That's the question host Dmitri Vietze presents to Vickie Nauman, founder of CrossBorderWorks, in this episode of Music Tectonics. Vickie has spent over two decades at the intersection of music and tech, working on sync licensing for video games and virtual worlds, and pioneering the concept of minimum viable music.

This is episode three in the Rising Tide miniseries, built around the theme of this year's Music Tectonics Conference, Rising Tide: Grow the Music, Grow the Value, taking place October 27 to 29, 2026 in Santa Monica.

Dmitri and Vickie unpack why technology and the music business have always clashed, why music is usually first to be disrupted by new platforms, and why volume based streaming rewards top artists while leaving mid tier and independent artists behind. They also get into generative AI, AI licensing deals, and why Vickie believes the future of music creation is not human versus AI, but a blend of both.

They close out on gaming as an untapped revenue opportunity, why most super fan apps fail to gain traction, and what gives Vickie hope about the next generation of musicians and fans.

Topics include music industry trends, music tech, artificial intelligence in music, music streaming, music licensing, sync licensing, gaming and music, and super fan monetization.

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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!

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