Music

The latest news and reviews of music.

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What we're buying: A potent audio sampler that fits in your pocket
This week, Managing Editor Terrence O'Brien is obsessed with a new sampler that he can take anywhere. It's got its quirks, but that's apparently part of the appeal.
Recommended Reading: AI the music producer
How AI-generated music is changing the way hits are made Dani Deahl, The Verge The rise of streaming services is one of many challenges the music industry is currently having to contend with. In the latest installment of its "The Future of Music" series, The Verge tackles another pressing issue: AI. This piece tells the story of Taryn Southern, an artist who used AI to co-produce her debut album.
Yamaha's latest turntable streams multi-room audio via WiFi
You can pair a turntable with a multi-room audio setup (Sonos even offers a bundle), but that usually means wiring your record player into that setup at some point. Yamaha thinks it can do better. Its newly launched MusicCast Vinyl 500 turntable uses WiFi to stream records wirelessly to MusicCast speakers in your home. If you don't insist on that distinctive vinyl sound, the machine will natively stream digital services like Spotify, Pandora and Tidal.
Spotify's student Premium plan now includes Showtime
Spotify is determined to keep sweetening the pot for student listeners and stop them from drifting toward rival services. It's updating its Premium student plan in the US to include a Showtime subscription on top of the existing Hulu Limited Commercials deal, all for the same $5 per month. To put it another way, you can watch both Twin Peaks and The Handmaid's Tale at the same discounted rate that only offered music just a few years ago.
Reason Compact puts a free music synthesizer on your phone
While Propellerhead's Reason is a staple editing tool among many musicians, you've never really had access to it on the phone -- just narrowly-focused apps. The company is giving you something a little more powerful this time around, though. It's launching a Reason Compact app for iOS that promises music creation on the move. This isn't the whole of Reason smushed into your iPhone or iPad, unfortunately, but you do get the software's "flagship" Europa synth, a smart keyboard that makes composition mobile-friendly and a note grid to fine-tune your performance.
Korg's Electribe Wave app turns an iPad into an EDM beat machine
Korg is keeping up its habit of turning elaborate instruments into more accessible iPad apps, and this time it's focusing on the dance music scene. Its newly released Electribe Wave app brings the company's long-serving Electribe music-making stations to the iPad, making it relatively easy to produce electronic beats in genres ranging from house to future bass to trap. You'll see the familiar 16-step pad from physical models, for example, but you don't need much musical knowledge to take advantage of it. A Groove feature in the sequencer creates a more natural sound for percussion without expert-level tweaking, and a customizable chord pad lets you play with only one finger.
Apple Music will soon work with Android Auto
Apple Music has been available for Android for most of the service's existence, but it doesn't exactly reach deep into the Android ecosystem. You can listen on your phone or tablet, and that's about it. Apple is opening up ever so slightly, though. The latest beta version of Apple Music for Android includes support for Android Auto, bringing a native in-car interface to non-iPhone users for the first time. You won't be browsing the "For You" section from your infotainment screen, but the playback controls you do get are easier and safer than reaching for your phone.
All Pandora users can now share tunes on Snapchat
Pandora thinks it has a way to thrust its not-so-dominant Premium music service into the public consciousness: hooking into a social network that's also fighting for relevance. Premium subscribers can now share songs, stations and whole playlists as Snapchat cards, whether they're headed to Stories or directly to friends. You were previously limited to using a free or Plus membership, and in a much less sophisticated fashion to boot. And yes, Pandora is fully aware that your friends probably don't use the service. If they aren't Premium members (but live in the US), they can listen to half an hour of uninterrupted tunes so long as they're willing to watch a 30-second ad.
Prince's 1995-2010 catalog is streaming for the first time
More of Prince's music has been gradually making its way online since his passing, and that now includes a large chunk of his later catalog. Sony Music's Legacy Recordings has released 23 (!) of the late, great musician's albums on major streaming and download services for the first time, in addition to a new Prince Anthology: 1995-2010 collection that highlights songs from the period. Many of the albums are either rare or completely out of print, so this may be your only (legal) way to listen to Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic or Musicology without tracking down the CDs... assuming you still have devices that play CDs.
Skype chats are the latest place to listen to Spotify
Now that Spotify is on Apple's iMessage and Facebook's Messenger, the company will soon empower you to share and preview songs inside another messaging service, Skype. If you're a US-based Skype Insider with a mobile app version of 8.26 or higher, you'll be seeing a new Skype Spotify add-in soon; global Insiders will get the add-in later. Skype Insiders get early access to new features before they roll out to the rest of us.
Apple Music's 'Friends Mix' is a playlist of your pals' top tunes
Apple is giving your friends the keys to your Music account. Okay, not really, but every Monday, it'll compile 25 songs your friends are listening to into a playlist dubbed, you guessed it, "Friends Mix." 9to5Mac notes that this doesn't seem to be tied to a specific iOS update. From the sounds of it, the new trick relies heavily on the social features (seeing your friends' listening history, specifically) announced last June. Of course, this isn't the only playlist feature Apple Music has going for it. There's also "My Chill Mix" and the weekly new release mix. Editorial and personalized playlists have been Spotify's bread and butter for awhile, and Apple Music is keen to take a few notes from its competitor. The feature is currently in a staggered rollout so, if you don't see the mix pop up in your For You section, or Siri doesn't respond when you ask it to play the mix, just be patient. Welcome to the social.
Ask Engadget: What's the best laptop for music production?
First tip, avoid 'u' CPUs, as they're typically designed for mobile or low power usage (and can be more aggressive in their throttling, thereby causing dropouts).
YouTube Music is about to get a lot better
YouTube Music launched in May to mixed reviews. Even though its song catalog matches Apple Music and Spotify's (in addition to millions of videos pulled from YouTube) it arrived missing some essential features. Something as simple as sorting out your saved albums alphabetically, for example, isn't an option. You also can't browse by genre or easily see new albums from the week. But Google, which will replace Play Music with YouTube Music, is aware of these shortcomings and plans to address them soon.
Facebook could take on Musical.ly with singing-focused Talent Show
If you've been pining for a new way to show off your singing chops, you're in luck. Facebook is apparently developing a new show that will have users record their performances and send them in as an audition. According to researcher Jane Manchun Wong, who found the feature in the Facebook app's code, there's a new interface to find popular songs and then record your own rendition of the tune. Wong says that the feature "feels like a cross between Musical.ly and Fifteen Million Merits from Black Mirror."
At Panorama, art exists for the sake of the ’gram
Three years ago, when Panorama debuted in New York, it featured a tech-infused art exhibit area in addition to its musical lineup. I wondered: Who would go to a music festival to check out VR art or light installations? The obvious answer is that people don't go to music festivals to look at installations; they stop by the exhibits to pass time between acts. This isn't Burning Man, where art is as much a part of the experience as living in the middle of nowhere for days. The Lab, as this tech-meets-art zone is called, is more like a benign growth -- it doesn't hamper the experience, but isn't a must-see either. It's like an adrenaline-free theme park with just as much standing in line and waiting around.
Android's Clock will wake you up with tunes from Spotify
Android users' morning ritual might get a bit more musical. A new update to the Google Clock app adds an integration with Spotify so you can wake up with your favorite track or playlist rather than a droning alarm. As TechCrunch points out, this will work with any handset running Android Lollipop and doesn't even require a Spotify Premium account to use. The update begins rolling out this week.
Recommended Reading: The plight of fact-checkers in the fake news era
The fact-checkers who want to save the world Kate Knibbs, The Ringer In the era of fake news and rampant misinformation, fact-checkers are a key line of defense and an important tool in separating truth from lies. The Ringer takes a look a the organizations and individuals who have accepted the challenge, shifting through stories and even fact-checking those claiming to be fact-checkers.
The Japanese ensemble making music from old tape reels
Open Reel Ensemble doesn't play conventional instruments, like guitars, drums and keyboards. Instead, the Japanese band uses reel-to-reel tape recorders built by Pioneer and TEAC in the 1970s and '80s. They weren't designed, of course, with musical creation and manipulation in mind. Ei Wada, the leader of Open Reel Ensemble, discovered their performative qualities by accident. More than 15 years ago, he was given a couple of tape recorders by a friend of his father who worked at a radio station. He tripped over them one day and, in a mixture of panic and sadness, tried to rotate the broken reels with his hands. To his surprise, the sound changed.
Spotify uses your listening history to find festival tickets
It isn't always easy to choose which music festivals to attend. You might not be aware that your dream festival exists, and the ones you do know may only have one or two artists you'd actually like to see. Spotify might just fix this. It's partnering with Festicket on a Festival Finder that uses your listening habits to help you score tickets (plus accommodations and travel) to events around the world that truly reflect your tastes. Stream a lot of trance? You may get suggestions for Creamfields in the UK and Transmission in Prague.
Smart record presses promise consistent audio quality at a global scale
The manufacturer of what's one of the best sounding record pressing machines today is taking a step into the future. Viryl Technologies recently announced its WarmTone and LiteTone models will soon connect to the internet. After a test pressing is complete, an engineer will upload the press' settings to the cloud. The promise is two records that sound near-identical regardless if one was made in America and another in Germany. That consistency is important, as the sound quality and audio characteristics can vary wildly from record to record, plant to plant and pressing to pressing. Every one of its 40ish machines across the globe will operate from the same data for each album.

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