums, he preferred being called an engineer rather than a producer. That self-imposed distinction offers a glimpse at the depth of Alnini's character, but his letter to Nirvana took it to another level.....
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Live music marketplace GigPig raises $1.6MLive music marketplace GigPig has added $1.6 million in funding to provide more paid performance opportunities for musicians and a simpler workflow for small venues.,,,,
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Steve Albini got along “just fine for 30-plus years without being contractually bound to anybody”Last week, the music world was shaken by the news of Steve Albini’s passing. The legendary producer, famed for his work with Nirvana, Pixies, and many more, died suddenly aged 61.
Since his passing, the industry has been looking back on the many wise words of Albini during his career, and in a newly reshared interview with NME (originally from 2018), the producer had some interesting takes on record labels and contracts, which were perhaps a little ahead of the curve.

READ MORE: Steve Albini’s 1992 letter to Nirvana: “Paying a royalty to a producer is ethically indefensible…there’s no fucking way I would take that money.”

More artists have been shifting away from traditional recording contracts in recent years, in favour of licensing deals or other ways of remaining somewhat independent.
In Albini’s former interview, he said, “I don’t think we need to concern ourselves too much with the record business, just because the record business is such a trivial aspect in most bands’ careers now. Most bands make their living performing live now, or occasionally lining their music up with other projects like doing film stuff, or sync stuff, or licensing their music for advertising.”
He went on to add, “I’ve long argued against the use of contracts in music – I think they’re counterproductive. They tend to create an adversarial relationship, and they put bands on the defensive. I think they favour the party that has more money and resources, and so they’re no protection for a band. I don’t think contracts are useful.”

Further expanding on his opinions on contractual obligations within music, Albini explained, “I’ve gotten along just fine for 30-plus years without being contractually bound to anybody, for anything.
“I feel like that’s the most flexible, most cooperative way to do things. Let’s say you have a relationship with a record label, and everybody gets along great at the start. If you have a contract that binds you to them, if they start treating you like an employee, or they start treating you poorly, you are still bound to them even though your relationship has changed.”
He continued, “If you don’t have a contract with them, then they’re obliged to keep you happy, or else you leave. If you get along well, and things go well, and everybody’s happy, then it will naturally continue. I feel like that’s the most stable and most dependable kind of relationship – the one that’s based on past success.”
Interestingly, Albini was known to refuse royalties on his recordings, and opted instead for a flat fee when working on an album. Before his passing, he was preparing to tour Shellac’s first album in a decade, To All Trains. He fronted the rock band alongside Bob Weston and Todd Trainer.
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Polyend introduce Tracker+ The latest Tracker boasts a wealth of new features including stereo sampling and playback capabilities, USB audio, eight additional MIDI and sequencer tracks, a collection of new onboard instruments and more.

Antelope Audio’s Zen Quadro is a $599 14-in/10-out audio interface with “unparalleled” sound qualityCalifornia’s Antelope Audio – known for its line of premium studio gear – has released the Zen Quadro, a budget-friendly high-quality audio interface.
Suitable for use in both small and home studios, the Zen Quadro packs in the AD/DA chips from Antelope Audio’s flagship Galaxy range, along with “console-grade” discrete preamps with 75dB gain. The brand also says it’s ideal for use by live and touring artists, streamers, podcasters and others.

READ MORE: “The best-selling tools from Native Instruments, iZotope, and Brainworx”: Native Instruments announces tiered NI 360 subscription platform

The Zen Quadro features a total of 14 in, 10 out channels in a small portable bus-powered unit. Its analogue inputs and outputs are DC-coupled, enabling control of synths via CV (Control Voltage). It brings a new “revolutionary” feature with a secondary independent USB-OTG port, providing playback and recording on two systems simultaneously, cross-routing, and reverse charging if a mobile device is connected.
The interface also allows easy access to direct routing and mixer settings via a colour display, preset recall, and full standalone functionality. There’s 37 analogue-modelled effects on board – including iconic compressors, mic pres, EQs, guitar amps and cabs – with over 50 more available for additional purchase. Up to 48 effects on six separate channels can be loaded simultaneously.
“The Zen Quadro caters to aspiring producers and engineers in home setups or compact studios, providing professional-grade audio quality and versatile features without breaking the bank,” says Antelope Audio.
“Dive deep into sonic exploration with the Zen Quadro’s DC-coupled I/O, real-time monitoring and silent line inputs, allowing budding synth enthusiasts to unleash the full potential of their modular setups, whether in the studio or on stage.”
Take a closer look below:

The Zen Quadro is priced at $599, and is available now. Find out more over at Antelope Audio.
The post Antelope Audio’s Zen Quadro is a $599 14-in/10-out audio interface with “unparalleled” sound quality appeared first on MusicTech.

VSL User Survey 2024 VSL are inviting music creators to participate in an online survey in order to gather information and improve their product range and services.

Best Music Distribution Companies in 2024 – Full Comparison ChartThis is the most comprehensive digital music distribution review comparison between Amuse, AWAL, CD Baby, DistroKid, Ditto Music, LANDR, TuneCore, Songtradr, and more.

Bitcoin trades sideways while TON, RNDR, PEPE and AR flash bullish signsBitcoin price looks stuck in the near term, but TON, RNDR, PEPE and AR could surprise traders by making a strong upside move.

Autochrome For The 2020sFor all intents and purposes, photography here in 2024 is digital. Of course chemical photography still exists, and there are a bunch of us who love it for what it is, but even as we hang up our latest strip of negatives to dry we have to admit that it’s no longer mainstream. Among those enthusiasts who work with conventional black-and-white or dye-coupler colour film are a special breed whose chemistry takes them into more obscure pathways.
Wet-collodion plates for example, or in the case of [Jon Hilty], the Lumière autochrome process. This is a colour photography process from the early years of the twentieth century, employing a layer of red, green, and blue grains above a photosensitive emulsion. Its preparation is notoriously difficult, and he’s lightened the load somewhat with the clever use of CNC machinery to automate some of it.
Pressing the plates via CNC
His web site has the full details of how he prepares and exposes the plates, so perhaps it’s best here to recap how it works. Red, green, and blue dyed potato starch grains are laid uniformly on a glass plate, then dried and pressed to form a random array of tiny RGB filters. The photographic emulsion is laid on top of that, and once it is ready the exposure is made from the glass side do the light passes through the filters.
If the emulsion is then developed using a reversal process as for example a slide would be, the result is a black and white image bearing colour information in that random array, which when viewed has red, green, and blue light from those starch filters passing through it. To the viewer’s eye, this then appears as a colour image.
We can’t help being fascinated by the autochrome process, and while we know we’ll never do it ourselves it’s great to see someone else working with it and producing 21st century plates that look a hundred years old.
While this may be the first time we’ve featured such a deep dive into autochrome, it’s certainly not the first time we’ve looked at alternative photographic chemistries.

IRCB S73-7 Satellite Found After Going Untracked For 25 YearsWhen the United States launched the KH-9 Hexagon spy satellite into orbit atop a Titan IIID rocket in 1974, it brought a calibration target along for the ride: the Infra-Red Calibration Balloon (IRCB) S73-7. This 66 cm (26 inch) diameter inflatable satellite was ejected by the KH-9, but failed to inflate into its intended configuration and became yet another piece of space junk. Initially it was being tracked in the 1970s, but vanished until briefly reappearing in the 1990s. Now it’s popped up again, twenty-five years later.
As noted by [Jonathan McDowell] who tripped over S73-7 in recent debris tracking data, it’s quite possible that it had been tracked before, but hidden in the noise as it is not an easy target to track. Since it’s not a big metallic object with a large radar cross-section, it’s among the more difficult signals to reliably pick out of the noise. As can be seen in [Jonathan]’s debris tracking table, this is hardly a unique situation, with many lost (XO) entries. This always raises the exciting question of whether a piece of debris has had its orbit decayed to where it burned up, ended up colliding with other debris/working satellite or simply has gone dark.
For now we know where S73-7 is, and as long as its orbit remains stable we can predict where it’ll be, but it highlights the difficulty of keeping track of the around 20,000 objects in Earth orbit, with disastrous consequences if we get it wrong.

Women in AI: Rep. Dar’shun Kendrick wants to pass more AI legislationTo give AI-focused women academics and others their well-deserved — and overdue — time in the spotlight, TechCrunch has been publishing a series of interviews focused on remarkable women who’ve contributed to the AI revolution. We’re publishing these pieces throughout the year as the AI boom continues, highlighting key work that often goes unrecognized. Read more profiles here. […]
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Repetito 3: Multi-channel live loop software The latest version of Repetito introduces a new Varispeed mode, and comes packed with features aimed at loop-based live performances. 

SEC, Ripple case nears conclusion, Grayscale withdraws ETF filing, and more: Hodler’s Digest, May 5-11SEC files final response in its case against Ripple, Grayscale withdraws futures ETH ETF filing, and dormant BTC wallet wakes up after 10 years.

Why Apple’s ‘Crush’ ad is so misguidedWelcome to Week in Review: TechCrunch’s newsletter recapping the week’s biggest news. This week Apple unveiled new iPad models at its Let Loose event, including a new 13-inch display for the iPad Air, as well as Tandem OLED and a new M4 chip for the iPad Pro. But its ad for the new iPad Pro […]
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Software Bug Results in Insulin Pump Injuries, Spurs RecallManaging Type 1 diabetes is a high-stakes balancing act — too much or too little insulin is a bad thing, resulting in blood glucose levels that deviate from a narrow range with potentially dire consequences on either side. Many diabetics choose to use an insulin pump to make managing all this easier, but as a recent recall of insulin pump software by the US Food and Drug Administration shows, technology isn’t foolproof.
Thankfully, the recall is very narrow in scope. It’s targeted at users of the Tandem t:slim X2 insulin pump, and specifically the companion application running on iOS devices. The mobile app is intended to run on the user’s phone to monitor and control the pump. The pump itself is a small, rechargeable device that users often keep on their belt or tucked into a pocket that delivers a slow, steady infusion of insulin during the day, plus larger bolus doses to compensate for meals.
The t:slim X2 insulin pump.
But version 2.7 of the t:connect mobile app can crash unexpectedly, and on iOS devices, that can lead to the OS continually relaunching it. Each time it does this, the app tries to reconnect with the pump via Bluetooth, which eventually runs down the battery in the pump. Once the battery is dead, no more insulin can be delivered, potentially leading to a condition called hyperglycemia (“hyper” meaning an excess, “gly” referring to sugar, and “emia” meaning presence in blood — excess sugar in the blood.)
Untreated hyperglycemia can progress to a much more serious state called diabetic ketoacidosis, which can lead to coma and death. Thankfully, nobody has suffered that fate from this bug, but the FDA has received over 200 reports of injuries, hence the recall. Tandem sent out a notice to all affected customers back in March to update their apps, but it’s still possible that some users didn’t get the message.
Apart from the human cost of this bug, there’s a lesson here about software design and unintended consequences. While it intuitively seems like a great idea to automatically relaunch a crashed app, especially one with a critical life-safety function, in hindsight, the better course might have been to just go into a safe mode and alert the user with an alarm. That’s a lesson we’ve learned by exploring space, and it seems to apply here as well.
Images: AdobeStock, Tandem Diabetes