Recently, a movement has begun around innovators in both music and tech coming together to drive their agendas. It’s about bringing the powerati and powerati-in-the-making together to examine the cross-section of real-time trends in popular culture and emerging tech in new and edgy ways.

I witnessed this trend come to life during our first-ever “The Future of Music” event. Taking place in Los Angeles high atop the Dream Hotel in Hollywood at The Highlight Room, the event kicked off Grammy week with an experiential evening dedicated to the intersection of tech and music. 

Produced by Vapor Media in partnership with BPM Supreme, the inaugural panel brought an authentic mash-up of influencers from the music-tech ecosystem including BPM Supreme’s Director of Operations Raj Thomas, Advocate For StartUps at Microsoft Frank Denbow, music producer Clinton Sparks (Lady Gaga, Pitbull), and former manager of the Grammy award-winning rock band Stone Temple Pilots Steve Stewart (who is now a blockchain founder in the music space). Lively conversation included debate surrounding AI’s place in the music industry to the importance of smart contracts to hologram DJ enhancements.

On display were fine art photographs curated by the legendary Morrison Hotel Gallery that enhanced the offering via an augmented reality app it developed in order to deepen the experience of viewers as they gazed upon a young Jay-Z and more in the installation. The event also included a demonstration area showing in the latest in VR concert-going attendance by a new company called Sansar from the makers of Second Life and examples of its work presented on a number of VR headsets. 

Each installation area in the event space was intended to bring DJs, record label teams, and managers into direct contact with much of the tech that they may have heard about but have not yet seen thereby making potential usage just a little more imaginable.

However it was the 3D-printed bar installed by liquor brand Bulleit that cemented the evening with cocktail service from its debut appearance. A feat that was shipped from the east coast, the 3D-printed piece brandished by the brand’s logo and designed in a slick, curved manner surprised much of the crowd that has never touched a 3D-printed item in any form until that night. 

Vapor Media aims to change the game in 2020 and “The Future of Music” event series demonstrated how the tech space will be key for those in the industry to watch and track.

Stay tuned for more information on the colliding tech and music spaces, as well as the next event coming in 2020.

About Lauren deLisa Coleman­

A digi-cultural trend analyst, author, speaker, and consultant; Lauren deLisa is an expert at deciphering and forecasting power trends and public sentiment within the intersection of popular culture & emerging tech and the impact of such on business and governance – with a unique focus on Millennials.