Ellie Goulding only released her latest album, Brightest Blue, last year, but for reasons we can all sympathize with, that already seems like a lifetime ago. Perhaps it was the seven year gap between Halcyon Days and Blue. Regardless, she’s already working on her next album and calls it a “a dance thing from outer space,” suggesting she could be returning to her sound from her debut album, Lights.

She recently did an interview on BBC’s The Joe Wicks Podcast, in which she described her time writing the new album, the experiences she drew from, and the inspirations she sought.

“I spent a lot of time by myself, quite introspective. I had a backlog of things I wanted to write about,” Goulding explained. “It was quite deep and emotional. And this album is the opposite of that. I found this dream team of writers, who just for some reason, without even having to talk about it, were all on the same page. Together we’re on this mission just to have fun. We just want to make music for people to dance to and forget about everything in the past year.”

So far, there’s no release date or title for her new album. However, considering her long history of EDM collaborators, including Seven Lions, Kygo, Zedd, Skrillex, Clean Bandit & Tiesto, Major Lazer, and more, we have no doubt that whatever comes of it is sure to be a new classic in her discography.

Steve Aoki has always been ahead of the curve when it comes to new trends. So it’s no surprise that he’s taking the blockchain to a new level by teaming up with Seth Green’s Stoopid Buddy Stoodios to produce DOMINION X, the first episodic series to launch on the  blockchain.

Minted from a custom smart contract with unique interactive traits built directly into the NFT via Ether Cards, Dominion X is Aoki’s third major NFT project in 2021 alone, following his successful Dream Catcher and Neon Future drops. Dominion X’s Debut Short ‘Level 1’ introduces us to the world of Character X, a character personified with Aoki’s signature fang face logo, and his obliviously contentious relationship with the diminutive Chonk and Swole. You can watch their worlds collide in this “1 of 1” animated NFT debut short as well as get a chance to own any one of the 15 individual scenes that make up the short and win one of the physical puppets used in the actual making of the short.

“I first met Seth and the team at Stoopid Buddy Stoodios when I was invited to do a cameo on Robot Chicken back in 2015,” Steve Aoki recalls. “Ever since then we’ve been trying to find another chance to work together. The idea of launching the first ever ‘TV’ series on the blockchain really excited me. We realized that through NFT’s we can combine the traditional stop-motion animation that Stoopid Buddy Stoodios is known for with innovative fan-driven concepts that I’m passionate about: collectibles, community building and gaming. And I love the fact that we’ve been able to bring Character X, a creature that literally personifies me, to life in a completely new world with new characters & new adventures.”

“Collaborating with an artist like Steve Aoki guarantees you’ll make something unique, accessible, and out of this world,” states Seth Green.

“We love pushing the boundaries of entertainment through technology and are beyond excited to bring this experience to an audience.”

It arrives on August 2nd via Nifty Gateway, the exclusive NFT marketplace owned by Gemini founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, and on www.DominionXshow.com.

“2021 has been an incredible year of growth and creativity in the crypto space and it inspires me to see artists and teams pushing the boundaries of what is possible,” Tyler Winklevoss adds. “Launching the first episodic series on the blockchain that fans can now own is the kind of novel use-case that only the NFT medium can provide. I am thrilled that this is launching on Nifty Gateway.”

Gibson today announced the launch of Gibson Records, headquartered in Music City, Nashville, TN—alongside a strategic label partnership with BMG.

Over the past two and a half years, Gibson has launched successful music initiatives built around their iconic brands, premium guitars, and amazing artists. Not to mention initiatives that have re-energized the Gibson fanbase and the music community at large including Gibson Artist Collections, Gibson TV, the Gibson App, the Gibson Generation Group (G3), Gibson Gives, and the newly opened Gibson Garage in Nashville. Gibson Records is the next major step in contributing to the evolution of collaborative artist partnerships.

Iconic music that inspired generational movements has been recorded with Gibson guitars since the inception of recorded music. Gibson Records will work with Gibson artists to produce, record, and promote their music to fans around the world, spreading the power of their music, creating, building, and delivering guitar-centric music, across genres to fans across the globe.

Gibson Records has also announced that it has entered into a strategic label partnership for the release with BMG, the world’s fourth-biggest music company.

“Launching a record label that is in service to our artists is the natural evolution of our 127 years of history. Gibson Records will work with Gibson artists to capture, record and promote their music under an artist friendly partnership,” says Cesar Gueikian, Brand President, Gibson Brands. “Gibson Records will keep all of us at Gibson focused on our artist first culture that is engaged and connected to music. We are excited to launch Gibson Records, to announce that Slash is our first signed artist and that we have entered into a label partnership with BMG.” “It’s an honor to be the first release on the new Gibson Records,” says SLASH. “It’s a zenith in our partnership for sure and having worked so closely with Gibson for so long, I know they will be a label that genuinely supports their artists creatively. Not just me, but all the artists they choose to work with. It’s perfect.”

“Partnering with Gibson Records and BMG presents an exciting and unique opportunity to explore new ideas for marketing and promoting a record,” adds Jeff Varner, Co-Founder of Revelation Management Group(Slash’s longtime manager). “It shows a real commitment on the part of Gibson towards the artist community, and it will serve as a model for future artist releases. Working with Cesar and the Gibson team has provided a fresh approach to how we can support an album release.”

“BMG congratulates Gibson on the launch of their new label and is proud to collaborate with Gibson Records on its inaugural album release,” says Thomas Scherer, President, BMG Repertoire and Marketing, New York, and Los Angeles. “This is the perfect match between two global brands with an unrivaled reverence for iconic artists and respect to service their creative talents. We are excited to be the worldwide partner for Slash’s new album with Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators and look forward to delivering their new music to fans everywhere around the world.”

Kato Miliyah is currently celebrating her 15th anniversary! As part of this celebration, a tribute album will be released in her honor. Out October 28, it is titled “INSPIRE.” The title stems from the fact that Miliyah has inspired the acts on the album.

The acts contributing to “INSPIRE” are both veteran and emerging. Acts like Mika Nakashima and AI are featured alongside LiSA and AiNA THE END. One of Miliyah’s signature songs, “Love Forever”, a duet with Shota Shimizu(who also appears on “INSPIRE”) is covered by Eito and yama, with Kawatani Enon producing.

In related news, Miliyah will also release a cover album. It doesn’t have a title at the moment, but it is set for release on November 25. The idea for the album came about after the positive responses Miliyah received while covering songs on her Instagram during stay at home measures in a effort to keep fans at home.

More information on Miliyah’s cover album will come in the coming weeks. In the meantime, check out more information on her tribute album below, including clips of all the songs on it!

Limited Edition

Sony recently rolled out the firmware update 8.00 to the PlayStation 4. The update included a message about a voice chat feature coming to the PS5 that concerned a lot of players. It said the next-gen console users will have the ability to record their voice in the party chat. Therefore, after reading this, a lot of players were concerned about their privacy.

They were unhappy, assuming that Sony itself would listen in on their conversations. However, the company responded saying that only PS5 players will have the ability to record. Even though PlayStation did clarify on that front, it wasn’t enough to assure consumers.

PlayStation has now released a detailed blog post regarding the feature. They have also tried to address the privacy concerns that arose after their previous announcement. They have promised users that the feature only aims to reduce cyberbullying and misconduct.