“Balance cannot be thought of as an objective truth”: Oeksound’s “adaptive tone shaper” plugin Bloom is available nowYou may remember Oeksound’s Bloom plugin being announced during NAMM earlier this year. On the surface, the mystical plugin seemed to be like an EQ, but the brand assured that it’s a whole other beast.
Bloom is an “adaptive tone shaper” which Oeksound says delivers “what we wish an EQ would do”. It’s available now, and you can try it out with a 20-day free trial if you don’t feel like committing right away.

READ MORE: Five modern, innovative EQ techniques and how to use them

During NAMM, details on pricing and the features of Bloom were very limited. But now, further details are here, including a handy overview video from Oeksound itself.
The plugin is said to control irregularities in a rough sound, increase warmth, clarity, or brightness in a “safe and controlled fashion”, transform the tone of a sound with natural-sounding results, and allow users to track through Bloom with a low latency mode.
“Since 2018, we at Oeksound have been looking into warmth and presence in audio. These two topics led to the same question: How do we bring out and balance overtones present in a sound? From there, the idea of an adaptive tone shaper started to form,” it explains.
“We developed an algorithm that refines the tonal balance of a sound, optimising for both warmth and presence. However, balance cannot be thought of as an objective truth.
“We’ve taken this into account by offering the user plenty of control over the processing, making Bloom an alternative for replacing entire plugin chains dedicated to tone-shaping. Bloom is the culmination of six years of research, development, and critical listening. It is by far our most complex processor to date.”
Bloom hosts dials for amount, attack and release, as well as featuring a processing graph and tone control sliders for your lows, lo-mids, hi-mids, and highs.
Check out more in the video below:

Bloom is officially priced at £169. Find out more at Oeksound.
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MIDiA independent label and distributor surveyMIDiA is fielding its annual independent label and distributor survey. This is the chance for the independent sector to have its voice heard. Given all of the changes that are taking place in the streaming economy, there has perhaps never been a more important time for this. In the survey, we ask about topics such as two-tier licensing, artist cut through, AI, catalogue and marketing.

All participants will get a copy of the final report so you can get a definitive view of how the wider independent marketplace is performing and how it is responding to today’s market challenges and opportunities. 

Crucially, all of the data is treated as strictly confidential. We never share respondent level data with anyone and we only use the respondent level data to create the aggregate market figures. This means your company-level responses are not seen by anyone else.

MIDiA has fielded this survey for years now and have been trusted with their data by many hundreds of labels and distributors.

Click here to complete the survey.

Justice, Nia Archives, Peggy Gou, James Blake and more are playing Glastonbury 2024It’s that time of year again – festival season is just round the corner and with that in mind, Glastonbury has finally confirmed who will be performing at Worthy Farm this June.
Dua Lipa, SZA and Coldplay will all be topping the bill on the Pyramid Stage this year, with Shania Twain taking the illustrious Legends slot late on Sunday afternoon.
READ MORE: Glastonbury 2023: The best moments in electronic music
The bill also features plenty of electronic and dance-leaning acts, including Justice, Peggy Gou,, Nia Archives and James Blake, while Disclosure are set to headline The Other Stage. The festival will also be welcoming  Orbital, Faithless, Bonobo, Jungle and Skream & Benga to whet the appetites of electronica fans.
Meanwhile, some of this year’s other significant bookings on the Pyramid Stage include Little Simz, LCD Soundsystem, Burna Boy, Janelle Monae, while IDLES and The National will also be headlining The Other Stage.

Here is the first Glastonbury Festival 2024 line-up poster. Many more acts and attractions still to be announced.
Tickets for this year's Festival are sold out, but our prize draw for 20 pairs is raising emergency funds to support people affected by conflict, at… pic.twitter.com/1NhUYmghuE
— Glastonbury Festival (@glastonbury) March 14, 2024

According to organisers, “so many more artists, stages and performance areas” will be announced in the coming weeks and months.
The announcement marks Coldplay’s fifth time headlining the Somerset festival, having last topped the bill in 2016. Both Dua Lipa and SZA are making their Pyramid Stage debuts – Lipa last performed in 2017 on what was then known as the John Peel Stage (now Woodsies), while SZA is making her first ever appearance at Glastonbury.
It had been widely publicised since last year that Glastonbury 2024 would have two female headliners, which is the first time in the festival’s history that this has happened. Booker Emily Eavis first disclosed this following controversy last year over the 2023 line-up‘s all-male, all-white headliners – Arctic Monkeys, Elton John and Guns N’Roses – which she said only happened because a female headliner (rumoured to be Rihanna) dropped out.
Glastonbury 2024 will take place from Wednesday 26 through to Sunday 30 June at Worthy Farm in Pilton, Somerset.
For more info, head to the official Glastonbury website.
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All ToneDen FanLinks, TourLinks, BigLinks are broken, admits EventbriteEventbrite sent a message to users that its ToneDen smart-link service, which is popular with musicians and music marketers, is not working due to "an issue with our domain provider, which is unfortunately out of our control".....
The post All ToneDen FanLinks, TourLinks, BigLinks are broken, admits Eventbrite appeared first on Hypebot.

What Bandsintown’s Spotify integration means for musicians [Music Biz Weekly Podcast]Bandsintown co-founder/managing partner Fabrice Sergent joins Michael Brandvold and Jay Gilbert on The Music Biz Weekly podcast to discuss what the new Bandsintown integration with Spotify means for musicians.....
The post What Bandsintown’s Spotify integration means for musicians [Music Biz Weekly Podcast] appeared first on Hypebot.

Searches for ‘rock music’ are up 600% on Spotify, enter MARROWSpotify says that searches for “rock music,” “alt/rock,” and “rock band” are up 600%, alongside increases in searches for related subgenres, including alternative metal, post-grunge, and indie rock.....
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Boss release Katana:Go headphone amp The latest addition to the Boss Katana series packs much of the same functionality into a compact headphone amp that connects directly to an instrument, offering users with a versatile solution for on-the-go practise.

Fortnite players can now rock out with an iconic Fender Stratocaster or Precision Bass in-gameFender and Epic Games have joined forces, bringing the iconic Fender Stratocaster guitar and Precision Bass to Fortnite.
The guitars are now available in a range of finishes from the Item Shop. Players can equip these digital instruments in Fortnite Festival – Epic Games’ brand-new music game  – as well in the classic Battle Royale.

READ MORE: Avenged Sevenfold launch Fortnite-style Season Pass – allowing devoted fans to rack up points and earn rewards

“Over the years, through numerous live in-game performances to music video debuts, Epic has shown that Fortnite and music go hand in hand,” a press release on the launch says. “The latest partnership with Fender further solidifies the game’s commitment to working with the most established and forward-thinking brands in music.”
Users can now play the guitars alongside their friends to popular songs in Fortnite Festival’s Main Stage, or create their own unique mix in Fortnite Festival’s Jam Stage and in Battle Royale. The Fender Stratocaster is available in Black, Fiesta Red and Lake Placid Blue finishes, with the Precision Bass arriving in Black, Buttercream and Tidepool.
Fortnite Festival launched in December last year, and lets players play in a band with friends or perform solo on stage along to chart-topping music, all available for free within Fortnite.
Take a look at the Strat in-game below:

Amp up the crowd with the new Windmill Stomp Emote, available in the Shop now!
And yes, it does display whatever Guitar you’ve currently got equipped in your Locker… like this sweet new @Fender Stratocaster pic.twitter.com/5QSKWWMq8x
— Fortnite Festival (@FNFestival) March 14, 2024

Epic Games isn’t the only company bringing music into the world of gaming. Roblox has also been hosting a range of music performances and events in its metaverse over the last few years, from the likes of PinkPantheress and Paris Hilton.
And who knows, as Epic Games is continually developing its “commitment” to working with large music brands, maybe can hope for a brand collaboration on a synth or two in Fortnite Festival in the future.
Find out more about Fortnite, and view the full real-life product range from Fender.
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Crow Hill Vault Will Release FREE Studio Drums On March 15th
The latest addition to the Crow Hill Vaults selection is the Studio Drums, an alt-rock-style drum kit plugin. The library will be released for free on March 15th. There is no shortage of drum samples to be found on the internet. When it comes to free multi-sampled drum plugins, the pickings are a little slimmer [...]
View post: Crow Hill Vault Will Release FREE Studio Drums On March 15th

Justice: “We heard Sicko Mode by Travis Scott and said, ‘Wow, we’re still thinking about music in an ancient way’”Justice have revealed that Travis Scott’s 2018 single Sicko Mode made them re-evaluate how they think about music.
The duo are set to release their first album in eight years, Hyperdrama, on 26 April this year. The first three singles – Generator, One Night/All Night, and Incognito – are out now.

READ MORE: How to create Justice-style distorted synths

Sicko Mode was hugely successful following its release. The track features guest vocals from Drake, Swae Lee and Big Hawk, and became the first hip-hop song in history to spend at least 30 weeks in the US Billboard Hot 100 top ten. It was also nominated for both Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song at the 61st Grammy Awards, and is certified double platinum in the UK.

In a new interview, Justice say the track shifted how they approached song structure for this new era. As the pair were gearing up to make new music, they wanted to create with a “fresh heart”. Speaking to Billboard, Xavier de Rosnay states, “We tried to unlearn a bit of what we knew as musicians and producers and try to step into making an album with a fresh heart — not even a fresh mind.
“We were listening to SICKO MODE by Travis Scott and that song was a huge hit; you have an intro, then 20 seconds of Drake then it goes to something else. We heard that and went, ‘Wow, we’re still thinking about music in an ancient way. Almost by reflex.’ So we tried to put all of that aside.”

Elsewhere in the interview, de Rosnay also reveals that they made more than 200 versions of one song for this new record due to their “almost unhealthy relationship with details”: “For almost every song we have to write, produce and record the human version of it and then the electronic version of it, too,” he says. “If you want to get the best out of it, you have to go to a studio and perform all those things.”
Justice are set to perform at this year’s Coachella Festival. You can view all of their live dates via their official website.
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Tidal introduces Circles, a social network for musicians to discuss their experiences in the industryStreaming platform Tidal is slowly introducing Circles – an artist-to-artist forum – to a small number of creators.
Currently, Circles is in early access and is only open to artists in the Tidal Rising programme and general rising artists using Tidal Artist Home. No further details on when it will become more widely available have yet been shared.

READ MORE: The music streaming revolution is here, thanks to these new streaming platforms

As reported by Digital Trends, Tidal describes Circles as an “artist-to-artist forum for artists to discuss their career experiences and connect with their peers on how to navigate the music industry”. The artist umbrella includes musicians, DJs, and anyone else who creates content on the platform who have claimed their artist page on Tidal.
Once you’ve registered for the new social network, you can then browse four main forum topics. These are: Touring & Booking, Fans & Social, Merchandise, and Music Creation. Users are also able to contribute to discussions under their own name or anonymously, but interactions are moderated.
Last summer, Tidal rolled out hi-res FLAC (free lossless audio codec) streaming on its platform. Playback in up to 24-bit/192kHz quality was made available to Tidal’s Early Access Programme (EAP) users on iOS.
The following winter, Tidal’s parent company, Block, Inc., announced it would lay off 10 percent of  the Tidal workforce, with the company founder Jack Dorsey stating, “The growth of our company has far outpaced the growth of our business,” in November.
Currently, Spotify is the most popular music streaming platform in the world, with over 350 million users globally. The platform pays artists at an average royalty rate of $0.003 per stream.
In the US, a Living Wage for Musicians Act has been put to US Congress with the aim of ensuring that artists are compensated at a minimum rate of a penny per stream. At MusicTech, we’ve created a new guide listing the best streaming platform alternatives to Spotify.
Find out more about Tidal. Circles is free to use and can be accessed directly from the Tidal Artist Home area.
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Check out this Teenage Engineering-inspired gaming console built by a university studentA designer studying at Karnavati University in India has created a Teenage Engineering-inspired gaming console, similar to that of the Nintendo Switch.
Nidharshan Suresh, who studies Industrial Design at the university, has showcased his work online. The console follows the minimalist and futuristic design approach taken by the brand, featuring pops of orange colour as often seen across its product range.

READ MORE: Teenage Engineering co-founder on ‘Fadergate’: “We guessed there would be transport damage, but not at this rate”

To create the concept, Suresh and his team – Nishi Shah, Anoushka Pawar, Dhananjay Vispute, Aditi Rakhunde and Vishesh Jaiswal – looked at the designs of TE’s OP-1 field synthesiser, sampler and drum machine, as well as its TP-7 audio recorder. They also studied the different types of gamers, and the sorts of consoles they may play – for example, gamers who like to play on the go, or those who like to play in a social context and try different games out.
According to Suresh’s Behance page, Rapid Cad was implemented into the design process to more easily visualise interaction, form and function of the product.
“Mastering minimalism was a key takeaway from this project. Every detail matters in achieving clean, functional design,” writes Suresh. “This project journey also gave me knowledge on Design for manufacturing (DFM), intricate product detailing, aesthetics and how design communicates brand values and target markets.”
Check out more images of the design below:
Credit: Nidharshan Suresh
Credit: Nidharshan Suresh
Last November, Teenage Engineering dropped its EP-133 K.O.II pocket sampler/composer, to much excitement from fans of the brand. Following the release, David Eriksson (co-founder and head of hardware at the brand) told MusicTech of the response to its launch, “It was a bit overwhelming — we knew it would be popular, but that popular? I think we had different opinions.”
He added, “We’re not at all market-driven. I mean, most big companies on this planet are; they try to predict what might sell well. I think we’re probably the opposite.”
Check out more of Nidharshan Suresh’s work via Behance, and view all of Teenage Engineering’s latest official products.
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AlphaTheta Euphonia rotary DJ mixer is a digital/analogue hybrid with Rupert Neve Designs components /AlphaTheta, previously known as Pioneer DJ, has released a rotary DJ mixer for the first time in its 30-year history. The Euphonia is a seriously luxe mixer combining digital and analogue technology, including a transformer circuit from Rupert Neve Designs that AlphaTheta promises “enhances harmonics in your music to create an energetic and polished sound.”
READ MORE: The best rotary mixers to buy in 2024: 12 best mixers for DJs
The Euphonia is the first DJ mixer with the new AlphaTheta logo stamped on it. And it seems like it’s built to last — we checked it ahead of release and can confirm that it feels like a truly well-considered design. AlphaTheta says that “after extensive testing, the perfect knob sizes were chosen…the rotary faders feature a carefully developed design.
“You’ll notice a difference in the feel of the knobs when you turn them at different speeds. A higher load is applied when you turn a knob slowly for delicate fine-tuning and a lower load is applied when you turn a knob quickly to instantly reach your intended volume level.”

According to AlphaTheta, the Euphonia combines analogue and digital to boast a sound that’s “never been heard before”. It uses 32-bit A/D and D/A converters plus a 96kHz/64-bit floating point mixing processor thanks to digital signal processing tech. The audio passes through the transformer circuit co-designed by Rupert Neve Designs — the maker of some of the most coveted analogue gear and mixing desks on the market right now.
The custom-made transformer circuit introduces third-order harmonics to bring a “glossy and energetic sound that’s smoother for mixing,” says AlphaTheta.
For mixing, you can use the “next-generation” 3Band Master Isolator for precise control over sound shaping. Meanwhile, a Boost Level will increase the volume of each frequency band depending on the setting you select; +12dB is for dynamic performances, +6dB for sound quality adjustments, and +0dB for spatial effects without any boost.

The Energy Visualizer is the display in the top right of the mixer, which sports AlphaTheta’s spin on a traditional VU meter, the Mix Level Meter. This shows a level needle per channel, giving you a quick glance at all levels at the same time. A Spectrum Analyzer also lets you keep an eye on the Euphonia’s spectral output.
A built-in digital effects section lets you apply delay, tape echo, echo verb, reverb, shimmer and a high-pass filter to get even more creative with your mixing.

The catch? Probably the price. At $3,799/£3,249/€3,799, this falls well outside the budget of hobbyist mixers and it’s a pretty big workflow change for pro DJs used to AlphaTheta/Pioneer DJ’s four-channel fader mixers such as the DJM-A9. This is definitely a niche mixer suited to DJs who are deeply passionate about sound quality and precise blending.
But, who knows, you may well see this pop up in your local hi-fi bar and maybe even some clubs.
Learn more at alphatheta.
 
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AlphaTheta dives into rotary world with launch of the euphonia: a 4-channel rotary mixerAlphaTheta Corporation announced the release of the company’s first-ever rotary mixer: the euphonia. The 4-channel mixer is the also the first piece of hardware from the company that features the AlphaTheta brand logo, replacing the Pioneer DJ branding. euphonia is a combination digital/analog mixer with rotary faders that features a custom-designed 3Band Master Isolator, built-in […]
The post AlphaTheta dives into rotary world with launch of the euphonia: a 4-channel rotary mixer appeared first on DJ TechTools.

OpenAI’s deals with publishers could spell trouble for rivalsOpenAI’s legal battle with The New York Times over data to train its AI models might still be brewing. But OpenAI’s forging ahead on deals with other publishers, including some of France’s and Spain’s largest news publishers. OpenAI on Wednesday announced that it signed contracts with Le Monde and Prisa Media to bring French and […]
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