Music Tectonics

Most artists have no idea who their fans actually are. They know follower counts and streaming numbers, but they don't own the relationship, and according to Rob Sealy, that single problem is costing the music industry billions. Rob is the co-founder of OpenStage , a platform helping artists from emerging talent to global icons like Paul McCartney, Oasis, and Lana Del Rey reclaim their fan data an...

What if the most surprising thing happening in music right now isn't what AI is creating, but what fans are reaching for instead?  This week on Music Tectonics, we're bringing you highlights from the AlgoRhythms conference last month, where our team spent time on the ground talking to researchers and innovators about where the music industry is heading. First, Tristra NewYear Yeager sits down with...

What happens to music when everyone is only listening to what they made themselves?  In this episode, Jade Prieboy sits down with Adam Neely , composer, bassist, and YouTuber educator with over 1.8 million subscribers. They go deeper than the usual AI debate, exploring what we actually lose when music stops being something we share.  Adam draws a clear line between stem separation tools he genuine...

What if every fight over music technology throughout history has actually been the same fight, and we're just now facing a version of it we've never seen before? In this special episode, Dmitri shares a keynote he gave at the Algo Rhythms conference last month called "Is Music Making Up For Grabs?" Drawing on four hundred years of disruption in music, from the harpsichord to amplification, Dmitri...

What happens when a beat-selling side hustle accidentally becomes a social media phenomenon?  In this episode, music producer and content creator Hunna G  ( @hunnagbeats ) joins Dmitri to talk about building "Take a Seat, Rap on the Beat," a series now sitting at over 150 million views and more than a million followers.  Hunna G covers the origin story, the most memorable guests (like 2 Chainz and...

This week, Dmitri is joined by Dom McLennon, artist producer, and creative strategist from Hartford, Connecticut. Best known as a lead vocalist and assistant producer for BROCKHAMPTON, Dom also runs COURTVISION , a creative agency connecting artists and brands across gaming, education and community.    We cover a lot of ground on this one, from treating music technology as a sandbox, to bringing m...

What happens to an artist's reputation the moment they admit they used AI? Does admitting how they used AI make a difference? New research suggests the stakes are higher than most realize, and the answer is far from simple.  This week on the podcast, Dr. Joel Carnevale, assistant professor of Management at Florida International University, joins Dmitri to break down the findings from his recent ar...

Everyone's talking about the AI boom in music, but is the industry's infrastructure actually ready for it? Bjorn Lindvall, CEO and co-founder of  MusicInfra , has spent his career at the intersection of music rights and finance, first as co-founder and COO of Hipgnosis Songs, where he helped build a multi-billion dollar catalog acquisition business, and now building the infrastructure to fix one o...

Is gaming really the next frontier for music, or is that just wishful thinking?  In this episode, Dmitri sits down with Jenn Garcia, co-founder and CEO of Metamoki , the mobile gaming studio behind Mob Wars and Wiz Khalifa's Weed Farm. With nearly two decades of experience in mobile gaming, social gaming, and community building, Jenn brings a fresh outside perspective on where the music industry i...

What happens to a rock band's legacy when the touring stops forever?  When Pophouse acquired the KISS catalog, brand, name, image, and likeness rights, they didn't just buy music. They bought the blueprint for keeping one of rock's most iconic bands alive indefinitely through digital avatars, biometric data, and AI-driven live experiences. This deal, built on the success of ABBA Voyage and develop...

Most founders think about building. Fewer think carefully about selling. In this episode, Dmitri talks with Phil Barry, the founder of music rights and licensing platform Blokur , about what he learned from nearly a decade of building and ultimately selling his company to Music Reports in 2024. Phil opens up about the early challenges of finding product-market fit, the long relationship-building t...

Where does AI stand in the music industry as we move through 2026? In this conversation, Dmitri talks with Mike Pelczynski, Chief Strategy and Impact Officer at Voice-Swap , about the evolution from fear to curiosity around AI in music, and why building ethical AI systems from the ground up creates long-term value.  Mike shares about how his work architecting fan-powered royalties at SoundCloud co...

For Part 2 of our NAMM 2026 recap, we explore how music creators are building sustainable careers outside of the traditional music industry model. As streaming revenue continues to fail musicians and CD sales decline, artists are pioneering new paths through direct-to-fan experiences and developing products instead of traditional merchandise.  One great example of this shift is Tarun Nayar from Mo...

For the next two weeks we'll be talking about all things NAMM and getting into some of the exciting innovations we spotted on the show floor, along with some trends that we noticed this year, starting with AI's inflection point in the music industry. Last year, the conversation around AI was tense with creators expressing fear over being replaced by AI. This year, we saw more AI tools designed to...

What happens when AI starts reflecting an artist's voice back to them? This week, Dmitri talks with artist, songwriter, and producer Blanco Brown. Blanco first broke through with the viral hit "The Git Up," becoming a defining voice of the intersection of country and hip hop, also known as "country trap."  Last year, an AI generated artist called Breaking Rust released a song called "Walk My Walk,...

This week, Dmitri chats with Russell Wedelich, the President and CTO of Eventide Audio . Eventide has been shaping Eventide has been shaping recorded music since 1971, and Russell has used his background in both electrical engineering and musical engineering to help create products like the Space Stomp box, H9000, Physion, and Temperance reverb just to name a few.  They talk about Eventide's histo...

Episode 400! This week, we thought we'd do something a little different and talk about trade shows and whether or not they're still worth it in 2026.  Fresh from CES 2026, Dmitri shares why trade shows remain valuable for business development and lead generation in the music tech industry. He also discusses innovations at CES from companies like Crosley , Sleevenote , Vrch , and Vobble , along wit...

This week, we're kicking off 2026 with our opening keynote from last year's Music Tectonics conference: "Optimization is Not Enough: Are You Ready for Streaming's Reckoning?"  In this keynote, Tatiana Cirisano from MIDiA Research joins Dmitri to ask a provocative question: Is the music industry so focused on optimizing streaming revenue that it's missing what comes next?  Tatiana argues that strea...

This week, we're wrapping up 2025 with something special: three rapid-fire interviews from last month's conference with companies that represent some of the most fascinating developments happening at the intersection of music and tech First, we'll hear from Rachel Francine of SingFit , who's pioneering music as medicine by bringing therapeutic singing programs to senior living communities  Next, w...

As 2025 comes to a close, Dmitri and Tristra look back at the year's most significant music tech stories and what they mean for the industry ahead.    From AI music settlements and catalog securitization to sustainability initiatives at live music venues and the future of streaming royalty rates, this year-end roundup covers the trends that shaped music and technology in 2025  Dmitri and Tristra d...

This week, we're continuing our Conference Conversations series from last month's conference with a panel called "Brands and Creators: Creative Collaborations Everyone Can Agree To." This panel covers all things brand partnerships, from what makes brands say yes to working with artists, as well as some stories about what not to do. This panel includes Ryan Roth from Pioneer DJ, Mario Ponce from Sh...

This week, we're continuing our Conference Conversations series from last month's conference with a panel called "Betting on the Future: Where Investors See Creator Tools Thriving Alongside AI." In this panel, Andrew Kahn from Yamaha Music Innovation sits down with three venture investors who are actively shaping the future of creative technology: David Ma from Powerhouse Capital , Jason Yeh from...

This week, we're continuing our Conference Conversations series from last month's conference with a panel called "Building to Scale: Founders on Building Defensible Companies in the AI Economy."   In this panel, Conor Healy from the Yamaha Music Innovation Fund sits down with Stanley Vergilis from Tone3000 , Mauhan Zonoozy from The Vinyl Bar in Shibuya ,, and Jessica Powell from AudioShake . The c...

This week on Music Tectonics, we're continuing our Conference Conversations series with highlights from the Music Tectonics Conference. Over the next several weeks, we'll be sharing our favorite discussions, interviews, and panels that capture what's happening right now in music innovation.   Today, we're featuring a conversation with Ethan Millman from the Hollywood Reporter. Ethan breaks down on...

This week on Music Tectonics, we're doing something different. We're kicking off a series of highlights from the Music Tectonics Conference that wrapped up just a couple of weeks ago. Over the next several weeks, we'll be sharing our favorite discussions, interviews, and panels that capture what's happening right now in music innovation. We start with a conversation recorded at the Shure podcast b...