Black Octopus Sound Contemporary Deep House Black Octopus Sound presents 'Contemporary Deep House' A collection of samples ideal for Deep House, House and a varity of other Bass Music Genres. What's Inside: ... Read More

MIDI 2.0 specifications updated After three years of meetings and prototyping, The MIDI Association and AMEI have released updated specifications that define the architectural foundations for MIDI 2.0.

MNDR on collaboration, the future of music, and the launch of Diamonds on the Splice Discord
We sat down with MNDR (Charli XCX, Flume) to discuss her beginnings, creative process, goals for the Diamonds Splice Discord community, and more.

Rap/Hip-Hop, Trap
Proud of you by Faygoplexine https://explore.publme.com/album/112/proud-of-you

Rap/Hip-Hop, Trap
Hello Kitty by Faygoplexine https://explore.publme.com/album/111/hello-kitty

Valkyrie joins rush with BTC spot ETF application to go with its futures, miners ETFsThe cryptocurrency fund manager is at least the fourth to seek a BTC spot ETF listing in the last week; Fidelity is rumored to be preparing to apply, too.

Film, Pop
Rain Season by Alex Media https://explore.publme.com/album/110/rain-season

Downey’s Dream Cars: Robert Downey Jr. targets EV skeptics in new seriesMarvel retiree Robert Downey Jr. has a new show: Downey’s Dream Cars. It follows the millionaire as he seeks to reconcile two of his hobbies, classic car collecting and climate change mitigation.
The Iron Man actor has led with this sort of juxtaposition before; when he kicked off his climate-focused venture firm Footprint Coalition in 2019, he reportedly contrasted his intentions with a colorful description of himself as a “one-man carbon footprint nightmare colossus.” 
We see more of this in episode one of Downey’s Dream Cars. The series centers on Downey’s plan to work with experts (such as Rich Benoit of Electrified Garage) to retrofit his various classic cars so they can run on lower-emission tech. Yet, the first episode opens with a left-field shot of Downey marching into a U.S. Army helicopter, introducing a stunt that seems at odds with the show’s emphasis on climate change. Out of the gate, Downey acknowledges that this is a bit confusing, saying something to the effect of, wait isn’t this a car show?
It is, and it’s a show that my TechCrunch colleague Kirsten Korosec worked on as a contributing producer. That’s the best part, in my least objective opinion. It’s what originally piqued my interest enough to sit in for a screening at LA’s Petersen Automotive Museum last week. Dear reader, I’m glad I did, because Kirsten (who also plays herself in the show) is a wonderful person and now I get to make this as embarrassing as possible for her. Still, I wasn’t happy with everything I took away from the evening; it left me with the unsettling, but informative realization that I find Dax Shepard, the evening’s co-host, handsome.
Image Credits: Harri Weber for TechCrunch
Life’s sobering moments bring clarity, just like the show itself. The first episode goes to great pains to communicate how electric cars are powerful enough — really, tough enough — to replace their combustion-engine counterparts. In my day-to-day coverage of electric vehicles, I don’t personally spend a lot of time talking about how many Americans simply aren’t sold on EVs. Their wariness limits the potential of lower-emission vehicles to cut down on pollution, so I appreciate the implicit reminder in Downey’s Dream Cars that folks still need convincing, even if the delivery is a little clumsy for me. [Episode one and two spoilers ahead.]
The first vehicle that Downey’s experts overhaul is a 1972 K-10 pickup — a monster of a truck that the actor called the Purple People Eater. The show walks viewers through the delicate, and honestly pretty interesting process of installing a Tesla motor and batteries into the ancient beast, which also gets a wrap, a touchscreen and a new nickname (the Gray Ghost). At the end of the episode, Benoit of Electrified Garage shows off the Ghost’s power by using it to tow a tank at Southern California’s Fort Irwin. The show also goes into the Army’s electrification efforts, but it neglects to mention the military’s outsized carbon footprint.
I learned at the screening that episode two focuses on retrofitting a 1969 Mercedes 280 SE to run on biofuels. According to a press statement, the series goes on to explore solar power, hydrogen fuel cells, electric bikes, sustainable manufacturing and leather alternatives. Throughout, the series strives to bring Downey’s “beloved old cars into the future […] while keeping their souls intact,” per that same press statement. The show also explores the companies that were already doing work in these areas, including Rimac Automobilii and Ecovative.
If you’d like, you can judge the series and the cars for yourself when the first few episodes drop on MAX, née HBO Max, on June 22. I plan to tune in, and i’ll probably do so by borrowing a login from one of my friends.
Downey’s Dream Cars: Robert Downey Jr. targets EV skeptics in new series by Harri Weber originally published on TechCrunch

APA, Artist Group International merge to form Independent Artist GroupThe post-pandemic consolidation in the talent agencies continues with the merger of the Agency for the Performing Arts (APA) and the music touring agency Artist Group International (AGI). The combined. Continue reading
The post APA, Artist Group International merge to form Independent Artist Group appeared first on Hypebot.

The US recorded music industry grew by $500m on a wholesale basis in 2022. The US music publishing industry grew by nearly double that amount.Boosted by CRB result and record performance income, the US music publishing industry flew last year
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Victory at the Juneteenth Celebration at Virginia Avenue Park, CAOne of the great musical highlights in a day the City of Santa Monica set aside for a spirited Juneteenth celebration at Virginia Avenue Park, the 45-minute set by emerging singer/songwriter Victory was an engaging, pitch perfect showcase not only for her angelic soul vocals and artful blend of folk, pop, jazz and gospel sensibilities, but also her unapologetic approach to sharing faith and freedom through music in an intimate, beautiful and warmly inviting way.

If it seemed Victory felt right at home connecting with the crowd a sunny park setting, there’s good reason for that. Long before she worked with Kanye West on his Grammy winning 2019 album Jesus is King and signed to Jay Z’s Roc-Nation label, she and her large family (eight siblings) became prominent buskers on NYC subways and prominent tourist attractions. She joined her brother Abraham and younger sister Angel in the offshoot group Infinity’s Song, which rose to prominence in 2015 after Tori Kelly happened upon them singing Hillsong’s “Oceans” one day in Central Park and joined in. A video of the impromptu performance went viral and currently has 1.2M views on YouTube.  

Dressed stylishly in a bright orange dress and black boots, her cornrows topped by a black French beret, Victory needed only her voice, an acoustic guitar and the solid backing of a bassist and drummer to convey the depth of her higher-minded musical riches. Harkening back to (in the spirit of the occasion) civil rights era Nina Simone, she set with the crowd-pleasing “Feeling Good, introducing the subtleties of her low sultry vocals before amping up the beat with some foot stops on a slowly building, powerfully emotional journey towards wild vocal improvisations and the pumping groove of her rhythm section.

Once she had the audience’s rapt attention, Victory felt free to play the first two of the set’s four original songs, the hopeful, divinely infused “El Shaddai” (the lead single from her new album Glory Hour) and “Just Like In Heaven.” “El Shaddai” (a Hebrew name for God) is a contemplative, prayerful, urban flavored song whose gentle start, ultimately funky groove and ethereal vocal serve as invitations to life our eyes and cast all care aside as we ask God to “rescue us from the tide/On your wings/Lift Us Hight/In the Dark.” Creating something of an improvisational coda, she explained she wrote the song during the pandemic when everyone was focused on fear and dying. She thought instead it was better to meditate on “El Shaddai.”

Likewise, the buoyant “Just Like In Heaven” found Victory praying for divine restoration of everything that’s broken, all while beholding his glory. As it was clearly inspired by The Lord’s Prayer, she wrapped the song with a recitation amidst the added fire of fiercely strumming guitar and deep drumbeats.

Capturing the pervasive joy and freedom that Juneteenth commemorates, Victory tapped into the higher, more gossamer realms of her wide vocal range on a graceful, reverent version of “Lift Every Voice” before tagging her gorgeous, dreamy yet deeply passionate rendition of Paul Simon’s classic “Bridge Over Troubled Water” with a spoken word reminder – for those who have ears, as the Bible says – that like the protagonist in the song, Jesus laid himself down as a sacrifice for us. She extended that traditional Spirit-filled message with a soft spoken yet otherworldly version of “His Eye Is on the Sparrow,” prompting some enthusiastic shout outs from the audience who realized they happened upon a musical church service.

Victory wrapped her uplifting show with two more originals - a heartfelt reminder to “Rejoice” and “let the joy of the Lord be our strength” and an as yet unreleased, folk-flavored, falsetto-driven shout of encouragement and empowerment to her “sisters” that they are truly “More Than Enough.” The singer sees “Rejoice” as the pivot point of Glory Hour where everything starts to get brighter – and this show, coming on a mostly sunny day in the midst of a month of June gloom, not only introduced many people to this incredible multi-faceted artist, but one who shares both her inner truth and her belief in the ultimate truth with unabashed conviction.   

Unison Audio Introduces FREE Lo-Fi Plugin Zen Master
Unison Audio has just launched its first free plugin, and it’s a Lo-Fi one called Zen Master. As a reader, you may be submersed by many questions and doubts. Firstly, is it legit? There’s been a lot of talk about Unison Audio online, and their reputation isn’t perfect, to say the least. You might also [...]
View post: Unison Audio Introduces FREE Lo-Fi Plugin Zen Master

Live Nation, AEG, NACPA file appeal to reverse BMI concert rate victoryLive Nation, AEG, and the North American Concert Promoters Association (NACPA) have filed an appeal to reverse BMI’s March court victory, which set new rates that promoters must pay songwriters. Continue reading
The post Live Nation, AEG, NACPA file appeal to reverse BMI concert rate victory appeared first on Hypebot.

Sacem’s revenues jumped 34% to $1.49bn in 2022. How did that compare to other leading PROs?Sacem paid out €1.056 billion ($1.112 billion) to authors, composers and publishers worldwide in the year, marking a 19% YoY jump
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10 sound design techniques that will change how you sample
From convolution to multi-band effects processing, here are ten timeless sound design techniques that will help you reimagine your samples.