Tom Wolfe and Luftrum release FREE Omnisphere 3 presets for Synth Vault
Tom Wolfe and Luftrum have released Luftrum x Wolfe, a free preset pack for Spectrasonics Omnisphere 3. The release celebrates five years of Tom Wolfe’s Synth Vault, the free monthly preset club that launched in July 2021. To mark the anniversary, Wolfe teamed up with Luftrum on a small but very focused pack of ten [...]
View post: Tom Wolfe and Luftrum release FREE Omnisphere 3 presets for Synth Vault

This mastering membership is designed for producers without access to big budgetsAs streaming services and social media increase the demand for artists to keep putting out new music, Raff Di Renzo, founder of Eleven One One Mastering, has noticed more and more independent artists either skipping the mastering process or accepting lower standards.
To address this trend, Di Renzo is launching a membership model designed to give independent artists who don’t have big budgets increased access to professional mastering services.

READ MORE: Unusable Engineering adds 4 new plugins to its lineup – all designed to make complex production processes simple

“Over the years, I’ve worked with thousands of artists, and one thing has become clear. It’s not the quality of the music that’s the issue. It’s the accessibility of the final stage,” Di Renzo says. “Too many producers are making compromises at mastering because it feels financially out of reach. This was built to change that in a way that is sustainable for everyone involved.”
The membership costs £15 a month with a minimum 12-month commitment, bringing the total to £180. For this price, members get two professional masters done per month with 20% off any additional mastering after that. Di Renzo himself will be available to master as well. After the 12 months, the membership will continue monthly, but can be cancelled at any time. This program is designed specifically for independent artists who are releasing music frequently.
“Independent artists invest significant time, energy, and money into their music, but the final 5%, mastering, is often where compromises happen,” Di Renzo continues. “This initiative is about removing that barrier, not lowering standards.”
Over the last 25 years, Di Renzo has cut his teeth as an artist, label manager, educator, and mastering engineer. He is a sound designer for BandLab Technologies, and he was a lead mentor for the prominent drum & bass label, Hospital Records, from 2021 to 2023.
For more information, head to Eleven One One Mastering.
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Unusable Engineering adds 4 new plugins to its lineup – all designed to make complex production processes simpleUnusable Engineering is anything but, as it launches four new plugins designed to make complex production processes as simple as possible. All of the new VSTs feature a visual guide demonstrating just how every little twist of the knob changes the sound.
The main event in this new drop is Partials and Discrepencies, an eight-voice additive polysynth with up to 128 sine partials per voice. The centerpiece of the interface is a circular graph that contains the sine pattern for each of the eight partials, all controlled by their own additive oscillator.

READ MORE: Tidal won’t remove AI-generated music – it’ll just stop paying those behind it

All eight partials can be stored in slots around the ring of the frame, allowing users to switch between them with ease. While the additive oscillators work to combine the eight voices, the various discrepancy controls make those voices behave against each other in different patterns. For example, increasing the position function changes the start points of the different partials to create a delay effect.

The centerpiece of Binaural Modulator is a room model based on 20x20x20 meters. A fixed listener in the middle demonstrates in real-time how the shifts are affecting the movement of the sound. Users can drag the sound sources up and down or left to right to affect delay or filtering. It works great as an auto pan, but also as a tremolo and chorus.
Geometry Delay also uses a room model with similar draggable functionality. By engaging with delay in a 3D environment, users have more freedom to make slight adjustments to how the delays behave in relation to the source sound.
Geometry Reverb once again calls upon the room model, but this time, the functionality is more familiar to other room-based reverb functions. Adjusting the size and shape of the room will naturally change how the reverb behaves.
Partials and Discrepencies is available for €79, Geometry Delay is €29, and Geometry Reverb and Binaural Modulator are both free. All of them work on macOS and Windows.
For more information, head to Unusable Engineering.
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Applying for Suno’s new Spark artist incubator? Read these terms firstSuno has launched Spark, a new incubator programme designed to help independent artists “bring their music projects to life” through grants, mentorship and marketing support.
On paper, it’s an attractive proposition: Artists with “a creative vision” but limited resources are offered access to funding, industry connections and promotional support while retaining ownership of their music.
In practice, however, Spark comes with a lengthy list of conditions – including mandatory use of Suno, broad promotional rights, a temporary exclusivity clause, and a “Good Vibes Only” non-disparagement policy that prospective applicants may want to read carefully before signing up.

READ MORE: Suno has raised over $400M in its latest funding round – and is now valued at a staggering $5.4B

“Independent artists have always played an outsized role in shaping music and culture,” says Suno. “We want to help create a future where more artists have the opportunity to develop their craft, find their audience, and build sustainable creative careers.”
The AI music company also emphases in its promotional material: “Our role is to support your project, not own it. You maintain full creative control and 100% of your commercial rights.”
Applications are now open to unsigned singers, songwriters and producers aged 18 or over who release music under their own name. Successful applicants will receive a creative grant, additional marketing funding, invitations to writing camps with established artists, and the opportunity to test new Suno features before they’re publicly released.
Now for the small print.
To start, participants are required to create between one and 12 songs using Suno as part of the creative process, publish those tracks on Suno with remixing enabled, and actively promote both the music and the fact it was made with Suno across platforms such as Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.
The agreement also grants Suno permission to use your music, alongside your name and likeness, for marketing and promotional purposes – including in “derivative works” – both during the programme and “thereafter” (which sounds suspiciously like forever).
Applicants must likewise confirm they own or control all rights to the music they submit, including the “master recording, composition and all publishing rights” required for Suno to use the material as part of the programme.
There’s also a 60-day exclusivity clause. After their final Spark release goes live, participants agree not to work in a paid or formal promotional capacity with competing AI music platforms, including Udio, Riffusion, SOUNDRAW, AIVA and ElevenLabs.
Perhaps the most contentious provision, however, is Spark’s “Good Vibes Only” policy. While Suno says it’s intended to foster “mutual respect” and “does not prevent you from speaking honestly about your experience”, the terms also state that participants must not “disparage Spark or its participants”. Violation of that, according to Suno, will be considered a “material breach” that could result in removal from the programme.
Reaction to Spark has been predictably divided. Some artists on the SunoAI subreddit and X have praised the initiative, with one writing, “As someone who only uses Suno to help with my quick demo ideas that I’ve made in my home studio, this is super cool. My only issue is the bad stigma around using AI among my peers and the general public.”
Others, however, were far more sceptical, with much of the criticism centred on Spark’s licensing terms and “Good Vibes Only” clause. One commenter described the programme as a scheme where “aspiring artists can sign their rights away in exchange for absolutely nothing”, while another dismissed it as little more than “cheap advertising”.
TL;DR, If you’re considering applying, it’s worth reading Spark’s terms in full before signing up.

Making it as an independent artist isn't easy. That’s why we’re launching Spark, a new incubator program designed to support the next generation of creators.
Apply today: https://t.co/ik9F5BL2Tw
Spark empowers rising artists with:Project funding & grantsDedicated…
— Suno (@suno) June 25, 2026

Learn more at Suno.
The post Applying for Suno’s new Spark artist incubator? Read these terms first appeared first on MusicTech.

Tidal won’t remove AI-generated music – it’ll just stop paying those behind itIf you’ve generated an AI album and were hoping to cash in on streaming royalties, Tidal has some bad news.
The streaming service has announced a new AI music policy that allows AI-generated tracks onto the platform, but draws a firm line when it comes to monetisation. From 29 June, music it identifies as “wholly AI-generated” will no longer earn royalties or be eligible for direct-to-fan sales.

READ MORE: Why Jack Dorsey’s TIDAL is focusing on building new DJ tools and content in 2025

“Starting today, AI-generated music will not be monetisable,” says the company. “Tidal’s priority is ensuring royalties go to original works directly produced, written, and performed by people. We will therefore not knowingly attribute royalties to music we identify as wholly AI-generated.”
That doesn’t mean AI music is being banned altogether. Tidal says it will continue accepting AI-generated releases, provided they comply with its content standards and distribution agreements. Beginning in mid-July, tracks identified as 100% AI-generated will also receive a dedicated label, with broader tagging planned (“we will expand this tag to content that is substantially AI-generated”) as AI detection technology improves.
The company is also cracking down on what it describes as “fraudulent” AI uploads. Music generated to impersonate artists, mislead listeners, manipulate streaming activity or flood the platform with mass-produced releases may be blocked or removed entirely.
“We will not tolerate AI-generated music that exploits an individual’s or group’s music, name or likeness, deceives listeners, or diminishes the quality of our service,” Tidal states.
The policy also extends to Tidal Upload, the platform’s self-service distribution tool for independent artists. If Tidal determines that an Upload release is wholly AI-generated, it will still be allowed on the service and tagged as such, but it won’t qualify for monetisation or direct-to-fan sales.
The move comes as streaming platforms continue to grapple with an explosion of AI-generated music. Viral acts like The Velvet Sundown have amassed millions of streams across platforms, igniting debate over AI-generated content, artist compensation and whether streaming services are doing enough to distinguish machine-made music from human-created work.
Earlier this month, Deezer launched a free online AI music detector that allows users to check whether their playlists contain AI-generated tracks. The tool is powered by Deezer’s existing AI detection technology, and is compatible with 20 of the most popular music streaming platforms in the market.
More information is available at Tidal.
The post Tidal won’t remove AI-generated music – it’ll just stop paying those behind it appeared first on MusicTech.

LSO St Luke’s unveils state-of-the-art recording studio after multi-million-pound upgradeLSO St Luke’s, the London Symphony Orchestra’s historic home has unveiled a new state-of-the-art recording studio following a multi-million-pound investment, significantly expanding the venue’s capabilities for music production, spatial audio, broadcast, podcasting and filmed content.

READ MORE: MusicTech is giving away over £1,200 of gear. Here’s how to win a complete studio package

At the heart of the upgrade is a bespoke Audio Control Room (ACR), designed to handle everything from full-scale recording sessions to post-production work. The studio is equipped with a Dolby Atmos 7.1.4 reference monitoring system, ATC speakers and an Avid S4 console, while remaining connected to every performance space throughout the building.
Sarah Quinn, Chair of London Symphony Orchestra, says: “The launch of our new Audio Control Room and expanded recording facilities marks an exciting new chapter for LSO St Luke’s. This investment strengthens our ability to support world-class artists and creative teams, while opening up exciting new possibilities for how music, film and broadcast projects are made within this historic space.”
In addition to the new ACR, LSO St Luke’s has also upgraded its Master Control Room (MCR) for high-definition filming, live streaming and broadcast production, while its Clore Rooms have been reconfigured as multi-functional, acoustically controlled spaces supporting rehearsals, creative sessions, recording, production and more.
Acoustic improvements have also been made throughout the venue to provide greater sound isolation without compromising the building’s historic character.
According to Becky Lees, Director of LSO Live, the new facilities are intended to broaden the venue’s appeal beyond orchestral recording.
“These new facilities allow us to open up the space in a new way, welcoming a broader range of creatives alongside our orchestral, community and education work,” she says. “We are excited to support artists, producers, filmmakers and audio professionals of all kinds in accessing everything the venue now has to offer, from recording and production through to broadcast and digital content creation.”
Originally built in 1733 as St Luke’s Church, the venue has served as the London Symphony Orchestra’s music, education and recording home since 2003. Over the years, it has hosted musicians and artists including Elton John, Annie Lennox, Bruce Springsteen, PJ Harvey and Sting.
The post LSO St Luke’s unveils state-of-the-art recording studio after multi-million-pound upgrade appeared first on MusicTech.

The Crow Hill Company release Brackish Pads Bringing together an array of “microtonal, stammering, stuttering, strangulated tones”, Brackish Pads is said to be best suited to heartbreaking, tragic and profound music. 

How Hopeless Records Approaches Influencer and UGC Music MarketingThis week, Ari is joined by Nicole Abea of Hopeless Records to discuss TikTok marketing, fandoms, and building artists today.

The 1965 Rolling Stones Song That Secretly Became "Bitter Sweet Symphony""The Last Time" gave Mick Jagger and Keith Richards their first real hit in 1965. Thirty years later, it secretly powered one of the biggest songs of the 1990s — and the band who borrowed it lost everything.

OpenClaw is finally available on Android and iOSThe free open source agentic program is finally invading your phone.

Bitcoin just $5K away from ‘best investment opportunity’ of bear marketBitcoin's recent selloff brought it within 10% of its realized price — a line that has marked the bottoming zone in Bitcoin's previous bear markets.

Standalone Audio STANDALONE 2.0STANDALONE 2.0 — featuring Keys Mode Plugin host for guitarists and now -> keyboard players STANDALONE is a lightweight AU plugin host for Mac, built for musicians who want to run their amp sims, instrument plugins, and effects without opening a DAW. Version 2.0 is the biggest update yet - headlined by Keys Mode, which brings software instrument support into STANDALONE. Plug in a controller, load your favorite instrument plugins, and play - no DAW required. This release also adds multi-output routing, stereo input support, and preset linking, so guitarists and keyboard players alike get the same fast, focused workflow. Key features: New in 2.0 - KEYS MODE: host your favorite software instrument. New in 2.0 - Multi-output routing: send your signal to multiple outputs. Stereo input support. Preset linking across plugins. Built-in recorder. Looper. Practice Mode with real-time time-stretching - slow down songs without changing pitch. Scores and Charts viewer - keep tabs and charts open alongside your plugins. Chromatic tuner and metronome. Global keyboard shortcuts for hands-free control. Low CPU footprint. Whether you're a guitarist chasing tones through amp sims or a keyboard player triggering virtual instruments, STANDALONE gives you a focused, purpose-built environment for practicing and recording — not a full DAW session. Price: $24.99 Mac OS only for now. Windows in development For more information, visit Get STANDALONE Read More

Retro Gear and the Mystery of Cables Melting Into Cases While in StorageThe phenomenon of cable-shaped indents in the plastic cases of retro systems is one that’s probably painfully familiar to many a collector of such systems. Although in these situations neither side got hot enough to cause any melting – especially while disconnected in storage – it still has that same melted appearance. The real cause here is not heat, but plasticizer migration, as detailed in a recent video by [Run Stop Restored] over on YouTube.
Plasticizers are an additive to many plastics that aim to make it more flexible (‘plastic’), as well as improve other characteristics of the base material, with PVC in particular relying on plasticizers to give it its desired properties for applications where PVC has to be flexible. Here the flexible cable insulation of these devices generally uses PVC, which over time can migrate to other polymers when brought into close contact for extended periods of time.
The – usually ABS – enclosures of e.g. Commodore tape drives as in this video demonstration thus get correspondingly inundated with the same type of plasticizers that ABS is also highly susceptible to. Since in storage the cables tend to be wrapped – tightly – around the device they’re attached to, this results in a solid contact which thus enables this gradual process to work its magic, whether it’s a Commodore datasette or a power supply brick.
Correspondingly the PVC insulation becomes brittle as it loses its plasticizer, with the process sped up by higher environmental temperatures. To prevent this, never wrap a PVC cable around a device, and keep it physically separated from susceptible plastics like ABS as much as reasonably possible. Along with a cool environment this should prevent plasticizer migration from ruining what used to be a pristine case.
This problem is particularly significant for retro gear from the 1980s and thereabouts, before phthalate-free plasticizer alternatives were developed, along with other changes such as more stable formulations that prevent this migration process. Adding a coating can also help, especially for protecting older gear, but flexible PVC in particular should be viewed with suspicion and treated carefully.

In the Studio with PærishThe Members: Mathias Court, vocals, guitar; Frédéric Wah, guitar; Martin Dupraz, bass; Loïc Fouquet, drums

Producer: Will YipAdditional Production and Engineering: Justin BartlettStudio: Memory Music Studios

The Origin: Operating entirely on intuition, Parisian alternative rock outfit Pærish developed their alt-emo sound by surrendering to an internal infrasonic frequency — those comforting, heavy vibrations pulsing deep within, becoming the baseline of a soundtrack destined to be pushed outward. This interior wall of fuzz-buzz soaked guitars and celestial indie rock melodies became their purest musical currency — a profound wealth of sound that demanded to be heard beyond the borders of France.Bypassing the localized currents of L'Hexagone, where Chanson Française and musique urbaine tend to rule the sonic terrain, Pærish refused to remain confined by scenes at odds with their alt-rock artistic vision. Instead, they chose to loosen the tourniquet of their musical surroundings by ensuring their more visceral melodies bled outward — a pursuit that initially pulled them away from the heart of Paris. Guided by an autonomous, unwavering conviction and devotion to shoegaze-rock, the band crossed the English Channel to Glasgow, Scotland, to record their 2016 debut, Semi Finalists, alongside producer Bruce Rintoul, known for his work with VUKOVI and Twin Atlantic. The move marked their first real leap of faith into what often felt like a series of impossible artistic challenges.

It was a trajectory driven entirely by a persistent inner voice that refused to quiet down, a pestering whisper that resurfaced during the final stages of the record’s production. Acting on that instinct, the band reached out on a whim to Will Yip — a producer they had been following from across the Atlantic — to master their inaugural effort. Yip, a Grammy-nominated (and now Grammy-winning) producer known for his genre-defining work with bands like Turnstile and Code Orange unexpectedly replied. What followed was a transatlantic creative connection: a rare working relationship that quickly evolved into a strong artistic friendship. Over the course of their subsequent albums, 2021’s Fixed It All and 2023’s You're in both dreams (and you're scared), the shorthand between the band and Yip deepened, with Yip gradually becoming an invisible fifth member of Pærish.

The Production: For their forthcoming album, Rita, that partnership entered its most mature phase yet. Before reuniting with Yip, the band took time between albums to step back, returning home to France to find the physical and mental space needed to elevate their songwriting and pre-production workflow. Spending long hours at guitarist Freddie Wah’s home studio setup, Pærish systematically unpacked the urgent, heavier guitar tones pulsating within them. In doing so, they uncovered an innate call to build a louder, more aggressive sonic palette packed with infectious, crowd-surfing energy. This revitalized direction brought forth a pit-ready drive that harkened back to the denser, classic foundations of alt-rock — capturing the high-velocity sonic sensations that collide simultaneously across a full live crowd, a feeling they had discovered and craved while touring. This process helped the band reconnect to the raw wonder of what made them fall in love with rock music in the first place: a pure, alt-emo fury.Armed with this augmented direction, Pærish arrived at Will Yip’s Memory Music Studios in Philadelphia—his brand-new recording facility following his multi-year tenure at Studio 4 in Conshohocken, PA. Here, Pærish walked through the doors with a meticulous set of well-structured songs, prepared to sit down with a powerhouse producer celebrated for his relentless energy, collaborative songwriting spirit, and legendary ability to bring the absolute best out of artists. Yip’s hyper-focused "song is king" philosophy perfectly complemented the band’s amplified, heavier-hitting energy, ensuring that every high-efficiency session locked into the core emotional message of Pærish’s music. Together, they sculpted solid, custom-built tones that gave Rita its definitive edge, proving that the pairing’s transatlantic signature still held its undeniable creative magic.Paradoxically, while the resulting soundscape felt denser, faster, and more aggressive, the music was born from a noticeably lighter, more stabilized headspace. Lead singer Mathias Court rejects the tired cliché that an artist must be deeply depressed to create their best work, noting that being utterly overwhelmed only serves to freeze creativity. In a modern musical landscape that can often feel like a dead end, choosing to unapologetically be an indie rock band became an anchor of sanity—a declaration that fighting for a seemingly impossible cause was worth the struggle. Through this process, the band realized there is a fine line between destructive misery and what they discovered on this record: productive gravity, "a good darkness.""This new record is very spontaneous, even though it's so heavy and so raw and in-your-face," Court reflects. "I was in a very dark place during the last album. This time, I wanted to go rough, but sometimes you feel like you can  only go ‘rough’ because you're in a better state of mind. It has an aggressiveness to it, but it also has a spontaneity to it… a kind of good darkness if that makes sense."

It does. It is the kind of darkness artists can finally thrive in, rather than drown. This newfound mental clarity extended directly into how the music was built at the source during the songwriting and demo process. When starting a track, Court operates entirely out of a pure player's mindset. "I always think as a guitar player in my head," he notes. "I will always be just a guitar player who tries to write songs."His writing process begins with rhythm rather than a pen—layering guitar, bass, or drums while humming nonsensical, mumbled melodies over the top to capture the initial vocal pocket. For Court, constructing melody lines alongside lyrics is an intricate puzzle and a long, patient evolution. To keep from forcing a track or burning out on frustration, he prefers to let the demos breathe. It is a patient, old-school methodology he proudly shares with his ultimate inspiration, Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins. "Lyrics and the songs are very different things," Court reflects. "But it's very beautiful when you manage to glue them together and make them something unique."

Because of this puzzle-like quality and patient waiting game, the metamorphosis of a song is often beautiful but entirely random. For the sweeping track "Heal," Court presented a highly detailed demo where he had programmed every single layer on a smartphone app, down to a prominently featured flute melody. Conversely, one of the album’s centerpieces, "Prince of Darkness," arrived at the studio as nothing more than a solitary, stripped-back guitar and vocal sketch. Court notes it was the technical prowess of drummer "Lolo" that saved the track, introducing an intricate time signature that pulled the arrangement into its crushing final form. Court summarizes: "There’s no proper way of doing it [writing songs]. You just have to do it every day."This fluid, unpredictable workflow made stepping out of their isolated home setups and into Will Yip’s new, state-of-the-art facility feel like an immense culture shock. For a band accustomed to home studio, small-scale setups, entering those highly specialized tracking rooms was a profound luxury. It presented an elite sonic playground where they could explore how to translate lo-fi, radio-fuzz styled vocals using a wide range of rare analog outboard gear, top-shelf preamps and legendary consoles. Rather than being intimidated, they fully leaned into its sonic possibilities and, more importantly, the luxury of time.The gift of extra time gave them an entire, uninterrupted week dedicated solely to collaborative pre-production with Yip—a rare privilege in high-end studio tracking. For Court, this initial stretch is always the creative peak of the record, stripped of high-stakes pressure and reduced to just the five of them jamming in the live room. They spent those first seven days completely geeking out over sonics. Sessions became methodical experiments on how to build walls of atmospheric sounds. It was this dedication to scrupulous exploration that perfectly interlocked with their shift toward a more aggressive direction.

"We wanted it to be noisier, to be more alive than the previous one," Court reflects. For this, the band leaned heavily into a fuzz-soaked production style, treating the distorted textures as a loud, living, breathing element of the mix. "We had all the time necessary to do everything we wanted... to really take the time to know what we were doing."

After settling on darker guitar tones and lush, layered arrangements, they focused on crafting heavier bridges and choruses, refining lyrics, and finalizing the track listing until the album’s overarching themes crystallized. When the time came to settle on a title, Court kept returning to a distinct childhood memory: a picturesque view of the clock tower of the Church of St. Rita (Église de l'Annonciation) from his family’s apartment in Nice, France. Thinking back to those days, looking out that window with his lucid dreams of being a rock star, he realized that while chasing that life can feel entirely impossible, the patron saint of impossible causes was looking out for this strange dream all along. In her mythos and patronage, the band found the ultimate wistful, melancholic sentiment: a symbolic protector of their own beautiful, seemingly desperate dream.

Court reflects on how that instinct carries them through the improbability of it all: "I think the title of Rita is a very emo message—her being a protector over people dealing with impossible, desperate causes… but also full of hope, and being together all these years. She protects this whole idea of being in a band."

Photo Courtesy of Big Picture MediaThe post In the Studio with Pærish first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

South Korea’s FTC opens probe into HYBE and ADOR over NewJeans’ DanielleDanielle's attorney, Jung Jong-chae, who filed the complaint, said the FTC began investigating on June 4.
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