Spotify's AI-Generated Playlists: A New Wave of Music Personalization

Guess what? Spotify didn’t like losing to Google for the top spot last week so they came up with something they knew would get our attention. AI-generated playlists that you can create using prompts. Let's break it down!

What's the Buzz? 🐝

• AI-Generated Playlists: Spotify is working on a feature that allows users to create playlists based on prompts. Think of it as a musical "choose your own adventure."

• Blend Genre: This feature might be an extension of Spotify's Blend genre, where the music tastes of different users are mixed to create a playlist that everyone digs.

• Niche Mixes: Spotify already has a feature called Niche mixes, which lets you build playlists based on descriptions. However, these are not AI-powered—yet.

What Does It Mean for DJs? 🎶

• Curated Sets: Imagine being able to generate a playlist that perfectly vibes with the mood of your audience. Just input a few prompts, and boom—a playlist that's ready to rock the dance floor.

• Collaboration: The feature might be tied to Blend, meaning you could collaborate with other DJs or even your audience to create a playlist that's a hit with everyone.

• Personalization: With AI-generated playlists, you can offer a more personalized experience to your audience, whether it's for a wedding, a club night, or a virtual event.

The Bigger Picture 🌍

Spotify is clearly doubling down on AI, and this is just another step in that direction. With hundreds of people working on personalization and machine learning at Spotify, the future of music streaming is looking more personalized than ever.

Meta's AI Chatbot: Zuckerberg's Counter to ChatGPT

Mark Zuckerberg is stepping into the AI chatbot game with Meta's new virtual assistant, designed to go head-to-head with OpenAI's ChatGPT. Let's dive into what this means for the tech world and how it could impact you.

What's New? 🌟

• Meta AI: This new assistant is powered by Meta's large language model, Llama 2. It's not just a chatbot; it can also generate images using a new image generator named Emu.

•  Multi-Platform: Meta AI will be available on Facebook Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp. It can assist with tasks like making travel plans and will even be voice-activated via new smart glasses releasing next month.

• AI Image Editing: Meta is also launching two generative AI tools for photo editing on Instagram. One can swap backgrounds based on text prompts, and the other can generate creative scenarios, like surrounding a person with puppies.

What Does It Mean for DJs? 🎧

• Social Media Engagement

  With Meta AI's capabilities, you could potentially automate some of your social media interactions, freeing up more time to focus on your music and gigs.

• Creative Visuals

  The image-generating features could be a game-changer for creating unique and engaging visuals for your social media posts or even during live performances.

• Voice Activation

  The upcoming voice-activated features could offer hands-free control, making it easier to manage tasks while you're mixing or setting up for a show.

The Bigger Picture 🌐

Meta's move is part of a larger trend of tech giants like Microsoft, Alphabet, and Amazon upgrading their chatbots in response to OpenAI's ChatGPT. It's clear that AI chatbots are becoming a significant part of our digital lives, and it's exciting to think about how these advancements could be integrated into the DJ and entertainment world.

FL Studio's New Beta: AI Mastering and Stem Separation 

FL Studio is pushing the envelope with its latest beta, introducing groundbreaking features like AI mastering and stem separation. This is a big deal, and here's why you should be excited.

The New Additions 🎛️

• 1. Stem Separation: FL Studio 21.2 beta is the first DAW to use AI for stem separation. It can split fully mixed tracks into their constituent parts like bass, drums, and vocals. While the results may vary depending on the source material, it's a significant leap towards AI integration in DAWs.

• 2. AI Mastering: This feature uses "automatic genre detection" to help achieve better mastering results. You can also manually select your genre and desired output level for the new master.

Both features are cloud-connected through FL Cloud, allowing for remote updates and content addition.

What Does It Mean for DJs? 🎧

• Remixing and Sampling

  The stem separation tool can be a game-changer for remixing and sampling. Imagine isolating vocals or beats from a mixed track effortlessly!

• Mastering Made Easy

  AI mastering can simplify the final touches on your tracks, saving you time and potentially money on professional mastering services.

• Cloud Connectivity

  With FL Cloud, you'll be able to access new features and audio content remotely, keeping your software up-to-date effortlessly.

The Future is Now 🚀

These features are just the tip of the iceberg. FL Studio is also introducing other tools like Sounds—a section for cloud-based samples—and Keplar, a clone of the classic Roland Juno-6 synth.

Hack Your Rekordbox Collection

 Introducing The Rekordbox Collection Tool. With the RCT, DJs will be able to:

• Remove duplicate tracks without breaking playlist entries or losing cues/loops and other metadata

• Add new tracks without accidentally causing duplicates, including moving audio files to a pre-defined storage location based on the playlist the new tracks are added to

• Easily relocate missing tracks

• Switch audio format while maintaining cues, loops etc

• Fix common issues with Pioneer DJ’s Dropbox cloud sync

Building Your First Wedding Crate

Ever felt overwhelmed about curating the perfect playlist for a wedding gig? Worry no more! Aaron Traylor made this game-changing video that's a must-watch for any DJ, especially those new to the wedding scene.

🔥 Key Takeaways 

1. Know Your Library: Make sure you know where your music is stored—be it a hard drive, Dropbox, or Google Drive.

2. Crate Building: Use the app's pre-made "Wedding Reception Hackathon" crate or customize your own.

3. Track Matching: The app matches tracks in your library and suggests alternatives

New AI and Tools That We Are Excited About

• Vimcal - Billed as the worlds fastest calendar. This app uses tech advancements and AI to bring all of your calendar and scheduling options into one place.

• Descript - Powerful All in One video and podcast editing tool just got even better with their acquisition of Squadcast, the remote recording platform. Two great platforms at one price.

Tuesday Hackathon: Wedding Pro Edition

The final leg of wedding season is upon us! The one and only Nicole Nell will be in the house to discuss some pro tips and tricks and we will also be building a wedding crate. Come build it with us live, RSVP here. 

Crate of The Week:
Wedding Set 2 

We are in full wedding mode over here at Crate Hackers. Manny Laina is giving us the perfect 2nd set to get your party back on the dance floor. Starting with cake cutting, this crate is in perfect mixable order and will do more than just get the job done. Make it a memorable night!

Members can access this crate here. 
Not a member? Click here for a free 14-day trial.