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

The FADERScenes

GTA VI announces 2026 music festival with Cardi B and Travis Scott

11.09

Rockstar Games and PlayStation are putting on a festival to celebrate the legendary game’s release.

Read at The FADER ↗

Also covered by: Rolling Stone Music

One letter a week, starting soon.

Latest

GTA VI announces 2026 music festival with Cardi B and Travis Scott

More from The FADER on XLR MAG

ScenesROSALÍA marks one year of LUX with a 1,000-song playlist The FADER

ScenesChxrry’s pen is only getting sharper on U, Me and My Ego (Deluxe) The FADER

Scenesunderscores teamed up with League of Legends on music for a new skin The FADER

ScenesFuture, Drake, Travis Scott, and Loe Shimmy connect for a classic posse cut The FADER

ScenesMacklemore says 9 US arenas turned down his Free Palestine tour The FADER

ScenesSplice launches its own DAW, Splice Create The FADER