Anthropic CEO says DeepSeek was ‘the worst’ on a critical bioweapons data safety testAnthropic's CEO Dario Amodei claims DeepSeek generated sensitive bioweapons data in a safety test it ran.
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When Ignoring Spam Loses You an Ice Surfacer PatentBear with us for a moment for a little background. The Rideau Canal Skateway in Ottawa is the world’s largest natural skating rink, providing nearly 8 km of pristine ice surface during the winter. But maintaining such a large ice surface is a challenge. A regular Zamboni can’t do it; the job is just too big. So the solution is a custom machine called the Froster, conceived by Robert Taillefer and built by Sylvain Fredette.
Froster spans almost twenty meters, and carries almost 4000 L of water. There’s no other practical way to maintain almost 8 km of skating rink.
A patent was filed in 2010, granted by the Canadian Intellectual Property Office, and later lost because important notifications started going to an apparently unchecked spam folder. The annual fee went unpaid, numerous emails went unanswered, an expiry date came and went, and that was that.
It’s true that emailed reminders (the agreed-upon — and only — method of contact) going unnoticed to spam was what caused Robert to not take any action until it was too late. We’d all agree that digital assistants in general need to get smarter, and that includes being better at informing the user about automatically-handled things like spam.
But what truly cost Robert Taillefer his patent was having a single point of failure for something very, very important. The lack of any sort of backup method of communication in case of failure or problem meant that this sad experience was, in a way, a disaster just waiting to happen. At least that’s how the Federal Court saw it when he took his complaint to them, and that’s how they continued to see it when he appealed the decision.
If you’ve never heard of the Rideau Canal Skateway or would like to see the Froster in action, check out this short video from the National Capital Commission of Canada, embedded just under the page break.

Aespa Brings the Drama to the Kia ForumFor one night only, aespa returned to Los Angeles for a show-stopping performance at the Kia Forum. The K-pop quartet – composed of Karina, Winter, Giselle and Ningning – had the entire venue roaring with cheers and howls for two and a half hours. In just a few years, aespa has become one of the most in-demand girl groups in South Korea. Last year the group was on a roll and released a lot of new music that garnered critical acclaim, including their first studio Armageddon, Whiplash (EP) and their first solo songs in Synk: Parallel Line. As a result of their success, the group earned the MAMA Award for Best Female Group at the end of 2024. The group's innovative visuals and bombastic music have made them stand out above the rest. The group is known for popularizing the metaverse concept. The group's name, aespa, combines the English initials "avatar," "experience" and "aspect" to symbolize the idea of "meeting another self and experiencing the new world." The group has been pushing the envelope of creativity by creating their own AI avatars called the æs and helping introduce Naevis – a virtual idol created by their entertainment company SM Entertainment as part of the company's SM Culture Universe. As the group’s popularity grows, so do their demands as their North American tour SYNK: PARALLEL LINE tour sold out instantly in a few cities. Lights went down at exactly 8 pm at the Kia Forum to the sounds of “Welcome To MY World” – the perfect song to hype up the crowd. Bringing the “Drama,” the group made their grand entrance appearing behind some screens wearing frilly white dresses. Their group of dancers joined next and seamlessly glided through the theatrical beats of the music. Aespa started the night strong performing some of their most popular songs right off the gate from “Black Mamba” to the bombastic hit “Supernova.” The group delighted fans with 24 songs, opting to chat less with the fans and more on delivering an entertaining show filled with all their hits. Choreography for each song was elaborate and elevated each performance - the dramatic leg drops from “Black Mamba” and the elbow raises from “Whiplash” got the biggest cheers. 

Throughout the night, Karina, Winter, Giselle and Ningning each took turns sharing the spotlight and showcasing their talents. The girls aren’t confined to specific roles, each being good at singing and dancing. Together the group is an unstoppable force. Yes, most K-pop groups use backtracks during live performances, especially on choreography-heavy songs but aespa used it sparingly that night. Their powerhouse vocals were easy to identify and they sounded great. Winter and Ningning have the strongest vocals, they effortlessly belted out high notes that earned loud howls from their fans. Towards the middle of their set, each member performed a solo song. Giselle started off the segment with the sultry R&B track “Dopamine,” Karina showed off her impressive dance moves with “UP,” Ningning melodic vocals for “Bored” caught everyone’s attention and Winter ended on a high note by performing “Spark” with euphoric visuals and choreography.During one of the group’s breaks Naevis made a surprise appearance and performed “Done.” It was interesting to see how they brought the AI to life through the screens, it almost felt like we were witnessing a real person perform on stage. Keeping the night interesting, the group had a few costume changes. The most memorable one being their baggy jeans and pink hoodies - an homage to their song “Pink Hoodie.” Aespa’s music is filled with witty lyrics and catchy choruses that work well in live performances. Songs like “Spicy” and “Next Level” felt like a singalong as everyone in the venue loudly sang along to each and every word. The night concluded with an encore performance of “ænergy,” “Just Another Girl” and “Life’s Too Short.”For more on aespa, visit aespa.com.Photo Credit: Andy Keilen/Kia Forum photosThe post Aespa Brings the Drama to the Kia Forum first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

From Warner’s Spotify and Amazon deals to Sir Lucian Grainge’s 2025 memo… it’s MBW’s Weekly Round-UpThe biggest stories from the past week – all in one place…
Source

TK Audio unveil The Transformer TK Audio's latest outboard unit combines multiple stages of analogue saturation in an effort to offer some additional ‘colour’ to those working in the box.

Noisebud FräsFräs (or Fras, as it will appear in your DAW) is a new approach to saturation with an analog feel. The saturation algorithm isn't that special, I mean, I like the sound of it and I spent a fair... Read More

Indie Artist Playbook: Tips for a Sustainable Music CareerWant to make a living from your music while staying independent? The Indie Artist Playbook shares 25 years of insider knowledge, giving you the tools to build a sustainable career, market your music, and thrive in today’s music industry.
The post Indie Artist Playbook: Tips for a Sustainable Music Career appeared first on Hypebot.

Top 10 Trending Posts on HypebotDid you miss anything? Here are the 10 trending posts on Hypebot that resonated with readers over the last 30 days.
The post Top 10 Trending Posts on Hypebot appeared first on Hypebot.

“Music is the closest thing humanity has to magic – but it will fade into history unless we support creators’ rights”: Max Richter blasts proposals to allow AI companies to train models on copyrighted materialAt present, few issues pervade the music conversation quite like the regulation of AI. With more music creation tools cropping up driven by artificial intelligence, many worry that the human creators of the source material on which they are trained aren’t being attributed and compensated fairly.
German-British composer and pianist Max Richter made his thoughts on the matter known earlier this week, when he gave a speech to MPs calling for greater protection for music creators.

READ MORE: Rights management platform for generative AI raises $2.1 million in investment for “trailblazing” attribution model

Per Mixmag, Richter called recent proposals by the UK government that would allow AI companies to train their models on copyrighted material “unfair and unworkable,” putting “the onus on artists to opt-out”.
Richter started by asserting that he’s not “anti-AI”. “There are many areas of life, especially in scientific and technical fields, where it’s obvious there are huge benefits to the use of this technology,” he said. “When it comes to creative work however, the situation is more complex. We need to approach it with thoughtfulness and keep in mind the societal impacts that its use in creative fields could have.”
He went on to call music “one of the defining human characteristics”, and one that is “universal to all human cultures”.
“We have music for getting married, for celebrating a birthday, for learning the alphabet, for graduating school or university, for resisting oppression. From national anthems to lullabies, music is in any place in our lives that matters to us. 
“A love song touches us because it was written by a person who knew what it means to fall in love; when we lose someone close to us, the funeral music touches us because its composer also felt the agony of grief, and this shaped the music they wrote; when a massive banger floods the dancefloor with joyful people, it is because the artist who made it knows what joy feels like.
“So, music gives a direct glimpse into how it feels to be another person. It connects us in profound ways and lifts us up collectively and personally.”
“Music is the closest thing humanity has to magic,” Richter explained, “But all of this will fade into history unless we support creators’ rights because, unless artists can be fairly rewarded for their work through copyright, there is no future for human creators.”
Richter called copyright “an acknowledgement that music has a value, both on a moral level and in monetary terms”.
“The tech companies pay their researchers and coders salaries. They pay for their buildings, their computers and server farms, but none of these mean a thing without access to good training data, so why is the government proposing that the tech companies should not pay for the training data too?”
The post “Music is the closest thing humanity has to magic – but it will fade into history unless we support creators’ rights”: Max Richter blasts proposals to allow AI companies to train models on copyrighted material appeared first on MusicTech.

Klevgrand releases FREE SyndtSphere v2 Sound Surfer Synth
Developer Klevgrand has released the SyndtSphere v2.0.0 Sound Surfer Synth, which is free to download for macOS and Windows. Syndtsphere, the Sound Surfer Synth is back and is now in version 2.0.0. Klevgränd released the original Syndtsphere around seven years ago (roughly), and it took an interesting approach to blending sounds. Version 2.0.0 features a [...]
View post: Klevgrand releases FREE SyndtSphere v2 Sound Surfer Synth

Ela Minus: “I never wanted to be signed to a label; I never wanted to play big festivals”When Ela Minus dials in for our video interview, an effulgent mass of light is pouring into her New York window, dousing her house plants and alighting the abstract art hanging on the walls. A fitting setting considering the title of her new album is DÍA, which translates to “day” in her native Spanish.
But Ela finds a more profound definition in the word: “A period of time defined by the presence of light.” She then takes that definition one layer deeper. Light is the means of revealing truth, and in making this record, so many personal truths were revealed to her.

READ MORE: DESTIINO: “I think it’s outdated now to mix on a desk; DAWs work well if you know how to use them”

On her previous records, she experimented with her arsenal of hardware synths including the Akai MPC 1000 and a Moog Sirin. After leaving her hometown of Bogotá, she studied synthesis at Berklee College of Music then started working at Critter & Guitarri, the boutique Brooklyn instrument company, where she built their Pocket Piano. Throughout her work, she has also developed such a good relationship with Moog that when she’s producing on the road they will ship a Sub 37 out to her so she can maintain her signature sound.
But this time around, she shifted her focus away from the hardware and towards herself:
“For this record, I didn’t have any idea or any preconceived concept of what I wanted to make,” Ela says. “I just needed to make a record and get this music out of my system. But I was confused about what it was because it felt like every song was very different. Whenever I would try to put them in a sequence, it felt schizophrenic, but I started realising what tied it together was this presence of light. Making this record was like turning a light on inside of myself, going into every nook and crevice and making music with it.”
While Ela was in the throes of her internal search, she realised the same theme had influenced her music for many years. In remembering her earliest EPs such as Adapt. (2017) and OK…(2018), she would write the word “light” (in Spanish) on Post-it notes and stick them in her immediate view as she worked. But DÍA was the first release where she shined the light to its complete potential, and much of that illumination came in the process of producing the album on the road.
Image: Alvaro Arisó
Ela produced her previous works, including her debut album, acts of rebellion (2020), in her home studio, surrounded by her wide range of familiar hardware (she “barely touched” her laptop when she made the first record).
For this album, however, Ela wrote another message to herself: “Change the process, you change the result.”
She went from a small space in the mountains of Northern Mexico to California’s Mojave Desert, to a studio in Los Angeles, back to New York, over to Seattle, down to Mexico City, and finally finishing the album in London. Unlike at home, when her laptop was an afterthought, she now had to use her limited time in all these new spaces to the fullest, recording as much as possible and then doing extensive edits on her laptop after the sessions.
The only familiar machines she had were her trusty Elektron Analog Rytm, OTO BOUM effects unit, Moog Minitaur bass, and sometimes the Sub 37. Other than that, every studio throughout this disparate process was a new, frightening experience.

“I was terrified of not having my own space and not having my own gear. I didn’t believe I would be able to produce out of my own context. So, I’m very proud that I did it that way,” Ela says. While the constant travel took a toll on her body, she found significant value in leaving the comfort of her studio. “There’s something really unique about changing places. The perspective is way bigger. You’re able to see what you’re making better because you’re not tunnel-visioned in. I think that’s extremely positive, and that helped me a lot.”
Creating in new studios illuminated new areas of her music — specifically, her vocals. In Ela’s earlier songs, such as Dominique and Megapunk, her voice is subdued, adding another simmering layer to the dark analogue soundscape. On cuts from DÍA such as COMBAT, she sings without restraint, providing buoyant, graceful tones over a warm ambient composition.
In these new studios, she saw that her subdued style stemmed, in part, from being shy about her neighbours hearing her. In a professional setting, no neighbours were listening in, and by using high-end monitors instead of her Sennheiser HD 25 headphones (as she did at home), she could properly observe how much her productions had increased in quality.
“The vocals just didn’t match the music, and I felt like the production was getting so much more confident. The voice was just not there, and it was kind of hurting my music,” Ela says. Another benefit of being in these professional environments was the wide variety of microphones she could try. “The first thing every engineer or producer will tell you is, ‘You need to try every single microphone as a singer until you find the one that fits perfectly for your voice.’”
Image: Fabrizio Colque
For Ela, two mics fit her voice: The Neumann U 87 and a Telefunken U48, running both through a Distressor and a Neve 1073 preamp. With this tried-and-tested formula, she discovered her true vocal power, which, like a domino effect of revelation, revealed that she also needed to give more attention to her lyrics.
For instance, in the song BROKEN, despite its uplifting arpeggios and dance-pop beat, Ela is singing about how she was, in fact, broken. That realisation only came to light while she was writing the song.
“I never thought I would write that song until I wrote it. The chorus flowed out of me with the lyrics, and I remember sitting there in awe of what I had just written. The fact that I was maybe not doing so well at the moment was illuminated to me,” Ela says.
Coming out of the pandemic, Ela launched right into touring acts of rebellion, stepping out on stage to see crowds filled with intoxicated people — completely disconnected from themselves, each other, and the music. “I remember looking out at the crowd and seeing their eyes. No one was there. It was very, very sad,” Ela says. But she was also disconnected from herself and what she truly wanted from her life:
“On a professional level, I still don’t really care about any career goals. I never wanted to be signed to a label. I never wanted to play big festivals. I never had this hyper-specific dream that a lot of my colleagues have,” Ela says.
Image: Fabrizio Colque
“In the years before the pandemic, I kind of let myself get pulled into this world. It never really felt right, but I still went out and tried. Then everything was set up for 2020, and it vanished into thin air. So, that left me not only broken or sad because of the obvious reasons, but also confused because I tried to follow a path that didn’t really feel like my path.”
As Ela is releasing and performing DÍA, though, she feels like she is back on the right path. She made big changes to the people around her, and she is stepping forward with intention:
“I don’t have the answers to everything I want to do differently. But the things that I know in my gut have to change, I’ve changed. The things that I am unsure about changing, I’m doing with a lot of attention and a lot of intention,” Ela says.
One thing that will never change about Ela is her Colombian heritage — making DÍA reignited her connection to her home country. Despite writing English lyrics and making music outside traditional Colombian genres like cumbia and vallenato, as a member of what she describes as “a new generation of Latin Americans,” she expresses her relationship with her native land differently.

“We grew up in cities not listening to Colombian music. Completely colonised culturally by the North. Watching only European or North American movies, the same for music, the same for books. Everything we consumed, not only us, but even our parents, has been from the north. So the ways we connect to our Colombian-ness are deeper and less obvious.”
Ela expresses her Colombianness through her creative application of rhythm. Many Latin genres, no matter how complex they may sound, are built on a simple foundational rhythm known as a clave. Her relationship with Colombian music plays a similarly deep yet impactful influence on her original works. “We don’t need literal Colombian or Latin rhythms. It doesn’t have to be a Reggaeton beat. Rhythm is in everything.”
This broad, fervent perspective can be heard in her newfound approach to vocals and lyrics. In listening to her sing on I WANT TO BE BETTER, she focuses on how the words fit together as different beats, defining phrases with accented consonants and discarding standard rhyme schemes:
“When I met you, I collapsed, disarmed/Still trying to pick myself up/And every piece of me/Just wants to show you that,” Ela sings.
Image: Fabrizio Colque
As ostensibly separate from the Colombian tradition as her music may seem, at her album release show in Bogotá, her people resonated with her more than ever.
“Being in my hometown, seeing everybody connecting and dancing and singing, it was extremely special. I’ve never felt more love in a room than that night,” Ela says, attributing that passionate response to making the album from such an honest place. “All of these deeper traits of my personality are very present In DÍA, and I think that’s why it’s connecting to people.”
Ela Minus revealed those deeper traits to her fans — and to herself — by having the courage to explore new techniques and also explore her inner world…by the light of day. Or rather, “la luz del día.”
Ela Minus’ DÍA is out now via Domino.
The post Ela Minus: “I never wanted to be signed to a label; I never wanted to play big festivals” appeared first on MusicTech.

VSL introduce Concert D-274 Essentials Concert D-274 captures a Steinway D274 in the renowned acoustic of Stage a at VSL’s Synchron Stage Vienna facility, and is now available in an all-new Essentials variant alongside its Standard and Full counterparts. 

Winklevoss brothers mull IPO for Gemini crypto exchange: ReportThe Winklevoss brothers are reportedly considering another IPO for Gemini after deciding not to pursue a public listing in 2021.

Plugin Boutique is offering 50% off these new Native Instruments Komplete 15 bundlesNative Instruments’ Komplete 15 – the latest version of its flagship production suite – is now available as part of three new bundles via Plugin Boutique, with 50 percent off for a limited time only.
Komplete 15 landed in September last year, and these three new curated editions – Beats, Band, and Electronic – each feature 13 products bundled to suit specific genres and workflows. Ending on 28 February, each bundle is currently on sale for just £44.50.

READ MORE: Native Instruments Komplete 15 is still the essential mega bundle

The Komplete 15 Select Beats Bundle offers a range of tools “designed to inspire and elevate beat production”. It features NI’s drum sampler BATTERY 4 at its core, plus a range of other tools such as EMPIRE BREAKS, offering sample-based sounds processed through classic gear, inspired by golden-era hip-hop.
As for the Select Electronic Bundle, this one is more apt for creators in need of tools for, well, electronic music production of course. Inside, you’ll get MASSIVE X for sound design, plus offerings such as TRK-01 – which combines classic mixing techniques with modern sound for expressive kick and bass combinations – and Schema: Light, an “intuitive” step sequencer for creating atmospheric patterns.
And lastly, the Select Band Bundle is curated for music producers seeking “top-tier” instruments, and includes a whole bunch of traditional band-inspired tools. It includes STUDIO DRUMMER for realistic acoustic drum kits, a sampled 1908 upright piano in the form of THE GENTLEMAN, and even the SCARBEE RICKENBACKER BASS, offering the iconic sound of the Rickenbacker 4003.

In other NI news, the brand recently confirmed that bringing its Maschine 3 software to its Maschine+ hardware controller this year is a top priority, as confirmed in a new community blog post from Chris La Pietra – Product Lead for Maschine, Kontrol, and NKS Hardware Partnerships. Currently, it is predicted for a launch in spring.
Find out more or get your hands on the Komplete 15 bundles over at Plugin Boutique.
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The post Plugin Boutique is offering 50% off these new Native Instruments Komplete 15 bundles appeared first on MusicTech.

CCC Webinar: 'Spotify, Why Do You Keep Hurting Songwriters?'“Spotify, Why Do You Keep Hurting Songwriters?”Tuesday, February 18, 2025 ZOOM WEBINAR2:30 PM PST - 4:00 PM PSTREGISTER HEREJoin as the CCC discusses the tensions between the music publishing community  and Spotify, in connection with Spotify’s reduction in payment of streaming mechanical royalties  to songwriters and music publishers, due to Spotify claiming it qualifies to pay a discounted “bundle” rate for premium subscriptions it characterizes as “Bundled Subscription Offerings.”Topics of discussion will include the following:History of the CRB Phonorecords IV settlement proceeding, as well as the Phonorecords IV’s determination of rates and terms;

Spotify’s position on reclassifying its premium subscription as a bundled service and why Spotify thinks it’s entitled to a discounted bundle rate, pursuant to Phonorecords IV;

The Mechanical Licensing Collective v. Spotify USA Inc. complaint;

NMPA’s outreach to Congress to overhaul the compulsory license in the Copyright Act to “permanently fix the power imbalance” to songwriters;

NMPA legal complaint against Spotify with the FTC;

Letter to the US Register of Copyrights from lawmakers, questioning Spotify’s bundling in light of the Music Modernization Act; and

Other DSPs’ position on bundling (e.g., Amazon Music and YouTube Music).Moderator:

Charley Londoño | Counsel Plus, Co.; and Of Counsel at The Peter Law Group

Ashley Joyce | Senior Vice President, Legal & Business Affairs, NMPAMichelle Lewis | CEO, Songwriters Of North America (SONA)Adam Parness | Adam Parness Music Consulting (Former Global Head of Music Publishing at Spotify, Amazon, Pandora)

Register for this webinar by1:30pm PST on Tuesday, February 18, 2025CCC MEMBER & NON-MEMBER REGISTRATIONThe post CCC Webinar: 'Spotify, Why Do You Keep Hurting Songwriters?' first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.