Taken from NBC’s Saturday Night Live this past Saturday.

Posted by David Miller

SoundCloud, the Berlin-based streaming platform that has drawn over 175 million users worldwide, is reportedly in “advanced talks” around an acquisition by Spotify, the market leader in music streaming which recently announced it had drawn 40 million subscribers, according to the Financial Times’ sources.

Spotify and SoundCloud refused to comment on the report. One well-placed source maintained to Billboard that the rumor was nothing more than that, and that it could perhaps be a solicitation tactic.

Whispers of SoundCloud’s acquisition have percolated for years. While 2014’s indication of a SoundCloud acquisition by Twitter eventually faded, the social media giant did invest $70 million into the music platform this past June, representing the largest chunk of a $100 million funding round. (This week, meanwhile, brought rumors of a Twitter acquisition, with Google and Disney leading that charge; consider it the circle of business life.)

An unnamed suitor was kicking SoundCloud’s tires more recently, as it sat on a $1 billion valuation — a price tag Spotify couldn’t really afford. (It’s also a valuation that some said was more an idea than a reality.) In January Spotify raised $1 billion in convertible debt, the terms of which all but require the company to issue an IPO within the next year, or suffer under the weight of unsustainable financial penalties. Its most recent financial filing, covering 2015, reported it as having €597.3 million in cash on hand. So, if it was working with the $700 million valuation that Twitter put on it, Spotify would have to spend 43 percent of its available funds to buy a company that, at least at first blush, seems a strange purchase. Spotfy will have plenty of cash after that initial offering, but until Daniel Ek rings that bell, his company may stay away from gigantic purchases like this.

Spotify and SoundCloud would, on the face of it, make both strange bedfellows and, possibly, a powerful pairing. The two platforms are very different, in significant ways — Spotify, with its simple interface and focus on relatively casual listeners, and SoundCloud, with a elegant-but-dense set of features and a (truly) labyrinthine catalog of music, heavy on dance, uploaded by its creators. However, combining the two could carve a large, or larger, crater into the world of digital listening.

Posted by David Miller

The Chainsmokers have been dethroned from the #1 spot on the Worldwide iTunes Song Chart. DJ Snake and his collaboration with Justin Bieber, “Let Me Love You”, has officially taken the top spot away from, “Closer” which I’m sure you’ve all heard by now.

In August of this year, the song debuted at #1 on the Billboard Digital Songs Chart and #12 on the Hot 100. DJ Snake is no newcomer to big hits, as he has been the producer behind songs like “Turn Down For What” and “Lean On”, which were both worldwide successes. Justin Bieber is also jumping on more tracks with dance music powerhouses and it seems like he’s figured out where all the hottest songs are coming from.

Posted by David Miller (via edmtunes)

Back in the 70’s, famed astronomer Carl Sagan and a team of scientists and artists put together a collection of golden phonograph records, which were sent to space aboard Voyager 1 and 2. They contain greetings in 55 languages, a plethora of animal sounds, traditional music from around the world, Mozart’s and Bach’s masterpieces, as well as Blind Willie Johnson and Chuck Berry tracks. Now, a Kickstarter campaign wants to give us lowly Earthlings a chance to own a copy of the Voyager Golden Records as a box set.

The campaign, launched by Boing Boing’s David Pescovitz, aims to raise $198,000, which definitely looks doable. Its 1,094 backers already pledged $130,000 as of this writing. Most of what Pescovitz and his team will make from Kickstarter will be used for royalties and to pay for the snazzy-looking box set’s production. See, the team decided to remake the records as three gold LPs in a cloth-covered box with gold foil.

The set will also come with a hardbound book containing the records’ history, as well as a copy of the original diagram depicting how to play them. You know, as some sort instruction in case aliens ever get their hands on the spacecraft. Both Voyagers are still alive ’till this day, and 1, in particular, left our solar system and crossed into interstellar space a few years ago. If there’s any spacecraft that has the potential to reach intelligent beings from other worlds, it’s the Voyager.

But let’s get back to the copy we Earthlings can get. You’ll have to pledge $98 to get one box set, though you can also snag a digital copy for $25 if you don’t care for the physical LP records and their fancy packaging. Take note that NASA already released some of their tracks on SoundCloud, though. The team is aiming to ship all rewards out by August 2017, exactly 40 years after NASA’s Voyager spacecraft embarked on their journey.

Posted by JD Live (via engadget)

The Serato DJ 1.9.3 update includes a number of important bug fixes and performance improvements for all users as well as an upgrade to the Serato Sampler. Our improved Sampler section now includes 8 slots giving control of 32 samples over 4 banks for sample play. The first Serato DJ enabled controller in our partnership with Roland, the DJ-808, is also supported in this update.

As well as this, 1.9.3 brings support for Ableton Link which enables you to send BPM information over a wireless network to keep multiple Link applications, including Ableton or a second Serato DJ setup in time.

Serato Sampler

The Serato DJ Sample Player has been updated from the classic SP-6 and transforms into the new Serato Sampler, which now includes two extra sample slots, allowing a total of eight samples to be loaded at once. We’ve also made a number of changes to the design for better usability.

Roland DJ-808

Support for the DJ-808, the first Serato DJ Enabled controller from our partnership with Roland. It is the first DJ controller to include built-in drum sequencing with Roland’s iconic TR drum sound.

On board is a 4-channel mixer, VT vocal processing unit, ultra high-performance platters with dual-deck control, 2 AIRA link USB ports, MIDI out and tight Serato DJ feature integration.

Download here: (Click)

Posted By David Miller (via Serato)

Calvin Harris officially released “My Way” on September 16, but only two days later, the track has already made it to the top of the iTunes charts in 13 different countries. The DJ/producer, who flaunted the triumph on Instagram, is clearly no stranger to major radio play and music chart domination, especially after “This is What You Came For” with Rihanna dropped earlier this year.

The personal lyrics of “My Way” had fans speculating that the song was about his high-profile split with Taylor Swift, but Harris recently clarified the song’s meaning in an interview with Elvis Duran for the Z100 Morning Show. Harris explained that he actually wrote the song about his time working at a grocery store :

“It’s breaking out of a situation. I thought of the concept years ago, when I left Safeway. I was trying to move to London and I was working in the store in Scotland, I was trying to go on and make music for a living but I couldn’t because I didn’t have any money. I was like, damn this grocery store! If I could break out of this I could have enough time to work on music and get good.”

Harris has indeed broken out of a bleak situation following the rags-to-riches trajectory which inspired “My Way,” the release of which reportedly will kick off his new business model where he aims no longer release albums, just singles.

Thank u to all my favorite countries MY WAY is out now!

A photo posted by Calvin Harris (@calvinharris) on Sep 17, 2016 at 11:59am PDT

Posted by David Miller

The Chainsmokers are so busy these days, they don’t even have time to bum a cig.

Corny jokes aside, the current Billboard cover story gives a lot of insight into the inner-workings of EDM’s chart-topping duo. Among other topics, Drew Taggart and Alex Pall talk buying mansions in Los Angeles to make constant travel to their Las Vegas residency breezier, and they drop knowledge on “a new multi-tiered LED setup.”

Most tantalizing of all, though, is news that Chainsmokers have been in talks with none other than Linkin Park, Big Sean, and Dua Lipa for potential collaborations. Even Weezer hit ’em up not too long ago after turning down the Chainsmokers’ invite to join them onstage at Coachella 2016.

“I can’t blame somebody for saying no early on, but it depends on how you said no and how you came back to us,” Pall tells Billboard in the current cover story. “If you own it, like, ‘I didn’t see the vision, but it’s clear now and it’s super sick,’ I get that. It feels good when those people are like…” Taggart cuts in, “Thirsty.”

Read full Billboard cover story here.

Posted by David Miller (via Billboard)

Italy based dance music label Art & Music Recording, or AMR, has asked the judge handling SFX Entertainment’s chapter 11 case to green light a probe into possible sales manipulations of its songs within the Beatport store.

The Wall Street Journal reports that AMR is responding to Beatport’s earlier claims that several tracks by label artists were “juiced,” or purchased repeatedly by non-fans in an effort to bump songs up on Beatport’s popularity charts. AMR denies any official wrongdoing and is asking the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del. to intervene.

According to the filing, AMR has approached the SFX-owned site to provide more information on its “juicing” claims but has so far been rebuffed. “AMR is looking for evidence that as-yet unidentified third parties are interfering with and manipulating the very ‘bread and butter’ of Beatport’s operations — its digital music charts,” said lawyers for AMR, which does not have a working website.

Court papers indicate six AMR tracks were removed from Beatport as a result of the alleged “juicing.” A hearing is on the proposed investigation is set for Sept. 26 in Wilmington.

SFX filed for bankruptcy in February after losing an estimated $18 million in 2015. It announced plans to sell off Beatport in order to pay down its debts but that auction was later suspended. In May, Beatport announced it was shutting down its music and video streaming platforms, its mobile app, its Beatport News section and its Events vertical, and putting the focus solely on the 12-year-old Beatport store.

Posted by David Miller (via Billboard)

Major Lazer have been riding high on a wave of success following the release of their latest single “Cold Water,” a collaboration with Justin Bieber that has gone on to top Spotify’s Global Top 200 chart, while enjoying plenty of radio success as well. While a lyric video was put together for “Cold Water” around the time of its release, the dancehall trio has delivered an official music video this week to accompany the single.
The official video for “Cold Water” focuses on the behind the scenes lifestyle of a major DJ group as the trio travels the globe on tour. Diplo, Walshy Fire and Jillionaire all appear in the video, with candid footage capturing the group backstage hanging with their dancers, on planes mid travel and performing in front of packed crowds, all shot in stark black and white. The song’s vocal star power in Justin Bieber is notably absent from the clip, however.
The new “Cold Water” video is a serviceable effort with plenty of tour footage for fans to enjoy, but the lack of a visual concept and vocalist Justin Bieber points to a low budget production. Major Lazer would have been wise to work the pop star into the music video, as the singer currently holds down three of the 27 YouTube videos that have cracked a billion views and would probably have helped to drive more traffic to it. Either way, fans will probably flock to stream the “Cold Water” video now that it’s been released.

Posted by David Miller (via dancingastronaut)

For 33 years the Roland TR-909 has been one of the most definitive sounds in electronic music, and the beating heart of DJ culture. In celebration of this iconic drum machine, Roland has created the TT-99 Turntable and DJ-99 DJ Mixer with special 909 graphics.

The TT-99 3-Speed Turntable features a direct drive system for stable torque and built-in phono equalizer. The DJ-99 2ch analog DJ Mixer features a pro-grade mini innoFADER crossfader, dedicated DVS inputs/outputs, and a 3-band equalizer for each input.

TT-99

3-Speed Turntable
3-Speed Turntable of 909 Celebration Special Paint
Direct-Drive system for stable torque.
Built-in phono equalizer.
Includes 909 Special color slipmat.
DJ-99

2ch DJ Mixer
2ch DJ Mixer of 909 Celebration Special Paint
Pro-grade mini innoFADER™ crossfader.
Dedicated DVS output.
3-band equalizer for each input.

Posted by David Miller (via gearnews)

Oh how the DJ world rejoiced when the first inklings of a return of the iconic and ubiquitous Technics 1200 hit the news feeds. And then the actual product appeared in its limited edition form, with an audiophile aimed price tag of around six times that of the original. Clearly, despite Technics leaning on the somewhat accidental DJ heritage of the original, the new SL-1200GAE was not aimed at your average DJ’s wallet.
But there was hope in the shape of a non-limited edition called the 1200G. But hopes were soon dashed when the price tag was rumoured to be the same. Wait… what?
Coming in at £2700, the limited edition turntables were soon snapped up by eager collectors. I know two people who have them, and as far as I know, both will remain boxed as an investment.
So why is this turntable quite so taxing on your fragile bank balances? The straight answer (aside from the ease with which audiophiles will throw cash at new shiny) is that it’s all new tooling, and that is very expensive indeed, especially when dealing with precision electronics. And the low volume runs make return on investment hard.

But perhaps the above video demonstrates rather more clearly just how much goes into manufacturing a turntable of this level. The lack of robots and reliance on skilled engineers and technicians goes a long way to explaining things. This isn’t a consumer electronics sausage factory by any stretch of the imagination. And as the video shows, the new Technics are being made on the machines that made the old ones.

Posted by Mark Settle (via djworx)

LA Born and Raised actor, Danny Trejo joined me for tacos this month. Had a great time getting to know Machete, his rise to fame and passion to help others! Oh and his spot, Trejos Tacos has some bangin’ tacos!

Posted by David Miller