Why songs are getting shorter?
#Music #Songs #artists #musicproduction #Authors

Bandsintown launches free Release pagesBandsintown, already the go-to platform for live show marketing, has added free Release pages to help artists announce new music, merch drops, contests. tours, presales, and more. Artists keep the. Continue reading
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For a limited time only we are currently doing a deal when you buy 1 single play on any network, you get 1 play on any network of your choice for free.
Networks : MTV, MTV Live, MTV2, VH1, BET JAMS, BET HER, BET, A&E, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, CMT & VICE.
#Promotion #Video #MusicVideo #artists #MTV #MTV2 #BETJams

Fitzmaurice Relies on Amphion Atmos SetupAward-winning Irish mixer, engineer and producer Steve Fitzmaurice couldn’t have foreseen that his sessions with Dublin-based rock band, The Frames, in the mid-1990s would eventually lead to him buying a pair of Amphion reference monitors. Now, over twenty years into his career, Fitzmaurice is inspired by Apple Music’s launch of Spatial Audio, in mid-2021, he has since expanded his stereo monitor setup with additional speakers from Finnish manufacturer Amphion to enable him to also mix in Dolby Atmos.

Born in Dublin, Fitzmaurice knew by his early teens that he wanted to work in the record industry. But there were few studio job opportunities in Ireland, so after finishing school he went to London and started knocking on the doors of some of the city’s best known recording facilities. His early career began on the nightshift answering the phones at producer Trevor Horn’s Sarm West Studios. It wasn’t long before he was assisting on sessions with Horn and longtime Sarm West producer, engineer and mixer Julian Mendelsohn. After five years at Sarm, Fitzmaurice moved to New York and got a job at the Hit Factory and after a year went freelance.

Freelancer with new primary speakers

Over the years Fitzmaurice, who is based at Pierce Entertainment’s London studios, has worked with a long list of artists including Seal, Tina Turner, Tasmin Archer, Jodeci, Ian Brown, U2, Depeche Mode, Hikaru Utada, Sam Smith and many others. He has been nominated for 10 Grammy Awards, winning five for projects with Sam Smith, Seal and U2, also working on various Oscar, Golden Globe and Brit Award-winning productions.

It was David Odlum, guitarist with The Frames, who first brought Amphion monitors to Fitzmaurice’s attention. Now Odlum is also a successful producer and engineer, currently musical director for Sam Smith, with whom Fitzmaurice has worked since their debut album in 2013. “During lockdown we did a live stream from Abbey Road Studios for Sam,” Fitzmaurice recalls. “I was mixing, and Dave was going on about the Amphions, so I got a pair of One18s to try,” as an alternative to his usual monitors. “At first I found myself using them occasionally and then more and more.”

Fitzmaurice was happy with the results but still unsure, he says, so Odlum suggested that he try Amphion’s Two18 speakers. “I kept them for two or three weeks and the same thing happened — I was using my other monitors less and less. I ended up buying a pair of Two18s, and now they’re my primary speakers.”

Full view of the 7.1.4 Atmos Setup in Fitzmaurice's studio

Dynamic clarity with subtle details

Fitzmaurice has a simple philosophy when it comes to mixing. “I like clarity, low-end and dynamics. I don't really like clutter. My most used piece of equipment is probably the mute button! ​ These days, it’s a constant battle to make loud competitive records — we're in a world where you have to EQ and compress everything — but I try and keep some sense of clarity, bottom end and dynamics while also trying to keep everything as natural as I can.”

His Amphion monitors have certainly helped him achieve those goals. “I think that they’re pretty natural sounding, with clarity in the mid-range, especially, and the top end. But they’re not bland and boring. When you turn them up for clients, they’ve still got a bit of vibe.” His previous speakers worked best when they were loud, he says. “But with the Amphions I definitely mix quieter because they don’t change tonally when I turn them down.”

Fitzmaurice has worked with some of the best singers in the business and has earned a reputation for the sound of the vocals on his projects. There, too, the Amphion monitors are proving their worth. “The Amphions are very good for subtle details, smaller changes in volume and dynamics are easy to hear. ​ Because of this clarity I found them great for balancing vocals.”

Changing monitors is always challenging, but with three years of working with the Amphions behind him, he reports, “Mixes seem to be translating to every other system quite well, which obviously was my main concern, so I'm totally sold. And now I've got an Atmos system which is all Amphion speakers.” The new 7.1.4 setup in Fitzmaurice's room at Pierce Entertainment is comprised of three Amphion Two18 monitors combined with the BaseTwo25 bass extension system, four One18s for the surrounds ​ and four One15 speakers positioned overhead.

Cohesion with immersive mixes

One reason to dive into immersive mixing was that Apple Music’s default playback is the Spatial Audio mix of a song, if it exists, Fitzmaurice says. Having heard other people’s Atmos mixes of his stereo mixes, he says, “I started wanting to do it myself, being a bit of a control freak! Somebody asked me if there was a steep learning curve to mixing in Atmos, but I haven’t really found this as I am simply trying to convey the same feeling of the stereo mix in the immersive world.”

One big advantage of an Atmos mix is being able to spread the tracks out spatially, he continues. “You don't have to fit all this information into two speakers, and make tracks bright and aggressive. In fact, I’m often taking a little top end off my stereo stems, as they don't need it any more to cut through.”

But having heard Dolby Atmos mixes where some of the elements are too spread out, the song loses its power as a result, Fitzmaurice says. He is careful to keep his immersive mixes cohesive. “Primarily, the vocal and the drums are more in the front. Sometimes, with live drums that I've recorded, I might pull the room mics away from the main drum kit. I've mixed a few electronic things in Atmos, and there you've got a bit more freedom to play around. But I'm not a fan of stuff flying around and making myself feel seasick. Occasionally I’ll have something moving around slowly but it's more about placement.”

With the record labels, streamers and broadcasters all clamoring for immersive music mixes, the investment in an all-Amphion immersive speaker system is paying off. “Nearly every time I’m commissioned to do a stereo mix, as long as there's a budget, they want an Atmos mix as well.”

Fitzmaurice mixed eight tracks for the stereo version of Sam Smith’s current album, Gloria, released in January 2023 (Serban Ghenea mixed another three and David Odlum and Kevin “KD” Davis mixed one each). “All the songs that I mixed in stereo I mixed in Atmos as well,” he says. “There’s one song, “Perfect”, where I prefer the end section on the Atmos version because it feels like there’s much more space.”

He also recorded and mixed Smith’s live orchestral performance at Abbey Road Studios in Dolby Atmos. “It was Sam, a 16-piece choir and a 20-piece string section. I laid the studio out in a horseshoe and when I was mixing in Atmos I laid it out exactly like that. I had room mics as well and I put those exactly as they were in the room in the Atmos mix. You perceive it as if you are Sam, standing in the middle, so it envelops you. It sounds amazing in Atmos.”

About Amphion​Amphion Loudspeakers Ltd. was established in 1998. We design and build loudspeakers that are characterized by honest and accurate sound reproduction. Precise driver integration ensures world-class imaging and phase coherency. Controlled dispersion technology helps achieve more stable results in a variety of room acoustics. All products are handmade in Finland (and the Amphion amplifiers are assembled in Finland) to ensure enduring listening quality.

Best podcasts list for music producers.
#musictech #musicproduction #Musicians #artists #Producers

Volumio launches AI discovery tool in its music player to help users to find “hidden gems”Italian audio company Volumio has launched Volumio AI, the latest version of its Music Player application. Now boasting a Supersearch feature, users can uncover musical “hidden gems” through the power of artificial intelligence.

READ MORE: Cuckoo: AI is “a reminder of how important it is to take your artistry seriously”

The Volumio Music Player ecosystem, which was launched back in 2013, allows users to access their local music files and stream from their favourite music services such as TIDAL, Qobuz, Spotify and more, via one unified interface. ​
In its latest upgrade, Volumio says it is “one of the first music apps in the world to fully integrate an AI search function”. The new Supersearch feature utilises Open AI’s ChatGPT, to point listeners in the direction of “the perfect soundtrack for every moment”. By describing what you would like to hear in just a few words, Supersearch will give users an array of recommendations.
Other features of Volumio AI are:

Related artists and albums: Suggestions for other artists and albums you might like are presented as you browse. If those related artists or albums are located in your library – whether in your favourite streaming service or local files – Volumio AI’s Supersearch will be able to access them.
Infinity Playback: When you reach the end of your playback queue, new related tracks will automatically load.
Redesigned user interface: Described as “clutter free”, its interface has been revamped to make navigating through artists and albums much more streamlined.

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Volumio can be installed on microcomputers such as Raspberry Pi, ASUS Tinkerboard or any PC, and can be controlled directly via your phone, computer or tablet.
Volumio’s Music Player is available now as a free version, or a paid premium version that includes the new Supersearch, and its other AI-powered features.
Premium pricing currently sits at £51.99 annually, or £5.99 per month ($69.99 annually or $7.49 per month / €59,99 annually, or €6.49 per month). Find out more at Volumio.
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The music industry is at a tipping point [MIDiA’s Mark Mulligan]Artificial intelligence, underpaid artists, and tens of thousands of new tracks released daily are just a few of the major problems facing the music industry. “There is still time for. Continue reading
The post The music industry is at a tipping point [MIDiA’s Mark Mulligan] appeared first on Hypebot.

Spotify in talks to add full length videos, take on YouTube and TikTokFacing increasing competition from YouTube and TikTok, Spotify is in talks with record labels and music publishers about adding full-length music videos. Spotify already encourages creators to upload a “Canvas’. Continue reading
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Recent Classical Highlights for June 2023Epic listening is what you get with this month's classical reviews, in more than one sense. If only we all had the energy of Garrick Ohlsson (pictured), who, with conductor Donald Runnicles, performed the heroic feat of playing all of Beethoven's piano concertos over the course of one week.

#TikTok launches #AI #Music #Creation #tool.
#MusicIndustry #MusicBusiness #Creators #musicproduction #artists

Tidal will join Apple. More centralization #majorlabels balance to #decentralization. Amazon increases prices.
#MusicBusiness #MusicIndustry #AppleMusic #Tidal #Musicians #MusicNews

Canva inks deals with Warner and Merlin to let creators use songs in their contentCanva has built a user base of around 135m
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This step of Create (by #Splice) is understandable. Many platforms, companies, teams now start to mimic each other. Here is the message from Splice CEO and it sounds good actually.
We are kind of there with our #FreedomMusic concept somehow, but the community needs more friends and supporters to keep on going with the new tech. Looking forward to welcoming you here at #PublMe 💫🌌
#Community #musictech #MusicIndustry #MusicBusiness #Musicians #artists #Creators #independent #decentralization #Distribution #musicproduction

10 sound design techniques that will change how you sample.
#SoundDesign #Music #Musicians #Producers #musicproduction #samples

Exclusive: Scooter Braun wanted to sell Taylor Swift her masters. What happened?If you were gripped by MBW's investigation into this saga last week... buckle up
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