Why VCs are investing in startups that help other startups shut downIn one of the VC world’s greatest ironies, investors have lately been clamoring to back startups that are helping other startups shut down. So whether a VC-backed startup is succeeding or shuttering, investors themselves are finding ways to make returns for their limited partners while also helping founders move on more quickly. And with an […]
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Lizzy Borden at the Whisky A Go GoLike Alice Cooper, Lizzy Borden is the name of the band and the singer. Dual moniker uses, however, are not the only things that these Los Angeles shock rockers share with Coop. A proclivity for showmanship that veers heavily towards horror movie themes are their most shared traits, plus fake blood by the bucket, a theatrical sneer here and there, and tons of fun.

More importantly, Lizzy Borden has an arsenal of wonderful glam-metal stomp-along tunes. Not as open to mainstream acceptance as Coop's, sure. But still, really freaking good. Also, that's the last Alice Cooper comparison, we promise.

At the Whisky on the evening of Friday, February 23, Borden (the singer) arrived on stage wearing what looked like three faces, sewn together. After a song or two, he was kitted out like a robot skeleton. And the impressive costume changes just kept coming.

Those same costume changes made a song like "Master of Disguise" seem all the more on-the-nose. Meanwhile, "American Metal" is a fist-in-the-air chant, "Love Kills" is a Sunset Strip classic, "We Got the Power" is epic, and Lizzy Borden's cover of the Ramones' "Pet Sematary" is inspired.

They ended with a creepy "Long May They Haunt Us," an appropriate song given the crowd's feelings towards this most influential and never-say-die group.

Closer Music announce Luca Pretolesi world tour Closer Music have announced an upcoming tour which will see Luca Pretolesi deliver mixing and mastering workshops in eight cities around the world.

SEVENTEEN’s FML was the biggest-selling album globally last year, according to IFPINews arrives a day after Miley Cyrus’ Flowers was named the biggest-selling single globally last year
Source

Atlantic Music Group makes around two dozen layoffs to ‘achieve maximum impact’ for its artistsNews was announced in a memo sent by Atlantic Music Group Chairman and CEO, Julie Greenwald
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SunBurnt Is A New FREE Convolution Reverb Plugin
Unplug.red released the SunBurnt convolution reverb plugin for Windows, Mac, and Linux.  SunBurnt is a 64-bit plugin available in VST3, AU, and CLAP formats, and the developer offers both free and paid versions.  The free version has a banner on the interface, which is the only point of difference between the two versions.  The Zip [...]
View post: SunBurnt Is A New FREE Convolution Reverb Plugin

“We couldn’t be more proud”: Chase & Status win Producer of the Year at the BRITs for first timeChase & Status have been given the award of Producer of the Year at the BRITs this year, ahead of the ceremony this weekend.

READ MORE: “It’s a wee bit suspect”: Calvin Harris on why he wants to stop DJing at 50

The duo, who are set to perform at the event alongside singer, and two-time British Dance Act award winner Becky Hill, are also up for the British Group award alongside Blur, Headie One and K-Trap, Jungle, and Young Fathers. Recent winners of the Producer award include David Guetta, Inflo, Fred again.., and Calvin Harris.
Per the BBC, Chase & Status – Saul Milton and Will Kennard – said in a statement earlier this week, “We couldn’t be more proud – we’ve been flying the flag for British music now for a long time, we’re super proud of all the music that has come out of the UK.
“As producers, and as a creative duo, I think we are probably in one of the best places we’ve been.”
Yesterday (26 February) they spoke about the award on X, formerly Twitter, too, describing it as a “special moment” in their career.

Producer of the year @BRITs
For us, winning producer of the year is a special moment in our career. Being producers is such an important part of who we are as artists and to be recognised for that at the highest level is an honour. #chaseandstatus #brits pic.twitter.com/l5bMyCpMqi
— Chase & Status (@chaseandstatus) February 26, 2024

Chase & Status released their last album, 2 RUFF, Vol. 1, in November, and it features the likes of Stefflon Don, Flowdan, Kwengface and ArrDee. Also in 2023, they collaborated with Hill on the hit single Disconnect, which got to no. 6 on the UK Singles Chart and has reached over 67 million Spotify streams. The duo released their first album, More than Alot, in 2008, but first formed over two decades ago, in 2003.
Aiming to stop Hill from making it three British Dance Act awards in a row are Harris, Barry Can’t Swim, Fred again.., and Romy. And the nominees for Mastercard Album of the Year, always one of the most eagerly-anticipated awards, are Blur, J Hus, Little Simz, RAYE, and Young Fathers.
The BRIT Awards will be on ITV1 and STV from 8 pm to 10 pm on Saturday, 2 March. Along with Chase and Status and Hill, artists set to perform include Dua Lipa, RAYE, Kylie Minogue, Jungle, Rema, and Harris and Ellie Goulding.
You can check out the full list of awards and nominees on the BRIT Awards’ website.

The post “We couldn’t be more proud”: Chase & Status win Producer of the Year at the BRITs for first time appeared first on MusicTech.

Independents accounted for 50% of Spotify industry revenue last yearIndependent artists generated $4.5 billion on Spotify in 2023. This is the first year ever that Indies accounted for about 50% of what the entire industry generated on the streamer, which totaled $9 billion....
The post Independents accounted for 50% of Spotify industry revenue last year appeared first on Hypebot.

The last phase of TikTok’s UMG music takedowns has begunThe third and final phase of TikTok's forced takedown of all UMG-controlled music has begun. The short video service has 30 days from January 31, 2024, to complete all takedowns.....
The post The last phase of TikTok’s UMG music takedowns has begun appeared first on Hypebot.

Everywhere to announce your next show!Hot on the heels of the announcement that dates posted on Bandsintown now also appear on Spotify, Chris Robley of ReverbNation has a list of all the places that artists need to announce every show...
The post Everywhere to announce your next show! appeared first on Hypebot.

Auralex launch Fusion24 acoustic panel range Auralex Acoustics' new range of acoustic panel facias come in a range of styles and finishes. 

“It’s a wee bit suspect”: Calvin Harris on why he wants to stop DJing at 50Calvin Harris might be one of the biggest DJs on the planet, but he’s suggesting that he might stop DJing once he hits 50.

READ MORE: Nero rediscover stack of old CDs full of original WAVS and unreleased music from 2004-2010

Speaking to MistaJam on Capital Dance, Harris, who turned 40 last month, says, “I always said that, once I get past 50, I can’t see me DJing, man.”
When MistaJam brings up DJs who have continued to work in the booth past that age, like Carl Cox, Harris explains that he doesn’t see himself as the same sort of DJ.
“It’s a certain type of DJing, though, isn’t it?” he explains. “The more commercial end it’s a wee bit… a little bit suspect. I think I’d prefer to be, like, in the studio making tunes.”

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He goes on to say that he generally feels more comfortable in the studio than on stage. He explains, “I think that’s where the majority of my talent lies – making something sound good. So I would like to make other people’s records sound good.”
Of course, there are plenty of DJs who have kept playing into their 50s and beyond. Cox is 61, while Fatboy Slim is 60 and David Guetta is 56. Will Harris change his mind over the next decade?
In the meantime, however, he’s remaining busy. This weekend, he’s set to perform at the BRIT Awards with Ellie Goulding, likely performing their song Miracle, which came out in March last year.
And earlier this month, he released a track with Rag’n’Bone Man – who’s also present during the interview with MistaJam – Lovers in a Past Life. It’s the first song he’s released since he appeared on Eliza Rose‘s track Body Moving in November. His last album, Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 2, came out in August 2022 and reached fifth place on the UK Albums Chart.
The post “It’s a wee bit suspect”: Calvin Harris on why he wants to stop DJing at 50 appeared first on MusicTech.

GC Audio unveil Inherit Bank GC Audio's latest product will serve as an expansion unit for their Inherit Rack, adding an additional four cartridge slots and making it even easier to audition different tonal options.

How to create Justice-style distorted synthsJustice burst onto the scene in the mid-2000s with a raucous sound that combined sampling, fast and furious edits and plenty of rock ’n’ roll attitude. Now they’re back with a new album, Hyperdrama, and if the advance tracks are anything to go on, we’re in for some classic Justice insanity.

READ MORE: How to recreate Fred again..’s “Jungle” bass sound

Justice’s tracks are packed with distorted sounds, as on the synth lead in new song, Generator. Distortion is a sure-fire way to add excitement to a track. As Erol Alkan said in Vinyl Me Please in 2022 when talking about Justice’s revered debut album, †, “The idea of machines sounding like they were about to explode seduced our imaginations.”
The key to getting that Justice heat in your productions is to think like a rocker — treat your sounds like guitars, not synths. Think pedals, amps, massive stacks of speakers and plenty of gain, gain, gain.
This mindset can take a plain synth lead from damp:

To incendiary:

Drive the filter
Start by creating a synth lead sound. Generator uses an oscillator sync lead sound, which is suitably rock ’n’ roll — it’s all over new wave classics by The Cars, among others. Any synth with oscillator sync will work, although the one in our example is the Roland Cloud Jupiter-8.
Justice often sample their synths. You can do the same by bouncing out a single note and importing it into your sampler of choice. After setting an appropriate start point and envelope curve, start upping the excitement with the filter drive. It’ll boost the perceived weight of the synth as well as volume. You don’t need to get too wild and crazy as there are plenty more steps to add gain and dirt to come.

Clean up the EQ
It’s a good idea to strap an EQ across the track next to clean up any errant frequencies that may be present. You’re going to be adding a lot of gain and exaggerating the frequency content in the following steps. Any low-end mud will only get muddier and messier. As it’s a rock-type sound, use low and high shelves to restrict the synth lead to mainly mid frequencies. Cutting below 200 or 300Hz is a good benchmark. You can also take a touch off the highs in anticipation of the screamy freqs that are coming down the road.

Get crunchy
RX950 from Inphonik replicates the AD/DA converter in the classic Akai S950 hardware sampler. A touch of digital crunch will add texture to the synth lead. Try increasing the input gain for saturation and turn down the Audio Bandwidth dial to lower the sampling frequency. This is another piece of the Justice distortion puzzle. (And if you don’t think Akai samplers are very rock ’n’ roll, tell that to My Bloody Valentine, who used them all over Loveless.)

Kling to me and I’ll Klon to you
It’s not rock ’n’ roll without guitar pedals. Try running your synth lead through a virtual pedal like Nembrini Audio’s freeware Clon Minataur. A recreation of the Klon Centaur, it adds plenty of overdrive without breaking up the signal or overly colouring it. Remember, the goal is to excite the synth lead, not obliterate it. You may lose some highs so bring them back with the treble knob if necessary. That’s starting to sound pretty gnarly, dude.

Give it some air
Now it’s time to bring out the big guns. Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay, the two rock stars behind Justice, aren’t flanked on both sides by stacks of Marshall amps during their live shows for no reason. It’s time to witness the power of a fully armed and operational guitar amplifier.
There are many amp modellers available, such as Native Instruments’ Guitar Rig. Load up an instance of the plugin next in line in the track. Choose a matching head and speaker combo of Jump, Native Instruments’ emulation of the classic Marshall JMP. You should be treated to an instant rock tone. Use the controls on the amplifier, particularly the tone and presence knobs, to fine-tune the sound.
Next, on the speaker, play around with the microphone balance until you get a sound that works for your track. Try adding a little air as well. Re-amping synthesizers is an effective way to make them sound bigger than life. Depeche Mode used this trick to get their stadium synth pop sound in the 1980s and it’s a good bet that Justice does too.

Compress to impress
You can’t talk about rock production without mentioning compression. The same goes for Justice, where everything is compressed to within an inch of its life. Compression can also add colour and saturation, so slap a compressor onto the track next. Arturia’s Comp-FET 76 models the UAD 1176 FET compressor. Use its ultra-fast attack to clamp down on transients and really squash the synth sound.

Let’s get reel
The final stage of any classic rock production is going to be reel-to-reel tape, so make that your last port of call. U-he’s Satin does a great job of reproducing the musical saturation of tape. Push the input to overdrive it. Increase the Speed ips (inches per second) knob for a brighter sound.
Bounce and edit
That’s your distorted synth lead all cooked up. Finally, bounce it down to audio and chop it up, interspersing it at opportune moments throughout the song to create interest (and a little chaos, naturally) in the best Justice tradition

The post How to create Justice-style distorted synths appeared first on MusicTech.

Programmed listening is on the rise at #Spotify. And radio is there. We need to take care of the content we produce.
#MusicIndustry #Streaming #Production