GEAR + TECH
The Annual Pokémon GO Fest is Turning Into a Music Festival in 2021
Pokémon GO Fest 2021 has become the annual mecca for the app’s avid fandom. For last year’s first-ever online-only event, Niantic confirmed millions of Trainers, who shattered records and caught nearly 1 billion Pokémon. While there were a staggering amount of participants at the 2020 event, the 2021 edition could be even bigger after Niantic, the game’s developer, announced that it will double as a music festival. “2021 marks both the twenty-fifth anniversary of Pokémon and the fifth anniversary of Pokémon Go,” Niantic shared in a blog post. “So trust us when we say you won’t want to miss Pokémon Go Fest 2021!” The two-day event will kick off on July 17th and will be held exclusively online. Attendees will have the choice to select one of...
A Pornographic, Anime-Themed Plugin is Stirring Controversy in Music Production Circles
A new distortion plugin that features sexually explicit anime imagery has the music production community divided. The Nani production tool was developed by Los Angeles-based company WXAudio, who has called it “the first obscene anime distortion plugin.” It features six modes of distortion with drive and color controls and a depiction of a female hentai (an overtly sexualized style of anime and manga) character. In a similar style to Dada Life’s infamous Sausage Fattener plugin, the character depicted in Nani reacts to performance on its digital knob control. As the drive knob is turned up on the plugin, the character loses more and more of her clothes, and if turned all the way up, her breasts become fully exposed. Naturally, the plugin has sparked some ...
Harmonix’s Fuser Launches “Headliner Spotlight” Update With 24/7 Live Music Festival
Last year Harmonix, the developer behind Rock Band and Dance Central, launched their latest title Fuser, allowing gamers to become their very own DJ heroes. Without any special equipment, players are able to explore the world of mixing music in front of a massive virtual festival. Little did we know, even the professionals would be performing like this in just a few short months post-launch. After the rise of Twitch DJ sets due to the pandemic, developers are now releasing an update to the game called the “Headliner Spotlight.” This feature will allow players the chance to DJ for actual people at the Diamond Stage, a 24/7 live venue. Over 250 people will be able to watch a lucky user spin both in-game and on Twitch. While the performance in itself is impor...
Fender’s New Guitar Brings Electronic Music Production and Performance Into the Future
The future of guitars is here and it’s called the American Acoustasonic Jazzmaster. Fender’s latest in their Acoustasonic series may look like their classic 1960s Stratocaster on the outside, but it’s far from just any electric guitar. Offering a wide variety of both electric and acoustic sounds, the hybrid unit is the ultimate guitar for electronic music artists like San Holo, Dabin or Sullivan King, who creatively utilize guitars both in the studio and during their performances. Color options of Fender’s American Acoustasonic Jazzmaster Guitar. Fender What makes this guitar so special is that it’s the result of feedback from over 25,000 musicians who’ve used Acoustasonic guitars. With that in mind, it has a liberating form factor that ...
ODESZA’s Foreign Family Collective Shares New Compilation and Innovative NFT Drop
Foreign Family Collective is providing a platform for their artists to release music without expectations. Amid a stressful past year for musicians due to the pandemic, ODESZA’s flagship label has brought forth an innovative album and NFT compilation, Rare.wavs Vol. 1. The record is jam-packed, consisting of 15 tracks from a number of the brand’s high-profile names such as Kasbo, MEMBA, Robotaki, and many more. From the spritely synths and quick-cutting drums of Jai Wolf‘s “Hikikomori” to Phantoms‘ cascading melodic slow jam “Do It Again,” the compilation reinforces this roster’s versatility in a multitude of genres and sound palettes. This particular compilation stands to weather the test of time in more ways than ...
Timbaland’s New Music Contest Offers Ultra-Rare, Molten-Blue MIDI Controllers—And Only 150 Exist
Timbaland is on a constant mission to democratize music creation. With an Energizer Bunny-like motor and a dogged entrepreneurial bug, the fabled music producer is as disruptive to the industry as a heavy metal concert is to a local bed-and-breakfast. He gamified music mixing by developing Beaterator. He’s changing the way people “feel” music with SubPac. He grew Verzuz from an unheralded DJ battle to a global powerhouse webcast series. But despite these subversive accomplishments, his latest venture could be his most impactful. Timbaland is currently gearing up for the launch of Beatclub, a premier music marketplace that gives independent producers access to samples and loops created by the music industry’s most prolific beatmakers. Mike Will Ma...
How Aloe Blacc Is Utilizing NFTs to Keep Avicii’s Legacy Alive
In the cutting-edge world of NFTs there’s almost no greater compliment than to call a piece “timeless.” In their perennial pursuit of value and utility, NFT creators and collectors alike constantly question what combination of creative and immutable qualities have the ability to leave a lasting impact. Given the feverish mainstream interest in the space, most NFT (non-fungible token) projects have borne little meaning beneath their superficial qualities. However, every once in awhile, a project with the organic confluence of superior design, noble intention, and historical relevance comes along. The rise in popularity of digital collectibles immediately grabbed Aloe Blacc‘s attention, and soon the Grammy-nominated artist became consumed with an idea that had t...
Serbia’s EXIT Festival Now Accepts Bitcoin as Payment for Tickets
Serbia’s EXIT Festival—scheduled for July 8th to the 11th—is set to be one of the first major international music festivals to take place this year. In celebration of the event’s 20th anniversary a number of world-renowned artists have been confirmed for performances, such as David Guetta, DJ Snake, and Eric Prydz, among many others. With just under two months out, the organizers of the Novi Sad fest have announced that they will now accept Bitcoin as a form of payment for tickets, embracing the 2021 crypto boom. While it is not the first to offer such an alternative, EXIT is among the festival scene’s earliest adopters of cryptocurrency. When selecting a payment type at checkout, fans now have the option to purchase tickets using Bitcoin. Custome...
ZHU Announces Plans to Build NFT-Based Fan Community
Following a six-night sold out run of performances at the iconic Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, Colorado, dance music superstar ZHU has announced new plans to build a fan community around NFTs, or non-fungible tokens. Beginning with a limited collection called “DREAMROCKS,” exclusive to attendees of the Red Rocks concerts and designed in collaboration with artist Shane Fu for Night After Night and YellowHeart, the community will be launched in the coming weeks. ZHU’s DREAMROCKS NFT collection. Fans can register for an open Zhuman Community token, which will grant them access to exclusive content and early information on upcoming events. “The fans have shown up so hard these last two weeks at Red Rocks, I’m excited to give something special back to them wh...
Epic Games to Host Free Virtual Event With Keynote Speaker deadmau5
Fortnite, Gears Of War, and Unreal developer Epic Games has announced a free virtual event that will bring together some of the industry’s foremost innovative thinkers from around the globe to share inspiring and informative content. “Unreal Build: Broadcast & Live Events” will feature keynote speakers, game studios, and other key industry figures as well as a preview of the new features and upgrades that will be introduced in the latest Unreal Engine update, 4.27, this summer. EDM legend deadmau5 will be one of the keynote speakers, in a fireside chat with Epic’s Solutions Architect Patrick Wambold and moderated by Senior Marketing Manager Dana Cowley. He will reflect on everything from the role real-time technology can play in sta...
Glimpse Into the Metaphysical World of Seven Lions’ Debut NFT Collection on Crypto.com [Exclusive]
The collision course of EDM and NFTs (non-fungible tokens) has been one of hyperactive harmony. An immeasurable number of electronic music artists have dropped a dizzying sequence of intricate digital artworks in recent months, selling them to collectors looking to cash in on the NFT craze. The latest major artist to push their chips into the blockchain-powered virtual art pot is Seven Lions. The melodic bass titan and founder of Ophelia Records—one of the dance music scene’s most venerated tastemakers—is primed to drop his debut NFT collection on Crypto.com/NFT. Crypto.com/NFT is a marketplace that allows NFT enthusiasts to discover exclusive digital collectibles and their non-fungible tokens. Crypto.com/NFT Developed by illustrator and graphic artist Evelyn Abermotio...
Over 180 Musicians Sign Open Letter Criticizing Spotify for Controversial Voice Recognition Technology
In a letter to Spotify CEO Daniel Ek, a group of concerned musicians have expressed concern over one of the streaming giant’s technological patents. The patent in question allows for the “identification of taste attributes from an audio signal.” In other words, the patent would allow Spotify to develop a speech-recognition function which would shape how the platform recommends music to its users. Spotify filed the patent in 2018, which was later approved by the United States Patent And Trademark Office in January of this year. News of this patent has resurfaced concerns around digital privacy since, in order to function, the speech recognition feature would monitor background noise continuously looking for context clues which may identify the user’s...
