Native Instruments Claire: Avant Piano PluginNative Instruments describes their new piano virtual instrument Claire: Avant as an “avant-garde instrument, developed in collaboration with Galaxy Instruments, [which] transforms the sounds of a 10-foot Fazioli concert grand piano into a canvas for experimental soundscapes, featuring unconventional techniques that bring out the raw textures and hidden harmonics of the instrument. A piano like no other, Claire: Avant is a bold reimagination of the piano, capturing the character of a 10-foot Fazioli F308 concert grand, one of the world’s most revered and sonically rich pianos. Known for its exceptional craftsmanship, extended resonance, and powerful low end, the Fazioli F308 delivers a depth and clarity that few instruments can match. Recorded with the lid off, Claire: Avant unveils the intricate resonances, overtones, and percussive textures often lost in traditional sampling. From metallic hits to delicate droplets, deep basses to high-grit tones, it invites artists to explore new sonic territories with scraped, struck, plucked, and dampened articulations.”The next evolution of their sampling capture of the Fazioli Grand Piano Claire, Claire: Avant is not designed to be a standard capture of a Grand Piano. Optimum for film scores or any music where a different piano sound is desired, many of the timbres available would fall into the category of prepared piano. Claire: Avant is designed to be expressive and unconventional. Claire: Avant introduces nine distinct articulations and preparations, including: brushed textures, Flageolet harmonics, damped una corda, soft, rubber and metal mallets, muted strings, wooden and ivory plucks. All these unique articulations are very malleable, which multiple mic variables and tonal combinations of textures that make Claire: Avant an enormously powerful and deeply variable sonic palette. Claire: Avant features the NI’s Particles engine, enabling each note to evolve with dynamic harmonic textures that change over time. The Particles Engine aims to inject dynamic and organic elements into your music by triggering and processing additional samples, or "particles," in response to your keyboard inputs. Combined with 40 custom presets for Kontaktʼs Pattern Tool, the instrument creates organic sequences and randomized textures.Native Instruments is one of the top leading companies in sampling. The innovation and depth of Claire: Avant is remarkable and not something that can be explored in one day. Featuring 122 presets, the sonics are top notch and unusual sounds are in every patch. The presets sound incredible and can be further edited substantially. This is an instrument that will continue to provide textures and inspiration for those inclined to explore it. Claire: Avant works both as a standalone application or as a plugin within Kontakt 8 and requires the very latest version of Kontakt 8.2.Claire: Avant $99; Special Bundle Offer: Claire: Avant and the Claire grand piano $199For more, visit native-instruments.comThe post Native Instruments Claire: Avant Piano Plugin first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

US DOJ says it seized Hamas crypto meant to finance terrorismThe US Justice Department (DOJ) seized more than $200,000 in cryptocurrency intended to benefit the militant group Hamas it said in a statement on March 27. The cryptocurrency with a total value of $201,400 was traced to fundraising addresses allegedly controlled by Hamas and used to launder more than $1.5 million in digital assets since October 2024. The laundering occurred through a series of “virtual currency exchanges and transactions by leveraging suspected financiers and over-the-counter brokers,” the DOJ said. The funds are currently held in a combination of at least 17 wallets.Affidavit to seize the Hamas-linked cryptocurrency. Source: US DOJIn January 2024, the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, along with corresponding organizations in the United Kingdom and Australia, announced sanctions against networks and facilitators of crypto transactions linked to Hamas. Those sanctions were built on US Treasury sanctions from October 2023.In January 2024, three families of victims of the Hamas attack against Israel sued Binance and its former CEO Changpeng Zhao, alleging that the exchange had provided “substantial assistance” to terrorists. In oral arguments, a lawyer representing Binance claimed the exchange had “no special relationship [with] Hamas […].”Binance has faced scrutiny from the US government over alleged shortcomings in its Anti-Money Laundering controls. The exchange settled with the DOJ for $4.3 billion in November 2023.More regulation needed?According to a December 2024 report by the Congressional Research Service, Hamas has allegedly sought cryptocurrency donations since at least 2019, although the “scale and effectiveness” of these efforts have been unclear.Terrorist organizations using crypto for fundraising have increasingly drawn the attention of the US, with some officials questioning whether the industry needed more supervision or regulation to stop such behavior.According to a 2023 Chainalysis report, terrorism financing accounts for a very small amount of crypto usage, with illegal groups sticking to using traditional, fiat-based methods to fund operations.Magazine: Terrorism and the Israel-Gaza war have been weaponized to destroy crypto

Certification platform Certiverse nabs $11M Series A led by CherryrockCertification platform Certiverse raised an $11 million Series A led by Cherryrock Capital, it announced this week. The company was founded by Ruben Garcia, Pablo Meyer, and Federico Lopez in 2023. It lets organizations develop certification exams at, its founders say, far less cost than traditional methods.  Certifications are an age-old method to gain technical […]

Dua Lipa wins copyright lawsuit over hit song Levitating (with a little help from Ed Sheeran)Warner, Sony, and Universal were all co-defendants, as were Lipa's co-writers on the global smash
Source

Inside a Fake WiFi RepeaterFake WiFi repeater with a cheap real one behind it. (Credit: Big Clive, YouTube)
Over the years we have seen a lot of fake electronics, ranging from fake power saving devices that you plug into an outlet, to fake car ECU optimizers that you stick into the OBD port. These are all similar in that they fake functionality while happily lighting up a LED or two to indicate that they’re doing ‘something’. Less expected here was that we’d be seeing fake WiFi repeaters, but recently [Big Clive] got his hands on one and undertook the arduous task of reverse-engineering it.
The simple cardboard box which it comes in claims that it’s a 2.4 GHz unit that operates at 300 Mbps, which would be quite expected for the price. [Clive] obtained a real working WiFi repeater previously that did boast similar specifications and did indeed work. The dead giveaway that it is a fake are the clearly fake antennae, along with the fact that once you plug it in, no new WiFi network pops up or anything else.
Inside the case – which looks very similar to the genuine repeater – there is just a small PCB attached to the USB connector. On the PCB are a 20 Ohm resistor and a blue LED, which means that the LED is being completely overdriven as well and is likely to die quite rapidly. Considering that a WiFi repeater is supposed to require a setup procedure, it’s possible that these fake repeaters target an audience which does not quite understand what these devices are supposed to do, but they can also catch more informed buyers unaware who thought they were buying some of the cheap real ones. Caveat emptor, indeed.

Dom Morley launches Multiband.io Multiband.io has been designed to align every stage of the production process and help creators to ensure that everyone involved with a project is working from the same page.

Plugin Boutique’s Scaler 3 brings huge changes, and you can get 20% off for a limited timeScaler Music‘s celebrated Scaler plugin is now in its third iteration, and you can grab 20 per cent off for a limited time only.
Originally launched back in 2018, the plugin has been praised by the likes of Carl Cox and Jean-Michel Jarre, and is a tool for musicians, producers and composers looking to try interesting scales and different chord patterns in their work.

READ MORE: We tested five of the best kick drum plugins in 2025 — here’s which one you should buy

Its second edition, launched in 2020, received a whopping 10/10 from MusicTech in our review. Normally priced at £99, Scaler 3 is retailing for just £79 from Plugin Boutique until 30 April. Existing owners of Scaler 1 and 2 can upgrade for even less, at just £29 (list price £39).
So, what’s new in Scaler 3? Plugin Boutique says it’s been “re-imagined and powered up”, now making it easier to “take new directions, solve musical puzzles, and improve your works-in-progress in completely new ways”. Essentially, it now runs as a standalone app and doesn’t even require a DAW.
The launch also improves on its UI, which is now more intuitive and quicker to use, and it also introduces the ability to host third-party VST and AU instruments and effects, all directly within the software.
Users can simply load any third-party instrument from their plugin collection, directly from the preset browser in Scaler. This means you can hear how certain chord voicings or progressions sound when played on your favourite synths or a sample instrument, and no MIDI routing or exporting is needed.
Scaler 3 hosts three main work pages: Browse, Arrange, and Create – the latter of which offers an Explore Page, where users can experiment with Chord Constellations; these are collections of chords organised by genre and mood. Over in the Arrange Page you’ll find pre-made chord sets and progressions, and can edit multiple layers of MIDI instruments, allowing for detailed composition without leaving Scaler.
Check out more in the video below:

Find out more about Scaler 3’s new features, or purchase now directly from Plugin Boutique.
The post Plugin Boutique’s Scaler 3 brings huge changes, and you can get 20% off for a limited time appeared first on MusicTech.

Excite Audio Bloom Drum PercussionIgnite your rhythm with Bloom Drum Percussion – a vibrant collection of percussion and organic grooves featuring hand-played Latin & African instruments. From the groove of Brazilian samba t... Read More

100-hour non-stop DJ Marathon to be broadcast from London in support of social mobilityA 100-hour non-stop DJ Marathon is due to take place in London this spring, and will be broadcast live online to raise funds in support of social mobility.
AllSorts Music Festival will be hosting the DJ Marathon, and will broadcast the event live from Mile End in East London. The marathon will be taking place at 11am on 9 April, and is due to conclude at 3pm on 13 April. The AllSorts festival itself will later be running in July in Malvern.

READ MORE: Ed Sheeran pens open letter urging UK government to invest £250 million in music education “to repair decades of dismantling music”

The marathon is also competing to set a Guinness World Record while collecting donations for the Zero Gravity Fund – a “groundbreaking initiative transforming the futures of talented students from low-opportunity backgrounds across the UK”. In particular, this event will support funding for Zero Gravity Scholarships, which remove economic barriers to opportunities.
Over 50 different artists, including well-known professional DJs and AllSorts Festival regulars, are volunteering to perform in shifts during the 100-hour marathon. The Guinness World Record for the longest DJ live stream requires nonstop audio broadcasting for the complete duration of the stream.
Viewers can even take part in audience games during the stream, and learn from guest speakers. Performers include Tommy Villiers (of Piri & Tommy), Kaya Fyah, LOAI and many more.
“We believe that every young person, regardless of their background, deserves the opportunity to succeed,” says Nick Byrne, co-founder at AllSorts of Tunes. “The AllSorts World Record DJ Marathon is our way of contributing to a more equitable future, where education empowers all.”
Shiv Patel, Head of Scholarships at Zero Gravity, adds, “We’re so excited to partner with AllSorts of Tunes on their World Record DJ Marathon to raise funds for Zero Gravity Scholarships. Music has always brought people together and driven change – and this collaboration is no different. Together, we’re backing diverse talent from every corner of the UK and helping them launch into life-changing careers.”
To donate, head over to the AllSorts GoFundMe. You can also find out more information on the DJ marathon, or the Zero Gravity Fund.
The post 100-hour non-stop DJ Marathon to be broadcast from London in support of social mobility appeared first on MusicTech.

Bastille’s Dan Smith on how scalpers hurt artists and fansBastille frontman Dan Smith is not the first artist to call out predatory ticket resellers. But he has done a particularly effective job of articulating how scalpers hurt artists and fans.
The post Bastille’s Dan Smith on how scalpers hurt artists and fans appeared first on Hypebot.

Planning application for a “retrofit-first refurbishment” of Maida Vale officially submitted to councilPlans for Maida Vale’s “retrofit-first refurbishment” are once again in motion, as a planning application for the iconic studios has officially been submitted to Westminster City Council.
Maida Vale, which formerly belonged to the BBC, was sold to Hans Zimmer and others in 2023 for a reported £10.5 million. Plans for its “state of the art” makeover led by the Oscar-winning composer were further outlined in September last year, but at the time, a formal planning application was yet to be submitted.

READ MORE: “At that moment, I thought only an idiot would say no”: How an invitation from Pharrell Williams ended Hans Zimmer’s fear of performing live

Now, as per MusicRadar, a planning application has officially been filed by Mavis Partnership LLC – a group led by Zimmer that includes business partner Steve Kofsky and British film producers Eric Fellner and Tim Bevan – which Westminster City Council will review on 1 April.
As outlined by the Future Of Maida Vale website, the refurbishment plans focus on sustainability, as well as “retaining and enhancing the Edwardian frame and frontage” of the venue,  and “upgrading the existing recording studios to deliver state of the art music studios, film production and editing facilities which meet the demands of today’s creative industries”.
The proposal also suggests that an ‘audio wing’ will house the four largest studio spaces (MV0, MV1, MV2 and MV3), and will feature composer suites, music rooms, control rooms and workspace alongside amenities and food/beverage facilities for staff and visitors.
A second, ‘visual wing’ – the large space at the southern end of the building – will focus on film, and will include a range of high-tech facilities including ADR (Dialogue Replacement Dubbing), Dubbing Stages (Sound Stages), Foley Studio (Sound Effects), a screening room, editing suites, colour grading and flexible workspaces.
“This proposed upgrades will set new benchmarks for excellence in British film and music post-production, fostering the creation of new jobs, driving innovation, and promoting industry investment,” the website reads.
Find out more and read the full vision statement over on the Maida Vale Studios website.
The post Planning application for a “retrofit-first refurbishment” of Maida Vale officially submitted to council appeared first on MusicTech.

Music subscriber market shares 2024: Slowdown? What slowdown?Record label streaming revenue growth slowed to 6% in 2024 but there was no such slowdown in subscriber growth. In our just published ‘Music subscriber market shares Q4 2024’ report, we reveal that the 85 million net* new subscribers added in 2024 was only two million less than in 2023, resulting in 818 million subscribers and growth of 12% i.e., around double label revenue growth. 

So, just what is going on? How could subscriber and revenue growth become so de-coupled? Normally, the answer for music industry questions like this is ‘it’s complicated’ –but this time it is not. It can be boiled down to two key things: Global South and incentivised growth.

On to those in a bit, but first market shares:

Spotify continues to set the pace: Spotify’s market share (32%) is around where it was in 2015 and has remained relatively stable in all the intervening quarters. That might sound like stasis, but it is anything but. Between 2015 and 2024, the global base of music subscribers grew by more than 850%. So, to maintain market share, Spotify has had to grow at a similar rate. During 2024, Spotify added 28 million subscribers in 2024, that is more than the combined total number of subscribers added by the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th largest DSPs (Tencent, Apple, and Amazon). The simple arithmetic is that when you command a strong market lead, you have to add a lot more subscribers than the rest to maintain your market share. It is easy to take Spotify’s success for granted. Don’t! This is what a highly effective company that retains an obsessive appetite for growth looks like

Tencent Music Entertainment: Even though it operates in China, Tencent  is the 2nd largest DSP globally, with 120 million subscribers. What is more, it grew so strongly that it slightly increased global market share in 2024. Though its key competitor NetEase Cloud Music grew even faster and so gained China market share at Tencent’s expense

Apple Music and Amazon Music: Apple and Amazon held onto 3rd and 4th spots respectively, but both had underwhelming 2024s, adding just six million subscribers between them

YouTube making up ground, fast: In percentage terms, YouTube was the fastest growing global DSP in 2024, growing market share and only missing out on knocking Apple off 4th spot by a margin in the low hundreds of thousands. Spotify and YouTube are the ones setting the global pace and though YouTube is far behind Spotify globally, it is the top DSP in a number of key Global South markets, including India

Now, on to why subscriber growth is so much faster than revenue growth:

1 – The Global South

The Global South (by which we mean regions that are not North America and Europe) is now the music industry’s growth engine. Last year we entitled our music forecasts report ‘Rise of the Global South’ and our view was borne out in 2024, with these regions accounting for 78% of all subscribers added in 2024. Let that settle in for a moment: four fifths of all subscriber growth came from outside of Europe and North America. Of course, those two regions still account for the majority of revenues, but as subscriber growth slows in those markets, it is lifting off elsewhere. This is nothing less than a rebalancing of the global music industry.

Which creates a major uncoupling of growth metrics for Western rights holders. Global South markets have lower ARPU and Western repertoire share is low there. So, Western rights holders see a double discount on subscriber value compared to Western markets.

2 – Incentivised growth

In the first phase of streaming growth, ad supported users acted as the key means of converting subscribers. In mature Western markets, most people on free tiers are there because they like free stuff rather than being prospective subscribers. This is why free trials have become the key tool for driving conversion. In saturated Western markets, it seems that these trials are being used liberally to try to squeeze out the last pockets of subscriber growth. In turn, denting ARPU. 

Consider the case of the US: According to the RIAA’s figures, subscription revenue grew by 5.3% and ARPU growth was 1.9%. Meanwhile US inflation was 2.9% but the streaming price ‘inflation’ rate was 9.1%. So, a $1 price increase resulted in ARPU decreasing by one percentage point in real terms (ie inflation adjusted).

Foundations for more growth

2024 was a great year for global subscriber growth and was a particularly good year for Spotify, YouTube, Tencent, and NetEase. The divergence between revenues and users is clearly cause for concern, but it is better for the long term to be growing subscribers as once you have them monetised you can start focusing on growing monetisation. Hello supremium.

*All growth figures refer to net additions i.e., the difference between the total number of subscribers one year to another. They do not account for churn. The total (gross) number of subscribers added is significantly higher. The net figure thus refers to the total after churned out subscribers have been removed from the totals.

Google makes it easier to log more YouTube Shorts viewsGoogle is changing how it counts YouTube Shorts views and for once its good news for creators.
The post Google makes it easier to log more YouTube Shorts views appeared first on Hypebot.

Topos plug-in from Forever 89 Described as an “all-terrain tone explorer”, Topos combines saturation processing with speaker simulation, providing musicians, producers and sound designers with a wealth of control over their tracks’ tone, depth and spatial presence.

Producer Timbaland thinks today’s music is “bland” and “boring”, calls AI the only thing with a “pure soul” right nowTimbaland has slammed today’s music as “bland” and “boring”.
In a new interview with The Inner Court, the producer – who’s crafted hits songs for the likes of Justin Timberlake, Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Madonna, Kanye West, Lil Wayne and more – shares his thoughts on the current state of music and AI’s role in it.

READ MORE: Output’s new Co-Producer plugin uses AI to curate the perfect samples for your project – all from within your DAW

According to Timbaland, the music industry has felt the impact of political and social divisions, particularly in the wake of the recent US election, and that disconnect is reflected in today’s music.
“You could feel the pressure of the dividedness, and I hate that. This whole election divided us,” he says. “What I mean by that is it divided the music. The music sounds bland, it sounds boring.”
Timbaland goes on to praise artificial intelligence as a source of “pure”, creative expression in music, saying, “We talk about AI, and that is the only thing that has a pure soul right now. That you can create something and just express your true feelings and it comes out beautiful.”

Timbaland calls today’s music “bland” and “boring,” admits there’s currently no well-known artist whose music moves him, and praises AI by saying it’s the only thing that has a pure soul.
( The Inner Court/Victor Oladipo/YouTube) pic.twitter.com/rquyHrRdCo
— The Art Of Dialogue (@ArtOfDialogue_) March 21, 2025

Controversial as they may be, Timbaland’s views on AI are hardly surprising. The producer previously admitted to spending 10 hours a day using Suno AI. And in 2023, he shared an AI-generated track featuring the late rapper, Notorious B.I.G. He later told Business Insider that he’s planning on making an entire posthumous Biggie album using the technology, to the horror of many fans.
Timbaland’s latest comments add to the ongoing debate about AI’s increasingly pervasive presence in music. While some view AI as a tool for democratising music creation and innovation, others like Nick Cave are far more skeptical of AI’s ability to replicate human emotion and artistry.
Major labels are already integrating AI into production, with companies like Sony and Universal Music Group exploring AI-assisted songwriting and vocal cloning. Meanwhile, streaming platforms like Spotify and YouTube are introducing AI-powered tools for music creation, which certainly questions about the future of originality in music.
The post Producer Timbaland thinks today’s music is “bland” and “boring”, calls AI the only thing with a “pure soul” right now appeared first on MusicTech.