Music

The latest news and reviews of music.

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Beatport's streaming service for DJs sends music directly to decks
DJs are used to lugging their music around on vinyl and less back-breaking external drives, but they soon might not need to bring much of anything for their next gig. Beatport recently introduced its $15 per month Link service that streams tracks directly to DJ hardware and software, including Pioneer's entry-level WeDJ app and now Denon's Prime Series decks. So long as there's an internet connection, you can play Beatport's newest releases without hooking up your laptop or some form of storage. And if there's no reliable broadband at the festival, don't panic: You can store 50-100 tracks offline with the Pro and Pro+ versions, including directly on Denon's gear.
The company behind TikTok is reportedly launching a Spotify rival
ByteDance, the owner of the Vine-like social media app TikTok, might challenge Spotify with a paid streaming service in emerging markets, according to Bloomberg. It could introduce an app (not named after TikTok), in several non-first-world countries where Spotify, Apple Music and other music streaming services have yet to take hold. As for content, it has reportedly secured music rights from several of India's biggest labels, including Times Music and T-Series.
Recommended Reading: Trusting companies despite privacy lapses
People say they care about privacy but they continue to buy devices that can spy on them Rani Molla, Vox In the wake of Cambridge Analytica, concerns about personal data privacy abound. Of course, Facebook isn't the only company that's been caught collecting and sharing user details it shouldn't have. What's most interesting about this entire saga is the fact that we continue to trust the likes of Amazon, Google and others despite these lapses. We continue to buy devices with cameras, microphones and other tech, and willingly put them in our homes. Recode data reporter Rani Molla explains why our trust hasn't entirely eroded in a piece for Vox.
Spotify brings back its 99-cent Premium offer
If you've wanted to try a paid streaming music service but have been skittish about the costs, you now have as good an excuse as any to give it a try. Spotify has brought back its twice-per-year Premium offer, giving you three months of full service for 99 cents (£0.99 in the UK) if you sign up between now and June 30th. And yes, there's a deal if you gave up on Spotify and are considering coming back -- if you canceled Premium at any time before April 15th, you can get three months for $10.
Spotify tests a version of Stories for artists
Count Spotify among the ranks of internet giants duping Snapchat's Stories feature. The streaming music service has confirmed an Android Police report that it's testing a Storyline feature where musicians can share Stories-style content, whether it's making-of trivia or a song's influences. This isn't the same as Behind the Lyrics, which pulls data from Genius -- artists and their managers have to work with Spotify directly.
Twitch streamers can soundtrack shows with Anjunabeats' dance tunes
Twitch streamers don't have great options for legal music -- if they're not willing to pay for licenses, they typically have to either rely on free-to-use fare or accept that parts of their on-demand video will be muted. They'll have a better option from now on, though. Dance music label Anjunabeats has cleared 350 tracks (over 29 hours' worth) for use in Twitch streams, giving you a thumping soundtrack when you're chatting with viewers or just want to hear more than game sounds.
Google's subscription music numbers reportedly top 15 million
Even as subscription services eat up an ever-growing portion of the overall music business, Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal report that Google's packages are not expanding at the same rate. RIAA numbers showed subscription services added more than a million customers a month during 2018, meanwhile the Wall Street Journal cites sources claiming YouTube Music and Google Play Music subscriptions have been "essentially flat" over four recent months. While Spotify has over 100 million customers, the reported numbers put Google's music offerings at 15 - 16 million. Google told the outlets that subscription numbers and the reports of flat growth are inaccurate, and that as of March, combined subscribers to YouTube Premium and YouTube Music are up 60 percent over last year. Still, the numbers claimed by the sources paint an interesting picture as Google continues to slowly shift from Google Play Music to YouTube Music. A year after launching the YouTube-branded service, it's only just adding features like the ability to play locally-stored songs and still has not replaced GPM's cloud locker for user's own music files. Meanwhile, YouTube continues to be a way many people access music and music videos for free with Google's ads. While it would certainly like to turn those folks into more paying subscribers, having that backdrop means that even with fewer customers, its potential is a bit different than the offerings from Apple, Spotify and Amazon.
What we're buying: A solid MIDI controller that's also easy to use
This week, Senior Editor Roberto Baldwin gives us a behind-the-scenes look at one of the many instruments he uses in one of his many bands. Not only is the 32-slimkey Arturia Keystep MIDI controller a great little MIDI controller and sequencer, it's also surprisingly user-friendly.
Uno Drum is a $250 drum machine loaded with features
IK Multimedia surprised many last year expanding beyond its normal niche of portable MIDI controllers and iPhone recording interfaces by launching an actual synthesizer. And, not only that, it turned out to be quite a capable competitor to the Volca's of the world. Now the company is expanding its line of standalone instruments with the Uno Drum.
Urbanears' $199 portable speaker is meant to be shared
Urbanears is back with a connected home speaker, but this time it's both portable and shareable. The Swedish company's new Rålis speaker is small enough to transport and comes with a carrying strap, so you can listen at home or bring it poolside -- where Urbanears promises it's water resistant (IPX2).
YouTube Music for Android can play your local song collection
If YouTube Music is going to fully replace Google Play Music, it will need to handle many of the features that listeners take for granted -- and now, local playback is one of them. After an initial rollout for some users, YouTube Music's Android app now supports locally-stored songs for many (if not necessarily all) users in a "Device Files" section. You might not have to worry about missing out on a hard-to-find tune just because you want one app to handle both your local and streaming music collections.
EU set to investigate Apple over Spotify's competition claims
The European Union might just believe that Spotify's complaint against Apple has some merit. Financial Times sources have claimed that EU competition commissioners have decided to launch an antitrust investigation into allegations that Apple unfairly hinders Spotify and other rivals to Apple Music through App Store policies. The investigation would start in the "next few weeks," according to the outlet.
AI brought a 60-year old music-making machine to life
If you've seen Looney Tunes or The Simpsons, you've probably heard Raymond Scott's music -- which was adapted for those and other cartoons. But there's a good chance you haven't heard of Scott himself. A musician and inventor, Scott was ahead of his time. As early as the 1950s, he began working on the Electronium, a kind of music synthesizer that he hoped would perform and compose music simultaneously. While Scott invested $1 million and more than a decade in Electronium, he died before it was complete. Now, Fast Company reports, Pentagram partner and sound artist Yuri Suzuki has picked up where Scott left off.
Imogen Heap’s musical gloves are finally available to everyone
Imogen Heap hums the opening bars to Breathe In before pinching her fingers, instructing a sequencer to begin playing it on a loop. She opens her palms wide and makes a fist, as if holding a drumstick, and begins thumping the song's beat. Piece by piece, Heap constructs the song until she is ready to begin singing, without ever touching an instrument.
Moog introduces the Matriarch: A four-voice semi-modular analog synth
Like it has in years past, Moog is unveiling its latest synthesizer during Moogfest. The company's annual music and culture festival kicks off today in Durham, North Carolina, and when it does, Moog will be building the new Matriarch patchable four-note paraphonic analog synth on-site. A progression from the Mother-32 and Grandmother before it, the semi-modular Matriarch is loaded: built-in sequencer (256 steps), arpeggiator, stereo ladder filters and stereo analog delay. The company says you'll be able to make some noise instantly though, with "no patching required."
Peloton users stuck with 'terrible tunes' following licensing lawsuit
Connected exercise bike maker Peloton was hit with a $150 million lawsuit last month for playing unlicensed music, and now its customers are feeling the fall out. Owners of the machines, which cost up to $4,000 each, have taken to the internet to complain about the poor music selection now accompanying their $468 annual workout membership.
AI generates non-stop stream of death metal
There's a limit to the volume of death metal humans can reproduce -- their fingers and vocal chords can only handle so much. Thanks to technology, however, you'll never have to go short. CJ Carr and Zack Zukowski recently launched a YouTube channel that streams a never-ending barrage of death metal generated by AI. Their Dadabots project uses a recurrent neural network to identify patterns in the music, predict the most common elements and reproduce them.
Bandcamp's new service is like Kickstarter for vinyl
Bandcamp is launching a Kickstarter-style vinyl crowdfunding service for artists. Once a musician's campaign hits its funding goal, Bandcamp will press the records, print the packaging, and handle shipping to boot. Artists will be able to set the price of their release and have full control of its design.
Alexa can finally control Apple Music on Sonos speakers
Amazon may have been a little optimistic when it said Alexa would "soon" control Apple Music on third-party speakers, but that feature is here at last. Listeners in the US, UK and Ireland can now use Alexa to steer Apple's service on Sonos speakers like the One and Beam, giving you the convenience of voice control while providing more oomph than most Echo speakers. Think of it as a more frugal alternative to owning a HomePod.
What we're listening to in April: The White Album in high-res
This month's installment of our audio IRL is an educational experience. It took a relatively affordable high-res music player and some appropriately equipped (but still pretty affordable) in-ears to teach Senior Editor Daniel Cooper that audiophile-grade sound wasn't total BS. Plus, he got to revisit one of the best albums of all time in the process.

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