Hosted at multiple venues in Santa Monica, the Music Tectonics 2023 conference rallied innovators in all fields of music. The three-day event provided the stage for attendees to network, discuss innovations in music-making, share ideas about the future of music, and show off their gear.

The following was developed in collaboration with Open On Sunday, a company DMN is proud to be partnering with.

Music and tech came together for Music Tectonics 2023 last month in Santa Monica, CA. Startups, distributors, investors, gear manufacturers, software developers, consultants, labels, streaming services, and creators — among many others in the music field — took their time to network and explore innovative solutions.

Speaking to DMN, Dmitri Vietze, founder and curator of Music Tectonics, told DMN what makes the conference unique. “We’re topic agnostic. We think a lot of innovation can happen around solving problems for the music industry, so some of it is super cool, super consumer-facing, sexy stuff [in] gaming and music, artificial intelligence, and music generation,” said Vietze, adding, “Also, some of it’s just really specific to untangling data or how startups get licenses and that sort of thing.”

The three-day conference took place at various ‘nontraditional’ locations and venues throughout the area. Vietze explained why: “We’re picking nontraditional locations because we want people not to feel like they’re in a box physically, but also psychologically.”

“When they’re having conversations around music innovation, we want that expansive feel for brainstorming new concepts and getting business done together,” said Vietze.

Holly Hagerman, founder of AmptUp — a company that streamlines the booking process between venues and bands — told DMN that being at Music Tectonics 2023 was about celebrating innovation, meeting other players in the field, and ‘about community, which is our number one core value.’

Speaking about the conference, Hagerman said, “This is a special group of people. Our business focuses on innovation, and changing what is an ages-old, generations-old industry — and making it more simple, more innovative. That’s what Music Tectonics is about.”

USC Business School student Adewale Oduye attended the conference to bank on the knowledge of like-minded individuals. “One of the things I love is hearing from the folks that have done it before, that understand the music business. They’re imparting that knowledge upon me. That’s what I appreciate,” Oduye said.

Music Tectonics 2023 provided the perfect platform to discuss what’s happening in music now, and what’s on the horizon.

Songwriting advocate Mark Lynch spoke passionately about ‘getting writers paid,’ adding, “Music is not free. It needs to be compensated. Any opportunity that I get to ensure that copyright owners get paid, I will do.”