As anyone who’s considered themselves one for a while will attest, there’s never been a better time to be an electronic music producer, with the average home studio in 2016 packing more creative power than most of us really know what to do with.

Often, though, the most interesting innovations in music software and hardware come from the less headline-grabbing side of the industry – the utilities and accessories that play a supporting role to the instruments, effects and DAWs at the heart of the machine.

In this round-up, we’ll take you on a ten-stop tour of what we consider to be some of the most exciting recent developments in ‘ancillary’ music technology.

From virtual reality and cloud collaboration to artificial intelligence-driven mastering and the future of mobile production, almost all of these forward-thinking gadgets, applications and services are on the market right now, the majority of them priced well within the average musician’s budget.