EAS Audio TapeStop TapeStop emulates the warping effect that occurs when stopping a reel-to-reel tape machine while playing. Stopping the "virtual tape" will progressively slow the affected track down to... Read More

Emergent Drums AI Drum Plugin GIVEAWAY + 20% OFF Coupon Code
Audialab offers five FREE copies of the Emergent Drums AI-powered drum plugin and an exclusive 20% discount for BPB readers. Emergent Drums by Audialab is the latest evolution in drum instrument plugins, utilizing the power of AI to generate unique drum samples of any type. With a vast database of drum and percussion samples, Emergent [...]
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Colors Free Is A FREE HALion Sonic 7 Instrument From Steinberg
Steinberg releases Colors Free, a free Cinematique Instruments sound library for HALion Sonic 7. The only thing better than a deal on an instrument is getting one for free. Earlier this week, we detailed the announcement and arrival of Steinberg’s HALion Sonic 7. Launched alongside HALion 7 Sonic was Colors Free, an instrument filled to [...]
View post: Colors Free Is A FREE HALion Sonic 7 Instrument From Steinberg

Magic Eraser comes to more devices, Spotify gains an AI DJ, and Netflix decreases pricesIt’s Friday (or should I say, Fri-yay.) You’ve made it. Give yourself a pat on the back — and then go read the rest of this issue of Week in Review, TechCrunch’s newsletter summing up the past seven days in tech (sign up here to get it directly in your inbox every Saturday). I’ll continue to be your WiR emcee for the next few weeks until Greg returns from parental leave. Goodness knows I lack his wit, but I’ll try to make up for it in pith. Go easy on me, please.
First things first, I’m contractually obligated (not really… but maybe actually?) to highlight TechCrunch’s upcoming events this calendar year.
TechCrunch Live is making a special (virtual) trip to Boston on February 27 for City Spotlight: Boston, and it’ll be completely free. That’s right — free! No excuses for skipping out on this one. Beyond City Spotlight, TC will be back in Boston in April for Early Stage, which will feature expert-led sessions about growing an — you guessed it — early-stage company. Last but not least, mark your calendar for TechCrunch Disrupt 2023, which takes place in San Francisco from September 19–21. It’ll be one to remember.
With the PSAs out of the way, let’s get on with the roundup:
most read
Erase your mistakes: One of Google Pixel’s best photo-editing features, “Magic Eraser,” is now making its way to other Android and iOS devices. But it won’t be free. This week, Google announced that the popular tool, which uses AI to remove unwanted content from images, will become available to Google One subscribers and to existing Pixel owners. Google One subscribers will receive a small handful of other editing tools as well, like a new HDR video effect, exclusive collage Styles and more.
Facebook jail: Sarah reports that Meta will be reforming its penalty system based on the recommendations from the Oversight Board, the independent body of experts, academics, civic leaders and lawyers who now weigh in on appeals decisions made by Meta. The social network says it will reform its system to focus less on penalizing users by restricting their ability to post and more on explaining the reasoning behind its content removals, which it believes will be a fairer and more effective means of moderating content on its platform.
TikTok in cars: TikTok is making its way into vehicles, starting with the new Mercedes-Benz E-Class that’s coming to market in fall 2023. The car’s newly updated MBUX infotainment system, which will feature a “superscreen” that spans the entire dashboard, will allow drivers to click on the TikTok app and watch videos when the vehicle is parked. How’s that for TikTok overload?
AI in my Spotify: Spotify this week launched a new AI feature called “DJ” to better personalize the music-listening experience for its users. Similar to a radio DJ, Spotify’s DJ feature will deliver a curated selection of music alongside AI-powered spoken commentary about the tracks and artists you like, using what Spotify says is a “stunningly realistic voice.” Neat!
Price drop: Netflix decreased its subscription costs in more than 100 territories over the past week as customers continue to contemplate which streaming services to keep amid price hikes. The company has been under fire lately after rolling out password-sharing rules to Canada, New Zealand, Portugal and Spain, but another potential reason for the price decrease is to fare better against competition such as Paramount+, Apple TV+, Disney+ and Hulu.
Military secrets: On Monday, the U.S. Department of Defense secured an exposed server that had been spilling internal U.S. military emails to the open internet for the past two weeks. The server was hosted on Microsoft’s Azure government cloud for Department of Defense customers, which uses servers that are physically separated from other commercial customers and as such can be used to share sensitive but unclassified government data.
Compute by OpenAI: OpenAI is quietly launching a new developer platform that lets customers run the company’s newer machine learning models, like GPT-3.5, on dedicated capacity. In screenshots of documentation published to Twitter by users with early access, OpenAI describes the forthcoming offering, called Foundry, as “designed for cutting-edge customers running larger workloads.”
YouTube goes multilingual: YouTube announced this week that it’s rolling out support for multilanguage audio tracks, which will allow creators to add dubbing to their new and existing videos, helping them to reach an international audience. The company says the technology to support multilanguage audio tracks was built in-house at YouTube, but creators will need to partner directly with third-party dubbing providers to create their audio tracks.
audio
Here’s your weekly reminder that TechCrunch has a diverse array of podcasts for your listening pleasure. This week on The TechCrunch Podcast, Haje stepped in for Darrell to talk with Taylor about the Supreme Court cases that could change the internet as we know it. On Chain Reaction, Jacquelyn interviewed Alex Adelman, the co-founder and CEO of Lolli, a bitcoin rewards app that lets people earn bitcoin or cash back when they shop online or in person at over 10,000 stores. The Found crew spoke with Michael Chime, the co-founder and CEO of Prepared, which is leading the charge to modernize 911 calls by providing access to video and photos. And over at Equity, the gang covered trends such as the possible return of IPOs and accelerators that back the startups of laid-off tech workers.
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:
Ocean conservation: Tim investigates whether ocean conservation startups are the next big thing in sustainability. The takeaway? Even some of the most intractable and high-profile problems facing the world’s oceans, like plastic pollution, are inspiring investors to dive in (pun intended).
Making layoffs suck less: Leslie Crowe of Bain Capital Ventures writes about how to announce job cuts and retain top performers. With some thought and planning, she argues, founders can manage the layoff process well and come out the other side stronger.

Say goodbye to $100 million venture rounds: Startups hoping to raise a nine-figure round in the future had best temper their ambition. Alex writes that venture funding events worth $100 million or more are going extinct — quickly.

Magic Eraser comes to more devices, Spotify gains an AI DJ, and Netflix decreases prices by Kyle Wiggers originally published on TechCrunch

SBF’s new charges, Shapella’s fork date and emojis as financial advice: Hodler’s Digest, Feb. 19-25Top Stories This Week Unsealed superseding indictment against Sam Bankman-Fried includes 12 criminal charges Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) was charged on four new criminal counts by a federal judge presiding over his case. According to a superseding indictment, there are now 12 criminal charges against Bankman-Fried, including eight conspiracy charges related to fraud […]

Songwriter Profile: Stephanie LeavellHealing Sounds

Repetitive. Grating. Empty. Children’s music descriptors don’t apply when it comes to singer-songwriter and music therapist, Stephanie Leavell. As she puts it, “As a parent myself, it’s got to be pleasing.”

With early memories of coloring books at her rock band parents’ gigs, Leavell was surrounded by all aspects of music at a very young age, although her chosen pursuit was unique. After seeing a picture of a harp in a newspaper at age five, she voiced her desire to play and, still committed to the endeavor two years later, her parents bought her a harp and she began lessons with a local philharmonic player.

Writing started with instrumental songs on the harp, with Leavell learning to play the guitar, singing and songwriting more regularly in her teens. Her parents’ DIY recording studio in the basement inspired her first album in junior high. Says Leavell, “I sometimes wonder if my singing tone was impacted by hours and hours behind the harp before I was even singing… my whole childhood is me behind a harp to some extent.” 

As an introvert, she found it difficult to share her own music with others, and it wasn’t until music therapy entered her life in a class at Berklee (after initially pursuing harp studies and music business) that things clicked and she realized that being a music therapist was a way to create music without the focus being on her.

“It was easier to think of the things I would tell kids, that I tell my own daughter, and the things that I want kids to be able to tell themselves,” admits Leavell. Her mentorship at Massachusetts General Hospital—and seeing a reduction in children’s pain and anxiety—led to work in hospitals, clinics, and schools.

Working as a music teacher at her daughter’s preschool brought the challenge of trying to simultaneously keep the attention of 24 little ones, and after moving home to Idaho during the lockdown, she started a music therapy program at her local hospital. Often seeing children starting chemotherapy at just two or three years old, with no ability to process complex feelings (and no ability to express language), she connected at a heart level, allowing the experience to be somewhat less traumatic as kids got time to be creative and find an avenue for self-expression. “They used to get anticipatory nausea, anxiety and pain before coming in,” reveals Leavell. “There’s singing, dancing, playing, and joking around. It’s a break from medical intervention. The brain is more focused on music than it is on pain.” Creating a safe space for youngsters navigating the unimaginable, they ask for her by name.

Therapy sessions—in addition to being soothing and emotive—leverage multiple communication points to help kids to process and interpret the song’s message. Vocals match the lyrics, cadence, melody, rhythm and movement to engage each child’s brain at their own level of development (including various stages of trauma and neurodiversity). “Some kids process the rhythms, some are more focused on the melody,” she says. “The more I stack those, [the more] a song is crystal clear, the more successful the kid is going to be.”

Leavell founded online educational platform Music For Kiddos in 2017, sending out a “song of the month” to newsletter subscribers and providing a library of about 500 educational resources used by schools, parents, music therapists, and early music educators. Her latest recording project, Made to Bloom, includes her vocals, guitar and harp—with the addition of a guest mandolinist and percussionist—and is comprised of top “song of the month” selections from the past five years. 

Nominated for 2019’s Children’s Album of the Year for debut Move It, Move It!, 2020’s Children’s Song of the Year and a finalist in 2021’s International Songwriting Competition, Leavell won 2020’s American Music Therapy Association’s Songwriting Competition for “School’s A Little Different This Year.” 

Contact elizabeth@waldmaniapr.com

Experience stephanieleavellmusic.com

Getting It Done: The week in D.I.Y. & Indie MusicLast week, our tips and advice for the independent, do-it-yourselfers out there covered how to find the perfect manager, how to get more Spotify streams, and more. Important skills every. 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, the music industry was no exception; with Spotify adding TikTok-like features, the Supreme Court considering a decision that could e bad for musicians, and. Continue reading
The post REWIND: The new music industry’s week in review appeared first on Hypebot.

Placid Audio Copperphone AV20 announced Placid Audio are celebrating their 20th anniversary with the release of the Copperphone AV20, an updated version of their most popular microphone. 

TikTok’s teenage filter has us confronting our own mortalityPeople on TikTok are getting emotional over an AR filter that makes you look like a teenager. Juxtaposed one beside the other, the filter shows you as you are, and then a version of you that has perfectly smooth skin and a strange youthful innocence.
The filter has sparked a surprisingly wide range of emotions.
“I had not seen her in a very long time,” wrote a TikToker in a post with over 500,000 views. “Yes… I cried.” In a video with 1 million views, another user wrote, “This filter gave me the ability to finally speak to my younger self,” reflecting on how much she had grown since leaving an abusive living situation.
At the same time, others have filmed TikToks making fun of dramatic reactions to seeing a “younger self,” while some people joked about how being a teenager doesn’t mean you have flawless skin — it probably means you can’t keep your acne under control.

@kasiadollka
omg my dad’s reaction to the #teenagefilter made me tear up
♬ The Freshmen – The Verve Pipe

We know that social media can make us feel bad about our appearance. Only in this case, instead of comparing ourselves to others, this filter drives us to compare ourselves to who we were in the past. Still, it’s a warped sense of reality — you probably didn’t look like a baby cherub as a teenager, and you might have wrinkles now… but you’re probably a lot more well-adjusted with a lot less chemistry homework.
But for many users, it’s not the baby-smooth skin that makes them feel emotional. Rather, the filter spurs a sense of grief over the regrets they have about not enjoying life when they were younger, or the hard decisions they’ve had to make as an adult. A lot of these videos are set to the song “The Freshmen” by The Verve Pipe (which shockingly is not the same band that wrote “Bittersweet Symphony”). The brooding 90s alt rock song has an apt chorus for the emotions that are bubbling up for Gen Xers: “For the life of me I cannot remember/What made us think that we were wise and we’d never compromise.”

@uhhhuhhunney
Lived in the past for about 30 seconds or less. To think about the last time i looked so young and what i had endured up to that point. It seemed like my smile never lost its life but that sparkle in the eye had already been gone for so long. 20 years past and even more endured i wonder what will be in 20 more years. #teenagers #teenagefilter #teenagelookfilter #teenagerfilter #abuse #domesticviolence #death #surviving
♬ The Freshmen – The Verve Pipe

Though these TikToks are sentimental, this is far from the first time that an AR filter or app has gone viral to show us what we looked like in our youth, or how we might look when we’re old.
Just months ago, fantastical AI-generated avatars were all the rage, though that trend has died down considerably. And every so often, a filter that makes you look like an animated Disney character will predictably go viral on Snapchat or TikTok, keeping our brain worms entertained for a moment until we get bored again.
These AR filters are more prone to going viral, though, since there’s a smaller barrier to entry — you don’t have to download a new app, which is reassuring given the shady history of many viral photo editing apps. Some photo apps have been found to be vectors for malware, while in other cases, users have worried about what happens to the photos they upload into these apps. These concerns came up around Russia-based AI editor FaceApp, which later had to clarify in a statement that it might store updated photos in the cloud for “performance and traffic reasons,” but that most images are deleted within 48 hours.
Some users may have security concerns about TikTok regardless — but TikTok claims that it is not collecting or storing our biometric data when we use these AR filters.
In any case, as you idly scroll through TikTok, just remember: We are all going to die one day!

TikTok’s ‘corecore’ is the latest iteration of absurdist meme art

Everyone you know is a Disney princess, which means AR is queen

TikTok’s teenage filter has us confronting our own mortality by Amanda Silberling originally published on TechCrunch

Rapper Sheedts Signs to Great Day RecordsPhiladelphia up-and-coming rapper, Sheedts has signed to Great Day Records, the recently launched label from Baroline Diaz in partnership with Todd Moscowitz’s Santa Anna and Alamo Records. To celebrate the signing, the 18-year-old has released a video for “Rockin’ & Rollin’”, a standout from his recently released project 5lve, a debut full of emotionally charged stories from life on the streets. 

Listen to 5lve HERE

FOR MORE ON SHEEDTS: Twitter Instagram

Sam Bankman-Fried's lawyers request extension for bail condition proposalAccording to the legal team representing Sam Bankman-Fried, prosecutors had no objections to continuing his bail conditions until the firm could choose a suitable technical expert.

From HYBE’s stake in SM Entertainment to Live Nation’s $9.6bn investment in artists… it’s MBW’s Weekly Round-UpOur biggest stories of the week, brought to you in association with Centtrip
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Web3 technology isn’t in vogue like it was last year. But it’s still the future of the music business.Sergio Mottola, co-founder and President of Public Pressure, on why he thinks Web3 can still be transformative for the music sector
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Patchbanks Melodic Mirage Melodic Mirage is a unique lo-fi ambient sample pack developed with AI audio manipulation techniques to create original soundscapes and reverberated textures for downtempo beats. ... Read More