A major record deal after three years: How did MARGE do it?With just three years of experience, no label releases, less than 1,000 SoundCloud followers and no gigs, how did Believe In Me, a piano-centric house track, land MARGE a major record deal with Sony?

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The 20-year-old producer, hailing from Hull, UK, picked up music production in 2020 when DJing was put on hold. MARGE wasted no time in conjuring a modest setup, staying up late watching YouTube tutorials, and uploading tracks to SoundCloud. It was this passion and an understanding of “the way you’re feeling” while making a song that made MARGE’s music sound so sweet.
He’s clearly doing something right. Believe In Me has pricked the ears of Roger Sanchez, Chris Lake, TSHA, Oliver Heldens, Martin Garrix, Claptone, and Calvin Harris, who have all been playing the track in their sets.
So, what is it exactly?

Hey, MARGE. Congrats on your first official release, Believe In Me. How do you feel about the support it’s garnered already?
Thank you! The support has been unreal. It feels surreal seeing support from huge names I look up to like Danny Howard, Calvin Harris, MK, Don Diablo, Martin Garrix, Oliver Heldens and so many more. These are names I’ve grown up listening to through the years and I still can’t believe they’re fans of my work!
In addition, hearing my song being played on stations like Kiss FM, TROS FM, Fun Radio and RTE 2FM over the past few weeks has ramped up my motivation and love for producing even more.
This success hasn’t been luck. Why do you think the track has done so well?
Believe in Me was the first track I made not trying to fit in with trends. I let my gut take me through producing the entire song, not second-guessing myself too much, which I think translated perfectly into the final product.
Where was Believe In Me made?
I currently only have a small setup in my room, where Believe in Me and every other track of mine was produced. I love the look of studios on @studiotime and I think the quality of my tracks would definitely benefit from it, but while I’m still capable of performing as I am being a bedroom producer is good enough for me.
MARGE. Image: Joe Magowan
What’s in this small setup?
I’ve upgraded through the years with helpful bits of hardware (Alesis V Mini MIDI Keyboard, Akai Fire Workpad, Sony monitors and Technics headphones) but nothing overly fancy just yet.
The MIDI keyboard was my first purchase and makes riffing ideas much easier like a mini piano you can have sat on your desk at arms reach. Workflow is super important to me, as I’m often flooded with ideas for a full track at once and it’s a pain forgetting one of those ideas while I’m sketching out another.
The Akai Fire is like a physical workstation that can make producing and mixing a lot easier. I will admit though, it just sits looking pretty on my desk for the most part, as I’ve not put much time into using it to its full capability.
The monitors and headphones are the only actual necessity really. Being able to hear your song at proper quality is super important.
The stock FL processing plugins have been a blessing to have with a beginner budget – as part of the Image-Line FL Studio package, they allow me to customise, clean and tighten my sounds to my liking.

And what about plugins? Any that you’ve really enjoyed using recently?
Xfer‘s Serum can be found in every one of my projects. I can create almost any sound I want or any sound the track needs and I think that plays a huge part in Serum’s quality. The ability to replicate an old-school synthesizer within my DAW is helpful. And it’s fun to play around with the two oscillators, seeing what sound comes out the other end.
Korg M1 is a classic VST that I use for one of my piano layers and can be found in tons of classic dance tracks, perfect for the vibe I was going for with Believe in Me. This VST also has the organ bass preset featured in Robin S – Show Me Love, which I’ve used countless times as a layer or main feature in my other tracks like Falling and Chemistry. It would be wrong not to shout out Korg for the number of times I’ve used it.
I love adding an atmosphere and spacey soundscape to my tracks, and Endless Smile by Dada Life allows me to create these atmospheres with just a single knob. Although it’s not 100 per cent necessary, it’s definitely an effect plugin I’d recommend if you’re trying to achieve a huge washout effect in your track.
The way you’re feeling while producing the track will carry through to the end product, and the listeners will feel it.
Where’s the vocal sample from? How do you source your samples and does it take a lot of digging to find the right one?
I picked this vocal sample up from a royalty-free Splice pack – definitely struck gold with it! After some post-processing to tidy it up, I added strong reverb to enhance the power of the vocal, which I think helped push the emotion through the track.
Vocal samples can be a pain to find. At the moment, this is the issue I’m finding with my tracks. I’m sure this is the same for many new producers – if the sample is good, chances are it’s been used tons already. There are things you can do to make your sample more unique, but nothing will ever beat original vocals – I hope, with time, vocalists will be happy to reach out and work with me, to help me achieve my vision for future tracks.

What piece of advice would you give to anyone hoping to achieve the same sudden success that you have?
Don’t force your music, work off your passion – producing should be fun. The way you’re feeling while producing the track will carry through to the end product, and the listeners will feel it. If you’re truly passionate about producing, you’ll spend every spare second learning and/or creating, while loving every second of it.
What’s the most useful piece of advice you’ve been given, production-wise?
One piece of advice I was given that really stuck with me was: ‘Don’t polish a turd’. This is funny but was super helpful for me – focus on the songwriting and the flow of the track before trying to mix it all in. Trying to mix a badly written track is demotivating and you’ll likely fall out of love with it before you finish it.
Check out MARGE’s tracks and give him a follow on his Soundcloud
The post A major record deal after three years: How did MARGE do it? appeared first on MusicTech.

Beatport Group announces $150,000 Annual Diversity + Parity FundThe Beatport Group has announced that it is opening applications for grants to its annual Diversity + Parity Fund. First launched in 2022, the initiative is designed to support organisations that focus on underrepresented groups and promote diversity within the music industry.

READ MORE: 165% increase in average number of songwriters on hits since 1970s, study shows

The fund will offer financial support, editorial exposure, and marketing across Beatport’s social media platforms to help organisations increase their impact and reach a wider audience. Organisations that share a similar dedication to amplifying underrepresented voices in the music industry are encouraged to submit an application through the Diversity + Parity Fund.
This is the second year Beatport has funded organisations whose mission is to increase diversity within the electronic music community. Last year the company distributed $100,000 to three organisations – Lady Of The House, Future Female Sounds and #FORTHEMUSIC.
Notably, this year sees Beatport increase the Diversity + Parity Fund by 50% to $150,000. To encourage participation from a wider pool of organisations (including emerging or grassroots initiatives), Beatport has introduced two separate kinds of grants this year — one for smaller organisations ($3,000 to $15,000) and one for larger organisations ($15,001 to $30,000).
Beatport will also be working with like-minded partner companies to increase the amount of opportunities and capital invested in these opportunities.
“We believe in the power of music to unite people from all backgrounds, and it is our responsibility to ensure that the music industry reflects the diversity of the world we live in,” says Sofia Ilyas, Chief Community Officer of The Beatport Group.
“Through the Diversity + Parity Fund, we are committed to accelerating change and creating a more inclusive and equitable music industry for everyone. We invite other companies in our community to join us in our mission to increase parity and diversity in music.”
Applications open on Tuesday, 25 July at 12pm GMT and closes on 22 August at 12pm GMT.
For more details and submission guidelines, head to Beatport’s official website.
The post Beatport Group announces $150,000 Annual Diversity + Parity Fund appeared first on MusicTech.

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Wolfgang Van Halen Discusses Mammoth, Stadium Tours, Songwriting Over ShreddingWolfgang Van Halen spoke with AllMusic shortly before the release of Mammoth II, discussing the new album, touring with some of the biggest bands, and if there are any plans to unlock the vault of unreleased music by his father, the legendary Eddie Van Halen.

Snap’s revenue woes continue but earnings yield a few bright spotsSnap just reported its quarterly earnings and it’s a bit of a mixed bag.
Snapchat’s parent company brought in $1.07 billion during Q2 — up from last quarter but a year-over-year dip. Snap saw its first revenue decline as a public company in Q1, marking a 7% drop in sales from the previous year. At the time, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel said that the shift did not reflect the company’s ambitions.
While revenue is trending down, Snapchat’s daily active users perked up in Q2, up 14% year-over-year to 397 million.
Like its peers, Snap is still contending with a decline in advertising revenue stemming from intense competition from rivals like TikTok and Instagram and changes to Apple’s app privacy policies that threw social media companies for a loop when first introduced.
To keep its platform fresh and its users engaged, Snapchat introduced buzzy new AI features in recent months, with some cordoned off specifically for its paid subscribers. Snap’s AI chatbot My AI is now woven into the app’s group chats, place recommendations and Lens suggestions.
A year ago, Snapchat introduced paid subscriptions, charging users $3.99 a month for a collection of premium perks. Snap’s premium service Snapchat+ — a hub for “exclusive, experimental, and pre-release features” — has now collected more than 4 million paid subscribers.
Paid memberships and premium tiers were once anathema to social media companies hellbent on squeezing every ad dollar out of their users, but that sentiment has shifted in recent years — particularly after Apple’s policy changes limited how closely platforms could track user behavior.

While parents worry, teens are bullying Snapchat AI

Trademark attorney predicts legal fights ahead with Twitter's rebrand to XAccording to Josh Gerben, the social media platform could be embroiled in lawsuits over its 'X' branding for years, costing upwards of millions of dollars.

PLATOON & THE GRAMMY MUSEUM INVITE YOU TO: "Family Time - Arrullos Mexicanos"PLATOON presents ARRULLOS MEXICANOS:

An afternoon of fun with live music from the collection of modern lullabies. The event will feature fun activities like family yoga, face painting for kids, a DJ set by the Mexican Institute of Sound, and an interactive performance by Tia Leah's Neighborhood.

WHEN:

Saturday, July 29, 2023

12:00 pm - 4:00 pm

WHERE:

GRAMMY MUSEUM® L.A. Live

800 W Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90015, USA

For tickets and more info click here.

US-based performance rights organization BMI in renewed sale talks (report)News arrives several months after BMI revealed that it was changing to a for-profit model
Source

‘The industry has learned its lesson.’For 20 years at BMG and Universal, Rob Wells was the music industry’s go-to digital guru. Then he quit. After enduring a ‘trainwreck’ at Crowdmix, he’s now back as CEO of fast-growing rights management company Orfium...
Source

New control surfaces from Asparion Asparion's upcoming modular control surface range will allow users to build a system with up to 64 motorised faders. 

MIDiA, Bandsintown release landmark ‘Return to live’ studyTop music and entertainment consultancy MIDiA has released a landmark report, ‘Return to live | Post-pandemic music fans’ based on data from top global live event discovery platform Bandsintown. This. Continue reading
The post MIDiA, Bandsintown release landmark ‘Return to live’ study appeared first on Hypebot.

Remove Vocals For FREE With Ultimate Vocal Remover
Ultimate Vocal Remover is a free AI software tool to help you remove vocals from audio recordings and music. There have been countless tools and plugins to debut in the last couple of years, leveraging AI to remove things like noise, vocals, and other elements from an audio source. These are usually costly pieces of [...]
View post: Remove Vocals For FREE With Ultimate Vocal Remover

165% increase in average number of songwriters on hits since 1970s, study showsHow many songwriters does it take to pen a hit song? Too many to fit in a recording studio, it seems. A recent study by iMusician has highlighted a whopping 165 per cent increase in the average number of songwriters it takes to write a hit today compared to in the 1970s.

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In the 70s, the average number of songwriters contributing to one hit track was 1.7. That’s since risen to 4.5 writers per track.
Boney M’s 1978 hit Rivers of Babylon had four contributing songwriters. The 80s saw Culture Club’s Karma Charmeleon top the rankings with five, while Cher’s iconic Believe in the 90s had seven writers.
In the 2000s, Blu Cantrell and Sean Paul’s Breathe had eight writers, and Drake‘s In My Feelings in the 2010s required 14. Currently, Beyoncé’s Heated tops the 2020s with a mind-boggling 18 songwriters.
iMusician
The fascinating report goes on to point out that in 1975, Freddy Mercury kept Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody – penned by himself alone – at the number one spot in the charts for nine weeks. Compare that to now, and just 10 per cent of the current top 100 singles have a single songwriter.
“Songwriters play a crucial role in the creation of chart-topping hits and have a significant impact on the music industry.” Says Simon Gardner of iMusician. “Their contributions go beyond simply writing lyrics and melodies; they help shape the overall sound and commercial viability of a song.”
“Many chart hits are the result of collaborative efforts between songwriters, artists, and producers. Collaborative songwriting allows for the pooling of creative ideas, diverse perspectives, and the fusion of different musical styles, resulting in chart-worthy tracks.”
Read the full report, How Many Songwriters Does It Take To Make A Hit, over at iMusician.
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Divergent Audio Group Violonair Step into a world where tradition meets innovation. Inspired by the timeless elegance of the Renaissance-era viola da gamba, VIOLONAIR emerges as a remarkable new instrument... Read More

Divergent Audio Group The Cuatro An authentic and meticulous Cuatro instrument. The Cuatro is a traditional instrument from Venezuela. It has four strings and a small shaped guitar body. The Cuatro... Read More