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Tidal's interactive credits let you explore artists' other projects
In the days of CDs and records, exploring the credits for a piece of music simply meant reading the album sleeve. But with digital music, discovering the unsung heroes behind your favorite music -- the producers, the engineers and studio musicians -- is a bit trickier. Jay-Z's music streaming service Tidal wants to put an end to that, as the platform launches a new interactive credits feature.
Spotify adds songwriter and producer credits to its iOS app
After adding songwriter and producer credits to its desktop app in February, Spotify has made it easier to find out more details about tunes you're listening to on the go by bringing credits to the iOS app. Starting today, when you tap the options button on a song (the ellipsis on the right of the screen), you can view the credits, though only if record labels have provided those details, Music Business Worldwide notes. There's no word as yet on when credits will arrive in the Android app.
Spotify now shows songwriter and producer credits
Spotify announced today that when listening through the desktop platform, users will now be able to view song credits. Starting now, right-clicking on a track and selecting "Show Credits" from the menu will bring up its performer, writer and producer credits as well as the source from which that info was provided. Spotify says that currently, those details have been compiled from record label-provided metadata and they may be incomplete in some cases, but going forward, the feature will become more functional and will use information from other sources.
Netflix really wants to be a legitimate movie studio
Netflix has been producing original movies at a steady clip, sure, but, despite its best efforts, earning any prestige has proved elusive. In an effort to attract more big name stars like Will Smith, and directors such as Martin Scorsese, Deadline reports that the company has hired someone with deep ties to Hollywood to lead its original movie ambitions: Scott Stuber. While his name might not be very familiar, the movies he's worked on should be.
Streaming to Periscope is no longer confined to phones
Twitter's livestreaming service is moving beyond the phone. Today, Periscope CEO, Kayvon Beykpour, announced that Periscope will stream videos from, well, anything. The new "Producer" feature is aimed at content creators who might not want to be limited to just streaming from their phone.
BitTorrent hires an ex-CNN producer to head its news network
BitTorrent has confirmed that it's launching a streaming news channel called BitTorrent News, and has hired a former CNN producer to head it. The peer-to-peer network will be headed by Harrison Bohrman, who won an Emmy and three Peabody awards during the five years he covered politics for CNN. Rumors about the streaming channel have been circulating since last month, when Variety spotted a job listing that Bohrman has now filled.
Use your keyboard to recreate tracks from J Dilla and Kanye West
If you've ever wanted to try your hand at creating some stellar beats, here's your chance. Thanks to music enthusiast Matt Daniels, all you need the keyboard that's likely already in front of you to rebuild tracks from J Dilla, Kanye West and 9th Wonder. Daniels built Sample Stitch: a website that reconstructs songs from their original samples, and in the process, reveals just how each one was created. "I wish that more people understood this process and gift, so I've recreated the process of chopping up a sample, just as a producer would," he explains. The pieces of each beat are mapped out for your keyboard, so after listening to a portion of the sample play, try your hand at Dilla's "Don't Cry," 9th Wonder's "Impressknowsoul!!!" or Yeezy's "Otis." Heck, you can even record your efforts to see just how they match up, or to add more on top of 'em. This web-based MPC will at least save you the trouble of investing before you know the extent of your talents. [Photo credit: Photo by Jerritt Clark/Getty Images for Roc Nation]
Veteran producer Tak Fujii departs Konami
Veteran producer Tak Fujii announced his departure from Konami today following a "great 20 years of creation." Fujii revealed the career move via Twitter, giving thanks to "all who supported, loved my titles." Fujii's time with Konami began in 1997, serving as audio director for 11 years with the publisher. Fujii worked on a number of games with Konami, including the Pro Evolution Soccer series, Q-Entertainment's Ninety-Nine Nights 2, the PS3 port of No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise and Volition's Darksiders, which Konami published in Japan. As for Fujii's future, the producer added that he "will be freelance for a while." Of course, Fujii may be best known for providing an interesting presentation at E3 2010, about which he also tweeted, "don't think that was the best of me." [Image: Konami]
Voice Jam Studio offers professional vocal looping, effects
Voice Jam Studio is a powerful vocal recorder for iPad with dozens of professional effects, looping, fine tuning and even video recording so you're able to produce high quality audio and get creative with the process. The app includes four tracks to record your loops and layer them, plus other advanced tools like undo/redo, a tap-enabled metronome and more. The standard price is US$19.99, but it's currently on an introductory sale for $9.99. The app requires iOS 7.1 or later and also recommends you use it paired with headphones or a PA system. Apple's GarageBand is typically the go-to app for most people when it comes to any task related to audio production, but two areas where it falls short are loops and effects. Voice Jam Studio picks up the slack, focusing on these two features with a fine level of detail that GarageBand lacks. I'm especially impressed by the number of voice effects. They offer dozens upon dozens of ways to enhance the sound of your voice for different scenarios on top of just enabling fun and creativity. Plus, the app plays your voice back to you live as you're recording with the effect. This live processing is nothing short of superb. Another important feature is the metronome because it plays multiple roles throughout the app. For one, it of course sets the tempo. Using the arrows to control it is standard, but what's even more incredible is the app actually pays attention to you tapping out your own tempo a few times on screen and sets the beats per minute according to your taps, fairly accurately I might add. The lock icon next to each track acts a synchronizer to keep your loops in time with the tempo. This can unlock depending on your preference, but for the most part you probably want some level of synchronization. There's so much to go through in Voice Jam Studio because it offers so many features - multi-level undo, level and pan controls, on-demand note sustainability, to name a few - that the tutorial at the beginning has 80 slides. When I saw that number at the bottom I was a bit intimidated. This might entice you to just skip the tutorial altogether and learn the ropes on your own, but I don't recommend this. Yes, the tutorial could probably use some streamlining, but the app has a multitude of controls and they're all powerful. Plus, you just spent $10 if not $20 on it so you might as well get a free how-to lesson out of it. The last bit that's of great to use to a certain group of people is the video recording. Voice Jam Studio can film you using the front-facing camera of your device as you sing and use the app, doubling as a screen recorder to show your audience how you're manipulating the sound. Voice Jam Studio a remarkably well-rounded app that does a phenomenal job with vocal processing and editing. Make no mistake that albeit its intuitive design and creative nature, the app is probably best suited for professionals. Not a single feature strikes me as half-baked. At its current sale price of $9.99, Voice Jam Studio for iPad is a bargain.
Layoffs at CCP's Atlanta office confirmed: World of Darkness development affected
Rumours began circulating just a few hours ago about layoffs at CCP Games' Atlanta office. It was reported that an unknown number of staff working on the World of Darkness MMO had been unexpectedly laid off right before the Christmas holidays. The originally unconfirmed tipoff came from several posts on Twitter, and GameBreaker later reported that an anonymous source named the layoffs as Level Designers and various other Producers and Designers on World of Darkness. Massively reached CCP Games for comment and received the official statement below confirming that the layoffs are real and that they are from the World of Darkness team: "CCP today made strategic adjustments to the staffing on the team working on the World of Darkness project in Atlanta that resulted in the elimination of approximately 15 positions at the company. The change was due to our evaluation of the game's design and ongoing development needs. While this was a difficult decision, CCP remains committed to the franchise and our promise to make a compelling, rich, and deep World of Darkness experience."
Keeping your eyes open in the cold of Company of Heroes 2
After navigating a troubled road alongside former owner and publisher THQ, developer Relic Entertainment has found a new home for its library of titles with Sega. Though shifting to a new company with different policies and directives could hurt a studio's progress, a recent mission playthrough at E3 tells us that Company of Heroes 2 has not suffered in the transition. Last December, Relic previewed the seasonal combat on show in the multiplayer mode (which has been in open beta for most of June), its E3 demo for Company of Heroes 2 focused on a single-player mission, one based on the historic Battle of Leningrad between the Russians and Germans in World War 2. In addition to Relic's RTS design expertise in action, the mission had a new technology on display: a feature known as "TrueSight." Using this new system, darkened areas of a map only become visible based on the realistic line of sight a soldier has on the battlefield, with terrain and objects able to obstruct their views to the dangers that lie in wait.%Gallery-191374%
Variety: Gears of War movie script back in the works
The ethereal Gears of War movie is back in the headlines, with Variety reporting that producer Scott Stuber has signed on with the project. There's still no writer or distributor attached, but Stuber will work with his own studio, called Bluegrass Films, and Epic Games to develop a script and finance the project. Universal Studios currently has first look rights to whatever he can come up with.Stuber has produced a number of big-budget films, including Battleship, Ted, and the upcoming 47 Ronin. A movie based on Gears of War was originally set for a release in 2010, but that project allegedly fell apart due to "creative differences."
Massively Exclusive: A dinner with Final Fantasy XIV's Naoki Yoshida
Having a conversation with Naoki Yoshida can be a very intimidating exercise. It's not because of his demeanor; he's friendly, genial, and has an obvious sense of humor. No, it's because there's an unmistakable level of energy to him, a huge amount of passion and ambition that drives everything he talks about. He's exactly the sort of person who would try something completely insane like remaking a game from the ground up after burning the first version to the ground, for example. I had the opportunity to sit down for a one-on-one dinner with Yoshida at the Final Fantasy XIV preview event, during which we talked a great deal both about the upcoming relaunch of the game as well as his own experiences in remaking everything. For those of us who play Final Fantasy XIV, it's obviously an exciting time, but for Yoshida, what's happening now is the culmination of work that started only a month after he took over control of a game that he had to revitalize after a horrible flop on launch.
Disney reaches into the Toy Box with the new Infinity platform
The signs were all there in the rumors leading up to yesterday's big Disney Infinity reveal in Los Angeles. Disney's been working on a new gaming "platform," designed to bring all of its properties together in one IP spanning across multiple consoles and outlets. But the one note we missed was the most important: this game is connected to a series of real toys that interact with Disney's digital worlds, Skylanders-style.There are a few important differences, but the similarities between Activision's enormously popular toys-into-games platform and Disney's new Infinity initiative are quite striking. Both are inspired by smaller developers with big ideas: Toys for Bob on the Activision side, and Avalanche Software on Disney's, which developed the "Toy Box" idea in a much smaller form as part of the Toy Story 3 game. Both are big, expandable product lines with lots of options for console (and eventually mobile) titles, and both take retail-friendly physical toys and tie them directly into engagement-friendly video game experiences.Oh, and both franchises are probably going to make their owners lots and lots of money.%Gallery-176450%
Microsoft Soho hiring producer to develop 'interactive TV experiences'
Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business studio in Soho is seeking a television producer to "develop and deliver a number of new TV projects" using Xbox Live and Kinect, a LinkedIn want ad reads."Soho Productions is pushing the boundaries of Kinect and Xbox Live to bring a new line of interactive television experiences to the world," the ad continues. "Working with leading global entertainment partners, we are creating experiences that are not bound by the traditional definitions of television or gaming. Experiences where watching and participating are inseparable that will delight and enrich the lives of people everywhere."As the console landscape alters to highlight mainstream entertainment services, such as music and streaming television and movies, Microsoft appears to be making a major grab for the potential of a broader audience. Microsoft is rumored to be working on a set-top box called Xbox TV, and the Spartan Ops Halo 4 series is an ambitious, serialized endeavor – a television producer would fit nicely within the system the company may be cultivating.We can't wait for the first episode of The Master Chief Comedy Hour (Now better with Kinect!).
THX manages AV settings for pros and consumers with Cinespace HD and Media Director
The Star Wars Blu-ray boxed set was the first movie to ship with THX's Media Director technology built-in, which works with compatible hardware to automatically configure AV settings for optimal quality on that title, so it's no surprise the Lucasfilm produced Red Tails is next up for the treatment. Of course, the key element there is compatible hardware, and unfortunately there's not much new to report there since it announced deals with HDI and a few others at CES, although we're assured the team is working on expanding support for its metadata from embedded chip manufacturers. On the content creation side THX also has something to offer with its cineCube HD, a slimmed down edition of its cineSpace offering designed to control color management at every step of the production process for the way it will eventually appear on Blu-ray. There's more details on exactly what it does and how in the press releases, although the real proof will likely be seen in the movies and TV shows it's used on.
Aion producer talks about 3.0 and being truly free
The conversion to free-to-play is taking place in less than a month for Aion, and that means an influx of new players along with a massive new update. Producer Adam Christensen recently sat down to record a short video for the fans discussing how the conversion will work, what players can expect in terms of the update's storyline, and what to expect in terms of store offerings once the conversion takes place. Christensen explains that the primary motivating factor behind the removal of subscriptions was a simple need for players to have a larger influx of other people to group with -- the game plays best with other people, and making the game free-to-play would secure a larger number of people. He also opines at length about features such as housing and the new dungeons coming with patch 3.0. The full video is just past the break, and if it piques your interest, clear a little time away around April 11th to give the game a shot.
Mists of Pandaria: Ray Cobo interview
Ray Cobo, one of WoW's senior producers, sat down with us at the Mists of Pandaria press event to discuss the development process, new game features, and more. Check out how an expansion like MoP gets made quickly! WoW Insider: Mists of Pandaria, from everything we've seen, is on an accelerated time table. How do you, as a producer, make sure the process is going forward? Ray Cobo: We 've learned a lot over the years about how to make expansions and how the game development of WoW has kind of evolved over the years, and so with each expansion, we get better at what we do. Our tools get better, our muscle memory from the team gets better in terms of how to make stuff. We have such a huge library of things now that we've built and content that we've made that we can actually pull from and figure out how to make that better or how to not do that again kind of thing and learn from those pitfalls or successes and try to get more efficient every time. I think that's something the team has done for this one specifically is that each time it seems to get a little bit faster and get a little bit easier to some degree. There are still a lot of challenges in terms of curve balls that you get halfway through -- like in this one, it was recently decided to have two more zones. So it's like, OK, well, didn't have that in the plan but we'll figure out how to kinda get that in. Everyone on the production side and definitely on the dev team is very committed to make sure the content is great, so we want to make sure we give the devs time to iterate and explore and try to figure out what's going to make this game great and going to make the expansion great, because that's a core philosophy at Blizzard.
EverQuest II producer handing over the reins
EverQuest II players will probably be familiar with the name Smokejumper, the forum handle of the EverQuest franchise's Executive Producer Dave Georgeson. Georgeson has served as Executive Producer for EverQuest, EverQuest II, and the upcoming EverQuest Next while simultaneously filling the role of Producer for EverQuest II. As you might imagine, that's quite a lot of work for a single person. With that in mind, Georgeson announced on the official EQII website today that Holly "Windstalker" Longdale has rejoined SOE in order to take over the position of EverQuest II's Producer. Holly also takes the opportunity to introduce herself to the community, remarking that "the opportunity to be a producer on this team is surreal and certainly perfect." She goes on to say that "EverQuest... has had a place in [her] life for well over a decade now," making it clear that she's not just some corporate suit who doesn't care about the game -- she's a player who is passionate about the game and is in-tune with the playerbase. To read the full announcement from Smokejumper as well as the follow-up by Windstalker, just click on through the link below.
Silent Hill: Downpour brings the old back to the new
As we saw back at E3, Silent Hill: Downpour evokes the feel of old Silent Hill games, by sending its protagonist Murphy into the familiar town, where he finds monsters, creepiness, and all sorts of dangerous puzzles. But producer Tomm Hulett says this version of the game isn't just about revisiting the setting of the old titles -- he's trying to collect some new fans as well. "Bringing Silent Hill into sort of a modern game, for old fans, mainstream, for new fans, whatever, it's interesting," he told us at a recent preview event. "Because you need to keep those classic elements but you need to make them interesting for people who are used to Dead Space or Red Dead." To that end, Downpour has a few systems in it designed to make sure that the new game not only lives up to the Silent Hill franchise, but allows newer players (and even those who just want a good scare) to experience all the frightening fun, too.%Gallery-142907%
