Music

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Apple Music's new documentary shows Harry Styles getting a haircut
Boy-band heartthrob Harry Styles is the latest artist to get the Apple Music documentary treatment -- Harry Styles: Behind the Album lands on May 15th exclusively on Apple Music. The doc follows Styles, a former member of the British pop group One Direction, as he puts together his debut solo album (and gets at least one major haircut).
Ableton's interactive lessons teach the basics of music production
It's incredibly easy to make a music track today with all the killer tools out there. You don't have to convince a bunch of musicians to show up in your garage to record a session, nor do you need to become a multi-instrumentalist like Prince. All you need is a decent digital audio workstation like GarageBand or Ableton Live, and you can put together your own version of a hit song in a surprisingly short amount of time. Not everyone is savvy about creating tunes with their computer, however. In order to help, the folks behind Ableton Live have a new website called Learning Music to help anyone with a web browser learn the basics of modern music production.
A 'Purple Rain' concert film may be the next streaming exclusive
The Prince estate is trying to interest a major music streaming service in the exclusive rights to an unreleased concert film. It was recorded in a Minneapolis nightclub just prior to, and containing songs from, his 1984 movie Purple Rain. There's additional footage on the table, too -- enough to make a documentary about the filmed show. The potentially multimillion-dollar deal hasn't been finalized, but the estate is shopping the goods around to non-Spotify streaming providers like Apple Music, according to Billboard.
The rhythm action of 'Thumper' hits Nintendo Switch May 18th
Late last year, PC and PS4 gamers were treated to an surreal rhythm experience when Thumper asked them to pilot a metallic scarab down a highway of intimidating, abstract set pieces. The game is as bizarre as it is intense -- but timing movements to the game's fast-paced soundtrack and be incredibly satisfying, too. Soon, you'll be able to attain that satisfaction on the go: the game's developer has announced that the Nintendo Switch version will be available on the eShop in just two weeks.
An AI can recognize musical genres better than humans
Can you tell the difference between big band and boogie woogie? An algorithm can. Product design and development firm Cambridge Consultants says it's created a machine learning AI that can identify different musical styles better than humans. It's basically Jack Black in High Fidelity without the douchey elitism.
SoundCloud's latest feature crafts playlists from fresh uploads
Soundcloud isn't like other music streaming services. Rather than offering the back catalogs of seemingly every musician on the planet, the service is more of a resource for one-offs, mash-ups and folks looking for unique tunes to put into their DJ sets. As a way to help you discover more of what's on its servers, SoundCloud has launched "The Upload." The features looks at what you've liked and played and delivers a daily playlist based on your listening history.
Would you pay $1,600 to replace your sheet music with a tablet?
Last year, we told you about the Gvido, a lovely double-screened tablet designed to organize and display sheet music. Created by Japanese company Terrada Music, it allows musicians to turn pages with the tap of a finger. Now, it looks like the Gvido is finally getting ready to ship. It'll be available on September 20th for a measly $1,600.
We destroyed a collectible Doritos bag to get at its hidden MP3 Player
Junk food and summer blockbusters go hand in hand -- from the nachos, popcorn and candy you buy at the cinema, to action-hero faces plastered on every brand of potato chips at the supermarket. This has been the way of the world as long as I can remember, but this summer, the pairing may have reached its apex. In a perfect storm of brand synergy, nostalgia and guilty pleasures, Marvel has decided to release the soundtrack to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 in the most unconventional format imaginable: a bag of Nacho Cheese Doritos.
Spotify's latest move shows it's trying to get royalties right
Spotify has struggled with unpaid royalties recently, though it's promised to fix things to help support frustrated artists. The company recently limited its free streaming option to build trust with music creators. In addition, Spotify just acquired New York startup Mediachain, which created a decentralized, bitcoin-style secure database that manages ownership information for creative media on the internet.
'Up Next' is an Apple Music series highlighting new artists
Apparently Apple's Clive Davis documentary isn't the only music-related news from the tech juggernaut today. Apple Music has a new monthly feature series called Up Next as well. As the name suggests, it focuses on up-and-coming artists. The first installment looks at Atlanta rapper 6LACK (pronounced "black") with a mini-documentary, a spotlight on his latest album, a live performance and an interview with Beats 1 DJ Zane Lowe (above) in addition to a few playlists. Like 9to5Mac noticed, the performance being named "Up Next Sessions" suggests we might see more of the live videos.
Spotify lets thousands of indie labels limit free streaming
With an IPO looming, streaming music leader Spotify has been inking a number of new deals with record labels to ensure it has the content it needs to keep growing. The latest deal comes with Merlin, an agency that represents a swath of various independent record label around the world. In a press release today, Spotify noted that this new multi-year deal would keep ensure that Merlin's music stayed available on Spotify, something it'll certainly need going forward. All told, Merlin is the fourth-biggest music provider that Spotify works with, behind the three massive major labels.
Legendary radio duo Stretch & Bobbito return as NPR podcasters
Throughout the 90s, a late night stop in the WKRC studios with Stretch and Bobbito was a requirement for many up-and-coming rappers. Now, in 2017 the pair are returning, but because it's 2017 they're doing it with a podcast on NPR. The rise and fade of their show, which featured names like Notorious B.I.G., Eminem, Busta Rhymes, Nas and many others, is documented in the 2015 film Radio That Changed Lives (now streaming on Netflix).
Spin your yacht rock playlist from Spotify in Facebook Messenger
If you want to listen to Run the Jewels in Facebook Messenger, you'll totally be able to do that. From the F8 stage, Facebook's David Marcus announced that soon you'll be able to share tracks from both Apple Music and Spotify within the app -- all without the need to have either of the music streaming services installed on your phone. Marcus' example? RTJ's ode to El-P's and Killer Mike's significant others, "Stay Gold" from Run the Jewels 3.
Pandora's on-demand streaming service is available to everyone
It's been just about a month since Pandora unveiled its attempt at building full-fledged, on-demand streaming music service. Aside from a handful of bugs, the big problem with Pandora Premium was that it was invite only. That's changing today: Pandora Premium is now available for anyone to try. Like just about every other streaming music service, it'll run you $9.99 per month and the app is available for Android and iOS (a web version of Pandora's on-demand service is coming soon).
David Bowie's musical is making the leap to VR
David Bowie's Lazarus had two short, completely sold out runs in New York and London. If you missed it, you're kind of SOL. But, if you're willing to settle for experiencing it in virtual reality, instead of real reality, you've got a second chance to see it at London's V&A Museum. The musical will be given a second life as part an exhibition called From VHS to VR, during the museum's Performance Festival on April 30th. Visitors will be able to strap on a headset and drop themselves into a 360-degree recording of Lazarus recorded during its King's Cross Theatre run.
Gorillaz are getting a TV show, apparently
Prepare your brain's weirdest synapses for an animated TV show starring the members of Gorillaz, the lauded cartoon hip hop group led by Blur frontman Damon Albarn and Tank Girl co-creator Jamie Hewlett. Hewlett revealed the TV series in an interview with Q Magazine, as spotted by Pitchfork. The announcement is light on details, but the show will apparently span 10 episodes and Hewlett is in charge of all things animation.
Recommended Reading: iFixit wants to show you how to repair everything
Meet the $21 Million Company That Thinks a New iPhone Is a Total Waste of Money David Whitford, Inc. We're no stranger to iFixit's in-depth teardowns here at Engadget, but the company has a plan that's much more than ripping apart the latest gadgets to see what's inside. Inc. takes a look at how the the company is helping the masses repair everything from smartphones to kitchen appliances and why they offer guides for doing so free of charge.
Spotify is limiting free streaming for its own good
It's no secret that labels and artists aren't thrilled that their music is available free on ad-supported streaming services. Taylor Swift famously pulled her catalog from Spotify due to its decision to give full on-demand streaming to customers who weren't paying for a monthly subscription. And she's not the only one. The debate over streaming royalties has been going on for a while now. That's on top of the issues free options raise -- chief among them is artist compensation. When it comes to Spotify's decision to cede on free streaming, it was a matter of when, not if, this would happen to appease the labels.
Stream Coachella live on YouTube without the dusty sweatfest
Spring has sprung in the US and that means it's time for music festival season. Coachella is typically the first major event of the year and the 2017 installment is set to kick off April 14th. Just like previous years, you'll be able to watch performances live from the comforts of home on YouTube. There will be three channels of music from the festival's various stages and the handy scheduling tool returns so you don't miss the artists you really want to see.
Kanye West album is the first to go platinum from streaming alone
Kanye West's The Life of Pablo may have had excessive hype between the initial Tidal exclusive, the expansion to other services and the changing tracklist, but it's definitely a commercial success. The RIAA has confirmed to Engadget that Pablo was recently certified platinum, making it the first-ever album to get the honor based solely on listens through streaming-only services. While it's not exclusively a streaming album (Kanye sells it as a download on his site), its 1.5 billion US streams were enough to achieve platinum status by themselves. Downloads represented less than 0.1 percent of Pablo's performance back in May 2016, and it's safe to say they didn't climb higher without availability in iTunes and other download stores.

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