Tech
Beatsource to Offer Fully-Licensed DJ Edits in New Deal With Empire, Create Music
The company notes it is also in talks with major labels to offer their catalogs as fully approved and licensed DJ edits by April. Beatsource, the joint venture between Beatport and DJ City that services open-format DJs, has signed deals with independent distributors Empire and Create Music Group to create fully licensed DJ edits of some of the most popular tracks in their respective catalogs, it was announced today. The exclusive edits will be available beginning on Feb. 15 via Beatsource LINK, the streaming service launched by the company early last year. Under the agreements, Empire and Create Music have assembled extended edits of hits by artists including Fat Joe, Rich The Kid, Busta Rhymes, Anderson .Paak, Robin Thicke, DJ Chose, Funkmaster Flex, Tory Lanez and the Insomniac Records c...
HHW Gaming: Xbox Announces Series of Activations That Will Amplify Black Voices & Promote Inclusive Storytelling
Source: Microsoft / Xbox To celebrate Black history month, Xbox wants to let the gaming community know that Black gamers matter. The tragic deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor lead to a wave of social unrest in the United States and around the world. Businesses and even the video game community, out of respect for the movement, stood in solidarity with Black Lives Matter protestors by doing things like releasing free dynamic themes, loading screens, and in-game gear with the rallying cry. While it was something we loved to see, others did feel the moves were just performative for the moment. In light of Black History Month, Xbox wants to hammer home the point they are down for the cause, and that energy when it comes to supporting Black gamers, creatives within the ga...
HHW Gaming: Saweetie Teams Up With Xbox For Inaugural Saweetie Bowl Virtual Gaming Competition
Source: Xbox / Courtesy of Team Saweetie Ahead of Super Bowl LV going down in Tampa, Florida, this Sunday (Feb.7), Saweetie teamed up with Xbox to host her own big game, the Saweetie Bowl. On Thursday (Feb.4), Xbox formally announced its official partnership with multi-platinum artist, entrepreneur, and leader of the Icy Girl movement, Saweetie, with the unveiling of her virtual gaming completion, the Saweetie Bowl. For the inaugural event, Hip-Hop icon and avid gamer Snoop Dogg went head-to-head with New England Patriot’s wide receiver and three-time Super Bowl champion Julian Edelman in a high-stakes game of EA SPORTS Madden NFL 21. Speaking on the competition, Saweetie added: “We are kicking off this year’s big game the ICY way with an exciting Madden gaming competition toget...
Thanks To Black Creatives Clubhouse Is Reportedly Valued At $1 Billion
Source: Florian Gaertner / Getty Clubhouse is all the wave, and it has no one to thank but Black creatives for its success. When invite-only app Clubhouse first came on the scene nearly a year ago, you could only find venture capitalists using it to talk about investments and public offerings. Founded by Silicon Valley veterans Paul Davison and Rohan Seth Now, the app is the talk of Twitter after Black creatives plus regular users have found a way to make multiple uses of the audio-only social media medium. Recently it has managed to raise a reported $100 million in backing led by VC firm Andreessen Horowitz and as is reportedly now valued at $1 billion. Once you get the golden ticket to partake in the current iOS only (sorry Android users) app, you might find yourself in a room, getting g...
HHW Gaming: Microsoft Says Xbox Series X Shortage Will Continue Into June
Source: Bernard Smalls / @PhotosByBeanz83 If you thought the new year would bring you some good news when trying to buy an Xbox Series X, we have some bad news for you. It’s still incredibly hard trying to secure an Xbox Series X or a PS5, which will likely not change anytime soon. Speaking with the New York Times, Microsoft’s head of investor relations, Mike Spencer, revealed that the next-gen console supply will still be very limited at least through June. This news isn’t that surprising because Microsoft warned of an Xbox Series X shortage back in November, stating that we would continue to see shortages heading into “Microsoft’s Q3, calendar Q1,” claiming the company should have more consoles April through June. Spencer’s news means that customers should expect the grind to buy an...
HHW Gaming: Esports Stars From Asia Flocking To Greener Pastures In North America To Secure The Bag
Source: Getty Images / Getty Esports is still a growing medium in the United States and not as popular as it is in China. Still, professional gamers from Asia are taking their talents to North America in hopes of securing the bag. It’s no secret, the best professional League of Legends players in the world mostly reside in Asia, where the still growing form of entertainment is king. On the other hand, in the United States, a country that normally pounds its chest in the sports dominance department, the U.S. League of Legends is not on the same level as its counterparts in Asia. So how does one correct that issue? Throw money at it, of course. It’s the American way. In a New York Times report, writer Kellen Browning shined the spotlight on North America’s practice of luring away big-name ta...
Can This Music Rights Search Tool Solve a Big Industry Problem?
Hines, who lives in Atlanta, and New Jersey-based Noble made strides in 2020, first with funding from Collab Capital, an investment fund that targets Black entrepreneurs, as well as WeWork Black Founders, Google Black Founders Academy and early angel investors. Nobles says that Google, for instance, has been “hands on” by providing resources, including a tech support contact who went “deep with us on architecture” and other questions. Hines and Nobles also worked with teams from YouTube and ContentID, the Google-owned platform’s audio recognition technology used for copyright protection. Also, Music Tech Works was in the 2019-2020 cohort of Project Music and Entertainment, the music-focused startup accelerator of the Nashville Entrepreneur Center. Rightsholder...
Beats & fragment design Come Together For New Powerbeats Pro Collaboration
Source: Beats / Powerbeats Pro x fragment design New year, new Beats By Dre collaboration. Beats By Dre closed out 2020 by collaborating with Japanese contemporary jewelry label Ambush for a sick glow-in-the-dark pair of its Powerbeats. To kick-off 2021, the brand started by Dr. Dre, now owned by Apple, is linking up with Hiroshi Fujiwara’s fragment design fashion label. While Ambush’s Powerbeats were made to stand out, fragment design’s Powerbeats Pro are staying true to the Fujiwara’s love of keeping things very minimal. The wireless buds come in the Japanese musician and designer’s signature monochromatic style. What separates them from any other typical pair of Powerbeats Pro earbuds is the addition of the fragment’s iconic lightning bolt logo while the right side and “FRGMNT” letterin...
HHW Gaming: Snoop Dogg, Marshawn Lynch, & More Will Compete In Pro Bowl: The ‘Madden NFL 21’ Edition
Source: EA / Pro Bowl: The Madden NFL 21 Edition The 2021 NFL Pro Bowl is going to look a lot different this time around. The NFL somehow managed to get a complete season done, even with the country still dealing with the out of control COVID-19 pandemic. Super Bowl LV is set and will be a historic one because Tom Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers are playing host to the defending champs, Kansas City Chiefs, led by Patrick Mahomes, when they face off in Tampa, Florida, at Raymond James Stadium. This marks the first time in league history that a Super Bowl team will be playing in its own home stadium. The Pro Bowl, which is usually the NFL’s equivalent to the NBA’s All-Star Game, just not as popular, was supposed to be played in Las Vegas at the Raider’s new stadium on January 31 but was c...
GameStop Stock Rises Due To Reddit & Robinhood Users, Wall Street Shook?
Source: Johnny Louis / Getty Back in 2019, GameStop announced that it was closing hundreds of stores nationwide as the need for a brick and mortar video game store started to dwindle. This week, the retail chain is experiencing a boom in stock value, and what makes this unique is that individual investors have somehow bent the market to their will. There may not be any place on the Internet to avoid news or chatter surrounding the huge gains made by the Grapevine, Texas company. Like many other global entities, GameStop’s earnings and impact within its industry were impacted by the coronavirus pandemic with retail sales slowing to a near halt as digital sales continued to boom. On Monday (Jan. 26), smaller investors congregating on Reddit and using the Robinhood app resulted in a short squ...
Apple Is Celebrating Black History Month With A Limited Editon ‘Black Unity’ Apple Watch & More
Source: Apple / Apple Celebrates Black History Month Following the civil unrest that swept across the country and world following the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, big tech companies pledged to do more to help push Black racial equity initiatives. Apple is making sure the energy is being kept. Tuesday (Jan.26), as part of its celebration of Black History Month, Apple unveiled a limited edition “Black Unity” Apple Watch. The smartwatch will be a part of Apple’s Black Unity Collection of products and is dressed in the colors featured in the Pan-African flag. The limited smartwatch is a standard Series 6 Apple Watch that will launch on February 1st and will be available at Target and Apple stores. It will feature a unique watch face that “creates an ever-changing ...
HHW Gaming: Microsoft Has A Change of Heart & Will Not Be Raising Xbox Live Gold Subscription Prices
Source: Microsoft / Xbox Live Gold Microsoft is now saying sike after indicating it was going to raise Xbox Live Gold subscription prices. Cyberbullying can be used for good. Friday (Jan.22), Microsoft managed to ruin whatever goodwill it established with gamers when it announced that it would ridiculously raise Xbox Live Gold subscription prices. Understandably people were upset that if you didn’t already have a 12-month subscription — which Microsoft no longer offers — you wouldn’t see a price increase. Still, if you’re a new six-month subscriber, you would have to pony up $59.99, basically $120 for an entire year. Well, Microsoft paid attention to the cries from the pissed off button mashers and has decided not to follow through with the subscription price hike. The company announced vi...
