The 2023 AllMusic Readers' PollThe readers have voted, and we're proud to present the top 10 albums of the year as determined by you, the AllMusic community.

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Floating record shop Rubber Ducky Records reopens after sinking with new stockA floating record store based on a canal boat, Rubber Ducky Records, has reopened after it sank earlier this year (2023). The revived shop is currently docked in Manchester, UK, with future plans to tour across the nation.
Now taking bookings for visits, Rubber Ducky Records hosts over “3000 new tunes” to browse through, including genres such as house, techno, electro, acid, trance, DnB, disco, and much more.

READ MORE: UK vinyl sales increase for 16th consecutive year reaching highest level since 1990

The store originally opened in October 2022 but sadly sank in April of 2023. It was originally based in Sowerby Bridge, West Yorkshire. Following the sinking, Rubber Ducky Records’ founder, Myles Greenwood, launched a Go Fund Me page which raised £10,000. The money collected went towards restoring the boat and its stock.
Greenwood has now shared the good news in a post on social media that the store is back up and running: “I am so unbelievably thankful for all the support and generosity since the sinking, whether it was a message, a Go Fund Me donation or a hug. Thank you so so much, humanity really is incredible.
“I can finally say the sentence Rubber Ducky Records is open again! What a crazy journey! The fire will be hot, the Baileys is on ice, so get booked in if you want a cosy dig in Manchester through the 3000 new tunes!” He writes.
There is a limit of two people per listening station, so larger groups wanting to visit are advised by Greenwood to book both decks. “Take as long as you wish just be mindful of others,” he says.
Read the full post below:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Rubber Ducky Records (@rubberduckyrecords)

Bookings are open now. Find out more via the Rubber Ducky Records website. According to a map shown on the official page, the boat is docked just off Redhill Street in Manchester.
The post Floating record shop Rubber Ducky Records reopens after sinking with new stock appeared first on MusicTech.

UK vinyl sales increase for 16th consecutive year reaching highest level since 1990Sales of vinyl records in the UK continued to soar throughout 2023, having reached the highest sales figures since 1990.
Vinyl LP sales have been consecutively rising for 16 years now. Following a 2.9 percent improvement in unit sales last year, the vinyl market in 2023 has increased more than four times as fast with an 11.7 percent rise in 2023 to 5.9 million units.

READ MORE: TikTok’s first live music event was a record-breaker watched by over 33.5M

The impressive figures have been shared by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) in an end of year report, which analyses Official Charts data. The organisation states that the increase has been led by new releases from artists including Ed Sheeran, Lana Del Rey, Lewis Capaldi, The Rolling Stones, and Taylor Swift.
Over a quarter of a million vinyl albums were sold during the course of last week alone in the lead up to Christmas, making it the highest sales week for the format this century.
The CD market has also sustained its smallest annual decline in nearly a decade this year as it moves closer to plateauing, according to the report. Nearly 11 million CDs were sold across the year, while sales of cassettes topped 100,000 units in a calendar year for the fourth consecutive year.
The top 10 best-selling vinyl records (as of chart week 51 2023) are:

Taylor Swift – 1989 (Taylor’s Version)
The Rolling Stones – Hackney Diamonds
Lana Del Rey –  Did You Know There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd
Taylor Swift – Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)
Fleetwood Mac – Rumours
Blur – The Ballad Of Darren
Pink Floyd – The Dark Side Of The Moon
Taylor Swift – Midnights
Olivia Rodrigo – Guts
Lewis Capaldi – Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent

BPI Chief Executive, Dr Jo Twist OBE, says of the findings: “Led by vinyl, the resurgence of physical product underlines the resilience of the UK music market at a time when streaming consumption continues to hit record levels.
“Whilst LP sales have now been on an upward path for the past 16 years, it is encouraging to see a stabilisation in demand for CD, as well as new generations of music fans falling in love with the cassette. It is giving people more choice than ever in how they enjoy their favourite music.”
Read the full report over at the BPI. Final figures for vinyl LP, CD and cassette sales in 2023 will be unveiled by the BPI on 3 January as part of its Official 2023 UK Recorded Music Market Update, which will also report the total volume of audio streams for the year and the final year-end Official Charts.
The post UK vinyl sales increase for 16th consecutive year reaching highest level since 1990 appeared first on MusicTech.

Daft Punk’s Get Lucky reaches over one billion streams on SpotifyDaft Punk’s 2013 hit Get Lucky has entered the Spotify billion-stream club, joining over 500 tracks – from artists such as Ed Sheeran and The Weeknd – to have surpassed over one billion streams on the platform.
Released 10 years ago as part of the duo’s fourth studio album, Random Access Memories, the track marks their first song to reach the milestone as primary artists. The pair have already surpassed the milestone as part of their collaboration with The Weeknd on songs Starboy and I Feel It Coming.

READ MORE: “We went into the darkness looking for something”: Pharrell recalls studio sessions with Daft Punk

Pharrell Williams, who provided vocals on Get Lucky, has also previously already surpassed the milestone with his Despicable Me 2 soundtrack hit, Happy and his work on Calvin Harris’ Feels. For Nile Rodgers, however, Get Lucky marks his debut in the billion stream club.
Listen to the track below:

More than 500 songs have surpassed one billion Spotify streams as of December 2023. Just four tracks in the club have climbed over three billion, which are Blinding Lights by The Weeknd, Shape of You by Ed Sheeran, Someone You Loved by Lewis Capaldi, and Sunflower by Post Malone and Swae Lee.
Daft Punk have marked the 10th anniversary of Random Access Memories in a YouTube series named The Memory Tapes. The videos feature a range of guests who worked on the influential record.
In an episode featuring Rodgers, he spoke about the impact of the album:  “They said something to me that blew me away, they said that they wanted to do an album as if the internet never existed. I thought, oh, old school! Go in and play like the way we used to do it, which is what I love doing.”
He later added, “After Daft Punk I started playing with much younger artists. No one is my age, I’m 70. Charli XCX, Burna Boy, I just recorded my first K-pop record and now I’ve got like five under my belt and they’re like, huge. Life was one way before Random Access Memories and completely different after.”

The post Daft Punk’s Get Lucky reaches over one billion streams on Spotify appeared first on MusicTech.

Song Athletics release AmBient sample pack Song Athletics' second sample pack contains a range of acoustic and electric instrument samples all captured in the same key. 

5 Free & Simple Ways to Promote Your Music and Live ShowsEven when you have no money to promote your music and live shows, there are free and simple things you can do that won’t cost a penny but that we’ve. Continue reading
The post 5 Free & Simple Ways to Promote Your Music and Live Shows appeared first on Hypebot.

Experts share their 2024 Music Industry PredictionsWe’ve been sharing 2024 Music Industry Predictions from our favorite thinkers and doers. Get ready for the year ahead with this roundup.
The post Experts share their 2024 Music Industry Predictions appeared first on Hypebot.

Sets from Kaytranada, Honey Dijon and Peggy Gou to be streamed as part of Apple Music New Year’s Eve PartyNo plans for New Year’s Eve yet? Apple Music’s NYE Party might just have you covered, with sets from Kaytranada, Honey Dijon and Peggy Gou set to be livestreamed this Sunday as we say farewell to 2023.
The three sets, which originally took place in a packed warehouse in Brooklyn, New York, will be livestreamed as part of a full 24-hour takeover of exclusive DJ mixes for a special edition of Apple Music Live.

READ MORE: “It’s the basic stuff but it’s going to make you unstoppable”: Kaytranada offers advice for budding producers

Further sets will also be hosted by artists of Apple Music’s dance music authority, including Tim Sweeney, Brooklyn collective Papi Juice, French techno legend Laurent Garnier, and many more. The full performances from the sold-out event will debut Sunday 31 December at 7:00pm PT / 10:00pm ET (3am GMT) exclusively on Apple Music and on the Apple TV app.
Fans can also stream the event at anytime on demand via both Apple Music and Apple TV+ after the livestream, and listen to the sets in Spatial Audio on Apple Music’s DJ Mixes dedicated space.
Kaytranada, who kicks off the event with a mix which takes more of “a house direction”, says: “When it’s a New Year’s mix, it’s more of a celebration for getting through the whole year – whether it was hard or not, you have to celebrate making it through the year. It’s a different approach than other mixes I do.”
Honey Dijon adds, “A New Year’s Eve mix is a fresh start, we’re going into a new chapter. So I try to bring that sense of lightness, freshness, joy, renewal, and fun. I just try to really bring my culture and my sound. I stand on so many incredible shoulders of black queer people who have created house music, so I always like to teach, entertain, and bring joy.”
Peggy Gou, who closes the event, says: “I try to always go to my sets or my shows half an hour before to get the vibe and see how other DJs are playing, and I’m very sensitive to the crowd’s energy and I try to read that as much as I can.” On what to expect next year, she states, “I don’t really like to talk about what to expect or what not to expect, so my fans should expect the unexpected in 2024.”
You can watch the trailer for the event now, and find out more over at Apple Music.
The post Sets from Kaytranada, Honey Dijon and Peggy Gou to be streamed as part of Apple Music New Year’s Eve Party appeared first on MusicTech.

Skrillex is Beatport’s best-selling artist of 2023Dubstep icon Skrillex has been named Beatport’s best-selling artist of 2023, the music marketplace reveals.

READ MORE: Paris producer Maison Blanche draws for Rave-O-Lution 309 drums on new EP, ‘Food For Soul’

According to 2023’s ‘Beatport Insider’ report, the electronic producer-DJ, who was recently named one of EDM.com‘s best music producers of the year, ranked first in both of the platform’s sales and streaming charts.
The achievement followed the release of two comeback records from Skrillex this year — Quest for Fire (the artist’s first album in nearly a decade) and its follow-up Don’t Get Too Close.
This year’s list of top 10 best-selling artists on Beatport also features Fred again.., FISHER, Anyma, David Guetta, Dom Dolla, John Summit, Kevin McKay, Chris Lake, and Hugel.
Meanwhile, Beatport’s most-streamed track of 2023 went to Australian producer FISHER’s house hit Take It Off. Notably, house music dominated the rankings, with Mau P’s Gimme That Bounce claiming the second spot, followed by Skrillex, Fred again.., and Four Tet’s Baby again.., Westend and Noizu’s Push to Start, and John Summit’s Where You Are.
Read the full report at Beatport.

In other news, Beatport.io recently teamed up with Bronze AI and electronic music duo, Disclosure, on a “revolutionary” project enabling fans to own a unique version of one of their songs.
As part of Disclosure – Bronze Editions, fans have the opportunity to own a distinct version of the track Simply Won’t Do from Disclosure’s 2023 album, Alchemy. One thousand unique versions of the track have been created, with AI-generated visual artwork accompanying each one.
According to Beatport.io, this fusion of auditory and visual elements “transforms each piece into a singular, immersive experience for fans”, and breaks away from traditional distribution models.
The post Skrillex is Beatport’s best-selling artist of 2023 appeared first on MusicTech.

2023’s best new free plugins and virtual instruments2023 was another stellar year for free software and plugins, with some superb releases from both smaller developers and big-name companies.

READ MORE: Best free plugins and freeware of the month: December 2023

We’ve been selecting our top five favourites each month of the year, but here we select the ones that really stand out above the rest and are well worth checking out.
Bedroom Producers Blog – BPB 64

Mac and Windows
64-bit VST/VST3/AU

Who doesn’t love a bit of chiptune? Bedroom Producers Blog and Sample Science’s BPB 64 features 37 multisampled instruments taken directly from the legendary Commodore 64 SID chip.
Three different SID chips were sampled and packaged into plugin form with full control over filter, envelope, glide, modulation, and built-in delay, reverb, chorus, and distortion effects. As it was sampled directly from the chip, you get all the grit and lo-fi crunch that the C64 was known for, with iconic synth sounds, leads and arpeggios.
Download: Bedroom Producers Blog – BPB 64
Baby Audio – Pitch Drift

macOs, Windows and iOS
64-bit VST/VST3/AU/AAX

If you feel like your tracks are sounding a little sterile, then Baby Audio’s pitch fluctuation effect will be an instant download for you.
Pitch Drift has a single slider that lets you adjust the depth of the random fluctuations, from subtle, pitch instabilities, to more extreme out-of-tune effects. You can then hover over the central screen that gives you visual feedback to set the speed. The plugin is powered by the “Drift” algorithm from BABY Audio’s Super VHS, and can help your tracks to feel warmer and more organic sounding.
Download: Baby Audio – Pitch Drift
iZotope – Ozone 11 EQ

macOS and Windows
VST3, AU, AAX

iZotope has taken the EQ module from Ozone 11 and is giving it away as a standalone plugin. It has a beautiful resizable GUI, flexible filter shapes, Analog and Digital modes with adjustable linear phase per band, auto Gain Match, and hi-res metering.
What really makes it special is the new Transient and Sustain processing modes. Alongside the L/R and M/S modes, you can sculpt the transient and sustain portions of your signal separately, so you could tame a bass pluck whilst leaving the tail intact, or reign in a nasty kick drum knock. It’s available separately or as part of NI’s free Komplete Start instruments and effects bundle.
Download: iZotope – Ozone 11 EQ
Samplab – Samplab 2

macOS and Windows
64-bit VST3/AU

Imagine being able to load a sample into a plugin and then split the instruments and edit the notes as though they were MIDI. You can do just that using Samplab 2, available as both a desktop app and a plugin.
Once you load a sample, the software has to connect to the Internet to work its AI-splitting magic, then you can edit in real time inside the DAW, or export audio or MIDI. There’s a free version that lets you work with mono audio files up to 10 seconds in length, with a maximum of 15 minutes worth per month. Alternatively, you can opt for the premium subscription version for $9.99 per month, which adds stereo files of any length, premium warping and note controls, and up to 180 minutes per month.
Download: Samplab – Samplab 2
Kazrog – KClip Zero

macOS and Windows
64-bit VST/VST3/AU/AAX

KClip 3 has is revered as one of the best and most versatile clippers around. Kazrog’s free version lets anyone get in on the action, whether you’re trimming peaks on masters, busses or tracks to achieve transparent loudness or saturation.
Where KClip 3 has 8 clipping modes, this free version just has one, with controls for In, Out and Soften (for selecting between hard and soft clipping), and a Gain Link function. Don’t let its simplicity fool you though, as under the hood is mastering grade oversampling (2x online, 16x offline), making this a useful and pro-sounding tool.
Download: Kazrog – KClip Zero
Wavesfactory – Flash

Mac and Windows
64-bit VST/VST3/AU/AAX

A transient shaper is an incredibly useful tool, and this excellent free one from Wavesfactory has a few useful features that help it stand out. Under the hood, it uses the same algorithm as Quantum to help separate the transient and sustain signals without the use of a threshold. You then have controls to increase or decrease the attack and sustain, plus mix and output dials, a built-in clipper and a meter so you can keep an eye on the peaks.
What sets this one apart, though, is the freely adjustable dial where you can select whether to apply the effect to the stereo field, mid channel or sides, or somewhere in between.
Download: Wavesfactory – Flash
Soundly – Place It

macOS and Windows
64-bit VST3/AU/AAX

Soundly’s useful plugin uses impulse responses to emulate what your audio would sound like played on an array of speakers such as in-ear headphones, a laptop, a radio, a megaphone and more.
It then lets you place it in one of 40 environments such as a basement, an office, a vehicle or a cave. You get a dial for each, which controls the amount of the effect, plus a slider in the middle that muffles the audio to make it sound like it’s coming through a wall.
Download: Soundly – Place It
SuperflyDSP – Flying Reverb

macOS, Windows and Linux
64-bit VST3/AU

SuperflyDSP’s has had some excellent freeware releases over the last year or so, including the Lost-Tapes, Lost-Vinyl and Lost-Sampler plugins.
This simple but effective reverb plugin, Flying Reverb, lets you simulate spatial reflections with room, hall and temple options. You can then choose from a cleaner Classic mode, a Shimmer mode for more ethereal sounds, or a Lost mode, which is essentially the Shimmer mode with added artefacts. Other features include a host syncable pre-delay, lowpass and highpass filters, and a wet signal tape modulation and overdrive.
Download: SuperflyDSP – Flying Reverb
HY-Plugins – HY-Slicer2 free

macOS, Windows, and Linux
64-bit VST/VST3/AU

This cut-down version of HY-Slicer2 can be used as a fun and creative way to re-invigorate your loop library. You get 3 slicer units where you can load 3 different samples that get chopped into smaller pieces. These can then be sequenced in the Sampler Track where you can rearrange up to 16 slices. Things get a little more interesting when you start using the additional lanes which let you sequence things like chance, reverse, tune, pan, filter, FX sends and more. You also get built-in effects and master effects to refine your new loops, and a Pattern chainer to help develop longer ideas.
Download: HY-Plugins – HY-Slicer2 free
Polyverse Music – Filtron

macOS and Windows
VST, VST3, AU, AAX

Polyverse’s Filtron is an excellent, vibrant-sounding 12dB state variable filter plugin, with a state-of-the-art zero delay filter design. It can smoothly transition between lowpass, bandpass and highpass, is capable of self-oscillation, and includes a fat-sounding internal saturation.
There are also Cold and Hot post overdrive modes for some additional bite, and the parameters can be modulated via the sidechain signal. This means you can do some very cool CV-style modulation, and each channel in the stereo pair is treated as a separate modulation source.
Download: Polyverse Music – Filtron
Rewired Records – SideKick 2

Windows
64-bit VST3

Create sidechain-style ducking effects and rhythmic trance gates with this free LFO shaping tool from Rewired Records.
It offers 10 presets to get you started, but you can easily edit shapes and patterns by clicking on the window to add points and curves to the LFO. There’s also a Mix dial so that you can control the amount of the effect, and a Sync section where you can choose from 1/1, 1/2, 1/4 or 1/8 of a bar for the loop.
Download: Rewired Records – SideKick 2
BFD Drums – BFD Player

macOS and Windows
64-bit VST/VST3/AU/AAX/Standalone

BFD is well-known for its realistic, deeply sampled acoustic drum instrument BFD3. The company has now released the free BFD Player, which provides 5GB of high-quality drum sounds, 340 grooves in a range of styles, and a handful of pro-mixer presets. You can use the kit piece browser to swap out different drum components and then search for MIDI grooves using tags such as genre and tempo, or play in beats using a keyboard, controller or MIDI kit. It can run inside your DAW or as a standalone app, and you can purchase additional sound, preset and groove expansion packs.
Download: BFD Drums – BFD Player
The post 2023’s best new free plugins and virtual instruments appeared first on MusicTech.

3 strategies for auditioning samples: How to choose the right sound
We discuss some strategies you can apply to arrive to a decision the next time you're stuck between two (or ten) samples.

Terran Orbital’s biggest customer is close to securing funding for multibillion-dollar constellationTerran Orbital may be close to receiving a major payment from its biggest customer, CEO Marc Bell announced internally at a company-wide meeting earlier this month. Rivada Space Networks is in the final stages of closing funding to help fund a mega-constellation to be built by Terran at a cost of $2.4 billion, revenues that […]
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Sweet Relief Musicians Fund: JaM with Jonah Kagen BenefitMake a tax-deductible donation to Sweet Relief before the year ends and help hundreds of musicians and music industry workers that are dealing with physical and mental illness, disease, and age-related issues.

sweetrelief.org

Cheers & Applause with JaM Cellars and Jonah KagenBenefiting Sweet Relief

LIVE THIS FRIDAY 12/29 @ 4:00p PST—POP the lush Butter Bubbles and join for the LAST #JaMHappyHour of the year—benefiting Sweet Relief Musician’s Fund! Hosted by iHeartRadio’s Jana Sutter and featuring LIVE music from Jonah Kagen. Tune in on Facebook and YouTube, @JaMCellars, for an hour of sips, cheers, doin’ good—JaM is donating $1, up to $3,000, for every like, comment, and share made during the show! Make sure to tune in!

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Audiolatry Releases Easy Strings FREE ROMpler Instrument
Audiolatry has just released Easy Strings – a free (or ‘pay what you want’) ROMpler for macOS and Windows users. This ROMpler features samples recorded from violin, viola, and cello ensembles.  It’s not a deeply sampled instrument, as the developer Audiolatry states; hence, only one velocity layer is available.  The goal of this plugin was [...]
View post: Audiolatry Releases Easy Strings FREE ROMpler Instrument