music

Video

Amazon unveils musical keyboard that uses AI to compose surprisingly good original songs

by Todd Bishop on December 2, 2019December 2, 2019 at 7:32 amComment

Amazon Web Services likes to spice things up at its annual AWS re:Invent conference with unexpected hardware announcements, with past surprises such as a semi-truck for transporting data, a machine-learning… Read More

Fast-growing Sonos turns up volume at new Seattle office dedicated to people, product and music

by Kurt Schlosser on October 30, 2019October 30, 2019 at 10:13 am1 Comment

For 17 years, Sonos has been working to perfect what it calls the “sound experience,” with its commitment to multi-room wireless home audio. In an expansive new office space in… Read More

Watch out, Coachella? Amazon gets into music festival business, releases lineup for ‘Intersect’

by Kurt Schlosser on October 16, 2019October 16, 2019 at 7:44 am1 Comment

An impressive lineup of musicians will be assembling in the desert in December for a two-day festival, but it’s not some sort of extension of Coachella — it’s Amazon. There… Read More

The Seattle sound? Napster and Amazon both partner with Sony on immersive ‘360 Reality Audio’

by Kurt Schlosser on October 15, 2019October 15, 2019 at 3:35 pmComment

Sony’s effort to replicate the immersive soundscape of a live musical performance is coming to listeners this fall, and Seattle-based Napster and Amazon are among several partners teaming with the… Read More

Event Calendar

VELOCITY: Synthesizer Trade Show, Education, Workshops, and Live Music

by Todd Bishop on August 30, 2019August 30, 2019 at 10:07 amComment

Modular Seattle & Patchwerks present VELOCITY: a brand new, all-day event revolving around modular / hardware synthesizers and the people who create with them. 11 AM – 4 PM (FREE):… Read More

Seattle startup gets in the mix with StudioMaster, a music-matching algorithm that’s in tune with tech

by Kurt Schlosser on September 14, 2019September 14, 2019 at 8:20 amComment

Surely, in our digital lives, we have evolved beyond the print classifieds or flyer-at-the-coffee-shop method of finding a drummer for that band we’re putting together. So what if machine learning… Read More

Video

‘Microsoft the Musical’ features summer interns in a singing, dancing romp across tech giant’s campus

by Kurt Schlosser on September 6, 2019September 6, 2019 at 12:55 pmComment

Well, the interns at Microsoft sure had fun this summer. While there may be a documentary coming to Netflix that dives deep into what makes Bill Gates tick, the release… Read More

Video

How a VR project documenting Seattle’s music history revealed the risk of a new digital divide

by Lisa Stiffler on August 29, 2019September 11, 2019 at 10:11 am1 Comment

Yolanda Barton loves Seattle’s music history — the history that starts decades before Pearl Jam, Nirvana and Soundgarden came screaming onto the scene and Macklemore took fans thrift store shopping.… Read More

Video

28 years after radio debut, scientist calls Nirvana’s ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ most iconic song ever

by Kurt Schlosser on August 27, 2019August 27, 2019 at 6:15 pmComment

The Nirvana mega-hit “Smells Like Teen Spirit” was an anthem for a generation of music lovers drawn to Seattle’s grunge-fueled sound of the 1990s. Now the song is being called… Read More

Video

Amazon to host free concert from roof of Seattle’s Pike Place Market with The Head and The Heart

by Kurt Schlosser on August 21, 2019August 26, 2019 at 4:25 pmComment

The Head and The Heart … and the pig and the flying fish. That will be the scene on Sunday as the Seattle band takes to the rooftop of the… Read More

Video

Amazon’s Alexa bumps Bieber and sings duet with pop star Ed Sheeran on new single ‘I Don’t Care’

by Kurt Schlosser on July 12, 2019July 12, 2019 at 10:41 am1 Comment

Bye bye, Bieber. Take it away, Alexa? Amazon’s voice assistant has demonstrated her singing chops in the past, but this time the AI is teaming on the remix of a… Read More

Accomplished pianist’s startup Play At Work strikes a chord with music lessons for busy tech workers

by Kurt Schlosser on May 13, 2019May 13, 2019 at 1:16 pmComment

Lena Begun has been playing music since the age of 5. She attended a school for gifted children in Moscow and eventually received a masters degree from the Russian Academy… Read More

Video

Amazon’s Alexa wins an iHeartRadio Music Award and gives shout out to Wi-Fi in acceptance speech

by Kurt Schlosser on March 15, 2019March 15, 2019 at 8:50 amComment

Artificial intelligence is already changing the way we listen to music, and now technology is making a grab for the awards. Amazon’s voice assistant Alexa notched another first Thursday night,… Read More

Inside Octave 9, a high-tech venue that lets Seattle Symphony explore the future of music

by Kurt Schlosser on February 26, 2019February 26, 2019 at 5:34 pmComment

You know you’ve entered a unique space when you can’t stop looking up toward the ceiling in an attempt to better appreciate the details of a room. At Octave 9,… Read More

Video

Mountain Goats take on ‘Dragons’: Longtime band promoting geeky album with Wizards livestream

by Kurt Schlosser on January 28, 2019January 28, 2019 at 9:55 amComment

The Mountain Goats are into dragons. Dungeons & Dragons, specifically. The longtime American folk rock band has an especially geeky new album, called “In League With Dragons,” set for release… Read More

After 2 years, Paul Allen-founded Upstream Music Fest and Summit ‘taking a break in 2019’

by Kurt Schlosser on January 23, 2019January 24, 2019 at 10:45 amComment

The Upstream Music Fest and Summit, created by the late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen as a way to showcase diverse talent from the Northwest and beyond, announced Wednesday that it… Read More

Video

Geek of the Week: Jillian Garber of Sonos tackles complex problems in software and on rock walls

by Kurt Schlosser on January 18, 2019January 17, 2019 at 3:20 pm1 Comment

When Jillian Garber was studying physics in college, she learned how to break down and approach problems in general, not just execute the specific challenge at hand. She applied that practice to… Read More

Video

Queen’s rock-star astrophysicist Brian May debuts his space anthem for a far-out trip

by Alan Boyle on December 31, 2018December 31, 2018 at 11:52 pmComment

LAUREL, Md. — After you’ve participated in NASA’s New Horizons mission to the edge of the solar system, and written a rock anthem for the mission as well, what is… Read More

Nirvana not smiling after filing lawsuit against designer Marc Jacobs over ‘Bootleg Grunge’ shirt

by Kurt Schlosser on December 31, 2018December 31, 2018 at 12:02 pmComment

Just when you thought 25 years might be enough time for mainstream fashion designers to forget they ever tried to borrow from Seattle’s memorable grunge aesthetic, a $115 T-shirt emerges… Read More

Video

Straight outta Linux: Cloud tech conference KubeCon will feature hip-hop star at ‘Ice Cube-Con’

by Kurt Schlosser on December 10, 2018December 10, 2018 at 10:02 amComment

Will Tuesday be a good day? It will be for those attending KubeCon + CloudNativeCon in Seattle this week if they’re fans of the legendary rapper Ice Cube. The cloud-computing… Read More

Video

‘Bathtubs Over Broadway’ unearths the wacky world of corporate musicals: Where did they go?

by Alan Boyle on December 8, 2018December 9, 2018 at 1:55 pmComment

No fan of Broadway musicals should miss classics like “I Never Enjoyed My Operation More,” “My Insurance Man” and “My Bathroom Is a Private Kind of Place.” What’s that? Never… Read More

Seattle Symphony’s immersive Octave 9 space to open in March and feature 24-hour music marathon

by Frank Catalano on November 14, 2018November 14, 2018 at 11:12 amComment

If you want to completely immerse yourself for a day in a technologically advanced, 360-degree music environment, you’re about to get your chance. The Seattle Symphony on Wednesday announced its… Read More

Spotify tries its own hand at rocking the vote with midterm elections playlists for each state

by Kurt Schlosser on November 5, 2018November 5, 2018 at 12:23 pmComment

Voters looking to drown out last-minute midterm elections noise can turn to Spotify for specially curated playlists in every state ahead of Tuesday. Users of the streaming music service have… Read More

Video

Geek of the Week: From Renton to Carnegie Hall and beyond, Quinton Morris inspires via violin

by Kurt Schlosser on November 2, 2018November 3, 2018 at 8:37 amComment

Quinton Morris has performed and taught violin around the world, playing at some of the most prestigious concert halls in existence. He returned to his native Renton, Wash., to educate… Read More

Paul Allen and the Underthinkers rock the Microsoft earnings call as this quarter’s hold music

by Kurt Schlosser on October 24, 2018October 24, 2018 at 3:44 pmComment

And the band played on. Just over a week after Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen died at the age of 65, the music that he loved to make served as hold music… Read More

Little girl tries repeatedly to get Alexa to play song, before mom launches cute ‘Baby Shark’ attack

by Kurt Schlosser on October 22, 2018October 22, 2018 at 8:49 amComment

One of these days, cute Alexa videos will probably jump the proverbial shark. We’re not there yet, because we need to squeeze in this one showcasing a little girl repeatedly… Read More

Video

Geek of the Week: Alexa is music to his ears, but Fred Clarke also conducts business with the Amazon Symphony Orchestra

by Kurt Schlosser on October 19, 2018October 20, 2018 at 9:32 amComment

Fred Clarke was a music geek before becoming a tech geek. But now that’s he’s a tech geek at Amazon, he’s returned to being a music geek, too. “Yes, I… Read More

Video

Photos: High-tech, video-mapping light show turns Seattle’s MOHAI into a pulsating projection surface

by Kurt Schlosser on October 11, 2018October 11, 2018 at 10:47 amComment

The purple-hued cranes towering above South Lake Union’s twinkling tech hub — or the glowing Space Needle standing out against a fading sunset — were no match when it came… Read More

Video

Amazon to release new Jack White concert film and live EP on Prime Video and Music

by Kurt Schlosser on September 11, 2018September 11, 2018 at 12:16 pmComment

Jack White, the prolific musician who has released a large catalog of music as both a solo musician and with bands such as The White Stripes and The Raconteurs, is… Read More

Video

AI merges Amazon reviews for a DVD workout kit with Morrissey lyrics to make one great song

by Kurt Schlosser on September 10, 2018September 10, 2018 at 3:45 pmComment

A co-worker asked me in Slack for a link to the best thing I’d seen on the internet so far today. I answered her before I saw this. In order… Read More

Amazon unveils musical keyboard that uses AI to compose surprisingly good original songs

Fast-growing Sonos turns up volume at new Seattle office dedicated to people, product and music

Watch out, Coachella? Amazon gets into music festival business, releases lineup for ‘Intersect’

The Seattle sound? Napster and Amazon both partner with Sony on immersive ‘360 Reality Audio’

VELOCITY: Synthesizer Trade Show, Education, Workshops, and Live Music

Seattle startup gets in the mix with StudioMaster, a music-matching algorithm that’s in tune with tech

‘Microsoft the Musical’ features summer interns in a singing, dancing romp across tech giant’s campus

How a VR project documenting Seattle’s music history revealed the risk of a new digital divide

28 years after radio debut, scientist calls Nirvana’s ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ most iconic song ever

Amazon to host free concert from roof of Seattle’s Pike Place Market with The Head and The Heart

Amazon’s Alexa bumps Bieber and sings duet with pop star Ed Sheeran on new single ‘I Don’t Care’

Accomplished pianist’s startup Play At Work strikes a chord with music lessons for busy tech workers

Amazon’s Alexa wins an iHeartRadio Music Award and gives shout out to Wi-Fi in acceptance speech

Inside Octave 9, a high-tech venue that lets Seattle Symphony explore the future of music

Mountain Goats take on ‘Dragons’: Longtime band promoting geeky album with Wizards livestream

After 2 years, Paul Allen-founded Upstream Music Fest and Summit ‘taking a break in 2019’

Geek of the Week: Jillian Garber of Sonos tackles complex problems in software and on rock walls

Queen’s rock-star astrophysicist Brian May debuts his space anthem for a far-out trip

Nirvana not smiling after filing lawsuit against designer Marc Jacobs over ‘Bootleg Grunge’ shirt

‘Bathtubs Over Broadway’ unearths the wacky world of corporate musicals: Where did they go?

Seattle Symphony’s immersive Octave 9 space to open in March and feature 24-hour music marathon

Spotify tries its own hand at rocking the vote with midterm elections playlists for each state

Geek of the Week: From Renton to Carnegie Hall and beyond, Quinton Morris inspires via violin

Paul Allen and the Underthinkers rock the Microsoft earnings call as this quarter’s hold music

Little girl tries repeatedly to get Alexa to play song, before mom launches cute ‘Baby Shark’ attack

Geek of the Week: Alexa is music to his ears, but Fred Clarke also conducts business with the Amazon Symphony Orchestra

Photos: High-tech, video-mapping light show turns Seattle’s MOHAI into a pulsating projection surface

Amazon to release new Jack White concert film and live EP on Prime Video and Music

AI merges Amazon reviews for a DVD workout kit with Morrissey lyrics to make one great song

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