British DJ and record producer DJ Randall has died aged 54Jungle and drum and bass pioneer DJ Randall has passed away, his representatives have confirmed. The cause of death remains undisclosed at the time of writing.
The British DJ and record producer, whose voice regularly featured on radio stations Rinse FM and Rave FM, played a major role in transforming British rave culture into the hardcore drum and bass sounds that have come to define dance floors from the ’90s.

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DJ Randall became a prominent figure in the UK rave scene at Living Dream in 1990, an event attended by 10,000 people in East London where he played a three-hour set, as DJ Colin Faver did not show up.
Since then, DJ Randall, real name Randall McNeil, often referred to as “the godfather of breakbeat”, continued to perform at raves and cement a legacy as one of the most reputed and recognisable figures in the UK scene. He forged close links with record label Reinforced Records, as well as DJ and record producer Goldie.
Although he was best known for his work as a DJ, Randall McNeil was also a prominent record producer. He developed a close relationship with Andy C, co-founder of independent label RAM Records, and in 1994, produced the celebrated Jungle track Sound Control with Andy C.
DJ Randall’s prominence did not wane in the 21st century. In recent years, he has been commissioned by Drum&BassArena, Dreamscape, and Ministry of Sound, and he has performed all over the globe, including in North America, Asia, and Australia.
He played live as recently as this year, including at Drum and Bass Classics in April.
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Get Audiocube’s innovative new 3D audio software with a 40% discount
Audiocube has launched a new audio app featuring cutting-edge 3D audio tools. Audiocube offers the app for just £60 (usually £100) for a limited time as a special introductory offer. This app has been designed to enhance and simplify the creation of immersive audio experiences in a 3D audio workstation. In a fundamental sense, it’s [...]
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Spotify Shares Proven Campaign Strategies for Music PromotionSpotify shares proven campaign strategies and how seven artists – spanning genres and goals – turned up the volume for new and catalog music.
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Threads has 200 Million active usersThreads has 200 million active users just 13 months after launch.
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“They’re crushing human beings beneath their feet in blind pursuit of profit – it’s disgusting”: Video game actors go on strike over concerns about AIWhile artificial intelligence is no doubt creating opportunities for creatives to speed up their workflow and simplify the creative process, many are worried about widespread AI adoption might mean for their livelihoods.
So much so that voice actors from the video game industry went on strike last week to protest the looming threat of being replaced by AI.

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2,500 members of media collective SAG-AFTRA – including high-profile voice actor Jennifer Hale – are striking until the games divisions of companies like Activision, Warner Brothers, Walt Disney and EA agree to instate protections surrounding the use of AI, per BBC News.
You might remember the high-profile 118-day actors strike organised by SAG-AFTRA last year, which was eventually resolved after mutually agreed-upon terms were reached. Such an agreement on artificial intelligence is yet to be reached for video games, hence the nature of this recent strike.
The concern is over the fact that it’s becoming simpler and simpler to clone someone’s voice using AI, create entirely new works mimicking said person’s voice, and due to the limited legislation currently in place, fail to compensate that voice actor accordingly.
Jennifer Hale tells BBC News: “They could, for example, take all my performances in a game, let’s say Mass Effect, feed them into a machine, not too long down the timeline, spit out an entirely new Mass Effect, with a performance that was entirely generated by AI.”
Because the gaming industry is so lucrative in this day and age – it’s estimated to generate $189bn (£147bn) revenue by the end of 2024 alone – Hale says profits are trumping the rights of voice actors.
“They see that the work of our souls is nothing more than a commodity to generate profits for them,” she says. “They don’t see that they’re crushing human beings beneath their feet in blind pursuit of money and profit, it’s disgusting.”
And while Hale is one of the more successful video game voice actors, she acknowledges the disparity in pay between those in her craft and film and TV actors.
“I’m a single working mother who has bills to pay and a life to provide for my kid, as voice actors we don’t get paid star salaries,” she adds. “Under what they’re proposing on the other side of this contract, they would pay me nothing.”
Audrey Cooling, a representative for the 10 gaming companies negotiating the union, adds: “Our offer is directly responsive to SAG-AFTRA’s concerns and extends meaningful AI protections that include requiring consent and fair compensation to all performance working under the IMA [Interactive Media Agreement].”
Learn more about SAG-AFTRA’s video game strike at its official website.
The post “They’re crushing human beings beneath their feet in blind pursuit of profit – it’s disgusting”: Video game actors go on strike over concerns about AI appeared first on MusicTech.

How to promote music on Instagram ReelsInstagram Reels has been on our minds this week. While the platform is not the social bemouth that TikTok and YouTube Shorts have become, its reach is too impressive to ignore as a platform to market music.
The post How to promote music on Instagram Reels appeared first on Hypebot.

Music AI platforms can get a ‘Fairly Trained’ certification for meeting ethical standards. Those standards just got tougher.Fairly Trained-certified businesses will now have to disclose which of their models have been certified, and which haven't
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Tame Impala’s mysterious synth company teases its first instrumentIn case you haven’t heard, Kevin Parker, the brain behind Tame Impala, recently founded an electronic instruments company called Telepathic Instruments. Other than a handful of highly cryptic teaser posts and an even more befuddling brand website though, much of the company’s offerings remains shrouded in mystery.
But all of that has changed with a new Instagram video that finally gave us a glimpse of what Telepathic Instruments has been working on.

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In the clip, Parker is seen playing on what looks to be a compact synthesizer with a vintage-inspired design. The instrument features a one-octave keyboard on its right side, complemented by two jog wheels, along with a bunch of knobs and buttons. There’s also a small screen on it that resembles an oscilloscope display.
“This is what heaven must sound like,” wrote one user in the comments section. And the tones do sound surprisingly clean compared to those jangly bitcrushed sounds we heard in the teasers.
Watch the full video below.

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A post shared by Telepathic (@telepathic.instruments)

Parker’s latest venture into hardware aligns with his well-documented fascination with synthesizers and experimental sounds. In past interviews, the musician has spoken about his love for classic synths like the Sequential Pro One, describing its sound as “crying in outer space.”
While he doesn’t have a go-to synth in the studio right now, Parker reveals he’s “got a rack of keyboards close to where I sit and whatever is on that rack gets used.”
In other news, Parker announced this May that he has sold his complete song catalogue to Sony Music Publishing. “The idea of passing on ownership of my songs is one that I don’t think about very lightly, at all,” he said.
“I don’t think my songs could be in any safer hands than Sony’s, and I’m excited for the future and happy I can keep working with them on whatever the future brings.”
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Dan Clarke, Howard Jones keyboardist and ex-Behringer video host, passes awayDan Clarke, a former video host for Behringer and touring keyboardist for electronic musician Howard Jones, has passed away on Sunday after a cardiac arrest.
“Dan Clarke was a beloved member of my band, he brought energy and joy every night to the stage and was such great company on tour,” wrote Jones in a statement where he broke the news. “I’d like to dedicate our upcoming shows to him and his wonderful spirit. I will miss him so much. Words are never enough.”

Clarke’s career spanned over a decade, during which he made significant contributions to the music tech industry. Known for his dual roles as a musician and a branding expert, Clarke’s impact was felt both on stage and behind the scenes.
During his tenure at Behringer, where he served as the Global Branding Leader, Clarke hosted numerous demonstration videos on the company’s YouTube channel, including the official video for the Behringer Edge. He also had a successful career with Roland UK prior to that and worked as a videographer and producer under the name Dan Burton.
Of his passing, Behringer said: “We are deeply saddened by the passing of Dan Clarke, a truly wonderful person and a joy to collaborate with. His work on the Behringer synth videos was nothing short of amazing. Dan’s musical talent and positive spirit will be greatly missed. Rest in peace, Dan.”
Check out Clark’s videos with Behringer below.

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Native Instruments Traktor Pro 4 is a game-changing DJ suite for performersFull version: £129
Update from Traktor Pro 3: £64.50
Update from Traktor Pro 1 or 2: £90
native-instruments.com
Berlin’s electronic music scene is legendary so it’s no surprise that Native Instruments, headquartered in the east of the city, has been at the cutting edge of digital DJ software and hardware since the turn of the millennium.

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The latest major release of Traktor has been brought right up to date, incorporating long-requested features like flexible beatgrids and stem separation. But it’s also given users new stock features that were previously paid extras, such as the Pattern Player and Ozone Maximizer. So will it tempt you to move over from Serato or Rekordbox?
Traktor Pro 4 is a much more technically advanced upgrade than a first glance might suggest, adding some much-requested and genuinely impressive new features while maintaining a workflow familiar to existing users. It’s also friendly enough for the uninitiated just dipping their toes in the water.
Running on macOS or PC, Traktor Pro 4 is reasonably priced and the upgrade fee is even more modest. What’s more, the app comes bundled with almost all of NI’s Traktor hardware controllers. Kudos to NI for ditching the Traktor Pro Plus subscription option and just giving every user the Pattern Player and Ozone Maximizer as standard.
The Pattern Player in Traktor Pro 4 by Native Instruments
Traktor is a modular DJ system with up to four decks, each of which can operate in a variety of modes. Track mode is the most conventional for linear playback, Remix mode lets you trigger tracks and samples from within a remix grid, Stem mode gives you four separate stems within a deck to toggle on and off in real time, and Input mode lets you route in an external audio source.
Each deck, in any mode, has access to a bunch of effects to animate and energise your performances. These range from simple reverbs through to filters, choppers, delays, beat crushing and many more, all tempo-synced and designed specifically for DJ sets. Tracks are analysed, with their beats, pitch and tempo all detected, then automatically tempo-synced during playback based on which deck you set as the master.
Looping, cues and beat markers are all highly accurate and easy to punch in and work with. Even someone with little experience can sound fairly skilful after only a short amount of practice. All this ties in with NI’s hardware controllers too, many of which also act as audio interfaces, making for a highly efficient all-in-one setup. Traktor has also accrued a lot of other cool additional features over the years including live online broadcasting, an integrated audio recorder for your sets and of course it also supports scratch hardware if you’re that kind of DJ.
So what more could users possibly ask for? Quite a lot as it turns out, and NI has certainly delivered. The first big new feature is flexible Beatgrids. Simply put, this means that where a track has a tempo change, Traktor will now instantly adjust to it without any input from you, and other synced tracks will follow. All cues and loops still work the same way. In use it’s so seamless that you don’t really notice it’s happening.
Native Instruments Traktor Pro 4’s generate stems
The other really significant new addition is built-in stem separation. Choose a track from your library and Traktor can strip it apart into drums, bass, vocal and ‘other’, which is anything that’s left. Powered by machine learning from iZotope’s RX, this is the same style of four-part separation seen in FL Studio, Logic Pro and some others. It’s less comprehensive than the likes of RipX DAW at the task of separation, but it’s adequate here where screen space is limited and DJs aren’t necessarily looking to strip apart every element of a track.
Traktor already had Stem decks that used pre-created Stem files (with not much uptake from users) but now you can split any audio file from your library, drag it to a deck and solo and mute any of the four parts. Effects, cues, loops and the rest all work in these decks as normal. Given how much of DJ’ing is blending tracks and parts of tracks together, stem separation is a game-changer for Traktor users. No longer do you have to try to find a capellas – you don’t even have to worry about using the beat from a track that’s in the wrong key; just extract it and it’s ready to go.
Two other new features were part of the soon-to-be-retired Traktor Pro Plus subscription, with NI now giving them to every Traktor Pro 4 owner. Pattern Player lives in the effects section and is a mini step sequencer complete with a number of sampled electronic drum kits that syncs to your playback and can be triggered using pads on a controller. It’s a fun and dynamic way to contribute musically to a set entirely from within Traktor. Then there’s Ozone Maximizer which also lives in this section and can be inserted to boost and level the overall volume without clipping. It’s super simple but well worth using for maximum punch and matching levels between songs.

Though Traktor works with third-party controllers it’s when paired with one of NI’s own models (the S2, S3 or S4 or the Z1) that its potential is truly unlocked. Passing audio and data between computer, headphones, speakers or club PA, they provide a range of pre-mapped controls that make performances feel far more natural. If the bigger models are a stretch, the S2 at £309 or even the Z1 at £184 are more affordable and all give you Traktor Pro 4 for free. It’s quite the bargain, especially with these two models.
Serato and Rekordbox both offer some of Traktor 4’s features, plus boast their own specific directions and skill levels – and both cost more — but they are different enough that you might not necessarily change platforms. If you’re in NI’s world, you’re probably comfortable there, especially if you have Traktor hardware as well as software.
With Traktor 4, Native Instruments has built on an already stellar performance tool that’s as approachable for new performers as it is powerful for experienced ones. Stem separation will revolutionise the way you think about mixing and layering, the beat detection is near-flawless and the integration with NI’s hardware for live performance control makes for an outstanding all-round DJ experience. You’ll have no trouble at all getting the party well and truly started.
Native Instruments Traktor 4 key features

macOS or PC app
4 multi-purpose playback decks
Customise the interface based on your needs
Stem separation of any track
Extensive effects selection
Flexible Beatgrids
Pattern Player and Ozone Maximizer
Remix decks
Integrates with NI’s hardware controllers
Online broadcasting, audio recording of sets

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MEDO: multi-function instrument from Donner Donner’s latest hardware instrument manages to pack a surprising amount of functionality into a tiny handheld unit.

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AI music startup Suno claims training model on copyrighted music is ‘fair use’Following the recent lawsuit filed by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) against music generation startups Udio and Suno, Suno admitted in a court filing on Thursday that it did, in fact, train its AI model using copyrighted songs. But it claimed that doing so was legal under the fair-use doctrine. The RIAA filed the lawsuit […]
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Jack Dorsey’s Block sees Bitcoin revenue grow 9% to $2.6BBlock’s Bitcoin revenue exceeded $2.61 billion during the second quarter of 2024, contributing to a total net revenue of $6.16 billion for the period.

Warner Music Group shake-up: Max Lousada to exit; Elliot Grainge named CEO of Atlantic Music Group, with Julie Greenwald as ChairmanRobert Kyncl-led restructure will see regional heads report directly to WMG's CEO
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