Beggars Group, Secretly, Partisan Records among indie labels pushing back against Apple Music’s higher payouts for Spatial Audio (report)"The new deal will badly impact our revenues," an indie record label executive says
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‘The best music managers wear 65 hats and are experts in all of them.’Blaike Ford discusses her time at Spotify when the streaming giant was a start-up and her self-defined role at Range Media Partners where she is looking to make a similarly seismic impact
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Jack Antonoff awarded Producer Of The Year for the third year in a row at the 2024 GrammysJack Antonoff took home the Grammy Award for Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical yesterday evening for the third year in a row.
Antonoff – best known for his work with Taylor Swift and Lana Del Rey – prevailed over fellow nominees Dernst “D’Mile” Emile II, Hit-Boy, Metro Boomin, and Daniel Nigro for the award.

READ MORE: “I’ve never used a MIDI instrument in my life”: Jack Antonoff on his love of analogue gear

As reported by Grammy, Antonoff is now only the second musician to win Producer Of The Year three times in a row, matching R&B producer, Babyface, who had a dominant run during the mid-’90s. The win at this year’s 66th ceremony brings his total number of Grammy awards to nine, including his shared awards outside of this category.
He received the award as a result of his co-production on all of Taylor Swift’s Midnights and Lana Del Rey’s Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd. In his speech he thanked both artists.
“I want to say Lana, wherever you are, I love you so much, and I just can’t believe how weird it gets in there and how your brain takes it to these most amazing places. The work means so much to me.”
He later adds, “You need a door kicked open for you, and different people have done that [for me at] different points of my life. My parents when they said, ‘yeah go play music, we’re not gonna give you a hard time’, all the early bands I was in.
“But to be on the stage, Taylor Swift kicked that fucking door open for me, because when a lot of people were saying ‘yeah, love it, sounds great. Now let’s get a producer to do it’, and everyone in this room knows that feeling… [when there’s] all these people saying, ‘no, it’s gotta go to a big name person’.
He continues, “We made a song called Out Of The Woods for 1989 and when I was waiting for that call that said ‘okay, now this goes to some big name person’, she said, ‘let’s mix this shit’. So, I love you to death Taylor.”
Watch his full speech below:

Also at the ceremony, Skrillex, Fred Again.. and Flowdan won the award for Best Electronic/Dance Recording for their 2023 hit, Rumble. Skrillex accepted the award on behalf of all three artists.
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Moog release Animoog Galaxy for Apple Vision Pro Animoog Galaxy makes it possible to play and modulate sounds with a range of physical gestures using Apple's Vision Pro headset.

New Apple royalties favor Majors at the expense of independent artists, say indie labelsindendent labels and artists are upset by what they say is the unfair advantage that Apple Music gave major record labels with its recent 10% increase in royalty payments for. Continue reading
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Is Threads dead? No, say 130 million active usersThreads launched with a bang. Thirty million signups in its first 24 hours, then 100 million in less than a month, and then an apparent falloff in user interest. Did. Continue reading
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The key to Booking Better Gigs is… APPLESThis apple analogy from Chris Robley of the Reverbnation blog may be the best tip that performing musicians get all year to help them book bigger and better shows. by. Continue reading
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Play “hyperrealistic” turntables in the rebuilt Algoriddim djay app for Apple Vision ProAlgoriddim’s newly reimagined version of its djay application has arrived for Apple Vision Pro, and the brand says it has been “rebuilt from the ground up”, placing users in front of “hyperrealistic” decks and immersive environments.
Alongside the launch, Apple Music integration in djay is now available in 167 countries, across all platforms. Users can connect their Apple Music account directly within djay for immediate access to over 100 million songs, including their personal library.

READ MORE: The Apple Vision Pro could be game-changing for music makers – with a host of futuristic DJ and production apps already available

Those who’ve got their hands on an Apple Vision Pro can now mix their tracks on two 3D turntables within djay, and apply effects through tactile hand gestures. You can physically drag the needle or scratch a record, and even drag a song out of its sleeve from a floating vinyl library to place it on a turntable.
You can also preview the next track by imitating how you would hold headphones to your ear, and utilise features such as automatic beat and tempo detection, filters, looping, time-stretching, advanced audio effects, and transitions. You can of course play right from your own space – such as your living room or studio – or place yourself in an immersive virtual environment.
Take a closer look below:

“We’re thrilled to introduce djay for Apple Vision Pro. Its innovative spatial interface offers a completely new way to experience music and marks a new chapter in the  evolution of DJing,” says Karim Morsy, CEO of Algoriddim. “Integrating Apple Music across the entire djay product line represents a significant milestone in Algoriddim’s mission to make DJing accessible to everyone.”
Existing Apple Music subscribers can access an exclusive two-month free trial of the full djay Pro subscription. Those without Apple Music can get djay for £6.99 ($6.99/€6.99) a month or £48.99 ($49.99/€49.99) a year. A free version is also available, but with limited features.
Find out more at Algoriddim.
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Analog Obsession Releases FREE Color Bundle
Analog Obsession released the free Color Bundle, including the Distox multi-mode distortion and Prebox preamp/distortion box plugins. The Color Bundle is available in VST3 and AAX for Windows and VST3, AU and AAX for Mac.  The plugins are available via a no-hassle, one-click download from the Analog Obsession Patreon page, which is linked below.  These two [...]
View post: Analog Obsession Releases FREE Color Bundle

“It doesn’t matter how good the record is. Only f**king two people are gonna listen to it”: Producer Max Norman says there’s no point making a “world-class” record anymoreProducer Max Norman, best known for working with rock and metal artists such as Ozzy Osbourne and Megadeth, has argued that there’s no real point in making a “world-class” record anymore.
Due to the saturation of the market and the rate at which new music is being released, Norman thinks that “nobody gives a shit” about a proper album anymore, and predicts a future of music where attention will be much more focused on live shows.

READ MORE: Daft Punk session drummer says band have unreleased fifth album “in limbo”

Speaking on the Talk Louder podcast, Norman says (via Ultimate Guitar), “The problem now is people can’t make world-class records because there’s 10,000 records a day coming out or whatever. So nobody’s making world-class records because nobody gives a shit.
“Because it doesn’t matter how good the record is. Only fucking two people are gonna listen to it anyway, and they’re both related to you,” he laughs.
“I’m trying to think where the industry is going and where it’s happening. To me, there’s a lot more activity of live stuff. And to me, it shows that there’s a lot of longevity in live performance. Whether it be a cover band, whether it be a tribute band, or an original band.”
Norman goes on to discuss rock band Kiss’s adventure into using avatars for upcoming tours, similar to that of ABBA’s Voyage shows, as an example of how “huge” the demand for live shows are, even for cover bands. “Kiss now can become a cover band of itself and keep going. They don’t want to pay anybody, so they’re gonna use computers. Whether that’ll work out or not, I don’t know. Maybe AI can help them.”
With this in mind, he later states that recording a live show could be a lucrative option for artists, as a live set can’t be reproduced, making them “special”: “These actually are now becoming very special events because everybody’s trying to computerise everything. So I see, maybe there’s a good opportunity there to actually just start going out – fucking mic it up, press record, just record the whole fucking evening, have a few beers, quick mix a next day. Bang – put it out.”
Catch the full interview below:

The post “It doesn’t matter how good the record is. Only f**king two people are gonna listen to it”: Producer Max Norman says there’s no point making a “world-class” record anymore appeared first on MusicTech.

The Apple Vision Pro could be game-changing for music makers – with a host of futuristic DJ and production apps already available12 years ago, Google unveiled Project Glass to the world.  The tech specs both stunned and alarmed consumers; the concept seemed like something from science fiction, overlaying a virtual interface over the real world.
Fast forward to present day, and Apple has its own answer to Google Glass – and it’s even more surreal. Rather than a mere tech interface over clear glass, the Vision Pro entirely emulates the ‘real world’ on two 4K micro-OLED screens. The screens are kitted out with a staggering 23 million pixels to recreate the ‘real world’ as a crisper virtual one. It’s virtual reality, but pushed into an entirely new era. Proper Black Mirror stuff.

READ MORE: What could Apple’s Vision Pro mixed-reality headset mean for music production?

Last week, the first shipments of the Vision Pro were shipped out to the public, and with them, the first wave of 600 Vision Pro compatible apps were unleashed onto the App Store.
Already, the Vision Pro looks set to be a game-changer for music lovers and producers alike. Those who get their hands on the mixed-reality headset will be able to play around with a huge range of apps designed with music creation and experience in mind, such as djay, which will allow users to mix on hyper-realistic 3D turntables, and Animoog Galaxy, which transforms the virtual space into a whirl of evolving sounds and colours based on your chosen tracks.

Apps like Spool also let editors and directors step into their music videos, allowing them to fully immerse themselves in their projects and utilise Spool’s studio-quality visual effects and unique editing tools.
STAGE+ allows users to get up close and personal with classical musicians, placing them in the centre of rich orchestral performances. AmazeVR Concerts will also place users in the best seat in the house, allowing them front row access to endless hours of high-quality concerts rendered in 3D environments.
Alongside the musical magic on offer, the Vision Pro is set to change the way users experience movies. They’re able to experience more than 200 3D movies through the Apple TV app, while the Apple Immersive Video app places users slap-bang in the centre of 8K 3D recordings captured with Spatial Audio.

It looks like the world is eager to experience this new form of mixed reality, considering Apple reportedly sold as many as 200,000 units in the Vision Pro presale.
Speaking about the Vision Pro, Susan Prescott, Apple’s Vice President of Worldwide Developer Relations, says: “Apple Vision Pro is unlocking the imaginations of our worldwide developer community, and we’re inspired by the range of spatial experiences they’ve created for this exciting new platform.”
“These incredible apps will change how we experience entertainment, music, and games; spark our imaginations with new ways to learn and explore; unlock productivity like never before; and so much more,” she adds. “Developers are already capturing the promise of spatial computing, and we can’t wait to see what they create next.”
The Apple Vision Pro is currently available for $3,499. For more info, head to Apple.
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Mega Milton Eurorack module from ALM/Busy Circuits Described as a “smorgasbord of handy all-analogue utilities” ALM/Busy Circuits' new module promises to greatly extend the functionality of a Eurorack system.

Hammond B-3 organ creators launch ultra-portable M-SoloOver the years, Hammond has made every effort to translate the full power of the B-3 organ into smaller, more convenient keyboards. Many artists have tickled the keys of a more compact M or L Hammond model, from Pink Floyd’s Richard Wright to Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones.
And now, Hammond has compressed the magic of the Hammond B-3 into its lightest, most portable keyboard yet. Despite weighing just under 8 pounds, the M-Solo aims to perfectly capture the sound of Hammond’s iconic organ.

READ MORE: 2024 Grammy for Best Electronic/Dance Recording goes to Skrillex, Fred Again.. and Flowdan for Rumble

The virtual ‘multi-touch’ keybed of the M-Solo is designed to capture the raw, physical feel of playing a classic B-3 organ. There’s also a high-definition digital Leslie speaker involved, allowing users to play with fully fleshed out, dynamic organ tones.

The 49-key M-Solo also has all the essential Hammond features, such as traditional drawbars, vibrato-chorus and touch-response percussion. There’s also transpose and octave shift controls, along with 2 user-programmable preset tabs for user convenience.
Alongside the B-3 tone-wheel organ sound, the M-Solo also has another three period-accurate models of the most popular transistor “Combo Organs” aboard – the Vx, Farf and Ace. Hammond have also included a ’70s String ensemble, as well as an analog-polysynth with twin oscillators.
With its compact size, Hammond is calling this the perfect ‘Hotel Room’ keyboard –  it even comes with a gig bag which can be used as a backpack, further proving just how portable this keyboard can be.
In terms of availability, the M-Solo is available in classy Matte Black, as well as a rich Matte Burgundy.
For more info, head to Hammond.

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Algoriddim’s djay app now links with Apple Vision Pro, integrates Apple Music streamingAlgoriddim has added two new major features to djay, the company’s flagship app built for Mac and iOS users: the launch of djay for Apple Music Pro – a mixed-reality, 3D turntable setup and interactive experience, and an integration with Apple Music available on all of djay’s available platforms. The linking to Apple Music gives users […]
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The Time Cheap Trick Opened for…RattAuthor Greg Prato offers an excerpt of his new book, World Infestation: The Ratt Story, wherein then-Cheap Trick drummer Bun E. Carlos was willing to look back at the time Cheap Trick opened for the L.A. glam metal band – who was touring at the time in support of their platinum LP, Dancing Undercover.