Steve Stoute talks independence, emerging markets and how UnitedMasters artist FloyyMenor scored TikTok’s biggest song of 2024Gata Only, released independently via UnitedMasters, was the most popular track globally on the platform this year
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Retrotechtacular: 1980s Restoration of San Francisco’s Cable Car SystemThe cable car system of San Francisco is the last manually operated cable car system in the world, with three of the original twenty-three lines still operating today. With these systems being installed between 1873 and 1890, they were due major maintenance and upgrades by the time the 1980s and with it their 100th year of operation rolled around. This rebuilding and upgrading process was recorded in a documentary by a local SF television station, which makes for some fascinating viewing.
San Francisco cable car making its way through traffic. Early 20th century.
While the cars themselves were fairly straight-forward to restore, and the original grips that’d latch onto the cable didn’t need any changes. But there were upgrades to the lubrication used (originally pine tar), and the powerhouse (the ‘barn’) was completely gutted and rebuilt.
As opposed to a funicular system where the cars are permanently attached to the cable, a cable car system features a constantly moving cable that the cars can grip onto at will, with most of the wear and tear on the grip dies. Despite researchers at San Francisco State University (SFSU) investigating alternatives, the original metal grip dies were left in place, despite their 4-day replacement schedule.
Ultimately, the rails and related guides were all ripped out and replaced with new ones, with the rails thermite-welded in place, and the cars largely rebuilt from scratch. Although new technologies were used where available, the goal was to keep the look as close as possible to what it looked at the dawn of the 20th century. While more expensive than demolishing and scrapping the original buildings and rolling stock, this helped to keep the look that has made it a historical symbol when the upgraded system rolled back into action on June 21, 1984.
Decades later, this rebuilt cable car system is still running as smoothly as ever, thanks to these efforts. Although SF’s cable car system is reportedly mostly used by tourists, the technology has seen somewhat of a resurgence. Amidst a number of funicular systems, a true new cable car system can be found in the form of e.g. the MiniMetro system which fills the automated people mover niche.

Thanks to [JRD] for the tip.

Kelly Clarkson, Katy Perry, Justin Bieber, Laufey and More Light Up the Top 10 ASCAP New Classic Holiday Songs ChartWith the holidays in full swing, The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), a professional membership organization of songwriters, composers and music publishers, unwraps the ultimate soundtrack for the season. Celebrating the songwriters behind the latest trending tinsel tunes and cherished seasonal standards alike, ASCAP announces the Top 10 ASCAP New Classic Holiday Songs and the Top 25 ASCAP Holiday Songs for 2024. For the second year in a row, Kelly Clarkson’s “Underneath the Tree,” co-written with acclaimed hitmaker Greg Kurstin, takes the top spot on ASCAP’s New Classic Holiday Songs chart, which comprises songs released in the last 20 years. Grammy-winning and genre-defying singer-songwriter Laufey’s “Christmas Magic” sparkles as the newest addition to the New Classic chart, captivating holiday listeners alongside Katy Perry’s “Cozy Little Christmas” and Justin Bieber’s “Mistletoe.” ASCAP’s seasonal standards continue to delight listeners with "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" by acclaimed Broadway composer Meredith Willson coming in at #1 on ASCAP’s Top 25 Holiday Songs chart. No holiday would be complete without Mariah Carey’s iconic “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” The now classic song, co-written by acclaimed songwriter-producer Walter Afanasieff, turns 30 this year and returns at #8. Another familiar tune on the ASCAP chart, beloved bilingual singalong “Feliz Navidad” by José Feliciano, continues to shine in the holiday canon at #17.Johnny Marks’s fireside favorites “A Holly Jolly Christmas,” “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” take three of the top 25 spots – a feat that defines Marks as the ultimate holiday hitmaker. Originally written between 1949 and 1962, his timeless songs have been covered by countless artists including Kacey Musgraves, Meghan Trainor, DMX, Ingrid Michaelson and Dan + Shay to name a few.Below are the top 10 most-played ASCAP New Classic Holiday Songs of 2024* and the top 25 most-played ASCAP Holiday Songs of 2024**, all written, co-written or arranged by ASCAP songwriters and composers. Each song is listed with ASCAP-licensed songwriter credits and copyright date.Listen to the top 10 ASCAP New Classic Holiday Songs here: https://bit.ly/49sygfK THE TOP 10 ASCAP NEW CLASSIC HOLIDAY SONGS OF 2024:“Underneath the Tree” by Kelly Clarkson and Greg Kurstin (2013)

“Santa Tell Me” by Savan Kotecha and Ilya Salmanzadeh (2013)

“Snowman” by Greg Kurstin and Sia (2017)

“Mistletoe” by Justin Bieber and Adam Messinger (2011)

“Like It's Christmas” by Gian Stone (2019)

“Cozy Little Christmas” by Ferras Alqaisi, Katy Perry and Greg Wells (2018)

“Santa, Can't You Hear Me” by Kelly Clarkson (2021)

“Believe” by Glen Ballard (2004)

“Christmas Magic” by Laufey (2024)

“Oh Santa!” by Mariah Carey and Jermaine Dupri (2010)Listen to the top 25 ASCAP Holiday Songs here: https://bit.ly/4f3swdC THE TOP 25 ASCAP HOLIDAY SONGS OF 2024:“It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” by Meredith Willson (1951)

“Sleigh Ride” by Leroy Anderson and Mitchell Parish (1948)

“Jingle Bell Rock” by Joseph Carleton Beal and James Ross Boothe (1958)

“A Holly Jolly Christmas” by Johnny Marks (1962)

“Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” by Johnny Marks (1958)

“Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow” by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne (1945)

“Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town” by Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie (1934)

“All I Want for Christmas Is You” by Walter Afanasieff and Mariah Carey (1994)

“Winter Wonderland” by Felix Bernard and Richard B. Smith (1934)

“It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” by Edward Pola and George Wyle (1963)

“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” by Ralph Blane and Hugh Martin (1944)

“White Christmas” by Irving Berlin (1941)

“Frosty the Snowman” by Steve Nelson and Walter E. Rollins (1950)

“Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” by Johnny Marks (1949)

“The Christmas Song” by Mel Tormé and Robert Wells (1946)

“Jingle Bells” (Frank Sinatra version), arranged by Gordon Jenkins (1958)

“Feliz Navidad” by José Feliciano (1970)

“Santa Baby” by Joan Javits, Anthony Springer and Philip Springer (1953)

“Here Comes Santa Claus (Down Santa Claus Lane)” by Gene Autry and Oakley Haldeman (1947)

“Silver Bells” by Ray Evans and Jay Livingston (1950)

“You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” by Dr. Seuss and Albert Hague (1966)

“This Christmas” by Donny Hathaway and Nadine McKinnor (1970)

“Deck the Halls” (Nat King Cole version), arranged by Nat King Cole and Leland Gillette (1960)

“Underneath the Tree” by Kelly Clarkson and Greg Kurstin (2013)

“Baby It’s Cold Outside” by Frank Loesser (1944)*Based on an analysis of ASCAP streaming and terrestrial radio data and continued ASCAP membership for songs with a copyright date after 2004.**Based on an analysis of ASCAP streaming and terrestrial radio data and continued membership in ASCAP.The post Kelly Clarkson, Katy Perry, Justin Bieber, Laufey and More Light Up the Top 10 ASCAP New Classic Holiday Songs Chart first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Getting creative with the Minimal Audio Effect Bundle
We discuss the four plugins in the Minimal Audio Effect Bundle and explore how they can help make your next session feel like a breeze.

FLOSS Weekly Episode 813: Turn Off the InternetThis week, Jonathan Bennett, Simon Phipps, and Aaron Newcomb chat about retrocomputing, Open Source AI, and … politics? How did that combination of topics come about? Watch to find out!

Did you know you can watch the live recording of the show Right on our YouTube Channel? Have someone you’d like us to interview? Let us know, or contact the guest and have them contact us! Take a look at the schedule here.

Direct Download in DRM-free MP3.
If you’d rather read along, here’s the transcript for this week’s episode.
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Theme music: “Newer Wave” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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Music and tech veterans Deborah Mannis-Gardner and Pär Almqvist launch AYO Music GroupAYO is described as 'an active copyright administrator offering global administration of publishing, neighboring rights, and recordings'
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Pitchfork Album Of The Year is Not On Spotify: Trend or Anomaly?You can’t listen to “Diamond Jubilee,” Pitchfork’s Album Of The Year on Spotify or any other streaming service. In addition to Pitchfork, other outlets swooned,. Uproxx called the album the. Continue reading
The post Pitchfork Album Of The Year is Not On Spotify: Trend or Anomaly? appeared first on Hypebot.

Resonator is the first FREE plugin from Thony Audio
If you want to add more interesting harmonic content to your tracks, we have a great free plugin for you today. Resonator is a free plugin from Thony Audio, a seemingly new developer. That’s safe to assume since their website looks brand new. Nevertheless, Resonator is an exciting plugin that’ll be a great addition to [...]
View post: Resonator is the first FREE plugin from Thony Audio

Essential Website Tips For MusiciansTransform an artist website into a powerful tool for fan engagement and career growth. From collecting email addresses to selling merch and optimizing your design, learn these essential website tips. Continue reading
The post Essential Website Tips For Musicians appeared first on Hypebot.

Spitfire Audio release Impressionism Described as “a love letter to 150 years of impressionist art”, Spitfire's latest release brings together a collection of instrumental sounds designed to create inspiring new musical textures and gestures.

Music Industry Predictions 2025: Michael Brandvold & Jay GilbertMichael Brandvold and Jay Gilbert share three predictions for the music industry in 2025 on a new episode of the Music Biz Weekly Podcast.
The post Music Industry Predictions 2025: Michael Brandvold & Jay Gilbert appeared first on Hypebot.

“It let us play the music of an imaginary future”: Why Hans Zimmer worked with the Expressive E Osmose on Dune 2Hans Zimmer has shared why he chose to work with Expressive E’s Osmose synth on the Dune: Part Two soundtrack in a mini documentary.
In Behind the Music of Dune 2 : Hans Zimmer x Osmose, shared to Expressive E’s YouTube channel, Zimmer explained his vision for the film’s score, and described how the synth helped to create a futuristic soundtrack that weaved together a mix of cultures.

READ MORE: Expressive E Osmose takes keyboards to “level nobody thought possible”, says Jordan Rudess

For those unfamiliar, the Osmose resembles a traditional digital keyboard, but is described as “a next-generation instrument” by Expressive E. Every gesture played on the Osmose – whether pressing or moving laterally – alters sound “with unmatched precision”, making it akin to a voice or acoustic instrument, allowing musicians to shape pitch, volume, intensity, and vibrato much more expressively.
Speaking in the documentary, Zimmer reveals that he wanted to go beyond a stereotypical orchestral score. He says, “Science fiction movies, other than I suppose Blade Runner, were always in a Galaxy far away, and then you hear the orchestra and you go, ‘Really? In the future we’re still going to be doing this? Why can’t we believe that there will be new instruments, there will be new sonic textures? Why can’t we go and invent new things that don’t remind us in a peculiar way of the past?’
“So rather than doing an orchestral score, ultimately what we did was we made a score of a band of virtuosos, a small group of the people who were the best in the world at what they do,” he states. “The other thing which I really do like about the band is that everybody brings a little bit of their culture to it, and because now it’s a mishmash of culture, when you write something which is futuristic it is like that’s what happened, you know? The cultures all got muddled up a little bit so it actually helps in the expressiveness of the music.”

As part of his quest for unique sounds, Zimmer started experimenting with the Osmose. Soon after, he said he wanted to track down five more to continue building the score. He goes on to add, “When you play a note on a piano, basically it goes ‘plonk’, and it dies out. What [Expressive E has] done is when you touch the keyboard, it knows you’re already touching the keyboard.
“Within that travel of that key, the sound can change completely, and then of course the one thing every keyboard player wants to do is what a violinist can do or guitarist can do, is have vibrato. So you can go and wobble your keys left to right, and you literally can transform a sound completely… It let us play the music of an imaginary future,” he says.
You can view the full documentary below:

Dune 2 is out now. Find out more about the Osmose via Expressive E.
The post “It let us play the music of an imaginary future”: Why Hans Zimmer worked with the Expressive E Osmose on Dune 2 appeared first on MusicTech.

“The production is a little distracting. It’s a bit slick” Early Nirvana producer on his “least favourite” record from the bandJack Endino, the producer behind Nirvana’s debut album Bleach, has opened up about his “least favourite” record from the band.
While fans often cite Nevermind or In Utero as their top picks — albums that propelled Nirvana into mainstream success — the former gets the least love from Endino due to how ‘polished’ it sounds.

READ MORE: “Some of the things that age most quickly are electronic drums”: FINNEAS on making Billie Eilish’s Birds of a Feather sound “timeless”

“It’s probably my least favorite Nirvana record to listen to because, for my ears, the production is a little distracting,” says Endino of the Butch Vig-produced follow-up to 1989’s Bleach [via Ultimate Guitar].
“It’s like there’s a barrier between me and the band,” he explains. “And I don’t feel that barrier so much with In Utero. Steve Albini’s sonic choices are there clearly in how things were miked and recorded and mixed, but it still sounds like a band playing in a room. And Nevermind sounds a little bit like a production to me. It’s a bit slick.”
Despite his reservations about the production style of Nevermind, Endino acknowledges its impact: “But you can’t argue with something that sounds that amazing on the radio,” he says. “It was the right production for that music, for that time, to get the result that it got, which was to sell a zillion copies. But just personally, I like hearing the live recordings of them doing those songs, because that’s the band I remember.”
Nevermind has since sold more than 30 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time.

Elsewhere in the chat, Endino also shares how he’d sensed Nirvana’s potential while he was working on Bleach and liked the band enough to that “it occurred to me that if they ever needed a second guitar player, I should probably, like, raise my hand.”
The post “The production is a little distracting. It’s a bit slick” Early Nirvana producer on his “least favourite” record from the band appeared first on MusicTech.

PSP Chamber & EasyVerb plug-ins from PSPaudioware PSP Chamber features a single algorithm that’s been designed to emulate the acoustics of a variety of physical spaces, while PSP EasyVerb comes loaded with nine additional algorithms that cater to a wider range of creative needs. 

Brian Eno, Jamie xx and more to host shows on Apple Music, as it launches three new stationsApple Music has launched three new radio stations, Apple Música Uno, Apple Music Club, and Apple Music Chill, which sit alongside existing stations Apple Music 1, Apple Music Hits and Apple Music Country.
All three new stations feature live hosts, with the likes of Becky G hosting some of Apple Música Uno’s Latin-centric programming and electro icon Brian Eno hosting an ambient show on Apple Music Chill.

READ MORE: Behringer invokes ’80s nostalgia with its new Wave synth

Meanwhile, Apple Music Club will be a 24/7 dance party, with a wide range of dance and electronic music hosted by Tim Sweeney and NAINA. Honey Dijon, Jamie xx, FKA twigs and more will also host exclusive shows.
“My show is a series of recordings taken from The Floor, a club that I opened for 10 days in London in May 2024,” Jamie xx explains. “I invited all my friends and collaborators down to play sets alongside me. Some of my favourite DJs and artists appear in these sets, so I’m very grateful to them, and I’m so glad to be able to have all these sets here in one place for listeners on Apple Music.”
Apple Música Uno honours a range of Latin talent across the globe. Alongside Becky G, Puerto Rican rapper Rauw Alejandro and Mexican-American unit Grupo Frontera are hosting their own shows. Daily hosts Evelyn Sicairos and Lechero are on permanent duty, with Sicairos having her own La Oficial Radio, and Lechero hosting ¡Dale Play! Radio.
“I feel incredibly honoured to have my own Apple Music radio show and be the voice of Apple Música Uno, where I can curate some of my favourite tracks and share my experiences with my fans,” Becky G says.
“Growing up, I used to watch and listen to music programmes that inspired me so much… I can’t believe I get to have my own show and hopefully inspire others in the same way,” she continues.

Finally, Apple Music Chill offers a place of solace for those wanting to wind down. The ambient and calming curation aims to be a sonic “sanctuary” where listeners can “feel at ease.” Brian Eno, Stephen Moccio and Zane Lowe will also host shows for the station.
“All my listening life I’ve been drawn to the slower, quieter, more mysterious end of the musical spectrum,” Eno says. “My radio show gives me the chance to share with others some of the things I’ve found there.”
Listeners can tune in for free on Apple Music Radio – a subscription to Apple Music isn’t required.
The post Brian Eno, Jamie xx and more to host shows on Apple Music, as it launches three new stations appeared first on MusicTech.