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It’s a Julia Jacklin bender – three shows announced at Collingwood pub for upcoming album The Gem

Happy MagScenesIt’s a Julia Jacklin bender – three shows announced at Collingwood pub for upcoming album The Gem Happy Mag https://happymag.tv Julia Jacklin is bringing The Gem back to where it started. To support the release of her upcoming album The Gem, Julia Jacklin has announced three intimate shows at the... Happy Mag https:/

Sony C-80 – Mic Month 2026

Happy MagScenesSony C-80 – Mic Month 2026 Happy Mag https://happymag.tv The Sony C-80 is Sony’s premium studio condenser for the rest of us: the capsule from the C-100, the diaphragm material from the C-800G, and the two-part metal body that... Happy Mag https:/

Arturia MiniFreak 5.0 finally lets you load your own samples and wavetables

Happy MagScenesArturia MiniFreak 5.0 finally lets you load your own samples and wavetables Happy Mag https://happymag.tv The Arturia MiniFreak gets a brand-new update with the addition of user samples and wavetable uploads. The ability for users to upload their own samples and wavetables into the synth... Happ

New Music Radar: Nay Ellis, Afrobaby and CLAY PIGEONS

Happy MagScenesNew Music Radar: Nay Ellis, Afrobaby and CLAY PIGEONS Happy Mag https://happymag.tv This week’s Radar gets a little hazy, a little heavy and a little weird. Nay Ellis, Afrobaby, CLAY PIGEONS, Analise and a stack of new names are here to soundtrack... Happy Mag https://happy

Support acts abandon Ed Sheeran’s tour after Macklemore’s pro-Palestine removal

Happy MagScenesSupport acts abandon Ed Sheeran’s tour after Macklemore’s pro-Palestine removal Happy Mag https://happymag.tv The stage may be empty, but the message is loud. The stage lights have dimmed on Ed Sheeran’s Loop tour as support acts Finneas, Lukas Graham, Beoga, and Aaron Rowe... Happy Mag https://happ

New Music Radar: horse, Mietta, and Gary Len

Happy MagScenesNew Music Radar: horse, Mietta, and Gary Len Happy Mag https://happymag.tv New Music Radar is back with another haul of tracks we can’t stop spinning. Basement punk, blissed out rock, heartbroken pop and one left turn that caught us completely off... Happy Mag http

‘The King of Pop’: Michael Jackson’s career-defining song is making a comeback

Happy MagScenes‘The King of Pop’: Michael Jackson’s career-defining song is making a comeback Happy Mag https://happymag.tv ‘Billie Jean’ is finding its way back onto the charts decades after its release. So many of Michael Jackson’s albums play like the greatest track compilations, having more songs dominate...

New Music Radar: Krystal Rivvers, Chorduroy and Navy June

Happy MagScenesNew Music Radar: Krystal Rivvers, Chorduroy and Navy June Happy Mag https://happymag.tv New Music Radar returns with Krystal Rivvers and Chorduroy and more new sounds worth a listen. Krystal Rivvers are no strangers around here, and we’ve got a soft spot for... Happy Mag https:

Fender hands an icon to the NITH 2026 winner

Happy MagScenesFender hands an icon to the NITH 2026 winner Happy Mag https://happymag.tv The Telecaster that shaped seven decades of music is landing in one lucky artist’s hands. Some guitars are tools. Some become part of the story. The Fender Player II Telecaster... Happy Mag

Oblivion Sound Lab has you covered for NITH 2026

Happy MagScenesOblivion Sound Lab has you covered for NITH 2026 Happy Mag https://happymag.tv The top of the leaderboard just got a whole lot sweeter. Oblivion Sound Lab have signed on for NITH 2026, bringing a stack of studio-ready plugins into the prize pool... Happy Mag https://ha

Julian Weir showcases a dreamier sound with Sunshine

Happy MagScenesJulian Weir showcases a dreamier sound with Sunshine Happy Mag https://happymag.tv Weir is back – and he’s built a whole new world to inhabit. Julian Weir is on a roll, releasing his second album within six months. Hot on the heels... Happy Mag https://happymag.tv

Good Things headliners are exclusive this year – who can you catch at the side shows?

Happy MagScenesGood Things headliners are exclusive this year – who can you catch at the side shows? Happy Mag https://happymag.tv Good things are coming this way. After the legendary lineup drop last month, Good Things Festival fans have been patiently waiting to see when they can stack their December even... Happy Mag

On the calendar

· Trade shows and launch events, this week's stories from each corner of the industry, and what its press is covering.

On view

This week, from that corner the newest stories from the corner of the industry you picked

The wire their own posts, translated

How records get made in 2026 from the industry's own reports

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About

XLR is a magazine, a radar and a diary about music gear and the making of music — for the people who make records and put on shows, wherever they do it.

The name is the three-pin connector that every signal in the business passes through: the microphone on stage and in the booth, the line to the desk, the DMX cable that runs the lights. Studio, stage and lighting rig share it, and so does this magazine. Every few hours XLR collects what the makers shipped, what the reviewers heard, what the studios and the touring crews are doing, which producers and collectives are surfacing and what they are saying — synths and modular, plugins and DAWs, guitars and drums, microphones, monitors, PA and lights, the rooms and the people — from a few hundred sources in English, German, French, Spanish, Japanese and more, then plots what is moving. The editor writes a letter every few days. Nothing is sold here; when a link leads to a shop, that is the maker's shop, not ours.