Three pins, and nearly every signal in this business passes through them.

The magazine is named after the cable: the microphone in the booth, the line to the desk, the DMX run that fires the lights. Studio, stage and rig share the same cable. Most magazines pick one of the three. This one covers all of it, because the people we read do too — the engineer mixing a record on Tuesday is on front of house by Saturday.

Around a hundred and sixty sources, in English, Japanese, Spanish, German, French, Chinese and Italian: makers and their release notes, reviewers who put a hand on the thing, studios and touring crews, the producers and collectives surfacing this month and the scenes they came out of. Synths and modular, plugins and DAWs, guitars and drums, microphones, monitors, PA and lighting. What the trade is talking about is counted and plotted. The editor's letter has just started; it will find its rhythm.

For each story: a headline, a short excerpt, one picture and the link out. We never reprint the article, and the picture belongs to the maker or the photographer. A German review appears in German and a Japanese one in Japanese, as the writer published it; the link goes to the original.

Nothing is sold on this site. When a link leads to a shop, it is the maker's shop, not ours.

← XLR MAG Archive

IQIndustry

Festival news: South Africa’s Milk + Cookies secures Olivia Dean

10.26

South Africa’s Milk + Cookies festival will return for its third edition in 2027, with Olivia Dean set to lead the two-city event for her debut on the African continent, leading the latest round-up…

Read at IQ ↗

One letter a week, starting soon.

Latest

Festival news: South Africa’s Milk + Cookies secures Olivia Dean

More from IQ on XLR MAG

IndustryADE 2026: How electronic music is juggling cultural preservation and innovation IQ

IndustryTurnstile draw 60k to US capital with benefit show ‘loud enough for the White House to hear’ IQ

IndustryEXIT vows Serbia return as country’s live scene celebrates election result IQ

IndustryDriving growth beyond the gig: Why diversification matters more than ever IQ

IndustryVenue news: Live Nation reveals new 5k-cap Melbourne space for 100 events a year IQ

IndustryGoldman Sachs: ‘Robust’ live touring and emerging markets fuel $200bn industry forecast IQ