GEAR + TECH
Apple May Soon Offer Music That Adapts to Your Heartbeat In Real-Time
Go from REZZ‘s midtempo to Headhunterz‘s hardstyle in just a quarter-mile sprint. Apple has acquired AI Music, a startup that creates songs using artificial intelligence based on your heartbeat. The tracks that AI Music’s Infinite Music Engine is capable of creating are royalty-free, dynamic, and change in real-time based on the user’s interactions. A higher intensity run, for example, would signal a more upbeat and energetic sound. AI Music reportedly believes their proprietary Infinite Music Engine is capable of generating custom music to provide the most flexibility for users based on their activity. “Music that adapts to your heartbeat, audio advertising that matches listener context, universal licenses across formats… All of this is possible, and mo...
Coachella Is Selling Lifetime Music Festival Passes As NFTs
It was only a matter of time: Coachella has officially hopped on the NFT train. Via a partnership FTX US, a massive collection of 11,010 NFTs is slated to hit Coachella’s environmentally friendly marketplace on the Solana blockchain this Friday, February 4th, at 10AM PT (1PM ET). The drop’s crown jewel is the “Coachella Keys Collection,” which consists of 10 NFTs that grant each owner lifetime access to the fabled music and arts festival. Each of these unique collectibles also unlock specific luxury experiences for the 2022 fest, like prime viewing access at the electronic dance music-focused Sahara Tent to a private party on the Coachella grounds. Naturally, there’s also an “Infinity Key” offering its owner a combination of lifetime gu...
The Guetta-verse: Roblox and Warner Music Announce Avatar DJ Set By David Guetta
When you’ve graced the stage of practically every music festival and club short of Mars, like David Guetta has, where else to go but the metaverse? According to a press release, the chart-topping “Titanium” producer has been confirmed to perform a DJ set as his avatar self within the Roblox ecosystem. Created in partnership with Roblox developer Wonder Works Studio and Warner Music Group, Guetta’s innovative DJ set will debut this Friday, February 4th at 4PM PT (7PM ET). “Working on this concert has allowed me to bring an amazing new creation to life with design and production to suit the virtual world,” Guetta said. “We’ve built something that will play host to one of the most unique shows I’ve ever done and I can’t wait for everyone to ...
Artists Are Blasting an NFT Auction Platform After Their Music Appeared Without Their Knowledge
A controversial NFT marketplace has drawn the ire of many in the music industry and creator economy at large. Legions of musicians are taking to social media to condemn HitPiece, a platform allegedly minting and selling music NFTs without artists’ knowledge. According to HitPiece’s website, the marketplace “lets fans collect NFTs of your favorite songs.” However, it’s unclear whether or not the company has acquired the rights to the songs and gone through the necessary channels to publicly list them on its platform. Per its website, HitPiece also claims to remit a royalty to artists whose music NFTs are purchased or sold, but suggests the rights-holder must create an account to receive payments. “Each time an artist’s NFT is purchased or sold, a royalty ...
Innovative Digital Instrument Lets Disabled Musicians Make Music With Their Eyes
A new digital instrument is empowering disabled musicians and students to create music with their eyes. The assistive technology is called the EyeHarp, and it pairs with eye and head trackers so that players can control melodies—including chords, arpeggios and pitch—with only the smallest of movements. This feature makes EyeHarp uniquely accessible to players with all kinds of physical and mental disabilities, in therapy, teaching and performance settings. The technology is also adaptable to each user’s skill level and can change between the tones of more than 20 instruments, including piano, flute, trumpet and bass guitar. Watch it at work below, played by 11-year-old Joel Bueno. Recommended Articles According to founder Zacharias Vamvakousis, the idea for the EyeHarp wa...
Exclusive: The Chainsmokers to Headline First-Ever NFT-Gated Art and Music Festival, Afterparty
An innovative new music festival is primed for Sin City—and NFTs are the ticket in. Afterparty, a renowned creator tools platform operating at the forefront of the Web3 epoch, have announced the first-ever NFT-gated music and art festival. Complete with unique digital art gallery activations, the inaugural Afterparty NFT Art and Music Festival will immerse attendees in NFTs in the company’s goal to democratize them for the creator economy. The festival’s pièce de résistance, however, is its entry point. Afterparty’s generative “Utopian” NFT collection, which lives on the Ethereum blockchain, will moonlight as “all-access” passes and offer their owners tangible rewards both in real-time and in the metaverse. For example, they unlock ac...
deadmau5 and Richie Hawtin’s PIXELYNX to Bring 3D Avatars to Metaverse Gaming Platform
Richie Hawtin and deadmau5‘s music metaverse venture, PIXELYNX, has forged another groundbreaking deal, joining forces with cross-game avatar platform Ready Player Me. PIXELYNX has led the charge in the digital space at the intersection of music and the metaverse. Their new partnership will allow users to customize their Ready Player Me avatars in PIXELYNX’s upcoming mobile AR and PC game, as well as buy and sell one-of-a-kind NFT fashion wearables. “Ready Player Me has always been one of the most exciting avatar platforms,” said Inder Phull, co-founder and CEO of PIXELYNX in a press release. “The team has made it so easy to integrate into our ecosystem and it’s no surprise to see their community of partners growing at such a fast pace. Avatars ...
Steve Angello Bets On Blockchain Marketplace to Revolutionize Music Rights Ownership
Steve Angello is placing a bet on the future of music rights and throwing his weight behind anotherblock, a Swedish startup dedicated to expanding public access to royalty investing by way of NFTs. Founders Sebastian Knutsson and Mattias Miksche both boast impressive pedigrees from different sectors of the technology industry. Knutsson is the founder of King, the publishing and development company behind Candy Crush, while Miksche’s company Stardoll has operated as an angel investor in AI-learning platform Sana Labs, among other successful early stage companies. According to a press release shared with EDM.com, the Swedish House Mafia star threw his hat in the ring during anotherblock’s latest pre-seed funding round, which raised $1.2 million. The platform will seek to tokenize...
Casio Brings Seamless “Singing Robot” Vocal Synthesis to the Bedroom Producer’s Fingertips
The Casiotone CT-S1000V is empowering music producers with next-generation vocoder technology. As Casio’s GM of Marketing Mike Martin says, the product “will give a new voice to your music.” And after seeing the features, we can’t say they’re overselling it. The CT-S1000V’s approach to vocal synthesis is built for the fast-paced life of a producer on the go. No microphone is needed to maximize the keyboard’s defining qualities. Simply by leveraging the Casio Lyric Creator app, creators can type in their desired lyrics into their phone and upload them to their keyboard via USB. Once in the system, musicians can play their lyrics polyphonically using 22 unique vocalist settings to give the music a choral or robot-like flare, among ot...
Build a Killer Music Marketing Strategy Using Real-Life Expert Tips In This Webinar
The music research and analytics platform Viberate is kicking off 2022 with another free educational online session. The next guest panel will host two music marketing veterans and showcase the usage of music data to create effective promotional strategies. The first expert guest is Jay Gilbert, who created unique marketing plans for Nirvana, The Police, and Guns ‘N Roses. Joining him is Terry Tompkins, assistant music professor at Hofstra University, who discovered Grammy Award-winning artist John Legend while working as an A&R at Columbia Records. Their talk will cover hands-on data analytics tips for both artists and label managers. “2021 was great for streaming and music sales, so we can start 2022 with some optimism,” Gilbert said. “Those who know how to effectively mo...
Boys Noize Empowers NFT Collectors to Mint Their Own Techno With “Rave Pigs” Project
Boys Noize and the SuperFarm NFT platform are bringing cultured swines to the blockchain. Their forthcoming “Rave Pigs” project turns trunk-thumping techno and psychedelic art into digital collectibles. Best of all, those who choose to participate in minting the collection will retain full rights to a piece of Berlin underground culture. The copyrights afforded to NFT holders have been a hot topic in recent months. Though some of the world’s most prominent collections frequently fetch exorbitant prices on the open market, many of them do not afford the holder the full copyrights to the audio and visual works displayed in the NFT. Conversely, “Rave Pigs” holders will retain the rights to both the art and the music heard in the collectibles they own. So it’s easy to see how ...
Doctors Develop Music-Making App to Battle Brain Fog In Cancer Patients
Doctors from the University of Cincinnati are researching innovative ways to battle brain fog, and a new study has tested the waters of virtual music therapy. According to a report by WFMZ-TV, neuro-oncologist Dr. Soma Sengupta and her team have developed an app called ARMcan Active Receptive Music, which harnesses music therapy to allow users to create their own songs. “I wanted an app that could allow patients to express their musical ability,” Sengupta said. “In other words, to have musical turns where you could overlay genres and create your own music track.” WFMZ-TV Recommended Articles The technology, Sengupta added, is “helping the rewiring and exercising areas of the brain that normally wouldn’t do it.” The team’s ...
