SF MusicTech
Summit
music. people. tech.
For over a decade, the SF MusicTech Summit brought together the brightest minds at the
intersection of music and technology. Artists, engineers, investors, and entrepreneurs
gathered to shape the future of the industry. Twenty-one conferences. One conversation.
Conferences
Years Running
Speakers & Attendees
The Epicenter
Origin & Legacy
Where Music Meets Technology
Founded by Brian Zisk and Shoshana Zisk, the SF MusicTech Summit was the premier conference
at the convergence of the music industry and technology. A place where deals were struck,
ideas were challenged, and the future of music was debated by the people building it.
From its inaugural event in 2008, the Summit became a biannual institution,
convening visionaries from streaming, hardware, rights management, live performance,
A&R, and venture capital under one roof in San Francisco.
The series ran for 21 gatherings spanning over a decade, witnessing and helping catalyze
some of the most transformative shifts in the music business: the rise of streaming,
the creator economy, algorithmic discovery, and direct-to-fan platforms.
This site is preserved as an archive of that era.
Hotel Kabuki and other premier San Francisco venues, a setting that matched the city’s role as a global music-tech hub.
Intimate, deal-friendly panels and fireside conversations designed to foster direct connection between technologists, artists, and label executives.
Each Summit featured a startup showcase, launching dozens of companies that went on to secure investment and change the industry.
Jack Conte (Patreon), Tim Westergren (Pandora), G-Eazy, and hundreds more spoke at SF MusicTech before or as they built their companies.
As Covered By
What the Press Said
VOA / CGTN
San Francisco MusicTech Summit Showcases Instrument Innovation
Forbes
Unpacking the Hype: Four Takeaways From the 2016 SF MusicTech Summit
Rockstar Dreams
SF MusicTech Summit Drums Up Innovation
Music News Asia
What Happens at SF MusicTech Summit?
Music News Asia
Patti Silverman on Music Marketing Strategies in the Digital Age
Hypebot
SF MusicTech Names Winners of 2016 Startup Competition
Forbes
Four Lessons Every Music Maven Should Know From SF MusicTech Summit 2015
Billboard
SF Music Tech Summit Tackles Algorithm-Based Curation, Blockchain’s Practicality and More
SF Weekly
Moment of Truth: 8 Thoughts After SF MusicTech
Hypebot
Overheard @ SF MusicTech
Unrated NYC
Where Music and Tech Converge
USA Today
Beats and SoundCloud rumors goose music tech confab
USA Today
As streaming replaces downloading, music revenue stagnates
Forbes
Five Takeaways from the SF MusicTech Summit That Every Musician Should Know
The Guardian
Bandcamp to help musicians launch their own subscription services
TechCrunch
Jukely Offers Unlimited Concerts for $25 a Month
TechCrunch
Google Music Download Sales Miraculously Growing Despite Their Death Everywhere Else
Vice
There’s a New Music Streaming Service That Promises Not to Screw Over Artists
Soul Train
Event Recap: SF MusicTech Summit XVI
The DJ List
Future of Industry, Audio Quality Initiative Among Hot Topics at 16th SF MusicTech Summit
SF Station
Review: Highlights From SF Music Tech Summit
Berkeley Journal of Ent. & Sports Law
Music Attorneys Grapple With Future of Copyright, Licenses, More at SF MusicTech
Hypebot
Where’s the Cash for Musicians Today and Beyond?
Hypebot
#SFMusicTech Summit: Recap and Remarks
Alice 97.3
The Seven Coolest Things We Saw at SF MusicTech
The Bay Bridged
SF MusicTech Summit Bridges the Gap Between Tech and Music
Rock World Magazine
Three Takeaways from the SF MusicTech Summit
SF Intercom
SF MusicTech 16
Nashville Business Journal
Nashville-based startup to be showcased at San Fran music-tech conference
Huffington Post
Chance for Findings at Latest SF MusicTech Summit
SF Chronicle / SFGate
Hackers show off Google Glass ‘instruments’ and ‘drumpants’
Billboard
Why Investors Aren’t Piling Into Music
Forbes
Roll Over, Beethoven: Three Management Lessons From the World’s Most Disrupted Industry
Billboard
Facebook, Twitter Execs Talk Music Apps at SF MusicTech Summit 2013
The Economist
The Music Industry: On-demand touring
SF Weekly
SF Music Tech Summit: Digital Possibilities Abound, But “Good” Music Is Still Required
San Jose Mercury News
SF MusicTech Event Plays Up Importance of Live Concerts
Evolver.fm / The Echo Nest
SF Music Tech: People Consume 10x More Music Than Sports, So Why Does Sports Make 6x the Cash?
Digital Music News
Right Now: SF Musictech en Fuego
TechCrunch
Founder Tim Westergren Says Some Musicians Earn Up to $3 Million a Year from Pandora
VentureBeat
How ice, isolation, and poverty will save the music industry
GigaOM
Tim Westergren: Some Artists Make Over $2 Million with Pandora
San Francisco Chronicle
New Tune at SF MusicTech Summit
Huffington Post
San Francisco MusicTech Summit Attempts to Save Rock and Roll
ZDNet
SFMusicTech Summit: Musicians and Geeks Search for Sustainable Business Models
Turnstyle
Show Me the Money: Conference Tackles Urgent and Perpetual Issue for Musicians
SF Weekly
SF MusicTech Summit: Big Predictions, Blanket Dismissals, and Lots of Bad Words
GigaOM
The future of music is boring, and that’s exciting!
The Next Web
The biggest problems facing the music industry? We ask SF Music Tech.
Billboard
Licensing Talk With TuneCore, BMI, SoundExchange Gets Fiery at SF MusicTech
A Decade of Voices
Notable Participants
The Summit was defined by the people in the room. Artists at pivotal moments in their careers,
founders building companies that would reshape the industry, and journalists covering it all.
A selection of those who shaped our stages:
Tim Westergren · Pandora
G-Eazy
DJ Spooky
Ledisi
Joan Osborne
Bruce Pavitt · Sub Pop
Chip Conley · FEST300
John Acquaviva
Cherie Hu · Forbes / Billboard
Bill Hochberg · WIRED / Atlantic
Mike King · Berklee Online
Patti Silverman · Columbia Records
Eric Wahlforss · SoundCloud CTO
Tom Conrad · Pandora CTO
PooBear
Nataly Dawn · Pomplamoose
Jeff Price · Audiam
TechCrunch · Forbes · The Guardian · USA Today · Vice
Pandora · SoundCloud · Bandcamp · Songkick · Twitter Eng
Future of Music Coalition · GRAMMY Recording Academy
SXSW · Berkeley JESL · Berklee College of Music
From the Stage to the World
Ideas That Became Industries
The SF MusicTech Summit was a place where companies were conceived and careers were launched.
Jack Conte first appeared in 2010 representing Pomplamoose.
By 2013, he was back with a new startup built on a simple insight he’d articulated from
our stage: that YouTube ad revenue was broken for creators. That startup was Patreon.
Tim Westergren spoke at the second-ever Summit in 2008,
sharing the Music Genome Project, the database underpinning Pandora Internet Radio.
Summit co-founders Brian Zisk and Shoshana Zisk had just sold their own pioneering streaming company,
and the two shared a vision for what streaming could become.
These weren’t coincidences. They were the product of a community built over a decade,
one that believed music and technology could make each other better.