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50 Years of Microsoft

Microsoft
Jason Tate

Bill Gates, writing on the 50th anniversary of Microsoft:

The story of how Microsoft came to be begins with, of all things, a magazine. The January 1975 issue of Popular Electronics featured an Altair 8800 on the cover. The Altair 8800, created by a small electronics company called MITS, was a groundbreaking personal computer kit that promised to bring computing power to hobbyists. When Paul and I saw that cover, we knew two things: the PC revolution was imminent, and we wanted to get in on the ground floor.

At the time, personal computers were practically non-existent. Paul and I knew that creating software that let people program the Altair could revolutionize the way people interacted with these machines. So, we reached out to Ed Roberts, the founder of MITS, and told him we had a version of the programming language BASIC for the chip that the Altair 8800 ran on.

There was just one problem: We didn’t.
It was time to get to work.

I’ve heard this story many times before, but to read it again, and see the source code at the bottom of the page, is pretty wild.

TikTok Launches Artist Platform

TikTok
Jason Tate

Stuart Dredge, writing for Music Ally:

They include detailed breakdowns of how music is performing; data on what content fans are engaging with; promotional tools for music on TikTok; and the ability to set up EP and album campaigns driving pre-saves on Apple Music and Spotify.

A website is already live with login links for artists. It also explains that artists can invite their teams to have access to their analytics in TikTok for Artists too. Label teams can access artist analytics through their separate MediaMatch accounts in TikTok’s back-end.

StubHub IPO on Pause Amid Market Turmoil

Jason Tate

Alex Weprin, writing at The Hollywood Reporter:

The tariff-driven market turmoil is delaying one of the entertainment world’s most closely-watched IPOs.

The online ticketing giant StubHub has put its planned IPO on pause, a source says, just a few weeks after first filing to go public. The company is said to be waiting for the markets to quiet down and clarity to resume, at which point it would be ready to resume its IPO planning.

Spotify Launches AI Ad Tools

Jason Tate

Digital Music News:

These machine-made spots, which Spotify demonstrated in a brief video, are currently live for advertisers in the States and Canada via the Ads Manager. Rounding out the multifaceted announcements’ key takeaways, Spotify debuted bolstered measurement tools designed to help connect adverts with specific users.

Nintendo Delays Switch 2 Preorders

Nintendo
Jason Tate

The Verge:

Nintendo is pushing back preorders for the Switch 2 due to concerns about Donald Trump’s newly announced tariffs. According to a statement sent to The Verge by Eddie Garcia on behalf of Nintendo, it says preorders will no longer begin on April 9th:

Pre-orders for Nintendo Switch 2 in the U.S. will not start April 9, 2025 in order to assess the potential impact of tariffs and evolving market conditions. Nintendo will update timing at a later date. The launch date of June 5, 2025 is unchanged.

I, just, dunno man.

“Why Jesse Lacey and Brand New Should Not Be Touring”

Jason Tate

Another woman has shared her story for the first time detailing what she describes as a “pattern of grooming” from Jesse Lacey of Brand New and why she does not think the band should be touring:

I am sharing my story publicly for the first time, and it’s one I’ve kept to myself for years. In 2006, I was 15 years old, a teenager at the height of adolescence, trying to navigate the complexity of identity, self-worth, and relationships. Brand New’s music defined that time for me, and like so many others, I idolized Jesse Lacey. His lyrics spoke to the vulnerability of youth, the pain of growing up, and the confusion of unrequited love. To be seen by him as someone worthy of his attention was intoxicating — it felt like a validation of my worth, my place in the world, and my identity as a young woman.

The entire thing is worth your time. And the words toward the end have stuck with me since I first read them:

To those who feel that people like me demanding accountability want Jesse to “burn” or have his life ruined — this was never about destruction. It’s about responsibility. No one is asking for his exile, only for an acknowledgment that goes beyond vague apologies and self-preserving statements. True accountability isn’t just admitting to “sex addiction” or “manipulation”; it’s about recognizing the full extent of harm caused and taking meaningful steps to repair it. Jesse has never done this. Defending him by claiming he’s “done his time in therapy” suggests that personal growth absolves public harm, which it does not. […]

If you truly believe Jesse has changed, ask yourself: why has he never directly addressed the people he harmed? Why, in 20 years, has he done nothing to make things right? And why are you more comfortable questioning his victims than questioning him?

I’ve said what I want to say about the band’s return at this point, but I think this is important to share.

Mark Hoppus Interview With the New York Times

Mark Hoppus
Jason Tate

Mark Hoppus is profiled in a new piece with the New York Times:

“When the band broke up, I sat right here on our couch and just despaired,” he said, referring to the first of two times the singer and guitarist Tom DeLonge walked away from Blink-182, only to eventually return. “I was so filled with animosity and hatred and rage, and I just wanted to get back in our band,” he continued, dropping a number of expletives.

But “Fahrenheit-182” never turns meanspirited or dour. “The book has no demons in it,” Hoppus said. He mentioned that he’d discussed his memoir on the phone with his psychiatrist — Hoppus is treated for obsessive-compulsive disorder, intrusive thoughts, depression and anxiety — earlier that day. “I think that writing the book helped solve a lot of ongoing issues in my life, because I was trying to write it with an even hand,” he said.

Nintendo Unveils Switch 2

Nintendo
Jason Tate

The Verge:

While Nintendo told us very little in the official reveal of the console in January, now we know when the Switch 2 is coming and how much it will cost at launch: June 5th and $449.99. We also have more hardware details and specs to pore over, like a 1080p, 120Hz 7.9-inch LCD screen, Joy-Con controllers with mouse-like functions, 256GB of storage, and 4K output via the dock. We even know why it’s called the Switch 2instead of Super Nintendo Switch.

Nintendo also cleared up the mysteries about the system’s “C” button with details about new GameChat features and a camera accessory, and confirmed that GameCube games are coming to Nintendo Switch Online, along with a dedicated controller to give them the respect they deserve.

Last but not least, Nintendo showed off a number of new games, like a Switch 2 edition of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond and the exclusive Switch 2 launch title, Mario Kart World.

Mood Playlist Widgets From Apple Music

Jason Tate

The new version of Apple Music lets you trigger “mood” playlists from control center:

Opening the Music app will continue being the main way most of us interact with Apple Music, but I love what Apple’s doing with iOS 18.4’s new Ambient Music controls. The ability to assign a mood playlist button to your iPhone’s Lock Screen, Action button, or Control Center removes friction from the music playback experience.

MusicHarbor Brings Music News to App

Apps
Jason Tate

MacStories details the release of the latest version of MusicHarbor:

My favorite new section of MusicHarbor is News, which pulls articles about the artists you follow from a dozen sources. It’s an excellent set of publications that includes chorus.fm, NPR Music, Pitchfork, and others. If there are any feeds among those listed that you don’t like, though, you can turn individual publications off, so they won’t appear in the app.

If you follow a lot of artists like I do, you’ll appreciate that you can also search for artists by name or using keywords found in the headlines of articles. The app includes a row of profile pictures of the artists you follow for whom the app has found news, which is a nice visual shortcut to those stories, too.

Hey, that’s us. Cool feature.

I launch MusicHarbor every Friday morning to make sure I haven’t missed any new releases from artists I follow.

Vancouver’s Neptoon Records Discovers Rare Beatles Recording

The Beatles
Jason Tate

CBC:

Last week, late at night, when Rob Frith was wrapping up a work session at a friend’s studio, he decided to throw on one last tape for a listen.

It was labelled “Beatles 60s demos” and had been sitting around Neptoon Records, one of Vancouver’s most well-known record shops, unplayed. Frith, who owns the shop, had never listened to it, but had brought the recording to his friend’s studio that night, knowing he had the right player for the tape. 

”I thought it was just a reel-to-reel tape that somebody had put bootleg things on,” Frith said.

But when the tape played, the quality of the sound was clear and bright.

Apple Music Opening Catalog to DJs

Jason Tate

Michael Burkhardt, writing at 9to5Mac:

In a statement today, Apple announced that it would be integrating the Apple Music catalog with a number of popular tools, allowing for DJs to create mixes with Apple’s robust catalog. Users will also be able to explore a new DJ with Apple Music page starting today.

With these changes, Apple Music subscribers will be able to mix their own sets using the Apple Music catalog. This integration will be available in some of the leading DJ software and hardware platforms, including AlphaTheta, Serato, Engine DJ, Denon DJ, Numark, RANE DJ, and Algoriddim’s djay Pro software.

Daniel Nigro Announces Partnership with UMG

Jason Tate

Daniel Nigro has announced a label partnership with UMG:

Universal Music Group has announced a partnership with Daniel Nigro, the producer best known for his work with Olivia Rodrigo and Chappell Roan, with the record company partnering with Nigro through his record label Amusement Records.

Nigro has become one of the most lauded producers in pop music, thanks to his famed partnerships with Roan and Rodrigo. Nigro produced both of Rodrigo’s albums, Sour and Guts, as well as Roan’s The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess and singles “Good Luck, Babe!” and “The Giver.” He’s also worked with Caroline Polachek, Sky Ferreira and Conan Gray. Back in February, he won the Grammy Award for Producer of the Year; he was nominated for the award the year prior as well.

Read More “Daniel Nigro Announces Partnership with UMG”

Sublime Working With Travis Barker and John Feldmann

Travis Barker
Jason Tate

Sublime are working on a new album with Travis Barker and John Feldmann. From the recent Rolling Stone interview:

Nowell, 29, just spent a week in the studio with Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker and producer John Feldmann to write songs for the project. “Dude, those guys are awesome,” says Nowell, who plans to start recording with Wilson and Gaugh soon. “Travis is an old-school fan and scholar of the Sublime catalog… They feel like family members now too, man. There was that feeling from everyone that what we’re doing here is something generational and special on an emotional, spiritual, familial level.” (“This is going to be really special,” Barker added in a statement. “Bradley comes through his son Jakob… Chills every day in the studio when he sings and plays guitar.”)

Nowell, who also records alt-pop under the band name Jakobs Castle, isn’t interested in modernizing Sublime’s sound. “The goal is not to create something that is, like, ‘This is what Sublime would be today in 2025,’” he says. “No, just more of a solid respect and homage to the works of Sublime.”