News Round Up 23/1/15

Caribou shares 1000-song mixtape, MIDI HD protocol discussed, Laidback Luke promo controversy and Disclosure sued over alleged stolen lyrics.

Propellerhead release ‘Make Music Together.’ Propellerhead‘s new service makes it easy to exchange music projects by connecting Reason 8.1 to mobile apps Figure and Take, allowing us to share and collaborate on music. They’re also introducing Discover, which provides feeds of inspiring community-made music ready for you to use, build on, remix and sample in your own creations. Check these out in action above.

MIDI HD Protocol Discussions. The MIDI Manufacturer’s Association will be hosting a new business strategy meeting at NAMM trade show in California to discuss the implementation of new musical instrument control technology standard, MIDI HD, which makes much-needed improvements on the 30-year-old version used in billions of devices. Find out more details here.

‘Player’ – The Musician’s Music Player. A new iOS app described as ‘the musician’s music player,’ Player shows you a song’s chords while it plays, making it easier to analyse what’s going on going on harmonically. The developer claims that chord suggestions are “about 80% to 100% accurate”; if they’re wrong, you can change them in an editor. Player is available for free from the Apple App Store here.

Caribou Shares 1000-Song Mixtape. “Roughly speaking, this is a musical history of my life.” Caribou, aka Dan Snaith, has put together 1000 songs important to him as thanks to his fans. ‘1000 Songs For You’ is intended to be played shuffled as Snaith “made no attempt to sequence these tracks.” Read Caribou’s full note on the mixtape here, and stream above (click through for full 1000).

Kirk Degiorgio Pays Tribute to Matt Cogger. British techno producer Kirk Degiorgio remembers his friend Matt Cogger aka Neuropolitique, who was one of the first UK techno producers to explore a distinctly Detroit aesthetic in the early 90s, releasing a string of classic UK techno records on labels like ART, Irdial, Peacefrog and New Electronica. Matt Cogger lost his battle with cancer on Christmas Day. Read the post here.

Laidback Luke Promo Controversy. Laidback Luke and his label Mixmash‘s new single ‘S.A.X.’ has been removed from the Beatport charts for violating their chart-eligibility policy with a controversial promotional campaign. Fans were offered a full refund if they purchased the track (within a 7 hour window). “I am disappointed that my latest single is being penalized, but look forward to the discussion it will hopefully create on new ways of promoting music for the future,” said Laidback Luke. Full story here and Mixmash response here.

Disclosure Deny Alleged Stolen Lyrics. An unknown songwriter – Katie Farrah Sopher  – is suing Sam Smith and Eliza Dolittle, alleging that an abusive boyfriend stole her songbook and sold lyrics to Disclosure via music industry contacts. Sopher is claiming more than £200,000 in damages over four songs, Disclosure and ex-boyfriend Sean Sawyers deny all claims. Disclosure’s response can be found here, more details here.

Etienne de Crécy’s Track Tutorials. Influential French producer Etienne de Crécy is unveiling daily tutorials that work track-by-track through the techniques behind the creation of his new album Super Discount 3. More to come from his YouTube channel MonsieurdeCrecy, stream tutorial two above.

What the Vinyl “Comeback” Really Looks Like… Data published by the Recording Industry Association of America; the RIAA‘s vinyl sales figures for 1973-2014 clarify the reality of what has recently been termed a vinyl “comeback,” with late 70’s sales massively dwarfing today’s. Check out the graph and a discussion of its meaning here.

The World’s Best Nightclubs in Pictures. Berghain, Razzmatazz, Fabric and La Machine – Spanish graphic designer Pablo Benito has created illustrations of his favourite nightclubs from around the world. Featured by The Guardian here.