Russian President Vladimir Putin has confirmed that the two jailed members of Pussy Riot will soon be released under an amnesty bill, but scolded Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina during his annual news conference on Thursday. “I feel sorry not because they went to prison, but because they committed that provocative act, which degraded women,”…

We live in a new music world. While some will tell you it’s entirely different from the past, it’s really a throwback to the 50s and beginning of the 60s when singles dominated. As artists and bands of the 60s became more successful, more attention was placed on the album, which while more expensive to…

The great drummer Ricky Lawson has suffered a severe stroke that has him clinging to life, and as a tribute I thought I’d post part of an interview that I did with him for The Drum Recording Handbook (written with the excellent engineer Dennis Moody). It just might be easier to say who Ricky Lawson…

Artists and gamers have taken issue with TuneCore and INDmusic over the companies’ recent efforts to claim YouTube videos that contain copyrighted music. The eruption of complaints on Twitter, Reddit and elsewhere this week gives a glimpse of how the complex and awkward nature of managing music rights on YouTube is playing out as songwriters and…

Jay Z and Imagine Dragons were among the top artists in both the U.S. and around the world at on-demand streaming service Rdio in 2013. Rdio listeners in 51 countries also heavily streamed Macklemore & Ryan Lewis and Miley Cyrus. The U.S. and global lists have a lot of overlap. Six songs appear on both…

French dance duo Daft Punk, who have thus far resisted touring in support of its hit 2013 album “Random Access Memories,” have booked at least one live date in 2014. The act was among the first wave of performers unveiled for the Jan. 26 Grammy Awards. Other stars set to appear on the telecast are…

In addition to releasing its new line of Mac Pro computers, Apple today updated Logic Pro X. Logic Pro X v10.0.5 adds 3 new drummers, 11 new Drum Kit Designer patches, enhanced EQ features, offers improved performance and more. Here are the details: New features and enhancements…

The Foo Fighters, Imagine Dragons and the Roots will lead the Bud Light Hotel’s stacked Super Bowl weekend concert lineup, set to take place in New York City across the street from the hotel’s unique location, a cruise ship docked on the Hudson River. The recently reassembled Foo Fighters will play February 1st, the night…

The ballots have been counted and it’s been announced that this year’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees will be Nirvana, KISS, Hall & Oats, Peter Gabriel, Linda Ronstadt and Cat Stevens. While it’s hard to argue with the quality of work of these fine artists (they’re all well deserving of recognition), I still…

Bitwig is back with another sneak preview of their upcoming Bitwig Studio. Do we know when the **** Bitwig Studio is going to get released? No, but based on this sneak preview of Hybrid Tracks and other audio features, it looks like it’s going to be worth the wait! Bitwig supports the audio and instrument…