musicians
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Fender’s Tone Master Pro digital workstation emulates over 100 effects and amps
Fender just released the new Tone Master Pro modeling amp. This machine allows access to over 100 amp models and effects, in addition to thousands of impulse responses that capture cabinet and microphone combinations.
Music industry avoids legal battle with new streaming royalty deal
Music publishers, songwriters and musicians have struck a deal with streaming services for US mechanical streaming rates for 2023-2027.
Clubhouse has a new high-quality audio option for musicians
Clubhouse is becoming more useful to bands and singers with a new feature called music mode.
Amazon Music adds artist Twitch streams
Artists can now offer live Twitch streams in the Amazon Music app.
Facebook adds official music videos to News Feed and Watch
Beginning today, Facebook users in the US can watch official music videos on Facebook.
Spotify’s COVID-19 Music Relief page makes it easy to donate to artists
Since the coronavirus pandemic began, forcing music venues to close and cancel shows, the music industry has been looking for ways to adapt. Several streaming giants have pledged to contribute to the MusiCares' COVID-19 Relief Fund, entertainers have pivoted and platforms like Bandsintown and Twitch are helping artists make money via streaming. Now, Spotify wants to make it easier for everyone to donate to the organizations supporting the music community.
Bandsintown helps musicians make money with Twitch concerts
Bandsintown wants to help musicians pull in money during the COVID-19 pandemic in addition to promoting their shows. The discovery service is giving artists free, "fast-tracked" access to Twitch's monetization systems to help them generate money from livestreamed concerts. If all goes well, they'll quickly get affiliate status on Twitch and thus make money from subscriptions and bit donations. Performers will need to have 2,000 or more Bandsintown followers and a link to their Twitch channel in their Bandsintown profile. After filling out a form, they should get affiliate status in two to five business days.
Bandsintown will help artists promote livestreams
As musicians cancel concerts due to the coronavirus, bands like the Dropkick Murphys are turning to livestreams as a way to connect with fans and potentially recoup some of the money they're losing. Today, the concert-discovery app Bandsintown announced a new Watch Live feature that will let artists send push notifications when they livestream shows. Bandsintown is also launching its own Twitch channel.
Dropkick Murphys will livestream a St. Patrick’s Day show with no audience
The Dropkick Murphys have been playing St. Patrick's Day shows for 24 years. This year the show, like most things, will be a little different. In an attempt to slow the spread of COVID-19, the band is canceling its regular concert but will livestream a free performance tomorrow at 7pm ET.
Musicians demand fairer pay for work on streaming movies and TV shows
Groups of musicians who create the soundtracks for streaming shows like The Handmaid's Tale and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel have come together in New York and Los Angeles to protest outside the office of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and the headquarters of NBCUniversal. The musicians are calling on media companies for fairer payments in streaming productions.
Spotify lets you add 15-second song clips to Facebook Stories
Beginning today, Spotify will let users share 15-second clips of Spotify songs on their Facebook Stories. If followers tap on the preview, they'll be transferred to Spotify, where they can listen to the rest of the track. The change is geared toward musicians, and Spotify calls it "a more powerful way to connect with fans." But anyone will be able to use the new feature.
Spotify event series offers aspiring artists music industry tips
Spotify appears to be on a mission to aid emerging artists as much as possible, with efforts including allowing them to upload music directly to the streaming service and offering some of them advances for licensing their work. The latest plan to help them out is a series of events designed to connect them with music industry experts and provide them with advice.
Spotify offers free direct uploads for indie artists
Spotify is making life easier for indie artists who want to get their music on the service by letting them directly upload their own tracks without having to go through an intermediary like a label or distributor. The free feature is launching in beta in Spotify for Artists.
Google adds tweet-like posts from musicians to search results
Musicians are now able to post information directly within their Google Search Knowledge Panel. The Knowledge Panel is that dedicated section that pops up when you search for celebrities, which, for musicians, has information about them, their work, links to where you can hear their music, their videos and more. Now, within that panel, musicians will also be able to post information, sort of like a tweet.
Spotify is on the hook for $150 million in class-action suit
A class-action lawsuit filed this week claims that Spotify knowingly and willingly distributes songs without obtaining the proper, mechanical licenses, Billboard reports. The suit, filed by the band Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker frontman David Lowery on December 28th, seeks $150 million in damages. The artists launched a class-action suit because Spotify's actions affect more than 100 people, according to the complaint.
'Hotline Miami' sale benefits the artists behind those wild soundtracks
Hotline Miami and Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number are both dense, addictive and brutal -- and a lot of those adjectives come courtesy of the games' soundtracks. In recognition of this musical magnificence, Dennaton Games is holding a sale this weekend that benefits the aural artists responsible for both Hotline Miami soundtracks. Hotline Miami 2 is 40 percent off ($9) and Hotline Miami is 75 percent off ($2.50), and 100 percent of the proceeds during this sale go directly to the games' musicians. The combo pack, offering both games, is just $11 during the sale, and both soundtracks are discounted as well: 75 percent off for Hotline Miami's ($2.50) and 40 percent off for the sequel's ($9). The sale is live now through Monday at 10AM PT. If you've never heard the Hotline Miami soundtracks (Seriously, what are you doing with your life?), listen to a few songs below.
Research shows brain waves sync to the music we're listening to
Many of us naturally tap our feet when we want to keep in time with a tricky piece of music. However, researchers at New York University have discovered that this physical technique is but one example of our how our bodies naturally interpret tunes. Deep inside our skulls we have two types of low-frequency brain waves, delta and theta, that automatically synchronise with the music we're listening to. These cortical brain rhythms help us to process the piece -- they perform a similar function in conversation, breaking down syllables, words and phrases so that we can understand what someone's trying to tell us.
ICYMI: Jedi sword fighting, Chrysler car hacking and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-929278{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-929278, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-929278{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-929278").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: A Chrysler with a smart entertainment system was proven to be hackable and the company is releasing software to patch it. A martial arts company in Singapore is teaching swordplay with light sabers. And a new MIDI device for musicians will let them sync work over Bluetooth.
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]
Spotify wants to help musicians sell stuff directly to fans
It's no secret that some musicians aren't the biggest fans of Spotify -- or, in general, any music streaming service. Still, there's also no denying that Spotify is often trying to find ways to put more money in artists' pockets. Today, in partnership with BandPage, a startup which allows musicians to create customized fan pages, Spotify revealed it's going to give music makers "powerful new ways" to offer all kinds of stuff to the people who love them the most. For example, thanks to this new BandPage integration, musicians can now sell things like VIP access, secret shows and more to Spotify listeners -- something similar to what Beats Music is trying to do. The announcement comes as, earlier in 2014, Spotify opened up a merchandise store within its service, so this should certainly help act as yet another form of revenue stream for every artist.
