1 Billion Streams of Children’s Music Completely DIYThis week, Ari is joined by Dave and JJ Heller to discuss their journey of building a completely independent music business for a niche audience of moms.

PRS Guitars Announces Four Fresh Colors for the SE Silver SkyPRS Guitars released the SE Silver Sky Rosewood in four new colors on Tuesday, "created in collaboration with Grammy award-winning PRS Signature Artist, John Mayer. The fresh finishes, offered for the first time on any PRS model, are Derby Red, Trad Blue, Laurel Green, and Dandy Lion (a brilliant and eye-catching yellow)."“The new Silver Sky SE lineup features four new colors inspired by traditional American fashion. These are time-tested hues that have been popular through decades, and I’m excited to share them with the world as the latest SE colorways,” said John Mayer. "The SE Silver Sky is a familiar iteration of the original Silver Sky model that was first introduced with John Mayer in 2018," a statement reads. "The SE starts with a poplar body, bolt-on maple neck, and rosewood fretboard with PRS trademark bird inlays. The 22-fret, 25.5” scale length neck features the original 635JM carve and an 8.5” fretboard radius. It is anchored by three single-coil 635JM “S” pickups, a two-point steel tremolo, synthetic bone nut, and vintage-style tuners.""The SE Silver Sky Maple colorway is also being updated to include two new finishes previously offered on the rosewood-equipped model. The SE Silver Sky Maple's new color palette is Moon White, Stone Blue, Summit Purple, and Nylon Blue.""PRS Guitars continues its schedule of launching new products each month in 2025. Stay tuned to see new gear and 40th Anniversary limited-edition guitars throughout the year. For all of the latest news, click www.prsguitars.com/40 and follow @prsguitars on Instagram, Tik Tok, Facebook, X, and YouTube."

The post PRS Guitars Announces Four Fresh Colors for the SE Silver Sky first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Michigan pension fund deepens Bitcoin exposure with $11M stake in ARK ETFThe State of Michigan Retirement System has nearly tripled its Bitcoin ETF holdings, signaling rising institutional confidence in digital assets.

Exclusive: Kobalt’s AI deal with Suno rival ElevenLabs guarantees publishing ‘parity’ with recorded musicMBW has confirmed details of this potentially precedent-setting deal, which could reshape the music industry's approach to generative AI licensing.
Source

Clay confirms it closed $100M round at $3.1B valuationThe AI sales automation startup raised fresh funds, led by CapitalG, just months after its last round.

SRM Sounds release SLEEP Piano SRM Sounds have announced the launch of their latest sample library, which captures the sound of the very piano used to compose Max Richter’s seminal work. 

Flex PCB Underlies the Watch of the FutureIf you were at OpenSauce, you may have seen new Youtuber [Sahko] waltzing about with a retrofuturistic peice of jewelery that revealed itself as a very cool watch. If you weren’t, he’s his very first video on YouTube detailing the design and construction of this piece.  We’ve embedded it below, and it’s worth a watch. (Pun intended, as always.)
The build was inspired by the delightful amber LED dot-matrix display modules that circle the band of the watch. They go by HCMS2901, but [Sahko] recommends using the HCMS3901 as it’s both more 3.3V-tolerant and easier to find now. A challenge in mounting so many displays was the voltage on the supply rail dropping below the logic level; presumably the newer version does not have this problem to the same degree. Either way we love the look of these little displays and are pondering projects of our own that might include them.
He’s got quite a few wrapped around his wrist, so at full brightness, all these displays draw one amp. That explains why like the LED watches of the 1970s, the default state of the displays is “OFF”. Even with a LiPo pouch salvaged from a disposable vape, the runtime would only be half an hour at full brightness without that periodicity. Luckily [Sahko] included buttons on the band of the watch to activate it and control the brightness so it isn’t always blasting at full. There are also different modes available, including a really cool waterfall effect you can see in the video.
The band is an interesting choice, too: it’s just a flex PCB. There’s nothing backing it, aside from its own stiffeners, which makes us very curious how well this watch would hold up to daily use. There’s no clasp in the traditional sense, either: the band is closed by a 4-pin connector that doubles as both charge and the USB programmer for the stm32u08 microcontroller that runs the displays. Conveniently for a watch, this version of the stm32 has an RTC, so it keeps time as well. We dig the minimalism of this design; it’s a great contrast to the maximalism of wrapping your wrist in displays.
We’ve seen very similar displays on an edge-viewed watch, but a tiny amber LED matrix never gets old. If you wrapping your wrist in all those tiny LEDs is too impractically power-hungry, try using Nixie tubes.
We’re always watching for projects– wrist mounted clocks or otherwise– so if you’ve got the time, please drop us a tip.

Part of Dr. Dre’s SSL 4000 G+ mixing console sells for a record-breaking $165,000 at auctionPart of an SSL 4000 G+ mixing console owned by producer Dr. Dre has sold at auction for $165,000, breaking a record for the most expensive hip-hop instrument or studio item sold at auction.
The auction was hosted by The Realest, an ​​authentication and marketplace platform, which describes the console as “one of the most important production tools in modern hip-hop history” that helped engineer “the signature Dre sound”.

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The 16-channel section of the console now belongs to collector Ryan Zurrer, who will be putting it on display at the Hip Hop Museum in New York when it opens in 2026. Zurrer took to social platform X after the auction to share his gratitude, and called the channel strip an “iconic part of hip-hop history”.

Still the same OG, but low key.
Grateful to pick up the signature instrument that Dre took the time to perfect the beat…brought the oldies, taught you to smoke trees…still DRE.This iconic part of hip hop history will be available to the public @thhmuseum because it ain’t no… pic.twitter.com/PrLjbOvTNL
— Ryan Zurrer (@kukulabanze) July 25, 2025

The console was originally installed at Record One Studio in LA, and was used to produce Dre’s The Chronic album (1992), Snoop Dogg’s Doggystyle (1993), and other records under Dr. Dre’s Aftermath label, which he founded in 1996.
The Realest states that “virtually every major artist who entered the studio between the early ’90s and mid-2000s passed through this board”. It was received by The Realest directly from legendary producer Che Pope, the former GM of Aftermath Entertainment and longtime Dre collaborator.
The console shows no damage, but its working condition is undetermined and it has not been tested since removal from the studio. The sale of it included a power supply unit and rack cabinet.
According to Variety, the sale broke the previous record held by RZA’s E-mu SP-1200 drum machine, which was used on Wu-Tang Clan’s 1993 debut album, Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), and sold for $69,000 in 2023.
Of course, many producers out there could only dream of paying out such a vast amount of money on a historic piece of gear, but fear not – Solid State Logic has just released a channel strip plugin version of the classic SL 4000 G console, named SSL 4K G. The brand describes it as “the definitive” emulation of the original channel strip, and it has been created by its original designers.
To find out more about the SSL 4K G plugin, head over to Solid State Logic. You can also find out more about The Hip Hop Museum. 
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New Amazon Music Insights can turn Fans into MarketersAmazon Music is turning a fan's listener history into something they can brag about, and that's good news for artists. By making them easy to share, Amazon Music Insights can turn fans into marketers.
The post New Amazon Music Insights can turn Fans into Marketers appeared first on Hypebot.

Metal and Hard Rock ticket sales are exploding says Live NationMetal and Hard Rock ticket sales grew significantly over the last year, according to Live Nation. Hard rock concerts are up 15% in 2025.
The post Metal and Hard Rock ticket sales are exploding says Live Nation appeared first on Hypebot.

Free Immersive Audio Webinar featuring Alan Parsons  In conjunction with Sound On Sound, Alan Parsons’ ASSR continues its recent tradition of delivering free webinars with another unmissable event.

Gospel Producers Loop TrackLoop Track is a free drum loop plugin featuring over 400 hard hitting drum samples: 24-bit, 48k .wav files. Over 400+ Samples. 15 Included Drum Banks. 7 Different Multi-FX Processors (Verb, Degrade, Saturation, EQ, H/L Pass Filters & Pitch). Streamlined 1-Page GUI. Includes 100s free MIDI Files. Read More

Serato’s DJ Pro and DJ Lite software gets one of the “biggest updates yet”An exciting upgrade for Serato DJ Pro and DJ Lite has now entered a public beta testing phase, and introduces “the biggest update yet to the software’s library interface”.
The 4.0 update is available to access now, and has been developed with direct input from its global community via Reddit threads, support tickets, and more. It brings “highly requested” features and upgrades designed to improve workflow and enhance performance.

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An important step up is its streamlined crate management, with advanced crate searching (DJ Pro users only) and filtering tools now allowing users to search for and sort crates, as well as showing what crates a particular track is in.
You can also now create a shortcut to your favourite or most used crates at the top of your crate list for easy access, and assign colour coding to each one. All essential crate information is also now located at the bottom of the library interface.
Furthermore, the update delivers the integration of right-click functionality, allowing for quick and easy access to crate actions and options. You can also analyse the BPM, key, and length of your tracks while remaining connected to hardware, and track DNA will be automatically analysed upon import for faster identification.
Users of DJ Pro 4.0 can additionally add both library and streaming tracks in the same crate. Find out more about the latest features in the video below:

In other Serato news, last April a tech investment firm called Tiny paid $66 million for a 66 percent stake in the brand, following on from AlphaTheta’s blocked proposal to buyout Serato in 2024.
The DJ software company had been on the hunt for a new investor since 2023. Originally, Pioneer DJ’s parent company AlphaTheta proposed a total buyout of Serato for upwards of $100 million. The deal would have resulted in AlphaTheta owning 90 percent of market shares in the DJ software business.
You can join the public beta now, or learn more about Serato DJ Pro and DJ Lite.
The post Serato’s DJ Pro and DJ Lite software gets one of the “biggest updates yet” appeared first on MusicTech.

Spotify says it will delete the accounts of users who fail age verification checksIn the wake of the implementation of the UK’s Online Safety Act, Spotify says it could delete the accounts of users who fail age verification checks.
The Online Safety Act came into effect in the UK on 25 July, and is aimed primarily at preventing children from viewing adult content.

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Following its implementation, many online platforms – including Reddit, Discord and others where adult content may be accessed – have begun introducing age verification checks.
Now, Spotify has teamed up with Yoti – a company which specialises in digital identity verification and facial recognition and is used by many businesses, banks and governments – to ensure it is compliant with the Online Safety Act.
As the support section of Spotify’s website notes, the platform hosts age-restricted content, including music videos tagged 18+.
It says that “some users” will have to undergo a “facial age check”, or submit an ID verification.
The platform adds: “You cannot use Spotify if you don’t meet the minimum age requirements for the market you’re in. If you cannot confirm you’re old enough to use Spotify, your account will be deactivated and eventually deleted.”
It says users whose accounts are deactivated as a result of this will receive an email, and will have a short window to verify their age if it was a “mistake”.
Specifically, users will be allowed to reactivate their account within 90 days of deactivation, and subsequently go through ID verification. If no action is taken within seven days of reactivation, the user’s account will be “permanently deleted”.
Spotify and CEO Daniel Ek have been under fire lately following Ek’s investments in AI-driven military company Helsing. A number of bands and artists have pulled their music from the platform, including King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, indie rock band Xiu Xiu and San Francisco art rockers Deerhoof.
“We don’t want our music killing people,” Deerhoof said in a statement explaining their decision to leave the platform.
The post Spotify says it will delete the accounts of users who fail age verification checks appeared first on MusicTech.

My Forever Studio: Ninajirachi’s endearing soft synth selection“It’s like a fun ideas machine really. I use it in a similar way to the way people crate dig for material,” says Australian producer Ninajirachi on the “cute” soft synth she picks out for My Forever Studio, brought to you in partnership with Audient. The synth in question comes alongside a handful of intriguing plugins, studio gear and one very specific luxury item. All of this is part of the Studio Foreverdom game, where we ask guests to pick six items they’d make music with for eternity.
Ninajirachi’s brand of ‘girlEDM’ blends hyperpop, hard dance, electro house, and video game music, and has taken her to incredible heights. She’s remixed for Deadmau5 and The Neptunes, opened for Charli XCX, and has been likened to Scary Monster’s-era Skrillex. She even appeared on MusicTech’s digital cover last year to break down girl EDM – disc 1 and the secret of sampling her own tracks to find new textures.
On the eve of Ninajirachi’s debut full-length album release, we talk about making tracks dancefloor functional, the lengths to which she’ll go when processing her own vocals, and how EDM became her “gateway drug” to music production. Listen below and on your favourite podcasting platform.

The My Forever Studio podcast – created in partnership with Audient – sees artists, producers, and engineers create their dream fantasy Forever Studio, wherever they want in the universe. However, hosts Chris Barker and Will Betts impose some strict rules in the Forever Studio. Our guests are permitted a limited number of items in their creative space, so they must choose carefully. There will be nostalgia. There will be anecdotes. There may be gags. But there will be no bundles!
Subscribe to My Forever Studio on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and check out all episodes so far via MusicTech.

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