The music industry mourns the loss of two icons. Soundcloud under the spotlight. Pharell not happy with Trump.
Yuzuru Agi has passed away aged 71. The influential music critic and label owner started his music career as a singer, producer and a DJ. In 1976, he found his first magazine and subsequently launched several others in addition to countless other contributions across the wider music industry. Read more here.
Not so happy after all. Just a few hours after the tragic mass shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue, Donald Trump used Pharrell William’s song ‘Happy’ at a rally in Indiana. The artist has subsequently demanded Donald Trump to cease playing his music. Pharrell Williams follows other artists who have prohibited the president to use their songs at rallies with most requests being ignored by Trump’s team. Read more here.
Freelancers, unite! The bill for self-employed workers to be included in shared parental leave has been rebuked by parliament. Chancellor Phillip Hammond has been urged by the backers of the bill to use his budget to help those affected. The movement has garnered support from politicians and self-employed creatives alike. Despite the loss, the campaigners still want to achieve their goals. Read more here.
John Reynolds dies aged 52. He was a force behind the music scene in Ireland: creating the Electric Picnic festival in Stradbally Hall which had been running for fourteen years. He also set up the nightclub POD in Dublin in 1993. Read more here.
Check your basket. 64,000 Tomorrowland attendees have had their personal information hacked through the ticket seller Paylogic. The people whose privacy was breached were from an old 2014 database. The hackers were able to acquire the names, email addresses, gender, age and postal codes of the festival goers. This adds to a string of other attacks on ticket sellers. Read more here.
Always read the small print. SoundCloud Premier has officially launched and the platform have revealed the contract between the platform and artists. It appears the company is using its power to take advantage of artists. After signing the deal, it would nullify any copyright violations SoundCloud could have made on their music, as well as denying them the right to sue SoundCloud. Other cons for artists are: irregular pay, changing contracts and arbitrary contract cancellations from SoundCloud. Read more here.
Controlla. Tetrapad, a new control surface for Eurotrack, has just been released by Intellijel. It boasts four push encoders, a shift function and a touch-sensitive pad. The product can work in several different modes to give variety to performance or productions. It automatically saves your configurations every minute. The gear costs $299 (£234.36). Buy it here and for more information watch the video below.
From W10 to N1C. The much-loved record shop Honest Jon’s is opening a new branch in Granary Square, a redeveloped area in Kings Cross. The new space will give them a chance to show some of their hidden gems. There will be a live performance and DJ sets at their Launch Party on the 3rd of November, which will be hosted by NTS radio. Read more here.
Beauty and the Beast. A new music festival graces London’s sore sights. Krankbrother, the outfit running the event, wants to fuse famous brutalist architecture with interesting light shows and experimental music for a unique dance experience. The dates of the festival are March 28th – 31st 2019. Read more here.
Nurture your creativity. Bloom, the music making app from Brian Eno and Peter Chilvers has been updated. Through the generative composition of the app, a touch of a finger can create a synthesis of melody, colours and shapes. No production experience required. Available to pre-order here on November 27th.