DMD #059 - Docs, Data and the Dance 🎥
This newsletter features essential news, track selections, and an event guide
Last week was the second year of SXSW London, where the advancements vs regressions in technology was a key topic. For years, the conference has been imprinted in my mind as the event that brought us Lady Gaga x Doritos and helped launch Twitter. Now I find it a space to have a few good conversations, listen to interesting talks, and get a sense of what’s on the mind of certain innovators.
While far removed from the dance floor and the artist experience, it is a space to be passionate nonetheless. I spent the morning at H.O.M.E. hearing about licensing deals for hardware, and the afternoon at the Abbey Road 93feet East takeover. My personal highlight was a demonstration from Spitfire Audio, who have spent over £1 million recording live sounds inside Abbey Road Studios with the ambition of giving composers access to incredibly detailed instruments and enabling more realistic, real-time creative planning.
“There’s a whole part of being human — maybe it goes back to survival — where we’re very good at hearing very small details of sound and the beauty of imperfections, the very microscopic details of sound. This is something that AI doesn’t understand.” — Paul Thomson, co-founder Spitfire Audio
So, what else has been happening this week...
What to expect below: Sessions, takeovers, headliners and book club 📚
New music is out on DMD Records Ltd. Lex Hearth’s ‘Ice Cold Smoothies’, rooted in deep, groove-led house, blends warm low-end with crisp percussion and a fluid, rolling rhythm. Built for open-air sunsets and extended sessions behind the decks.
You can engage with us on Soundcloud and follow us on Beatport for release updates.
New research from Music Technology UK (MTUK) reveals a funding challenge for scaling music tech companies, with growth-stage investment dropping by 90% from £101 million in 2020 to just £10 million. While early seed-stage funding doubled during this same period.
Travis Scott caused a kerfuffle after arriving late to a Formula 1 after-party at Monte Carlo's Lilly’s Club on Sunday, interrupting John Summit’s set, to take over the stage.
Marking its 10th anniversary, Saffron has partnered with Real World Studios to launch Saffron Sessions, a live performance series spotlighting emerging artists. The initiative also welcomed women and non-binary students from dBs Institute as apprentice sound engineers.
Universal Music Group has bought back a portion of the shares previously owned by Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square after rejecting their takeover bid last week.
Hannah Laing is bringing the doof to Dundee via her festival Doof in the Park. Taking place on the 4th July the festival has added another 2,000 tickets following a fast sell-out of the original 15,000.
KI/KI and Peggy Gou joined forces for a surprise back-to-back set at EDC Las Vegas.
Curated streaming platform Cantilever has raised £250,000 from a group of 20 investors, made up of independent record labels and individual investors. The company aims to build a discovery experience centred around human curation rather than algorithms - similar to Mubi, but for music.
After eight years in the making, Prospa have released their debut album via CircoLoco Records, marking a major milestone for the Leeds duo.
In her new book Sex, Clubs, Dissent, writer Amelia Abraham explores six decades of queer nightlife through photography, essays and interviews. The book examines how club culture has served as a space for pleasure, protest and community across generations.
Four for the Floor
Four new tracks we’re loving
This week our hand picked selections are:
Key Rush - Jex Opolis [Integration Recordings]
Snapshot in Time - Anna Kohlin [LowMoneyMusicLove]
Ride on Me - PAWSA [Solid Grooves]
This Song - Syreeta [In Rotation / INSOMNIAC]
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