Deadmau5 sells his catalogue for $55 million: “We inherit a legacy that changed music forever”deadmau5 has sold his catalogue to Create Music Group for $55 million. The deal also means Create acquires the rights to the mau5trap Records catalogue, meaning the company now owns more than 4,000 new songs in total.
The deal also marks the beginning of a new partnership between Create Music Group and deadmau5 – real name Joel Zimmerman – who will work together on future deadmau5 records and mau5trap label releases.

READ MORE: Deadmau5 slams 3LAU for bragging about DJing a Trump inauguration ball: “What very little respect I had for you is gone”

The deal means that CMG now owns all of Zimmerman’s musical work over the past 26 years, from hits like Ghosts ‘n’ Stuff and Strobe to the 2013 Grammy-nominated Album Title Goes Here.
Equally, the acquiring of mau5trap also means CMG owns rights to the label’s entire catalogue. In 2017, Mixmag readers voted mau5trap among the Top 50 Labels of the Decade, placing it at number 9. That means the company now holds stakes in a plethora of electronic records.

For example, mau5trap was an early supporter of Skrillex, releasing the producer’s second EP, Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites. CMG now owns copyrights for the record, as well as other records like Rezz’s 2017 debut record, Mass Manipulation.
Speaking about the deal, deadmau5 says: “I have worked closely with Jonathan [Strauss, CEO of CMG] and Alex [Williams, COO of CMG] for nearly two decades now, building my own career as well as the artists on mau5trap. We didn’t need to look far when we were considering a partner to help get it all to the next level. With Create, I feel the music is going to reach more.”
Strauss is equally as enthusiastic about acquiring the deadmau5 brand. “When deadmau5 put on that helmet, he didn’t just create a brand – he sparked a movement,” he says. “His vision redefined electronic music, pushing boundaries and reshaping the industry.”
“Now, as the stewards of deadmau5 and mau5trap’s legendary catalogue, we inherit a legacy that changed music forever. Joel’s influence reaches far beyond sound – his mastery bridges music, gaming, and technology, inspiring a new generation to think bigger. This is more than an acquisition; it’s a responsibility.”
Looking forward, the plan is to expand and build upon the deadmaus5 and mau5trap legacy. Plans are in the works for CMG and Zimmerman to work together on remastering and re-releasing key deadmau5 records, as well as launching exclusive new content across a range of platforms.
There will also be discussions surrounding new collaborative work, brand partnerships and ventures into gaming. What with Zimmerman’s proven love of glitch music and video games, with tracks like Professional Griefers making it onto FIFA 13’s soundtrack, it only makes sense that he involves himself in more gaming projects. CMG even hint at VR as a potential avenue of interest.

The post Deadmau5 sells his catalogue for $55 million: “We inherit a legacy that changed music forever” appeared first on MusicTech.

Audio File Manager from Tascam Tascam's new free application has been designed to help field and multitrack recordists organise their files and prepare them for the next step in the production process.

KiTiK releases Krush, a FREE spectral crushing effect for macOS and Windows
Developer KiTiK has just released the newest addition to his sound mangling suite – Krush, a “spectral crushing” effect for macOS and Windows that is available in AU and VST3 format. Do you need to transform a boring track? Make a sound weird and wonky? Are you pining for digital artifacts? Look no further! If [...]
View post: KiTiK releases Krush, a FREE spectral crushing effect for macOS and Windows

Mexican tourism board has “no knowledge” of Fyre Festival 2 – is the ill-fated event doomed once again?Last week, convicted fraudster Billy McFarland announced dates for the second edition of Fyre Festival, insisting that this time it will be “real”. Only the Mexican tourism board says it has “no knowledge of this event”, and that it “does not exist”.
For anyone who hasn’t seen Netflix’s FYRE documentary, the original Fyre Festival in 2017 fell apart spectacularly, with guests promised a luxury experience in the Bahamas arriving to find disaster relief tents, cheese slices on white bread, and their luggages tossed around a car park.

READ MORE: The minds behind the Las Vegas Sphere plan to put mini-Spheres across the globe

The second edition of the festival has now been announced for 30 May to 2 June at Isla Mujeres, a tropical island off Cancún, Mexico. Tickets went on sale this week, with prices ranging from $1,400 to $25,000, and premium packages being sold as high as $1.1 million.
The trouble is, Edgar Gasca, from the tourism directorate of Isla Mujeres, says his team has no knowledge of the event – which is supposed to happen in just under three months.
“We have no knowledge of this event, nor contact with any person or company about it,” he tells The Guardian. “For us, this is an event that does not exist.”
Per NME, Gasca confirms he has spoken to the minister for tourism in the state of Quintana Roo – where Isla Mujeres is located – as well as hotels listed as accommodation options for the festival, and no one from these bodies has been approached about the event.
Impression Isla Mujeres, one such hotel, was contacted by The Guardian, and claimed it had not received “any approach or enquiry with regards to the event”.
“The organisers didn’t even bother to approach the authorities,” says Gasca. “It’s very strange, because any manager knows that if you’re going to hold an event, let alone a massive event, you need municipal authorisation.
“I think they thought they would just announce it and see if it got traction, then ask for the permits halfway down the path,” Gasca added. “It’s a bit of a naive way to think.”
Elsewhere, no acts have yet been announced for the festival which, again, is set to take place in three months’ time. Billy McFarland says Fyre Festival, this time, is “real”, but it certainly looks to bear all the hallmarks of history repeating itself.

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Classical Highlights for February 2025Several recent releases that we found to be very satisfying cover music from the Baroque, specifically for church use. Among these were the solo vocal debut album Seelentrost by Isabel Schicktanz and the contemporaneous work Bach's Leipziger Choräle, which Masaaki Suzuki (pictured) starts on as part of his cycle covering Bach's organ music.

SEC agrees to drop lawsuit against Cumberland DRW, says firmThe SEC sued Cumberland DRW in October, claiming it operated as an unregistered securities dealer in handling more than $2 billion in crypto assets.

Amazon reportedly forms a new agentic AI groupAmazon has formed a new group within AWS dedicated to creating AI agents, systems that help people automate parts of their lives, Reuters reported on Tuesday. In an email to staff seen by Reuters, AWS CEO Matt Garman said agentic AI has the potential to be “the next multi-billion business for AWS.” A longtime AWS […]
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Interposer Helps GPS Receiver Overcome Its AgeWe return to [Tom Verbeure] hacking on Symmetricom GPS receivers. This time, the problem’s more complicated, but the solution remains the same – hardware hacking. If you recall, the previous frontier was active antenna voltage compatibility – now, it’s rollover. See, the GPS receiver chip has its internal rollover date set to 18th of September 2022. We’ve passed this date a while back, but the receiver’s firmware isn’t new enough to know how to handle this. What to do? Build an interposer, of course.
You can bring the by sending some extra init commands to the GPS chipset during bootup, and, firmware hacking just wasn’t the route. An RP2040 board, a custom PCB, a few semi-bespoke connectors, and a few zero-ohm resistors was all it took to make this work. From there, a MITM firmware wakes up, sends the extra commands during power-on, and passes all the other traffic right through – the system suspects nothing.
Everything is open-source, as we could expect. The problem’s been solved, and, as a bonus, this implant gives a workaround path for any future bugs we might encounter as far as GPS chipset-to-receiver comms are concerned. Now, the revived S200 serves [Tom] in his hacking journeys, and we’re reminded that interposers remain a viable way to work around firmware bugs. Also, if the firmware (or the CPU) is way too old to work with, an interposer is a great first step to removing it out of the equation completely.

Superstruct revenues jumped 26% to $222m in 2023 – the year before it was acquired by KKR in a $1.4bn dealCompany swung to an operating loss of £33.26 million
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TeMuFra ColoursIntroducing Colours, the ultimate tool for creating dynamic and complex sounds like never before. With its advanced technology and intuitive interface, this synthesizer lets you build your own... Read More

Wampler unleash the Cryptid Fuzz A highly flexible fuzz pedal designed to cover everything from smooth, vintage-style sustain to wild, glitchy chaos.

Latest Native Instruments & iZotope promotions Native Instruments and iZotope have just announced the launch of two month-long promotions that will see some generous discounts applied across their range of software.

PRS GUITARS LAUNCHES 40TH ANNIVERSARY CUSTOM 24-08 SEMI-HOLLOW LIMITED EDITION PRS Guitars today announced the 40th Anniversary Custom 24-08 Semi-Hollow Limited Edition. Bolstering this year's special models celebrating four decades of PRS Guitars, the Custom 24-08 keeps many of the foundational specifications as the original Custom – the guitar that started PRS back in 1985 – but adds a new level of versatility with its TCI pickups and EQ mini-toggle switches. This limited-edition instrument also features a “10-top” grade figured maple top, semi-hollow body, ziricote fretboard and headstock veneer, and special inlay package. Only 300 of this special release will be available worldwide, each including a certificate hand-signed by Paul Reed Smith.“The Custom 24 is one of the first two guitars I made to launch the company and has been our flagship design,” said PRS Guitars Founder & Managing General Partner, Paul Reed Smith. “Updating the 24-08 version for our 40th Anniversary with a semi-hollow body, EQ mini toggles, and this wood combination really allow the instrument to ‘sing’ in a full, beautiful voice of its own.”Now made with American alnico and updated build specs, TCI pickups are designed to offer a full, musical sound reminiscent of single-coil and soapbar tones without the hum.The dual EQ mini-toggle switches were originally developed in PRS’s Private Stock department and act as tuned high-pass filters when engaged (in the up position), removing shelved low-end and allowing the high frequencies through for more clarity and musical highs.PRS Guitars continues to celebrate this year with new product introductions each month. Stay tuned to see new gear and 40th Anniversary limited-edition guitars throughout the year at www.prsguitars.com/40 and by following @prsguitars on Instagram, Tik Tok, Facebook, X and YouTube.The post PRS GUITARS LAUNCHES 40TH ANNIVERSARY CUSTOM 24-08 SEMI-HOLLOW LIMITED EDITION  first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

The minds behind the Las Vegas Sphere plan to put mini-Spheres across the globeWhile the Las Vegas Sphere revolutionised the live concert experience, building it came with a hefty price tag. The grandiose structure cost $2.3 billion to build, and has reportedly “lost over” $500M dollars since 2023. And it likely wont make it back any time soon, considering very few artists are able to perform there.
Filling the 20,000 capacity venue isn’t necessarily the problem – its the immersive wraparound LED screens. Artists must have the means to create high-quality visuals knowing that they are essentially one-use, tailor-made for the Sphere alone. However, plans have been made to change this: Mini Spheres.

READ MORE: “The availability of having anything at your fingertips devalues music”: Rick Beato and Rick Rubin discuss the impact of streaming

The smaller Sphere venues be built around the world and will seat around 5,000 people, according to EDM. The scaled down capacity and LED screen will allow smaller artists to experiment with the spherical venue’s potential. It also means that a wider variety of artists will be able to perform; certain genres may never make the top 10, but cult bands will comfortably fill a 5,000 capacity venue.
Mini Spheres will also see a more regular turnover of performers overall. It’s a factor that will benefit artists and audiences, encouraging more niche artists a chance to push their creative vision and also allow their fans to experience the Sphere. More shows could also mean a more regular flow of income for the venues.
So far, crowds have loved the Sphere’s groundbreaking visuals. U2’s 2023 residency opened the Sphere up on a high, with The Eagles and Anyma also hosting their own shows since.

Mini Sphere plans come as Sphere Entertainment Co.’s latest project, following on from the announcement of Abu Dhabi’s Sphere. The upcoming Abu Dhabi Sphere is set to “echo the scale of the 20,000-capacity Sphere in Las Vegas”.
London was also on the cards for a full-scale Sphere, before Mayor Sadiq Khan rejected the plans in November 2023. It was set to be built in Stratford near the Olympic Park and Westfield shopping centre before being shut down.
At the time, a spokesperson for the Mayor of London said: “London is open to investment from around the world and Sadiq wants to see more world-class, ambitious, innovative entertainment venues in our city.”
“But as part of looking at the planning application for the MSG Sphere, the Mayor has seen independent evidence that shows the current proposals would result in an unacceptable negative impact on local residents.”
Concerns included light pollution and the burden 20,000 Sphere concertgoers would put on public transport.

The post The minds behind the Las Vegas Sphere plan to put mini-Spheres across the globe appeared first on MusicTech.

Take Action SXSW Summit and Showcases set scheduleArtist for Action, Sandy Hook Promise, Bandsintown and the Music Managers Forum-US have announced an impressive lineup for their 2025 music business Take Action SXSW Summit and Showcases featuring Passion Pit, Ginuwine, Everclear alongside industry leaders and experts.
The post Take Action SXSW Summit and Showcases set schedule appeared first on Hypebot.