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Spotify’s Head of Innovation Headlines Music Tectonics
The LA Area’s Own Music Technology Conference
In his role as Spotify’s Head of Content Business Innovation and Market Intelligence, Máuhan M. Zonoozy leads the company’s strategic direction that keeps the company focused on the future as the leading audio streaming service.
In the last year alone, Spotify has made headlines with groundbreaking experiments like Spotify Live, Spotify Island in Roblox, and now NFTs on artist pages.
Zonoozy’s background defies simplistic categorization — from consulting as an advisor to Fortune 500 C-suites trying to make sense of emerging technological and cultural trends, to leading as a startup investor focused on the intersection of media, tech, and Web3, Zonoozy has continuously proven to have his eye on the horizon.
This October, Zonoozy brings his 10,000-foot view over the cultural landscape to a music innovation conference that’s also got its eyes on the big-picture future of the industry: Music Tectonics (October 25–27, 2022 in Santa Monica, CA).
Zonoozy’s Music Tectonics keynote will take a macro view of the cultural shifts that have shaken up the music industry’s foundations. “If you zoom out, you see that generations of people have drawn culture from different sources. In my youth, music was the beacon of culture,” Zonoozy elaborates. “Now, gaming has become influential in driving how young people define what’s cool. We’re also seeing DAOs and Web3 gain cultural clout, with a focus on tribal and squad wealth. Will this Web3 buzz change culture in the same way? I’ve leaned all the way in’.” Will whatever comes next lessen — or displace — music’s influence on culture?
Music Tectonics conference director Dmitri Vietze selected Zonoozy as a keynoter to bring a top-level, innovation-centered viewpoint you might not hear at insider industry events. He explains, “The music industry has always been all about the music, and now it needs to watch these new beacons of culture and adapt. I’m optimistic that music will continue to be the soundtrack of all kinds of cultural experiences, whether real life or virtual. Everything in the metaverse is cooler with great music.”
Now in its fourth year, the Music Tectonics Conference has established a reputation for exploring deep trends in light-hearted ways, weighing the promises and pitfalls of Blockchain with a costumed “Cage Match” style debate and exploring music and the metaverse in a virtual conference venue, complete with dancing avatars.
These playful formats have a serious purpose: to open discussions on buzzy trends like Web3 and the metaverse that include both the committed early adopters and the wait-and-see skeptics. “When a seismic shift emerges in the music industry, it’s not the hype that determines its impact.” Vietze muses. “At Music Tectonics you find out which impact deserves the hype. This is where the tension builds and new technologies emerge.” In 2022, expect insightful, accessible discussions that probe points of tension like “Whose Metaverse Is It?” and “NFT Quest: What Do Music Fans Really Want?”
Key adopters and tension-builders are increasingly based in Los Angeles, the latest hub of music and innovation.
With its unique mix of record labels, studios, tech and gaming companies, social media companies, Hollywood, and startups, “the music industry’s past, present, and future is all represented in Los Angeles, and no other music & technology conference was tapping into that,” says Vietze.
“Launching the event in 2019, Southern California just felt right. Music innovation has continued to simmer there during the pandemic, so we are thrilled to bring the event back to earth from the online and hybrid ether.”