UMG AI Strategy Shifts from Reaction to InnovationUniversal Music Group (UMG) CEO Sir Lucian Grainge shared a memo outlining how the world’s largest record label is approaching artificial intelligence (AI) in music. His open letter blends optimism with caution, showing how UMG hopes to lead in generative AI while defending the rights of artists and songwriters.
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Behind the Scenes of Touring: Booking Artist Interviews and Media AccessIn a new episode of the Music Biz Weekly Podcast, Michael Brandvold and Jay Gilbert dive into one of the biggest hurdles for music journalists and artist teams - booking artist interviews during a tour.
The post Behind the Scenes of Touring: Booking Artist Interviews and Media Access appeared first on Hypebot.

L7 and Lunachicks Party at the BelascoPhoto credit: C. Elliot Photography

Over the years, L.A. band L7 has been tagged riot grrl, grunge, alt-rock, and a bunch of other sub-genres that semi-fit. But the reality is, L7 is and have always been a punk band. A musically untouchable, melodically gifted, ferocious, intelligent and inspiring punk rock band.

At the Belasco, Los Angeles, on a Friday night in early October, L7 was celebrating its 40th anniversary, and the idea that they would still be performing after four decades must have seemed far-fetched in the '90s when they were throwing a tampon "from source" into the crowd at the Reading Festival, U.K. Or appearing sans pants on The Word. But here we are, and here they are.

And ok, nowadays the four musicians--Donita Sparks, Suzi Gardner, Jennifer Finch and Dee Plakas--aren't so much into baring asses or lobbing tampon grenades (Sparks in both cases), but they've lost none of the fire, the unbridled energy, that mades records like Bricks Are Heavy, Hungry For Stink and Smell the Magic so utterly infectious.

Photo credit: C. Elliot Photography

We got tunes from all of those and more at the Belasco. The wonder-drone of "Andres" came first, the stomp-along of "Everglade" soon afterwards. And we were reminded that, as good as The Prodigy's cover of "Fuel My Fire" was, nothing beats the original.

"Monster" and "Freak Magnet" have the sludgy groove that L7 perfected, and "Dispatch from Mar-A-Lago" is appropriately topical. "Pretend We're Dead" remains one of the best songs that ever came out of the '90s, and "Shitlist" is the chaotic, rapid-fire punk anthem than served as the soundtrack to Mickey and Mallory shooting up a diner in Natural Born Killers. At the Belasco, it inspired some bouncing and that was perfect.

Forty year in and L7 is still this good. Maybe 40 more is too much to ask for, but who the fuck knows?

Photo credit: Brett Callwood

Earlier, New York band the Lunachicks performed their first set in L.A. for 20 years. Marching on stage to the sound of Harry Richman's "I Love a Parade," pom-poms held aloft, the musicians of the Lunachicks were soon joined by singer Theo Kogan who span and pirouetted around the stage before she'd sung a note.
 
The setlist focussed on tunes from their most recent album, 1999's Luxury Problem, with just two tracks from the first two albums "Jan Brady" and "C.I.L.L." The title track from the Jerk of All Trades album was particularly welcome, but the likes of "Bad Ass Bitch" and "Shut You Out" really stole the show.
 
This was L7's night, but the Lunachicks are old friends and the limelight was duly shared.
 
Earlier still, Brazilian dance-pop, new-rave group CSS did a great job of getting the Belasco bouncing early on. Fronted by the incomparable Lovefoxxx, CSS has songs as hooky as "Let's Make Love and Listen to Death From Above" to draw on. That said, the set was compelling from start to finish.
 
 

Edit this setlist | More L7 setlists
 

Edit this setlist | More Lunachicks setlists

The post L7 and Lunachicks Party at the Belasco first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Bootleg vinyl from Russia & China… and 3 other things you might have missed from the RIAA’s latest piracy revelationsUS recorded music revenues are still around $9 billion per year lower than they were before the age of digital piracy arrived, the RIAA says
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NIVA State of Live: How US Independent Venues Power Local EconomiesAcross the United States, independent music venues are doing far more than hosting concerts—they are fueling jobs, tourism, and cultural connection in every community. A new state level reports from the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) shows just how vital these spaces are to state and local economies, while also highlighting the challenges threatening their survival.
The post NIVA State of Live: How US Independent Venues Power Local Economies appeared first on Hypebot.

Why Sign With a Label?Why Sign With a Label? Weighing the value against independent release strategies in today’s music landscape.
The post Why Sign With a Label? appeared first on Hypebot.

Musicians Guide To Spotify Wrapped 2025With the release of Spotify 2025 Wrapped just weeks away, the countdown is on for every musician to be part of this rare global cultural moment. Fortunately, Spotify makes it easy with a guide to help musicians get ready for Spotify Wrapped.
The post Musicians Guide To Spotify Wrapped 2025 appeared first on Hypebot.

Music Business News Last WeekMusic Business News last week included a Musician's Guide to Spotify Wrapped, two pieces on live show marketing, the Supreme Court saying no to Live Nation and more.
The post Music Business News Last Week appeared first on Hypebot.

Dennis "Roc.am" Jones Reaches for Solid State Logic's THE BUS+A profile from Solid State Logic (SSL) sent on Friday revealed that, "On any given day, engineer, producer and artist Dennis 'Roc.am' Jones might be remastering a Frank Sinatra collection, mixing a Rihanna album in Dolby Atmos or producing music for a movie soundtrack or for release under his own name. Whatever the project, he says, Solid State Logic’s THE BUS+ two-channel compressor is always in the chain."

"Roc, born in the borough of Brooklyn in New York City and regularly working on both the east and west coasts, is perhaps best known for his immersive mix projects, reimaging and remastering material by legendary artists like James Brown and Frank Sinatra, global icons such as Mary J Blige and Mariah Carey, and rising stars including Ice Spice and H.E.R.," they continue. "He has also contributed to movie soundtracks such as Pitch Perfect and the original immersive soundtrack for Wicked and releases original material as an artist under his own name."

“Since I installed THE BUS+, I've used it on every single project, religiously,” Roc reports. His principal focus currently is on reimagining and remastering releases from the Universal Music Group. When he embarks on a new project, he says, he carefully considers what using THE BUS+ can bring to it. “The obvious thing is that I can do standard compression, but I usually take it beyond that. With THE BUS+, I can go extreme, or I can add just a little touch. Often, multiple little touches, which add up to a much bigger whole, are my usual process. All the things this box can do: Saturation, dynamic EQ, transient enhancement, and the various compression types, they all make a difference while giving me so much flexibility across different genres. Just one- or two-dB gain reduction, a little bit of dynamic EQ and some 4K flavour to tie it all together. It gives me the tools to create a nice, smooth translation from what I'm imagining to delivering the final remaster.”

"Specifically, he says, he will often work with the MID SIDE mode selected. The mode engages THE BUS+’s Mid-Side encode-decode circuitry, enabling the left side of the unit to process the mid signal — the mono sum of the left and right channels — and the right to process the side signal — that is, the stereo differences when the left and right signals are subtracted from one another," they said.

“I'm compressing my sides to widen the records a little bit, to give the record and the stereo portion of the sounds more movement,” Roc explains — depending on what is appropriate to that piece of music, of course. “Sometimes I'll work with the mid to give more of a solid low end or presence to the midrange frequencies.”

4K and F/B feedback modes"But his favourite workflow through THE BUS +, he continues, is using 4K Mode, which offers 9 different levels of saturation, in combination with the D-EQ dynamic EQ," they say.

“That's my general day-to-day use with this box,” he says. “And a lot of times, if the record is very powerful or aggressive, I love being able to tone it down with THE BUS+ in F/B Mode to slow things down, so we're not just hitting everything so hard.”

Getting creative with SSL SiX

“I was traveling a lot — about every two weeks — from New York to L.A., so I was that guy on the plane with all this stuff in front of him, working. The SiX was cool because I could use its analogue circuitry to get all of the warmth and separation that I want from an SSL console, in a small, portable desktop unit.”

“I discovered how versatile it was for music creation and production. There are all these inputs, so I would hook up my microphone to it, I would hook up my vintage synthesisers and my [Teenage Engineering] OP-1 [synth], and I would use SiX to bring together all my sounds in the analogue domain and create music. It's a cool tool and has an SSL console sound to it, you can tell that SSL have put their SuperAnalogueTM technology in it. It really is something unique. What's cool about SSL gear is that there’s an endless opportunity for creativity, and it's for us to discover more.”

"The SiX offers two mono recording channels featuring SuperAnalogue mic pres, two-band EQ and one-knob version of the classic SSL Channel Compressor, along with two stereo line-level channels, and the unique Listen Mic Compressor on the talkback," they say.

“I could hook up all these instruments, use the SiX as a mixer and just take a line out into my interface,” he says.

“My first board was the SSL Matrix, years and years ago, which still to this day is one of my favourite boards. I learned how to track and mix on it and do all sorts of things. I didn't go to school for any of this stuff; I learned everything by watching videos on YouTube.”

Summing up, he says, “I was into rap and hip-hop, and in the ‘90s SSL was a huge influence on hip-hop. I love Dre and Snoop, and they're using SSL boards. I love Jay Z, so I looked at what Jay Z's engineer, Young Guru, was doing. I remember the first time I was introduced to EQ and compression was on an SSL channel strip. I’ve always tried to incorporate as much as I can with the tools that I have. But if there's an opportunity for me to work with any new tool or something that I haven't worked with from SSL, I always go for it, because SSL has been part of my life.”The post Dennis "Roc.am" Jones Reaches for Solid State Logic's THE BUS+ first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Last Chance to Win Kurt Cobain’s MTV Unplugged Guitar PickThe iconic Kurt Cobain Unplugged exhibition at the Royal College of Music Museum in London is nearing its final days, and with it, your last opportunity to own a piece of rock history: one of Cobain’s original guitar picks used during Nirvana’s legendary MTV Unplugged performance.

This rare Dunlop 60mm plectrum was discovered in the case of Cobain’s Martin D-18E guitar, which was purchased at auction in 2020 for a record-breaking $6.01 million USD by RØDE Founder Peter Freedman AM. The guitar currently serves as the centerpiece of the exhibition, and now the plectrum becomes the focus of a global prize draw, with entries open worldwide for just £5 per entry.

All proceeds will directly support the Royal College of Music’s Future Music Fund, an initiative empowering the next generation of musicians from diverse backgrounds to shape the future of music.

True to his promise, Mr. Freedman has ensured that Cobain’s guitar has not been locked away in a private collection but has instead become a symbol of inspiration and support for the global creative community. “When I purchased this guitar, my intention was to have it begin a worldwide tour of exhibitions to support performing artists,” he said. “I wanted it to be seen, to inspire, and to give back to the creative community that helped shape my life. Its inclusion in this exhibition has honoured that intention, and I’m delighted that it has been realised at the Royal College of Music, an institution incredibly close to my heart.”

The Kurt Cobain Unplugged exhibition, running until November 18, 2025, has drawn thousands of visitors to experience the story behind one of music’s most iconic performances. At its heart is Cobain’s Martin D-18E guitar, alongside other legendary artifacts, including Cobain’s olive-green mohair cardigan from the MTV Unplugged performance. This exhibition marks the first time these items have been displayed together, offering fans a deeply personal glimpse into the artistry and legacy of Kurt Cobain and Nirvana.

Entries for the plectrum prize draw are open now and will close on November 18, 2025, the final day of the exhibition. Unlimited entries are allowed, and every £5 entry directly supports the Royal College of Music’s Future Music Fund.

Don't miss out on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to own a piece of rock history and support the future of music. Enter the prize draw now and help shape the next generation of musical talent.

For more information and to enter the prize draw, visit the Royal College of Music's official website.

Exhibition Dates:June 3rd – November 18th, 2025Royal College of Music Museum, Prince Consort Road, London

The post Last Chance to Win Kurt Cobain’s MTV Unplugged Guitar Pick first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Is StubHub doing all it can to police 10% Maine ticket resale cap?The new Maine concert ticket law is the toughest in America. Enforcing the landmark law will test its effectiveness. But leading ticket resale platform StubHub is not going out of their way to ensure compliance.
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More Artists join ROSTR + Bandsintown EARLY Showcase next weekROSTR and Bandsintown's new live music industry showcase EARLY debuts next week in Los Angeles. Two more artists have joined the four act bill. Read on to find out who's performing and a link to attend.
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From Drake losing his UMG lawsuit to HYBE’s new services division… it’s MBW’s weekly round-upThe biggest headlines from the past few days – all in one place
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LR Baggs Announces Exclusive Dan Tyminski Video SeriesOn Thursday, LR Baggs announced "the launch of an exclusive video series with 14-time GRAMMY® Award winner Dan Tyminski. The series highlights Tyminski’s transformative experience with the groundbreaking HiFi Duet pickup system, capturing his unmistakable sound with unparalleled clarity, balance, and depth. Best known for his iconic voice and masterful guitar work, Tyminski shares how the HiFi Duet has reshaped his live performances."

“I’m currently running the HiFi Duet in both guitars I’m playing out," Tyminski says. "In the past, I would never use a pickup because it never suited the way I needed to sound. I’d rather my guitar have been a little quieter and sound great than be loud, harsh, and bad. But audiences have grown, the demand has grown, and these new Duets have changed the way we’re able to do things now. I can play louder than ever and still feel the breadth of my instrument. It’s been a pretty amazing crossover for me—to go into a wired sound and still hear acoustics.”

"The series begins with an in-depth interview exploring the HiFi Duet’s capabilities and Tyminski’s journey with the system. The following episodes will showcase powerful performances of his favorites, featuring both his Gallagher and Johnny Gray guitars outfitted with the HiFi Duet and running through the Venue DI for a pure acoustic experience."

The post LR Baggs Announces Exclusive Dan Tyminski Video Series first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Drake lawsuit against UMG over Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us’ dismissed by US courtA US federal court has dismissed Drake’s defamation lawsuit against Universal Music Group, ruling that Kendrick Lamar’s diss track Not Like Us constitutes protected opinion rather than actionable defamation. Judge Jeannette Vargas of the Southern District of New York granted UMG’s motion to dismiss all claims on Thursday (October 9), finding that accusations made about Drake … Continued
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