Novation has launched a series of live streams covering discussions and panels around technology, creativity and inspiration. There’s also live performance streams, as well as artist roundtables, and discussions around the industry and business side of music. Some of those involved have worked with the likes of Leon Vynehall, Jon Hopkins, Shogun Audio, Ninja Tune and Fatboy Slim. 

Roland and Korg have been fined £5.5m by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) watchdog for breaking competition law in the UK. The music-tech brands “have been fined for implementing resale price maintenance (RPM) designed to restrict retailer freedom to set prices online by requiring their musical instruments to be sold at or above a minimum price.” Retail price maintenance is when a supplier and retailer agree to keep prices at a certain minimum or maximum point, which can be designed to stop retailers competing too fiercely on price. 

A new app called GRID aims to automate ticketing, ordering drinks and food and cloakrooms and registering your details for track and trace. The COVID-19 registration is probably the key part of the app, allowing contact tracing to be done by the venue rather than individuals, and avoids any filling in of forms on the night itself. 

The app uses QR codes to order and deliver table-service drinks and food, with staff in full PPE or can ping your device when the drinks are ready for pickup. 

Novation has announced a new range of their Lauchkey controllers, with the MK3 adding a dedicated button for Live’s capture MIDI function, with “track arm, quantise, click and loop controls, for flying around Sessions faster than ever.” Built specifically for controller Ableton Live and developed with the German company, the units also feature the same Chord, Key and Scale modes from the popular Launchpad for quick ideas and an arpeggiator with a mutate mode. 

Martin Garrix has revealed his newly refurbished STMPD studio complex in the Netherlands. The new facility, which has been under refurbishment for the past three years, has already welcomed the likes of Young Thug, Big Sean, David Guetta and One Republic.

Native Instruments have issued an apology following claims of racism, discrimination and gaslighting from former staff members. The statement comes after multiple former employees criticised the German company for inaction over concerns raised by staff members over a promotional campaign that used a racial slur as part of an artists’ moniker.

VirtualDJ has announced a new version of their DJing software that allows users to separate parts of the track like vocals, drums and instrumentation in real-time while you DJ. Using a new AI system, the software isolates stems from tracks and lets users access acapella or drums to create mash-ups on the fly. 

Pioneer DJ has updated rekordbox to version 6.0.2, addressing some bugs reported by users since the new version dropped earlier this year. The new version addresses issues around rekordbox crashing on launch, as well as issues exporting tracks that have been sync'd to Pioneer DJ's new Cloud Library Sync. Other issues such as remixer metadata from Beatport LINK have also been addressed. Other updates include: 

Prince’s Yamaha DX7 synth is going on sale in a new auction, alongside some other studio kit and belongings, including an E-mu EMAX sampler. The synth, which according to MusicRadar was played by the legendary musician on his track ‘Purple Medley’, and also used on the recording of Purple Rain the album and the subsequent tour.