Amazon’s Echo will send all voice recordings to the cloud, starting March 28Amazon Echo users will no longer have the option to process their Alexa requests locally, which means all of their voice recordings will be sent to the company’s cloud. Ars Technica reports that on Friday, Amazon sent an email to customers who have “Do Not Send Voice Recordings” enabled on their Echo smart speakers and […]
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DIY and Independent Musician News Last WeekThis week, our tips and advice for the independent, do-it-yourselfers out there covered how promote shows on TikTok, a data-driven entertainment playbook, and more...
The post DIY and Independent Musician News Last Week appeared first on Hypebot.

Top Music Business News Last WeekA busy week by any definition, music industry news was no exception, with YouTube topping competitors, Spotify stocks continuing on the rise, and more...
The post Top Music Business News Last Week appeared first on Hypebot.

Applied Computer Music Technologies ACM500XB Console Channel EQThe ACM500XB plug-in emulates all the desirable qualities of a professional analogue console channel equalizer. High and low frequency shelving / bell filters and two mid-range parametric bands... Read More

DevOps roadmap in 2025 for #Education of #IT #developers

Tracktion present Dawesome HATE Said to be the twisted counterpart of Tracktion's LOVE plug-in, Dawesome HATE is capable of generating everything from subtle warmth to “total sonic destruction”.

Which songs are used the most in Film and TV? #music #Synchronization #MusicBusiness #Film #TV #Production

France’s recorded music revenues reached $1.1bn in 2024, up 7% YoYThe growing popularity of music streaming and a boost from the Paris Olympics propelled France to a large increase in music exports
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Recorded music market 2024: $36.2 billion, up 6.5%MIDiA has just released its annual recorded music market shares report. Clients can access the full report and the accompanying massive (!) data set here. For the rest of you, here are some highlights from the report.

Global recorded music growth has oscillated through the 2020s and 2024 continued that pattern, up 6.5% to $36.2 billion after 9.4% growth in 2023. (Excluding expanded rights, the total was $32.1 billion). Given that the first half of the 2020s was characterised by global upheaval and uncertainty, shaped by factors such as the pandemic and rising inflation and interest rates, 6,5% growth was no small achievement. But global disruption is not going away – 2025 has thus far picked up the baton and sprinted with it. The music business is going to have to get used to operating in challenging global circumstances, even before considering a growing catalogue of disruptive industry specific trends such as, bifurcation, the rise of the Global South and a fast-maturing streaming market.

Streaming still dominates revenues but its impact is lessening. For the first time ever, its share of total revenues declined slightly in 2024, down from 61.5% to 61.3%, with streaming growing slightly slower than the total market to reach $22.2 billion. Streaming is no longer the market maker. Its contribution to total market growth was down by more than a fifth compared to 2022. The streaming revenue slowdown has been on the horizon for many years and – despite price increases – it has now arrived. Super premium cannot come soon enough.

On top of this, physical was down -4.8%, carrying on its very own 2020s yo-yo growth pattern (up, down, up, down). So where did all the growth come from? Other i.e. performance, sync and expanded rights. Expanded rights (merch etc) were up to $4.1 billion, reflecting the recorded music businesses success in monetising fandom. Other as a whole was up 17.3% while Sony Music pulled up a forest of trees, seeing its ‘other’ revenue up by 38.6% in 2024.

In fact, Sony Music had a good year all round. UMG remained comfortably the world’s largest label with revenues of $10.5 billion but for the second successive year, Sony Music Group (SMG) was the fastest growing major label, increasing revenues by 10.2% to grow market share 700 basis points to 21.7%. SMG was the fastest growing major label in the first half of the decade, growing by a total of 73.9% between 2020 and 2024. The only other market constituent to grow share was non-major labels, up to 29.6% market share. Artists Direct meanwhile (self-releasing artists) felt the pinch of new royalty structures, with revenues slower than the market to reach $2.0 billion. This despite the fact that the number of self-releasing artists grew by 17.2% to reach 8.2 million, with Chinese streaming services Tencent and NetEase seeing particularly strong growth.

One of the most important market trends though, is the growing gap between DSPs and labels and distributors. Streaming services are both growing revenue faster than rightsholders and are widening the growth gap. DSPs grew revenue three times faster than labels in 2024 and the rate of growth was up three years running. Despite working within tightly set rightsholder constraints, DSPs are learning how to improve margin through a diverse mix of tactics including content mix (e.g., podcasts, audiobooks), acquiring cheaper music (e.g., production libraries, exclusive commissions, generative AI), licensing discounts (e.g., audiobook bundles) and charging labels for access to audiences (e.g., Spotify Discovery Mode). 

All in all, a solid year for the recorded music market, but with warning signs: labels aren’t keeping pace with DSP growth and despite keeping the long tail of Artists Direct quiet with new licensing structures, more artists than ever are deciding to release without labels. Eventually they (and smaller indie labels) will take heed of the ‘you’re not welcome here’ sign on streaming’s door and build their audiences elsewhere. This will be a short-term win for bigger labels, but long-term risk, with this new lane being where much of tomorrow’s culture will be made. In case you forgot, Bifurcation is coming.

Note: we scaled down some of our historical numbers slightly to reflect some double counting of independent label revenue distributed by other independent labels

Republican Congressman Jim Jordan asks Big Tech if Biden tried to censor AIOn Thursday, House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-OH) sent letters to 16 American technology firms, including Google and OpenAI, asking for past communications with the Biden Administration that might suggest the former President “coerced or colluded” with companies to “censor lawful speech” in AI products. The Trump Administration’s top technology advisers previously signaled it would pick […]
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Gracie Abrams & Her All-Female Team to Be Honored by Alicia Keys at "She Is The Music"On March 27th, She Is The Music (SITM) will bring together industry leaders at The Peppermint Club in Los Angeles for a powerful evening celebrating 50 impactful women in the music industry. Each of the 50 honorees will share their spotlight with another woman in the business, reinforcing the importance of lifting each other up and creating more opportunities for women at every level.Global superstar and She Is The Music co-founder Alicia Keys will honor one of music’s fastest-rising stars, Gracie Abrams and her team for their groundbreaking achievements in an industry where female-led teams are still the exception rather than the norm. As part of the celebration, each honoree will receive one of Barbie’s newly unveiled Career Of The Year: Women In Music dolls, a Musical Artist and Tour Manager duo created to spotlight women in the music industry.While women continue to dominate music’s biggest cultural moments, the leadership behind the scenes still skews overwhelmingly male. That’s why She Is The Music’s mission—to increase the number of women working in all facets of music—has never been more urgent. The event will bring together artists, executives, and advocates to recognize women who are shaping the future of the industry and pushing for a more inclusive landscape.Gracie Abrams said, “Being surrounded by such an incredible team of women has changed the way I see everything. They’re not only insanely talented in their individual capacities, but also intentional about supporting each other. I am grateful for the opportunity to learn from each of them. I’m deeply honored to be recognized by She Is The Music, an organization that has done so much to acknowledge and uplift women in this industry. I hope our team is a small example of what’s possible when women support each other and build together.”Alicia Keys added, “Gracie Abrams and her incredible team are living proof of what happens when women uplift each other—when we step into our power, we change the game. In an industry where female-led teams are still the exception, their success is a reminder that we belong in every room, at every table, leading every conversation. She Is The Music is about breaking barriers, opening doors, and making sure the next generation of women in music don’t just have a seat at the table—they build the table.”Universal Music Publishing Group Chairman and CEO and She Is The Music co-founder Jody Gerson said, “Women supporting women is at the very core of She is the Music’s mission. Creating a sisterhood of accomplished women and the next generations of working women across all facets of the music industry is our collective path forward to success.  We are delighted to host our inaugural Women Sharing the Spotlight and to celebrate so many wonderful women in our business.  We are also making a powerful statement by honoring Gracie Abrams and her team for embodying the spirit of sisterhood.  This recognition is not only well deserved but also a testament to the fact that women in our industry can reach the highest levels of success on their own terms—especially when they uplift and support one another in meaningful ways.”As part of the evening’s program, TuneCore CEO Andreea Gleeson and USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative Founder Dr. Stacy L. Smith will take the stage to present key findings from the newly released Inclusion in the Music Business report, a study that takes a hard look at who holds power in music—and why the pace of progress remains far too slow.The Inclusion in the Music Business report, conducted by USC Annenberg’s Inclusion Initiative in partnership with Believe and TuneCore, aligns with She Is The Music’s overall mission and comes at a time when DEI programs are facing increasing scrutiny across corporate America—making its findings even more urgent. The study examines 2,793 executives across 106 music companies and reveals a stark reality about who holds power in music:•  84.2% of the most senior executives at major music companies are white men.• Only 13.2% of CEO/President roles are held by women.• Just 5.3% of top executives are women of color—an unchanged figure since 2021.The full report can be viewed HERE.“In recent years, our work has shown that women and people of color are increasing their presence on the popular charts as artists,” said Dr. Stacy L. Smith, the study’s lead author. “But this progress is not matched by the executive ranks that are responsible for the business of music. It is clear that there are still real discrepancies in who gets to lead.”“We can’t afford to sit back and wait for this issue to fix itself,” said Andreea Gleeson. “Artists are pushing boundaries and redefining music every day—it’s time for the executive ranks to reflect that same diversity and innovation.”The She Is The Music event will bring together artists, executives, and advocates to celebrate women leading change in music while underscoring the work still needed to create true equity. With Gracie Abrams and her team of women being honored and TuneCore and USC Annenberg presenting new research on executive disparities, the night will serve as both a recognition of progress and a call for continued industry-wide action.The She Is The Music event is made possible through the support of industry leaders who share the mission of creating a more inclusive music business. The Hollywood Reporter serves as the event’s exclusive media partner, with Live Nation Women also lending their support to champion women in music.The post Gracie Abrams & Her All-Female Team to Be Honored by Alicia Keys at "She Is The Music" first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Pi Hand is a Digital Display of a Different SortHackers enjoy a good theme, and so it comes as no surprise that every time March 14th (Pi Day) rolls around, the tip line sees an uptick in mathematical activity. Whether it’s something they personally did or some other person’s project they want to bring to our attention, a lot of folks out there are very excited about numbers today.
One of our most prolific circumference aficionados is [Cristiano Monteiro], who, for the last several years, has put together a special project to commemorate the date. For 2025, he’s come up with a robotic hand that will use its fingers to show the digits of Pi one at a time. Since there’s only one hand, anything higher than five will be displayed as two gestures in quick succession, necessitating a bit of addition on the viewer’s part.
[Cristiano] makes no claims about the anatomical accuracy of his creation. Indeed, if your mitts look anything like this, you should seek medical attention immediately. But whether you think of them as fingers or nightmarish claws, it’s the motion of the individual digits that matter.
To that end, each one is attached to an MG90 servo, which an Arduino Nano drives with attached Servo Shield. From there, it’s just a matter of code to get the digits wiggling out the correct value, which [Cristiano] has kindly shared for anyone looking to recreate this project.
If you’re hungry for more Pi, the ghostly display that [Cristiano] sent in last year is definitely worth another look. While not directly related to today’s mathematical festivities, the portable GPS time server he put together back in 2021 is another fantastic build you should check out.

How do vacuum tubes work in music and audio?
We break down how vacuum tubes work in the simplest terms possible, and discuss why they're relevant in the world of music.

From Sony’s deepfake takedowns to Ackman’s UMG stake sale… it’s MBW’s Weekly Round-UpThe biggest stories from the past week – all in one place…
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Spitfire Audio’s Swarms collection brings together three of its standalone libraries – and is inspired by fine artSpitfire Audio’s new Spitfire Swarms collection brings together three of its standalone libraries – Harp Swarm, Marimba Swarm, and Mandolin Swarm – into a unified collection for Kontakt Player.
The Swarms collection is suited to composers and producers looking to craft cinematic soundscapes, game scores or other intricate orchestral compositions. It creates choirs from rarely grouped instruments, arranged around AIR Studios, Lyndhurst Hall – offering nine harps, a marimba orchestra, plus 18 mandolins, charangos and ukuleles.

READ MORE: Unlock the power of esteemed composer Ólafur Arnalds with Spitfire Audio’s new responsive sample library

According to a press release shared with MusicTech, the ‘Swarms’ concept is inspired by Pointillism – a technique of neo-impressionist fine art developed in 1886 by artist Georges Seurat, “whereby the use of discrete tiny dots of pure colour become blended in the eye of the viewer with the aim of producing a greater degree of luminosity and brilliance of colour”. Musically, Swarms mirrors the technique to create a fuller range of tones, achieved as small discrete short notes that coalesce in the ear of the listener.
Users can experiment with a range of articulations (long tremolo, short tremolo, long pluck, short pluck, or harmonic pluck, for example), and can toy with user-mixable Close, Tree, AMB. (Ambient), and OUT. (Outriggers) microphone positioning.
Everything has been originally recorded through an array of vintage microphones via Neve ‘Montserrat’ pre-amps to a Studer two-inch tape machine and onwards into the digital domain (at 96K via Prism AD converters) by engineer Jake Jackson, one of the UK’s biggest names in film-score engineering and mixing.

Paul Thomson, Spitfire Audio’s co-founder and composer, comments, “These ‘Swarms’ are incredibly useful, both when you want to play longer, slow-moving chords that have an internal movement and bubbling sound instead of using pads or traditional orchestral longs, and also when you want a percussive sound unlike anything you’ve ever heard before.” He adds, “Having nine harps or nine marimbas is such a unique texture to have as another invaluable tool to make your music stand out and sound different.”
Find out more about Swarms over at Spitfire Audio.
The post Spitfire Audio’s Swarms collection brings together three of its standalone libraries – and is inspired by fine art appeared first on MusicTech.