Music Tectonics

For musicians in lockdown, trying to jam with friends or teach lessons on a videoconferencing app like Zoom or Skype is like putting toothpaste back in the tube: it’s just not built for that. Find out how JamKazam was built for musicians to play together in real time from CEO David Wilson. Host Dmitri asks what makes JamKazam so different from those videocallling apps? How does JamKazam deal with the latency issues that make synchronous collaboration challenging? Learn how Wilson’s experience with a videogame streaming startup, a passion for music, and a yearning to jam with his brother on the other side of the country inspired him to found JamKazam. Long before COVID-19, JamKazam helped bands stay together even when members moved away. Find out how JamKazam is saving the sanity of many more musicians sheltering at home, especially with a new live broadcasting feature that lets them earn tips and ticket revenue. Learn about JamKazam’s tools that remove the friction from playing music online for professionals, amateurs, teachers alike- before, during, and after self-isolation. The Music Tectonics podcast goes beneath the surface of the music industry to explore how technology is changing the way business gets done. Visit MusicTectonics.com to learn more, and find us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Let us know what you think!

Now that everyone has posted their black box on Instagram, now that large music and tech companies cut their $150 million checks, what anti-racism efforts will endure in music tech? Hear from leaders who were working to bring Black people into positions of creativity and leadership long before the murder of George Floyd: Tarik Moody (Radio Milwaukee & 88Nine Labs), Keisha Howard (Sugar Gamers), and Arabian Prince (Inov8 Next Open Labs, Covitech, and founding member of N.W.A.). They tell tough truths about the responsibility of music, gaming, tech industries that have profited from Black creators and Black consumers without compensation, acknowledgment, or representation in the seats of power. What steps should music tech companies take now to create access for Black youth and Black leaders? Which music industry actions are likely to move the needle, and which ones are just about optics? Where do we go from here? Recorded at one of our online music tech meetups, this amazing conversation is too important to keep to ourselves. The Music Tectonics podcast goes beneath the surface of the music industry to explore how technology is changing the way business gets done. Visit MusicTectonics.com to learn more, and find us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Let us know what you think!

When Jovanka Von Wilsdorf wrote songs for a virtual pop star, she found herself falling in love with humans again. The spaces between art and tech, human and artificial intelligence, is where the Berlin-based songwriter, artist profiler, and speaker feels at home. Jovanka tells irregular host Tristra Newyear Yeager how she got there, from touring and recording with her band Quarks, to writing hit songs for top artists, to distilling AI research into stories that reach musicians. Jovanka discusses the upcoming DIANA AI songwriting competition she founded and explores the AI-powered musicmaking tools that get her most excited. What do artist-facing AI music startups get wrong about the creative process? What do they get right?  NOTE: The audio quality is rough (thanks to work from home conditions and transatlantic connections), but the conversation quality is high. The Music Tectonics podcast goes beneath the surface of the music industry to explore how technology is changing the way business gets done. Visit MusicTectonics.com to learn more, and find us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Let us know what you think!

Charts aren’t just about bragging rights for Stephen Blackwell, Alpha Data president. Charts rank top songs to bring people together, forge chart-topping hits into cultural touchstones, and point the way the culture as a whole is moving. Formerly known as BuzzAngle, Alpha Data analyzes over 50 billion streams from more than 50 DSPs daily to provide insights to the music industry and power Rolling Stone’s authoritative charts. Stephen explains how Alpha Data transforms a trillion data combinations into stack-ranked lists of dissimilar consumption types. Find out why the company shares its methodology openly and transparently, down to the last equation. His years weathering the ups and downs of internet media in leadership roles at Death and Taxes, Spin Media, and Prometheus (when it was home to Billboard and THR), give Stephen insight and wisdom to share with media professionals facing an uncertain future. Why are quarantine listening habits so different? What global listening trends are on the horizon?  The Music Tectonics podcast goes beneath the surface of the music industry to explore how technology is changing the way business gets done. Visit MusicTectonics.com to learn more, and find us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Let us know what you think!

This is a milestone: it’s the 100th episode of the Music Tectonics podcast! In 18 months, Dmitri Vietze and Tristra Newyear Yeager have explored 100 music tech topics and interviewed innovators in Los Angeles, New York, Cannes, France, and isolated at home. They got together on zoom to recap what’s changed in the music tech industry since the podcast launched in December 2018. How has TikTok matured as a cauldron of fandom, and how has worldwide quarantine changed its userbase? How did live streaming go from the strange stepsibling of the live music industry to the sexy stepsibling? Is A.I. more like a job-stealing robot or a new type of pickaxe for music creators? Dmitri and Tristra touch on the Rise of the Podcast, Amazon’s SmartSpeaker dominance, Indie and DIY musicians, a new wave of financialization, and how creatives are redefining music industry success. It’s all in episode 100!   In a Music Tectonics first, we’re sharing video of the conversation so you can see Dmitri and Tristra’s smiling faces. Find it on Youtube or our website. Visit MusicTectonics.com to learn more, and find us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Let us know what you think! The Music Tectonics podcast goes beneath the surface of the music industry to explore how technology is changing the way business gets done.

Music festivals, sports events, and all kinds of entertainment have a common goal: reach fans and sell tickets. Ten years ago, Darshan Kaler built Tradable Bits to be a bridge between the entertainment industry and fans’ digital lives, and the company has been innovating in the collection, analysis, and activation of fan data ever since. Find out how Darshan went from bringing the Olympics to your screen to partnering with festivals like Bonnaroo and teams like the Florida Gators. How has the role of social media and advertising changed over Tradable Bits’ lifetime?  How does Darshan see the live events industry changing during the COVID-19 pandemic, and what silver linings is he finding in the shutdown clouds?   The Music Tectonics podcast goes beneath the surface of the music industry to explore how technology is changing the way business gets done. Visit MusicTectonics.com to learn more, and find us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Let us know what you think!

With the unprecedented pandemic, musicians are looking for new ways to collaborate across long distances. They’re finding that the Trackd app already offers a lean, mobile recording and collaborating experience. Grant Tilbury, explains how Trackd lets artists capture moments, edit multi-track audio, and release “Virtual Vinyl” to social media all on one’s smartphone. Learn how Trackd was born out of the innovative spirit that made London’s Trident Studios famous, and how Trackd is reviving that legend. Find out how artists are using Trackd, from releasing unheard demos, to writing collaborative songs for kids to sing at Buckingham Palace, to collaborating with Dave Stewart (of Eurythmics fame). The Music Tectonics podcast goes beneath the surface of the music industry to explore how technology is changing the way business gets done. Visit MusicTectonics.com to learn more, and find us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Let us know what you think!

What goes on in your mind when that chorus hits and you get shivers, when you lay down a track and know that one was THE take? Neuroscientists have been digging into these and other questions of music, emotion, and cognition for decades. David Rosen, PhD and Brian Owens of AI and neuroscience startup Secret Chord Laboratories explore our brains on music and how the science of creativity and reception can influence the tech tools we build.  The Music Tectonics podcast goes beneath the surface of the music industry to explore how technology is changing the way business gets done. Visit MusicTectonics.com to learn more, and find us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Let us know what you think!

When music venues in Los Angeles were shut down as part of Covid-19 safety measures, Ari Herstand knew that he wanted to help the artists and performance spaces weather the financial shortfall. With a couple of friends, he launched “UnCancelled Music Festival”, a live-streaming enterprise that organizes performances and collaboration between musicians from across the country. Now he is busier than ever. Having a lot on his plate, however, is business as usual for Ari, who has worked as a musician and authored the best selling book “How to Make It in the New Music Business”. Called “the poster child of DIY music” by Forbes, he has numerous ventures to his name. Well-known for his business advice blog “Ari’s Take”, Ari also runs a podcast and academy by the same name.  As an expert in music business education and artist advocacy, he sits down with Music Tectonics host Dmitri Vietze to discuss what makes for a successful and profitable live-stream, how online performances shape the dynamics of fan bases and how to navigate the modern music business.  The Music Tectonics podcast goes beneath the surface of the music industry to explore how technology is changing the way business gets done. Visit MusicTectonics.com to learn more, and find us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Let us know what you think!

If you’re interested in the world of music equipment retail, you have heard of Sweetwater. More likely than not, you are a customer that has contributed to its over 700 million dollars in sales. But how did the company become one of the biggest catalog and online retailers for music? Founder Chuck Surack sits down with Music Tectonics host Dmitri Vietze to explain his humble origins touring around the country as a musician in a beat-up VW and how he ended up building a retail business. He also explains his guiding principles both for business and for life. Amongst them: Doing the right thing by prioritizing taking care of customers instead of simply chasing their money. Surack also reveals the inner workings of Sweetwater, from its 13-week “Sweetwater University” training program for sales engineers to lunch concerts and above-par cafeteria food. With 40 years of experience in the music industry to draw upon, he weighs in on new developments and areas of innovation as well as the “all in” approach that all entrepreneurs need when setting out to make their dreams a reality. The Music Tectonics podcast goes beneath the surface of the music industry to explore how technology is changing the way business gets done. Visit MusicTectonics.com to learn more, and find us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Let us know what you think!