Machine Music, the Velvet Sundown, and Whale Pop Stars with Drew Thurlow

Today, I chat with Drew Thurlow, a strategist focused on how AI might be democratizing the music industry, rather than destroying it. We talk about how AI is changing everything from the creative process to copyright law, whether or not we should be worried about AI-generated music like the Velvet Sundown, and how AI is being used to surface the most popular songs made by whales in the sea. We also talk about this former Sony, Warner, and Pandora exec's upcoming new book "Machine Music: How AI Is Transforming Music's Next Act,'" set for release in 2026. Drew will definitely have you thinking new thoughts today!   The News!  Top US Copyright official Shira Perlmutter reinstated, as Appeals Court blocks firing by Trump   Reddit, Yahoo, Medium and more are adopting a new licensing standard to get compensated for AI scraping   Spotify peeved after 10,000 users sold data to build AI tools 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.