Music Publishers file complaint with US Federal Trade Commission against Spotify over audiobook bundleNMPA has also referred the matter to the state attorneys general in Tennessee, New York, California, Colorado, Georgia, Connecticut, Illinois, Washington DC, North Carolina and Oregon
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Tight Handheld CRT Asteroids Game Curses in TuscanHow many Arduini does it take to make a tiny CRT Asteroids game? [Marco Vallegi] of MVV Blog’s answer: two. One for the game mechanics and one for the sound effects. And the result is a sweet little retro arcade machine packed tightly into a very nicely 3D printed case.
If you want to learn to curse like a Tuscan sailor, you can watch the two-part video series, embedded below, in its entirety. Otherwise, we have excerpted the good stuff out of the second video for you.
For instance, we love the old-school voice synthesis sound of the Speak and Spell. Here, playback is implemented using the Talkie library for Arduino, and [Marco] is using the BlueWizard software on a dated Macbook for recording and encoding. (We’d use the more portable Python Wizard ourselves.) Check out [Marco] tweaking the noise parameters here to get a good recording.
And since the Talkie Arduino library uses PWM on a digital output pin to create the audio, the high-frequency noise was freaking out his simple transistor amplifier. Here, [Marco] adds a feedback capacitor to cancel that high-frequency hash out.
The build needs to be quite compact, and the stacked-Arduino-with-PCB-case design is tight. And the 3D-printed case has a number of nice refinements that you might like. We especially like the use of thin veneers that cover the case all around with the build-plate’s surface texture, and the contrasting “Asteroids” logos are very nice.
All in all, this is a really fun build that’s also full of little details that might help you with your own projects. Heck, even if it just encourages you to play around with the Talkie library, it’s worth your time in our opinion. And while you’re at it, you can turn on the subtitles and pick up some vocab that’ll make your nonna roll over in her grave.

Part One: Rebuilding the CRT

Part Two: Adding Sound

Thanks [ZioTibia81] for the tip!

Ahead of Tesla’s big shareholder vote, let’s re-read the judge’s opinion that got us hereThere has been a silly amount of drama in the run-up to Tesla‘s annual shareholder meeting on Thursday. The company is set to hold a vote on “re-ratifying” the $56 billion compensation package awarded to Elon Musk in 2018, which was struck down by a Delaware Chancery Court judge earlier this year. It will also […]
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Thomas Coesfeld talks BMG’s ‘unique offering’ and having ‘the financial power of a major’ at Music Investor Conference in New YorkBMG CEO participated in a keynote fireside chat at the Second Annual Music Investor Conference hosted by NMPA boss David Israelite
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The World’s First DIY Minicomputer Was Almost AustralianThe EDUC-8, a DIY minicomputer design that came out in “Electronics Australia” magazine, was almost the world’s first in August 1974. And it would have been tied for the world’s first if inventor [Jamieson “Jim” Rowe] hadn’t held back from publishing to rework the design to expand the memory to a full 256 bytes. The price of perfectionism?
Flash forward 50 years, and [Gwyllym Suter] has taken on the job of recreating the EDUC-8 using modern PCBs, but otherwise staying true to the all-TTL design. He has all of his schematics up on the project’s GitHub, but has also sent us a number of beauty shots that we’re including below. Other than the progress of PCB tech and the very nice 3D-printed housing, they look identical. We have to admit that we love those wavy hand-drawn traces on the original, but we wouldn’t be sad about not having to solder in all those jumpers.

If you want to dig more into the EDUC-8, or the 8008-based Mark-8 that just nosed it out across the finish line, you can find the original articles online, or even check one out in person at the Computer History Museum. We wonder how many of these were ever made, and how many survive in the wild?

Haley Joelle on Staying DIY With TikTok Fame and Spotify LoveThis week, Ari is joined by Haley Joelle, an independent singer-songwriter and artist whose music has resonated with millions of listeners around the world.

YouTube Music to Honor Cash Money Records MenYouTube Music announced its second Leaders and Legends gala, celebrating hip-hop’s top executives, entrepreneurs, artists, and creatives who have impacted the music industry in an immeasurable way. Coinciding with Black Music Month, this year’s event will honor southern hip hop icons Bryan “Birdman” Williams and Ronald “Slim” Williams, founders of Cash Money Records. The event is invitation only. 

Hailing from New Orleans, Ronald and Bryan played a pivotal role in popularizing Southern rap music in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Cash Money Records’ unique sound, characterized by bounce beats and catchy lyrics, helped shift the focus of the hip-hop industry from the coasts to the South.  The label has been home to some of the biggest names in hip-hop, including Lil Wayne, Drake, Nicki Minaj, Mannie Fresh, and Juvenile. These artists have not only achieved immense commercial success but also pushed creative boundaries within the genre.

“The story of Cash Money Records is one for the history books,” said Lyor Cohen, Global Head of Music at YouTube. “Leaders and Legends recognizes entrepreneurship and leadership in black music and culture, attributes Birdman and Slim embody to their core. They defied the odds, raising up some of rap and hip hop’s most iconic figures to superstardom and shattering sales records while doing it. We are humbled to honor the success and look forward to celebrating the music that continues to shape the label’s incredible legacy.”

Leaders and Legends is YouTube’s way of celebrating entrepreneurial achievements and groundbreaking founders in black music and culture. The inaugural event in 2020  was held in Atlanta honoring LaFace Records and the entrepreneurship of Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds and LA Reid. "We at YouTube are committed to pushing the culture forward, so leading the charge to celebrate Cash Money’s impact via Birdman and Slim’s leadership is an honor” said Tuma Basa, YouTube’s Director of Black Music and Culture. "As a platform with a global reach and influence, it is our responsibility to acknowledge and elevate the stories of black trailblazers in the industry and remind the world of the immeasurable impact black music has on the culture globally, and that's what Leaders and Legends is all about.”

The Leaders and Legends gala will be held in Los Angeles on June 27. The program will feature a star-studded lineup of performances, culminating with Lyor Cohen presenting Birdman and Slim with the 2024 Leaders and Legends Award. The post YouTube Music to Honor Cash Money Records Men first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Spotify, YouTube partner Merchbar accused of stiffing artists and fansSan Francisco-based online music merchandise marketplace Merchbar has been accused of failing to pay for or ship hundreds of thousands of dollars in merchandise.....
The post Spotify, YouTube partner Merchbar accused of stiffing artists and fans appeared first on Hypebot.

“My favourite acronym for EDM is event-driven marketing”: deadmau5 reflects on the commercialisation of rave cultureRave culture and electronic music are becoming increasingly commercialised, says Deadmau5.
Speaking to Tom Power, the DJ explains, “I hear kids saying, ‘Hey, going to the rave, bought my ticket on Ticketmaster, and it’s in Vegas, it’s sponsored by Live Nation and Coca-Cola’ … you know what I mean?”

READ MORE: “There’s 800 ways to skin the DJ cat”: Deadmau5 on the why DJing is more than just a live performance

Deadmau5 continues, “My favourite acronym for EDM is event-driven marketing. That’s so funny, I know, because it’s what it is really – that doesn’t take away from anyone wanting to go out and have a good time.”
He compares the contemporary scene to the one he grew up in, where “We had to beg the cashier for like, print-out tickets done on a Xerox thing for a meet-up point, to get on a bus to take us to God knows where, for a party, for a raid. You know, that’s exciting.”
He adds, “I was having a great time. It was new, it was different. It was illegal, yeah, in some cases, and that was rave. Now I am so salty and old – in the sense that, like, that is dead; that is long and gone.”

Deadmau5, real name Joel Thomas Zimmerman, was inducted into the Canadian Music Week’s Music Industry Hall of Fame earlier this month, where he stands alongside some of Canada’s most well-regarded musicians. Among them are Alanis Morissette, Rush, and Andy Kim.
Last month, Deadmau5 poked fun at another fellow Canadian, Grimes, during his set at Las Vegas’ Electric Daisy Carnival after her infamous Coachella set rife with technical issues.
Before going into his track, Maths, he played clips of her discussing the problems she faced, saying, “It’s hard to explain”, with the sound of a metronome present, Then, the beat dropped for the song.
The post “My favourite acronym for EDM is event-driven marketing”: deadmau5 reflects on the commercialisation of rave culture appeared first on MusicTech.

Spotify names 30 Songs of Summer 2024 contendersSpotify has released its annual list of predictions for the Songs Of Summer 2024. featuring the top 30 contenders they think could take the crown.  From “Not Like Us” by. Continue reading
The post Spotify names 30 Songs of Summer 2024 contenders appeared first on Hypebot.

Four platforms where Algorithms don’t come between Musicians and FansTired of building an audience on social media only to have 2% of your followers ever see a post? Michael Brandvold and Jay Gilbert explore four music platforms that don’t play the algorithm game.....
The post Four platforms where Algorithms don’t come between Musicians and Fans appeared first on Hypebot.

Rythm music bot returns to Discord with full UI and ‘00s-style music visualiserRythm, the popular Discord music bot forced offline in 2021, has made a comeback, and this time it has a snazzy new UI.
In its original prime, Rythm allowed users on Discord servers to listen to music together. It did so by pulling audio from YouTube, and in September 2021 it told Rythm it needed to close. YouTube also shut down similar music sharing bot, Groovy.

READ MORE: Stability AI’s new open source text-to-audio generator was trained on free music libraries to “respect creator rights”

Now, Rythm is back in business, and is available within Discord as an activity app. Speaking to The Verge, Rythm creator Yoav Zimet says, “Unlike the previous bot iteration, this one actually has a full UI.”
He adds, “You have the same experience as you had before, so you can create a collaborative queue and listen along with your friends, but now there’s an actual full UI where you can add songs, control the music, and view the album art.” There’s additionally a music visualiser, which will throw some people right back to the early 2000s.
Users can now access 50 million songs through Rythm, and this will continue to expand. Zimet says there are some deals that he and co-founder Oliy Barrett are “still negotiating” for this to happen.
There are both paid and free options available, with the premium tier costing $4.99. This will allow subscribers to create a playlist of songs that up to 20 people can join and listen to. Revenue from premium subscriptions is shared with labels and publishers.
Free users will still be able to join these listening sessions or listen to curated radio stations without a premium user in a Discord voice call. There is also no ads, though this may change later down the line. As for royalty payments, if a song is played in a session with 20 listeners it counts as 20 streams, according to Music Ally.
Standalone versions of Rythm for iOS, Android, and desktop PCs are currently in the works. Zimet says its plan “isn’t really to compete with Spotify or Apple Music”, due to its core sentiment of group listening, rather than solo playback.
Find out more over at Rythm.
The post Rythm music bot returns to Discord with full UI and ‘00s-style music visualiser appeared first on MusicTech.

Glastonbury and Spotify team up to launch an official Glastonbury festival appIf you’re at Glastonbury this year or watching at home with the BBC, you can curate your experience with the Spotify-integrated Glastonbury 2024 app.
The festival and the streaming platform are joining forces this year for Vodafone’s official Glastonbury app, available on iOS and Android. The app aims to make planning the festival experience easier, with all the crucial info about artists, stages, and set times, so fans can create their own personal festival calendar.

READ MORE: Spotify claims it’s enabling musicians to make a living: “More than 25,000 European artists are now generating over €5,000”

And, with Spotify integration, the app will recommend artists to check out based on their listening habits.
Glastonbury organiser Emily Eavis says, “It’s great to launch this integration with Spotify to help festival-goers discover artists playing this year. There are so many amazing acts on the line-up and we’re really happy that the app will now help guide people towards the ones they’ll love.”
Meanwhile, Spotify vice-president of global marketing and partnerships Marc Hazan explains, “Spotify reflects and celebrates music culture so this partnership with Glastonbury is the perfect fit. We want to forge deeper connections between artists and fans, and what better way to do that than by teaming up with the world’s greatest music festival?
“The integration with Vodafone’s official Glastonbury app combines Spotify’s hugely popular personalisation and discovery tools so that users can really elevate their Glastonbury experience to a new level.”
Can’t wait for the festival? Head to Spotify for the official Glastonbury 2024 playlist, one part of the platform’s Glastonbury 2024 hub.

Glastonbury takes place on 26-30 June with Coldplay, Dua Lipa, and SZA headlining, while Shania Twain takes the legend’s slot. Among the other artists are Little Simz, Jungle, Jamie xx, Justice, and LCD Soundsystem.
Tickets for this year’s festival sold out in under an hour. After going on sale at 9am on 19 November, all tickets were bought by 10.
The post Glastonbury and Spotify team up to launch an official Glastonbury festival app appeared first on MusicTech.

“The end of an era”: MasterSounds to build final units of its DJ mixers and more ahead of journey in “different direction”MasterSounds is building the final units of its DJ mixers, FX units, ISO4s and LinearPOWER supplies, of which it will soon cease production.
The end of this chapter has been announced by founder Ryan Shaw in a statement shared on the MasterSounds website and social media channels. It will continue to offer aftercare support for all of its products now and in the future, and all is not lost as there is an “exciting road ahead”.

READ MORE: Ryan Shaw, head of MasterSounds: “When you mix on a rotary, it’s an experience…like it’s your first mix at Café Mambo every single time”

Shaw founded MasterSounds in 2008. He then formed a partnership with Andy Rigby-Jones of Union Audio in 2016 to launch a range of rotary DJ mixers and other products across the years. Shaw says that MasterSounds and Union Audio will continue their journeys of discovery “in different directions” following the final sales of these products.
Shaw’s statement reads, “As we hit mid 2024, I wanted to give everyone reading this a heads up, to let you know that we are currently building our final units of MasterSounds DJ mixers, FX units, ISO4s and LinearPOWER supplies, once these are gone, we won’t be producing or selling any more of the above products, which I truly believe will become classics of the future.”
He continues, “From our chance meeting in 2016, myself and partner Andy Rigby-Jones [Union Audio founder] set out on a mission to create and sell truly wonderful esoteric audio products. Our vision was to create equipment that is truly world class, with our esoteric principles of sound and simplicity at the fore. A vision that turned into an amazing reality, creating products and friendships that will last a lifetime.
“It’s been an amazing journey of discovery, and one MasterSounds and Union Audio are continuing to make in different directions. Here at MasterSounds, we will continue to offer our first rate aftercare to all products now and in the future, and look forward to an exciting road ahead.”
Shaw also offers his thanks “for the unrivalled support” given to MasterSounds over the past eight years, and to “Andy and his amazing team of true lifelong friends at Union Audio for one hell of a ride”.

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Find out more and purchase the final run of products over at MasterSounds.
The post “The end of an era”: MasterSounds to build final units of its DJ mixers and more ahead of journey in “different direction” appeared first on MusicTech.

Replay Box re-amper from United Studio Technologies United Studio Technologies latest release sets its sights on re-amping, and draws inspiration from a design that was never available as a commercial product.