Music Tectonics

Rock Paper Scissors, Inc. PR firm
  • 5.0 (25)
  • TECH NEWS
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

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.

  1. 2D AGO

    You Don't Know Your Fans (And It's Costing You)

    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 and build businesses that don't depend on platform algorithms. In this conversation, he shares why the music industry is massively undersized compared to sport, what it looks like when artists go directly to fans before they even book a tour, and how knowing your fans changes everything from ticket sales to merch to revenue you didn't know you were leaving behind. Also in this episode: part two of our AlgoRhythms series where we asked conference attendees "Does AI make you hopeful about the future of music tech?" The News The $6.4 Billion Bid Changing the Music Industry: Why UMG Is Selling Off Its Spotify Stake Spotify is now a fitness app too There's now a collecting society just for AI-generated music Why superfan subscriptions are dying out 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 find shownotes and a transcript for this episode, and find us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. Let us know what you think!  Get Dmitri's Rock Paper Scanner newsletter.

    50 min

  2. APR 29

    Music is Getting Physical Again (in the Age of AI)- AlgoRhythms 2026

    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 Olivia Jones, senior analyst at MIDiA Research, whose latest report on fan behavior surfaces some unexpected data about how listeners are buying merch and discovering music.  Then, Adam McHeffey speaks with Valtteri Salomaki, CEO of Edge Sound Research, about Embodied Sound that turns any material into something you can both hear and feel. Val's work is rooted in a simple question: if a creator makes something, how do you know the listener actually experienced it the way it was intended?  Both conversations kept circling the same idea: as music gets more digital and more algorithmic, fans seem to be craving something more physical and tangible. Finally, we asked a handful of AlgoRhythms attendees whether AI makes them hopeful about the future of music creativity. The news How AI Rights Are Changing Record Contracts — and Why Music Attorneys Are Pushing Back AI Is Already Training on Music. The Real Question Is: Who Gets Paid? AI And Music Publishing Licensing – How Do We Get There? Social media doesn't feel social anymore – so where does online community go from here? 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 find shownotes and a transcript for this episode, and find us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. Let us know what you think!

    45 min

  3. APR 21

    Adam Neely on the Hidden Cost of AI Music

    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 lumping them together under the AI label distorts how people understand the technology. He also shares why he is cautiously optimistic about attribution models and how AI-generated lyrics reveal the limits of what machines can feel.  The conversation turns philosophical when Adam introduces the idea of solipsistic listening, the tendency to only love music you personally generated while tuning everything else out. He then offers practical advice for musicians trying to build community and makes the case for why constructive critique from a real listen might be the most valuable thing a musician can receive  If AI is changing what music is for, Adam Neely is one of the people asking whether we actually want to go there     The news UMG's Michael Nash takes aim at 'false narrative of artist replacement' by AI – and 3 other things we learned from his HumanX panel with Splice's CEO Streaming platforms give us access to new music, so why are fewer people listening to it? Jury Finds Live Nation Acts as a Monopoly in a Victory for States Warner makes strategic investment in TuStreams – a distribution platform focused on Latin music Latin Music generated over $1 billion in US wholesale recorded music revenues in 2025, up 4.2% YoY   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 find shownotes and a transcript for this episode, and find us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. Let us know what you think!    Get Dmitri's Rock Paper Scanner newsletter

    47 min

  4. APR 14

    Is Music Making Up for Grabs?

    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 generation has been wrong about what those tools would destroy. But this episode isn't just a history lesson. It's a live argument, complete with the Kalyuka, the WARBL, and few sounds you won't expect. Along the way, the stories of T-Pain and Blanco Brown show exactly where the pattern holds and where it finally breaks. Because the question Dmitri lands on is one no generation before us has had to answer. Not what counts as an instrument, but whether the creator is still human.   The news Selling a $3B Spotify stake, Michael Ovitz as Chairman of the Board, and a $100B+ company: Welcome to Bill Ackman's plan for Universal Music Group. After Universal, Warner, and Merlin deals, now Udio inks licensing agreement with Kobalt https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/after-universal-warner-and-merlin-deals-now-udio-inks-licensing-agreement-with-kobalt/   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 find shownotes and a transcript for this episode, and find us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. Let us know what you think!  Get Dmitri's Rock Paper Scanner newsletter.

    40 min

  5. APR 6

    How Hunna G Turned "Take a Seat, Rap on the Beat" into a 150M View Platform

    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 how independent artists and producers can build a brand online.     The news OpenAI Is Shutting Down Sora, Its A.I. Video Generator WMG to buy Revelator in wake of UMG's Downtown Music acquisition https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/soundcloud-launches-superfan-feature-that-lets-artists-release-music-exclusively-to-followers-before-wider-release/ Rapper BigXThaPlug Sent Fans on a Scavenger Hunt — Here's What Happened. Instagram sets out its stall as a 'music superfandom' platform 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 find shownotes and a transcript for this episode, and find us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. Let us know what you think!  Get Dmitri's Rock Paper Scanner newsletter.

    47 min

  6. APR 1

    Dom McLennon on Creativity, Community, and Hacking Music Tech

    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 music-making tools into public libraries, to why community outreach is actually a smarter marketing play than chasing virality.    Along the way, we dig into gesture-based instruments, creative strategy for independent artists, music education, and how the history of Black artists reimagining technology laid the foundation for modern music innovation. Dom also shares how he has been integrating the Orchid by Telepathic Instruments and the Tembo by Musical Beings into his creative process in ways their makers probably never imagined (To see Dom demo these instruments, check out the video version on YouTube.    It's a wide ranging conversation you won't want to miss.  The news Study reveals €1.06bn of private copying royalties in 2024 This Music Festival Company's $30 Million Fundraise Proves AI Isn't the Only Hot Sector for Investment Live tours face a huge challenge this summer   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 find shownotes and a transcript for this episode, and find us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. Let us know what you think!  Get Dmitri's Rock Paper Scanner newsletter.

    53 min

  7. MAR 23

    Should Artists Admit They Use AI? (ft. Dr. Joel Carnevale)

    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 composition scenario with Hans Zimmer asa stand-in for established reputation, Joel and his co-authors designed experiments to find out how disclosure affects the way listeners evaluate a creator's competence and credibility. The conversation covers why authenticity is at the heart of the debate, what different types of AI disclosure actually signal to audiences, and why how you disclose may matter more than whether you disclose  Dmitri and Joel also explore what all of this means for a music industry where nearly every working producer is already using AI in some part of their process.    The news Global recorded music revenues hit $31.7B in 2025, up 6.4% YoY; users of paid music subscriptions reach 837M Why Mark Cuban Thinks Music Is (Basically) 'the Worst Industry Ever' for Investors Live Nation Employees Bragged About 'Gouging' Customers and 'Robbing Them Blind' In Dozens of Leaked Exchanges—Here's a Look at the Unsealed Documents   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 find shownotes and a transcript for this episode, and find us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. Let us know what you think!  Get Dmitri's Rock Paper Scanner newsletter.

    44 min

  8. MAR 16

    Is the Music Supply Chain Ready for the AI Boom?

    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 of the music industry's oldest and most expensive problems: getting rights holders paid correctly and on time. In this episode, Bjorn breaks down what it actually means to prepare the music supply chain for the AI boom. We dig into why the royalty math is about to get dramatically more complex, what the wave of generative AI licensing deals signals for publishers, labels, and everyone downstream, and why fixing the back end of the music industry might be the most important thing the industry does this decade  If you work in music rights, royalties, music technology, or music publishing, this one is essential listening.    The news Could you tell if your favourite song was made with AI? The viral Papaoutai cover controversy suggests not Gaming giant Steam faces legal action from the UK's PRS over alleged music copyright infringement US blindsides states with surprise settlement in Live Nation/Ticketmaster trial YouTube now generates more ad revenue than Disney, NBC, Paramount, and WBD — combined Survey suggests TikTok may be losing its lustre for Gen-Z   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 find shownotes and a transcript for this episode, and find us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. Let us know what you think!  Get Dmitri's Rock Paper Scanner newsletter.

    32 min
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5
out of 5
25 Ratings

About

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.

Information

  • Creator
    Rock Paper Scissors, Inc. PR firm
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2026
  • Episodes
    412
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Rock Paper Scissors, Inc.
  • Show Website
    Music Tectonics

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