"Music Innovation Discussion featuring Artists and Technologists"
In an enlightening episode of the Innovating Music Podcast, Seth Schachner, Managing Director of Strat Americas, delves into the evolving landscape of music and technology deal-making.
Seth, who has served as Chairman of Florida's Film & Entertainment Advisory Council, brings a wealth of experience to the table, having worked with major players in the industry such as Sony Music, Microsoft, Liberty Media, Viacom, and Universal Music.
The focus of the discussion revolves around the integration of AI into music creation and its legal and economic implications. Major record labels are actively litigating against unauthorized AI use in music, a testament to the tension between innovation and copyright protection in the industry.
AI-generated music projects, like The Velvet Sundown, an AI-influenced group earning significant streaming revenue, showcase new monetization models emerging in the market. Tools that allow users to generate original music by simple prompts are gaining traction, signalling a future where AI significantly shapes music creation and consumption.
The industry's deal-making is also shifting towards AI royalty marketplaces, licensing, monetization, and revenue-sharing models for AI-generated content. Industry players are grappling with the challenge of fairly compensating rights holders while fostering technological innovation.
Broader technological shifts, including blockchain, crypto, and Web3 applications, are also influencing deal-making. These technologies aim to transform how entertainment content is monetized and distributed globally, fostering new direct-to-consumer relationships and innovative content models.
Seth, a graduate of Columbia University in New York, spent eleven years with Sony Music, holding senior digital leadership roles in Latin America and for Sony's Jive Records label in North America. Prior to Strat Americas, he held business development roles with AOL, where he ran AOL's first music channel and oversaw AOL's partnerships with the American music industry.
Strat Americas, based in Los Angeles and Miami, provides strategic guidance for clients in digital and social music, virtual reality, live entertainment, artificial intelligence, and enterprise software.
The Innovating Music Podcast, which focuses on discussions about disruptive technologies in music, features talks with diverse innovators from both inside and outside the music industry.
Kevin Kelly, a renowned thought leader, has been quoted as saying, "The Future is Already Here - It's just not evenly distributed." This statement seems to resonate with the current state of music and tech deal-making, as innovation is being unevenly distributed due to the challenges of balancing AI-driven creative innovation, copyright and licensing challenges, and emerging technologies.
In summary, Seth Schachner offers valuable insights into the current trends in music and technology deal-making, highlighting the need to negotiate the balance between AI-driven creative innovation, copyright and licensing challenges, and emerging technologies like blockchain, which collectively redefine monetization and rights management in the music industry.
Technology is playing a significant role in shaping the future of music, notably with the integration of AI into music creation and the emergence of AI-generated music projects for monetization. Entertainment industry deal-making is gradually shifting towards AI royalty marketplaces, licensing, and revenue-sharing models for AI-generated content.
