In a significant shift within the radio technology sector, Music 1 and Aiir are concluding their long-standing commercial partnership by the end of 2026. Despite this change, both companies are committed to maintaining the seamless integration between Music 1 and Aiir’s PlayoutOne radio automation system, ensuring minimal disruption for their customers.
The collaboration between Music 1, Inc. and the UK-based Aiir began in December 2013 when Aiir founder Dave Brierley-Jones approached Music 1 creator Steve Warren. Their initial goal was to integrate Warren’s Music 1 scheduling software with Aiir’s DARP/NG radio automation system. This technical relationship flourished, leading to co-marketing efforts in 2018 and the rebranding of the automation system to PlayoutOne.
Evolution of a partnership
The partnership between Music 1 and Aiir reached new heights in 2018 when they began co-marketing their products. This collaboration included offering Music 1 and PlayoutOne together, exploring a more extensive partnership that could have combined the two businesses. Steve Warren fondly recalled the 2018 NAB Radio Show, where he introduced Dave Brierley-Jones and Phil Johnson to industry professionals, praising their technology, professionalism, and customer service.
However, by 2026, the active co-marketing of the products began to wind down as the companies started moving in different business directions. Despite this, their subscription and product relationship continued. In the same year, Warren and his new development partners formed MusicOne Global Ltd. and began re-engineering Warren’s music-scheduling architecture for a new generation of software, leading to the release of MusicOne Cloud in April 2026.
A new era of independence
Aiir has also introduced its own cloud-based music scheduler. With both companies advancing with their own scheduling platforms, they will conclude their remaining cross-billing and subscription arrangements by the end of 2026. Each company will then manage subscriptions for its own products directly.
For customers, the transition will be seamless. Music 1 Pro will continue to integrate with PlayoutOne, and the existing data and playlist exchange between the systems will remain in place. Stations that are currently using Music 1 with PlayoutOne can continue to do so without any disruption.
Steve Warren emphasized that what is changing is the business arrangement behind their products, not the compatibility that customers depend upon. He reflected on the long, productive, and pleasurable relationship with Dave Brierley-Jones, stating that it is a natural time for both companies to move forward independently now that Aiir has developed its own scheduler and Music 1 has evolved into MusicOne Cloud.
UK tech funding roundup: Notable deals from Callosum to EcoNomad
In the realm of UK tech funding, this week saw a variety of notable deals across different sectors. From AI to climate tech, these investments highlight the diverse and innovative landscape of the UK tech industry. Here’s a roundup of the most significant funding rounds.
Callosum secures £73.5m for AI systems software
Callosum an AI firm based in London, raised £73.5m in a seed round. Founded in 2026, Callosum develops heterogeneous computing systems software designed to match specific AI tasks with the most cost-effective and computationally efficient models and silicon hardware. The investment round was backed by Atomico, Plural, DCVC, the UK Sovereign AI Fund, and several angel investors.
Ampaire raises £14m for hybrid-electric propulsion systems
Ampaire a climate tech company headquartered in London, secured £14m in a Series B round. Founded in 2017, Ampaire develops hybrid-electric retrofit propulsion systems and auxiliary power units (APUs) designed to integrate into commercial aircraft to reduce emissions, fuel burn, and operating costs. The funding round was supported by IAGi Ventures, Alaska Airlines, and DiamondStream Partners.
Medly AI receives £5.9m for personalized tutoring platform
Medly AI an edtech and AI company based in London, raised £5.9m in a seed round. Founded in 2026, Medly AI builds an automated, personalized AI tutoring platform tailored to individual student learning styles to prepare them for GCSE and school exams. The investment round was backed by Felix Capital, Eka Ventures, Ada Ventures, and several angel investors.
Oshen secures £3.65m for autonomous ocean-sensing vessels
Oshen a deep tech company headquartered in Plymouth, raised £3.65m in a seed round. Founded in 2026, Oshen manufactures fleets of autonomous, wind and solar-powered ocean-sensing robotic vessels that capture real-time open-ocean data for navies, ocean scientists, and weather agencies. The funding round was supported by Lunar Ventures, AlbionVC, Twin Track, Concept Ventures, and several angel investors.
Noggin HQ raises £2.3m for alternative credit scoring
Noggin HQ a fintech company based in Newcastle, secured £2.3m in a seed round. Founded in 2026, Noggin HQ is a credit reference agency that uses permissioned open-banking transaction data to provide alternative, cashflow-based credit scoring for underserved consumers. The investment round was backed by Blackfinch Ventures, Oxford Capital, Bethnal Green Ventures, and several angel investors.
Singular Photonics secures £1.6m for advanced image sensors
Singular Photonics a semiconductor company headquartered in Edinburgh, raised £1.6m in a seed round. Founded in 2026, Singular Photonics develops single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) image sensors with on-chip computation for machine vision, robotics, and medical imaging. The funding round was supported by ACF Investors, Wren Capital, Cambridge Angels, Scottish Enterprise, Quantum Exponential, and Old College Capital.
RobotX raises £1m for autonomous crop handling robots
RobotX an agtech company based in Colchester, secured £1m in a seed round. Founded in 2026, RobotX manufactures autonomous, AI-driven crop handling and harvesting robots under a Robotics-as-a-Service model to tackle agricultural labor shortages. The investment round was backed by the British Design Fund, Innovate UK, and the Defra Farming Innovation Programme.
HexSeed secures £600,000 for synthetic diamond coatings
HexSeed a semiconductor company headquartered in Aberdeen, raised £600,000 in a seed round. Founded in 2026, HexSeed Technology transforms captured CO₂ into industrial synthetic diamond coatings applied directly to gallium nitride (GaN) power chips to prevent AI data center semiconductors from overheating. The funding round was supported by Carbon13, the Net Zero Technology Centre, and Vento.
EcoNomad raises £400,000 for modular anaerobic digestion systems
EcoNomad an agtech company based in Harpenden, secured £400,000 in a seed round. Founded in 2018, EcoNomad Solutions manufactures compact, modular anaerobic digestion systems that allow small-scale livestock farms to convert organic agricultural waste into on-farm renewable biogas and biofertilizer. The investment round was backed by the British Design Fund, Innovate UK, and the Beeches Group.
SSL enhances System T platform with V4.3 update
Solid State Logic (SSL) is making waves in the broadcast industry with its latest V4.3 update to the System T platform. Unveiled at IBC 2026, this update focuses on streamlining the deployment of modular broadcast ecosystems and expanding Open Sound Control (OSC) integration.
The V4.3 update is designed to provide seamless access to System T console parameters via the open and extensible OSC protocol. This enhancement supports ad hoc workflows and boosts flexibility and interoperability in modern production environments. SSL’s OSC integration works across standard IP connectivity, allowing remote access to System T functionality via any number of third-party connectors.
Berny Carpenter, SSL Product Manager, highlighted the evolving needs of broadcast workflows, stating that control needs to be increasingly flexible. System T already allows multiple control surfaces to connect with one another, and SSL’s fully-featured Tempest Control App (TCA) provides comprehensive control of any DSP engine in a studio or remote location. However, as distributed workflows become more commonplace, remote operators often need just a limited amount of control to manage specific elements of the audio chain.
The integration enables direct third-party control of a wide range of parameters including faders, mutes, PFL, AFL, and path labels. It can be expanded to any other console functionality that is available as part of SSL’s established Event Manager feature-set. Native support of OSC inputs and outputs in Event Manager means that OSC messages can also be used to trigger and respond to events alongside traditional external control signals like GPIO, Ember+, or MIDI.
Another key feature of the update is the addition of external mic preamp control to provide control of SSL’s entire Net I/O ecosystem. This allows users to set the gain of any SSL preamp via TCA using OSC, enhancing the
