Between Fortnite’s propensity for big-name concerts and Epic’s purchase of Harmonix two years ago, the inclusion of some kind of music-making feature in the game was inevitable. What Epic is releasing today is actually far grander: an entirely new mode called Fortnite Festival, a social space where players can team up to perform their favorite songs or jam together on new mixes.

There are two options, or stages, for users to play in the new mode. The main stage, or championship stage, is basically the Rock Band experience recreated inside Fortnite. You’ll form a band with friends and choose a song to perform. Then you play the song using the standard music game format where notes slide down vertical bars, hitting the correct button when the note reaches the bottom. Players can, of course, hear the song as they play it, which can be embarrassing if you’re not that good. Each performer earns points, which in turn leads to XP and character progression in the greater Fortnite ecosystem.

While the main stage may be old-hat to anyone present during the zenith of music games in the 2000s, the jam stage draws from Harmonix’s more recent (and less popular) mixing titles, Dropmix and Fuser. While both of those games had competitive modes, they were a lot more fun as music-making toys, where players could just throw different parts of popular songs together and see what comes out. Jamming in Fortnite Festival is pretty much that, but collaborative.

Epic Games

When you first drop into a jam, your avatar will be standing in a virtual world full of stages, clubs and green spaces. It has an amusement park-like feel, similar to Disney World’s long-gone Pleasure Island. Despite the world’s appearance, you don’t have to climb on stage to play music, you can start jamming wherever you want by pulling up the emote wheel. The actions here have been replaced with song options. Just pick a song and instrument, and your character will start playing. It’s not the entire song, but rather one particular piece of it. To assemble something more complete, you need to collaborate with other players.

Jamming with other players is incredibly easy. All you need to do is walk up to someone who’s already playing (helpfully indicated by a wavy circle) and activate your own emote wheel. The system will automatically mix the two songs together no matter the genre or style. You want to add the vocals from The Killers’ “Mr. Brightside” to the synth from “Gangnam Style?” Go right ahead, and don’t be surprised when someone else drops in the beat from The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights.”

Instruments can be swapped out on the fly, and the key and tempo can also be tweaked to make a slow song fast or vice versa. There’s a lot of room for creativity here, as well as cacophony as the levels fill up.

While Fortnite Festival draws heavily on Dropmix and Fuser it has one key advantage over those two titles, one that could lead to success where its predecessors failed: it’s free. All three of the new Fortnite modes will be free, but Festival is a standout since it relies so heavily on licensed music. One huge barrier to entry for music games has always been the additional costs, especially the song packs. $2 for your favorite Nirvana or Bad Bunny tracks might not seem like much at first, but it adds up, and any online cost can be insurmountable to a kid without a credit card. The fact that this is a music game that anyone can download for free on their computer, console or mobile device without being bombarded with ads means it has the potential to make music games popular again.

Kiss’ final live performance at Madison Square Garden in New York last night also turned out to be the first for the band’s successors — four digital avatars that will play on in the real members’ retirement from physical shows. Kiss concluded the last show of its “The End of the Road” tour by introducing the new virtual band, which then performed “God Gave Rock And Roll To You.”

The avatars weren’t just straight replicas of the current band members — Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer — but interpretations of them “as fantasy-based superheroes,” said Pophouse Entertainment, which partnered with George Lucas’ Industrial Light & Magic for their creation. And, it says that’s just “one of the many and varied ways in which Kiss will live on as digital performers through their avatars in the future.” Industrial Light & Magic also created the digital avatars of ABBA (or ABBAtars) for the ongoing ABBA Voyage show in London.

No specific plans for the virtual band have been announced just yet, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see similar Kiss experiences pop up in the near future. Gene Simmons, who founded Kiss alongside Paul Stanley, said the move will keep the band “forever young and forever iconic,” while Stanley called it a way to “see Kiss immortalized” and take the group “to a completely different level beyond being just a music band.”

The piano has been around for a long time now. Not long after its invention, humans started contemplating how they could avoid playing it by getting a machine to do the job instead. [vicenzobit] is the latest to take on this task, building a “Robot Pianista” that uses a simple mechanism to play a tune under electronic command (Spanish language, Google Translate link).

An Arduino Nano is the heart of the build, paired with a shield that lets it run a number of servo motors. The servos, one per key, are each assembled into a 3D-printed bracket with a cam-driven rod assembly. When the servo turns, the cam turns, and pushes down a rod that presses the piano key.

The build is limited in the sense that you can only play as many keys as you have servo channels, but nonetheless, it does the job. With eight servos, it’s able to play a decent rendition of Ode to Joy at a steady tempo, and that’s an excellent start.

We’ve featured some great mechanized instruments before, too. Video after the break.

TikTok has introduced the Artist Account, which offers up-and-coming musicians new ways to curate their profiles in ways that boost discoverability. The new suite of tools are not just meant for rising stars: established pop icons can also add an artist tag to their profiles, giving their music its own tab next to their videos, likes and reposted content.

To be eligible for an artist tag, TikTok says you will need at least four sounds or songs uploaded to the app. Artists can also pin one of their tunes so it appears first in the music tab. If a musician drops new content, the app will tag songs as ‘new’ for up to 14 days before and up to 30 days after it goes live. Any new tracks will automatically be added to a profile’s music tab.

TikTok says over 70,000 artists are already using the new tools. The app has proven to be a breeding ground for content to go viral for new artists and established music makers alike thanks to the lightning speed of dance and lifestyle video trends. TikTok’s impact on the music industry has been so massive that even streamers like Spotify have looked into experimenting with video-first music discovery feeds.

YouTube Music users who have seen their Spotify- and Apple Music-using friends share their listening stats from this year can now join the party. YouTube Music Recap is now live and you can access it from the 2023 Recap page in the app. You'll be able to see your top artists, songs, moods, genres, albums, playlists and more from 2023. There's also the option to view your Recap in the main YouTube app, along with some other new features for 2023.

This year, you'll be able to add custom album art. YouTube will create this using your top song and moods from the year, as well as your energy score. The platform will mash together colors, vibes and visuals to create a representation of your year in music.

YouTube Music

YouTube says another feature will match your mood with your top songs of the year. You might see, for instance, the percentages of songs you listened to that are classed as upbeat, fun, dancey or chill. Last but not least, you can use snaps from Google Photos to create a customized visual that sums up your year in music (and perhaps your year in travel too).

As December nears every year, Spotify reveals all of the artists, genres, songs and podcasts you listened to most in the last 12 months. The 2023 installment of the streaming service's Wrapped year-in-review debuts today on the Spotify app with an all-new design alongside the familiar story-style format. For the first time in a while, you can also view your streaming stats on desktop via the web. As always, the company gives you a look at what you listened to most during the year with a few new additions to freshen up the annual tradition. 

Spotify has been giving you a list of your top artists, genres, songs and podcasts for a while now, but this year the company will assign one of 12 "listening characters" that best fits your streaming habit. The feature is called Me in 2023 and those "characters" range from the Shapeshifter, someone who moves from one artists to another quickly, to the Alchemist, someone who's more prone to create their own playlists. Another new tool called Sound Town matches you to a city based on your listening and top artists. For example, if you stream a lot of Bad Bunny and Peso Pluma, the app will pair you up with Mexico City. 

Spotify

In terms of the usual lists, Spotify has given them a refresh to make things a bit more interesting. Your top five artists will now also show you when your listening peaked for each one and next week Spotify's AI DJ will to give you commentary about those top artists, genres and songs on your lists. Spotify has also integrated its Blend tool with Wrapped so you can easily see how you match up with friends with a mix all of the music you listened to most. Artist Messages also return, with over 40,000 of them giving users shout-outs if they're one of your top listens. 

Of course, Spotify is also using Wrapped to reveal the platform's most-streamed artists, songs, albums and podcasts — both globally and in the US. 2023 was truly the Taylor Swift era as she took the stop spot on both the global and US artist charts. "Flowers" by Miley Cyrus was the most popular song globally while Morgan Wallen's "Last Night" was tops in the States. Un Verano Sin Ti by Bad Bunny was the most-streamed album around the world, but Wallen's One Thing At A Time was the biggest in the US. And in the least surprising development ever, Joe Rogan's podcast was once again the most popular on both the global and United States charts. It's the fourth year in a row The Joe Rogan Experience has been the top show of the year on the global chart. That's a stat the polarizing host is sure to mention as his current contract with the service is almost up. 

Spotify Wrapped is now available inside the company's iOS and Android apps as well as the desktop and mobile web. As is typically the case, a lot of the content is shareable, so get ready for your social channels to be flooded with Wrapped lists and graphics for the rest of the week. If you're an Apple Music listener, that service's Rewind tool is already available reliving 2023 on that platform. 

Apple Music’s full year-end Replay experience has arrived. Although elements of the personalized recap are available year-round (including a continually updating playlist), the company spruces up its web interface this time of year for a sleeker presentation as you reflect on your 2023 listening habits. Apple Music also announced its Artist of the Year (Taylor Swift, who you may have heard of) and subscribers’ top choices in various categories.

If you listened to Apple Music this year, you can head to the service’s Replay 2023 website and log into your account to view a rundown of the music you enjoyed during the last 12 months. It lists your most-streamed artists, songs, albums, genres, playlists and stations.

It also includes a highlight video summarizing your habits, which you can share with friends and family or on social channels. If you reach any milestones, like listening to 25,000 minutes of music, it will reveal exactly when you hit them. Apple says Replay 2023 will also tell you if you rank among an artist’s top listeners.

Apple

Taylor Swift had a busy year, and her Apple Music streams unsurprisingly reflect that. The platform’s Artist of the Year had 65 songs reach its Global Daily Top 100, more than any other artist. The pop icon was also the most streamed artist on the platform in 2023, setting a record for the most listeners in a single year. Meanwhile, Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” took the top spot in Apple Music’s Top Songs of 2023: Global list. It was the first country song to top that chart since “Old Town Road” four years ago. “Last Night” enjoyed the most days at number one on the service’s Global Daily Top 100 chart.

World music has grown in popularity on the platform. Nigerian breakout artist Rema had the most Shazam’d song of the year with the Afrobeats tune “Calm Down.” Meanwhile, “Idol” by J-Pop duo Yoasobi was the most popular karaoke song using Apple Music’s Sing feature, and it also hit number seven on the year-end top songs chart, joined by fellow J-Pop track “Subtitle” by Official Hige Dandism. Música Mexicana also did well, with four tracks on the top 20 global songs list. These include “Ella Baila Sola” by Peso Pluma and Eslabon Armado, “un x100to” by Grupo Frontera and Bad Bunny, “PRC” by Peso Pluma and Natanael Cano and “Bebe Dame” from Fuerza Regida and Grupo Frontera.

Year-end rewinds have become a popular feature for streaming services, as people enjoy the self-expression and comedy that can come from sharing their tastes on social media. If recent years are any indication, you can expect Spotify and YouTube to reveal theirs within the coming days.

The Beatles are back, sort of. The fab four just released a new song, the group’s first since 1995. “Now and Then” is being advertised as the final Beatles track, which makes sense given that two of the members have passed and the other two are well over 80 years old.

The song was built using a demo track from John Lennon dating back to the 1970s and a guitar track from George Harrison from 1995. The surviving Beatles, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, finished off the tune with the help of modern machine learning technology.

The software, which was first used by director Peter Jackson when making the Get Back documentary for Apple, was able to split Lennon’s vocal from the piano without any bleed, giving the remaining Beatles free rein to add whatever they wanted. You can watch a documentary on the making of the song right here.

As for the song itself, it’s a relatively slow Lennon ballad, with his vocals being a highlight. McCartney lays down one of his effortless bass lines and Starr hits the drums. The guitar solo is in the style of Harrison, but not actually played by him, though he handles some of the rhythm guitar in the background. There’s also a full orchestral arrangement because, well, it’s the Beatles. This likely won’t go down as one of the group’s most beloved tracks, but that Lennon vocal is both haunting and beautiful.

“Now and Then” was supposed to come out back in 1995 as part of The Beatles Anthology, along with “Free as a Bird” and “Real Love”, two other tracks culled from 1970s Lennon demos. Back in the 1990s, however, the technology just wasn’t there to separate Lennon’s vocal from the piano without some serious degradation to the original take.

The Beatles may say this is their last song ever, but we’ll report back in 2053 and see if that ends up being true. See you then. In the meantime, check out the track.

Getting the finishing details on a Halloween costume completed is the key to impressing friends and strangers alike on the trick-or-treat rounds. Especially when it comes to things like props, these details can push a good Halloween costume to great with the right touches. [Jonathan]’s friend’s daughter will be well ahead of the game thanks to these additions to a toy guitar which is part of her costume this year.

The toy guitar as it was when it arrived had the capability to play a few lackluster sound effects. The goal here was to get it to play a much more impressive set of songs instead, and to make a couple upgrades along the way as well. To that end, [Jonathan] started by dismantling the toy and investigating the PCBs for potential reuse. He decided to keep the buttons in the neck of the guitar despite their non-standard wiring configuration, but toss out the main board in favor of an ESP32. The ESP32 is tasked with reading the buttons, playing a corresponding song loaded on an SD card, and handling the digital to analog conversion when sending it out to be played on the speaker.

The project doesn’t stop there, though. [Jonathan] also did some custom mixing for the songs to account for the lack of stereo sound and a working volume knob, plus he used the ESP32’s wireless capabilities to set the guitar up as a local file server so that songs can be sent to and from the device without any wires. He also released the source code on the project’s GitHub page for anyone looking to use any parts of this project. Don’t forget there’s a Halloween contest going on right now, so be sure to submit the final version of projects like these there!

TikTok has had a major impact on the music industry over the last few years, with many songs that have gone viral on the platform becoming major mainstream hits. The service is now making a bigger push into music by hosting its own festival.

Dubbed as the platform’s first “live global music event,” TikTok In The Mix will take place in Mesa, Arizona on December 10. The headliners are Cardi B, Niall Horan, Anitta and Charlie Puth, all of whom are popular figures on TikTok. The service says there will be surprise guests and performances by emerging artists, some of whom are involved in the TikTok Elevate program for up and coming musicians.

Followers of the four headliners will get presale codes to buy In The Mix tickets starting on October 27. The general sale will start on November 2.

Of course, TikTok will stream the event live on its app. The service also says it will bring the For You feed to life at In The Mix through “a range of activities inspired by our community's favorite trends." Some creators will be present too.

Similar platforms might be more inclined to sponsor an existing music festival than to go it alone. However, TikTok has carved out a space for itself as a destination for music discovery, so it makes sense for it to host its own event with a blend of established names and fairly fresh faces.