Watch never-before-seen footage of Avicii’s last-ever Sweden showNever-before-seen footage of Avicii’s last-ever show in his home country of Sweden has been uploaded to YouTube.
The 10-minute clip – which was recorded at Tallriken, Malmö on 5 August, 2016 – shows Avicii – real name Tim Bergling – performing four tracks: Without You, Hey Brother, Shame on Me and You Make Me.

READ MORE: “We’re living in a time where World War III can easily break out at any moment”: Why Questlove was “triggered” by Drake vs. Kendrick Lamar feud

According to the video’s description, the footage has been showcased through screenings at Avicii Experience – the Avicii tribute museum in Avicii’s hometown, Sweden’s capital Stockholm this past spring. Check it out below:

Six years after his tragic death in 2018 at only 28 years old, Avicii’s presence and influence is still felt throughout the world of electronic music, and indeed the music world as a whole. On Spotify, he remains in the top 100 artists in the world, with nearly 39 million monthly listeners as of June 2024 and billions of streams across his iconic catalogue.
A documentary charting his life and the events that led to his suicide – Avicii – I’m Tim – also premiered at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival in New York. Elsewhere, the Ericsson Globe in Stockholm was renamed the Avicii Arena in 2021 in his honour.
Earlier this month, Avicii’s father Klas Bergling spoke on the tragic circumstances surrounding his son’s death. “I miss him every minute, of course, I talk to him every day,” he said. “But I admit, I get angry at him sometimes. Why did you do it? Why did you leave us?”
Elsewhere, Hey Brother vocalist Dan Tyminski recently reflected on his contributions to the track as it hit 1 billion Spotify streams, saying: “It was like a beam came out of heaven and dropped this beautiful song.”
The post Watch never-before-seen footage of Avicii’s last-ever Sweden show appeared first on MusicTech.

“Fred again did 8,000 streams in the first week and sold out four arenas in six minutes”: Lil Yachty on the difference between marketing hip-hop and electronic musicLil Yachty has spoken about the difference between marketing for hip-hop and electronic music, noting how hip-hop tends to be more “fast-paced” and reliant on social media.
The rapper, whose collaborative album with James Blake Bad Cameo arrives later this week, tells Apple Music’s Zane Lowe that one thing he realised while promoting the record was how different things work in the urban community compared to the rest of the music scene.

READ MORE: Moby is frustrated he can’t release more music: “I only release about 2% of what I make… 98% of it is collecting digital dust”

“For instance, [Blake] may not have 700,000 likes on a picture, but he can always count on a show to sell out,” says Lil Yachty, who boasts 12.1 million followers on Instagram — nearly 20x Blake’s 677k.
“In hip-hop, it’s all about your first-week numbers; It’s very fast. Fast-paced marketing and fast-lived content. Versus any other genre [where] it’s a gradual grind, a gradual uphill battle.” The reason, Lil Yachty suggests, has to do with people in urban communities “having a lot more time on their hands to judge and critique others in a positive or negative light.”
“I think we care more about things the second they drop. It’s almost like a FOMO thing where like ‘Future just dropped, I have to hear it at midnight.’ Versus a pop or rock record, it’s like, ‘I’ll get to it.’ And when I get to it it’s because I bought it, I purchased it.”
“If it doesn’t stream really well in the first week, in the mindset of the urban community, it’s a flop,” says the rapper, arguing that this just isn’t the case when it comes to the other genres.
“You have Fred again.. doing 8,000 first week and selling out four arenas back-to-back in six minutes. The math doesn’t math, but people in the [urban] community don’t generally take time to break things down. It’s like, ‘First-week numbers is this? Oh it’s trash.’”
“It’s unfortunate. I hate the first-week cycle,” he continues. “Well I don’t hate it because I don’t give a fuck. I’ll do what I wanna do, whether I sell nine trillion or nine. I did it because I want to do it. But it’s such a pest… It makes the content not about what it is.”

The post “Fred again did 8,000 streams in the first week and sold out four arenas in six minutes”: Lil Yachty on the difference between marketing hip-hop and electronic music appeared first on MusicTech.

How Nahre Sol brought beatmaking into her classically-trained world: “I began to understand the appeal of sampling”On 1 June 2024, Nahre Sol published a video to her YouTube channel, in which she performs Rick Astley’s Never Gonna Give You Up in a variety of piano styles, ranging from French Impressionism to Japanese anime. It is, quite possibly, the most sophisticated Rickroll in existence.

READ MORE: Splice CEO’s message for AI sceptics?: “Trust the artists”

The video marks the seventh anniversary of Sol’s YouTube channel – now 730,000 subscribers strong – and encapsulates what makes the pianist/composer one of the best music creators on the platform: virtuosity, a sense of humour, and a willingness to experiment with genres, styles, and, now, technology.
Earlier this year, the Juilliard School-trained classical musician tried her hand at creating beats with a sampler. “I’ve been interested in sampling for a while, but never really dedicated the time to learn the ins and outs of it.” Sol tells me, “I come from a classical music background, so I have a tendency to be a bit intimidated by technology. It took a while, since that spark of interest, to get to a point where I actually grabbed a device [and began experimenting].”
The device she chose was Novation’s Circuit Rhythm, a standalone sampler and drum machine that “stood out because it seemed more on the simpler side of things and was very tactile. I’m a pianist, so I really like [the idea of] something where I could use touch. I turned it into a mini project and thought, ‘Let me give myself a week and just learn about it’. It turned into a little more than that.”
Image: Focusrite/Nahre Sol
The result is what she calls “a mini-documentary”, in which we see Sol discover this technology and make it fit into her classically-trained world. “The interesting thing about learning a new device is that it has its quirks; there is a reason behind why the buttons are [a certain] way, and how things are labelled. Since I’m not used to thinking about music in that way, it took me time to really embrace why [a particular] function was even there.
Once she got the hang of it, Sol flew past the beginner level and decided to create her own samples, instead of using ones from a pack. She says, “There’s something really cool about figuring out how to make a kick drum sound from, say, a chair that you sat on.” Or miscellanea from a hotel room, as was the case here. Chopsticks, a glass, a water bottle, even a tissue box, were all fair game.“I started really liking those sounds because they’re personal. This is where I began to understand the appeal of going out of your way to sample something.
“Also, because my music is not quite classical, not quite jazz, or electronic, I’ve always struggled with [sounds from] sample packs that I’m just not used to using as part of my palette,” Sol continues. “I was really attracted to some of the higher-pitched percussion sounds [I recorded] and that’s why as soon as I compiled some, I thought, ‘I can do something with these sounds’.”

The piece she finally created “captures the feeling of being lost in a contemplative mood while cooking”. Watching her play live piano and seamlessly integrate the hotel room samples into the performance using the Circuit Rhythm, makes one wonder why more classical musicians don’t embrace technology like this. “I don’t know the answer. The closest I can get is that, in general, because the classical music world is preoccupied with the history (and maybe the philosophy) of all this music that was written hundreds of years ago, and it requires so much brainpower and dedication to refine your technique, there just isn’t much space to roam.”
Classical music is also not big on frequent updates – either in terms of instruments or technique – leading to what Sol describes as “a cultural distance” from new technology. “What comes from that is this automatic thinking: ‘That’s not for me because that’s a different world.’”
That belief could be true, Sol tells me, if classical musicians were still making music “in the way of the 1800s or 1900s.” But this is no longer the case and, as a result, she views technology as an ideal modern companion — especially with the musical ideas and techniques employed by contemporary concert music composers.
I’ve always felt a lack of meaning or creativity when I tried to come to a music project with an attitude of, ‘Let’s be great; let’s do something important.’ It’s really not about that.
The lack of improvisation in classical music is another reason why more musicians don’t make the leap, Sol says. The musician likens it to someone who is trained to speak English by learning Shakespearean monologues. “You’re an expert with language because you have all of this memorised, but you’ve never really sat down and learnt how to have a simple conversation with someone. You have to unravel some of that.”
The first step, according to Sol, is to start small. “I just leaned into anything that was fun, new, and a little out-of-left-field, like the Circuit Rhythm, which was very improvisatory. Let’s play with it!”
Another obstacle to embracing new technology is the fear of getting things wrong, which can pose a threat to the very identity of a musician. Sol agrees, “I’m not so precious about maintaining a certain image; I’m not putting pressure on myself to follow in the footsteps of a certain lineage or create something so epic or profound. Music-making is very much a part of living; it’s always personal and there’s always significance [to it], whether I just have a little idea and put it down, or if it’s a project that I really care about and I’m writing for six months.
“I view all of these projects as [being] part of the human experience. I’ve always felt a lack of meaning or creativity when I tried to come to a music project with an attitude of, ‘Let’s be great; let’s do something important.’ It’s really not about that.”
This explains her willingness to step into the world of content creation, which is almost a necessity for anyone trying to be a musician today. Sol says, “It’s exciting because you can be in touch with people that might not [otherwise come across your work]. Also, you have the autonomy to create your own projects, share them, and learn from each other. Those are the pros.”

“The cons are that [creating content] requires a different muscle. It also requires so much time and energy – you can’t just add it on top of your life – and it essentially takes away from what musicians want to do, which is make music, so it is a give and take.
Sol acknowledges the relentless pressure of being a content creator. The only way to keep going, is to have balance. “I’ve done this long enough now where I’ve been through all the ups and downs: feeling the pressure, having it affect my creativity, being very excited about it, and being not excited about it. So now, if I don’t feel like I’m enjoying it, or if it’s not meaningful, then I just step away.”
Sol is planning the next chapter of her journey, as a musician and creator, with that in mind. She says wants to have a “balanced approach”, where she can make more videos that she cares about and would want to watch ten years from now. “I’d also like to put more energy outwards in connecting with the people that are watching and the community. I view [it] as a responsibility and an opportunity to contribute in a way that’s significant.”

What is certain is that Nahre Sol will be bringing more experiments with music to her life and to her viewers. She reflects on her experience with sampling, “It opens up a completely different way of thinking and [leads to] happy, spontaneous accidents. I’ve been playing the piano for over 15 years now and I’m so used to everything about how I interact with the instrument. Just a month with the Circuit Rhythm and I felt like I was listening to music in a completely different way; I was coming up with ideas that I really would not come up with just by sitting at a keyboard, and that was invaluable to me.
“There’s a lot you can do to add expression to music without touch: by using effects, and shaping the sound. In a lot of ways, you have even more freedom to add your personal touch and make it more expressive. As I was learning that, I was also adjusting the ways that I played the piano. I thought, ‘Let’s find a way where you can participate in both worlds together.’ That was very interesting, and it’s just the beginning.”
Learn more about Nahre Sol at nahresol.com.
The post How Nahre Sol brought beatmaking into her classically-trained world: “I began to understand the appeal of sampling” appeared first on MusicTech.

SSL introduce Sourcerer dynamics plug-in Sourcerer is said to be capable of quickly targeting specific sounds and removing them without changing the characteristics of the wanted source. 

“We’re living in a time where World War III can easily break out at any moment”: Why Questlove was “triggered” by Drake vs. Kendrick Lamar feudQuestlove has once again weighed in on the feud between Drake and Kendrick Lamar, revealing why the whole situation has him “triggered”.
Last month, as the Drake-Lamar saga reached a fever pitch, the Roots drummer responded with a scathing critique on the state of rap, declaring: “Hip-hop is truly dead.”
“This wasn’t about skill. This was a wrestling match level, mudslinging and takedown by any means necessary – women and children and actual facts be damned,” he wrote on X. “[The] same audience wanting blood will soon put up RIP posts like they weren’t part of the problem.”

READ MORE: “You have to have this psychotic belief – an unreasonable belief, truly – that you will write songs that matter”: St. Vincent gives advice to budding artists

Addressing his previous comments in a new interview with NPR, Questlove explains that the beef reminded him of the violent rivalry between Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G. back in the ’90s and the resulting tragedy when both rappers were shot dead just six months apart from one another.
“I was there at the Source Awards when the shit really hit the fan in 1995. And I was there in 1997,” says the musician. “That was a ‘What now?’ moment for hip-hop — Tupac and Biggie, embroiled in a battle. I’ve never seen a battle in which it ends well.”
“We’re living in a polarising time. We’re living in a time right now where World War III can easily break out at any moment. We’re living in a time when civil war can break out at any moment in the United States. We’re living in a time where the uncertainty of something jumping off is just in the air. You know what I’m saying?”
He continues: “For me it’s like, I’ve seen this movie before — and I’m triggered. The aftereffect of Tupac and Biggie was just a 30-year travel into darkness.”
Questlove also clarifies that he doesn’t actually think that hip-hop is dead, given the amount of talented artists out there like Little Simz, Westside Gunn, Griselda, Benny and more.
“There’s so much quality, dope stuff out there that just goes unnoticed and unchampioned,” he says.
The post “We’re living in a time where World War III can easily break out at any moment”: Why Questlove was “triggered” by Drake vs. Kendrick Lamar feud appeared first on MusicTech.

SaschArt Drops Free Lightweight eChorus Plugin
SaschArt dropped the free eChorus plugin, a lightweight Windows and macOS-compatible release.  Like all of the developer’s plugins, eChorus is designed with ease of use at the forefront. SaschArt explains, “Whether working on a subtle background effect or a lead part, eChorus offers an amazing sound every time.” The developer continues, saying “This with a [...]
View post: SaschArt Drops Free Lightweight eChorus Plugin

Samplicity reveal Number Seven Professional for Atmos Number Seven Professional brings Samplicity's virtual Bricasti M7 plug-in to those working with Dolby Atmos.

A Royal ScamSome jerks are using the AllMusic name and logo to try to trick people into a crypto scam. Don't fall for it.

SpaceX scores $843M NASA contract to deorbit ISS in 2030NASA has selected SpaceX to develop a spacecraft that will deorbit the International Space Station in 2030 — a contract valued at as much as $843 million, the agency announced Wednesday. The ISS is nearing the end of its operational life, and as plans for new, commercially-owned space stations heat up, the one that started […]
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Abra, CEO Barhydt settle with 25 US states over licensing violationsOther states can join in the settlement, which will see up to $82.1 million returned to customers.

Denis Ladegaillerie has Believe back in his arms – and he’s eyeing a huge acquisitionFrench entrepreneur explains why he's trying to find the perfect acquisition opportunities to explode Believe's business
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YouTube in talks with Sony, Universal, Warner to license music for AI tools (report)YouTube wants to offer cash upfront in lump-sum payments to gain the rights to specific artists’ music – with the permission of the artists themselves
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Decoding Meshtastic with GNU RadioMeshtastic is a way to build mesh networks using LoRa that is independent of cell towers, hot spots or traditional repeaters. It stands to reason that with an SDR and GNU Radio, you could send and receive Meshtastic messages. That’s exactly what [Josh Conway] built, and you can see a video about the project, Meshtastic_SDR, below. The video is from [cemaxecuter], who puts the library through its paces.
For hardware, the video uses a Canary I as well as the WarDragon software-defined radio kit which is an Airspy R2 and a mini PC running Dragon OS — a Linux distribution aimed at SDR work —  in a rugged case. GNU Radio, of course, uses flows which are really just Python modules strung together with a GUI.

The GNU blocks send and receive data via TCP port, so using the radio as a data connection is simple enough. The flow graph itself for the receiver looks daunting, but we have a feeling you won’t change the default very much.
If you’ve wanted to dip your toe into Meshtastic or you want a meaty example of using GNU Radio, this would be a fun project to duplicate and extend. While Meshtastic is generally a mesh protocol, you can set up a node to act as a repeater. You never know when decentralized communications might save the day.

RECORDING ACADEMY INVITES MUSIC CREATORS AND INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS TO JOINToday the Recording Academy® extended membership invitations to more than 3,900 established music professionals spanning diverse backgrounds, genres and disciplines, underscoring the Academy's commitment to inclusivity and representation within the music industry. This year's 2024 class of invitees is 45% women, 57% people of color and 47% under the age of 40. With this year's new member invitees, the Recording Academy is on track to achieve its goal of adding 2,500 women Voting Members by 2025 this year, one year ahead of schedule.

Invitations must be formally accepted by July 31 for recipients to become Recording Academy members and participate in the Online Entry Process (OEP) for the upcoming GRAMMY Awards®. Through OEP, members can submit recordings, music videos and other eligible content for GRAMMY® Award consideration. Individuals invited as Voting Members who accept their invitations are eligible to vote for the GRAMMY Awards, with the first voting ballot opening on Oct. 4 and closing on Oct. 15. The 67th GRAMMY Awards® will take place on Feb. 2, 2025, at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.

"There's no better way to kick off GRAMMY season than by inviting thousands of diverse and talented music creators and professionals to join our Recording Academy family," said Harvey Mason jr., CEO of the Recording Academy. "Our members are the heart of the Academy, driving our mission to make lasting, positive impacts on the music community and shape music history. We are hopeful that all 3,900+ invitees join us in serving, celebrating and championing the voices of music creators year-round."

The invitations extended today offer each potential new member an opportunity to power the Recording Academy's mission of cultivating the well-being of the music community, celebrating artistic excellence in the recording arts, advocating for human creators' rights, investing in music's future through the GRAMMY Museum®, and supporting music people in times of need through MusiCares®. Recording Academy Voting Members — made up of artists, songwriters, producers, and engineers active in the music industry — are eligible to vote for the GRAMMY Awards, ultimately determining the outcomes on Music's Biggest Night® and shaping music history.

Among the invitees celebrating this career milestone today are Tanner Adell, Ashnikko, Grupo Frontera, and Teddy Swims, who expressed their excitement:

Tanner Adell: "So excited to say I am in the Recording Academy/GRAMMYs 2024 New Member Class. This year has been full of checking things off my bucket list, and this is definitely one of them! Couldn't be more honored to join this incredible roster and advocate for music and my fellow creators."

Ashnikko: "It is an honor to become a member of the Recording Academy. I am so grateful to be a musician in such an exciting era of music. It is an incredibly inspiring time. To be able to have a hand in nominating some of my favorite artists that are shaping culture right now feels very special."

Grupo Frontera: "We are excited to join the Recording Academy as new members this year. We have been so blessed to be accepted into the music industry with open arms in the short time that we have had and joining this community filled with the best of the best music has to offer is an honor."

Teddy Swims: "I am truly humbled to be invited into the Recording Academy. It is an honor to be a part of something that so many of my heroes have belonged to."  

 See here for additional invitee quotes.

The Recording Academy's membership invitation process is community-driven and peer-reviewed annually, focusing on two types of membership: Voting Membership for music creators and Professional Membership for music business professionals^. Each year, interested musicians and professionals must apply for membership by March 1. Their submissions are reviewed in the spring by a peer review panel composed of existing Recording Academy members active in the music industry. If approved, candidates are invited to join the Recording Academy. For more information on the Academy's membership requirements, visit here.

A comprehensive report on the Academy's 2024 New Member Class, along with a detailed breakdown of the overall membership demographics and crafts, will be released later this year following the deadline for 2024 invitees to join the Academy. To see the 2023 New Member Class and overall membership update, visit here.

^GRAMMY U® is the third type of Academy membership and follows a distinct application process. Visit here for more info.The post RECORDING ACADEMY INVITES MUSIC CREATORS AND INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS TO JOIN first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

As Cheap As Chips: The MiFare Ultra Light Gets A Closer LookIf you take public transport in many of the world’s cities, your ticket will be an NFC card which you scan to gain access to the train or bus. These cards are disposable, so whatever technology they use must be astonishingly cheap. It’s one of these which [Ken Shirriff] has turned his microscope upon, a Montreal Métro ticket, and his examination of the MiFare Ultra Light it contains is well worth a read.
The cardboard surface can be stripped away from the card to reveal a plastic layer with a foil tuned circuit antenna. The chip itself is a barely-discernible dot in one corner. For those who like folksy measurements, smaller than a grain of salt. On it is an EEPROM to store its payload data, but perhaps the most interest lies in the support circuitry. As an NFC chip this has a lot of RF circuitry, as well as a charge pump to generate the extra voltages to charge the EEPROM. In both cases the use of switched capacitors plays a part in their construction, in the RF section to vary the load on the reader in order to transmit data.
He does a calculation on the cost of each chip, these are sold by the wafer with each wafer having around 100000 chips, and comes up with a cost-per-chip of about nine cents. Truly cheap as chips!
If NFC technology interests you, we’ve taken a deep dive into their antennas in the past.