EU authorities include HTX exchange in Russian sanctionsThe exchange, already sanctioned by the UK, is now on a list of 18 entities “providing crypto-assets services or payment services“ in defiance of the EU’s measures against Russia.

Adema Signs with Cleopatra RecordsDate Signed: Winter 2026Label: Cleopatra RecordsBand Members: Tim Fluckey, lead vocals, guitar; Mike Ransom, lead guitar, backing vocals; Dave DeRoo, bass, backing vocalsType of Music: RockManagement: Worldwide Entertainment GroupPublicity: Caroline Galloway, M2M PR & Partnerships - caroline@m2mpr.comA&R: Worldwide Entertainment GroupWeb: ademaband.com

Adema has been entertaining audiences for more than a quarter century. In the band’s early days, it was the late Terry Lippman managing them, whose enviable résumé also boasts Matchbox Twenty, George Michael, and Melissa Manchester. Wanting someone to help shoulder the burden of elevating the young act, he hired Sandy Rizzo.

Everyone eventually went their separate ways, and the band experienced major changes. Conflicts and other projects led to numerous members coming and going, but not Tim Fluckey, who weathered all the drama. Throughout the years, he stayed in touch with Rizzo, even lending a hand during her 2016 induction into the RockGodz Hall of Fame. 

Signing with Cleopatra Records in 2024 heralded a new chapter for the band. Adema had gone without management for 16 years, but now they needed help. They subsequently reached out to Rizzo, now the Executive Vice President of WEG Talent Management Group. 

The decision for Rizzo to once more work with the nu metal act was an easy one, as she harbored little doubt the boys would put their noses to the grindstone. “She knows it’s going to be a good working relationship,” attests Fluckey. Likewise, the band never worried that going with WEG wouldn’t be the best decision. 

Adema’s members are jubilant knowing WEG will take over much of the grunt work. “They have a department for every little thing,” marvels Fluckey. “And they have the connections and time to do all that, which makes it easier for us to concentrate on why we’re in a band, which is to play and record music.” The guitarist’s advice for others seeking management is that they pick the team that feels like the best fit, even if doing so doesn’t make the most sense on paper. Expect Adema’s next album to arrive by the end of the year. 

“We’re excited to be with this company and working with Sandy again,” finishes Fluckey. “We’re feeling really lucky and blessed that people still care.” The post Adema Signs with Cleopatra Records first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Vietnam is looking to restrict social media for kids; here are the growing number of other countries doing the sameAustralia was the first country to issue a ban in late 2025, aiming to reduce the pressures and risks that young users may face on social media, including cyberbullying, social media addiction, and exposure to predators.

Codeberg Bans Cryptocurrency and LLM-Generated Code ProjectsCommunity-led open source project hosting site Codeberg has formally announced that projects whose code is largely or fully machine-generated through LLMs and other ‘AI’ tools will no longer be welcome. This follows on the heels of a similar ban on cryptocurrency-related projects.
The community vote was on two issues, the first being the notion that scraping of project code for the use in LLMs should be forbidden, which was a motion that easily passed. The second motion was on disallowing projects whose code was substantially generated by LLMs like Claude, OpenAI Codex, and similar. This motion passed with 358 in favor versus 144 against.
In the earlier linked blog post the reasoning behind especially this second issue is expanded upon, covering not only ‘license whitewashing’, but also the direct and indirect hardware costs, with the expanding ‘AI’ datacenter hyperscaling having massively increased hardware costs for Codeberg over the past years, as the costs have been largely externalized.
Also covered is also the aspect of these LLM-based tools destroying the OSS community, which is something that is backed up by recent studies. Even if we ignore that such LLM-tools are destroying the cognitive abilities of its users, there’s an argument to be made that if LLM-scraping is disallowed, then it’s consistent to also not allow LLM-generated code.
In the Terms of Use you can see these changes, both for LLMs and for cryptocurrency projects.
Thanks to [mk-fg] for the tip.

Air-G Audio Air-G Dist PedalAir-G Dist Pedal is part of Air-G Audio's Guitar Collection: a growing set of individual pedals built on the open source work of Airwindows, Chris Johnson's long-running project known for some of the most distinctive free DSP code in the audio world. Each pedal is a focused, single-purpose effect aimed at guitar players, and further down the road they're meant to come together into a single unified pedalboard. The Dist Pedal is a distortion based on Density3 by Airwindows. Rather than hard clipping, Density3 saturates with a sine-based curve, so it stays round and musical, from a light crunch to dense, compact saturation. DRIVE sets the amount and character of the dirt, while PUSH (added by Air-G) drives the signal into the saturator: since Density3 reacts to how hot the incoming level is, this is what makes the pedal kick, and it also lets you clean up straight from your guitar's volume knob. HPF is a high-pass placed before the saturation, so it sets from which frequency up the sound breaks up, and DRY/WET blends the clean, full-range signal back underneath (kept genuinely clean, independent of PUSH): raise HPF and pull DRY/WET back, and the lows stay clean and tight while the mids and highs growl, which is especially handy on bass and for coloring the guitar tone. DRIVE VOL sets how loud the distorted signal sits, and an OUT knob (also added by Air-G) sets the final level to match bypass or push an amp harder. The footswitch is true bypass, tied to the host's own bypass. Although its interface is styled as a guitar pedal, the Dist Pedal works just as well on any source: individual instruments like pads, keys or bass, or full mix buses. --- Air-G Audio is a collection of plugins built on the open source code of Airwindows. The project is built around adding a graphical interface that makes the experience more comfortable and visual, along with a few features that expand the possible uses without straying from the original sound. The simplicity and lightness of Chris's code are the starting point and the guide. Thanks to Chris Johnson for making his work public and accessible. Air-G Audio exists because Airwindows exists. The Airwindows code used in this plugin is published under the MIT License. *Air-G Dist Pedal is free, no strings attached, same open spirit as Chris's own work. It also took real hours to build: designing, coding, testing, writing the manual. If it earns a spot on your board, a donation of any size makes a real difference in keeping this collection going. And if you want to support where it all comes from, Chris Johnson's Patreon is the most direct way to back Airwindows itself: patreon.com/airwindows. Available for Windows and Linux. System Requirements: - Windows 10 or higher (64-bit). - Linux with GLIBC 2.35 or higher (Ubuntu 22.04 / Linux Mint 21 or equivalent). *There's no macOS version yet (sorry! I don't have access to a Mac at the moment), but I hope to make one someday! All formats are VST3 64-bit. ***Windows note: the installer is not signed with a paid certificate, so SmartScreen may show a "Windows protected your PC" warning. Click "More info", then "Run anyway" to continue. This is expected and not a problem with the plugin. Read More

As GEMA awaits its Suno copyright verdict, the German collecting society launches ‘PLAI’ – a fully licensed dataset for training AI music toolsAI music transcription company Klangio is the dataset's first customer.
Source

Gliff is a FREE MIDI guitar translator for macOS and Windows
Gliff is a free guitar-based plugin for macOS and Windows that’s aimed at guitarists and keyboardists alike. So, there are two ways to approach this plugin: one is as a guitarist looking to create clean, polyphonic MIDI chord patterns that you can drag and drop into your project. The appeal might be that you’re a [...]
View post: Gliff is a FREE MIDI guitar translator for macOS and Windows

Why did inMusic lay off 100 employees from Native Instruments?Music technology conglomerate inMusic has allegedly laid off approximately 100 Native Instruments (NI) employees, according to inside reports. This massive job cut follows inMusic’s acquisition of Native Instruments in May.
Along with the job cuts, the companies under the NI umbrella now have new owners. iZotope belongs to Boris FX while Plugin Alliance and Brainworx have been reclaimed by original founder Dirk Ulrich.

READ MORE: Splice confirms staff layoffs and “strategic restructuring”: “These changes will help us move with greater focus and agility”

Per an anonymous Reddit post first reported by Synth Anatomy and shared in the NI subreddit, layoffs affected every department at NI. The author said the entire customer support team was let go, as inMusic’s support department covers all of its brands.
“The organisation is a mess, and I have little faith it will get better considering the individuals they’ve chosen to lead,” the post reads in part. “Customers don’t matter right now despite what you hear or read about the company or inMusic.”
Native Instruments declined to respond to MusicTech‘s request for comment.
At the time of the inMusic purchase, Native Instruments CEO Nick Williams said: “We have found a partner whose beliefs and ambitions align with ours.”
Back in 2019 and 2020, NI underwent another round of mass layoffs and restructuring before being acquired by the private equity firm Francisco Partners.
The latest round of alleged layoffs is a confusing move, given the positive interview recently given by inMusic’s Jack O’Donnell. “The future for NI, I can assure you, is very exciting, very bright, and very secure,” he said in the first few seconds of the video.

It’s currently unclear whether any Native Instruments employees from departments such as Maschine, Traktor and Kontrol have been laid of as part of this process. The music production community has speculated whether these NI categories will be among the first to be dissolved, since they have fierce competition within inMusic already – Akai‘s MPC, Denon DJ, Numark and M-Audio are all major rivals to these NI sub-brands.
NI had been struggling financially for years before inMusic moved to acquire the company. At the beginning of this year, NI entered preliminary insolvency proceedings. The inMusic purchase came less than four months later, so it’s likely the acquisition was laid out as part of a potential plan within the proceedings.
MusicTech will continue to report on this story as we learn more.
The post Why did inMusic lay off 100 employees from Native Instruments? appeared first on MusicTech.

Matari Audio releases free public beta of BUFFR, a retrospective audio and MIDI capture plugin
Matari Audio has released BUFFR, a free public beta of a retrospective audio, system audio, and MIDI capture plugin for macOS, Windows, and Linux. Important note before we get into the details: the public beta is free, but each beta license lasts 21 days from first use. There is no announced beta program end date, [...]
View post: Matari Audio releases free public beta of BUFFR, a retrospective audio and MIDI capture plugin

Acclaimed composer Max Richter shares his essential string sounds via his new SRM Sounds instrument libraryMax Richter has just released his sixth virtual instrument pack from his sound library, SRM Sounds. This new product is all about strings, but according to Richter, it goes much deeper than that.
In the video announcing the pack, officially titled Max Richter Strings, he discusses how he tapped musicians he’s known for decades to record the audio for each of the five parts: Violin 1, Violin 2, Viola, Cello 1, and Cello 2. While many composers hone in on the standard string quartet, Richter added a second cello because he’s a self-described ‘bass head.”

READ MORE: This producer reckons Skrillex could make music using a $40 keyboard from Toys R Us

“Violin one is not Violin one. It’s Louisa as far as I’m concerned,” Richter says. “It’s really moving to play this instrument because these are people I’ve been working with for 20 years or more. Especially with a solo string instrument, you feel the person playing it so powerfully.”

All of the five instruments can deliver specific playing qualities as well, from the short bursts of staccato to the sweeping tones of legato. Four mic signals can be applied through the plugin: Close Condenser, Close Ribbon, Tree, and Outriggers. The interface also offers a simple reverb, controlled by pre, time, and mix. So, while the pack offers five instruments in total, the different articulations and recording colours can bring an endless variety of orchestral tones to any production.
Prior to this, four out of five of Richter’s previous releases through SRM Sounds have all been standard instruments. The first was Max Richter Piano, as he is a pianist by trade.  Then Dark Mode was a free download to add more color options to the piano. The fourth was Sleep Piano, which offered recordings directly from the piano he used to compose his eight-and-a-half-hour concept album, Sleep. The most recent was ASMR Choir, which combined strings and a choir to play intimate, soft sounds. His third release, Valley Forge, was more exploratory, combining a 15-piece timpani ensemble processed with analogue electronic instruments such as Richter’s Minimoog.
Max Richter Strings is currently available for £199 until 30 September. After that, the price will increase to £249. It works with Native Instruments hardware and software, Kontakt Player, or Kontakt 8.10.2 and newer. For more information, head to SRM Sounds.
The post Acclaimed composer Max Richter shares his essential string sounds via his new SRM Sounds instrument library appeared first on MusicTech.

Is Novation’s FLkey 2 the ultimate FL Studio controller?Mini 25 keys £110 / 37 keys £200 / 49 keys £230 / 61 keys £280, novationmusic.com
FL Studio’s unique workflow has always made it especially well-suited to MIDI hardware control, whether for tweaking parameters, performing or tracking. Based as heavily as FL Studio is around plugins, sequencers, grids and MIDI patterns, getting hands-on and largely freeing yourself from the mouse is a particularly powerful way to use it.

READ MORE: Can Jamstik finally make MIDI guitar stick?

Novation’s FLkey controller range is designed specifically to work with this software first and foremost, rather than just offering a template for it like most other brands do. Now in its second generation, the keyboard comes in four sizes, each with a core of features but with the larger models having extended functionality thanks to the greater space available.
I was able to put the smallest and largest models—25 and 61 keys, respectively—through their paces and ask, ‘Is this still the ultimate controller for FL Studio users?’
All four models are bus-powered over USB-C and send data over the same port, with a USB-C to USB-A cable provided. I’d argue it’s past time to make USB-C cables the standard now, but it’s not a deal-breaker. All models also have a full-size sustain pedal socket, and a MIDI out – a 3.5mm port on the 25 (though there’s no adapter in the box) and old-school DIN port on the other three. The build quality has improved since the Mk1, with a more robust feel while maintaining a light weight.
Image: Press
When you register your unit using Novation’s Components app or via the website running in Chrome, with its native MIDI support, you unlock some bonus downloads including a six month license for FL Studio Producer Edition, Komplete 15 Select and instruments, and effects from Melodics, Klevgrand and GForce.
There’s also Novation Play, a cool little synth that maps directly to the keyboard’s controls. Components works with all Novation’s controller hardware and lets you upload and edit configurations on your device. FLkey’s controls are all assignable via Components so you can build templates, and Mackie HUI mode is also available, so it can be fairly easily adapted to work with any MIDI software or hardware including the Komplete Kontrol plugin.
All FLkeys now have a brighter OLED screen and though it’s still small, it now has three lines and displays basic graphics. The Mini 25 is an outlier in a couple of ways, with mini synth keys, touch strips rather than control wheels, and fewer transport and workflow control buttons. It does have the same 16 pads and 8 endless rotary encoders as the others though. The 49-key and 61-key models have faders and fader buttons as well as keyboard zones, which the 25 and 37 lack. The two largest models also have semi-weighted keys, for an expressive playing experience, especially for piano and similar sounds.
Components app. Image: Hollin Jones
The keyboard is detected automatically by FL Studio with only fairly minimal setup required in the MIDI preferences, and the hardware controls mapped to the different sections, changing focus as you move around by pressing buttons or pads. Navigating the DAW and projects uses more dedicated buttons on the larger models such as a pattern/song mode switcher, loop button and the like. The Mini 25 has slightly fewer physical controls in this regard but still does an admirable job of letting you select parts of FL Studio and scroll around their sections — the Channel Rack, mixer, plugins and more. Because the FLkey is primarily a dedicated FL Studio controller they have been able to print FL Studio-specific names under its pads, which makes things much smoother.
Pads, encoders and faders (where present) have multiple modes that can be switched via the Shift button, and in some cases on the 25 there are alternative techniques like using the encoders as fader controls. The encoders incidentally are endless but not capacitive, though you can use a key combo to see an assignment without changing it first. Keys also do not send polyphonic aftertouch though the pads do, should you need to use this with third-party plugins.
The auto mapping means you can immediately play the selected instrument using either the keys or pads, finger drumming or step sequencing directly into the channel rack, with play and record controls on the hardware and more like looping available on the larger units. As is more common now, the keyboards also have some generative tools built in, with Chord modes (user-defined, fixed and chord map), and Scale mode with 30 scales and an onboard arpeggiator with step editor — all of which also work standalone with external MIDI hardware. Chord and Scale modes make it easier for less advanced players to achieve complex musical results using fairly simple input, and are a great tool to have.
Image: Press
The two models with faders also make mixing more intuitive, mapping to channel strips and other controls including panning, mute, solo and more. They have MIDI split and zoning available too, so you can assign key ranges to different instruments which is especially handy for live performance.
So which one should you choose? The Mini 25 is an abundantly cool and hyper-portable controller, its keys small but adequate, considering its overall size. Fitting the full complement of pads and encoders in is an achievement and there’s a workable core of transport and workflow controls, though fewer direct physical controls than on the larger models.
Jumping to the other end of the lineup, the 61-key version is better suited to the studio, its semi-weighted keys giving a more traditional playing feel while the full set of workflow buttons makes project navigation more convenient, and the faders bring familiar mixing control to your fingertips as well. The 49-key version offers pretty much exactly the same, only with fewer keys if space is at a premium. The 37-key model has the lighter, synth-action keybed and no faders, so it’s like the 25 but with more transport controls, wheels and full size keys.
Image: Press
Those are the major differences yet any one of these controllers gives FL Studio users a powerful and tactile way to play, perform and record into the software. It does work with other DAWs and you can customise templates, though you’d find better pre-built support for a range of software with something like the company’s Launchkey range or Nektar’s Impact keyboards.
There are enough differences from the first generation to tempt upgraders, but it’s those coming from having no controller—or a more generic controller—who will notice the tightness of the FL Studio integration here. There are no scripts to load and minimal setup. It all just works. There is a bit of an initial learning curve of course, and some mode switching especially in the smaller units, but it quickly becomes familiar.
If FL Studio is your main DAW, FLkey 2 is the controller you need to get.

Key features

Versions with 25, 37, 49 and 61 keys
USB-C power and data
Sustain pedal input, MIDI output
Generative tools – Chord, Scale and Arp
Transport and project navigation buttons
MIDI zones and faders on larger models
8 endless encoders
16 backlit pads with polyphonic aftertouch
All controls customisable via Components
OLED display
Software bundle, including 6-months’ access to FL Studio
Producer Edition
Comes with USB-C to USB-A cable

The post Is Novation’s FLkey 2 the ultimate FL Studio controller? appeared first on MusicTech.

KIT Plugins release BB Chamber D In their latest collaboration with Blackbird Studios, KIT Plugins have captured the sound of the reverb chamber housed in the iconic facility's Studio D.

Gemini sent $10M in Bitcoin to Trump PAC after joint motion with CFTCThe Bitcoin donation can be used to support Donald Trump as a New York court considers whether to reverse a $5 million settlement between the CFTC and Gemini.

Spektralisk Obsydian: Raw Expressions for GenerateObsydian: Raw Expressions is 50 presets for Newfangled Audio Generate built around exposed tone and direct performance response. The palette moves from acoustic-like instrument emulations and tactile keys to synthetic leads, basses, experimental gestures, and complex aural structures. Delay, reverb, chorus, and other spatial processing stay restrained, allowing the raw oscillator character and expressive modulation to remain present. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_doJOW1P6Q Each preset is designed to respond through MPE and conventional performance controls. Pressure, slide, velocity, modulation, and expression turn the sounds into material that can be shaped in real time rather than static patches that only occupy a mix. Raw Expressions works independently and also completes the first three-part Obsydian arc alongside Dark Energy and Motion Arps. What's Included: 50 presets for Newfangled Audio Generate. Acoustic-like emulations, keys, leads, basses, experimental gestures, and complex structures. MPE-responsive performance design. Restrained spatial processing for a close, exposed sound. Requirements Newfangled Audio Generate 1.7.4 or later. An MPE controller is recommended but not required. Read More

IF THESE WALLS COULD ROCK: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE SUNSET MARQUIS HOTELI’ve been conducting interviews with musicians, authors, and filmmakers at the famed Sunset Marquis Hotel since the early seventies. Author Deepak Chopra and Oscar-winning documentarian D.A. Pennebaker were two of my favorite encounters.

A media announcement describes the documentary.

“For more than 60 years, there has been one place in LA that has served as the home-away-from-home for the biggest names in rock and roll. Tucked just off the Sunset Strip, the Sunset Marquis Hotel became more than a place to stay while on tour. It became a creative sanctuary where songs were written, debauchery was shared, and music history unfolded behind closed doors.

“Now, for the first time, that story is being told on screen.

Directed by Tyler Measom (Murder Among Mormons, An Honest Liar ) and Craig A. Williams, If These Walls Could Rockfeatures rare archival footage, vivid animation and candid interviews, the film tells the story of rock n’ roll through the lens of this legendary hotel as shared by the artists who call it home - including Bruce Springsteen, Ringo Starr, Billy Bob Thornton, Slash, Dave Grohl, Cyndi Lauper, Morrissey, Sheryl Crow, Roger Daltrey, Joe Elliot, Nancy Wilson, Steve Van Zandt and many more.

“But beneath the iconic guest list and tales of rock misadventure lies a deeply personal story: the remarkable partnership between founder George Rosenthal and his son Mark, who transformed a modest West Hollywood “motel” into one of the most iconic destinations in music history.

“Within five minutes of walking in the Marquis, you may hear a rock and roll story that sounds completely made up, but come to learn is true,” say directors Measom and Williams. “Still beyond the many amazing musical stories, the father-and-son tale at the heart of the hotel is what truly inspired us to create this film.”

The film opens August 14 at the Landmark Sunset theatre in Los Angeles, accompanied by special post-screening Q&A events with the filmmakers and guests from the film, while launching simultaneously on Apple TV and Amazon.

If These Walls Could Rock was produced by longtime MTV executives Rick Krim, Robert Friedman, and Mike Powers (Bungalow Media+Entertainment) along with Mark Rosenthal, David Thurston, and Alexis Thurston.

(Harvey Kubernik’s Screen Gems: (Pop Music Documentaries and Rock ‘n’ Roll TV Scenes) was published in 2026 by BearManor Media).The post IF THESE WALLS COULD ROCK: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE SUNSET MARQUIS HOTEL first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.