live music
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Snapchat will start matching you with live concerts
Snapchat will start matching you with live concerts in your area.
SiriusXM’s Premium VIP plan gives two cars access for $35/month
You’ll also get to check out thousands of live concert recordings as part of the plan.
YouTube Theater will be a new 6,000-seat live entertainment arena in California
YouTube is opening a three-story, 6,000-seat live arena for concerts, esports and creator events at Hollywood Park in Inglewood, California.
Bandsintown Plus brings its livestreamed concerts to Apple TV
Live concert streaming service Bandsintown Plus is bringing exclusive performances from Charli XCX, Phoebe Bridgers and Haim to Apple TV.
Bandsintown Plus offers exclusive concert streams for $10 per month
Many artists make the bulk of their income from performing live concerts around the world. One potential solution could be Bandsintown Plus, a new subscription service dedicated to live music. Adeline, Adrianne Lenker of Big Thief, Bakai, Brijean, Bye Beneco, Chrome Sparks, Chromeo, Claud, Diamond Thug, Empress Of, Fleet Foxes (Solo), Flying Lotus, HONEYMOAN, Ian Isiah, James Hersey, Jeff Tweedy, Joe Bonamassa, Little Dragon, Local Natives, Lomelda, mau from nowhere, Mindchatter, Misty Mtn, Mt. Joy, odie, Phoebe Bridgers, Poolside, Prequell, Rexx Life Raj, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Sam Himself, Scarypoolparty, Sir Chloe, Soccer Mommy, Toro y Moi, Trevor Hall, Tycho, Wallows, We the Commas, and former Bandsintown Big Break alumni Omar Apollo with special guest Q. Bandsintown says more artists will be announced at a later date.
Harman's latest audio tech is designed for in-car concerts
Due to COVID-19, livestreams and drive-in shows are very popular. Harman wants to make the audio in your car much better for them.
Bandcamp finally gets in on livestreaming music
But as much as I miss live music, the musicians who actually play live music, miss it even more.
Oda aren't just speakers, they're a $299 ticket to live music
As such, I’ve been going through what can only be described as live music withdrawal. It’s a pair of speakers where the main selling point isn’t the speakers themselves -- it’s the access they grant to an exclusive subscription of live music and artist “station” takeovers. A three-month season of Oda will cost $79 when the first one starts on December 21st, and that’s in addition to the speakers, which are $299 if you preorder them.
Wearing headphones at a concert isn’t as weird as I thought it would be
One of the worst concerts I've ever attended in my life -- in terms of pure sound quality -- was at Barclays Center. I get that arena shows are never going to be known for their top-notch acoustics, but the concrete cavern that the Brooklyn Nets call home is particularly bad. It's why I chose it as the venue to see Elton John and test out Peex Live, a service that promises to deliver an ideal music experience no matter how bad your seats (or sound engineer) are. There's a catch though: You have to wear headphones at a concert. That's about the most unintuitive thing I've ever heard of.
Twitch introduces free-to-use music, place to perform tunes
Twitch introduced a library of music that is safe to use for broadcasting on the platform. The streaming service's new music section includes over 500 royalty-free tracks that broadcasters can feature in both live and archived videos. Notably, the songs "will not be flagged by the audio recognition system implemented in 2014 to protect audio copyright holders and Twitch broadcasters alike," according to Twitch. "Our community has been vocal about the importance of music for their broadcasts and their love of music in general," Twitch's Chief Strategy Officer Colin Carrier said in the announcement. "By working with both established and upcoming record labels, we are now able to offer music for them to use that is cleared for live broadcasts and archiving." The streaming platform's audio recognition tech began muting archived broadcasts in August that seemingly contained "unauthorized third-party audio," which included many false-positive cases where genuine in-game audio was muted as well. The company's CEO Emmett Shear called those cases a mistake, introducing an appeals system for streamers to use. Additionally, Twitch added "Music" to the platform's game directory, giving artists a space for "creating, performing and presenting original songs." Pending Twitch's approval, "certain established labels and artists" may also host "radio-style listening shows and broadcast large scale events, such as music festivals." [Image: Twitch]
Video Games Live dates over 50 new concerts around the world
Video Games Live has announced 50+ new dates for its gaming-focused concert tour, including first-ever stops in McAllen, Texas, Spokane, Washington, Benthlehem, Pennsylvania and more. The show will also travel through Canada, Mexico, Europe, South America, China and other regions. The 10-venue pass through Mexico will include guest apperances from Journey composer Austin Wintory, God of War series contributor Gerard Marino, Symphony of the Goddess conductor Eimear Noone and more. The press release also teases appearances from "game composer friends from Japan," leaving us to dwell in anticipation for now. A listing of each show's date, city and venue can be found in the press release below, and you can keep track of ticket sales with Video Games Live's tour schedule. Musical tours like Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy or the Zelda series' Symphony of the Goddess pay tribute to catalogs spanning a single series, but Video Games Live's varied selections might entertain those looking for some variety in their live gaming symphonies. [Image: Video Games Live]
Super Mario 3D World will feature 'a lot' of live-recorded music
If you were drained by the New Super Mario Bros. series' abundant re-use of tracks and underwhelming synthesizers, know that Super Mario 3D World's soundtrack may feel a little more inspired. In an interview with Destructoid, 3D World Lead Composer Mahito Yokota explained that "a lot" of the game's tracks will be live recordings. "We're arranging the music with a big-band feel, taking advantage of a full horn section with trumpets and saxophones," Yokota said. A horn section and stringed instruments flowed through this recent trailer, but hearing that the greater soundtrack will feature plenty of recordings is a bit of a relief. Considering some of the Super Mario Galaxy soundtrack's highlights, it'd be nice if 3D World's tunes are also lively enough to remain stuck in the minds of players years after they've finished the game.
Cello Fortress is half video game, half live musical performance
On its surface, Cello Fortress looks like a fairly straight forward (if rudimentary) twin-stick shooter for up to five players. Dig just a tiny bit deeper, however, and you'll discover that this game has a somewhat unique set of rules. For starters, one of the players must always be a man named Joost van Dongen, and his controller absolutely has to be a cello. For realsies.Basically, van Dongen controls the half of the game that would normally be the purview of the computer in a standard twin-stick shooter, spawning cannons and mines and such to thwart the other four players and their respective tanks. To do so, van Dongen must play his cello in varying ways, improvising melodies that will lead to both effective in-game strategies and a listenable performance.Don't expect Cello Fortress to show up on Steam Greenlight anytime soon, though. The game is as much of a piece of performance art as it is a collection of code, and as such can only be experienced during live events scheduled by van Dongen. That schedule can be found on the game's official website, and here's hoping for some tour dates outside of The Netherlands.
Xbox Live streaming iHeartRadio music festival this weekend
You like live music, right? Of course you do; who in their right mind could possibly hate live music? Well, you can gorge yourself on this weekend's iHeartRadio music festival, which will be streaming in HD on Xbox 360 through a partnership with Clear Channel Radio. Held at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, iHeartRadio will feature dozens of what the kids call "fresh acts," including Carrie Underwood, Lady Gaga, Jay-Z, Jane's Addiction, Kenny Chesney, Coldplay, The Black Eyed Peas, Steven Tyler, Nicki Minaj and many more. iHeartRadio kicks off this Friday and runs through Saturday -- all Silver and Gold members will be able to access the HD stream through a special pane on the Xbox 360 Dashboard.
A day with deadmau5: LEDs, Super Mario, and techno
Deadmau5 (also known as Joel Zimmerman) is one of the largest names in the electronic and house music scene -- and he also happens to be a major tech head. Recently, the Canadian producer added some impressive new gear to his productions, in the form of a massive LED-covered cube and signature mau5head (that's pronounced "mouse-head" in case you couldn't guess). Read along after the break for an exclusive look at exactly what's going on inside the mind of deadmau5 -- both literally and figuratively.
Live musicians: Friendly Fire
As Real Life slams into Second Life at a great rate of knots, ask yourself this -- are you adequately prepared to rock and/or roll? Actually, the answer to that question is moot, because if you're not, Friendly Fire has enough rock and roll to cover everyone! Friendly Fire -- the dynamic duo of Case Munro (guitar and vox), MacKenzie Rasmusen (bass and vox) and "Soft Ware" (drum machine) -- rocked the stage and the crowd to their foundations at The Beach Bum on the Monday eve that we caught their act; They truly brought the place down with glamtastic tunes, proud, prominent bass and amazing breath control, and then built it back up with their beautifully political and catchy lyrics. Highly charged punk power-pop all around.
Live Musician: Norris Shepherd
When you log into Second Life next, be sure to check the date -- is it the 13th of June already? Time to wish Norris Shepherd a happy Rez-Day! Shepherd has only been in Second Life for one fun-filled year, and has spent even less time than that as a Second Life musician. He got his start in the Second Life music scene a couple of months in, watching the likes of Capos Calderwood, Skinny Shepherd and TallGuy Kidd, then venturing to a variety of open mics; he went from being awed to being awesome in Second Life in essentially a single gig, for which he rented the gear. Some 130 shows later, he's still out there, wowing the crowds and buying new gear.
Live Musician: Harmonia Trefoil
Harmonia Trefoil, who in real life has been singing for most of her life just for fun, has found that she also enjoys singing for an audience. She has been performing in Second Life since January this year, and her keenness for the task is evident from her generous and interested audience participation. In real life, she has had great success at "open mic" performances, and is working with her accompanist on doing feature performances. We went to catch Trefoil's show at the Lost Vegas Club, at 6PM SLT (US Pacific time) on Sunday.
Cinemassively: Keiko Takamura takes a Sugar Pill
Second Life music darling Keiko Takamura has performed frequently in-world for years. Her charming personality and her performance style have built her a solid fanbase. She arrives to her locations and sets up a table full of free goodies, such as a Keiko doll, for fans to take as souvenirs. This even led to an appearance on MTV!Now she's taking her craft to another level, with music videos. French Machinimator Dav Barbosa has created a series of Machinimas for Keiko. Be sure to check out the behind the scenes pictures of the shoot on Dav's website!
Cinemassively: Making of Richard Hawley's Second Life
It's not every day that a musician takes you behind the scenes on how he performed. However, that's exactly what the team behind Richard Hawley's appearance in Second Life did. Hawley was there as a cheeky response to a ban on smoking in the UK, dubbing it the "first" virtual gig for "puffers." He even encouraged his fans in-world to light up. The American Cancer Society would not be pleased ...What I'm more interested in, though, is the technology behind the performance. As you can see from the video, he was fitted with motion capture sensors, so that his real-life movements would be mimicked in-world. Most performers in SL use canned animations, which makes this quite refreshing!
