Every fall, a certain corner of Santa Monica turns into the epicenter of music’s future. Music Tectonics, the conference where labels, startups, and instrument makers gather not just to talk about where music is, but, as founder Dmitri Vietze puts it, “to see where it’s going.”
From November 4–6, the event returns with a lineup that’s part think-tank, part tech fair, and part networking fever dream—all unfolding across three alfresco venues a few steps from the sand. The 2025 theme? Looking beyond streaming to imagine what comes next.
Music Tectonics 2025 is less about the Spotify wars and more about what happens after them. Expect panels that dive into direct-to-fan e-commerce, the expanding music-and-gaming overlap, and how labels can stay nimble in a landscape ruled by algorithms and audiences who expect everything now.
Tatiana Cirisano, VP of Music Strategy at MIDiA Research, will make the case that “the industry needs to look beyond streaming instead of merely tinkering at the margins.” Translation: stop trying to optimize what’s broken, start building something cooler.
The conference has become a magnet for innovators on both sides of the stage. One highlight is the Swimming With Narwhals startup competition, featuring a slate of fresh ideas that range from Roxxem, an app that teaches languages through pop songs, to Music League, a social game for discovering new tracks and showing off your impeccable taste.
Investors from Sony Ventures, Connect Ventures, and Creator Partners will be there too, scouting the next big bet in creator tech. And this year’s “Startup Day,” co-curated by the Yamaha Music Innovations Fund, ends with a Universal Music Group bootcamp where founders can literally pitch their products to UMG execs. Talk about direct-to-label.
Before the panels kick off, day one hosts the Creator Fair at the Santa Monica Pier Carousel—a mash-up of brands, influencers, and musicians that feels part tradeshow, part carnival. It’s proof that the next wave of innovation isn’t just happening in boardrooms; it’s being driven by the creators themselves.
As Head of Events Shayli Ankenbruck explains, "We curate Music Tectonics so that it embraces all sides of the music business right now, from tech startups to global entertainment enterprises to music makers of all stripes." In other words: everyone who actually moves the needle.
The music industry is at a crossroads—streaming’s plateaued, A.I. is rewriting the rulebook, and creators are demanding real equity. Music Tectonics isn’t promising to solve it all, but it’s one of the few places where those conversations actually happen face-to-face (ideally, with a drink in hand).
If you want to understand the tectonic shifts shaping music’s next decade, this is where the plates collide—and maybe, just maybe, where something new starts to rise.
Creator Fair Schedule: Tuesday 4 November, 2025
Santa Monica Pier Carousel: 12:30 PM - 8:00 PM Pacific Time
12:30 PM - Creator Fair Opens - Connect with brands, get hands-on Demos, create content, and more!
1:00 PM - Optimization Is Not Enough: Are You Ready for Streaming's Reckoning? with Tatiana Cirisano x Dmitri Vietze
2:15 PM - Playtime Engineering Presents: Blipblox Jam Session with Cloudchord
3:00 PM - Eternal Research Showcase: Does it Demon?
4:00 PM - The Brand Partnership Playbook for Creators with SEIDS x Laura Davidson (Shure)
5:00 PM - Creator Confession Booth with BandLab
6:00 PM - Happy Hour presented by Tipalti
Badges and full program details can be found at: musictectonics.com/conference
