Why is the value of the music industry so small compared to gaming and television, even though music is everywhere in our lives? This week on the podcast, Dmitri kicks off a new Rising Tide miniseries with Jimmy Stone of Alderbrook. They cover streaming scarcity, Napster's lasting impact, whether platforms underpay rights holders, and if AI will multiply or deflate music revenue. If you're curious where music's real value comes from and where it's headed, this episode is a gr

How do you value a music catalog in 2026? Billboard's Elizabeth Dilts Marshall leads a panel with Rob Frech of Raine Group, Tom Sarig of Antifragile Equity Partners, and Monica Corton of Go211 Entertainment on catalog acquisition, music publishing, and royalty growth. Topics include who is buying music catalogs, sync licensing, catalog management tools like Disco and Luminate, AI licensing, and name image and likeness rights. Essential listening for anyone in music finance or

What will music monetization look like in 2030? In this special Grow the TAM panel, moderator Tatiana Cirisano of MIDiA Research leads Liz Moody of Granderson Des Rochers, Mauhan Zonoozy formerly of Spotify, and Ty Roberts of FanTracks and Gracenote through AI licensing, artist equity in AI companies, direct fan subscription platforms, music and gaming opportunities, and the vinyl revival. Essential listening for anyone in music tech, streaming, publishing, or artist manageme

In this episode, Dmitri and Eleanor explore the eight revenue multipliers shaping the future of the music industry, from catalog valuation and royalty recovery to music licensing, fan monetization, and AI. They unpack Music Tectonics 2026's theme, “Rising Tide: Grow the Music, Grow the Value,” discussing music tech, streaming growth, rights management, music investment, creator tools, and the challenges facing labels, publishers, startups, and investors.

Playtronica turns everyday objects into musical instruments. Co-founders Sasha Pas and Aglaya Nosova join Music Tectonics to share how kitchen scales became their newest invention, Scales, using MIDI to convert object weight into sound. They discuss building a viral, community-driven music tech brand, why removing the "are you a musician?" barrier matters, and what working with brands like Hermès taught them about accessible, playful music creation for everyone.

The $300 billion pro AV industry dwarfs the entire music business, and most artists have never considered it as a revenue stream. Graeme Harrison of Bluesound Professional joins Dmitri Vietze to explore how commercial audio licensing pays artists more than streaming, why congruent music and visuals are 1200% more effective, and how AI could trigger a new era of elevator music that cuts artists out entirely.

What if your friends were better at music discovery than any algorithm? Eric West, founder of Music League, joins the show to talk about gamifying music taste, building community around shared listening, and what happens when artists connect directly with their most dedicated fans. Nearly 200,000 monthly active users across 160 countries are already playing. This is what discovery looks like after the algorithm.

Ferris Bseiso of Cipher Music joins Jade Prieboy at SXSW to break down how TikTok rewrote the economics of sync licensing and why major brands keep getting sued for using music on social media. Cipher is building a legal library of trending songs designed for the creator economy. Plus Dmitri recaps Music Biz and Mo Forum covering AI voice cloning, style laundering, institutional catalog investment from Apollo and Primary Wave, and what the KISS hologram deal means for the fut

ONErpm's Emmanuel Zunz built one of the fastest-growing independent music companies across 40 territories without a single outside investor. In this episode he breaks down what independence really means, why the label and distribution worlds are converging, and what the label of the future actually looks like when you build it around technology and scalable deal structures instead of big advances.

What does it actually look like to build a music career as a creator in 2026? Aryyzona has over a million YouTube subscribers, a new hyper-pop EP, and a custom video game she built with her fiancé. But she'll be the first to tell you it's not as simple as it looks. In this episode she gets honest about the creator economy, brand partnerships, and why she refuses to call herself a social-first artist.

Rob Sealy, co-founder of OpenStage, joins Music Tectonics to explain why artists don't know who their fans are and why that gap is costing the music industry billions. From a Scottish band selling 6,000 tickets with 30,000 followers to Oasis keeping tickets off the secondary market, Rob shares what happens when artists own the fan relationship directly. Plus part two of our AlgoRhythms AI series.

What if the most surprising thing in music right now isn't what AI is creating, but what fans are reaching for instead? This week we bring highlights from AlgoRhythms 2026: Olivia Jones of MIDiA Research on why fans are buying physical music again, Val Salomaki of Edge Sound Research on technology that makes music something you feel in your body, and attendees answer: does AI make you hopeful?

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 genuinely uses and commercial generative AI platforms like Suno and Udio, explaining why l

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 traces the pattern of how every generation has fought over new tools and every g

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 MGK to name a few), what the music creator economy actually looks like, and

Dom McLennon, former vocalist and assistant producer for BROCKHAMPTON, joins Dmitri to talk music technology, community, and creative strategy. We cover gesture-based instruments, music education, independent artist access, and why community outreach beats chasing virality. Dom also shares how he's integrating the Orchid by Telepathic Instruments and the Tembo by Musical Being into his creative process in ways their makers never imagined.

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 article in The Conversation that put that question to the test. Using a music

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 is leaving opportunity on the table. If you work in music tech, music marketing

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 developed in partnership with Industrial Light and Magic, may be the most forward thinki

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. Whether you’re an early-stage founder or mapping out your exit strategy, this episode is full of honest, practical perspective from a founder on the other side of the exit