Pandora now shows artists the playlists and stations their music is placed

Jacca-RouteNotein
Digital Music News

Pandora are making it simple for artists to see all of the places that their music has been featured on Pandora by their team.

Pandora have added the ‘Programming Placements’ module into their AMP platform for artists. Found inside the Insights tab, the new section shows artists all of the playlists and stations where Pandora’s team of curators have selected their music to be promoted and placed in.

The top of the new section features a search bar where artists can look for specific tracks and see where they have been placed and featured. When artists see a feature in a playlist or station that they want to share with the world then there is a Share button just for that. Easily share the link on your socials with all your fans.

Please note that this module will only populate if your music has been programmed by Pandora’s curation programming team. If you’re looking for more information on where your music is being played, don’t fret – Next Big Sound shows the top play sources for artists in the Playlists & Discovery section including sources where Pandora’s Music Genome has deemed your music a good fit. 

Hoping to get noticed? The Profile Tab on artist profiles in AMP now includes an easy-to-share link to your station so you can point your fans to your profile on Pandora. The more activity and streaming data we have for your music, the more likely our curation programming team will see it.

IKEA and Teenage Engineering’s weird speakers are finally available

Jacca-RouteNotein
Technology

Teenage Engineering’s unique brand of music and sound tech gets new life in a series of home and party products from IKEA.

Almost 2 years ago IKEA announced that they were working with Teenage Engineering for a range of music products like nothing else. After an eager wait of speculation the range is available to buy.

The ‘FREKVENS’ collection are all made with parties in mind, with a design that stands out but doesn’t break the bank. Each product in the range is attachable to the others for a customisable cube of creative party essentials including lights and speakers.

The portable speakers are the flagship of the Frekvens range which can be combined to become a full sound system. FREKVENS LEDs and spotlights can be blocked into the party structures with a double block size sub that can be attached to bottom for a thick, party-ready sound.

Founder and Head of Design at Teenage Engineering, Jesper Kouthoofd said: “It is very simple, fun, playful. You will become like a home roadie. Setting up your own sound system and light show. It’s good enough that you can set up a party, that day. People will appreciate that.”

Teenage Engineering are famous for their music creation devices like the OP-1, an amazingly powerful yet compact music-making kit. They’ve since launched their blocks which, similar to FREKVENS, attach to each other for expansive possibilities of creation.

Kouthoofd added: “We’ve wanted to make something that feels like IKEA, and at the same time challenge how we perceive them today. It’s exciting to explore new territories, push the boundaries and challenge each other. IKEA is furniture, meatballs, and soon… party!”

The FREKVENS speaker with subwoofer is $149, the portable speaker is $19.99, and their spotlight accessories and $17 for a set of 4. The range also includes furniture and what they say are other things needed to throw a good party, like a raincoat…?

The range hits IKEA stores in the US in February.

Get a sneak peek at Spotify’s voice controlled mini gadget

Jacca-RouteNotein
Artist / Label News

Spotify’s ‘Car Thing’ is their first piece of hardware to come out and we finally know a bit more about the funny little device.

Last year Spotify announced their very first physical device, the enticingly titled ‘Car Thing’. A select set of Premium users got to receive the gadget and test it last year to see what it can do and if it’s worthwhile. Spotify said the test was a prototype and they had no plans for mass-production.

As Business Insider have noted, in September Spotify updated their FCC filing with photos of the Car Thing and user manual. It gave us more information on the device but also suggested that they may move forward with it eventually after all.

The small device plugs into the 12 volt outlet in cars, the slot where the cigarette lighter is, and uses Bluetooth to connect to cars and smartphones. The Car Thing is voice activated like a Smart device, responding to ‘Hey Spotify’ and then a request to play music from Spotify’s extensive streaming library.

Spotify’s Car Thing as shown in their FCC filing

The Car Thing connects to the user’s Spotify account so it can access their library and personal playlists to play from. There’s a small screen that shows what is playing and next to it are buttons to control the playback.

Spotify said that the limited test run last May was simply to “learn more about people’s listening habits and preferences to help create an unparalleled experience for our users”. They haven’t officially announced anything or spoken on it since.

Car Thing accessories including it’s car mount on the right

Spotify also said that they “might do similar voice-specific tests in the future, so don’t be surprised if you hear about ‘Voice Thing’ and ‘Home Thing'”. We haven’t heard about them yet, but perhaps soon we will.

GRAMMY’s CEO says the awards show nominations are rigged

Jacca-RouteNotein
Artist / Label News

Last year’s GRAMMY’s CEO says that the award show is rigged calling out one artist in particular.

The GRAMMY’s awards ceremony is under fire with a bunch of allegations at the moment – the latest being that the awards are rigged. Former president and CEO Deborah Dugan has spoken out against the recording academy.

Dugan was placed on administrative leave last week after taking over from Neil Portnow last August. Whilst the board accused Dugan of misconduct she has hit back with allegations of discrimination, sexual harassment, and corruption including the rigging of the awards.

Dugan claims that the board have been selecting artists who are being considered for a nomination to sit on the voting committee for the category they’re nominated within. She says “one artist who initially ranked 18 out of 20 in the 2019 ‘Song of the Year’ category” was nominated regardless.

She claims that there artist or one of her nominated producers were able to sit themselves on the nomination committee for ‘Song of the Year’. Reddit user ‘laughmusic‘ has looked into the claims and seems to think that Dugan is referring to Brandi Carlile and her track ‘The Joke’.

Along with her attorney, Douglas Wigdor, Dugan has been tearing apart the awards show and recording academy. Wigdor says: “The GRAMMY’s really is on life support right now. The statements they’re giving about Ms. Dugan creating a toxic work environment, getting the executive board members to make statements – they are in panic mode right now.”

Previous GRAMMY’s CEO Neil Portnow has faced allegations of misconduct and rape from a female musician. Portnow has called these allegations “ludicrous” and “untrue”.

This year’s GRAMMY Awards ceremony starts this Sunday despite the controversy.

Get this great visual Compressor VST plugin free

Jacca-RouteNotein
Software

Stock plugins are great but they often don’t have that visual touch that makes them so great to use, but this free VST makes it feel real.

Designed to look like a rack effect module this compressor plugin makes you feel like you’re using the real thing. The SN01 comes from SenderSpike’s blog who has a series of free plugins including this fantastic looking compressor VST for free.

The SN01 (standing for Signal Noise) is a dynamic range compressor in the style of a VCA. You can adjust the envelope and the knee, threshold, ratio and gain all with a visual dial as found on many analogue compressor modules to visualise the decibel output.

Here are all it’s features in full:

  • threshold from +20dB to -20dB (zero mark is at -20dBFS)
  • ratio from 1:1 (no compression) to infinity (brick-wall)
  • gain up to +24dB
  • attack in range from 0.03ms to 30ms
  • release in range from 50ms to 2 seconds
  • adjustable knee width 0-24dB (0dB = hard-knee)
  • adjustable knee strength (0% = hard knee)
  • 2 optional filters for internal side-chain
  • optional ‘push’ effect for more extreme compression
  • dry/wet control for parallel compression (0-100%)
  • switchable topology (feed-forward/feedback)
  • no saturation modelling

You can download it here.

Sender Spike also has an Opamp, Brickwall Limiter, Channel EQ, Tape Recorder, and VU Meter VST plugins available for free on their blog.

AirPod alternatives that promise a whole day of play

Jacca-RouteNotein
Technology

AirPods and other TWS devices are taking the world by storm and with fierce competition means each new release gets better.

Master & Dynamics are one of the latest to step onto the scene with a new pair of true wireless earbuds. Their MW07 Plus earbuds follow their non-plus product with bigger battery life, better connection and better sound.

One of the most contested features of TWS (true wireless sound) earbuds is battery life. Being tiny little devices that sit in your, it’s natural that they won’t have the space for a powerful battery like your wireless headphones. The MW07 Plus promises 10 hours on one charge, with 3 full charges available from their portable case.

The original MW07 pair had it’s downfalls but sound was not one. It’s a difficult process to make such small devices sound great, especially when you’re fighting for space with batteries. Packing 10mm Beryllium drivers in each bud listeners report great sound with a surprisingly solid bass.

The buds feature Active Noise Cancellation technology which is activated with a long press on the volume down button on the left earbud. It can’t completely block out the sounds of your surroundings because, well… just look at the size of it. But it does reportedly well at dampening interfering sounds.

On the flip side you can hold down the volume up button to activate ambient mode. This amplifies the sounds around you so you aren’t cut off from the world whilst still being able to keep listening to whatever it is you’re enjoying. Perfect for the workplace.

Business Insider got hands on with the pair for a detailed review that will help you decide if these are the earbuds for you. Check that out here.

A recent report showed that TWS earbuds are the fastest growing part of the wireless sound industry. Last year they rocketed into first place, becoming the biggest selling wireless audio devices in the market.

Amazon Music has over 55 million listeners

Jacca-RouteNotein
Digital Music News

For the first time ever Amazon have shared details on just how many people are streaming music with them, because it’s pretty impressive.

Amazon have started 2020 by revealing for the first time ever how many people are streaming music on their services. They say that subscriptions to Amazon Music Unlimited grew by 50% last year, leaving them to close the year off with 55 million customers around the world.

Amazon have reported incredible growth worldwide, more than doubling their presence in France, Italy, Spain, and Mexico. They’ve grown nearly 50% in the US, UK, Germany, and Japan as well.

Amazon Music Vice President, Steve Boom said: “We’re proud to reach this incredible milestone and are overwhelmed by our customers’ response to Amazon Music. Our strategy is unique and, like everything we do at Amazon, starts with our customers. We’ve always been focused on expanding the marketplace for music streaming by offering music listener’s unparalleled choice because we know that different listeners have different needs.”

Talking on their future plans and tech consolidation, Boom added: “As we continue to lead in our investment in voice with Alexa, and in high-quality audio with Amazon Music HD, we’re excited to bring our customers and the music industry even more innovation in 2020 and beyond.”

Amazon technically offer 3 services now. Their longest running offering is Prime Music which comes included with Amazon Prime memberships and has helped them build a large listening-base. Compared to other streaming services however, Prime Music is very limited.

So Amazon launched Amazon Music Unlimited, a full and separate streaming service to rival the likes of Spotify. They now also offer a superior tier on Amazon Music HD for those who want to stream in the highest possible quality.

  • Starting at just $12.99/month, customers in the U.S., UK, Germany and Japan can stream the highest-quality audio on Amazon Music HD, and hear their favorite music the way the artist intended.
  • Prime members have access to two million songs at no additional cost to their membership, and for only $7.99/month or $79/year can upgrade to Amazon Music Unlimited.
  • With the Single device plan, customers can subscribe to Amazon Music Unlimited at $3.99/month to access more than 50 million songs on their Fire TV or Echo device.
  • The Family plan allows six family members to access Amazon Music Unlimited for $14.99/month, or $149/year for Prime members.
  • And, customers who do not yet have a Prime membership, or a subscription to Amazon Music Unlimited, can listen to an ad-supported selection of top playlists and thousands of stations for free on their favorite devices.

Sales statistics for November 2019 now available

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Stats

You can now view your Sales Statistics for October 2019 on your account at routenote.com.

Log-in to see your earnings, full breakdowns are available in your Statistics page.

We apologise for the delays this month and are grateful to everyone for their patience and understanding whilst we overcame the unexpected delays in statistics and payment.

If you have any questions or issues then please create a ticket or send an email to support@routenote.com and our friendly support team will be happy to help.

Moog unveil their smallest synthesizer ever to replace the Phatty

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Instruments & Hardware

Moog have unveiled the Subsequent 25 which delivers their famous fat sound in their most compact package ever.

Moog have unveiled an upcoming, 25-note synth that is only just longer than 20 inches. The release may pale in comparison to the size of Moog’s usual output but they promise it delivers powerful bass that is perfect for the stage and the studio thanks to it’s portability.

Subsequent 25 follows the legacy set by Moog’s Subsequent 37 and Sub Phatty synths, replacing the latter in production. Moog say that they are “transitioning production” and that their new model will be the standard model from now on.

Subsequent 25 is a 2-note paraphonic analog synthesizer that melds the hands-on analog soul of classic Moog instruments with the convenience and workflow of a modern sound-design machine. The device works on its own and can be used seamlessly with your DAW with full MIDI implementation.

Subsequent 25’s analog filter section contains the transformative Multidrive circuit, a unique combination of OTA distortion and FET drive – a key sparkplug for the compact synthesizer’s powerful sound. Through the creative use of the Mixer Section (with expanded headroom), Ladder Filter, and Multidrive circuit, a wide range of classic analog colors and aggressive modern tones can be achieved.

Dial-up ground-shaking analog bass by stacking all 3 Oscillators in Unison Mode, or engage the new Duo Mode to split Oscillators 1 & 2, opening new doors of musicality by playing 2 different notes at once. Trigger the Subsequent 25’s analog sound engine any way you like – by integrating with other voltage controlled analog gear via 4 onboard CV inputs, by interfacing with your favorite DAW using DIN & USB MIDI, or go fully manual with the ultra playable fast-action keybed.

You can order Moog’s Subsequent 25 now for $849.

Cringe along to this newly surfaced Apple company music video

Jacca-RouteNotein
Fun

Tongue-in-cheek videos are great fun to make but, as this uncovered Apple video proves, are horrific from the outside looking in.

An archive of Apple content has been collected online including old training videos, adverts, marketing material, and more. Some of it’s nostalgic of the various Apple eras of the past – remember the black outlines of people dancing?

However, thanks to The Verge we discovered something that should probably have remained hidden. But now it’s out there we can’t look away, like a car crash that is disastrous but you can’t peel your eyes from.

We introduce to you, the music video for Apple Easy Pay that was supposedly used to train staff with. Word has it, all staff trained by this video now have a chronic condition that leaves their face in a constant position of anguish.

Jokes aside, it’s some Apple employees having a bit of fun with a new feature. You can’t deny people joking around and having a good time every now and then at work.