The Music Tectonics podcast goes beneath the surface of the music industry to explore how technology is changing the way business gets done. The podcast includes news roundups, interviews, and more. Our host is Dmitri Vietze, CEO of PR firm rock paper scissors.
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Musictechnology Podcasts
Gear Club Podcast is hosted by engineer / producers John Agnello (Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr.) and Stewart Lerman (Patti Smith, St. Vincent). Each episode of the podcast features an interview with a key player in the audio industry, and also offers tips and guidance to the next generation of engineers and artists. The podcast is an informative, yet irreverent, look at the art of recording by leading practitioners of the art.
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2025 in Music Tech: The Year's Top Stories
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31:37As 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 mus…
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Conference Conversations: Creative Collaborations Everyone Can Agree To
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52:49This 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 inclu…
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Conference Conversations: Where Investors See Creator Tools Thriving Alongside AI
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50:07This 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: …
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#100: 100th Episode Extravaganza: Shocking Moments with Lennon, Prince, Bob Dylan and Studio Legends
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1:18:30For our centennial episode, we took a trip down memory lane and revisited all the interviews we've shared over the years. We gathered some of our team's favorite moments—stories that inspired us, moved us, and reminded us why we love making this show. We're incredibly proud of everything we've created together, and we hope you can feel that joy and…
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Conference Conversations: Founders on Building Defensible Companies in the AI Economy
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41:27This 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 Shibuy…
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Conference Conversations: Rethinking Distribution with Hollywood Reporter's Ethan Millman
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19:35This 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 f…
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Conference Conversations: Inside the Yamaha Music Innovation Fund
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18:15This 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 w…
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Crossroads: Streaming's Time to Choose with Mark Mulligan
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37:05This week as we have just wrapped up the Music Tectonics Conference in person in Santa Monica, I thought I'd do something a little bit different and release a clip from our pre-conference a couple of months ago by Mark Mulligan of MIDiA research called "Crossroads: Streaming's Time to Choose." In this keynote, Mark talks about the pressures facing …
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Rethinking Indie Streaming with Neil Sheehan of Vocana
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44:27Our guest this week is Neil Sheehan, the president of Vocana, a streaming platform built for independent artists and fans using a user-centric payment model. We talk about how that's different from other streaming platforms, why social features haven't worked on streaming platforms since the days of MySpace, and whether there's room for indie-focus…
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The FOMO Episode: Why You Need to Be at Music Tectonics 2025
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22:31Pack your bags, we're going to Tectonics! On this week's episode, our marketing director, Eleanor Rust, turns the tables on Dmitri to talk about the upcoming Music Tectonics conference next week from November 4th through 6th in Santa Monica. We talk about how the conference started, what to expect this year, and more. Whether you're on the fence ab…
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True Ownership Beyond Streaming with Joshua Stone
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59:01This week, we're exploring the future of direct-to-fan commerce with Joshua Stone, the CEO and Co-Founder of Stuff.io and book.io. Josh has some serious backing, including names like Mark Cuban, Snoop Dogg, and Charles Hoskinson, the co-founder of Ethereum just to name a few, and has been working on building Web3 infrastructure that lets artists se…
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Unlocking the Value of Music with Darryl Ballantyne
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59:06This week, Darryl Ballantyne, CEO and Co-founder of LyricFind, discusses the complexities of the music business model and how LyricFind has managed to create new revenue streams by licensing lyrics and developing products like Lyric IQ. We also discuss how they've overcome challenges such as price competition and maintaining product market fit. Thi…
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Should Music Publishers Be Worried about AI?
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47:55This week we dive deep into all things music publishing with Monica Corton of Go to Eleven Entertainment. With over 30 years of experience in music publishing, Monica lays a great foundation of how exactly music publishing works, and then we talk about what it looks like today with AI, streaming, legislation, and in some cases, suing major platform…
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#99: From Taylor Swift & Lauryn Hill to Helping Brooklyn Artists | Lorenzo Wolff at Restoration Sound
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54:12By Stewart Lerman & John Agnello
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Logic Pro, Loupe Art, and the Age of Abundance with Dot Bustelo
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51:13On this week's episode, Dmitri sits down with Dot Bustelo, a former Apple Logic Pro team member and the innovative mind behind Loupe Art. We talk about everything from a post-it from another innovator that changed everything to the age of creative abundance. It's a blast. News! Gen Z social habits spell trouble for music discovery Is Music's Mainst…
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The Future of AI Music is Fairly Trained?
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34:03Today, a conversation with Tristra and Mansoor Rahimat Khan, the founder and CEO of Beatoven.ai. an ethically trained music generator that was built in partnership with hundreds of artists. They talk about the inspiration behind Beatoven and dive into the nitty gritty of how and why Beatoven works in collaboration with musicians to secure fully lic…
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Machine Music, the Velvet Sundown, and Whale Pop Stars with Drew Thurlow
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47:18Today, I chat with Drew Thurlow, a strategist focused on how AI might be democratizing the music industry, rather than destroying it. We talk about how AI is changing everything from the creative process to copyright law, whether or not we should be worried about AI-generated music like the Velvet Sundown, and how AI is being used to surface the mo…
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Record of the Week: Every Picture Tells a Story
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11:35This week on Record of the Week, we dive into Rod Stewart's classic song Every Picture Tells a Story. We break down what makes it so memorable, how the band works together, the production choices that make the song stand out, and why it still rocks hard, even 45 years later. If you love classic rock or just want to hear what makes a song timeless, …
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The Thrilling Tension Between AI and Musical Creativity
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42:41AI models can truly capture the essence of musical creativity. (Wait. Really?). Join us as Tristra interviews Dr. Christopher White from UMass Amherst about his new book The AI Music Problem: Why Machine Learning Conflicts with Musical Creativity. The two of them get into a really interesting question – Is AI redefining music, or is music reshaping…
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What Makes Artist Partnerships Meaningful? with Dave Godowsky
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28:15What makes an artist-brand partnership meaningful, beyond a simple shoutout on social media? Today I talk with Dave Godowsky, a musician who's also worked the other side of the street – in Artist Relations, A&R and with brands that musicians know and love. We talk about how brands can foster authentic artist relationships, the value of word-of-mout…
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Wait. That's a Musical Instrument?? With Adam McHeffey
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46:41We are rewinding and playing back some of our favorite guests during the month of August and today we have our own Chief Creative Officer from way back when he was the creative force at Artiphon. Adam McHeffey, CMO of Artiphon, joins us to talk about the state of musical instrument innovation. Instruments like the Orba put music creation at the fin…
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How to Build a Company with Tracy Maddux: How to Start Up
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45:54We are rewinding and playing back some of our favorite guests during the month of August. Join Dmitri and Tracy Maddux the former CEO, of AVL Digital and CD Baby as they talk through the fundamentals of what it takes to really start up. We promise that by the end of this episode, you'll have a clear understanding of the critical decisions that shap…
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How to Scale Up with Darryl Ballantyne of LyricFind
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44:43We are rewinding and playing back some of our favorite guests during the month of August. Today we have a great conversation with the CEO and co-founder of LyricFind. Listen in to find out how Darryl got his first investor, and what Microsoft, childhood bedrooms, outdated websites, and roller coasters have to do with anything. The Music Tectonics p…
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Updating Punk Classics: Ed Stasium Talks mixing the Ramones, Talking Heads Using Eventide Plugins
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10:33Recently, we caught up with Ed Stasium about remixing classic albums from The Replacements and Talking Heads and his dive into the world of immersive audio. In this clip, Ed walks us through remixing the Ramones catalog in Atmos and how he used Eventide's immersive plugins to both stay true to the original recordings and bring them to new life in t…
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The Great Bifurcation Debate with the MIDiA Team
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49:42We are rewinding and playing back some of our favorite guests during the month of August. Starting with…. The great debate! It's been five years since Mark Mulligan of MIDiA Research gave the keynote at the first Music Tectonics Conference. This year we had him, along with Tatiana Cirisano, back to Music Tectonics. Instead of the standard conferenc…
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Startups Start Your Engines with Andrew Kahn, Yamaha Music Innovation Fund
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59:15Join the Music Tectonics team for the June Seismic Activity with special guest Andrew Kahn, Managing Partner of Yamaha Music Innovation Fund. Hear Andrews best practices for pitching him (or not) at a conference, and what he feels is the most important aspect of any pitch deck. Hint: It's not a great power point. We also hear queries specific to fo…
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Remember when Michael Bublé was an abominable snowman and chased people with snowballs? Well, maybe you don't, but a lot of people do. Or what about when NLE Choppa showed up in FPS Ops? In this episode Dmitri talks with Mike Gubman of Chartis about the creative collaborations between musicians and game developers and what sort of opportunities tho…
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Stealing Back the Scalpers' Playbook with Randy Nichols
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51:25Today we have a fascinating conversation with Randy Nichols, artist manager and CEO of Force Media Management. Randy's been at the forefront of attempting to figure out the ticketing strategy math, especially the scalper side of the equation. We hear about his dive into the cold hard data, scalper chat rooms, and that time he sent someone undercove…
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Strings Attached: The Impact of Tariffs on Music and Culture with Cullen Hendrix
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43:25Today we talk with Cullen Hendrix, Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, about the impact of tariffs on musical instruments. A trained political scientist as well as having a background as a touring musician, Hendrix has a really distinctive lens in which to view the tariff news. We talk about how tariffs on Chinese i…
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Michael Imperioli's band Zopa on Making Art, the Chaos of Rock, and The White Lotus
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54:37Hey everyone! Recently, we had the band ZOPA over to the studio for a listening party! Their new album, Diamond Vehicle, was produced, engineered, and mixed by our very own John Agnello. We had Michael Imperioli on the show in Episode 89 where he talked about his own creative process and the history of the band. In this episode, John sits down with…
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What the Heck is Happening With the Copyright Office?
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53:59Join us today as we talk with Jessica Sobhraj, the co-founder and CEO of Cosynd; a platform that helps creators protect their copyrights. We start by talking about the complex legal maneuvers involving the US Copyright Office; we then head into the ongoing impact of AI and the proactive steps you should take to safeguard your intellectual property.…
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Building Music Communities with Native Instruments
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47:31On today's episode we talk with Bomo Piri, Chief Brand Officer at Native Instruments. Our conversation begins with the techno Berlin roots of the brand and dives into what's happening today with their strategic partnerships -- like the London based Young Urban Artist Foundation, and a very cool sounding recent collab with Mustard at Coachella. We c…
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On today's podcast we have a truly amazing talk with Damien Riehl, a musician and technology lawyer who is one of the masterminds behind All the Music Project; an algorithmically generated catalogue of 471 billion melodies, which was then put into the public domain in an attempt to protect musicians from being sued for copyright claims. It is a fas…
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How to Sell Musical Instruments, with Adam McHeffey
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44:28"Create a flurry of content. But do not put $10,000 aside for a celebrity to come in and talk about your brand. I want you to go after thirty smaller creators with followings between ten and thirty thousand." Today we hear from Adam McHeffey, the former CMO of Artiphon and current Chief Creative Officer at Rock Paper Scissors to discuss effective s…
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Non-Traditional Artist Careers: Social Music Creation
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1:04:06Today we bring you the recording from our latest on-line Seismic Event, "Artist Careers in a Parallel Universe." It was an exploration into the livelihood of three working artists; Clara Venice, Vivek Agrawal, and The Phronetic. RPS Chief Creative Officer, Adam McHeffey talks with them about how they are using new technology to fuel their creative …
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Unpacking the Latest in Music and Tech: Spotify, Apple, and AI Fraud
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32:05On today's news roundup show Dmitri and Eleanor tackle the week's music tech news. They discuss Spotify's app store changes, Apple Music's new transfer tool, and so many AI music industry developments, including the $10 million AI music fraud case. News you might want to read: Spotify says App Store changes have boosted its subscriptions Apple Musi…
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The Future of Music is Visual: With Ty Roberts
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47:53In today's episode we welcome pioneering innovator Ty Roberts, founder of Gracenote, and former CTO of Universal Music Group. We talk about some of the pivotal moments in his career including Gracenote's role in the development of iTunes, and working with David Bowie on generative music. We discuss the future of visual music experiences, the rise o…
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Surveying the Horizon of Music and Tech: Rock Paper Scanner
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32:03On today's episode, Dmitri and Tristra discuss the news of the week. They review recent acquisitions like Monstercat and BANDS, and discuss the economic confidence of the music sector despite economic downturns. They also talk about the evolving role of AI and the implications of recent legal copyright cases on AI training data. It's a lot of news …
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AI, Investment, Legal Challenges and Music Tech with Valeska Pederson Hinz
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53:57Today we are talking with Valeska Pederson Hinz, partner at Perkins Coie, about what's happening in the world of music tech investment. Valeska has extensive experience in guiding companies and investors from Series A to IPO and has an indispensable vantage point. Our conversation includes the current state of venture capital funding, the impact of…
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In this Record of the Week, John and Stewart dig into Waterloo Sunset by The Kinks. With its dreamy atmosphere, raw mono mix, and Ray Davies' poetic storytelling, the song captures a fleeting moment of beauty in 1960s London. Because of its lo-fi charm, Waterloo Sunset stands as one of the most emotionally resonant and sonically unique recordings o…
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Who Owns What in Music Tech with Cherie Hu
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52:19Today Dmitri talks with Cherie Hu, music industry analyst and founder of Water and Music. We start by discussing the Ouroboros project which maps the complicated and intertwined stakes in the music industry held by various entities, including private equity firms, media conglomerates, and tech companies like Tencent. We also talk about shifting pow…
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Streaming Slowdown. What Slowdown? With Mark Mulligan
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55:19In this episode, Dmitri speaks with Mark Mulligan, veteran tech analyst and leading digital thinker from MIDiA Research. Topics include the slowing growth of streaming revenue, shifts in market share among major and independent labels, the rise of the global south in subscriber numbers, and the impact of super-premium subscriptions on monetization.…
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Consolidation and Growth: Insights from Billboard's Glenn Peoples
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46:03Today we have Glen Peoples from Billboard to discuss the major trends within the music industry. Our conversation covers a lot! Including the rise of rollups and acquisitions to build label services, the increasing importance of music licensing, the role of AI in the music tech investment landscape, and the cyclical nature of consolidation and its …
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The Future of Music is Interactive with MashApp's Ian Henderson
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36:33Ian Henderson, founder of MashApp and former Spotify executive, talks with Dmitri about how MashApp enables non-musicians to remix tracks without production experience, and the broader context of technological disruptions in the music industry driven by AI. He explains the challenges in securing licenses from major record labels and his vision for …
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We first interviewed producer and engineer Ed Stasium in Episodes 80 and 81, where he spoke with John and Stewart about recording some truly seminal albums with Gladys Knight & the Pips, the Ramones, Talking Heads, and Living Colour, as well as his pivotal role in the design and construction of the Power Station in NYC. These episodes offer a fasci…
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From Plugins to Community: DAWn Audio's Evolution
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35:48Today Dmitri talks with the winners of the 2024 Music Tectonics Swimming with Narwals Competition, DAWn Audio. They discuss their innovative platform for music producers and artists as well as the recent pivot from a cross-DAW collaboration plugin, to a gamified network that rewards artists for their creative work. But first, Dmitri and Tristra sha…
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Bootstrapping Success: GigSalad's Journey
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36:08Mark Steiner, Co-Founder and CEO of GigSalad joins Dmitri from the streets of SXSW to talk about the journey from working at his kitchen table to successful scale-up. We also hear a PR Strategy on what to do with questions you just don't want to answer. But first, Tristra and Jade dish the latest news headlines. News Headlines Discussed: Porn on Sp…
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Shaking Up Music Consumption with the Cinema
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25:19We talk with Evan Saxon, Former President and Head of International Distribution at Abramorama, about his strategies for leveraging cinema to amplify artists' reach and revenue. He shares insights from his work with Pearl Jam, Melanie Martinez, and Duran Duran, explaining how cinema can serve as a communal marketing partner to boost engagement and …
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Take a closer look at Queen's epic song with John and Stewart. With aggressive guitars, rich vocal harmonies, and an over-the-top premise, the track is classic Queen. Ogre Battle also marks a pivotal moment in the band's evolution, as their recordings reached a new level under the guidance of producer Roy Thomas Baker.…
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From Vinyl Revivals to Glocalization: An Economic Perspective with Will Page
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38:43Will Page, author of Pivot and former chief economist at Spotify, talks about the dramatic increase in the global value of music – up to $45.5 billion, surpassing cinema. We discuss the rise of music exports from countries like Mexico and Columbia and the accompanying economic boost. We touch on the resurgence of vinyl, and the shift to CRM systems…
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