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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mac and Windows
64-bit VST/VST3/AU

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

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

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

macOS and Windows
VST3, AU, AAX

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

macOS and Windows
64-bit VST3/AU

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

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

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

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

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

macOS and Windows
64-bit VST3/AU/AAX

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

macOS, Windows and Linux
64-bit VST3/AU

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

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

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

macOS and Windows
VST, VST3, AU, AAX

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

Windows
64-bit VST3

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

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

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

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

Terran Orbital’s biggest customer is close to securing funding for multibillion-dollar constellationTerran Orbital may be close to receiving a major payment from its biggest customer, CEO Marc Bell announced internally at a company-wide meeting earlier this month. Rivada Space Networks is in the final stages of closing funding to help fund a mega-constellation to be built by Terran at a cost of $2.4 billion, revenues that […]
© 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Sweet Relief Musicians Fund: JaM with Jonah Kagen BenefitMake a tax-deductible donation to Sweet Relief before the year ends and help hundreds of musicians and music industry workers that are dealing with physical and mental illness, disease, and age-related issues.

sweetrelief.org

Cheers & Applause with JaM Cellars and Jonah KagenBenefiting Sweet Relief

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

Tune In Here

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

10 Most Read Posts on Hypebot in 2023As 2023 winds down, we share Hypebot’s most-read posts of the last year, and believe it or not, they aren’t only about AI, and all are worth revisiting as we. Continue reading
The post 10 Most Read Posts on Hypebot in 2023 appeared first on Hypebot.

25 Social Media Questions musicians should know the answers to [Bobby Borg]Social Media is an integral part of every musician’s success. But with so many platforms, things can get complicated. This video helps answer frequently asked questions about social media that. Continue reading
The post 25 Social Media Questions musicians should know the answers to [Bobby Borg] appeared first on Hypebot.

YOUR MORNING COFFEE PODCAST: Big Music Stories ’23 • MIDiA’s Predictions • Label Crisis • Immediate Family film • MoreYear-end Episode 176 of Jay Gilbert and Mike Etchart’s popular Your Morning Coffee: Weekly News for the New Music Business podcast is now available. Learn more and listen here. Episode. Continue reading
The post YOUR MORNING COFFEE PODCAST: Big Music Stories ’23 • MIDiA’s Predictions • Label Crisis • Immediate Family film • More appeared first on Hypebot.

Swarm Reverb from Minimal Audio Minimal Audio's new reverb plug-in is capable of delivering everything from simple room ambiences to dramatic creative effects

Minimal Audio Swarm Reverb Minimal Audio's new reverb plug-in is capable of delivering everything from simple room ambiences to dramatic creative effects