Tech
NMPA and RIAA Chiefs: Music Creators and Fans Deserve Better From Twitter (Guest Op-Ed)
Record companies and music publishers want this partnership to work and are proud to help power Twitter’s success. We recognize artists and songwriters benefit greatly from being able to talk to their fans, share their work, and generate excitement and interest in great music in this way. However, the viral immediacy and global reach of the Twitter platform presents a double-edged sword – one that cuts especially deep for artists, songwriters, and music rightsholders who see their work leaked, copied, distributed, and monetized on the platform with almost no recourse. Last year music creators sent more than 2 million notices to Twitter of unlicensed and infringing appearances of copyrighted music on the platform – more than 200,000 of which dealt with the especially harmful presence of not...
Got NFT Ideas? Guy Oseary, Ashton Kutcher, Mark Cuban and Snoop Dogg Are All Ears
“Someone might have a little bit of financing. They may have a deck. They may have an idea scribbled on a napkin. In order to support the ecosystem, it’s not just going to the top,” he notes. “You’ve got to support the little guys, too.” Without giving specifics, Oseary says he has already invested in “a lot of the greatest NFT platforms on the marketplace.” Applications are open from Monday (April 5) to April 12. Finalists will be notified on April 16. Then on April 21, 30 finalists will join the judges for virtual pitch sessions. Some number of winners will share a pot of about $1 million; the size of investments and terms given will vary. NFTs are “non-fungible” tokens — unique, unlike a cryptocurrency or fi...
HHW Gaming: Bruno Mars Silk Sonic Dance Moves Is The Newest “Fortnite” Emote
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Theo Wargo / Getty Bruno Mars and silky smooth dance moves are coming to Fortnite. Epic Games announced Silk Sonic crooner’s dance skills would be coming to the game as an Icon Series Emote. Bruno Mars shared the news with a post on his Instagram account featuring the singer, masked-up, dancing alongside a Fortnite character to the Anderson .Paak assisted single “Leave The Door Open.” In the caption for the post, Mars wrote, “Yo @fortnite let ya uncle Brunz teach ya how to swang to this thang.” Bruno Mars’ emote joins the likes of the Fornite floss which is considered one of the most well-known Emotes of all time. According to a press release, Mars partnered with Epic Games exclusively for Fortnite players. The union between the two artists was in t...
HHW Gaming: It’s Game Over For “World’s Biggest” Video Game Cheating Operation
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Drs Producoes / Getty The Chinese government and Tencent’s joint effort has led to the takedown of what is being described as the “world’s biggest” video game cheating rings. As a result of the joint effort, the operation hilariously called “Chicken Drumstick,” which sold cheat codes on a website to customers worldwide, was shut down the BBC reports. As a result, 17 cheat codes were destroyed, and local authorities arrested 10 people on March 31. A subscription to the website cost between $10 a day to $200 a month, the organization made roughly $76 million in revenue just off subscriptions. According to the report, authorities seized approximately $46 million worth of assets, including luxury cars like Lamborghinis, McLarens, and Ferraris. The organi...
Dr. Luke’s Publishing Co. to Start Paying Royalties in Bitcoin
Prescription Songs is likely the first established music company to pay its talent in the cryptocurrency. Prescription Songs, the independent music publisher founded by Dr. Luke (a.k.a. Lukasz Gottwald), announced Thursday (April 1) that it will allow its roster of songwriters and producers the option of receiving royalty payments in Bitcoin, making it seemingly the first music company to do so. To facilitate the payments, the publisher has partnered with BitPay, a leading provider of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency payment services. “Prescription Songs has always been an industry leader providing the best services to our songwriters, producers and artists. Some of our creators asked about being paid in Bitcoin so we wanted to get ahead of the pack and provide that service,” said Dr. Luke...
SkullCandy Is Offering A Cheaper Alternative To Expensive AirPods With Its New Dime True Wireless Earbuds
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Skullcandy / Dime True Wireless Earbuds A good pair of wireless earbuds are usually expensive. Skullcandy’s latest offering is looking to help give people a much cheaper alternative while not sacrificing quality. The American-based audio brand company announced its new Dime True Wireless Earbuds, and they come with tons of premium features that would usually cost you well over $100. For only $24.99, Skullcandy’s new earbuds are stacked and promise to outperform the competition by offering users exceptional sound, simple controls, stellar battery life, color options, and other great features without breaking the bank. Here is the rundown: Up to 12 Hours of Battery Life – Listen longer with 3.5 hours of battery life in the earbuds and 8.5 hours in...
HHW Gaming: Latest ‘Call of Duty’ Update Will Be Kind on Your Hard Drive Thanks To This New Feature
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Activision / Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War When Activision usually announces the latest Call of Duty season update, gamers are usually excited to prospect for new features coming to the game. Still, it comes with the huge caveat that it’s going to eat up all of your hard drive space. This latest update looks to tackle that troublesome issue. As part of its Call of Duty season 2 reloaded update, Treyarch announced it would be reducing the overall file size of both Warzone and Modern Warfare across various platforms by more than 30GB and over 10GB. This news will come as a relief to Call of Duty fans who have seemingly have to constantly figure out what games they need to delete to free up space for massive updates. The latest update, whic...
HHW Gaming: Feast Your Eyes On Paul George’s Nike PG5 PlayStation 5 Sneakers
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Nike / LaceupHk A collaboration Nike won’t be suing anyone about. Nike is continuing its partnership with PlayStation with Paul George’s latest signature sneaker, the PG5. Like previous iterations of the collab between the companies, each shoe signified something that George, a well-known avid fan of the PlayStation, loved about the console. 2018’s version of the shoe drew inspiration from Sony’s iconic DualShock controller. For the PG5, it makes perfect sense that it would take its cues from the still hard to obtain PlayStation 5 console, and it’s a very good-looking sneaker. Instagram sneaker news and media website LaceupHK shared photos of the upcoming shoe slated for a May release that comes in two distinct colorways. Source: Nike / LaceupHk Like the ...
Facebook Makes Official Music Videos Available in Mexico
Facebook has already been hosting videos in Thailand, India and the U.S., which allows artists to post their music videos on their own pages allowing fans to share, react and comment on the post. “With official music videos on Facebook, we are creating new social experiences that are about more than just watching the video, they also intend to connect people and artists through music.” said Adrian Harley, head of music label partnerships for Facebook and Instagram in Latin America. “We are excited to launch in Mexico in partnership with Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, Merlin, Believe and other independent labels and distributors. We have also established a partnership with EMMAC-SACM, representing all the songwriters and publisher...
HHW Tech Review: HyperX Takes The If Ain’t Broke Don’t Fix It Approach With The Cloud II Wireless Headset
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Bernard Smalls / @PhotosByBeanz83 HyperX’s Cloud II headset has been the company’s workhorse for 6 years and has seen minimal updates since then. So how does the latest iteration of the headset stand up to newer models from other companies? Surprisingly very well. When it comes to the Cloud II, HyperX has taken the if ain’t broke, don’t fix it approach with the headset model only dropping other various models with the Cloud handle like the Cloud Mix, Cloud Orbit S, and Cloud Alpha S. For this most recent design HyperX got a little bold and decided it was time to cut the cord. We are ecstatic the company has decided to go this route and dropped the Hyper X Cloud II Wireless. Designed For Comfort Source: Bernard Smalls / @PhotosByBeanz83 HyperX, as expected...
HHW Gaming: ‘NBA 2K21’ MyTEAM Season 6, “Glitched Reality” Announced, Here’s What’s New
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: 2K / NBA 2K21 Like the regular season in the NBA, MyTEAM in NBA 2K21 is chugging along. In its latest Courtside Report, 2K revealed season 6 “Glitched Reality.” NBA 2K21’s new season structure keeps things interesting for players who enjoy MyTEAM mode in the game. Season 6, “Glitched Reality,” won’t be any different in that regard, allowing players to progress, earn rewards, and more, but this time, the folks at 2K are throwing in some mystery. Throughout the season, MyTEAM community players will be tasked with discovering secret locker codes and new challenges and uncover the mysteries of the Glitched Reality that can be shared with friends that will benefit the community. According to 2K, players should be on the lookout for “peculiar things” happ...
Revivalists Singer David Shaw Unveils New Single, Preps NFTs for Debut Solo Album
“Feeling Good was inspired by Shaw’s recent sojourn to Los Angeles where the shift in lifestyle got him thinking about how one’s environment can shift the way artists think about influence. “Every day I’d get up early in the morning and head down to the coffee shop for a cortado before heading out to the beach for a swim. I was mostly listening to Beck, a little Sublime and a lot of Bowie at the time and the intersection of those influences mixed with my geographical location got me in the mood to make a song that went with the kind of days and nights that I was having,” he says. David Shaw was produced by four-time Grammy-winning producer Jack Splash, who Shaw calls “the perfect choice to help bring these songs to life in a fresh yet pedestrian kin...
