Prescription Songs Celebrates Pride Month with Excellent LGBTQ ArtistsWith all attention on PRIDE this month, let's shine a light on Prescription Songs’ talented roster of LGBTQ+ artists.

You can hear a sampling of their music here! 

If you’d like more info on anyone listed, or if you’d like to set up a time to speak with them about their story and current projects, please let us know. Thanks!

Prescription artists at Pride events 2024:

SNOW WIFE - OUTLOUD Music Festival @ WeHo Pride - June 1, 2024 - SUMMERTRAMP stage

LU KALA (ally) - Pride Toronto - June 26, 2024 - Main Stage

Prescription Songs & Friends Pride Showcase (ft. James Droll, Puru Dogra, Marisa Maino and special friends) - June 26, 2024 - Harriet’s at 1 Hotel Nashville 

SNOW WIFE – Instagram | TikTok | YouTube | Spotify – Hailing from Houston, TX, 22-year-old emerging pop singer/songwriter SNOW WIFE grew up training in the commercial dance space with the hopes of becoming a touring dancer. After moving to Los Angeles, she quickly pivoted after discovering her voice and love for writing and performing. This transition birthed SNOW WIFE. Channeling her childhood struggles, SNOW provides a unique perspective as a lyricist.

Her storytelling capabilities paired with punchy & urgent production allows her narrative to cut through to the listener. Additionally, her varying vocal tones add to the depths of her artistry. Heavily influenced by multiple genres including pop, alternative and rap music, developed with her close collaborators slush puppy and Jason Hahs, and heavy hitters Dr. Luke, KBeaZy and Jbach. SNOW’s debut project QUEEN DEGENERATE was released Fall 2023 on SNOWGLOBE/Amigo Records featuring her viral hit “AMERICAN HORROR SHOW” with over 66 million streams, as well as her collab with rapper Big Boss Vette on “HIT IT.”

LU KALA - Instagram | TikTok | YouTube | Spotify – Congolese-Canadian pop powerhouse and LGBTQ+ ally LU KALA’s fierce new single, “Who’s Gonna,” was just released last month on LVK/Amigo Records. A body positive and freedom of expression advocate, “Who’s Gonna” reinforces LU’s desire to empower others to own their own voices, literally and figuratively. With the release of this upbeat self-love anthem she challenges potential suitors to meet her lofty standards.

“Who’s Gonna” follows the release of a string of hit tracks, including the trending “Pretty Girl Era”–with over 24 million streams, over 320K user generated videos on TikTok including uses by Justin Timberlake, Eva Longoria and Serena Williams, and an inclusion in Fortnite–a feature on Latto’s Billboard Hot 100 hit “Lottery,” “Hotter Now,” topping Top 40 and AC radio charts in Canada, as well as her latest power ballad “Nothing But Love.”

The viral and radio success is matched with award and industry recognition. LU KALA was nominated for two Juno Awards this year–Single of The Year for “Pretty Girl Era” & Breakthrough Artist of the Year–as well as an Artist of The Year nomination at the 2024 Women in Music Canada Honours.

Elsewhere, the SOCAN Foundation honored her at the Her Music Awards, in the US she was selected as an honoree “Industry Disruptor” for the TikTok 2024 Black History Month Visionary Voices List, in addition to being chosen to be a part of TikTok’s “Elevate” campaign, their first ever Emerging Artists Program, and dubbed one of VEVO’s DSCVR Artists to Watch 2024.

KIM PETRAS - Instagram | TikTok | YouTube | Spotify – Making history last year, German pop singer/songwriter/performer Kim Petras’ Billboard #1 hit single with Sam Smith “Unholy” won the Grammy Award for best pop duo/group, making Petras the first openly trans artist to win in a major category.

Since her historic win, her success has only continued with Petras hopping on a version of Meghan Trainor’s hit song “Made You Look,” releasing a follow up single “brrr” and joining Nicki Minaj for a collab. “Alone (with Nicki Minaj)” marked her second entry on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart and was accompanied by a video that Billboard said serves “All kinds of main character energy.”

Her list of accomplishments grew with her cover feature on the 2023 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition, Met Gala appearances, and performances of “Unholy” alongside Sam Smith at both the Grammy and the Brit Awards. In September 2023 Petras surprised fans by releasing her latest LP Problématique without warning. 

JOY OLADOKUN - Instagram | TikTok | YouTube | Spotify – The daughter of Nigerian immigrants, Joy Oladokun sings with all of the poetry, pain, passion, and power her soul can muster. She’s earned several song placements including NBC’s This Is Us, ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy, and Showtime’s The L Word: Generation Q, among others, as well as unanimous critical praise from Rolling Stone (Artist You Need To Know), NPR (Tiny Desk (Home) performer), Billboard (top 10 best LGBTQ albums of 2020), Vogue, and late night performances on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and The Today Show.

Other exciting honors for Oladokun include being selected as a finalist for the Recording Academy’s Special Merit Award, Best Song for Social Change, an accolade honoring music that addresses current social issues while inspiring positive global impact, opening for John Mayer on his Solo Acoustic tour, and playing a run of her own headlining shows.

Joy’s music and personal artifacts are currently on display at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s exhibition American Currents: State of the Music. Now through February 2025, the exhibit offers a broad look at country music and its place in American culture over the past year. Her latest full-length album Proof of Life is out now featuring a wide range of artist collabs including Chris Stapleton, Manchester Orchestra, Noah Kahan, Mt. Joy, and Maxo Kream. 

GREYSON CHANCE - Instagram | TikTok | YouTube | Spotify – At his core, Greyson Chance is a storyteller, and one who approaches his craft with an author’s attention to detail, and sense of artistry. The Oklahoma-born singer, songwriter, and pianist delves into metaphors and lyrical narratives that one would expect from a seasoned, mature songwriter, certainly not from a 26-year old. The truth is, Chance is no novice when it comes to navigating the world of music, having been signed to Geffen Records at the age of 12, and experiencing his career erupt overnight.

With this all occurring in the midst of his adolescent years, Chance’s presence in the industry quietened a few years later, as he switched to navigating this youth, and developing his talents from within. In 2019 however, the musician resurfaced with his album portraits, which brought about a wave of acclaim and support for the artist’s work, leading his career into a positive state of resurrection, through the vibrant, hopeful sound of synthpop. The album to date has amassed 250 million streams, led Greyson to a sold-out international tour, and put him back on the map. He has since released two follow up albums in Trophies and Palladium, and most recently a new single “Rearview Mirror” in 2024.

MADDIE ZAHM - Instagram | TikTok | YouTube | Spotify - Unapologetically herself, Maddie Zahm allows her listeners to feel like themselves through her honest lyrics and captivating melodies. She caught everyone’s attention when a TikTok sharing her song “Fat Funny Friend” went viral, the lyrics resonating with those who have struggled with self-love and spoke to Maddie’s unique storytelling and vulnerability.

Her 2022 EP You Might Not Like Her shared Maddie’s story of leaving her hometown of Boise, ID where she was a worship leader at the tender age of 13, and eventually moving to Los Angeles where she came out as queer and did a lot of living to catch up fast. The EP was a beacon for many listeners, who have flocked to Maddie’s highly personal songwriting and powerhouse voice. Her debut album Now That I've Been Honest was released October 2023.

JORDY - Instagram | TikTok | YouTube | Spotify – Since signing a record deal with 300 Entertainment, JORDY has been on the fast-track, first with viral success on TikTok with his track “Long Distance” and “Story of a Boy” which created a trend for trans individuals to share their transitioning journey along to his song. He released his most recent full-length album BOY at the heels of this viral success with Huffington Post sharing that through this album JORDY “Embraces The Wisdom Of Queer Experience.” 

He’s also been recognized with television appearances (The Today Show and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon), a feature in YouTube Music’s 2021 Pride Campaign, a nomination for the “Social Star Award” at iHeart Radio’s 2022 Music Awards, main stage sets at Lollapalooza and Bottle Rock, and a GLAAD Award nomination for Outstanding Breakthrough Music Artist. This success has resulted in over 100M cumulative streams (across platforms), and just under 1 million monthly listeners on Spotify, as well as press support from Teen Vogue, Paper Magazine, V Man and TIME Magazine. 

MINKE - Instagram | TikTok | YouTube | Spotify - UK native Minke began her career at 18 years old in Nashville performing blues music. After struggling to find her voice in the blues space, she began formulating a new sound that felt more true to herself; blending blues guitar roots with polished pop, R&B, and alternative production gave way to her artist project. Earning the endorsement of Billboard, HARPERS Bazaar, Zane Lowe, Hype Machine, and countless Spotify editorial spots, and with tens of millions of streams and counting, Minke has created a name for herself while staying authentic and intentional. Her latest release “Happier Than Me” is out now.

ETHEL CAIN - Instagram | TikTok | YouTube | Spotify - Raised a backwoods churchgoer in the deep south, Ethel Cain combines elements of rock, country, and cinematic nostalgia with ethereal vocals and raw lyrics to create her unique sound. Cain is a tall glass of lemonade on a humid, sun-drenched afternoon. Serving as writer and producer, Cain is also the architect behind the gritty, haunting visual content that has amassed her loyal, growing following of Daughters. Her on-stage presence draws in fans with her unwavering audience interaction and a distinct sound.

Cain’s live performances have spanned two international headlining tours associated with her album Preacher’s Daughter, a nation-wide run supporting Caroline Polachek, and numerous festivals including Kilby Block Party, Vortex, and a Coachella performance which was profiled in an interview with Vogue. Cain is also quickly orienting herself to the world of fashion as a form of self creation and expression, hitting the runway for Miu Miu and Eckhaus Latta and becoming the face of the Givenchy Fall/Winter ‘22 campaign.

Her Coachella outfit, a custom Givenchy cheerleading uniform designed by creative director Matthew M. Williams, was a hit not only on social media, but was featured in articles by The New York Times, Vogue, and Yahoo. With her fanbase continuing to rise, Cain has established herself as one to remember and was named to Vevo’s 2023 DSCVR “Artists to Watch” list. 

LXANDRA – Instagram | TikTok | YouTube | Spotify - Hailing from a small island outside Helsinki, Finland, Lxandra is an artist, songwriter and vocal producer. Her music fuses gentle piano, ethereal vocals, candid lyrics with vibrant production, captivating audiences worldwide. With over 50 million streams, her songs have found their way into American and European movies and TV shows such as Grey’s Anatomy, Marvel's Runaways, The Village, The Bold Type, and Jonas Brothers’ Chasing Happiness documentary. In 2019 Lxandra won the Music Moves Europe award and her debut album Careful What I Dream Of (June 2021) gained international attention. Her Might Not Wanna Wake Up EP was released in November 2023, accompanied by a self-directed short film, further underscoring her creative evolution.

PARSON JAMES – Instagram | TikTok | YouTube | Spotify - Parson James is a multi-platinum recording artist/writer, whose project has over 1 billion cumulative streams. He is best known for his singles “Stole the Show” with Kygo and his 2021 release “Dirty Laundry,” a duet with JoJo which they performed on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Parson’s work explores his experiences as a bi-racial, queer person born in a conservative, Southern town.

Born to a 16-year-old white mother and black father, he stared down unspeakable trials and tribulations since birth. Crumbling family structure, drug addiction around him, religious hypocrisy, poverty in the American South, and systemic homophobia left him with PTSD, which he didn’t realize until 2020. Growing up, it was the music of Otis Redding, Bill Withers, Johnny Cash, and Elvis Presley that became something of a refuge throughout his childhood.

Parson notably introduced his solo artistry on the acclaimed The Temple EP. At the same time, he powered numerous anthems for a myriad of friends and peers. A staunch and outspoken advocate, he capitalized on the opportunity to give back within the LGBTQ+ community and became a board member for the LOVELOUD Foundation and has been a regular contributor to organizations such as GLAAD, The Trevor Project and AmFAR. Now, Parson James is back, with more experience, a new perspective, and the best music he’s written to date. Following a two-year hiatus and move to Nashville, James recently released a deeply personal single, “Little Fires,” late 2023 and “Let Me Love You” early 2024.

BONNIE MCKEE – Instagram | TikTok | YouTube | Spotify - Bonnie McKee doesn’t just write and sing pop songs. She creates bright, bold, and bombastic bops meant to be turned to eleven on the way to the best night of your life. A rush of energy surges through her colorful anthems about the crush you can’t have, the ex you don’t miss, and the dream you’re just about to make real. Igniting her career, she made a stiletto-deep imprint on pop as one of the game’s most sought-after songwriters.

She’s co-written ten number one songs, including the RIAA Diamond-certified smashes “California Gurls” and “Roar” with Katy Perry, garnering a GRAMMY® Award nomination in the category of “Song of the Year.” Simultaneously, her discography grew to include the likes of the double-platinum “Hold It Against Me” by Britney Spears and platinum “C’mon” by Kesha in addition to songs for Cher, Christina Aguilera, Kelly Clarkson, Bebe Rexha, Jason Derulo, Kygo, and Adam Lambert, to name a few. Along the way, she amplified her solo artistry.

She packed houses on tour coast-to-coast, graced the stages of hallowed venues like the Hollywood Bowl, and lit up festivals a la Coachella. Her 2015 Bombastic EP emerged as a cult favorite highlighted by the title track, which garnered over 20 major film and TV placements. In 2024, she finally invites everyone into her world with her full-length offering, Hot City. It’s more than a record; it’s a place you can go to be the best version of yourself as a scorching soundtrack sets the mood.The post Prescription Songs Celebrates Pride Month with Excellent LGBTQ Artists first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

‘You don’t have to ask for permission in the music industry. Not many industries are like that.’Virgin Music UK President Vanessa Bosåen talks about how starting out as an artist informed her career as an exec and about the power of marrying the best independent artists and labels with a major record company infrastructure
Source

Recovering An Agilent 2000a/3000a Oscilloscope With Corrupt Firmware NAND FlashEveryone knows that you can never purchase enough projects off EBay, lest boredom might inadvertently strike. That’s why [Anthony Kouttron] got his mitts on an Agilent DSO-X 2014A digital oscilloscope that was being sold as defective and not booting, effectively just for parts. When [Anthony] received the unit, this turned out to be very much the case, with the front looking like it got dragged over the tarmac prior to having the stuffing beaten out of its knobs with a hammer. Fortunately, repairing the broken encoder and the plastic enclosure was easy enough, but the scope didn’t want to boot when powered on. How bad was the damage?
As [Anthony] describes in the article, issues with this range of Agilent DSOs are well-known, with for example the PSU liking to fry the primary side due to soft power button leaving it powered 24/7 with no cooling. The other is corrupted NAND storage, which he confirmed after figuring out the UART interface on the PCB with the ST SPEAr600 ARM-based SoC. Seeing the sad Flash block decompression error from the Windows CE said enough.
This led him down the rabbithole of finding the WinCE firmware images (nuked by Keysight, backed up on his site) for this scope, along with the InfiniiVision scope application. The former is loaded via the bootloader in binary YMODEM mode, followed by installing InfiniiVision via a USB stick. An alternate method is explained in the SPEAr600 datasheet, in the form of USB BootROM, which can also be reached via the bootloader with some effort.
As for the cause of the NAND corruption, it’s speculated that the scope writes to the same section of NAND Flash on boot, with the SPEAr600’s Flash controller documentation not mentioning wear leveling. Whether that’s true or not, at least it can be fixed with some effort even without replacing the NAND Flash IC.

How to make a lo-fi house track in 10 minutes
Get a firsthand look into the basics of arranging lo-fi house rhythms, chord progressions, and basslines in Ableton Live.

Panorama Guitars from Sonora Cinematic Sonora Cinematic have announced the launch of the second Kontakt Player instrument to be developed using their Aria engine.

Judges call Live Nation arbitration ‘Crazy,’ ‘Nuts’ & ‘Unconscionable’A California District Court removed a ticket buyer class claim from arbitration because the fine print that accompanied each ticket purchase was “drafting malpractice,” “cockamamie,” and “just nuts,” according to. Continue reading
The post Judges call Live Nation arbitration ‘Crazy,’ ‘Nuts’ & ‘Unconscionable’ appeared first on Hypebot.

Stories of EPIC FAILS by Musicians and How To Avoid ThemThe names have been withheld, but the stories are 100% true! Michael Brandvold and Jay Gilbert share some mistakes musicians they have worked with have made in the past… ..
The post Stories of EPIC FAILS by Musicians and How To Avoid Them appeared first on Hypebot.

“Streaming incentivises songs to be consumable over and over again”: St. Vincent says “excellent” music is missing out on streaming payouts because it doesn’t fit the mouldSt. Vincent has voiced her opinion on the current state of streaming, saying the current model “incentivises songs to be consumable over and over again”, and music which holds emotional value but is not constantly replayed is unfairly missing out on royalties.
In a new interview with Billboard, the guitarist and songwriter – real name Annie Clark – also says AI is only as “interesting as its holder”.

READ MORE: “I must say, I’m impressed with it”: Original MPC creator Roger Linn tests out Akai’s MPC Live II

“In some ways, I’m more concerned about artists sounding like Al than I am [about] Al sounding like artists,” she says.
She says that greater than her concern for AI is her concern about the current state of music streaming and the way big companies make payouts to artists.
“If you are a big pop artist, streaming is fine,” she says. “But there is some music that reaches you very deeply but isn’t music that you put on every single day. I’m not going to listen to John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme every day. It’s one of the most pivotal records of my life, but I’m not going to stream it over and over.”
She goes on: “Streaming incentivises songs to be consumable over and over again. Now, certainly there’s great music you want to consume like that – but there’s a lot of music that’s excellent and doesn’t fall into that category. And those artists, because of streaming, are wilting on the vine.”
It’s widely reported that Spotify, for example, pays between $0.003 and $0.005 per stream on average, though the company claims it does not pay on a ‘per play’ rate.
CEO Daniel Ek recently drew the ire of a whole community of musicians and creators when he compared music to professional football. “Football is played by millions of people,” he said, “but there’s a very small number that can live off playing full time.”
In other news, St. Vincent recently got producers talking when she spoke about the importance of committing ideas to tape, instead of allowing yourself to constantly go back on your decisions.
“I like committing the sounds, because instead of building a house on sand, you’re building a house on a firm foundation of an idea. It would make me too crazy, I think, with unexplored possibilities, to record everything dry and then put a bunch of plugins on them,” she said. “That would make me crazy – because you’ve made no decisions.”
The post “Streaming incentivises songs to be consumable over and over again”: St. Vincent says “excellent” music is missing out on streaming payouts because it doesn’t fit the mould appeared first on MusicTech.

The Power of Royalty-Free MusicAs disputes between labels and social media platforms like TikTok continue, it may be time to reembrace the sounds that have soundtracked the internet since its early days: royalty-free music.. Continue reading
The post The Power of Royalty-Free Music appeared first on Hypebot.

Reason 13 is here, bringing vast improvements for “everything you need to sound like you”Reason 13, the latest version of Reason Studios’ DAW software, officially lands today with a brand new bunch of workflow improvements.
All Reason+ subscribers, and those who purchased or upgraded to Reason 12 from 1 January 2024, can now freely upgrade to this brand new iteration. The software update was teased back in May, when the company boasted the update would bring “a huge improvement on Reason 12, making it so users can focus on the creative process”.

READ MORE: The best DAWs for music producers in all genres, styles and workflows

Reason 13 now hosts a brand-new browser, so users can scan through patches, samples and loops, all in one place, and apply filters to search by names and categories.
There are also thousands of new patches, samples and loops and new Rack services, such as a Sidechain Tool, a Gain Tool and Stereo Tool to experiment with your stereo width. Reason has also improved its sequencer and editing process, with improved zooming and layout changes.

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Reason says the update “has everything you need to sound like you”: “You can use it as a plugin or a full-blown DAW with recording, sequencing, mixing, and everything else you’d expect. Fast, fluid, and fun, Reason is all about making music – however you make music,” it explains.

 
Last year, MusicTech spoke to Reason Studios CEO Niklas Agevik, who said the company’s mission is to “turn music dreamers into music makers”. He explained, “It should be inviting to make music. The competition isn’t other DAWs or plugins; the competition is actually Netflix or Steam – nothing to do with making music at all. When we say ‘turn music dreamers into music makers,’ it’s actually about making it so that you want to come home and start up Reason. It’s about making music-making as fun as it can be.”
Reason 13 is priced at £499. Those who did not purchase or upgrade to reason 12 from 1 January 2024 can upgrade for £199. There is also currently 20 percent off Reason+. Head to Reason Studios for more information.
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Audiomovers launch Omnibus 3.0 Omnibus 3.0 sports a revamped user interface and introduces a whole host of new features that include AVB and NDI networking capabilities.

Paul Spencer of Dario G has passed away aged 53Paul Spencer, the producer behind huge hits Sunchyme and Carnaval De Paris as Dario G, has passed away at the age of 53.
Spencer was diagnosed with stage four rectal cancer last year. His family have since shared the news of his death online, which has been met with tributes from other artists and fans.
In a statement on his Instagram, his family writes, “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved Paul Spencer earlier today. He was positive until the end but this was one battle he could not fight anymore. He leaves behind a wonderful musical legacy and many happy memories for many people. He will be sadly missed by everyone who loved him. Shine bright our big star.”

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A post shared by DARIO G (@dariogofficial)

Spencer originally formed part of Dario G alongside Scott Rosser and Stephen Spencer (who shared the same last name, though they were not related). They later left the trio with Paul Spencer continuing as a solo artist under the same name.
Their 1997 dance track Sunchyme became a colossal hit selling over 600,000 copies in the UK. It utilised a sample of Dream Academy’s Life In A Northern Town.
The group were named after Dario Gradi, who managed Crewe Alexandra FC at the time, so it was fitting that their 1998 song Carnaval De Paris became a huge success among football fans. The track landed at the time of the World Cup in Paris that same year, and is still an instantly recognisable classic today.

Since news broke of his passing, Sigala was one of many artists to share their condolences. He wrote in response, “That’s so sad. A true inspiration, he brought joy to so many people and will live on forever through his music.
“Paul told me many times over the last year ‘Go get yourself checked’ so I’m passing on that message to anyone reading this, as I’m sure he would want me to. Our health should be more of a priority! He will be missed greatly. Sending love to his family, rest in peace buddy xx.”
You can read further tributes below:

We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Paul Spencer, who was a part of the dance group, Dario G.
Our thoughts are with Paul’s family and friends at this difficult time. #CreweAlex pic.twitter.com/Legu8aPnpP
— Crewe Alexandra (@crewealexfc) June 17, 2024

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Just heard that Paul Spencer aka Dario G has passed away at the tragically young age of 53.
His 1998 hit ‘Carnaval de Paris’ was the soundtrack of that barmy summer and has been played at football grounds around the world ever since.
R.I.P. Paul.pic.twitter.com/a8qBqW5Seu
— 𝙒𝙊𝙍𝙇𝘿 𝘾𝙐𝙋 𝙍𝙀𝙒𝙄𝙉𝘿 (@WorldCup_Rewind) June 17, 2024

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Iconic music shop Manny’s returns with digital pop-up store in partnership with BandLabFollowing the acquisition of iconic New York music store Manny’s by Vista Musical Instruments in January, Manny’s is returning as a digital pop-up store in collaboration with BandLab.
BandLab is currently the world’s largest social music creation platform, with over 100 million users as of March 2024. Now, this new partnership is designed to bring Manny’s to BandLab’s vast community of creators, offering special discounts and exclusive access on musical instruments from brands like Harmony and Heritage Guitars, with more to come soon.

READ MORE: BandLab’s Meng Ru Kuok: “I think there will be over 1 billion music creators by 2030, potentially even sooner”

Founded in 1935, Manny’s holds a storied history in the world of music retail, having sold instruments to legendary names including Jimi Hendrix and Bob Marley. The store, located on New York’s 48th Street, was acquired by retail giant Sam Ash in 1999, before closing 10 years later in 2009.
A brick-and-mortar store for decades, this new partnership with BandLab marks a new – and to some, unexpected – chapter in the Manny’s story.
“We are thrilled to partner with BandLab to bring Manny’s legendary stories and unparalleled service to a new generation of musicians,” says David Nam Le, General Manager at Vista Musical Instruments.
“This collaboration represents a perfect synergy between two brands who share a passion for supporting and inspiring emerging talent. Together, we look forward to fuelling the creative spark within every musician and helping them realise their full potential.”
Upon the acquisition of Manny’s from Sam Ash by Vista Musical Instruments, VMI CEO Meng Ru Kuok said: “Manny’s is an incredible brand with a rich storied history since it was founded on 48th Street, New York City in 1935.
“From supporting beginners buying their very first guitar to legends like Jimi Hendrix and Bob Marley, it’s unquestionable the impact Manny’s has made on the world of music. We’re proud and grateful to have the opportunity to shape its next chapter to ensure its legacy remains meaningful to future generations of musicians.”
For more information, and to check out the new Manny’s digital pop-up store, head to mannys.com.
Editor’s note: Vista Musical Instruments and Guitar.com are both part of Caldecott Music Group.
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Music Expo San Francisco: Speakers announced Music Expo San Francisco have announced the first round of speakers for their upcoming event for music creators. 

From Kraftwerk to AI – Berlin’s love affair with music technology is stronger than everLike zuckerguss on a zimtschnecken, Berlin and electronic music are perfect companions. For decades, the city has been synonymous with multi-day raves, synth savants, and software start-ups. Hell, the city’s techno culture has been inducted into UNESCO’s cultural heritage list.
Unsurprisingly, Berlin’s musos have been out in front when it comes to AI. There’s Holly Herndon with her ground-breaking Holly+ vocal model, Hildur Guonadottir with her AI-inflected soundtrack to Battlefield 2024, Endel’s adaptive music engine, and DADABOTS’ infinite death metal generator. Something is clearly happening here — and we want to know what.

READ MORE: EU AI Act explained: What does it mean for music producers and artists?

So, we sought out some of the artists working at the grassroots level to find out what’s drawing them to AI, how they’re using the technology, and why Berlin is emerging as a hub for AI music.
For Portrait XO, it was the allure of software companies like Ableton and Native Instruments that first prompted the singer-songwriter to move her life from the US to Germany.
“I came to Berlin specifically because my favourite music tech brands are here,” she says. “I knew I’d be coming to a place where I can nerd out and meet the kind of people I wanted to connect with.”
A still from one of Portrait XO’s music videos
Always on the lookout for new tools and new ways of making music, Portrait XO says she first became aware of AI’s creative potential in 2017 after CJ Carr of DADABOTs shared some of his early research with her. A couple of years later, the pair undertook a joint art residency at Factory Berlin to train an AI model on the singer’s voice.
After providing an hour-long supercut of vocals, Portrait XO says she got back hundreds of “fascinating and eerie” audio clips. Featuring disjointed lyrics, fragmented melodies, and idiosyncratic vocal techniques, it was unlike anything the artist had heard before – and certainly unlike anything she would normally sing.
“The sound of AI was so new to me,” she recalls. “It felt like DADABOTS hacked my entire identity, my relationship to myself as a songwriter, my frustrations with my own voice, and shattered it all into a billion pieces.”
Picking up those pieces and trying to turn them into coherent music would have daunted many, but Portrait XO says she found it creatively energising. Adopting a technique she describes as “fill in the blank’ song-writing”, the artist’s 2022 debut album, Wire, is a collage of generated vocal clips, fleshed out with additional instruments and production.
A still from one of Portrait XO’s music videos
“It felt so inspiring to use AI as a collaborative sparring partner,” she reflects. “I think this is the most revolutionary way for an artist to reinvent themselves, if they wish to.”
Another Berlin transplant pushing the frontier of AI music is Moisés Horta Valenzuela. Originally from Tijuana, Mexico, he releases music under the pseudonym, Hexorcismos, and has produced a series of AI-powered albums since moving to Germany in 2016.
“There is an openness to the music scene here,” he says of his experiences in the city. “You’re meeting people from all over Europe and all over the world, everyone is sharing these very idiosyncratic approaches to making sound. There’s a willingness to try new things.”
His most recent project is Semilla AI, a neural audio synthesis engine that takes its inspiration from the traditional Mesoamerican divination practice of seed throwing. “Divination is a practice of uncovering meaning from randomness,” Valenzuela explains. “When you’re working with neural networks, you generate sounds by injecting random noise, essentially random ‘seeds’, into the network. My approach is to embed these ancient indigenous traditions into the instrument design.”
Turning the instrument over to his friends and peers, Valenzuela set to work on MutualismX, a compilation album made using Semilla AI. Each featured artist curated a dataset from their own musical back catalogue and then used the resulting AI model to write a track for the album. Throughout the process, Valenzuela says, it was important that everyone knew what data was going into the model, and that whatever came out was attributed back to the artists.
Album art for Hexorcismos’ ‘MutualismX’
“I’m very critical of text-to-music models,” states Valenzuela. “Not because they don’t have creative potential, they do, but because they obfuscate the artist and the music that went into the dataset – often using music that was taken without the artist’s consent. With this album, nothing is hidden and every artist is present.”
Semilla AI is notable not only for its unusual approach to instrument design but also because it actually is an instrument, with an interface not too dissimilar from a traditional synthesizer. “There are very few tools with a graphic user interface that allows you to directly interact with the algorithm,” Valenzuela says. “So, the idea was to democratise the technology and make it more accessible to musicians.”
Ktonal, a loose collective of freelance composers and coders set out with similar goals after connecting at university. Over the past few years, the group has published a selection of open-source tools and provided a series of free workshops for the Berlin School of Sound.
“We wanted to enable composers and artists not to depend on big, pre-trained models, but to be able to train their own data,” says the group’s chief programmer, Antoine Daurat. He cites an experiment the group carried out with a modal trained on the sound of medical equipment. “Google has no interest in training on such materials – but this is something that can have a lot of artistic value.”
Ktonal and Beethoven
Experimental sounds are only part of the attraction, says fellow Ktonal member, Genoël von Lilienstern: There’s this large variety of new editing techniques that are coming from AI. Stem separation, reverb removal, extending a sound indefinitely, timbre transfer…These are all things that were not possible five years ago.”
As exciting as all that is, the groups’ free workshops invited some pushback. “There was still a lot of scepticism and fear,” recalls Daurat. “Most of the debates around creativity and AI were very binary. There was no middle ground.”
These days, he says the people coming to the workshops are more likely to arrive with open minds, and big ideas. “They’re always very excited and then, perhaps, a little disappointed,” Daurat remarks. “Because they realise how much time it takes and how tricky it is to get something actually good.”
That struggle is “a little bit addictive”, adds von Lilienstern. “You’re always trying to find a good mix of parameters. It’s a bit like alchemy: you’re trying to synthesize gold and, mostly, you don’t get there, but it’s a lot of fun.”
A still from one of Portrait XO’s music videos
In that sense, Berlin’s AI experimenters are not so different from those electronic music pioneers messing around on synthesisers back in the 70s – tweaking parameters, trying to shape a sound, hoping to stumble across something exciting. As Daurat puts it: “The real promise of AI is not to give a prompt and get back a perfect piece of music – it’s the opposite. It’s feeding in a piece of music and getting back raw materials, new interpretations, new patterns, things I couldn’t reproduce.”
So, why is there so much creative activity happening in Germany’s capital city, even as most of the big-money R&D remains clustered in Silicon Valley?
Valenzuela ties it back to the country’s historic association with electronic music. “It might sound ridiculous but I think it’s because Germany had Kraftwerk,” he says. “Techno culture and club culture have been part of this place for a long time, it’s an embedded tradition.” Before Kraftwerk, of course, was Karlheinz Stockhausen — another key figure in pushing forward experimental electronic music.
In Portrait XO’s opinion, however, it’s the open and accepting culture that permeates the city: “There’s a space here for whatever you want to do. Experimental avant-garde performances, exhibitions, talks, workshops, refined contemporary art — it’s a city that has an audience for anything and everything.”
Tradition and an engaged public are surely part of it, but another key aspect is the country’s uncompromising commitment to the arts and its accessible artist visa program.

“Berlin has always been very welcoming to artists, going back 30 or 40 years,” Daurat says. “Nowadays, every artist comes to Berlin and there’s always more coming.”
Duarat, who grew up in France, says he likes the lack of cultural centralisation in Berlin. “In Paris there are some really strong institutions that kind of set the agenda,” he says. “It’s much easier here to find a topic that interests you, to make it your own, and to capitalise on it as an artist.”
The counterweight to this is that, while there’s significant funding for the arts generally, there isn’t a centralised focus on AI music specifically. This lack of targeted funding can be both positive and negative, in Daurat’s opinion. “There is no official structure to support and accelerate this development in AI music,” he points out. “On the other hand, there is a strong sense of individual freedom and liberty here.”
It’s a paradigm that has led to a loose and at times disjointed network of creatives across the city; everyone exploring the contours of AI technology in different ways. Can that network build itself into a genuine music scene? Perhaps, but maybe that’s not the point.
The sheer variety of technological approaches and musical styles is what makes this all so exciting – Berlin’s decentralisation may be a feature, not a bug. “The scene is in splinters right now and we don’t really have a centre,” von Lilienstern ponders. “But that is not necessarily a bad thing.”
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