SAMPLED▌ FRONT AND CENTER
Is LUNA Really Free? The Free DAWs Worth Downloading on Mac, Windows and iPad
Universal Audio's LUNA now costs nothing on Mac and Windows. Here is what that gets you, plus the other free DAWs worth your time, including Sampledex on iPad, Mac and Windows.
// also right now
GearWhat Equipment Do You Need to Start a Video Podcast at Home?
A home podcast studio built from gear I actually use: a 4K webcam, a pair of tracking PTZ cameras and the headphones every broadcast booth already owns.
FeatureIs Sampledex for iPad a Real Free DAW, and What Can It Do?
Robert Clemons has brought Sampledex from the Mac to the iPad as a free download. Here is what it does, what it can't do, and who it's for.
// from the dispatch
Nike SB Gives the Air Force 1 a Wheat Workboot-Inspired Streetwear Drop
The Nike SB Air Force 1 Low "Flax and Black" hit SNKRS today at 2 PM for $120 — a hairy flax suede AF1 with a gum sole, SB dubrae, and just enough skate-shop pedigree to feel earned.
The producer is now a studio, an AI operator, a vocal sculptor, and a business — four June 2026 releases that prove it
Mission_Watch puts 'AI-assisted' next to 'frontline trauma' in the lede. Fender ships Studio Pro 8.1 with a Studio Assistant and native Moises. ONHELL builds a single by sculpting Horsey's vocal. Ricki Erik turns a singer-songwriter career into a holding company. Read together, they're a job-description rewrite in real time.
Eight Festivals, One Month: The Official June–July 2026 Calendar
From Donington to Portimão, Bridgeview to Barcelona — the dates, locations, and official links for the eight festivals defining the next four weeks of live music.
U.S. Soccer Drafts 11 Streetwear Brands, One for Every World Cup Host City
A first-of-its-kind federation collab puts the crest in the hands of independent streetwear labels across all 11 American host cities — turning the road to 2026 into a coast-to-coast capsule drop.
Carré x Coca-Cola Drop a Streetwear Love Letter to '94
a.k.a. Brands' Culture Kings private label teams with Coca-Cola on mesh jerseys, souvenir tees and post-game track sets — a nostalgic nod to the Rose Bowl, timed to football's return to U.S. soil.
Madonna skipped the streamers and put 'Confessions II' on YouTube — the album-as-platform play
After a Tribeca premiere on June 5, Madonna's new cinematic experience landed today as a free, exclusive on her YouTube channel — not Netflix, not Apple, not Disney. It's the clearest signal yet that artist channels are becoming the release window.
The AI music reckoning hits a new phase: a session-musicians' union sues the majors, France weighs flipping the burden of proof, and the unsealing of Suno and Udio's "training number"
The American Federation of Musicians is suing UMG and Warner over their Suno and Udio settlements. A federal judge has unsealed Udio's training data. 227 rights organizations are pressing France to legally presume AI firms trained on their work. And Deezer says 70% of "unofficial" 2026 World Cup anthems on its platform are AI. The fight over generative music just got a lot more concrete.
Ableton opens Live with an Extensions SDK and the DAW becomes a platform
Live 12.4.5's new JavaScript and TypeScript Extensions SDK lets producers script their own tools directly inside Ableton — the first time a major DAW has shipped a real browser-style extension model. Pair it with Live 12.3's built-in stem separation and Ableton has quietly redrawn the line between a music app and a platform.
Analog warmth is mostly distortion. Here is the proof
Harmonics, headroom, and noise floors. Naming what people hear when they say a synth sounds warm.