#Roblox revealed that it had 71.5m daily active users at the end of 2023, up 22% year on year - although it's losses are growing as well

Native Instruments launch Jacob Collier Audience Choir Native Instruments have teamed up with six-time Grammy winner Jacob Collier to create a unique virtual instrument that captures the sound of a live audience singing together.

Native Instruments Offfer FREE Audience Choir by Jacob Collier
Native Instruments teamed up with the internet’s favorite jazz cat, Jacob Collier, to create the Audience Choir vocal instrument for Kontakt Player, and the best part is, it’s free! To run Audience Choir, you’ll need to use either the free Kontakt Player (version 7.8 and higher) or Kontakt (version 7.8 and higher). Both of these [...]
View post: Native Instruments Offfer FREE Audience Choir by Jacob Collier

Get Excite Audio’s Bloom Vocal Aether On Sale For A Limited Time
Excite’s Audio Bloom Vocal Aether is currently on sale at Plugin Boutique until the end of February.  There is no shortage of vocal-driven samplers, synthesizers, and so forth on the market. From the earliest romplers and samplers to today, the human voice has been a fixture of electronic music. Excite Audio’s Bloom Vocal Aether might [...]
View post: Get Excite Audio’s Bloom Vocal Aether On Sale For A Limited Time

“Football is played by millions of people – but there’s a very small number that can live off playing full time”: Daniel Ek addresses Spotify’s low royalty paymentsThere’s no denying that technology has transformed the music industry. Nowadays, the digital landscape plays a pivotal role in an artist’s success, and pulling in high streaming numbers is vital. According to a poll by the World Economic Forum, internet-based streaming is accounts for 64% of music consumption.
Streaming has allowed relative nobodies to skyrocket from playing their local pub to topping the charts – however, every rose has its thorns. Streaming infamously generates very little royalties.

READ MORE: “Music is on the right track”: UK recorded music revenues hit new high for the first time since 2001

Spotify is constantly under fire due to its low royalty payout rates. In 2021, the New York Times reported that Spotify artists make roughly $4,000 per million streams – that’s less than half a cent per stream. And 2024 is looking even more dire, with Ditto putting the number at between $0.003 – $0.005 per stream on average, with a revenue split of 70/30 with 30% going to Spotify.
In a new video posted on his socials, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek has addressed the company’s low royalty rates. Ek explains that, despite beliefs that Spotify isn’t paying up, the company is indeed putting its hand into its pockets. “Spotify has paid out more than $9 billion to the music industry in 2023,” he states. “In the entire history of Spotify, we have now paid out more than $48 billion.”
While artists claim to generate next to no revenue from streams, Ek says that isn’t Spotify’s fault. “Spotify does not pay out to artists individually… when we pay out, we pay out to record companies, to publishers, and to collecting societies,” he explains. “It can depend on the contracts that the artist or composer [has] with their publisher or with the record company.”

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As Ek goes on to explain, Spotify is putting “more and more [money] back into the music industry, and the music industry is growing” as result. Yet the paradox remains – how can Spotify be paying out billions every year, yet artists are claiming to be making no money from streaming?
“The best analogy that I would have is that the music industry… is like professional sports,” he explains. “If you take football, it’s played by hundreds of millions of people around the world. But there’s a very, very small number of people that can live off of playing soccer full time. FIFA tells us that there’s about 100,000 people that can make it in football or soccer. [And there are also] hundreds of millions of people that are trying to make it in the music industry.”
Ek’s analogy asserts that, like football, there are only a select few who will rake in the big bucks through streaming. “As more and more people can make music in an affordable way with their laptops, more and more people are trying it,” he says. “Out of the $9 billion that we paid out to the music industry last year, around $4.5 billion went to the independent sector.”
If Ek’s calculations are right, that would mean around half of Spotify’s payout went to independent artists. And, while that does allow for certain independent artists to make a living wage off of their music, the huge influx of independent talent means that number split between hundreds of thousands of different artists.
“We are striving each and every day to make Spotify better for more and more artists and to make the system work for more and more people,” Ek concludes.
While Ek’s video sounds logical, the LinkedIn comments aren’t too pleased. One user remarks that Spotify “unequivocally has the ability to pay artists more, yet, you just refuse.”
According to Spotify, 2023 saw a 16% increase in revenue from 2022. Despite the $9 billion payout last year, Spotify is currently the lowest paying streaming platform, next only to YouTube Music.
The post “Football is played by millions of people – but there’s a very small number that can live off playing full time”: Daniel Ek addresses Spotify’s low royalty payments appeared first on MusicTech.

DJ Fresh’s Voice-Swap launches new Stem-Swap tool to change vocals from fully mixed tracksVoice-Swap has introduced Stem-Swap, which allows you to change vocals from fully mixed tracks quickly and easily.

READ MORE: “It’s terrifying”: Ariana Grande slams AI covers using her voice

This browser-based tool splits the song into four parts, isolating the vocal, and transforming it into another singer’s voice. You can choose a new voice from its roster of licensed singers and download either the full mix or individual stems.
By doing so, you can give an AI voice a go before you commit, which Voice-Swap suggests will open up “new avenues for creativity and collaboration that weren’t possible before.”
Vocals are cached for hot-swapping, and you’ll be able to test your idea out in different voices, timbres, and tones without too much difficulty. You can use effects like reverb and compression to mix the new vocal.
Whenever a voice gets swapped or you download a mix, the artist involved gets paid a 50/50 split with Voice-Swap.

And, to mark Stem-Swap’s launch, UK drum and bass artist and producer Ruth Royall has joined Voice-Swap, so her voice is now available to use in the tool. She also collaborated with singers across the world to translate her track Lullaby into multiple languages – these recordings were put through her AI voice model, allowing Ruth to sing in languages she doesn’t even speak.
Meanwhile, Voice-Swap is also introducing a new service with which any artist can translate their song into other languages, sung in their own voice using AI.
The company launched last summer and was founded by Dan Stein – otherwise known as drum and bass chart-topper DJ Fresh. It aims to use AI in a responsible, ethical manner.
You can become a part of Voice-Swap by uploading 25 minutes of singing, or eight a capella tracks, to the site. The software then creates a digital clone that subscribers can use.
You can take a closer look at Stem-Swap over at Voice-Swap.
The post DJ Fresh’s Voice-Swap launches new Stem-Swap tool to change vocals from fully mixed tracks appeared first on MusicTech.

“Music is on the right track”: UK recorded music revenues hit new high for the first time since 2001UK recorded music revenues have reached a new all-time high for the first time since 2001, marking a historic milestone for the music industry.
According to a report by the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA), total music retail revenues for the 12-month period up to 23 February topped out at an impressive £2.223 billion, outperforming the record set during the CD era. Those numbers, though, have not been adjusted for inflation.

READ MORE: Adobe’s new Project Music GenAI tool is basically Photoshop for music

Nevertheless, the new data shows an 8.65 per cent YoY increase over the same period in 2022-2023, when revenues amounted to £2.046 billion. UK recorded music revenue has also more than doubled since hitting historic lows of £1.020 billion in 2013.
ERA — the UK trade group for music retailers and streaming services — credits “booming streaming subscriptions and sales of vinyl albums” for the new record.
The UK music industry hit its previous peak in October 2001, when Kylie Minogue’s Can’t Get You Out Of My Head ranked Number One on the UK’s singles chart and Gold – The Greatest Hits by STEPS topping the albums chart.
All of that changed, however, with the advent of Napster and the shift away from physical media — which gave way to rampant digital music piracy that massively eroded profits.
“This is a day many thought would never come,” ERA CEO Kim Bayley says in a statement. “It is a red-letter day for music and the artists and songwriters who soundtrack our lives. There’s still a long way to go, but these numbers show that thanks to the innovation and investment of streaming services, music is on the right track.”
The executive added that one shouldn’t “underestimate the seriousness of the plight the music industry faced in the decade following 2001”.
“It was an existential crisis. Luckily a new generation of music loving tech entrepreneurs were able to see a way to a new model, based on subscriptions rather than sales. Today draws a line under 2001 and highlights the fact that music sales have more than doubled since 2013. That’s great, but after 20 years of inflation, it’s still not enough.”
The post “Music is on the right track”: UK recorded music revenues hit new high for the first time since 2001 appeared first on MusicTech.

DOOM Runs On Husqvarna’s Robot LawnmowerDOOM has been ported to a lot of platforms — to the point where the joke is kind of getting old now. Evidence of that is available in the fact that brands are now getting in on the action. Yes, as reported by The Register, you can now officially play DOOM on your Husqvarna’s Automower.
Nice, right? Speedrun it on this interface.
We had to check if this was some kind of joke; indeed, the April release date had us looking at the calendar. However, it seems to be legit. You’ll be able to download a version of DOOM via the Husqvarna Automower Connect App, and play it on the tiny screen of your robot lawnmower. Hilariously, due to the size of the game, Husqvarna notes it “may take up to a week before the game is playable” due to the time it takes the mower to download it, along with a necessary software update.
Controls are simple. The knob on the robot is used for turning left and right, while pressing start lets you run forward. Firing weapons is done by pressing the control knob.
We’ve seen some quality ports before, including an arcade port that was particularly cool. Really, though, at this stage, you have to work harder to impress. Show us DOOM running on a Minuteman launch console or something.

Thanks to [Stephen Waters] for the tip!

Sampleson reveal Drumbada virtual instrument Drumbada models the sound of an ensemble of bombo legüero, and comes with an intuitive built-in sequencer designed to make polyrhythms accessible to users of all skill levels.

Easily Add Link Cable Support to Your Homebrew GBA GameThe Game Boy Advance (GBA) link cable is the third generation of this feature which originated with the Gameboy. It not only allows for peripherals to be connected, but also for multiplayer between GBAs – even with just one game copy – and item sharing and unlocking of features in specific games. This makes it an interesting feature to support in today’s homebrew GBA games and applications, made easy by libraries such as [Rodrigo Alfonso]’s gba-link-connection.
This C++  library can be used in a number of ways: either limited to just the physical link cable, just the wireless link option or both (universal link). These support either 4 (cable) or 5 (wireless) players to be connected simultaneously. As additional options there are the LinkGPIO.hpp and LinkSPI.hpp headers which allow the link port to be used either as a generic GPIO, or as an SPI link (up to 2 Mb/s). The multiboot feature where a single ROM image is shared among connected GBAs is supported with both wired and wireless links.
It’s heartening to see that a device which this year celebrates its 23rd birthday is still supported so well.
Thanks to [gudenau] for the tip.

Lordstown Motors charged with misleading investors about the sales potential of its EV pickupThe Securities and Exchange Commission has charged bankrupt Lordstown Motors with misleading investors about the sales prospects of its Endurance electric pickup truck. Lordstown has agreed to pay $25.5 million as a result — money that the SEC says will go towards settling a number of pending class action lawsuits against the company. “We allege […]
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REZZ just wants to keep it simpleRezz’s music studio is tiny. It’s a tabletop setup in a shed in the backyard of her house in Toronto, Canada. Two JBL speakers, an old pair of SolRepublic headphones, an audio interface, and a MacBook with Ableton Live and an arsenal of plugins. That’s it.
As you’ve probably heard before, though, that — coupled with some ingenuity — is enough for a modern-day producer to conjure massive, mind-bending tracks. “That’s all I’ve ever used,” assures Rezz, whose loyal fanbase – the ‘Cult Of REZZ’ – has dubbed “a wizard” of sound, and whom heavyweights Skrillex and deadmau5 have championed since 2016.
“I’ve never been a ‘studio person’. I’ve always been the type of person to just sit on the couch comfortably with my laptop on my lap, headphones on,” the 28-year-old producer says. In a breakdown of her track, Can You See Me, the title track of her forthcoming LP, Rezz sums up her philosophy: “It’s not about what you use. It’s about what you’re used to.”
On Can You See Me, Rezz breaks away from what she’s familiar with, musically. A 10-track album with eight collaborations, the project scratches your ears with intricate, intriguing sound design and hypnotic beats, the type of music expected from Rezz, but which here often deviates from the midtempo bounce of her previous work. During the creation of the album, Rezz also found a new tempo in her life as a DJ, moving away from hectic touring schedules and into a nourishing lifestyle.
“I am, without question, happier than I’ve ever been,” she says, adding that Can You See Me, released on her HypnoVizion label, is her “best album by far — like, by far.”
Image: Stella Gigliotti for MusicTech.
Rezz, real name Isabelle Rezazadeh, talks about her craft with more enthusiasm than most. Every question I ask gets a long, excited answer that doesn’t spare the details of her artistry or anecdotes of her career. For someone who is so in love with ‘slow, trippy’ aesthetics, she races through different ideas surprisingly fast.
“Heavy but slow with hypnotic elements; that’s my favourite type of music,” says the artist who’s donned her light-up hypno glasses since the start of her career. “I had these psychedelic experiences when I was young that made me fall in love with really slow, trippy-sounding music. When I was then going to concerts and festivals, I found that there wasn’t anyone [playing that music] on a large scale.
“It really felt like there was a hole. And I could hear so many songs in my head, slowed down — like, a deadmau5 track slowed down to 105 BPM. That’s a vibe I really love, and I wanted to make that. Since then, I’ve probably made thousands of mid-tempo tracks. So with this album, I wanted to do something different. My sounds are still recognisable, but it’s just evolved. Heavier and darker and at a different pace.”
Rezz’ sounds aren’t ripe for mainstream appeal, nor for the underground dancefloors of house and techno. But bass junkies and lovers of sound design and music production will struggle to keep their heads still while Can You See Me thrashes on.
Image: Stella Gigliotti for MusicTech.
After being so profoundly inspired by a 2013 deadmau5 show she attended as a teenager, Rezz found her feet in music production by constantly experimenting with Ableton Live and watching YouTube tutorials. The Niagara Falls native was soon creating almost a song a day — a feat she says she still manages regularly.
“After two days of working on a song, I’m like, ‘Okay, this is done.’ But a week later, I might be like, ‘Oh, shit, actually, it’s a little bit quiet at this part’. So I’ll go back and turn something up. But, yeah, the composition and arrangement of the track still takes me about a day or two.”
In terms of polar opposites, Rezz and I both reference her fellow EDM producers, Madeon and Porter Robinson, the former of whom once claimed he spends up to 200 hours producing a track.
“I’m not surprised that it takes months and sometimes years for Madeon and Porter to finish their songs, because they’re wearing so many hats,” she says.” They’re not just producing the song; they’re recording guitar, drums… There are so many more elements to that kind of music.”

Listen to any Rezz track, though, and you’ll hear myriad details, noticing new sounds with every listen. A standout track from the album, DYSPHORIA with Holly, is a prime example — chopped, stuttered synths among atmospheric pads and sound effects. Another track, Exorcism is jaw-dropping, teeming with distorted, mangled sounds that would do Justice proud.
Is Rezz just being blasé about the intricacies of her work?
“I just try not to overthink or overcomplicate things. Overcomplicating things is what makes it time-consuming,” she says. “I’m sure Madeon has finished music quicker than 250 hours — people who take a long time to release music, that’s totally fine, because they end up putting out super high-quality music. I’m just generally very impatient. I’m very much like, ‘I need to finish this up and move on to the next thing.’ It’s just the way my brain operates.”
Rezz’ may be able to put a track together at lightspeed, but she caveats that inspiration doesn’t always come so easy. Her role as a “sound collector” can take much longer, tinkering with synth patches in Xfer’s Serum to find a motif, or spending time building drum beats as a foundation for new ideas to flourish.
Image: Stella Gigliotti for MusicTech.
“I love composing, arranging, mixing,” Rezz adds. “But the process of creating and collecting sounds and ideas can, for me personally, be the most tedious part of music production. But if I did have a direction to go in, and had already collected a plethora of sounds to use, then I’d probably have a song done in that two-day timeframe.”
Tedious as that process may be, it’s also the reason Rezz is such a prolific collaborator. Alongside making tracks and performing with her idol-turned-friend, deadmau5, under the Rezzmau5 alias, she’s released genre-bending music with Subtronics, Polyphia’s Tim Henson, Zed’s Dead, and many more.
“I love working with Rezz; it comes so incredibly easy to us,” Subtronics tells me. “Everything just falls into place sounding exactly how we want it. In terms of musical preference, our styles align effortlessly. She is also a joy to work with and easy to communicate and collaborate with.”
Image: Stella Gigliotti for MusicTech.
Collaboration is rampant in all corners of modern music — many fans encourage team-ups between their favourite acts — but can be a daunting prospect for the shy creatives. Some producers find it intimidating to share their creative process, or would simply rather keep their secrets safe (some producers won’t even partake in interviews like this in a bid to maintain mystique). Rezz has become more than happy to open herself up to collaboration.
“When you first start, you think there are things that you’re potentially doing wrong, and you’re insecure about that,” she admits. “You’re like, ‘Oh, I don’t know if I want another artist to see all the shit that I have on my master chain’. But the thing is, when you’ve produced music for a long time, you realise that there actually are no rules. Some people’s project files are absolutely insane. Some people’s mixdowns aren’t aren’t the best, from a technical standpoint. But it doesn’t matter at all. Because the song idea still came across.”
But, she adds, “If I’m going into the studio from scratch with someone, I am not comfortable with that.”
Image: Stella Gigliotti for MusicTech.
Rezz recounts a recent collab with deadmau5 and Virtual Riot as an example: “With Hypnocurrency, I started it by myself in my house then took the track’s skeleton to Joel’s [deadmau5], then Joel left his touch, finished mixing and mastering it and made it sound tighter. So when I was actually in Joel’s studio, it wasn’t like I was going in and turning the billions of knobs on his studio synths.”
“I worked in Joel’s studio recently with Virtual Riot. We were working on a song in his studio but, really, all we did was plug our laptop into Joel’s sound system. So once again, it’s not like we’re going in, using Joel’s millions of dollars worth of analogue gear. I don’t want to like go into a studio with someone with a blank canvas. That kind of freaks me out. Virtual Riot had sent me an idea, so we already had a direction. And I was like, ‘Oh, that’s easy, because I already know what I’m going to do.’”
The novelty of collaborating with her idol hasn’t worn off for Rezz. Although deadmau5 recently hinted at an upcoming retirement, Rezz remains by his tireless career. As she begins to wind down from touring, her 43-year-old idol is continuing to put on shows for his fans.
“As much as deadmau5 originally inspired me to create music, I’m inspired by him now because of his longevity and the fact that he’s still touring as much,” says Rezz. “I’ve been doing this now for 10 years, and I’ve significantly slowed down on touring. I do, like, three shows a month. I used to do nine, and that was just the norm until I realised it doesn’t really work for me.
“I think some people are built for it,” she continues “Diplo, built for it. Skrillex, built for it. It’s their lives and that’s totally fine. I love to play my shows, but I need them in moderation.”
Image: Stella Gigliotti for MusicTech.
It was a function of deadmau5’s nearly two decades on the road that he was able to keep Rezz calm during a recent near-disaster of a situation.
“We were about to play a show as Rezzmau5 in Philadelphia and the visuals messed up,” she recalls.” We were literally about to go on stage — I had my glasses on. But there was a 20-minute delay and I am a very punctual person, so if it weren’t for Joel, I would be freaking out.
“Joel’s behaviour during this was so inspiring to me,” she continues “Some people have this perception and idea of him being an asshole, and I’m sure he’s had his moments, right? But what I saw that day was something that I can only wish to be like.

“I was thinking, there’s a massive problem with the screen — we spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on production — are we really about to start our show and not have it executed the way we planned?
“And Joel just like, inhales his cigarette and goes, ‘All right, worst case scenario, what are we working with?’ He did not even slightly get mad. I think with Joel and how long he’s been in the industry, he’s learned now to just calm the fuck down…The only reason I even remained remotely calm was because Joel was calm. If Joel’s calm then I’m calm.”
Image: Stella Gigliotti for MusicTech.
While she may be touring less, with a dedicated fanbase like the Cult Of Rezz, she at least knows the demand is there when she’s ready to play. She just sold out her show at the legendary Red Rocks venue in Morrison, Colorado — with the state being a massive market for bass music — in literal minutes.
“It’s amazing, I’m so grateful for that. Honestly, to have sold out so quickly, especially so many years in a row now, is truly insane. Stuff like that is a highlight but I am genuinely looking forward to all my shows this year because I now have that balance. I know that after those shows, I’ll be able to go home and reflect, soak it all in and really think about what just happened and really appreciate it.”
My career before this was just, ‘on to the next show, on to the next thing’. It got to the point where I was winning awards — I won Junos [Canada’s major music award], and didn’t even notice at the time. I have this area of my house where I keep awards and I look at them now like, ‘I didn’t even have the chance to feel the happiness I should have felt because so many good things were happening consistently.”
Image: Stella Gigliotti for MusicTech.
Now, Rezz’s schedule is a lot more relaxed. Though she stresses that almost all of her free time is spent making music, she’s found comfort in…well, comfort.
“When I’m at home, I’m honestly either working on music or going to a concert in Toronto or chilling with my fiance, watching a movie just relaxing. Honestly, I just like taking it easy and enjoying life. Even sometimes — I don’t do this too much — but online shopping and enjoying what I’ve built for myself. Like, ‘I like these bracelets, I’m gonna like order them online.’”
With Can You See Me, we’re watching the shed-room producer enter a new phase — one in which she can afford to slow down and be more considered with her artistic vision. “I would do this for free forever. But I’m not going to go do a pool party, even if they offered me $100,000. I’m very aware that I’m very lucky to be able to even have that choice. Now I’m able to make what I actually want to make. That might be weird, obscure music; it might be music that doesn’t stream that well online. But that’s just what I want to make. And that’s what I’m gonna do.”
This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
REZZ, Can You See Me, will be available 14 March 2024 via HypnoVizion.
 
The post REZZ just wants to keep it simple appeared first on MusicTech.

Over 38% of music on TikTok is ‘modified’, says study that analyzed 100 million audio tracks on the platformEither pitch or speed of these tracks were altered, according to Pex data
Source

Recap: ASCAP 2024 Membership MeetingOn Wednesday, February 28th, ASCAP, The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, held its 2024 ASCAP Membership Meeting at Jazz at Lincoln Center Frederick P. Rose Hall in Manhattan.The event kicked off with a performance from Grammy-nominated progressive jazz duo DOMi & JD BECK. Next up, ASCAP Chairman of the Board and President Paul Williams and ASCAP CEO Elizabeth Matthews delivered an ASCAP “State of the Union,” celebrating the PRO’s 110 years of serving music creators, recognizing ASCAP members’ remarkable achievements in 2023, and detailing its record-breaking financial success of the past year. Songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Stacey Ryan closed out the session with a performance of her own.In his remarks, Williams explained the many advantages of ASCAP, the only creator-led US PRO: “The ASCAP Board of Directors are elected by you, and they make decisions and set policy with your best interests at heart. As a Board, we are incredibly focused on maximizing the value of your music, getting you paid fast and fairly and doing everything we can to support your livelihood as music creators. That is democracy in action, folks! That is ASCAP.”

Beth Matthews, ASCAP CEO (Credit: Ryan Lash for ASCAP)

Jermaine Dupri (Credit: Ryan Lash for ASCAP)

The session was followed by “The Confessions of Jermaine Dupri,” a keynote conversation with Songwriters Hall of Famer and forefather of the Atlanta music scene Jermaine Dupri and George-Middleton. He talked about coaching Mariah Carey: “For this song, you gotta hit the note. The song is great but you gotta end the song with a Mariah Carey ending to take it to the next level.” And offered his thoughts on songwriting: “To me, people don’t pay attention to the actual art of making music and writing songs. There’s a real art to it. Find the hook people can sing. Find the right melody for the verse. These are things you should say in the studio. It’s not to duplicate what you did, but remember how you got to that place.”

 Learn more at www.ascap.com

Sonora Cinematic unveil Aria Vocalscapes Sonora Cinematic’s latest instrument provides an array of ambient, cinematic and experimental vocals performed by classically trained soprano Emma May Price.