More industry troubles, Native Instruments 9 for 99 sale, Lea Porcelain artist spotlight
Studio Tool You Need 🎹
From now until April 9th, Native Instruments is doing a 9 for 99 sale on their site! You can choose 9 of any of their available expansion packs for just $99! If you already have Komplete, this is a solid deal and can absolutely spark some inspiration. Check it out here!
Production Sauce 🎵
Emuuto uses Ableton 12’s new midi generation tools to create drum fill variations from a single sample. This is such a great way to spice up your arrangement! Check it out here!
News You Should Hear About ⚠️
"I wanted to find a way for musicians to make money directly from the music they make."
After going viral after series of tweets publicly calling out the leading streaming services and Tik Tok, James Blake has introduced streaming service Vault to address the issue. Created to give fans the ability to listen to unreleased music from artists, with a subscription fee of $5, Blake aims to put the power of music revenue directly in the hands of artists.
Read more about Blake's hope to cut out the middle man and return control to the artists here.
An Industry Secret They Don't Want You To Know 🤫
Continuing the discussion that streaming and social media have heavily impacted the music industry, people are wondering if "albums" are worth pursuing if you're a smaller or independent artist.
With exceptions, of course, the industry standard was to release singles, then an album, and then tour for that album for a couple of years. Now? It's not so simple.
“Albums aren’t really viable for independent artists!” said Bassist, DJ, and producer Marla Kether for MusicRadar. “So much thought, time, work, and money goes into an album. It’s not just the studio costs: albums are usually accompanied by a huge rollout campaign, headline shows, and maybe even physical releases. The reality is that albums are not viable unless you’re signed to a label that will pump money into your release campaign.”
For smaller artists as well, releasing more consistently will keep the interest of their existing audience, as well as help them gain more fans. Releasing albums doesn't really support the current model the music industry is residing in. It's an interesting time to be an artist, and it's only continuing to evolve.
Check out MusicRadar's article for the full story here.
Artists We Love 🎤
Think New Order meets Coldplay! Julien Bracht and Markus Nikolaus make up post punk duo Lea Porcelain from Berlin. Their music beautifully blends the elements of electronic, post punk/indie rock, and even some folk genres into irresistible ear candy. Perfect music for the warm weather that's approaching! Our favorite tracks are "Pool Song" and "I Am Ok" on Spotify and Apple Music.
What's Happening at 343?
We've got an Ableton User Group coming up next Thursday from 7-9p.m!
We have a special edition of our meetup planned this month with the much-anticipated release of Ableton’s Live 12. Live 12 is packed with game-changing new features that make producing music even easier. Discover all the new features in person during the event and get your questions answered.
During the event, you will also have the opportunity to see the 343 Labs facilities, meet some of their instructors, and learn about their courses.
Don't forget to follow our TikTok for production tips, 343 behind-the-scenes content, and more!