music frontiers music conference in berlin

Photo Credit: Music Froniters

Berlin’s Music Frontiers serves as catalyst for the future music ecosystem

This article was created in collaboration with Music Frontiers, a proud DMN partner.

The music industry has always thrived on change. Vinyl gave way to CDs, CDs to downloads, downloads to streams. Each shift rattled the foundations on how we create, distribute, and value music, but each also opened new possibilities.

Today, we stand on the edge of an even bigger turning point, one driven not just by new platforms, but by seismic shifts in technology, culture, and society itself. Artificial intelligence, immersive audio, and smart metadata are not distant ideas, they’re here, reshaping how music is made, discovered, and valued.

And yet, there’s a problem. Too often, the music world waits until external forces, be it Silicon Valley or Big Tech, dictate the next move. By then, its reaction, not innovation. If we don’t innovate from within, companies like Google, Amazon, and Apple will gladly decide the future of music for us. And once again, we’ll be left reacting instead of leading. 

What if, instead, the industry seized this moment to create its own future? What if researchers, technologists, and music professionals sat at the same table, building tools, policies, and models that truly serve creators and audiences alike?

That “what if” is no longer a theory. It is exactly what Music Frontiers, happening on September 4 & 5, 2025 in Berlin, sets out to achieve. 

A Gathering Like No Other

What sets Music Frontiers apart is its commitment to true interdisciplinarity. This is not “just another music conference”. Rather than dwelling on the current challenges of the industry, this event puts the further evolution of the music ecosystem at the center of attention. It’s the one place this year where some of the world’s most forward-thinking artists, entrepreneurs, researchers, technologists and music industry pros will step outside their bubbles and tackle the future to shape a sustainable, economically robust music ecosystem – together. The concept of Music Frontiers isn’t about panels repeating the same talking points or networking drinks among the usual suspects. It’s about convergence. 

In the heart of Berlin’s Kreuzberg district, Music Frontiers brings together voices from every corner of the ecosystem. An A&R director sits next to a data scientist; a startup founder debates with a sociologist; a label exec shares space with a machine-learning researcher.

The idea is simple: innovation doesn’t happen in silos. It happens when disciplines collide.

A program reflecting cross-pollination

Across three stages, the program unfolds like a conversation between the present and the future. On the Music Frontiers Stage, radical visions of how the industry could work in the coming decade will be laid bare. On the AI FRONTIERS Stage, the industry tackles head-on the role of artificial intelligence; from creative co-production to copyright questions. And the INNOVATION SHOWCASE Stage brings new technologies out of the lab and into the hands of those who can deploy them in the real world. Startups and researchers pull back the curtain on technologies that could redefine tomorrow’s workflows. 

But this event is not just about listening. It’s about rolling up sleeves. Workshops push this spirit even further. Sessions like decde/recode, under Chatham House rules, take aim at one of the industry’s longest-running headaches: outdated metadata systems that stifle efficiency and fairness. Other labs dig into team communication, artist-tech collaboration, and how to pitch music-tech innovations in a way that actually resonates with investors.

The People Who Make It Matter

What makes Music Frontiers magnetic isn’t just the topics, it’s the people. The speaker lineup blends heavyweight thinkers with hands-on innovators: visionaries from SoundCloud, Downtown Music, Native Instruments, Voice-Swap, and Soundcharts, alongside researchers from Orfium, Deezer, Fraunhofer Institute, and artists, pushing the boundaries of emerging technologies testing the limits of what music can be. Add to that global inclusion, such as partnerships bringing African music-tech talents to Berlin, and you get a mix that is as diverse as it is forward-thinking.

Jacques Attali: Opening the Future

The event’s opening session makes it unmissable and sets the tone: Jacques Attali, the economist and thinker who wrote Noise: The Political Economy of Music, arguably the most foresightful book about music ever published, will return to the stage in a very rare appearance to once again map out where music is headed. 

Decades ago, Attali predicted that music would foreshadow the transformations of society itself. His voice, at this moment of technological upheaval, could not be more urgent.

For anyone serious about understanding not just where the industry is going, but what that means for culture and society at large, the conversation between Jacques Attali, Sara Davis (Downtown Music), Martin Clancy (AI:OK) and Cliff Fluet (Eleven Advisory) makes Berlin the place to be this September. If ever there was a time to listen, it’s now.

A Turning Point: Why You Can’t Afford to Sit This One Out

The reality is stark, and the stakes couldn’t be higher: if the music industry fails to innovate from within, it will be forced to adapt to whatever agendas big tech companies impose. We’ve seen this playbook before. The streaming era brought massive growth, but at the cost of ceding much of the ecosystem’s power to a handful of platforms. Do we really want to repeat that mistake in the age of AI?

As a music professional, you may pride yourself on being ahead of the curve. But right now, the curve is moving faster than ever, and it won’t wait for you to catch up. 

Attendees of Music Frontiers are not passive spectators, watching the future happen. They are the people who live and breathe music every day, coming together in a proactive space with those building the tools of tomorrow. It’s a chance to ensure that the next era of music is not only technologically advanced, but also sustainable, equitable, and economically vibrant.

If you’re serious about the evolution of music, you can’t afford to stay in your bubble. The next chapter won’t be written by record labels or tech companies alone, it will be forged where music, technology, and research intersect.

Music Frontiers in Berlin on September 4–5, 2025 is where those who refuse to play catch-up will gather. It is the ideal catalyst: the place to inspire, connect, and ignite the next generation of a thriving, collaborative, tech-smart music ecosystem.

The future of music belongs to those willing to shape it. The question is: will you be there when it happens?