Live Music News: UK Ticket Probe • Bonnaroo • Ticketplus • More
Get the latest Live Music News under the Live Industry News tab above.

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What is trap music? Definition, artists, and characteristics
Explore the artists, subgenres, and characteristics that define trap music and learn how to make your own beats in the genre.

Steinberg’s new SpectraLayers 12 has “a strong focus on the needs of the post-production industry”Steinberg has launched SpectraLayers 12, the latest edition of its audio editing software, which introduces new and enhanced tools for unmixing and voice processing.
The upgrade follows on from SpectraLayers 11, which launched in June 2024 and delivered new, AI-driven features. The software – ideal for post-production use, restoration, sound design, or mastering – has also been improved with workflow enhancements, including the ability to operate on multiple layers simultaneously with all SpectraLayers tools and processes.

READ MORE: BandLab Licensing now lets creators opt in to training AI models

SpectraLayers’ unmixing updates are particularly handy for post-production work across mixed content such as film soundtracks, trailers, and radio broadcasts. There are now two new unmixing modules – Unmix Soundtrack and Unmix Instrument – which bring “even more precision and flexibility to the unmixing process”, according to Steinberg.
The Unmix Soundtrack module separates audio into dialogue, effects, and music layers to assist with dialogue cleanup, music replacement, and effects enhancement, whereas the Unmix Instrument module isolates and extracts user-identified instruments by analysing them, and then unmixing and fine-tuning.
Alongside these modules, the Unmix Song, Unmix Drums, and Unmix Noisy Speech processes have all been “significantly improved”. Unmix Song now delivers better vocal separation, and updated algorithms of the Unmix Drums process mean it can extract six kit elements: kick, snare, toms, hi-hats, ride, and crash cymbals.
As for voice processing, a new Voice Enhance module uses generative AI to process and reconstruct poor-quality voice recordings “while preserving the speaker’s unique identity”. A DePlosive module also automatically eliminates plosives in speech recordings.
Find out more in the video below:

“Since we first introduced unmixing algorithms in SpectraLayers, there hasn’t been any other application that could match its quality. Now, with version 12, the clarity of the separated stems is exceptional… You could almost believe that they were never part of a mix,” comments Marketing Manager at Pro Audio, Luis Dongo.
“This version also has a strong focus on the needs of the post-production industry, with innovative features like soundtrack unmixing and speech enhancement. Existing voice processing algorithms are constantly being refined and updated, while workflow and productivity improvements requested by our loyal users haven’t been forgotten.”
SpectraLayers 12 is available now. The Pro version is priced at $349.99, while a cheaper Elements version retails for $89.99. Find out more via Steinberg.
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The Velvet Sundown is an AI band after all, with its music created on Suno, confesses a spokespersonA spokesperson for indie rock ‘band’ The Velvet Sundown now admits that it’s not a real band and that all of its music is made with Suno, despite previously denying any use of generative AI.
The fictional group went viral in June 2025, with over 470,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. However, pretty much everyone had their suspicions that the band was fake after listening to the music and viewing the very AI-styled cover art and press photos.
Still, the band’s X account insisted on 29 June that The Velvet Sundown is not AI-generated in any capacity. Today, though, a “pseudonymous band spokesperson and ‘adjunct’ member Andrew Frelon” admits to Rolling Stone that: “It’s marketing. It’s trolling. People before, they didn’t care about what we did, and now suddenly, we’re talking to Rolling Stone, so it’s like, ‘is that wrong?’”
In the phone conversation with Rolling Stone, Frelon goes on to explain that the generative AI music platform Suno was leveraged to make some of the music. “I haven’t admitted that to anyone else,” Frelon said, adding, “I don’t want to say which [songs]” are Suno-generated. RS reports that Frelon also used Suno’s Persona feature, which producer Timbaland is using to create his AI artist TaTa.

Earlier this week, The Velvet Sundown refuted claims from online users, YouTubers and journalists that it’s fake and AI-generated. On its X account, it said that it’s “absolutely crazy that so-called ‘journalists’ keep pushing the lazy, baseless theory that the Velvet Sundown is ‘AI-generated’ with zero evidence.… This is not a joke. This is our music, written in long, sweaty nights in a cramped bungalow in California with real instruments, real minds and real soul.”
So, how did The Velvet Sundown get so big on Spotify? Even Frelon isn’t so sure. “I’m not running the Spotify backend stuff, so I can’t super speak to exactly how that happened,” he said to Rolling Stone. “I know we got on some playlists that just have like tons of followers, and it seems to have spiralled from there.”
Spotify’s CEO Daniel Ek said in 2023 that the platform will not ban AI music — and it seems to be keeping that promise. Deezer, meanwhile, told TechRadar that it’s flagged The Velvet Sundown’s albums as AI-generated content together with the message: “Some tracks on this album may have been created using artificial intelligence.”
The Velvet Sundown reportedly have an album coming out in a couple of weeks titled Paper Sun Rebellion, which will be their third album in two months. Will it receive the same attention as their previous…um…hits, such as Dust On The Wind? Either way, the band’s spokesperson encourages listeners to have an open mind.
“I respect that people have really strong emotions about this,” says Frelon. “But I think it’s important that we allow artists to experiment with new technologies and new tools,  try things out, and not freak out at people just because they’re using a program or not using a program. People have this idea that you have to please everybody and you have to follow the rules. And that’s not how music and culture progress. Music and culture progressed by people doing weird experiments and sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t. And that’s kind of the spirit that we’re [embracing].” 
Read more music technology news. 
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Is Zohran Mamdani really that bad for New York’s crypto industry?Zohran Mamdani has made waves after his primary election victory, but what would he mean for the crypto industry in NYC?

Lucid sales inch forward as EV maker pushes to ramp Gravity productionLucid sold 3,309 vehicles in the second quarter, a new record for the EV maker. Still, the company must ramp up production of its Gravity SUV to meet its 2025 target.

I was a co-founder of IMPALA. It saddens me to see how rabidly anti-major it’s become.Kenny Gates responds to claims made by IMPALA about Universal and Downtown
Source

Universal Audio Apollo x8 Universal Audio Apollo x8: Elite Audio Conversion & Realtime UAD Processing. The Universal Audio Apollo x8 is a rackmount 18 x 24 Thunderbolt 3 audio interface, designed for music producers, project studios, and post-production facilities demanding the highest quality audio conversion, expansive DSP power, and versatile monitoring capabilities. Building on Universal Audio's 60-year legacy, the Apollo x8 delivers an unparalleled recording and mixing experience. Key Features: Elite-Class A/D and D/A Conversion: Experience pristine audio fidelity with Universal Audio's flagship 24-bit/192kHz converters, featuring an impressive 129 dB dynamic range and ultra-low THD+N. The Apollo x8's new Dual-Crystal clocking system ensures incredibly low jitter for pure, artifact-free recordings and rock-solid stereo imaging. Four Unison Mic Preamps: Track through authentic emulations of legendary analog preamps from Neve, API, Manley, SSL, and more, thanks to Universal Audio's exclusive Unison technology. Unison intelligently reconfigures the Apollo's preamp impedance, gain stage "sweet spots," and component-level circuit behaviors to precisely match the modeled hardware. HEXA Core DSP Processing: Power your sessions with six UAD DSP chips, providing 50% more processing power than previous Apollos. This allows you to run more UAD Powered Plug-Ins in real-time with near-zero latency, whether you're tracking with classic channel strips or mixing with high plug-in counts in your DAW. Comprehensive UAD Plug-In Library: Access Universal Audio's vast library of over 200 award-winning UAD plug-ins, including authentic emulations of iconic compressors, EQs, reverbs, and more. The Apollo x8 includes the "Realtime Analog Classics Plus" bundle to get you started with legendary tones. Advanced Monitoring & Surround Sound: The Apollo x8 offers comprehensive monitoring features, including a built-in Talkback mic, Alt Speakers, and assignable Dim or Mono controls. It also provides up to 7.1 surround sound support with bass management, making it ideal for immersive audio production for games, film, and television. Apollo Monitor Correction by Sonarworks (optional add-on) ensures accurate playback in any room. Streamlined Workflow with UAD Console App: The UAD Console App acts as the digital hub, offering intuitive control over plug-in routing, low-latency cue mixing, and immersive monitoring controls. Features like Auto-Gain and Plug-In Scenes further optimize your workflow. Thunderbolt 3 Connectivity & Expandability: With two Thunderbolt 3 ports, the Apollo x8 offers blazing-fast connectivity and low latency (sub-2ms round trip at 96kHz). You can expand your studio by cascading up to four Thunderbolt Apollo interfaces for a massive 128 channels of premium I/O and shared DSP power. LUNA Recording System Compatibility: Seamlessly integrate the Apollo x8 with Universal Audio's LUNA Recording System (Mac only), a free, tightly integrated recording, editing, and mixing environment that leverages Apollo's onboard DSP for an analog-style workflow with zero discernible latency. The Universal Audio Apollo x8 provides a powerful and flexible solution for modern studios, delivering authentic analog sound and a world of processing power right to your rack. Read More

Subpixel Rendering For Impossibly Small Terminal TextWhen it comes to text, how small is too small? The experts say a six point font is the minimum for readability, but as [James Bowman] shows us, you can get away with half of that. 
The goal is to produce a 40-character display on a 24 mm x 24 mm LCD that has a resolution of 240 x 240 to show a serial terminal (or other data) on the “TermDriver2” USB-to-Serial adapter. With 24 lines, that’s a line per millimeter: very small text. Three points, to be precise, half what the experts say you need. Diving this up into 40 columns gives a character cell of six by nine pixels. Is it enough?

The raw font on the left, the subpixel rendering on the right. For once, it’s better if you don’t click to enlarge.
Not by itself, no. That’s where the hack comes in: sub-pixel rendering. After all, a “white” pixel on an LCD is actually three elements: a red, a green, and a blue subpixel, stacked side-by-each. Drive each of those subpixels independently and 240 pixels now becomes 720. That’s plenty for a 40 column terminal.
The article discusses how, in general terms, they pulled off the subpixel rendering and kept the font as legible as possible. We think it’s a good try, though the colored fringe around the characters can be uncomfortable to look at for some people — and then we can’t forget the physical size of the characters being 1 mm tall.
If this trick were being used on a larger display with a 240-wide resolution, we’d say “yes, very legible, good job!”– but at this size? We hope we can find our reading glasses. Still, it’s a neat trick to have in your back pocket for driving low-resolution LCDs.
It may not surprise you that aside from improving legibility, subpixel rendering is also used for pixel (er, sub-pixel) art.
 
The full set of glyphs in their subpixel-rendered glory.

Braiden Sunshine Joins TELEFUNKEN’s “Live From The Lab” SeriesTELEFUNKEN Elektroakustik, known for its high-end microphones and dedication to audio excellence, has added another compelling performance to its Live From The Lab series—this time featuring singer-songwriter Braiden Sunshine.Based in South Windsor, Connecticut, TELEFUNKEN's Live From The Lab series is a performance-focused project that highlights a wide range of talent—local, national, and international—recorded entirely with TELEFUNKEN microphones. Each session is filmed and tracked live at the company's in-house studio, with multitrack audio files made available for download by engineers, producers, and music fans alike.A statement from the company discloses that Sunshine “is the latest artist to showcase his musical talent on TELEFUNKEN’s ‘Live From the Lab.’ His performance of ‘Under Your Spell’ was tracked with a full complement of the company’s microphones.”Sunshine first caught national attention on NBC’s The Voice, but his musical journey began years before, singing in his church choir and performing with his early band, Madison Red. He’s since opened for artists like Huey Lewis and LeAnn Rimes and continues to release new material—including his Top 50 iTunes single, “Reality.”A statement from the company adds that Sunshine “uses the M80 Copper live, as well as the ELA M 251E in the studio,” two microphones known for their clarity, warmth, and detail. His Live From The Lab session includes a performance of “Sail Away,” available to watch online, along with downloadable multitrack session files for mixing enthusiasts.According to TELEFUNKEN, “All audio files are presented in .WAV format and were recorded at 24bit / 48KHz sample rate. They are clearly labeled in the same format with the source listed first (LEAD VOX, ACOUSTIC, PIANO), followed by the microphone used (C12, AR-51, etc.) and can be downloaded and imported into your Digital Audio Workstation of choice.”

The post Braiden Sunshine Joins TELEFUNKEN’s “Live From The Lab” Series first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

I’ve tested Waves Illugen, the Gen AI sample plugin — I’m impressed and concernedBasic: $8/month
Premium: $13/month
Pro: $20/month
waves.com
Picture the scene: you’ve come up with a gorgeous melodic and harmonic hook, and have imagined a perfect beat to complement it, but that beat will only work if the snare sound is just right. A hunt through various sample libraries ensues.

READ MORE: “Instead of robotics replacing musicians, there’s a big opportunity for extension and augmentation”: Finis Musicae on programming robots to play live instruments

But the snares you’re finding are either insufficiently icy or entirely the wrong shade of mauve (you’ll see where I’m going with this). Worse still, the longer you spend trawling through samples, the less sure you become about what you were looking for in the first place, and the less enthused you feel about that original spark of inspiration.
What if you could just describe the sound or sample that you want and then have it presented to you? Why, then, you must either be a super-successful producer with a team of studio assistants at your beck and call, or you must be using Waves Illugen.
What is Waves Illugen?
Illugen is a first-of-its-kind, AI-powered, text-to-sound engine. You choose whether you want a one-shot, loop or special/sound effect (SFX), type in an imaginative descriptive phrase such as “A kick so huge that it’ll cause earthquakes”, and a few moments later, Illugen offers up three samples inspired by your prompt.

These sounds aren’t just samples pulled from a library by a clever keyword-driven search engine, but are created on demand and on the fly by Illugen’s generative AI. Sure, this has been trained on a vast library of pre-existing sounds, beats and styles, so there will be abstracted elements of other samples within its creations. I’ll elaborate on this shortly, but this, of course, raises concerns about the morals and wisdom of using a tool that is feeding off the creativity of others.
Illugen runs as a standalone app, but the samples it produces can be dragged from the app into most DAWs, and are stored locally on your computer. They also remain accessible for six months from your Waves account.
Illugen thinking phase. Image: Press
Does Waves Illugen work?
The sounds you get from Illugen depend heavily on how you structure the text that you enter and how well the AI interprets that text. Waves provides a helpful set of examples showing the phrase structures that Illugen best understands. However, those structures differ for each sound type, and trying to remember all the variations isn’t easy. Some sort of crib sheet within the Illugen app would therefore be welcome.
Illugen’s results don’t always hit the mark, but, in theory, should improve over time, both in understanding your specific phrases and a general understanding of what people mean by certain words and terms. Key to this is the ability to give a thumbs-up or thumbs-down reaction to the three results it presents and, in so doing, help Illugen learn what you like and what may be meant by the words you’ve entered.
Results are better when the AI gets your meaning, and some of what it thinks up can be surprisingly inspirational. Unfortunately, though, there’s often a grainy, processed quality to what it produces, similar to the sonic artefacts heard in other AI-powered processes such as stem separation and noise reduction, and at times coupled with the artefacts associated with pitch and time processing.

Sometimes this audible patina adds positively to a sound, but it can often make it less usable. More to the point, the ability to hear what the AI is doing (in terms of potentially adapting pre-existing audio) raises questions in my mind about just how original and unique Illugen’s creations are..
Side-stepping the moral minefield, another thing I notice, especially when creating loops and SFX, is that everything Illugen produces is disjointed. So, for example, the AI may produce a nice loop that works perfectly in a track, but if you want the same sounds to play a different sequence or pattern – switching from verse to chorus, for example – the option doesn’t exist. The same criticism can be poked at most uses of samples in music, of course, and, in any event, Waves is looking into allowing Illugen to modify sounds it has previously created for you.
What does Illugen cost?
Illugen is offered at three monthly subscription rates, each providing a different number of monthly credits: 150 for $7.99 per month, 300 for $12.99 per month, or 600 for $19.99 per month. Credits are spent each time you ask Illugen to process a phrase and suggest its results: one credit for a one-shot, two credits for a loop, and between one and three credits for SFX, depending on whether you want a short, medium or long sound.
I tend to dislike subscription-based software-as-a-service offerings, but can forgive it here because, being a cloud-based AI, there’s a direct cost associated with each request the system handles.
If you don’t like Illugen’s results, then unlucky — you’ve spent those credits and you aren’t getting them back. I was using credits supplied by Waves to explore the system but, had I paid for those credits, I’d have been more unhappy that I’d wasted credits when the results were disappointing. It’s a bit like a low-level bet or a loot box in a game.
That said, with each request serving up three samples, all of which are yours to keep and use in your music forever, irrespective of your subscription status, the pricing is not at all unreasonable. In fact, even on the lowest tier, we’re looking at less than $0.04 per loop and below $0.02 per one-shot, so the value is actually rather decent. Waves even rolls over any unused credits from month to month, so you don’t lose anything if you have a few months when you don’t use the system much.

Illugen phrase entry. Image: Press
Is Waves Illugen for me?
During testing, Illugen comes up with incredibly useful results that help me move forward quickly with an idea while inspiring a couple of new ideas along the way. It also produces its fair share of duds. As mentioned, results will largely depend on your prompts, and sounds will likely contain some undesirable artefacts.
I have concerns, moral and practical, about an AI-powered system that can get so deeply involved in the creative process.
On one hand, it’s merely an assistant that aids in the donkey work of creating the perfect sonic palette for a production, and can be likened to using any sample that you didn’t create yourself. But on the other hand, Illugen can step beyond being a mere assistant and begin to guide – even supplant – your own creative decisions.
Some alternatives to Illugen include Output’s Co-Producer, which uses AI to help you discover artist-made samples, and even Waves’ own Cosmos, which uses AI to help you find samples in your sample library.
Whatever your view on AI, and irrespective of its current shortcomings, Illugen is an immensely impressive and innovative achievement. After a few more tweaks and updates, it could become a ubiquitous plugin for all types of producers and beatmakers.
Key Features

Standalone app for macOS 12+ and Windows 10+
AI-powered text-to-sound engine
3 samples created from every submitted phrase
Pay to create sounds using credits purchased via monthly subscription
Choice of one-shot, loop or SFX samples
Specify the tempo of loops and the length of SFX
Drag-and-drop from app to DAW
All generated samples saved to your computer, and held for 6 months in your Waves account

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Steinberg unveil SpectraLayers 12 Said to be more powerful, versatile and intuitive than ever, the new version comes packed with new features designed for a wide range of applications including music, post-production, restoration, sound design, mastering and audio forensics.

Nothing’s first pair of over-ear headphones are integrated with ChatGPTNothing – the consumer audio brand from the bright minds at Teenage Engineering – has unveiled its first pair of over-ear headphones, named, for simplicity, Headphone (1).
Designed in partnership with British audio pioneer KEF, Headphone (1) pairs “high-fidelity acoustics” with Nothing’s distinctive design aesthetic for an alluring proposition to any discerning audiophile.

READ MORE: BandLab Licensing now lets creators opt in to training AI models

Headphone (1) is also said to be the first offering in a “long-term partnership” between Nothing and KEF.
While the aesthetics are quintessentially Nothing, chief among Headphone (1)’s talking points is sound quality.
Acoustically engineered using KEF’s advanced tuning tools and acoustic expertise, Headphone (1) offers “precision and natural balance” via custom-built 40mm dynamic drivers for a “rich, natural sound with deep bass, detailed mids, and crisp treble across all modes”.
Credit: Nothing
The unit also features on-device spatialisation and built-in head tracking, transforming any stereo source into a 360-degree soundstage that adapts in real time to movement.
Headphone (1) can also be used wired or wirelessly, with support for Hi-Res Audio, LDAC, and USB-C lossless playback. It also features a precision damping system and high linearity suspension for minimising distortion.
But while sound is paramount, Nothing and KEF have placed high importance on Headphone (1)’s visuals and feel. Beyond its distinctive transparent look, it is made using aluminium and PU memory foam, with lightweight ear cups, telescopic arms for smooth adjustment, and oil-resistant ear cushions.
And to round things out, Headphone (1) is loaded with voice-activated ChatGPT for access to “information, inspiration and everyday assistance”.
“This collaboration brings together KEF’s decades of acoustic expertise with Nothing’s bold design thinking,” says Jack Oclee-Brown, VP of Technology at KEF.
Credit: Nothing
“With Headphone (1), we’ve applied our high-fidelity engineering approach to create a headphone that delivers natural, balanced sound with incredible precision. It’s a proud moment for our ‘Sound by KEF’ initiative.”
“With Headphone (1), we set out to create something that doesn’t just sound great, it feels different the moment you pick it up,” says Adam Bates, Head of Design at Nothing. 
“From the tactile controls to the transparent construction, every detail is intentional. It’s a product that looks different, works differently, and invites people to connect with sound in a more expressive way.”
Headphone (1) is available in black or white colourways, priced at £299/$299/€299. Pre-orders begin 4 July.
For more info, head to nothing.tech.
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In The Live Music Trenches with John Harris of XL LIVEJohn Harris of XL Live has been in the live music trenches for more than 40 years as a talent buyer, promoter and marketer. He shares his story as well as what's actually helping him sell more tickets in 2025.
The post In The Live Music Trenches with John Harris of XL LIVE appeared first on Hypebot.

How Effective are Image-Only Ads for Music?Think image-only ads for music can can promote your releases. live shows and more without fans ever hearing a note? This surprising experiment by Brian Hazard reveals why visuals alone may boost clicks, but...
The post How Effective are Image-Only Ads for Music? appeared first on Hypebot.