How to Upgrade Your Online Presence in just One DayStale social media might be costing you fans, but a quick DIY refresh can turn that around in just one day. Learn how to upgrade your online presence, optimize your profile, boost engagement, and convert casual visitors into loyal listeners, without a big budget.
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Mary Droppinz went from juvie DJ sets to global stages — now, her Virtual DJ University is giving others a head startIt’s been about a decade since Mary Droppinz first took her place behind the decks. In that time, she’s gone from a local DJ in LA to a Twitch partner and international touring artist, performing at Lightning in a Bottle, Infrasound Festival, Shambhala, Friendship, Coachella’s Do LaB, and many more.
READ MORE: Best DJ gear: 9 of the best USB sticks for DJs in 2025
Before she was a mainstay on the road, Mary (real name Alyssa Johnson) DJ’d somewhere most people work all their lives to avoid: juvie. For two years, she worked with Give a Beat, an organisation that offers music and arts courses to “communities affected by incarceration.” Through this program, she went to juvenile detention centres to teach incarcerated youth how to become a DJ.
“They obviously struggle — they’re stuck there, locked up,” Johnson tells MusicTech. “To hear them say, ‘I can’t wait to get my DJ equipment when I get out,’ to give them hope and something to work towards, is really special.”
Sharing that hope through knowledge has been an essential aspect of her career. Now, she’s started Virtual DJ University — and she wants her students to find success much sooner than she did.
“If I’d known the stuff in this course when I first started [as an artist], I’d be where I’m at now five years ago,” Johnson says.
To make it work, Johnson developed the DJ training course to dive into the entire process and lifestyle of becoming a headlining DJ. With the help of production studio Killed With Kindness, she filmed a series of videos to comprise the curriculum, allowing students to move through the course at their own pace.
There are lessons on preparing for a set, such as finding new tracks, picking the right USBs and headphones, and organising playlists in Rekordbox. For when you’re actually on stage, the Virtual DJ University has tutorials for switching between genres, using DJ mixer effects, strategies for reading the crowd, and how to play best as an opener or headliner. Moving into the business aspect of DJing, Johnson explores topics like branding and finding a manager and agent.

“I’m very good at simplifying and sharing things that seem complicated”, Johnson says, doing her best to appeal to her students as both a teacher and a friend. “The best way to learn to DJ is one-on-one with someone you’re hanging out with who knows how to DJ. I’m their friend, teaching them what I know and how I learned it.”
But after so much time learning the craft on her own, Johnson knows that to fast-track success, a DJ has to understand their inner self in addition to having technical skills and a professional network.
“My thing is healing blocks”, she says. “I really explain in the University, ‘Find what your story is’. A lot of people are like, ‘Pick a lane,’ so everybody’s built up these walls. I’m trying to break them all down and plant the seed — let your flowers grow wherever they may.”
Johnson’s confidence as an educator comes from being involved in teaching since 2017. In 2020, she started teaching with Femme House, LP Giobbi’s platform for giving women, gender-diverse, LGBTQ+, and BIPOC people more opportunities in electronic music. Today, she is the organisation’s DJ curriculum director.
“[Giobbi] and Lauren [Spalding] from Femme House were the first ones to say that I’m a gifted teacher. When I heard them say that, I was like, ‘Maybe I am?’” Johnson says. “My mom was a teacher. My aunt was a teacher. My grandma. All these women in my family were teachers. So it’s actually not so random anymore to me. I just didn’t realise it. I know I’m a DJ teacher and not a first-grade teacher. But still, I’m a teacher.”
Learn more about Mary Droppinz’ Virtual DJ University. 
This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
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My Forever Studio: Luxxury goes punk rock in the BahamasLuxxury might be known for the One Song show but on this podcast, we’re all about Six Items. How will he fare in Studio Foreverdom?
If you’ve got absolutely no idea what we’re talking about, that’s fair — let’s break it down.
Luxxury, the LA-based musicologist, producer, DJ and remixer (real name Blake Robin) is renowned for his groove-laden remixes and edits. But you might also know him as the co-host of the critically-acclaimed One Song podcast, where he and Diallo Riddle strip back iconic tracks to find out how they were produced. In this episode of My Forever Studio, brought to you in partnership with Audient, we chart his journey from drummer to producer via a collection of important four-track tapes.
We dive deep into discussions around musical gatekeeping, explore how to keep a DIY punk-rock ethos alive in the studio, and discover which legendary artists Luxxury dreams of ‘borrowing’ instruments from.
Listen to the full episode on your favourite podcasting platform.

When Luxxury’s not pulling apart your favourite music, he’s blending disco, funk, and house to make bona fide bangers. His remixes and original tracks have found mainstream appeal and have been played on dance floors worldwide, making him a sought-after figure in the contemporary electronic music scene.
In the previous episode of My Forever Studio, producer and viral content creator Ellie Dixon joined us to share her home recording secrets — including which kitchen utensils double as the ultimate percussion instrument. You can check out the full video, recorded at TYX London, below, or listen on your favourite podcasting platform.

The My Forever Studio podcast – created in partnership with Audient – sees artists, producers, and engineers create their dream fantasy Forever Studio, wherever they want in the universe. However, hosts Chris Barker and Will Betts impose some strict rules in the Forever Studio. Our guests are permitted a limited number of items in their creative space, so they must choose carefully. There will be nostalgia. There will be anecdotes. There may be gags. But there will be no bundles!
Subscribe to My Forever Studio on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and check out all episodes so far via MusicTech.
The post My Forever Studio: Luxxury goes punk rock in the Bahamas appeared first on MusicTech.

Telegram founder Durov on arrest, detention in France: ‘I’m confused’In an interview with Tucker Carlson, Pavel Durov’s first since being indicted on six charges in 2024, said his company did nothing wrong.

Sir Lucian Grainge’s interview with Spotify’s Alex Norström at Brilliant Minds: 5 things we learned…Universal Music Group's Chairman and CEO sat down for a fireside chat with Spotify's Co-President, Chief Business Officer at the Brilliant Minds conference last week
Source

Still no AI-powered, ‘more personalized’ Siri from Apple at WWDC 25Apple announced a slew of updates at the Worldwide Developer Conference with one notable exception. It still hasn't revealed its previously announced AI-powered Siri.

Evergreen Audio introduce free Mini Meter plug-in Evergreen Audio have announced the release of a new free metering plug-in designed to provide users with fast visual feedback of audio levels in their DAW and devices. 

Gigi Perez Creates Pride T-shirt With Bravado to Benefit The Trevor ProjectSinger, songwriter, and producer Gigi Perez has, according to a report on Monday, "created a new t-shirt for Pride month, with 100% of the artist’s proceeds to benefit The Trevor Project, the leading suicide prevention and crisis intervention nonprofit organization for LGBTQ+ young people. Perez is signed to Bravado, the world’s leading artist merchandise and lifestyle company, which worked closely with her to launch this charity t-shirt to celebrate and support Pride. The shirt is available starting today in Gigi’s shop here: https://shop.gigiperezmusic.com/pages/the-trevor-project."The shirt, seen above, has been designed by Perez and her younger sister Bella. "The t-shirt’s typography and black and white imagery match the style of her most recent album, At The Beach, In Every Life (Island Records), and its accompanying animated lyric videos. The artwork also echoes the cover art for Perez’s viral breakthrough hit, 'Sailor Song.' The black t-shirt features the words “Love Is The Law” handwritten in block letters in white above a drawing of two figures standing on a black and white abstract, graphic globe."“Gigi’s music is deeply rooted in vulnerability and introspection, both of which have quickly earned her legions of devoted fans who see themselves in her songs,” said Matt Young, President of Bravado. “From the start, Gigi has been a strong voice for the LGBTQ+ community and champion of mental health, speaking out and supporting causes throughout the year. This collaboration for Pride Month is a powerful statement of her commitment to the community. We’re proud to stand with her and The Trevor Project in this important work.”"The Trevor Project offers 24/7 crisis services, connecting highly trained counselors with LGBTQ+ young people whenever they need support," a statement reads. "To drive prevention efforts, The Trevor Project also operates robust research, advocacy, education, and peer support programs. The Trevor Project envisions a world where all LGBTQ+ young people feel safe, seen, and accepted exactly as they are. More info at https://www.thetrevorproject.org."Photo by Caity KroneThe post Gigi Perez Creates Pride T-shirt With Bravado to Benefit The Trevor Project first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Run A Lawnmower on Diesel With Hot Bulb HackIf you’re into automotive hacks and don’t watch [Robot Cantina], you are missing out. This hack has [Jimbo] taking a break from automotive hacking to butcher a poor, innocent Tecumseh lawnmower to run diesel fuel (or anything else) by converting the motor into a hot bulb engine. (Video embedded below.)
The secret is a long stack of anti-fouling adapters, which are essentially extension tubes that move the spark plug out of the combustion chamber to keep it from getting crudded up in an engine that’s burning too much oil. In this case, burning is what’s happening inside the anti-fouling adapters: by stacking seven of them, [Robot Cantina] is able to create a hot-bulb– volume that stays hot enough between strokes to induce spontaneous combustion of the fuel-air mix.
Hot-bulb engines were popular for certain tractors (the Lanz Bulldog being the most famous) and stationary engines from the late 19th century until Rudolf Diesel’s eponymous invention drove them out of their niche completely sometime after WWII.

Traditionally, a torch would have been used to heat the hot bulb, but here [Jimbo] starts the engine on gasoline with a spark plug at the end of the stack, and disconnect the spark once the hot bulb has warmed sufficiently. Given how rough the engine runs before the ersatz hot bulb heats up enough for spontaneous combustion, tradition seems like the way to go. Even once heated up, the “chaos in the combustion chamber” (probably knocking) is enough to pop the (now disconnected) spark plug from the end of the stack of adapters at one point.
While shockingly an inspection revealed no obvious damage to the engine after the first day’s experiments, this is probably not a hack you would want to use on a motor you intended to keep — or run for very long, for that matter. Practical or not, it is fascinating to know you can go back in time to the hot-bulb era with such a simple modification. Watching this motor pop and snarl while drinking down diesel fuel, acetone, or 190 proof alcohol is a bit like watching the proverbial dancing bear: the point is not how well it dances, but that it can dance at all. If you can’t get enough of it, they made a second video that features further fuel-testing fun, and even a mowing montage.
We’ve featured other [Robot Cantina] hacks that were arguably more practical, like hacking an old Saturn’s ECU to allow for Honda Insight-style lean burning or this DIY dynomometer for similarly small engines.

Visions TNT Music MORPHED 2 - Analog AtmospheresMORPHED 2 – Analog Atmospheres Kontakt Player & NKS Ready · Visions TNT Music. Crafted from classic analog synths. Designed to create sounds never heard before. MORPHED 2 is the second installment in the MORPHED series, built from the ground up, crafted entirely from classic analog synths and designed to let you create and perform evolving sounds in real time. Pick and blend three layers, morph between them while playing, or let the randomizer surprise you with unexpected inspiration. With 154 expressive Morph Snapshots and 135 Single Instruments, MORPHED 2 delivers analog warmth, sonic depth, and raw character, all inside a flexible, redesigned engine made for composers, producers, and sound designers alike. YouTube/IwICr2-41u4 "Playthrough" (no talking) video showcasing some of the sounds of MORPHED 2. https://youtu.be/Ds7UZjf51-Q Features: - 135 crafted Single Instruments - 154 curated MORPH Snapshots - 3-Layer Morph Engine - Design your own MORPHS - One-Click Morph Randomizer - Live Morphing while playing - Global Filter & FX Controls - 9755 individual Samples - Size: 13.6 GB (uncompressed). Read More

UJAM announce Beatmaker 3 With the launch of Beatmaker 3, virtual instrument experts UJAM have combined all of their Beatmaker titles into a single, unified plug-in that sports a redesigned user interface and enhanced browsing features.

Give your mixes a lo-fi flavour with the second iteration of Lese’s Codec pluginLese has launched the second version of its Codec plugin, which uses internet compression algorithms to give your mixes a vintage, lo-fi quality.
Codec 2.0 introduced a smattering of new features designed to give you greater control over how your mixes are affected.

READ MORE: The best free and paid-for plugins you need to know about this week

Essentially, Codec divides an audio file into individual packets, and users can drop some of them out using its Loss control. The plugin then attempts to conceal the packet loss, leading to a digitally degraded sound. Additionally, there’s a choice of three modes, with each affecting how the packet loss is handled by the plugin.
New to Codec 2.0, though, is a new Disorder control, which tweaks the order of the packets processed by the internal decoder to create a somewhat glitchy effect, and a new Noise function which adds noise to an audio file before it’s fed into the encoder.

Before the encoding stage, a Crunch control lets you turn up the gain on a frequency range and dials it back down once the plugin compresses the audio. This helps you to create more distortion artefacts on your track without any extra volume.
“Unlike other plugins that simulate degradation in “old school” ways like vinyl, tape or cassette, Codec degrades sound in the most common way we hear today, through internet compression algorithms!” Lese explains.
“Codec is essentially a container that holds an audio compressor (not that kind of compressor) so you can compress and then decompress your sound, in real time, in your DAW of choice.”
Codec 2.0 is available to both PC and Mac users in AU and VST formats. You can download it free of charge from Lese.
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New York kills ticket resale restrictionsVotes on bills that would put modest restrictions on New York State ticket resellers have been delayed until at least next year. Instead, a one-year extension of the existing ticketing laws until June 30, 2026 was introduced on Sunday night.
The post New York kills ticket resale restrictions appeared first on Hypebot.

Soule DSP releases an early version of the Resonarium free experimental waveguide synth
Soule DSP releases an early version of the free experimental, semi-modular, waveguide synth, Resonarium, for macOS and Windows. First and foremost, Resonarium is still in development (version 0.0.10), and this is the time for constructive feedback. In addition to the typical bugs and crashes that we might expect from any early-stage software, the developer reminds [...]
View post: Soule DSP releases an early version of the Resonarium free experimental waveguide synth

Why Music Fans Are Traveling for Connection, Not Just ConcertsToday’s ticket buyers aren’t just going to concerts, they are looking for deeper experiences. Learn why music fans are travelling and how artists are transforming shows into unforgettable journeys of connection and community.
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