Music Tectonics Conference Conversations: Founders on Building Defensible Companies in the AI Economy
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Dec 2, 2025 Stanley Vergilis, Founder of Tone 3000, shares insights on cultivating a successful digital effects marketplace built for musicians. Mahan Zanuzi, CEO of The Vinyl Bar, discusses creating AI music apps that engage consumers. Jessica Powell, co-founder of AudioShake, highlights how their technology evolved from karaoke-inspired ideas to impactful audio separation tools. The panel dives into building defensible business moats, the intricacies of fundraising, and common pitfalls faced by founders in the music tech industry.
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From Studio Frustration To Marketplace
- Stanley started Tone 3000 after wanting studio tones at home and discovered Neural Amp Modeler.
- A Facebook post led to 1,000 captured models in 24 hours and rapid organic growth to hundreds of thousands of users.
Music Software Label Origin Story
- Mahan founded The Vinyl Bar as a 'music software label' that ships apps like singles instead of vinyl.
- He built playful, instrument-like interfaces to make AI-assisted music creation feel like playing, not typing.
Karaoke Idea Became Audio Separation Tech
- Jessica and her co-founder started by wanting better karaoke in Tokyo and experimented with removing vocals.
- That led to building AudioShake to separate sound components across music, film, and broadcast use cases.