Bittersweet Symphonies: AllMusic's Love Songs for the LovelornAnother Valentine's Day is upon us, and our hearts go out to the wistful and wishing among us. Our editors pulled together some of their personal favorite swoon-worthy songs and albums to give the day that extra bit of bittersweet hum.

VC industry reacts to Trump nominating a16z’s Brian Quintenz for regulatory roleBrian Quintenz, who leads policy for Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto team, announced on Wednesday that he’s being tapped to head the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), according to his X post. And many in the VC industry appear to be thrilled about it. The CFTC regulates the trading of commodity futures, options, and swaps, otherwise known […]
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Will Embodied AI Make Prosthetics More Humane?Building a robotic arm and hand that matches human dexterity is tougher than it looks. We can create aesthetically pleasing ones, very functional ones, but the perfect mix of both? Still a work in progress. Just ask [Sarah de Lagarde], who in 2022 literally lost an arm and a leg in a life-changing accident. In this BBC interview, she shares her experiences openly – highlighting both the promise and the limits of today’s prosthetics.
The problem is that our hands aren’t just grabby bits. They’re intricate systems of nerves, tendons, and ridiculously precise motor control. Even the best AI-powered prosthetics rely on crude muscle signals, while dexterous robots struggle with the simplest things — like tying shoelaces or flipping a pancake without launching it into orbit.
That doesn’t mean progress isn’t happening. Researchers are training robotic fingers with real-world data, moving from ‘oops’ to actual precision. Embodied AI, i.e. machines that learn by physically interacting with their environment, is bridging the gap. Soft robotics with AI-driven feedback loops mimic how our fingers instinctively adjust grip pressure. If haptics are your point of interest, we have posted about it before.
The future isn’t just robots copying our movements, it’s about them understanding touch. Instead of machine learning, we might want to shift focus to human learning. If AI cracks that, we’re one step closer.
Original photo by Marco Bianchetti on Unsplash
 

How to make disco music: An in-depth guide with Jafunk
Learn how to make disco music alongside expert producer and DJ Jafunk, who overviews key instruments, music theory concepts, plugins, and more.

ByteDance has been building an AI music beast… with a little help from The Beatles and Michael JacksonByteDance is fascinated with building music AI technologies...
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Songwriters: Are you Getting Paid All the Mechanical Royalties You Should be? Navigating the world of digital music royalties can be tricky, but understanding how they work is essential for songwriters. The Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC) plays a key role in ensuring songwriters are paid the digital mechanical royalties (also known as streaming royalties) they deserve. Here’s a breakdown of what The MLC is and why it’s so important for you.What is The MLC?  The MLC is a nonprofit organization that is transforming the way songwriters, publishers, and other rightsholders are paid for their music that is streamed and downloaded on digital platforms like Apple Music and Spotify in the United States. Every month, The MLC collects streaming data and royalties from these platforms, matches the payments to the creators who earned them, and distributes the mechanical royalties to songwriters, publishers, and administrators.The MLC is dedicated to ensuring that songwriters, composers, lyricists, and music publishers receive their digital mechanical royalties accurately and on time. To date, The MLC has distributed over $2.5 billion in royalties and serves more than 50,000 members.Who Should Join The MLC?If you are entitled to receive digital audio mechanical royalties in the U.S. — whether you’re a self-administered songwriter, composer, lyricist, music publisher, or administrator — you need to become a member of The MLC. But what does it mean to be a self-administered songwriter? Let’s explain.A self-administered songwriter is someone who acts as their own music publisher for the works they’ve created.Here’s the breakdown:Fully Self-Administered Songwriters: These creators handle all aspects of registration, licensing, and collecting royalties for their works on their own.

Partially Self-Administered Songwriters: These creators manage some of their works themselves but have partnered with a publisher or administrator for the remaining works, that they have entered into a legal agreement with. By joining The MLC, you ensure that you receive all the mechanical royalties you’re owed. Best of all, membership is absolutely FREE. Need More Information?The MLC understands that navigating the process of collecting various types of royalties can be complex, especially if you don’t have a publisher or administrator. The MLC is here to help with a step-by-step guide for songwriters, composers, and lyricists to ensure you’re receiving all of your publishing royalties. Click here for our to-do list!  For more details on how to join The MLC, click here. You can gain additional answers and insights about The MLC by visiting the FAQ page.   The post Songwriters: Are you Getting Paid All the Mechanical Royalties You Should be?  first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Harvard Business Review explores Taylor Swift’s ‘Strategic Genius’A new book from Harvard Business Review Press will dive deep into how Taylor Swift built her global global empire. "There’s Nothing Like This" explores Taylor Swift’s 'strategic genius', the strategies behind her record-breaking success, and how others can learn from her journey.
The post Harvard Business Review explores Taylor Swift’s ‘Strategic Genius’ appeared first on Hypebot.

Sampleson rePEDAL - A.I. Guitar Pedal Makerhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0eTNIB2i2s rePEDAL is an experimental machine learning project from Sampleson, currently in beta. It generates a new, random overdrive pedal every... Read More

So…When did Apple Music become a hero of streaming services, and Spotify a supervillain?On Sunday night, a reported 113 million global viewers watched Kendrick Lamar’s half-time spectacle at the Super Bowl LIX, as the Philadelphia Eagles triumphed over the Kansas City Chiefs. And how did the annual musical show-stopper begin? With a graphic of Apple’s bright red Apple Music branding consuming the exterior of the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. You can watch the performance — and its bold branding — on the official NFL YouTube channel, in a video titled Kendrick Lamar’s Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show. It’s currently sitting at a cool 41 million views.
Seemingly few eyebrows were raised about the $3.5 trillion-dollar company being the Robin to Kendrick’s Batman that night. Would we have seen a similar non-reaction if Spotify fronted the purported $50 million to sponsor the Big Game with such brash commercialisation? Doubtful.

READ MORE: As AI fakes proliferate, we need to draw a clear distinction between human-made music and AI-generated content

Spotify has become the music supervillain in the past few years. The streaming giant comes under constant scrutiny for its infamously low royalties payout (as low as $0.003), despite CEO Daniel Ek defending its $10 billion payouts to the music industry; Ek himself is slammed by fans, artists and music professionals for his hot takes, eye-bulging shares cashouts and huge investments into arms manufacturers; Spotify users were even disappointed by the alleged use of generative AI to roll out its beloved Spotify Wrapped feature, citing inaccurate facts and poor graphic design. And that’s without the lawsuits and the UK government’s calls for Spotify to be reformed.
Spotify is, however, the most-used streaming service on the planet. It reported a total of 640 million users in 2024, while Apple Music is way behind at 93 million, as last reported by Statista in 2023.
Apple Music, meanwhile, appears to be viewed one of the good guys among the streaming giants (Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Tidal and Amazon Music). Apple Inc is, of course, critiqued regularly for some of its business practices and product blunders. But the only real negative press that Apple Music gets as a streaming service is about the UX of its app, with reviewers and users bemoaning its clunky navigation. That’s a pretty minor gripe when looking at Spotify’s troubles.
Image: Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Tim Cook’s Cupertino tech behemoth often wins brownie points for its coverage of new music and engagement with music culture via its in-app radio station Apple Music 1. Frankly, its radio- and podcast-style content is outstanding, with unparalleled artist access to superstars including Billie Eilish and FINNEAS, Taylor Swift, and, yes, definitely Kendrick Lamar.
Following Lamar’s sweep at the Grammys, Apple Music conducted The Official Kendrick Lamar Interview on 6 Feb 2025. It was published on Apple Music’s YouTube, where it has 680,000 views at the time of writing, and was plastered across the Home Screen of the Apple Music app. Apple also celebrated Lamar with a bespoke editorial feature on Apple News, a “special Fitness+ Artist spotlight” and a radio segment by Apple Music Radio host Ebro Darden titled Kendrick Lamar: Hip-Hop’s MVP.
Yes, that’s all a little overkill. We could speculate all the reasons that Apple is buying into Lamar so aggressively right now (literally buying? That part’s not clear…), but the point here is that Apple’s regular high-profile devotion to artists is partly what gives the streaming service such a positive image. Billie Eilish was crowned Apple Music’s Artist Of The Year in 2024 and partnered with the brand on her 2021 album, Happier Than Ever for an exclusive listening experience. The infamous 100 Best Albums list gave flowers to some of music’s most revered artists and albums, and the platform was the frontrunner in adopting and promoting spatial audio with Dolby Atmos, which prompted many classic tracks to get a rerelease (although did receive some criticism of its own). For producers using Apple’s DAW, Logic Pro, there’ll likely be an appreciation towards Apple which could extend to Apple Music. Elton John even has his own radio show on Apple Music, along with many other iconic artists. Certainly this level of artist synergy and integration made Apple Music a natural fit for the halftime show’s primary sponsor, a slot the company took over from Pepsi in 2022.
It’s still far from a perfect platform, though. As producer Benn Jordan pointed out in January, Apple Music’s royalties are around double that of Spotify and YouTube Music at $0.0061 but aren’t exactly industry-leading — Tidal and Amazon Music (and Peloton) are winning in that arena. And, while all of Apple Music’s editorial coverage likely stems from a passion amongst its employees, it’s ultimately all in place to promote the service and Apple’s product catalogue rather than the artist. The Super Bowl show was, naturally, concluded with a limited-time offer to join Apple Music. As always, it’s all marketing.

That’s likely how Apple comes out on top. It’s been the master brand of marketing since Steve Jobs began stepping out onto the stage to announce iPods, iPhones and iMacs in his ‘Stevenote’ presentations. Today, Apple’s virtual Events are circled on the calendars of every tech and music publication, and music plays a key role here, too, often giving lesser-known artists a nod in the Event’s backing track.
Spotify doesn’t appear as interested in being a music platform — it prefers to be a streaming platform. There was a Spotify x FanDuel Super Bowl party with Blink-182, Megan Thee Stallion and Anderson. Paak performing, one of many music-centric events that took place around New Orleans during Super Bowl weekend. But, over on the Spotify app, But, over on the app, it uses an AI DJ to curate your music, rather than commission actual DJs to record mixes, and there’s potential for us to see even more AI-created music on Spotify following the comments of co-president Gustav Söderström. The push on podcasting content — notably that $250 million Joe Rogan Experience deal — seemed to alienate some musicians and fans from the audio streaming platform.
But does Apple Music’s integration with the wider music scene translate to better financial support for musicians? Well, maybe for the bigger artists. Apple says it pays an average of $0.01 per play, contrary to Benn Jordan’s point, but is likely based on the stream share model it employs. This means, hypothetically, if Kendrick Lamar gets 5 per cent of the total streams on Apple Music this month, he’s entitled to 5 per cent of all royalties from the platform. Will Kendrick get more plays as a result of Apple Music’s coverage and sponsorship? You can count on it — particularly given that, as announced by Roc Nation, the NFL and Apple Music on Tuesday, Lamar’s performance was the most watched Super Bowl halftime show performance of all time, with 133.5 million viewers (Even Spotify wins from this success, with the platform announcing that Lamar’s catalogue saw a 430% streaming bump in the days after the game).
Acknowledging its streaming model in a 2021 article, Apple said: “Like other [streaming platforms], we have looked at alternative royalty models. Our analysis has shown that they would result in a limited redistribution of royalties with a varied impact on artists. Per play, rates would cease to be the same for every play of a song. But more importantly, the changes would not increase what all creators earn from streaming. Instead, these changes would shift royalties towards a small number of labels while providing less transparency to creators everywhere.”
The truth is, as many artists will tell you, there isn’t a ‘good guy’ among the streaming giants right now. The only heroes, really, are the fans that buy digital and physical copies of artist’s music, go to their shows, and (in our modern world) subscribe to their direct-to-fan platforms.
Still, Apple Music seems well-positioned. Elton John, Lauryn Hill, Kacey Musgraves and more thanked Apple Music when their albums were ranked in the brand’s 100 Best Albums awards in 2024. How often do you hear musicians thanking Spotify?
Read more music technology news.
The post So…When did Apple Music become a hero of streaming services, and Spotify a supervillain? appeared first on MusicTech.

“There’s no such thing as ‘Album of the Year’ – someone made that up”: Jacob Collier doesn’t mind that he didn’t win a Grammy for his album, Djesse Vol. 4This year, Jacob Collier added a seventh Grammy to his trophy shelf, bagging the award for Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella, for Bridge over Troubled Water. His latest record, Djesse Vol. 4, was also up for Album of the Year – despite the fact it never even charted.
It’s Collier’s second time being nominated for Album of the Year, with 2021’s Djesse Vol. 3 also gaining recognition from the Academy. That record also didn’t make its way onto any charts. “I heard the other day that I’m the first artist in history to be twice nominated for Album of the Year without ever having charted,” he reveals on the A Bit of Optimism Podcast. “None of my albums have ever been on any chart.”

READ MORE: Jacob Collier partners with Google on new AI tool MusicFX DJ

That’s right – none of Collier’s records have ever charted. While Collier’s Djesse Vol. 4 lost out out to Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter, the musical madman considers his un-chartable sound to be a more prestigious badge of honour. “I’m personally deeply proud of this,” he grins. “It’s kind of a cool stat!”

When digging into 2024’s Djesse Vol. 4, it’s a smorgasbord of eclectic sounds. Opening track 100,000 Voices paints the picture perfectly: glistening soundscapes and ethereal choral majesty gradually morph into scratchy, tormented doom metal wails and howls. Throughout, Collier navigates his way between woozy pop, folk-y musing and pulsing synthetic dance beats.
However, Collier’s not going to try and adjust his musical approach to appease the masses. Elsewhere in the interview, he explains how the concept of ‘Album of the Year’ doesn’t make sense to him. “I mean, there’s no such thing as Album of the Year,” he says. “This is made up. Someone made that up. I’m deeply honoured to be included in the number alongside such luminaries. I’m not taking it too serious.”
“None of us really know what we’re doing, we’re just playing around,” he admits. “I don’t sit around thinking, you know, ‘I’m bloody brilliant’, so much as just, ‘What an interesting time to be Jacob,’ and, ‘What an interesting time to be making music’. Because I’ve made a very unconventional album that is deeply irreverent in many ways. And for it to be counted… it’s just kind of a thrill.”
While he might have missed out on Album of the Year, he still has seven Grammys to his name. During an INSIDE studio tour last year, Collier revealed that he uses said awards for recording purposes. “These Grammys here are not just useful for my ego, they’re also useful as agogo bells,” he said.

The post “There’s no such thing as ‘Album of the Year’ – someone made that up”: Jacob Collier doesn’t mind that he didn’t win a Grammy for his album, Djesse Vol. 4 appeared first on MusicTech.

NEW: Live Music News from across the webHypebot has added a Live Industry News tab to the top of the home page that links to a new curated feed of live music industry news from hundreds of global news sources.
The post NEW: Live Music News from across the web appeared first on Hypebot.

Pivotal grime producer and pioneer Terror Danjah has diedLegendary grime pioneer Terror Danjah has died. Known for his innovative ear for production and his work establishing the R’n’B and grime hybrid genre, R&B, the East London producer’s passing was officially confirmed yesterday.
A family member confirmed the news with The Guardian, though no cause of death has been shared. However, Terror Danjah has had a history of health scares, notably falling into a coma in 2019 following a stroke. Though he eventually woke up and went on to release two more records, Invasion and the EP Red Flag, little information was shared as to whether the stroke had a lasting impact on his health.

READ MORE: Electronic music contributed £2.4 billion to UK economy in 2024, with record-breaking ticket sales recorded for electronic music events

Many of his peers have taken to social media to share their love. Producer and MC D Power Diesle took to X on 10 February, before any official news of Terror’s passing was confirmed, mourning the loss of his grime peer. “People!,” he wrote. “Sad, sad news! Terror Danjah has unfortunately passed away. God bless all his family, I will let you know when I know more.”

PEOPLE !!!! SAD SAD NEWS !!!
@TerrorDanjah HAS UNFORTUNATELY PASSED AWAY .
God bless all his family, I will let you know when I know more .
— RICE OUT NOW (@officialdpower) February 10, 2025

Planet Mu, a label that consistently worked alongside Terror Danjah and released numerous of his records, has also shared a statement on X. “You will be missed,” the label writes. “The best ever grime producer.”
Kevin Martin, a.k.a The Bug, has also shared thoughts on X. “A fantastic producer, big hearted person and criminally underrated outside of Grime circles,” he writes. “I will miss your laughter, sick beats, and miss the random phone conversations. It was a pleasure to know you and hang… A positive force, sorely missed.”

Rest in peace Terror Danjah.A fantastic producer, big hearted person and criminally underrated outside of Grime circles.I will miss your laughter, sick beatz, and miss the random phone conversations.It was a pleasure to know you and hang.. A positive force, sorely missed. pic.twitter.com/L8kaSjsEnl
— The Bug(official) (@thebugzoo) February 11, 2025

As The Bug notes, Terror Danjah’s name isn’t as celebrated as his grime peers. However, his impact on grime has been pivotal. Known for his signature gremlin cackle that played on his tracks, the beatmaker was known for his dynamic sonic fusion. While he cut his teeth in the 1990s DJing house parties and raves, his love for music spanned far beyond the jungle tracks he was spinning. Raised on reggae and soulful R&B, his diverse musical palette would soon become a staple of his sound.
Terror Danjah’s diverse sonic tongue would truly shine when he took the reins and became a producer. In the early 2000s, his beats would tap into the core of what grime would become – despite the genre not officially existing yet. As The Guardian notes, Terror Danjah’s 2002 release, Highly Flammable, was one of the first tracks that helped “cement the sound” of the genre. Of course, thanks to his eclectic taste, he would later take grime and use it to lay the foundations of yet another new genre: R&G.

Even if you’ve not heard a Terror Danjah track, he’s always been buzzing behind the scenes, working with the likes of Wiley, Skepta, Dizzie Rascal, Four Tet, and Ghetts. He also worked with the Nasty Crew, and had his own After Shock collective. Without Terror Danjah, countless grime and rap careers would never have taken off. Bruza, Mz Bratt and Tinie Tempah were all platformed by Terror Danjah in the early stages of their careers.
While Terror Danjah has passed on, his influence lives on through the very existence of grime as a genre. And, as DJ Logan Sama notes in his poignant farewell, the producer’s unwavering support of smaller artists was one of a kind.
“There are few people throughout my history in music that I have seen reach out, nurture and empower as many emerging artists with the tools to go on to lead successful careers than I did Terror Danjah,” Logan Sama writes on X. “He truly loved music. He loved people. And I love him.”

There are few people throughout my history in music that I have seen reach out, nurture and empower as many emerging artists with the tools to go on to lead successful careers than I did Terror Danjah.
He truly loved music. He loved people. And I love him.

— Logan Sama (@djlogansama) February 11, 2025

The post Pivotal grime producer and pioneer Terror Danjah has died appeared first on MusicTech.

Black Lion Audio announce Revolution Clock range The Revolution Clock series comprises three units that cater to a wide range of applications, and are said to be the most precise and reliable clocks that Black Lion Audio have produced to date. 

Angelicvibes Release Basshead Mini, a FREE 808 and Deep Bass Synth
On Sunday, Angelicvibes dropped Basshead Mini, a free 808 and deep bass synth for trap, pop, and electronic music. The plugin is a macOS and Windows release for VST and AU.  Basshead Mini is a super simple plugin with essential controls like attack, release, pitch, output, and distortion.  There are 10 presets, which are made up [...]
View post: Angelicvibes Release Basshead Mini, a FREE 808 and Deep Bass Synth

Spotify Commissioned Cheap “Fake Artists” And She’s Got the ProofThis week, Ari is joined by Liz Pelly, author of Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist.