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
Four free tools that replaced paid ones in a working studio this month
A quick audit of the free and open-source software that is now good enough to keep in a professional chain — and the one place you should still pay.
Work the problem: how to solve, lead, and know when to ask for help
A working method for creators, borrowed from Apollo 13's flight director: separate what you know from what you are guessing, lead your own station, hand off what you are bad at, and aim for the correct result instead of being personally right.
Free music licensing courses and resources that actually exist
University courses you can audit for nothing, free micro-courses from the organisation that pays your streaming mechanicals, and government video series — every resource here is real, free to access, and linked.
Maluma handed his world tour to an Argentinian promoter, not an American one
Fenix Entertainment will lead strategy for his 2027–2028 global run. For Latin music at this scale, that is a meaningful choice about where the centre of gravity sits.
The Jonas Brothers turned a nostalgia run into a 45-city arena tour
Sold-out Madison Square Garden dates became a full North American arena run this fall. The mechanics behind that upgrade are the interesting part.
Ellie Goulding's lawsuit is really a lesson about who owns your manager
She alleges her managers never told her their parent company was owned by Live Nation while she was signing Live Nation touring and merch deals. Read the ownership chart before you sign anything.
Two Suno lawsuits quietly disappeared this week — and nobody explained why
Jamendo and the duo The American Dollar both walked away from their copyright cases. One can come back. One cannot. That difference tells you almost everything.
Round Hill sues Suno and Anthropic, and says each case could top $1 billion
An independent publisher just did what the majors did — twice in one filing day — and the damages language is the part every songwriter should read.
Free music certifications: what actually exists, what's worth your time
Most "free" certifications in music are free courses with a paid certificate. Here is what is genuinely free end to end — plus the free music terminology test we built.