You can now save £1,328 on Universal Audio’s Electronic Music Bundle for a limited timeWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. For more information on how this works, see our terms of use.
Looks like those January sales are just seeping right into February, as Universal Audio’s Electronic Music Bundle is now available for just £67, saving you a ridiculous £1,328 — yes, you read that right — over on Plugin Boutique. There are some serious goodies in here, too.
This mind-boggling bargain will set you up with Universal Audio’s Moog Minimoog emulation (£199 RRP), UA Opal (£199 RRP), the Studer A800 Tape Recorder (£349 RRP), the 1176 Classic Limiter Collection (£299 RRP), and the Lexicon 224 Digital Reverb emulation (£349 RRP). That’s not a bad set of plugins for £67, no matter what genre or style of music you make.
The deal is available until 18 February 2024, giving you some time if you’re not ready to hit ‘buy’ — but, frankly, a 95 per cent discount on these revered Universal Audio plugins is not one to miss. But if you’re not a fan of UA, you might want to check out the £900 discount on Native Instruments Digital-Analogue Bundle, landing you a host of excellent plugins for £54.
What’s in the Universal Audio Electronic Music Bundle?
Sure, the UA Electronic Music bundle is star-studded, but the Moog Minimoog is a superstar for any genre, any artist, any DAW. It’s the only Moog-endorsed third-party Minimoog emulation on the market, so you can guarantee that it’s one of the best.

Universal Audio’s Opal is a proprietary wavetable synth by the brand, which we awarded a 9/10 in our review in 2022.
We said: “Opal is an absolute gem. It’s expertly designed and makes sound design immediate and enjoyable. It’s versatile, comes with excellent presets, and its sound will glisten out of your speakers.”

The 1176 Classic Limiter Collection is a triple-threat of emulations of the revered 1176 hardware compressor, originally made by Universal Audio in 1967 (which at the time was called UREI).
As Plugin Boutique says, the 1176 is “an easy‑to‑use ‘desert island’ compressor that has lent its character and punch to some of the greatest recordings in history.”
Elsewhere in the bundle is the Lexicon 224 Digital Reverb emulation, which brings the sound of a legendary studio reverb straight to your DAW.
Used by everyone from the Talking Heads to U2, the Lexicon 224 “remains one of the most popular digital reverb units of all time. Now you can track and mix with this singular piece of audio history with the Lexicon 224 Reverb plug-in,” says Plugin Boutique.

Rounding out the deal is the Studer A800 Tape Recorder emulation, which gives you the warmth and presence of the iconic Studer A800 Multichannel Tape Recorder, which has been the analogue recording device for stellar records by the likes of  Metallica, Stevie Wonder, Tom Petty, A Tribe Called Quest, and Jeff Buckley. You’ll get a faithful emulation of the hardware’s analogue circuitry, making it “the most accurate representation of multitrack analogue tape recording available.”
Grab the Universal Audio Electronic Music Bundle for £67 at Plugin Boutique now. 
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From Universal’s feud with TikTok to YouTube Music’s 100m subscribers… it’s MBW’s Weekly Round-UpThe five biggest stories to hit our headlines over the past seven days…
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Save nearly $900 on Native Instruments plugins with this insane $54 bundleFancy a bargain? Plugin Boutique is currently offering up a versatile bundle that is sure to aid all your production needs.
The Native Instruments x Plugin Boutique Digital-Analogue Bundle offers a perfect balance of raw analogue sampling and sharp, innovative digital plug-in tools. The wide-ranging bundle will fully kit you out – and it’s got a lovely $876 discount to top it off.

READ MORE: Sausage Fattener creators Dada Life have released a new ‘Secret Sauce’ plugin bundle

Kicking things off, the bundle includes Massive – that’s enough bang for your buck alone. The powerhouse synthesizer is legendary, trusted by bass-junkies and electro producers the world over, boasting over 1,300 sounds, flexible routing, innovative sound synthesis and more. The synth is currently going for $149 on its own, more than double the bundle’s $54 price tag. Even if you’ve just had your eye on Massive, this is a great opportunity to get it at a steal.
Elsewhere, the Digital-Analogue bundle also includes iZotope’s brilliant Neoverb. This intelligent reverb plugin boasts a nifty Reverb Assistant to guide you through; with an AI-powered EQ section that listens to your audio, the Assistant helps users avoid artefacts, mud and masking, allowing your mixing experience to run smoothly.
There’s also an endless selection of sounds to explore, with an Advanced Panel allowing users to experiment and dive head-first into fresh new sounds. Users can also play with a huge library of ready made vocal, instrumental and genre presets.
Brainworx’s bx_hybrid V2 is also included, a state-of-the-art mixing and mastering tool designed with analogue filters in mind. The mixing software is kitted out with critically acclaimed filters, as well as 11 EQ bands, an Auto Solo Mode for soloing single frequency bands, and more.
The bundle also boasts Focusrite’s bx_console – a channel strip designed specifically for Beatles Producer Sir George Martin. It’s a digital replication of a truly coveted console – only 10 of the full consoles were made, with only 9 still in existence.
Studio Drummer rounds things off nicely. The virtual drum software is kitted out with over 3,300 realistic acoustic drum tracks, allowing users to pop dynamic, lifelike drum tracks straight into their creations. Its versatile, offers detailed mixing options, and a great way to inject that raw, organic drum sound into your mixes.
The Native Instruments Digital-Analogue Bundle is currently available for $54. For more info, head to Plugin Boutique.
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Moog’s Apple Vision Pro Animoog Galaxy softsynth is a “multidimensional sonic, visual and spatial experience”Scratching your head at the lack of music-making apps on your new $3,500 Vision Pro? Fear not. Moog has just launched Animoog Galaxy, a softsynth specifically created for the Apple Vision Pro augmented reality headset.

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

Animoog Galaxy introduces an innovative approach to the Moog Animoog iOS instrument by integrating spatial computing, giving you a hands-on, immersive sound sculpting experience. It combines generative visuals and audio with the user’s surroundings, so you get a shared-space sound machine.
To use Animoog Galaxy, simply interact with the app using intuitive hand gestures on your Apple Vision Pro device. Navigate through the immersive interface to access presets –120 in total – manipulate parameters, and sculpt soundscapes in real time, all while experiencing dynamic visuals that respond to your movements and actions.
Credit: Moog
At the heart of Animoog Galaxy lies the Anisotropic Synth Engine (ASE), Moog’s own technology that lets you navigate through unique timbres across the X, Y, and Z axes, so you can create expressive soundscapes.
Animoog Galaxy’s intelligent step sequencer means you can effortlessly generate rhythmical melodies that are perfectly in tune with the keyboard, fostering a seamless flow of musical ideas.
In terms of modulation, there are 10 lanes and a wealth of sources, controllers, and destinations. These include global destinations like Delay and Thick, providing users with extensive control over their sonic creations.
There’s an expansive collection of effects, including Delay, Unison, Bitcrush, Drive, and Filter. There’s also an Arpeggiator function, allowing users to experiment and shape their sound with precision.
Credit: Moog
And if you’re asking about MIDI compatibility… the answer is ‘yes’. Animoog Galaxy seamlessly integrates with MIDI controllers, allowing users to control the app with their favourite MIDI devices. With full support for MIDI Polyphonic Expression (MPE) input, users can explore expressive playing techniques, while MIDI out capabilities enable Animoog Galaxy’s keyboard to control external instruments.
Animoog Galaxy is available now for $29. Buy it on the Apple App Store.
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Half of the UK’s most-streamed artists are from London, new research findsNew research has found that 50 percent of the UK’s most-streamed artists are from London.

READ MORE: NAMM 2024 recap: All the biggest synth, studio, DJ and software releases 

The findings came from data compiled by A2D2, which studied the top 40 most successful British artists of all time (on the basis of their total and daily streaming figures) and looked at whereabouts in the country they hail from.
London-born artists made up half of the list overall, with Dua Lipa, Sam Smith, Coldplay, Queen and Adele all featuring.
However, the artist A2D2 deemed to be the most successful in the UK came from outside of London. Topping the list is Ed Sheeran, who was born in Halifax and was raised in Suffolk.
Other artists in the top 10 from outside of London include  The Beatles and Calvin Harris, from Liverpool and Dumfries respectively. Meanwhile, two of the top 10 artists came from the Midlands. These were Harry Styles, who was born in Redditch, Worcestershire, and Ellie Goulding, from neighbouring Herefordshire.
LONDON, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 09: Ed Sheeran performs live on stage as he plays a surprise support set for The Darkness at The Roundhouse on December 09, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Simone Joyner/Getty Images)
“London’s musical influence points to its unique ecosystem for nurturing musical talent,” says A2D2’s founder Peter Fealey in response o the news. “The city’s diverse and vibrant cultural scene, world-class recording studios, and a long history of fostering musical communities have been attracting artists from all across the UK and beyond, giving them collaboration opportunities, as well as access to industry players for artists to break through internationally”.
In other music news, the entirety of Universal Music Group’s song catalogue has been removed from TikTok after its current licensing agreement expires on 31 January 2024, Music Business News has confirmed.
In an open letter issued earlier this week (30 January), titled ‘Why we must call time out on TikTok’, UMG accused TikTok of attempting to “bully” them into “accepting a deal worth less than the previous deal, far less than fair market value and not reflective of their exponential growth”.
UMG said that during its contract renewal discussions with TikTok, it has been “pressing” the tech giant on “three critical issues”, including “appropriate compensation for our artists and songwriters, protecting human artists from the harmful effects of AI, and online safety for TikTok’s users.”
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Is UMG’s battle with TikTok an opportunity for independent musicians?Universal Music Group is responsible for more than 30% of global music consumption by more than one metric. With all of that music at least temporarily coming off TikTok, does. Continue reading
The post Is UMG’s battle with TikTok an opportunity for independent musicians? appeared first on Hypebot.

Jay Gilbert and Randall Foster get real about marketing musicYou’d be hard-pressed to find music marketers with more real-world experience than Label Logic co-founder and frequent Hypebot contributor Jay Gilbert and Symphonic Chief Creative Officer Randall Foster. So when. Continue reading
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How to get booked at Music FestivalsTrying to get in the lineup of a whole festival can be intimidating. Luckily this guide lays out the whole process so artists of any level can start applying. by. Continue reading
The post How to get booked at Music Festivals appeared first on Hypebot.

The new Headliner R4 is a four-channel analogue rotary DJ mixer that gives you “absolute control” over your soundHeadliner has unveiled the R4, a four-channel analogue rotary mixer designed for DJs who want precise control over their sound without breaking the bank.

READ MORE: It’s settled: Logic Pro is the best digital audio workstation in the world, at least according to the NAMM TEC Awards

Sporting genuine ALPS potentiometers, a robust metal enclosure, and stained wood side panels, the R4 boasts a classic aesthetic that complements any DJ setup.
The mixer features four Line inputs, three phono inputs, and one mic input on four stereo channels. Each channel is equipped with essential features like gain control with peak LED, a 3-band isolator EQ, headphone cue selector, generous channel volume knob, and a filter activation switch, giving you the tools needed for seamless mixing.
At the heart of the R4 lies the Master channel, equipped with an analogue filter, headphone monitoring, and a comprehensive output control section. Seamlessly toggle between High Pass / Low Pass Filter modes with Frequency and Resonance controls to shape your signature sound.
Image: Headliner
The unit also comes with independent Master and Booth outputs, both equipped with volume controls and XLR and RCA connectors, ensuring seamless connectivity across various sound systems. Additionally, the mixer includes a dedicated Record output with unbalanced RCA jacks, and an additional microphone input with level control located on the front panel.
As for power, the R4 will need to be connected to an external power supply via a locking Mini XLR.
The Headliner R4 is priced at $599.99.
Learn more at Headliner-la.
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Merck Mercuriadis to exit CEO role at Hipgnosis Song Management, becoming Chairman; Ben Katovsky promoted to Chief Executive of companyHSM, which has approximately $3 billion-worth of assets under management, counts Blackstone as a majority investor
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Embody’s Immerse Virtual Studio gains Apple Music support The latest edition of Immerse Virtual Studio fully integrates Apple’s binaural rendering technology, making it possible to mix and render immersive mixes for Apple Music without Logic Pro.

Sausage Fattener creators Dada Life have released a new ‘Secret Sauce’ plugin bundleDada Life, the creators behind the infamous Sausage Fattener, have released a new ‘Secret Sauce’ bundle made up of 3 different plugins: Space In-Your-Face, Eternal Return, and Wide Awake.

READ MORE: Best new mixing plugins, effects and VST instruments out this week

Like the Sausage Fattener, all of the plugins in the Secret Sauce bundle feature an ultra-minimalist interface with just two knobs.

According to Dada Life, Space In-Your-Face is a reverb plugin, “just wider and better than the rest.”
“A lot of people asked us about the reverb in [2017’s] Endless Smile so we created the plugin Space In-Your-Face with the same idea: a lush reverb that doesn’t sound muddy even if you use a lot of it,” says the brand.
Next, Eternal Return is a riser effect that “keeps rising forever”. It’s perfect on sounds that have some white noise in them, like a snare drum buildup.
And finally, Wide Awake is a stereo widener that can give drastic results. You can use it to convert mono sounds to full on rainbow-stereo, but it can also be used more subtly. Simply choose the frequency range you’d like to focus on, and adjust the Amount knob accordingly.
Priced at $39, the full Secret Sauce bundle is now available at Dada Life’s website.
Check out the plugins in action below.

Learn more at Dada Life.
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2B Played Music Offers QFX Color Plugin For FREE Until February 5th
2B Played Music’s QFX Color analog-like filter, which normally costs €17, is now free until February 5, 2024. You can pick up the Windows and Mac plugin by using the coupon code QFXKNOB at checkout on the product page linked below.  2B Played Music released the QFX Color sound coloring, analog-like filter in June 2023.  [...]
View post: 2B Played Music Offers QFX Color Plugin For FREE Until February 5th

AI-powered music manager app Maverick SoundZ offers a database of radio stations, DJs and journalists to aid promotion – for just £7.99 a monthAI-powered app Maverick SoundZ is a new “all-in-one” virtual music manager, designed to help artists from all backgrounds get their music out there.
The app is the brainchild of London-based independent artist, entrepreneur, and actress Mariska Ariya. The Maverick SoundZ company has been supporting independent artists for the past five years.

READ MORE: Record labels should commit to regular publication of statistics on the diversity of their rosters to push back against “boy’s club”, says new report

The app is priced at £7.99 per month and, according to the company, does all the jobs of a music management team. This includes a customised “battleplan” to guide artists through their careers, and even a database of radio stations, DJs, and journalists to aid promotion. Artists can also send their own press releases directly from the app.
Additionally, it also offers mental health check-ins, a calendar with a reminders feature, an AI-powered artist bio generator, press release generator, a caption generator for social media content, plus email templates.
“This app is made for independent artists, by independent artists, who understand the nuances of making music in the industry,” says founder Ariya. “When I was starting out, I found the lack of control and resources within the industry for independent artists really overwhelming.
“Many artists struggle with burnout, anxiety, and a lack of finances when it comes to managing their music careers. This app was created to mitigate that stress and streamline the process so that artists can focus on creating the music.”
She adds, “We prioritise mental wellness for artists within the app, with prompts and motivational quotes to remind artists to celebrate themselves.”
Just last year, it was revealed that 75 percent of musicians who spend money on promoting their releases, spend more than they make from streams, sales, syncs and other music revenue streams combined. 51 percent of artists also said they had taken a social media detox at some point in their career due to its impact on their mental health. Maverick SoundZ is hoping to push back against these struggles faced by independent musicians with its new app.
Find out more at Maverick SoundZ.
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Softube Console 1 Channel MK III promises console-like mixing in your DAW£869 (street price), softube.com
Rather than trying to solve every remote-control-conundrum thrown up by your average DAW, Softube’s Console 1 system focuses entirely on recreating the experience of working on a mixing console.

READ MORE: How Sonible smart:EQ 4 offers a glimpse into the future of AI mixing

The system centres around a pair of hardware controllers. Console 1 Channel (the new version of which we are looking at here) arranges its panel of knobs and buttons into sections, much like the sections on a console’s channel strip (preamp, filters, EQ, etc.). And Console 1 Fader provides 10 motorised faders for controlling channel levels, panning and send levels.
The hardware connects to an app on the host computer and provides an on-screen display (OSD) reflecting the settings of the selected channel. This app connects to the Console 1 plugin that you load into any DAW channel you wish to bring under Console 1’s control. This plugin is essentially a duplicate of the OSD, hosting Console 1-ready processor and channel strip plugins and mapping their parameters to the hardware controls. This arrangement ensures the knobs on the hardware always map to the same (or, at least, very similar) parameters in the software.

Next-gen updates
Whilst of a similar size to its predecessor, the new Console 1 Channel has an entirely new look, with a darker, sleeker appearance, a refreshed layout of controls, and the inclusion of two 3 cm by 3 cm, high-resolution displays. These offer a range of different visualisations – VU meters, dynamics graphs, and such – that can be chosen manually, or that can switch automatically depending on the controls you are interacting with.
The rotary controls found in the new unit are quite special, being built around high-precision endless potentiometers that give a very direct, linear connection between the hardware knob and software parameters. In use, these rotaries are rock solid to the touch yet have a silky-smooth feel when turned. The current value for a knob is shown by a surrounding ring of LEDs that brighten as soon as you touch the control.
Softube has been busy on the software side of things too. When hooked up to the Mk III hardware, the system provides nine processing stages/channel strip sections, and the bundled Core Mixing Suite gives you a set of processors for loading into these sections. These new models replace the SSL 4K-based models that graced the previous versions of Console 1 in favour of a collection based on Softube’s existing collection of modelled vintage hardware. Most notable here are the inclusion of Softube’s FET Compressor Mk II, OPTO Compressor and BUS Compressor, all of which offer outstanding models of the original hardware and deliver a classy, vintage sound.
The suite also includes two EQ models, named generically as Vintage and Modern. The former is a vintage-style passive offering oozing with colour and character, whilst the latter is a much more precise affair, ideal for pinpointing specific frequencies. Additional channel strip packs are available, as are individual Console 1-ready plugins, all of which can be mixed and matched as you see fit.

Not all Console 1-ready plugins have parameters that precisely match the labelling and layout of the hardware, however, which runs counter to the Console 1 ethos. However, touching a control will reveal its parameter name and value on the nearest screen, and only controls that are in use have their LED surrounds switched on, all of which alleviates the problem somewhat.
The first channel strip section is an all-new Tape/Preamp stage for emulating analogue tape or a console’s mic preamp. Unfortunately, the Core Mixing Suite includes only a single tape emulation model… it’s a very good tape emulation, for sure, but we think it outrageous that the nearly £900 asking price doesn’t include a single mic preamp model! The Filter section follows, offering low and high cut with variable slope, and the ability to be routed to the sidechain of the Shape or Compressor sections.
Shape and Compressor, along with the EQ section that dominates the centre of the hardware control panel, are referred to as “middle” sections, and have been doubled-up in the Mk III system. That is, you now get two Shape sections, two EQ sections and two Compressor sections, with buttons on the hardware for selecting which is being controlled. These middle sections can be reordered in whatever way you like, allowing for some very flexible and powerful channel strips to be created. Things conclude with a Drive section and a set of channel controls (level, pan, mute, etc.).

Compatibility
The new Console 1 System software fully supports the previous generation hardware, and the new Channel Mk III works perfectly in conjunction with the original Console 1 Fader hardware (although it won’t be long before Softube releases the next-gen version of this as well).
As before, the updated Console 1 integrates closely with Universal Audio UAD plugins, but the details are a bit different to previously. The system will recognise, load and control any Console 1-ready UAD plugins, but it cannot control UAD plugins that are loaded into regular DAW processing slots.
There is, however, a new Apollo mode that enables direct control of the Apollo Console mixer. This allows you to load and control both Unison and standard UAD plugins directly within the Apollo Console, and control channel settings. Switching from regular DAW mode to Apollo mode is quick too, so you can flip back and forth as required.
Quality and class…and cost
The latest generation hardware is dripping with quality and class, with smart looks matching smart operation. It’s clear that no expense has been spared… but unfortunately this is reflected in an asking price that has more than doubled from the previous incarnation. Ouch.
It’s obvious enough what this extra money is paying for, but it places Console 1 squarely up against SSL’s DAW controller systems (which may explain why Softube dropped the SSL channel strip models it bundled previously). That system offers a similar knob-to-parameter tie-up when using SSL channel strip plugins, but can also function as a generic controller for any plugin or instrument. They’re different beasts, but it’s going to be interesting to see how the competition plays out!
In summary, though, despite performing a task similar to any other DAW controller, Console 1 really does deliver on its promise to recreate the intuitive immediacy of a full mixing console. So good is this recreation that, if you fully embrace the workflow, you can literally run an entire tracking or mixing session without once touching a mouse or looking at your computer screen. Everything can be done from the hardware, and everything is intuitive and easy.
Softube Console 1 Channel Mk III key features

DAW controller system
2 USB-C connectors
2 USB-C to USB-C, and 1 USB-C to USB-A cables included
Bus powered or external PSU (included)
Mimics repeating channel strips of mixing consoles
27 high precision endless potentiometers
Dual 3 cm x 3 cm high resolution displays
Console 1 System software and Core Mixing Suite comprising:

Filters: 6db/oct, 12db/oct, 18db/oct, 24db/oct, 48dB/oct
Shape processors: Dynamic Shaper, Panner, Dual Dynamics
Compressors: Console 1 versions of Softube FET Compressor Mk II, Softube OPTO Compressor and Softube Bus Compressor
EQ: Modern and Vintage
Drive: drive stages from FET and OPTO compressors

Rackmount kit available
VESA mounting points on rear of unit

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