British Pedal Company unleash King of Fuzz Tone Bender The King of Fuzz is a limited editon version of The British Pedal Company's Tone Bender effect, and has been produced to commemorate the coronation of King Charles III.

Warren’s alleged work with short-seller shows anti-crypto army heating upElizabeth Warren reportedly took advice from Wall Street short-seller Marc Cohodes, who cashed in on the collapse of Silvergate and Signature banks.

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Singers Sound-Off 2023Well, it’s that time again, time for our annual array of vocal artists from across the musical and multi-generational spectrum. And this year is our most action-packed and diverse to date. Please join us in welcoming shared experiences and insight from Stormstress guitarist-vocalist Tanya Venom, singer-songwriter and educator Florence Dore, active rock- and country-charting singer-songwriter HARDY, Larkin Poe lead vocalist Rebecca Lovell, and Motown living legend Martha Reeves.

 Tanya Venom

Contact: tanyavenomguitarist@gmail.com • stormstressband.com 

Tanya Venom is the guitarist and vocalist for heavy metal power trio Stormstress. The Detroit native, along with twin sister and bassist-vocalist Tia Mayhem and drummer-vocalist Maddie May Scott, has been steadily building a national following since her formation of the group in 2019. Venom is featured on the band’s 2022 full-length indie release Silver Lining and is also active as a session guitarist-vocalist, songwriter, arranger and educator.  

FIRST PROFESSIONAL GIG

It was an all-female classic rock band called 4D. Our mom’s friend from work was a drummer in the band and she told her about my sister Tia and I. We were both 16 and just starting out. They invited us to play with them and we were making money in clubs playing all over the metro Detroit area. It was pretty cool.

MUSICAL INFLUENCES

My first big influences were Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin and Freddie Mercury of Queen. I liked that high range, epic rock & roll type of singing. Later, I turned to Lizzy Hale of Halestorm and heavier bands, like Butcher Babies.

MUSICAL EDUCATION

Berklee College of Music was awesome! I majored in film scoring and my principle instrument was guitar. And through that school I met so many amazing people and made connections I still keep in contact with today. Berklee was like a Hogwarts wizarding school for music.

FRONTING A TRIO AS VOCALIST AND GUITARIST

At Berklee my twin sister Tia and I started a band called Flight of Fire. We had a great lead singer in that band and I was starting to sing more complicated harmonies. Toward the end of that band, in 2017, I really liked singing, but I needed to improve my pitch and timbre. We then started a duo, Venom and Mayhem, where I did more lead vocals and expressive melodies.       When Stormstress started in 2019, I began to apply lead singing, harmonies and guitar together. I learned to write less complicated parts while I was playing riffs and singing over chords. Now I’m getting really good at playing riffs and chords simultaneously. You have to trust what one thing is doing to focus on the other.

VOCAL HEALTH JOURNEY

I had never been properly trained as a vocalist, which is where I think these problems were rooted. In 2022 we were doing a ton of gigs—post COVID—and I was finally confident in my voice and working it a lot. I got really sick with an upper respiratory infection around Halloween. And Stormstress had a show that, even though I was wildly sick, I did anyway. I performed full blast and made it through the show. But my voice never fully came back after that. My voice was giving out after only an hour of singing and I started to panic. I tried to get more sleep and tried eating different foods, but nothing was helping. 

After a few months I saw an ENT doctor. He stuck a camera up my nose and saw a polyp right away on my right vocal cord. I was scared when he recommended surgery, but he assured it was pretty common. He said it looked like I had good singing technique, but that I’d injured myself. I cancelled a lot of gigs and was not singing as much. When I finally got the surgery at the beginning of August the polyp had shrunk considerably. After a month my voice started coming back really gravelly at first. I started seeing a speech therapist who helped me in many ways from a singing and medical perspective.”

VOCAL SUPPORT TIPS

Hydrate the day before you sing, because it takes time for water to be absorbed by your vocal cords. Coughing and constantly clearing your throat can scratch your vocal cords as well. Try to speak light and gently from the front of your mouth and, by all means, don’t sing when you’re sick! •

MARTHA REEVES 

Contact: Chris Roe, chrisroemanagement@gmail.com • marthareeves.net 

Martha Reeves is a bonafide Motown superstar who, with her group The Vandellas, garnered a string of hits for that storied label in the early ‘60s. “Dancing In The Street,” “Heat Wave,” “Jimmy Mack,” “Nowhere to Run” and “Come and Get These Memories” are just some of the chart-topping gems that put Reeves and company on the legendary musical map. In the ensuing years, the Detroit Diva has been an actor, film narrator and solo artist, but these days she is actively campaigning for a well-deserved star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles. With a hefty price tag attached, June 2023 is the final month of eligibility for this esteemed honor.

FIRST PROFESSIONAL GIG

When I was three years old we sang in my grandfather’s church. It was in Detroit at the Metropolitan A.M.E. Church. One Saturday evening my brothers Benny and Thomas let me sing with them and we sang a song called “Jesus Met the Woman at the Well.” We won this singing contest and we were the only talented kids of all my dad’s siblings. That made me professional.

MUSICAL EDUCATION

I had operatic training in high school with Abraham Silver. He was one of the finest teachers I ever had. Music was in the schools then. But he picked me out of 11 girls in the choir to sing Bach’s aria “Alleluia.” And we sang it before 4500 people at Detroit’s Ford Auditorium. I’ve always felt that our musical instructions for life came from school. And we’ve gotta make it more important for our youngsters. Education is the key.

MUSICAL INFLUENCES

My dad played blues guitar and, when he wasn’t listening to spiritual music, woodshedded with John Lee Hooker. He never went professional, but he was one of my biggest influences. Mom sang Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughn and those ladies. They were both talented.

SELECTING MATERIAL TO SING

Music is supposed to soothe the soul. And I’ve only sang songs that I could put my faith in. But at Motown it wasn’t so much about us choosing material. It was the producers there who were writing the songs. I worked in the A&R department and I helped them write songs. But I was never given credit for being a writer, producer or anything. And there was no chance of getting any publishing. But I helped them write and sing on demos. And I couldn’t sing a song unless I could put my heart in it. I helped choose the words and made them spiritual. People could tell they were from my heart.

AFTER MOTOWN

I lived in Los Angeles for 14 years. When Motown left Detroit, so did I for a while. I had no other choice if I was gonna continue my career. I was also on the MCA label and had an album recorded by Richard Perry—one of the best producers for Universal Music. I’ve been in movies and I’ve done narration for documentaries in the U.S. and for the BBC. To be honest, we’re more famous in the U.K. than America.

HOLLYWOOD WALK OF FAME

Here comes this Hollywood star project that I didn’t ask for, but I feel I deserve it! Someone started this issue and I have to continue with it. So, I’m here in Detroit famous as I can be, but not rich.

KEEPING THE VOICE IN SHAPE

Well, I’ve been singing since I was a baby. I sing every day, praising the Lord. I’m the product of public school teachers. I was already singing when I started working as a receptionist at Motown. All I had to do was just apply what I had learned about my voice. And it was my determination to sing songs that I could honor God in.

NEW OPPORTUNITIES

People are opening doors and we are coming back with gigs in July and August, going into the Fall. So, things are looking up. People have shown me love that I didn’t know existed. •

Larkin Poe Variety Playhouse 2023

  REBECCA LOVELL

Contact: Emily Ginsberg, ginsberg@bighassle.com • larkinpoe.com 

Rebecca Lovell is lead vocalist-guitarist/multi-instrumentalist and half of the duo-led blues-based roots rock band Larkin Poe. Along with her harmony vocalist-guitarist sister Megan, Lovell has been gradually building their southern-flavored brand of Americana since backing such luminaries as Elvis Costello, Conor Oberst and Keith Urban. Larkin Poe’s latest album is called BloodHarmony (Tricki Woo Records). 

FIRST PROFESSIONAL GIG

In 2004, my two elder sisters and I started a band called The Lovell Sisters that transitioned almost imperceptibly from hobby into a professional gig over the course of five years. We disbanded in 2009.

KEY INFLUENCES AND MENTORS

Chris Whitley has been, and continues to be, one of my biggest influences. As a triple threat singer, songwriter and guitarist Whitley ticks all the boxes for me. I feel incredibly grateful to have had an extensive list of mentors who invested a great deal of faith and attention into my musical growth over the years. I am particularly indebted to Elvis Costello for sharing his wisdom and perspective to my writing ventures from the ground up.

MUSICAL EDUCATION

I started classical violin and piano lessons at four years old and continued in the Suzuki method for almost 10 years. In our preteens, my sisters and I dropped our classical lessons and fell headlong into bluegrass music. Ever since then I have been predominantly self-taught.

PREFERRED STAGE MONITOR SYSTEMS

Coming up in tight rock clubs, I routinely used to sing my voice out trying to sing over the cymbals. We transitioned to in-ear monitors six or seven years ago and it has made all the difference.

SONGWRITING PROCESS

Songwriting is an ever-evolving practice for me. As my capacity for vulnerability in the creative process continues to increase, I find that my toolbox gets bigger. Simply continuing to remain open to new ways of thinking and feeling about songwriting is the biggest goal.

STAGE HIGHLIGHTS AND MISHAPS

Being put in challenging or adverse circumstances on the live stage is a huge opportunity for growth as a musician and performer. I look back over the past 18 years of touring with gratitude for the countless times I’ve fallen onstage, struggled to hear myself or played to the bar staff. Until you’ve truly hit the ground hard and tested your own mettle, you won’t know what you’re fully capable of.

TURNING POINT IN YOUR CAREER

Starting our own record label in 2017 and committing to self-production.

VOCAL HEALTH AND WARMUPS

Before and after shows I religiously follow a vocal warm-up and cool-down routine. At this point there are so many great resources available on YouTube. There’s absolutely no reason that a singer shouldn’t be experimenting with this aspect of vocal caretaking. I don’t drink on tour. And pending how my voice is feeling on any given day, I will limit my talking as well. Prioritizing vocal rest and hydration is always a focus for me. •

HARDY 

Contact: Jess Anderson, jess@bigloud.com •

hardyofficial.com 

The pride of Philadelphia, Mississippi, HARDY is an artist who’s really difficult to pin down. To a great degree, he’s a jack of all trades, and a master of many, as well. His latest critically acclaimed album titled The Mockingbird & The Crow (Big Loud Records) successfully drives home his diverse writing and production style. His half-country, half-hard rocking approach is multi-laterally straddling the charts at active rock radio, pop and modern country combined. He’s previously toured with Thomas Rhett, Morgan Wallen, Florida Georgia Line and Jason Aldean and has amassed numerous accolades, including the CMA Triple Play, ACM “Songwriter of the Year Award” and the 2022 BMI “Songwriter of the Year Award,” to name a few.

SONGWRITING ORIGIN AND TURNING POINT AS A WRITER

I started writing my own songs as a teenager. My sister is a couple years older than me, and she went to Belmont in Nashville for college. Eventually I ended up in town there, too, at MTSU. Right after I moved to Nashville, my sister encouraged me to sign with a PRO. She interned at BMI, so I signed with them. Shortly thereafter, I was lucky to have a meeting with Leslie Roberts where I played her the five or six songs that I had to my name at the time. She told me that, on the whole, the songs were okay, but there was one in particular that was pretty good. She said I was on to something with what I had to say as a songwriter. That was one of my first meetings in Nashville and that one comment that she made validated something in me and made me believe that I could make it as a songwriter.

BALANCING COUNTRY AND ROCK RADIO

As a songwriter the rule is always the same—best idea wins. It doesn’t matter what genre or idea. We just wanna write the best song we can. As an artist, especially with the last album, the split between rock and country happened organically, basically by accident. For this last album I had about 16 songs—8 songs each genre. Things just kind of happened on their own.

VOCAL HEALTH AND TECHNIQUE

I started implementing some, like, nu metal and scream vocals on the rock half of my record, and that’s been really cool to learn about. I’ve formed some friendships with some guys in that world, like Jeremy McKinnon, who’s on “Radio Song” with me, and Caleb Shomo from Beartooth. I’ve learned a lot from them about how to protect your voice as much as you can while still getting to have fun with it.

FAVORITE SONGS IN YOUR CATALOG

I love our headline set on this current tour. We start off pretty rock-heavy and then throw in a good mix of country songs from my first album. I play “God’s Country” and am always proud to play it and its message. Another song “Wait in the Truck” has been really powerful live. And every time I get to sing it with Lainey (Wilson) it means a lot.

FAVORITE COLLABORATORS AND ARTIST WISHLIST

Because of songwriting and our HIXTAPE collaborations, I’ve gotten to work with so many of my favorite artists and a lot of my friends. I’m excited to collaborate with some people in the rock world as a writer. I’ve never had a Tim McGraw cut or a Kenny Chesney cut, so those are definitely on the bucket list. •

FLORENCE DORE 

Contact: Wendy Brynford-Jones, wendy@hel lowendy.com • florencedoremusic.com 

Florence Dore is a North Carolina-based singer-songwriter, as well as a Professor of English at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is author and editor of the new book The Ink in the Grooves: Conversations on Literature and Rock ‘n’ Roll (Cornell University Press) and, also just released her second album, and debut for Propeller Records, called Highways and Rocketships. 

FIRST PROFESSIONAL GIG

I would say The Rathskellar or The Middle East Café in Boston. There was kind of an anti-frat house in college called Eclectic House where I played some early shows too.

MUSICAL INFLUENCES

Warren Zevon and Steve Earle come to mind, for sure. When I was little it was The Beatles and The Band. When I was eight years old I wrote a fan letter to Joan Baez and her mother wrote me back. I also love Crystal Gayle, Bonnie Raitt and Loretta Lynn too.

THE INK IN THE GROOVES AND HIGHWAYS AND ROCKETSHIPS CROSS-PROMOTION

The record took a really long time to come out because of the pandemic. We recorded the first single “Rebel Debutante” in March 2020. I also made a benefit record for the popular venue Cat’s Cradle during the pandemic as well. We recorded some things remotely until vaccines happened. We were the last people to record in Mitch Easter’s studio before the pandemic and the first people back in after vaccines. The record came out in June 2022 and my book came out in October. The timing worked out great for both.

THE CONVERGENCE OF ROCK MUSIC AND LITERATURE

I was working on a book about Southern fiction in the 1950s. And then I put on a conference at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Steve Earle. Steve had just put out a novel and a record called I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive. We brought all these scholars and musicians together and I noticed all these novelists, like Michael Chabon, Jonathan Lethem and Dana Spiotta, were writing about and referencing rock & roll songs. There was this interaction with music and literature that was evident in a lot of their work.

VOCAL HEALTH AND TECHNIQUE

I try not to talk too much on singing days. When I was younger I never took lessons and I sang right from my throat. But I eventually did take some lessons from someone who helped me. I’m singing every night, so I try to use my head voice, even when I’m singing low. I also drink a lot of water.

SONGWRITING PROCESS

There are all types of tools you can use to write songs. It happens all kinds of ways. It’s a lot of rolling up your sleeves and getting involved in words. I like to use a thesaurus. There is a great book by a guy named Pat Pattison called Writing Better Lyrics. I try to write for 10 minutes every morning and do object deep dives to just get you thinking about the world in a real and sensory way. I also think about how to make cool metaphors. Sometimes it may go nowhere or it may just get you thinking about things in a songwriter way. Sometimes things come to you and sometimes you have to produce conditions for things to come to you. The more we do that as songwriters the more you lay the groundwork for a song to hit you. And then you’ll be able to receive it when it arrives. •

Gig workers get paid, Fidelity slashes Reddit’s valuation and AI conquers MinecraftHey, folks, welcome to Week in Review (WiR), TechCrunch’s regular newsletter that recaps the week in tech. Hope the summer’s treating y’all well — it’s a balmy 90 degrees here in NYC! — and that some much-needed R&R is on the agenda.
Speaking of “agenda,” mark your calendars for Disrupt, TC’s annual conference, kicking off in September. Whether you’re a startup rookie learning the ropes or a founder hell-bent on changing the world, Disrupt will deliver the tools, knowledge and connections to help you make it happen. You don’t want to miss it.
Elsewhere, stay tuned for City Spotlight on June 7 (Wednesday), which will highlight Atlanta, Georgia, this go-round. Atlanta has emerged as one of the buzziest new hubs in the nation, with booming cybersecurity and software-as-a-service sectors as well as a slew of investors looking to back the hot new startups coming from the metro. Among the speakers at City Spotlight will be mayor Andre Dickens — we’re looking forward to hearing his perspective.
Now with the PSAs out of the way, here’s your WiR!
most read
Fidelity sours on Reddit: This week, Fidelity, the lead investor in Reddit’s most recent funding round in 2021, slashed the estimated worth of its equity stake in the social media platform by 41% since the investment. The devaluation, part of a broader trend that has hit a variety of growth-stage startups across the globe in the past year, raises uncertainties about whether Reddit will maintain its initial intent to reportedly go public at a valuation around $15 billion.
Amazon Prime Data: Amazon is considering offering low-cost or possibly free nationwide mobile phone service to Prime subscribers in the United States, according to a new report from Bloomberg. The tech giant is reportedly in talks with Verizon, T-Mobile, Dish Network and AT&T.
Gig workers get paid: Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and other app-based ride-hail and delivery companies will have to reimburse California gig workers potentially millions of dollars for unpaid vehicle expenses between 2022 and 2023. The back payments come from a provision in Proposition 22, the controversial law that classifies gig workers as independent contractors rather than employees and promises them half-hearted protections and benefits.
Volkswagen’s ace in the hole: Volkswagen is betting big on the upcoming ID.Buzz electric van. With availability of the vehicle still a year out, the automaker is counting on years of pent-up anticipation to not only sell the bus shrouded in nostalgia, but to also have it act as a halo product to bring customers to the brand’s entire EV lineup.
Shopify launches Shop Cash: Shopify’s Shop app is introducing a new rewards program called Shop Cash, the e-commerce platform announced on Friday. The new program is funded by Shopify and earns shoppers 1% back on purchases made using its Shop Pay online checkout service.
Stripe gets into credit: Stripe wants to make it easier for businesses to access credit. The private financial infrastructure giant announced a new charge card program today from Stripe Issuing, its commercial card issuing product. Denise Ho, head of product at Stripe, gave TechCrunch the exclusive details — go read the piece by Mary Ann.
AI conquers Minecraft: AI researchers have built a Minecraft bot that can explore and expand its capabilities in the game’s open world — but unlike other bots, this one basically wrote its own code through trial and error and lots of GPT-4 queries. Called Voyager, this experimental system is an example of an “embodied agent,” an AI that can move and act freely and purposefully in a simulated or real environment.
YouTube Shorts, in minutes: Dumme, a startup putting AI to practical use in video editing, is already generating demand before opening to the public. The Y Combinator–backed company has hundreds of video creators testing its product, which leverages AI to create short-form videos from YouTube content, and it has a waitlist of over 20,000 pre-launch, it says.
audio
Need a new podcast to get your weekend started right? Good news — TC has you covered (and then some). On Equity, the crew took a look at the latest from Web Roulette, Stripe’s acquisition of Okay, what Klarna’s Q1 means for the fintech market and QED and a16z’s early-stage strategies. Found spoke with Dr. Stacy Blain, the co-founder and chief science officer at Concarlo Therapeutics, about the company’s novel therapeutic solutions for drug-resistant cancer. Over at Chain Reaction, Gary Vaynerchuk, the chairman of VaynerX and the CEO of VaynerMedia and NFT collection VeeFriends, spoke on his experiences in the creative media industry. And the TechCrunch Live folks dove into how AI doomerism is overblown — and why the blowhards doing the blowing want it that way.
TechCrunch+
TC+ subscribers get access to in-depth commentary, analysis and surveys — which you know if you’re already a subscriber. If you’re not, consider signing up. Here are a few highlights from this week:
Competition concerns in the age of AI: AI is rapidly changing how businesses sense, reason and adapt in the market. But these groundbreaking capabilities are creating an upheaval in how companies engage with competitors and consumers. Henry Hauser is counsel in Perkins Coie’s antitrust and litigation practice groups. He muses on this in an informative piece.
Salesforce becomes a data company: Could the data exhaust being generated by the Salesforce family of products become more valuable than the products themselves — at least in terms of new revenue adds? This piece explores the possibility.
Why don’t more scientists become founders?: Why is it so common to see outsiders bringing research out of the lab and not the scientists themselves? It’s a complex issue to unravel, but Rebecca does it deftly.
Gig workers get paid, Fidelity slashes Reddit’s valuation and AI conquers Minecraft by Kyle Wiggers originally published on TechCrunch

Get FREE Eventide Quadravox With All Loopcloud Plans
Loopcloud offers the Eventide Quadravox pitch shifter plugin as a free bonus with all subscription plans, including the free trial. Eventide Quadravox is a 4-voice diatonic pitch-shifting delay effect for audio mixing and sound design. If you want to add some width to your vocal mix, modulate your guitars, or fatten up your drums, Quadravox [...]
View post: Get FREE Eventide Quadravox With All Loopcloud Plans

Vicious Antelope Hot Tubes - Knifonium Hot Tubes is a collection of 40 progressive rock vintage polysynths for Knif Audio Knifonium. The soundbank is pretty much focused and dedicated to this music genre. From dark... Read More

Freshen Up Your Beats With Left Field One Shots Vol. 3 (20% OFF)
Freshen up your beats with Left Field One Shots Vol. 3 (plus bonus breaks) from AJ Hall, currently 20% off with coupon code SMOKE. Left Field One Shots Volume 3 is a collection of 25 original, production-ready, and entirely royalty-free one-shot kits. The pack also includes 25 bonus breaks that showcase the potential of each [...]
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Getting It Done: The Week in D.I.Y & Indie MusicThis week, our tips and advice for the independent, do-it-yourselfers out there covered how to make your own album cover, understand metadata, and more… Guide to crowdfunding for musicians in. Continue reading
The post Getting It Done: The Week in D.I.Y & Indie Music appeared first on Hypebot.

REWIND: The new music industry’s Week in ReviewA busy week by any definition, and the music industry was no exception, with YouTube losing Stories, a survey revealing stats about AI, and more… What will AI do for. Continue reading
The post REWIND: The new music industry’s Week in Review appeared first on Hypebot.

Nembrini Releases FREE Big Stuff Virtual Fuzz Pedal
Nembrini Audio releases Big Stuff, a freeware Big Muffs guitar pedal emulation VST plugin for Windows, macOS, and iOS. My dear BPB readers, it is Saturday morning, and I’m looking at a free fuzz pedal. Life, my friends, is sounding good, one distorted guitar note at a time. If you’re a massive Sleep fan like [...]
View post: Nembrini Releases FREE Big Stuff Virtual Fuzz Pedal

MDrumStrip plug-in from MeldaProduction MDrumStrip consists of a collection of plug-ins kitted out with EQ, compression, gating and reverb sections, and aims to reduce the time required to achieve a mix-ready drum sound.

Triads in music: Basic types and how to use them
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Rockgodz Hall of Fame 2023 InductionThe ROCKGODZ Hall of Fame has announced that the 2023 awards show will be held on July 21, 2023 in Nashville, Tennessee at the legendary Bowie's Rock 'n' Roll Club. This event will honor some of the most influential musicians and industry leaders in rock music history.

The original members of Vanilla Fudge, (Carmine Appice, Mark Stein, Vince Martell, Pete Bremy and in honorarium, Tim Bogert), Pat Travers (Pat Travers Band), Steve Popovich Sr., (Legendary record promoter for CBS records under Clive Davis, President at Cleveland Internal Records and Polygram Records Nashville), Mike Curb, (Founder of Curb Records and Music Business Impresario and Philanthropist), Bob Bender, (Host and Producer on Business Side of Music, an established music industry veteran with years of major label and indie artist experience) and many more will be honored at the ceremony for their incredible contributions to rock music. This gathering will celebrate unsung heroes behind Rock and Roll’s most legendary musicians and most famous instrumentation on chart-topping albums. 

Rock and roll legends will honor their own during a celebration of music with passion and talent at its core, bringing recognition to individual musicians who built the legacy of rock music. All RockGodz Hall of Fame inductees are selected by inductee alumni, their peers, which continues to make the organization highly respected by the music community. This year’s Event will include an Award Show and Dinner followed by live musical performances from Vanilla Fudge, Pat Travers, Todd Sharp Band and RockGodz Hall of Fame All Star Band Jam. 

“Our mission is to acknowledge the contributions of a group of stunningly gifted musicians and professionals who flew under the radar while delivering to the world music that has orchestrated the soundtrack of many lives,” said Cindy Landeen, RockGodz Hall of Fame Founder.  We believe that these virtuosos, maestros, and those working in the trenches behind the scenes need not wait any longer to be recognized and acknowledged for their part in rock and roll history.  In the day they may have been relatively unknown to the music world and fans at large but RockGodz Hall of Fame has purposely taken on the challenge and goal of celebrating their achievements.”  

Additional 2023 Inductees include: Sandy Gennaro (American rock drummer, author, musician, public speaker, and mentor who recorded and toured with many musical artists including Blackjack, The Monkees, Pat Travers, Cyndi Lauper and Joan Jett.), Todd Sharp (Lead guitarist that has toured with may including Hall & Oates, Christine McVie, Mick Fleetwood to Rod Stewart and many more), , Tom Zutaut  (Founded the American record label The Enclave and former A&R executive for Geffen Records best known for signing Motley Crue and Guns N' Roses), and Don Adkins (Music Industry Photographer with over 4 decades of achievements including 25 record covers including the first Motley Crue record cover.)

RockGodz Hall of Fame is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation.  All events and initiatives are funded by ticket sales, sponsorships, volunteers, and donations.

Tickets are available for purchase Eventbrite: eventbrite.com/e/rockgodz-hall-of-fame-honors-vanilla-fudge-pat-travers-and-more-tickets-627683557417

T. Rowe Price has marked down its stake in Canva by 67.6%Last summer, Blackbird, one of Australia’s largest venture operations, marked down the value of one of its most prized stakes, in the Sydney-based design platform Canva. Valued at $40 billion by investors in a $200 million round in the fall of 2021, Blackbird adjusted its own valuation of the company 36% to $25.6 billion.
Now, T. Rowe Price — the mutual fund goliath that began investing aggressively into late-stage startups nearly a decade ago, continued to fund them throughout the pandemic, and which led that $40 billion round in 2021 — has marked down the value of its stake in Canva even more dramatically, adjusting it downward by a whopping 67.6%. (T. Rowe’s Blue Chip Growth Fund, which owns several classes of Canva shares but predominantly Series A shares, has to date invested $99.1 million in Canva and states in its most recent prospectus, dated March 31, that it now values those shares on a cost-adjusted basis at $32.1 million.)
Asked for comment earlier today, a spokesman for Canva responded that, “Overall, despite the broader market conditions, our metrics continue to rapidly move in the right direction. We just crossed 135 million monthly users, $1.5 billion in annualized revenue and had our sixth year of profitability.”
T. Rowe’s “changes in valuation are a result of [Canva] being marked to market when compared to our publicly listed peers,” the spokesman said.
T. Rowe’s investment in Canva represents a minuscule amount of money for the sprawling investment firm. Its Blue Chip Growth Fund had roughly $53 billion in assets under management at the end of the first quarter of this year, down from $63 billion a year ago, in June 2022.
Still, it’s notable that one of the savviest asset managers in the U.S. thinks a company that was for a time the fifth most valuable startup on the planet is currently worth far less — essentially $13 billion and not $40 billion.
Asked if Canva has adjusted its own, independent 409A valuation to match up with T.Rowe’s assessment — T. Rowe’s markdown is really just its opinion, after all — Canva’s spokesman said its assessment does not match that of T. Rowe but declined to comment further.
Naturally, Canva is far from alone in being emphatically marked down by its backers after soaring to new valuation heights in 2021. Klarna, the Stockholm-based buy-now-pay-later provider saw an even steeper markdown a year ago, dropping 85% from the $45.6 billion valuation that it was assigned in 2021 to $6.5 billion.
Klarna, which proactively accepted its reduced valuation, has since tightened its lending standards and slashed costs, including through repeated layoffs, and says it is now “firmly on track” to reach monthly profitability in the second half of the year.
Like so many other outfits right now, both companies are actively being transformed by — and looking to take advantage of — generative artificial intelligence.
In a press release late last week, Klarna credited some of its current momentum to OpenAI, saying an integration with its large language model is “accelerating Klarna’s evolution into a digital financial assistant.”
In an effort to maintain its own leading position in the world of graphic design collaboration, Canva has also integrated generative AI across its product suite, telling Fast Company in March that much of what is now infused throughout has been built in-house through long-term investment and acquisition.
Though Canva also relies partly on major large language models —  it uses them piecemeal, says its spokesman — co-founder and CEO Melanie Perkins told FC that it has intentionally relied less on the work of others so that it can promise users that “anything you create in Canva is yours.”
As for AI’s impact on Canva’s valuation going forward, that remains to be seen. While public shareholders will eventually decide what they think the company is worth, an offering isn’t forthcoming, not yet anyway.
Asked about a possible IPO, Canva’s spokesman said today that there are no plans on the horizon. Meanwhile in March, Canva co-founder and COO Cliff Obrecht (who is married to Perkins), suggested to Barron’s that it’s now very much top of mind for the now 11-year-old company.
“It’s not the right market to go out right now. But obviously, it becomes an inevitability at our size,” he told the outlet. “It’s on the horizon, but not on the imminent horizon.”
T. Rowe Price has marked down its stake in Canva by 67.6% by Connie Loizos originally published on TechCrunch