Music

Did the new Knives Out’s impressively ornate seminary gym seem a little familiar? It’s not just you, it was one of the world’s subtlest Rickrolls.

Image-Line is currently beta-testing a web-based version of FL Studio, the DAW of choice for producers such as Metro Boomin and 9th Wonder. It will be a streamlined app designed for beginners learning the basics of music production. But when you’re ready to make the jump, projects created in FL Studio Web can be imported to the full desktop suite.

Gaming’s biggest awards show might be losing its luster, but last night’s annual Game of the Year medley was as good as ever. The transition from Hades II to Pauline’s song from Donkey Kong Bananza? Chills. And of course, there was a lot of Flute Guy, who even brought a custom PVC pipe flute.

Sure, The Game Awards had Miss Piggy and Rowlf the Dog making up a song about Geoff Keighley. But that’s nothing compared to Koda Kumi’s live performance of one of the most iconic Final Fantasy bangers in the franchise’s history.

The band was one of the higher-profile acts to leave Spotify over Daniel Ek’s war profiteering. But its songs briefly reappeared in the guise of an AI clone. An act called King Lizard Wizard uploaded seemingly AI-generated songs with the same names and lyrics as the real deal. That ran afoul of Spotify’s policies against impersonation and the songs were removed. In a statement provided to Australian site The Music, frontman Stu Mackenzie said he was:

After the Trump administration used Carpenter’s song “Juno” in an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) propaganda video, the pop star responded, calling it “evil and disgusting.” The White House account has since deleted the post — but they’ve picked this fight with musicians before.

The “production release” of  Windows MIDI Services just hit the Dev and Beta Windows Insider channels, and Microsoft says it will land on retail installs in “the next few months.” This means higher-resolution expression, two-way communication between devices, and less need for third-party drivers. MIDI 2.0 was announced in 2019, but adoption has been slow, with macOS and Android adding support in 2021 and 2022, respectively. There are still only a handful of compatible devices available, too.

One last time for the year, the site is waving its cut of sales, and every dollar will go directly to the artists. It’s an excellent opportunity to pick up that record you slept on all year, like University’s McCartney, It’ll Be OK, or Los Thuthanaka’s self-titled album.

Just a couple of months after entering beta, Ableton Live 12.3 is officially available as a free update for all Live 12 owners. There are also some updated devices, including a revamped Auto Pan-Tremolo. Push is gaining a new layout, too, that turns the top 32 pads into an X/Y expression controller.

This trailer for Netflix’s upcoming Star Search revival is really just a list all the celebrities like Beyoncé, Usher, and Britney Spears who were discovered on the original series. But it’s also the streamer’s way of announcing that Anthony Anderson will host the new live show when it premieres on January 13th.

As part of the settlement with Universal, Udio has amended its terms of service, and users can no longer download their outputs. This has AI music makers furious, and with good reason. Unfortunately, they have little recourse, as the contract they sign when creating a Udio account includes a waiver of the right to bring a class action. This should alarm customers of rival services like Suno, which is also in the crosshairs of the major labels.

The AI music company just announced that it raised $250 million in its latest funding round, and its valuation soared from about $500 million last year to nearly $2.5 billion. That money might be going right back out the door, though, as all three major labels — Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, and Sony Music Group — are currently suing Suno.

In September, the band announced it would remove its catalog from Spotify due to Daniel Ek’s investment in military AI technology. That appears to be easier said than done. But in 2026, it will begin releasing music on a new label, and the group said it will be available digitally — just not on Spotify.

The new feature is coming first to Canada, allowing users to connect and share music with like-minded fans across genres like rock, country, and K-pop. In Fan Groups, users can join or create chat threads, as well as save recommendations from others.