Sign letter to Congress supporting today’s Fix The Tix Day of Action!Today, Tuesday, July 9, is the Fix The Tix coalition's official Day Of Action harnessing the voices of artists and fans to push Congress to fight ticket scalpers and finally pass comprehensive ticketing reform.
The post Sign letter to Congress supporting today’s Fix The Tix Day of Action! appeared first on Hypebot.

Understanding 3 Sizes of CD Cover Art + Tips to create Great CoversThis guide teaches the various dimensions and guidelines for creating CD album covers that meet industry standards.
The post Understanding 3 Sizes of CD Cover Art + Tips to create Great Covers appeared first on Hypebot.

Cardi B sued for $50 million over copyright infringementCardi B is being sued by production duo Kemika1956, who allege copyright infringement on her recent track Enough (Miami).
According to court documents accessed by TMZ Hip Hop, Joshua Frausto and Miguel Aguilar of Kemika1956 believe Cardi B’s latest single features stolen samples from their track Greasy Frybread, which featured in the FX series Reservation Dogs back in 2021.

READ MORE: Travis Scott lawyers file to dismiss uncleared sample lawsuit

Enough (Miami) peaked at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100, and was named one of Rolling Stone‘s Best Songs of 2024 So Far. However, Kemika1956 are arguing that the track’s magic and success is thanks to their own work.

The duo filed the $50 million lawsuit in a Texas federal court on Wednesday. Elsewhere in the documents, Frausto and Aguilar also name producers OG Parker and DJ SwanQo. The companies Atlantic Records and Warner Music Group are also named.
According to Billboard, attorneys claim Cardi B’s sampling has resulted in ‘substantial damages’ in terms of economic impact and their artistic reputation.
“This civil action seeks damages and injunctive relief for multiple claims including copyright infringement, vicarious infringement, contributory infringement, unfair competition, and misappropriation,” the suit reads.
Fraustro and Aguilar are also seeking a temporary restraining order on the track. The suit also aims to destroy all physical copies of the track, which would impact Cardi B’s upcoming release of the single as a 7 inch vinyl at the end of July.
This isn’t the first time Cardi B has been taken to the courts over such claims. Back in 2023, Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion beat a copyright lawsuit over lyrics in their global hit WAP.
“The lyrics over which plaintiff asserts copyright protection are no more than common phrases, employed frequently in popular culture and other hip-hop songs,” U.S. District Judge Andrew L. Carter wrote at the time [via Bilboard].

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How every musician can be more eco-friendly and sustainableExplore effective strategies and practical tips for independent musicians who want to adopt eco-friendly and sustainable practices, including sustainable touring, green studio setups, and more.
The post How every musician can be more eco-friendly and sustainable appeared first on Hypebot.

GForce launch Oberheim OB-1 soft synth GForce Software’s latest software instrument recreates the world’s first programmable monophonic synthesizer, the Oberheim OB-1.

Are fan-co-created visuals the future of live music?AI is the buzzword of 2024, and it seeps into all manner of conversations in the music technology space. While some remain sceptical about what it might mean for the future of music, artificial intelligence is well and truly here to stay, with companies routinely releasing AI-driven production tools to aid the music production workflow, and tech giants like Google and Spotify embracing it to improve the quality of life of their user bases.
Yes, we hear a lot about the implementation of AI in the worlds of music production and streaming, for example, but what about live music? Well, there are some big things happening in the space, and ORIGIN STØRIES – in partnership with blockchain-based live video broadcasting platform Livepeer – is leading the charge.

READ MORE: “We’re taking power away from corporate networks, and saying, ‘No, we’re gonna reward our fans, not you’”: M. Shadows on Avenged Sevenfold’s new Fortnite-style Season Pass

ORIGIN STØRIES is pioneering fan-sourced, AI-generated visuals at live shows, and with them, is hoping to help usher in a new era of fan-artist collaboration and connection. Here’s how it works:
Prior to a show, fans can use the ORIGIN STØRIES AI generator to create visuals for community consideration, which are then voted for by other fans. The top-voted co-created visuals are then integrated into the visuals during the actual show.
And it’s not just limited to fans actually attending a show – as the ORIGIN STØRIES AI generator is built on Livepeer’s open video streaming infrastructure, shows featuring it are available to livestream, meaning fans can contribute AI-generated visuals to a show while they’re watching at home or anywhere in the world.
Credit: ORIGIN STØRIES
“Engaging fans as co-creators is crucial for deepening fandom,” says Sean Bradford, co-founder of ORIGIN STØRIES. “By allowing fans to have a tangible impact on the performance, artists can reward superfans in uniquely creative ways.”
”Livepeer enables a new wave of creativity in video production,” adds Doug Petkanics, CEO and co-founder of Livepeer. “We’re seeing truly groundbreaking examples of how AI can be combined with live streaming to create new pathways for artists to connect with their best fans.”
Additionally, in a bid to deepen artist-fan relationships, fans who have their visuals featured during a show have the opportunity to receive exclusive NFC-chipped merch with interactive features for artist engagement, like personalised playlists, for example.

We ask Sean Bradford why it’s more important than ever for artists to create engaging experiences for their fans, and how ORIGIN STØRIES helps achieve that.
“The amount of content required not only by artists, but the venues, the festivals, not just  IRL and online, is expensive to produce, requires a lot of quality control, and isn’t always designed for lasting impressions,” he explains. By finding new ways to allow the audience to tailor the experience in impactful but non-obtrusive ways opens up a realm of possibilities for co-creation and also co-ownership.
“What makes ORIGIN STØRIES especially unique is that it gives fans a reason to tune into the stream: to see their visuals displayed as part of the live show,” adds Doug Petkanics. “It becomes appointment viewing – and cuts through the noise of everything else competing for people’s limited attention.”
Example of fan-created, AI-generated content made via ORIGIN STØRIES. Credit: ORIGIN STØRIES
He goes on: “Artists are always looking for ways to engage their superfans. With AI co-creation tools, artists can tap into their communities’ creativity before the show to co-create visuals. Then those fan-created visuals can be combined with a livestream to reward those fans with a prominent place in the live experience – no matter where they are in the world.”
Thus far, it’s still a burgeoning technology, and so far has debuted only at select locations and shows, but Bradford is optimistic about its place across the live music industry in the future.
“We will partner with a few Stockholm and Amsterdam based projects to continue to ideate and refine what we are building,” he says. “There is a desire to aim towards a solution that is beneficial to multiple music industry players so we are looking at new ways to go-to-market. This could be through experiential brand collaborations that also support larger groups of artists in different cultures or genres.”
To learn more, head to ORIGIN STØRIES.
The post Are fan-co-created visuals the future of live music? appeared first on MusicTech.

Audeze MM-100 headphones: More detail for fewer dollars$399/£399, audeze.com
Back in 2009, Audeze took the music production world by storm with its LCD-2 headphones. The LCD-2s showcased the then lesser-known planar magnetic technology to offer ultra-fast transient detail and impressive bass articulation, all with extremely low levels of distortion.

READ MORE: Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro X Limited Edition: Iconic studio headphones updated for the brand’s centenary

The experience of working with planar magnetic headphones is much like having a high-end set of studio monitors strapped to your ears. It’s no surprise then that the original Audeze launch helped spearhead a headphone mixing and mastering revolution. Engineers and producers could pair their planar headphones with virtual mixing software (e.g. Waves NX and Realphones) to check mix translation on a number of sets of studio monitors and in various different rooms. After all, if you can get close enough with a quality set of headphones and virtual studio software, then why spend countless thousands on monitors and acoustically-treated rooms?
Audeze launched its first MM model (the MM-500) in 2022, with the help of Grammy-winning producer Manny Marroquin, though just like the LCD range, the ‘500s have a price tag that’s out of reach for the majority. The new MM-100s also bear the Marroquin name but are destined to overcome the barrier to entry, with a more palatable $399 price tag.
The MM-100s
How comfortable are the Audeze MM-100s?
Fit and finish are really solid on these headphones. The grey magnesium and steel chassis is stylish and offers a rigid construction that has no sense of being flimsy. The headband automatically resizes to fit your head and the ear cups fit around the ears without much of a clamping sensation. As the cups aren’t as large as some other models, your ears do get a bit hot with extended use. All-in-all, quality and comfort are a definite step up from our daily-driver planar headphones – the $299 open-back Hifiman Sundaras – which feel more ‘clampy’ but do stay cooler during long sessions.
A soft, drawstring carry pouch is included, but it’s pretty huge. It’s likely that Audeze made a single case that would fit both smaller and much-larger headphone sets to help lower the cost for the end-user. It’s a minor issue as most buyers would surely invest in a more rigid carry case to protect their investment.
As a neat and flexible touch, the single mini-jack connector used to connect-up the headphones can be inserted into either ear cup, with the cable terminated at the opposite end with a full-size, 6.3-mm jack. This is ideal for plugging into headphone amps and audio interfaces, but to switch to mini-jack you’ll need to use the provided 6.3mm-to-3.5mm converter cable. This adapter oozes quality but that’s also its undoing. It’s heavy and could become cumbersome when using a mobile device, possibly dangling under strain, which would be annoying and shorten its life. This is particularly frustrating as the low impedance and not-unwieldy size of the MM-100s make them otherwise ideally suited to music-making out in the field.
The MM-100s in use
What do the Audeze MM-100s sound like?
As you’d expect with open-back planar headphones, there’s plenty of articulation in both ends of the frequency range. At the high end, this manifests itself in smaller details of the mix like reverb tails and edit points being easier to hear, alongside satisfyingly crisp snare and acoustic guitar transients.
In the low end, bass instruments are fast to speak so that you can be sure that any congestion or masking in the mix is actually there and isn’t the byproduct of an inferior playback system. Sound-staging is accurate, with wideness and openness in the stereo field; we’re able to hear the difference made by the smallest of stereo-widening tweaks made in Ozone’s Imager module in a mastering project.
The sonic signature of the high-end reminds us of the Genelec monitors in our studio. There’s a satisfying fizzy sheen that flatters vocal lines, while various parts of the high-mid range either stand out a little too much or appear scooped.
The MM-100s on a desk
Comparing the raw, unadulterated sound of the Audeze with our Hifiman Sundaras, the high-mids of the MM-100s are more brutal and brash, while the Sundaras follow the smoother contour of the Harman target curve (which approximates how speakers sound in a room) with fewer spiky resonances. We don’t know whether this voicing decision on the MM-100s was considered to be beneficial for spotlighting areas of harshness in the mix, but we do know that the smoother response of the Sundaras means they can be put to serious work with little or no EQ calibration.
Once this major difference in the high-mids between the two competing models is observed, we swiftly reach out for EQ correction for the MM-100s. Making use of the system-wide SoundSource by Rogue Amoeba, plus a calibration profile taken from community-sourced measured responses at AutoEq, improvements to the frequency response are immediately obvious.
Gone are the biting resonances and instead there’s a new-found richness to the entire mid range, while bass tones are subtly reinforced too. It really does feel like the studio monitors of our dreams are beaming straight into our ears as we peruse more our favourite reference tracks.
While the SoundSource method is a reasonably inexpensive fix at under $50, it’s not so easy to apply an EQ profile when you’re not using a computer, so this might ultimately affect your purchasing decisions.
The MM-100 headphones in use
Should I buy the Audeze MM-100 headphones?
For those who want to perform critical monitoring duties on headphones, be it for location sound, editing, mixing or mastering, the MM-100s offer the Audeze experience for less money than ever before. They are comfortable, relatively light and solidly built, with a low impedance that’s suitable for plugging into virtually any device when on the go, despite the potentially-dangly ‘big-to-little’ adapter cable.
The MM-100’s planar magnetic drivers offer great transient detail and rich low-end without the onset of distortion that could detract from critical details in the mix. However, gritty high mids mean the MM-100s really benefit from EQ to smooth things out. Once equalised, they’re a force to be reckoned with, but this tends to be more tricky to achieve on mobile devices. Here, you’d need to like the raw sound well enough to be able to live with it.
Key features

Open-back, planar magnetic headphones
90mm transducers
Magnesium/steel chassis
Auto-adjusting headband
Cable can be plugged into either side
18 Ohms
20 Hz – 25 kHz frequency response
Comes with detachable cable, 6.3mm-to-3.5mm converter cable and soft carry case

The post Audeze MM-100 headphones: More detail for fewer dollars appeared first on MusicTech.

SoundLabs & Universal announce MicDrop AI project SoundLabs' upcoming AI-powered plug-in will be capable of creating high-fidelity vocal models, and will allow artists to retain ownership and full artistic control over their use. 

Cardano releases 'Node 9.0,' paving way for upcoming Chang hard forkThe Cardano node GitHub page was updated with the new version, Node 9.0, which can be used to implement the upcoming hard fork.

BMI Appoints Executives to Leadership TeamBMI has announced the appointment of two senior executives who will lead major initiatives as the company advances its strategic growth plan. Tom Kershaw, a technology leader in Internet and Mobile communications, including work on mobile application development, advertising and marketing systems, data science and large-scale data, will join the company as Chief Technology Officer, and Justin Rohde, who has more than 20 years’ experience in strategic management and building growth opportunities for both corporations and consulting firms, has joined BMI in the newly created position of Chief Transformation Officer. Both Kershaw and Rohde will report to Mike O’Neill, President & CEO of BMI. 

"Tom and Justin have the experience and leadership qualities to enable us to enhance and increase the value we provide to our songwriters, composers and publishers," said O’Neill. "Working with our team, they will be instrumental as we carry out the key elements of our strategic growth plan, to continue to grow distributions, advance our technology and customer service and to seek new sources of revenue for our affiliates."

Kershaw

Rohde

Kershaw previously co-founded one of the leading open-source software organizations in the Internet community (prebid.org) and has  more than 20 years of experience working with businesses in technology-based markets, ranging in both size and geographic complexity. He joins BMI most recently from Travelport, a leader in travel distribution for air, hotel, car, and rail, and has also held positions at Google and Ericsson. He received his undergraduate degree from New York University and a Masters’ degree from London School of Economics. Kershaw is taking over this role from BMI’s Chief Information Officer, Mike West, who recently announced his retirement from the company. 

Rohde brings extensive experience in process improvement, sales effectiveness, product development and global business management to BMI. He joins the company from Xplor Technologies, a private equity owned Global SaaS and Payments conglomerate where he served as both Chief Revenue Officer and Chief Transformation Officer. In that capacity, he was responsible for revenue growth, profit improvement and strategic initiatives across diverse areas of the business. Previous experience includes leading product development and growth strategies at Integramed America and management and strategy consulting at Bain & Company. Rohde received his undergraduate degree, Master of Science degree and MBA from Northwestern University."

BMIThe post BMI Appoints Executives to Leadership Team first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

2024 Business Card Challenge: A Very Annoying Business Card, IndeedUsually the business card itself is the reminder to get in contact with whoever gave it to you. But this is Hackaday, after all. This solar-powered card reminds the recipient to send [Dead Rat Productions] an email by beeping about every two hours, although the gist of that email may simply be begging them to make it stop, provided they didn’t just toss the thing in the garbage.
The full-on, working version of the card is not intended for everyone — mostly serious-looking A-list types that ooze wealth. Most of [Dead Rat Productions]’ pub mates will get an unpopulated version, which could be a fun afternoon for the right kind of recipient, of course.
That person would need a Seeed Studio Xiao SAMD21, a solar panel, plus some other components, like an energy-harvesting chip to keep the battery topped up. Of note, there is a coin cell holder that requires prying with a screwdriver to get the battery out, so there’s really no escaping the beeping without some work on their part. We rather like the artwork on this one, especially the fact that the coin cell sits inside the rat’s stomach. That’s a nice touch.

Valuations of startups have quietly rebounded to all-time highs. Some investors say the slump is over. Generative AI businesses aside, the last couple of years have been relatively difficult for venture-backed companies. Very few startups were able to raise funding at prices that exceeded their previous valuations.   Now, approximately two years after the venture slump began in early 2022, some investors, like IVP general partner Tom Loverro, are saying that the […]
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There are 8bn user-curated playlists on Spotify, 725m created this year alone, Daniel Ek saysThe streaming service has been working to make playlisting a more attractive feature for its subscribers
Source

Amazon, Apple, Spotify file legal challenge against Canada’s music streaming taxCanada's broadcasting and telecom regulator is planning a 5% tax on streaming revenue from non-Canadian companies starting this fall
Source

SoundLabs & Universal announce MicDrop AI project SoundLabs' upcoming AI-powered plug-in will be capable of creating high-fidelity vocal models, and will allow artists to retain ownership and full artistic control over their use.