SoundX : Code

SoundX : Control Is Almost Here

The first DAW plugin that turns your existing camera into a gesture-based controller. No extra hardware. No new setup. Map hand movements to effects, transitions, and live performance actions in real time. VST3 and AU compatible across all major DAWs. Patent-pending. Launching very soon. Join the waitlist →

SoundX : Workshops

FOUR : WEEKERS — The Next Cycle Is Coming

Four consecutive Sundays. Five participants. One skill — Music Production, Mixing, or DJing — explored at depth with people who've actually done it professionally. If you've been sitting on registering, now is the time. Register now →

SoundX : Workshops

ONE : ONE — Your Goals. Your Pace.

If a group cohort isn't your speed, ONE : ONE pairs you directly with one of our team members for private sessions in Music Production and Mixing, remote or in-person. Same depth. Built around your work, your goals, your timeline. Book a session →

SoundX : Workshops × Rolling Stone MENA

The Music Industry Accelerator

Eight weeks. Direct access to industry leaders, Grammy-winning mentors, and the global powerhouse companies behind them. Forty-plus studio hours at LPME Studios. Editorial access and coverage opportunities built in through Rolling Stone MENA. The most concentrated music industry programme in the region. Cohort 01 wraps on May 3rd. Applications for Cohort 02 are now open. Register your interest →

SoundX : Live

The Bridge — Season 2 In The Works

The Bridge is our cross-cultural concert series: two distinct editions per season, one resident artist anchoring both nights, with different featured artists from across the musical world joining the stage each evening.

Our resident artist for Season 1 was NOON — Dubai's experimental Oriental trio of Hosny (oud, vocals), Steven Bedford (bass and electronics), and Ratish Chadha (drums and percussion). Egyptian, British, and Indian by background, they describe their sound as "experimental Oriental" — polyrhythmic jazz-rock built around the oud, freed by jazz improvisation, shaped by funk, African rhythms, and electronics. One of the most unique live acts working out of this city.

Edition One featured Elijah Fox — the American artist, pianist, and composer whose work sits at the intersection of jazz, soul, and electronic music — performing alongside NOON. The night closed with Abri & The Everlasting: Hamdan Al-Abri, an Emirati singer-songwriter and one of the most important figures in UAE original music, leading his band through propulsive jazz-funk, Afrobeat, and deep soul.

Edition Two featured Varijashree Venugopal — the Karnataka-born Carnatic vocalist and composer who has redefined what a South Indian classical tradition sounds like in 2026 — alongside NOON. That edition opened with the Niki Mukhi Acoustic Trio: the Dubai-born composer and guitarist, setting the tone with an intimate acoustic performance before the night expanded.

Season 2 is already in conversation. Get early ticket access →

SoundX : Live

Pop-Ups — On The Road

Beyond The Bridge, we've been running pop-up shows across the region. In Mumbai, Alex Bone headlined, with Elysia Biro joining the stage as a featured guest, and Kimeraa opening the night. In Dubai, we brought through the Spaven DNB Curation, featuring Fattybassman alongside BASSMATI. More cities are in conversation — pop-ups are coming to other corners of the world soon.

Segment One

Artist You Should Be Following

Her First Film Scoring Credit

The Smashing Machine  ·  A24 / Warp Records  ·  Directed by Benny Safdie

Benny Safdie chose Nala for his solo directorial debut — an A24 biographical drama starring Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt, based on the life of MMA fighter Mark Kerr. Nala was 28. It was her first ever film score. She composed, arranged, produced, and mixed the entire score, working with collaborators including saxophonists Nubya Garcia and James Mollison, and drummer Morgan Simpson. The film premiered at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival to a 15-minute standing ovation, with Safdie taking home the Silver Lion for Best Director. The score was released 3 October 2025 via A24 Music and Warp Records, with Boomkat describing it as "deep, original and unexpected, landing somewhere between Jonny Greenwood and Dorothy Ashby."

Segment Two

Things Worth Your Time

— 01 of 02

The Independent Artist Has More Power Right Now Than at Any Point in History. Most Are Misusing It.

Industry Perspective

Distribution is as good as free. Recording is accessible. Social platforms have removed the gatekeepers. And yet most independent artists are still operating as though they need permission — from a label, from a playlist curator, from an algorithm — before they can build something real. The shift hasn't been about access for a while now. It's been about strategy: understanding the difference between activity and traction, between followers and fans, between a release that disappears and a body of work that compounds over time. The artists winning in 2026 aren't the ones with the best connections. They're the ones who understand their own identity and can build around it.

— 02 of 02

What AI Is Actually Doing to the Studio (It's Not What Either Side Is Saying)

Production Intelligence

Strip away the utopians and the doomsayers and look at what's actually happening inside sessions right now. Stem separation is genuinely useful. Mix reference analysis is faster than it's ever been. Rapid idea generation is real. What AI doesn't do: make decisions, exercise taste, understand why a record matters. The producers thriving right now are the ones who understand this distinction clearly — using the tools where tools help, ignoring the noise. The technical floor has dropped. The ceiling for human judgement has stayed exactly where it was.

Segment Three

From The Studio

Mixing  ·  01 of 03

Emotion isn't just a feeling. It's something you build into the mix.

One of the most important conversations we have in the Accelerator is about why technically correct mixes often don't connect — and imperfect ones sometimes bring out the strongest emotional reactions. Emotion in a mix is not an accident. It lives in your choices. A mix that's too clean loses the human element. The question to ask on every mix isn't "does this sound right?" It's "does this make you feel something?" Those are not the same question — and the best mixes answer the second one.

Identity  ·  02 of 03

Sound first. Brand later. Most artists do it backwards.

We see it often — artists pouring energy into visual identity, social aesthetic, and a brand world before they have a sonic identity that's actually distinct. The order matters. A unique sound creates the context for everything else: the visuals, the press, the live show, even the merch. Branding without sonic identity is decoration. Figure out what you sound like that no one else does. Then build the world around it. Not the other way around.

Songwriting  ·  03 of 03

The demo is the song. Stop waiting for the studio version to "find it."

By the time you get to the studio, the song is either there or it isn't. Studio time amplifies what you bring in. It doesn't conjure it. There are exceptions — some genres work differently — but the artists making consistently great records are obsessive about the demo: they know the song is working before they walk into the room.