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2K is celebrating its 25th anniversary by unveiling its latest edition of the popular NBA gaming series — and it’s officially available for preorder. The new NBA 2K24 will not only feature a slam dunk-worthy lineup of players to choose from, but comes in multiple covers, including two with the legendary Kobe Bryant on front, which you can collect.
Four editions of the game were made for consoles including PS5, PS4, Xbox consoles, Nintendo Switch and PC. You can collect or choose between the Black Mamba version or Kobe Bryant edition of the game, which will feature past and current-gen versions of the game.
Pricing will defer depending on the console and version of the game you choose.
Keep reading to preorder the game and ensure you have a copy by the time it’s released.
GameStop
NBA 2K24 – Kobe Bryant Edition
$From $59.99
The Kobe Bryant edition will have you go back to the athlete’s early career days and work your way up to stardom level. Card-collecting mode has returned, which comes with hours of customizable options. The Kobe Bryant edition only comes with the base game with the option to purchase the past-gen or current-gen version of the game.
GameStop
NBA 2K24 – Black Mamba Edition
$99.99
The Black Mamba version comes with the same base game as the Kobe Bryant edition, but will have additional bonuses including 100K VC, 15K MyTEAM points, 2K24 starting five draft box with three option packs, 10 box MyTEAM promo packs, a cover star sapphire card, on diamond shoe, 2-hour double XP coin and more.
For more product recommendations, check out our roundups of the best Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom merch, tech deals from Walmart and over-ear headphones.
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: Anadolu Agency / Getty / Threads / Twitter
Elon Musk and his hot mess of a social media platform, Twitter, are looking salty in these digital streets after threatening to sue Meta for allegedly biting Twitter with Threads.
Spotted on The Verge, it looks like Elon Musk is shaking in his Allbirds following Threads’ successful launch and looks to be a strong contender to knock out the bird app.
In a letter addressed to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg obtained by Semafor, Twitter lawyer Alex Spiro alleges that Meta is using te company’s trade secrets and intellectual property when making bringing Threads to life and is threatening legal action in “both civil remedies and injunctive relief.”
Per The Verge:
Spiro, who is also Elon Musk’s personal lawyer and a partner at the Quinn Emanuel law firm, claims that Meta hired “dozens” of ex-Twitter employees to develop Threads, which wouldn’t be all that surprising given just how many people were fired following Musk’s takeover.
But according to Twitter, many of these former workers still have access to Twitter’s trade secrets and other confidential information. Twitter alleges that Meta took advantage of this and tasked these employees with developing a “copycat” app “in violation of both state and federal law.”
In response to the claims, the communications director for Meta, Andy Stone, said, “No one on the Threads engineering team is a former Twitter employee — that’s just not a thing.”
Meta also doesn’t seem phased by Musk’s threat to sue, being that is usually the course of action the company seems to take, most recently threatening Microsoft with a lawsuit for allegedly abusing Twitter’s API.
In response to the letter, Musk said, “Competition is fine, cheating is not.”
Threads Is Winning Out The Gate
Musk and his company’s lawsuit comes on the heels of Thread’s incredible launch that saw over 10 million users eager to ditch Musk’s platform signup.
According to The Verge, Threads has over 30 million registered users, including big names like Kim Kardashian, Khloé Kardashian, J.Lo, and more already on board with the app.
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Photo: Anadolu Agency / Getty
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From ChatGPT writing code for software engineers to Bing’s search engine sliding in place of your bi-weekly Hinge binge, we’ve become obsessed with the capacity for artificial intelligence to replace us.
Within creative industries, this fixation manifests in generative AI. With models like DALL-E generating images from text prompts, the popularity of generative AI challenges how we understand the integrity of the creative process: When generative models are capable of materializing ideas, if not generating their own, where does that leave artists?
Google’s new text-based music generative AI, MusicLM, offers an interesting answer to this viral terminator-meets-ex-machina narrative. As a model that produces “high-fidelity music from text descriptions,” MusicLM embraces moments lost in translation that encourages creative exploration. It sets itself apart from other music generation models like Jukedeck and MuseNet by inviting users to verbalize their original ideas rather than toggle with existing music samples.
Describing how you feel is hard
AI in music is not new. But between recommending songs for Spotify’s Discover Weekly playlists to composing royalty free music with Jukedeck, applications of AI in music have evaded the long-standing challenge of directly mapping words to music.
This is because, as a form of expression on its own, music resonates differently to each listener. The same way that different languages struggle to perfectly communicate nuances of respective cultures, it is difficult (if not impossible) to exhaustively capture all dimensions of music in words.
MusicLM takes on this challenge by generating audio clips from descriptions like “a calming violin melody backed by a distorted guitar riff,” even accounting for less tangible inputs like “hypnotic and trance-like.” It approaches this thorny question of music categorization with a refreshing sense of self awareness. Rather than focusing on lofty notions of style, MusicLM grounds itself in more tangible attributes of music with tags such as “snappy”, or “amateurish.” It broadly considers where an audio clip may come from (eg. “Youtube Tutorial”), the general emotional responses it may conjure (eg. “madly in love”), while integrating more widely accepted concepts of genre and compositional technique.
What you expect is (not) what you get
Piling onto this theoretical question of music classification is the more practical shortage of training data. Unlike its creative counterparts (e.g. DALL-E), there isn’t an abundance of text-to-audio captions readily available.
MusicLM was trained by a library of 5,521 music samples captioned by musicians called ‘MusicCaps.’ Bound by the very human limitation of capacity and the almost-philosophical matter of style, MusicCaps offers finite granularity in its semantic interpretation of musical characteristics. The result is occasional gaps between user inputs and generated outputs: the “happy, energetic” tune you asked for may not turn out as you expect.
However, when asked about this discrepancy, MusicLM researcher Chris Donahue and research software engineer Andrea Agostinelli celebrate the human element of the model. They describe primary applications such as “[exploring] ideas more efficiently [or overcoming] writer’s block,” quick to note that MusicLM does offer multiple interpretations of the same prompt — so if one generated track fails to meet your expectations, another might.
“This [disconnect] is a big research direction for us, there isn’t a single answer,” Andrea admits. Chris attributes this disconnect to the “abstract relationship between music and text” insisting that “how we react to music is [even more] loosely defined.”
In a way — by fostering an exchange that welcomes moments lost in translation — MusicLM’s language-based structure positions the model as a sounding board: as you prompt the model with a vague idea, the generation of approximates help you figure out what you actually want to make.
Beauty is in breaking things
With their experience producing Chain Tripping (2019) — a Grammy-nominated album entirely made with MusicVAE (another music generative AI developed by Google) — the band YACHT chimes in on MusicLM’s future in music production. “As long as it can be broken apart a little bit and tinkered with, I think there’s great potential,” says frontwoman Claire L. Evans.
To YACHT, generative AI exists as a means to an end, rather than the end in itself. “You never make exactly what you set out to make,” says founding member Jona Bechtolt, describing the mechanics of a studio session. “It’s because there’s this imperfect conduit that is you” Claire adds, attributing the alluring and evocative process of producing music to the serendipitous disconnect that occurs when artists put pen to paper.
The band describes how the misalignment of user inputs and generated work inspires creativity through iteration. “There is a discursive quality to [MusicLM]… it’s giving you feedback… I think it’s the surreal feeling of seeing something in the mirror, like a funhouse mirror,” says Claire. “A computer accent,” band member Rob Kieswetter jokes, referencing a documentary about the band’s experience making Chain Tripping.
However, in discussing the implications of this move to text-to-audio generation, Claire cautions the rise of taxonomization in music: “imperfect semantic elements are great, it’s the precise ones that we should worry about… [labels] create boundaries to discovery and creation that don’t need to exist… everyone’s conditioned to think about music as this salad of hyper-specific genre references [that can be used] to conjure a new song.”
Nonetheless, both YACHT and the MusicLM team agrees that MusicLM — as it currently is — holds promise. “Either way there’s going to be a whole new slew of artists fine-tuning this tool to their needs,” Rob contends.
Engineer Andrea recalls instances where creative tools weren’t popularized for its intended purpose: “the synthesizer eventually opened up a huge wave of new genres and ways of expression. [It unlocked] new ways to express music, even for people who are not ‘musicians.’” “Historically, it has been pretty difficult to predict how each piece of music technology will play out,” researcher Chris concludes.
Happy accidents, reinvention, and self-discovery
Back to the stubborn, unforgiving question: Will generative AI replace musicians? Perhaps not.
The relationship between artists and AI is not a linear one. While it’s appealing to prescribe an intricate and carefully intentional system of collaboration between artists and AI, as of right now, the process of using AI in producing art resembles more of a friendly game of trial and error.
In music, AI gives room for us to explore the latent spaces between what we describe and what we really mean. It materializes ideas in a way that helps shape creative direction. By outlining these acute moments lost in translation, tools like MusicLM sets us up to produce what actually ends up making it to the stage… or your Discover Weekly.
Tiffany Ng is an art & tech writer based in NYC. Her work has been published in i-D Vice, Vogue, South China Morning Post, and Highsnobiety.
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: NurPhoto / Getty / Instagram Threads
Wednesday, Instagram decided to “shock drop” its answer to Twitter to strike while the iron is still hot as the mass exodus from Elon Musk is underway. So far, Mark Zuckerberg and co’s decision to hit the launch button was brilliant and is paying off.
Spotted on Engadget, Threads, Meta’s rival to Twitter is off to an impressive start and has already exceeded ten million signups in just seven hours after going live, according to a Thread from CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
The massive signup number was a testament to the platform’s ability to handle the rapid signup rate, which could also be a direct result of Instagram successfully luring some of its 2 billion users over to Threads.
Zuckerberg wasn’t done egging on his rival, Elon Musk, whom he could fight in a cage match. No, we’re not kidding about that. In his first tweet in over a decade, the Meta chief used the classic Spider-Man meme signaling a standoff between the two billionaires.
While this is a solid start for Threads, the platform’s launch is not without issues. Users are enjoying their time with Threads, but complaints are coming in. One of the main issues is the lack of chronological or following-only feed options, which both Twitter and Instagram are still dealing with to some extent.
Current Threads users are stuck with the current algorithm throwing random users on their feeds, directly resulting from seeing posts other users are replying to.
Threads also lack a post-editing feature, something both Facebook and IG users enjoy, hashtags, account switching, a dedicated button to insert GIFS, and more.
Adam Mosseri Spoke About Instagram Threads’ Issues
In a Threads post, Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri said that a following-only feature, post-editing, and account switching are “on the list,” and hashtags will be tappable “in time.”
In a recent update from his Broadcast channel, Mosseri admits things are “hectic” behind the scenes.
“Things have been hectic behind the scenes this week, most of the Threads team is focused on keeping the app up and fixing all the bugs we’re finding it,” Mosseri begins. “It feels a little bit like what working at this company felt like ten years ago, everyone’s rolling up their sleeves, hustling and trying to help the best they can.”
He continues, “We didn’t expect 10s of millions of people to sign up in less than a day, but supporting that is the definition of a champagne problem.”
Well, Rome was not built in a day. We only expect Threads to come into form over time. Plus, you can still spend time on Spill as Threads continues to figure things out.
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Photo: NurPhoto / Getty
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R&B singer 6LACK has partnered with Endel to create alternate versions of his latest album Since I Have A Lover that is specially formulated to promote “restorative rest and mental balance” as part of BIPOC Mental Health Awareness Month. One alternate version is designed to promote sleep, out July 8, and the second will promote focus, out July 24.
To promote the collaboration, 6lack will host a live pre-listening session on the Endel app on July 6, and two in-person events will take place in LA and Berlin that same day.
Endel is a start-up that creates what it calls “functional sound,” a form of ambient music that supports listeners day-to-day wellness needs, including sleep, meditation and focus. While Endel’s proprietary music-making technology is powered by artificial intelligence, Endel does not create new songs out of thin air. Instead, it generates ambient soundscapes by rearranging pieces of music provided by artists in ways that Endel says promotes specific wellness goals.
6lack joins the likes of other artists like Grimes and James Blake who have partnered with the soundscape start-up in the past, however, the alternate version of Since I Have A Lover is a new kind of partnership for the wellness brand because it is the first full album Endel has remixed and released on streaming services.
In March, Oleg Stavitsky, co-founder and CEO of Endel, told Billboard he felt this was a way for the soundscape company to help major labels evolve. “We can process the stems [the audio building blocks of a track] from Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue and come back with a functional sleep version of that album,” Stavitsky said, adding that Endel was in talks with all the major labels about trying this at the time.
Since then, Endel has partnered with UMG to do just that, and Since I Have A Lover marks the companies’ first attempt. Their partnership came as a surprise to some, given UMG chief Lucian Grainge‘s negative recent remarks about AI and functional music. Lamenting that functional music drives streaming dollars away from pop music and towards rain sounds, white noise, and other ambient recordings, he said in a memo to staff in January that “consumers are increasingly being guided by algorithms to lower-quality functional content that in some cases can barely pass for ‘music.’”
But at the time the partnership was announced, Michael Nash, UMG evp and chief digital officer, praised Endel for “utiliz[ing] their patented AI technology” to create ambient music because it is “anchored in our artist-centric philosophy” and “powered by AI that respects artists’ rights in its development.”
Endel’s ambient soundscapes have been on streaming services since 2019, thanks to UMG competitor Warner Music Group. Known to be bullish in its investment and partnership strategy with emerging music tech companies, WMG signed Endel to a 20-album distribution deal.
“This is about letting people experience my music in a new way,” 6LACK says of his collaboration with Endel. “These sounds can be for rest and relaxation, or for helping you feel inspired and creative. It’s for finding a sense of balance in life. Since I Have a Lover has plenty of magical sounds, and combined with Endel’s AI and science, it was easy to create something that felt healing.”
“Using AI to reimagine your favorite music as a functional soundscape, designed to help solve the biggest mental health challenges we’re facing as a species, is our mission. 6LACK’s openness to experimentation and his ability to let go and trust the process was crucial to the success of this project,” says Stavitsky. “We’re extremely proud of the result and can’t wait for millions of people to experience the healing power of these soundscapes.”
Meta is poised to unveil a new app that appears to mimic Twitter — a direct challenge to the social media platform owned by Elon Musk.
A listing for the app, called Threads, appeared on Apple’s App Store, indicating it would debut as early as Thursday. It is billed as a “text-based conversation app” that is linked to Instagram, with the listing teasing a Twitter-like microblogging experience.
“Threads is where communities come together to discuss everything from the topics you care about today to what’ll be trending tomorrow,” it said.
Instagram users will be able to keep their user names and follow the same accounts on the new app, according to screenshots displayed on the App Store listing. Meta declined to comment on the app.
Musk replied “yeah” to a tweet from Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey saying, “All your Threads are belong to us,” along with a screenshot from the App Store’s privacy section showing what personal information might be collected by the new Meta app.
Threads could be the latest headache for Musk, who acquired Twitter last year for $44 billion and has been making changes that have unnerved advertisers and turned off users, including new daily limits on the number of tweets people can view.
Meta has good timing because Twitter users are growing frustrated with Musk’s changes and looking for a viable alternative, said Matt Navarra, a social media consultant.
Threads presents the “opportunity to jump to a platform that can give them many of the things that they want Twitter to continue to be that it no longer is,” he said.
Allowing Instagram users to port their profile to Threads could give the new app more traction with potential users by providing a ready-made set of accounts for them to follow, said Navarra, former director of social media at tech news site The Next Web and digital communications adviser for the British government.
Twitter has rolled out a series of unpopular changes in recent days, including a requirement for users to be verified to use the online dashboard TweetDeck. The policy announced Monday takes effect in 30 days and appears to be aimed at raising extra revenue because users need to pay have their accounts verified under Musk’s changes.
TweetDeck is popular with companies and news organizations, allowing users to manage multiple Twitter accounts.
It comes after outcry over Musk’s announcement this weekend that Twitter has limited the number of tweets users can view each day — restrictions that the billionaire Tesla CEO described as an attempt to stop unauthorized scraping of potentially valuable data.
Still, some users might be put off by Meta’s data privacy track record, Navarra said. And would-be Twitter challengers like Mastodon have found it a challenge to sign up users.
“It’s hard to tell whether the upset and discontent is strong enough to make a mass exodus or whether it will be somewhat of a slow erosion,” Navarra said.
Musk’s rivalry with Meta Platforms also could end up spilling over into real life. In an online exchange between Musk and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the two tech billionaires seemingly agreed to a cage match face-off, though it’s unclear if they will actually make it to the ring.
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Source: Anadolu Agency / Getty / Elon Musk
Phony Stark, aka Elon Musk’s masterclass in breaking something that worked perfectly before he bought it, is pretty much complete. Over the weekend, Twitter was an absolute mess, and Black Twitter became officially fed up with the platform.
What the hell is a rate limit?
That’s what many Twitter users were asking over the weekend and some still as of today. Elon Musk took to his broken platform to reveal that all users were hit with limits on how many tweets they could read, causing a significant outage as people tried to keep up with what was happening in the world.
The Trump of Tech said in a tweet that verified account users can see up to 6,000 posts daily, while unverified users only see 600.
Newly registered Twitter users got it the worse, only being allowed to see 300 tweets per day. He eventually lifted that number to 10,000, 1,000, and 500, but the damage was done.
Musk claims that his platform is dealing with “extreme levels of data scraping” from “several hundred organizations” and “system manipulation” while not naming precisely who is doing it.
Is Elon Musk Lying?
Of course, people are calling C A P on Musk’s claims. Spotted on Crooks and Liars, web developer Sheldon Chang accused the Tesla and Space X chief’s Twitter “DDOSing itself, on rival Mastodon.
Per Crooks and Liars:
This is hilarious. It appears that Twitter is DDOSing itself.
The Twitter home feed’s been down for most of this morning. Even though nothing loads, the Twitter website never stops trying and trying.
In the first video, notice the error message that I’m being rate limited. Then notice the jiggling scrollbar on the right.
The second video shows why it’s jiggling. Twitter is firing off about 10 requests a second to itself to try and fetch content that never arrives because Elon’s latest genius innovation is to block people from being able to read Twitter without logging in.
This likely created some hellish conditions that the engineers never envisioned and so we get this comedy of errors resulting in the most epic of self-owns, the self-DDOS.
Unbelievable. It’s amateur hour.
Another developer was able to back up Chang’s claims by also replicating those DDOSing results.
Another claim accuses Musk and Twitter of simply not paying their bills after it moved from Google’s Cloud Services to their servers, and that’s when all of the issues began.
Black Twitter Is Packing Up & Leaving
Since Musk took over and imposed many dumb ideas, users have been looking for a substitute for Twitter. BlueSky caught on immediately but, per The Verge’s reporting, is pausing sign-ups “temporarily” as it deals with the influx of people signing up to use the platform.
In a BlueSky post, the company said:
“We will temporarily be pausing Bluesky sign-ups while our team continues to resolve the existing performance issues. We’ll keep you updated when invite codes will resume functionality. We’re excited to welcome more users to our beta soon!”
Black Twitter, which basically makes the platform pop, is done with Elon, and his shenanigans are on the move to Spill, which happens to be founded by two former Twitter employees, Alphonzo “Phonz” Terrell, and DeVaris Brown.
If you look up and down Twitter timelines, it’s Black users sharing their Spill profiles or asking for invite codes so they can join the mass exodus.
Welp.
Is this truly the end of Twitter? That remains to be seen, but it’s looking like it’s on its way into social media purgatory.
You can see more reactions to Elon Musk breaking Twitter in the gallery below.
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Photos: Anadolu Agency / Getty
All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.
Urban Outfitters is turning the volume up on its selection of artist merch with a music shop that not only spotlights stylish band T-shirts, but accessories and record players that will elevate your listening experience.
No matter which band you’re a fan of, UO has something for everyone, whether you prefer rock, pop, alternative or hip-hop — or all of the above. The merch collection also includes UO exclusives that you can only find on the site.
Music lovers won’t be able to resist decorating their home with a chic Harry Styles coffee table book or a retro CD player for when you entertain friends at your next game night. If you prefer the classics like Metallica, Grateful Dead and Led Zeppelin, those and more wait for you in the music shop.
Not sure where to start? We picked out our favorites from the collection, so you can spend more time figuring out how you’re going to style your new merch.
Shop our picks from Urban Outfitters below.
Urban Outfitters
Nirvana Smile Overdyed Sweatshirt $79
Get cozy while showing off your music taste in this oversize Nirvana sweatshirt featuring the iconic smiley graphic. The front features a tie-dye graphic that will pair nicely with your go-to jeans or a pair of biker shorts. Not a fan of pink? Don’t worry: It also comes in purple, orange and blue.
Urban Outfitters
Paramore T-Shirt Dress $45
Whether or not you have tickets for Paramore’s current tour, make sure you add this tee to your collection of fan merch. Not only does it spotlight the band in a moody black-and-white photo, but it comes in a longer length to style over shorts or a baggy pair of pants.
Urban Outfitters
J. Cole Dreamville Tee $29
Fans of J. Cole won’t be able to resist adding this shirt to their cart as it puts Dreamville Records on display over a heavyweight cotton material. You can even accessorize it with a simple bucket hat for some added style.
Urban Outfitters
Johnny Cash T-Shirt Dress $45
This Johnny Cash T-Shirt Dress “walks the line” between streetwear and country as it features a baggy, oversized silhouette paired with a sepia photo of the singer. You’ll also spot lyrics from the song “Walk the Line” underneath the photo and Cash’s name.
Urban Outfitters
Pink Floyd London Tour Baby Tee $39
Baby tees have taken over fashion trends, and this Pink Floyd version is no exception. It comes in two different shades, white and black, and features a psychedelic graphic you’ll want to be the centerpiece of your next festival look.
Urban Outfitters
Audio-Technica UO Exclusive LP60X-BT Bluetooth Record Player $229
Vintage meets modern technology with the Audio Technica UO Exclusive Record Player. Not only does it come with Bluetooth capabilities, but it’s a fully automatic belt-driven design that can connect to your speakers or headphones for private or out-loud listening.
Urban Outfitters
“Harry Styles: And The Clothes He Wears” By Terry Newman $30
Scooch over, fashion coffee table books, it’s officially Harry’s House once this chic book is laid down. The floral design paired with a candle and dried floral arrangement will make a dreamy aesthetic that will make any guest feel at home. And if you’re in the mood for a fun read, each page features photos of Styles showing off his influential style.
Urban Outfitters
Vinyl Album Frame $15
Vinyl collectors can finally put their favorite albums on display in style with the help of this simple album frame. The 12×12 design will safely swaddle your precious vinyls while finally doing something about those bare white walls you’ve been meaning to cover.
Urban Outfitters
Bose Portable Home Speaker $399
Take your tunes on the go whether you’re headed to a tailgate or want to blast some music during your next dinner party. The Bose Portable Home Speaker comes in a compact design with a convenient handle for carrying from one room to another. Plus, it can last up to 12 hours on a full battery to keep the songs playing all day long.
Urban Outfitters
JBL Boombox $399.95
Consider this your must-have beach accessory, as it’s not only waterproof, but comes designed with a built-in power bank to charge your phone, earbuds and more. It also has Bluetooth capabilities to play your summer playlist and up to 24 hours of playtime.
For more product recommendations, check out our roundups of the best musician-owned wines, artist-owned beauty brands and celebrity fragrances.
TikTok’s parent company ByteDance launched its own music creation tool called Ripple on Friday (June 30th) for a small group of beta testers in the U.S.
Ripple offers audio recording and editing capabilities as well as a “melody to song” function, which allows users to hum a melody and spits out an instrumental version of it in an assortment of genres. TikTokers could use it to create sounds for their videos.
The beta launch of Ripple makes sense at a time when the music industry is increasingly cognizant of the fact that young listeners are no longer content to sit back and just listen to someone else’s song — they want to add their own twist, or even make one themselves. Ole Obermann, TikTok’s global head of music, told a conference earlier this year that listeners “want to put their fingerprints on the song.”
This is becoming a common sentiment: Surveys show “how much Gen Z wants to actively participate in music,” Tatiana Cirisano, music industry analyst and consultant at Midia Research, told Billboard last year. In March, John Fleckenstein, COO of RCA Records, told Billboard that “Gen Z has an expectation, because they’ve grown up as digital natives, that if you do something, they can iterate or comment on it. That doesn’t end in the comments section of a social media post: It’s now bleeding into the art itself.”
One of the companies that has had a lot of success by making it easy for the masses to make music music is BandLab, a free app which had more than 60 million registered creators pumping out more than 16 million songs a month at the start of the year. Meng Ru Kuok, the company’s CEO, is fond of saying “we think everyone is a creator, including fans.”
Right now, millions of aspiring creators use BandLab or GarageBand or another program to make or manipulate audio, which they might then upload to TikTok as an original sound. But if Ripple becomes popular, TikTok’s massive user-base could produce soundtracks for their videos without ever leaving a ByteDance app.
And ByteDance has already launched another popular app that meshes well with TikTok: CapCut. CapCut “makes it a lot easier for your everyday user to be able to create more polished videos,” Jen Darmafall, director of marketing at ATG Group, told Billboard earlier this year. “You don’t have to have a particular skill set when it comes to editing — there are templates on the platform for you to go and plug in what you want, whether it’s photos or videos or text overlays or transitions. That’s helped it skyrocket.”
SYDNEY, Australia — Josh Simons is the new CEO of Jaxsta.
The Vampr co-founder succeeds Beth Appleton, who steps down as CEO with immediate effect, reads a statement issued Thursday (June 29) to the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX).
Simons takes the reins at Jaxsta Limited, the world’s biggest database of official music credits, following the completion of the acquisition of Vampr on June 1, 2023, when he was named as chief strategy officer.
Going forward, he’ll continue in those duties in addition to his appointment as CEO.
“The board thanks Beth for her significant contribution to Jaxsta during a period of growth and change,” comments Jaxsta chair Linda Jenkinson. “We wish her all the best for her future.”
Appleton departs some 14 months after her own promotion from chief marketing officer to the top job.
Born in Britain and now based in Sydney, Australia, Appleton joined Jaxsta in July 2021 from major label-land, including stints with Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, and EMI. During her ten-year run with WMG, she earned a reputation as one of the best in the business, and plaudits in Billboard’s “Women In Music” feature.
“I will relish my time at Jaxsta and the initiatives that I drove,” she comments. “I wish Josh, and the incredible team, all the very best for the future. I’m proud to have been a part of the Jaxsta evolution, and look forward to watching the business continue on its mission.”
Jaxsta is Australia’s only ASX-listed music business.
The incoming chief executive takes the helm at a business that, currently, boasts more than 343 million official, deep-linked music credits across 107 million pages, sourced from over 359 data partners.
Last week, WiseTech founder and CEO Richard White became a substantial shareholder in the company as part of its A$3 million capital raise.
“I’ve been following Josh Simons for a number of years as the founder and CEO of Vampr,” White explains. “I have been impressed by his tenacity, focus, vision and particularly the ability to build a commercial model that grows and retains revenue and customers. Now that Vampr is a part of Jaxsta, Josh will, no doubt, contribute his drive, skills and experience to the larger business. I see his contribution will be able to create a clear path to revenue and profitability for Jaxsta.”
Simons co-founded Vampr in 2015 with Barry Palmer. Today, it’s recognized as the leading social-professional network for musicians, boasting 1.3 million users and facilitating over eight million connections.
“Jaxsta has a clear vision and product roadmap going into FY24, and that’s a credit to the Board, Beth and the team who have done a remarkable job,” Simons comments. “Revenue, cost efficiency and profitability remain the top priorities for Jaxsta and I look forward to building on the current momentum. We have the foundation for a transformational global music product as we continue to integrate Vampr into the business and scale the Vinyl.com platform.”
The changing of the guard closely follows Jaxsta’s Master of Metadata win at the Music Business Association’s Bizzy Awards 2023, and the launch of Vinyl.com, a new online store powered by Jaxsta’s official music credits. In April of this year, Jacqui Louez Schoorl announced her departure from Jaxsta, a decade after she founded the business.