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Loïc Maestracci, MONO Founder

Speakers: Mike Fink, Marcel, Adrian Marcel, Mr. Hong, Erica Foss

There's endless advice about release day. Almost none about the other 364. This panel is about those.

Mike Fink from DistroKid sits down with independent artists and industry professionals to talk about what actually builds a career: how to space out releases, what to do in the gaps, and how to turn casual listeners into people who actually show up (and pay).

Whether it's your first release or your fifteenth, you'll leave with homework. The good kind.

Speaker: Jake Warren, Music Producer

Inside Sync is an interactive discussion exploring the creative process behind modern sync music.

Using his original song,"HAUNT U," featured in the official trailer for American Horror Stories as a starting point, Jake Warren shares the story behind building an independent career in Los Angeles—from developing a signature sound and collaborating with artists to writing music for publishers, music libraries and major film and television productions.

Through conversation, audience questions and selected examples from his own work, Jake explores the creative and professional decisions behind modern sync music, offering practical insight into the creative and business sides of building a career in today's industry.

Discover the Academy through a new lens: empowering music advocates to protect music and its makers, giving back to the community on The Day That Music Cares, educating the next gen of music people through mentorship, supporting the music community through MusiCares, advancing connections through peer membership, and of course, celebrating our craft on Music’s Biggest Night™! www.grammy.com

Hosted by Sr. Executive Director Christen McFarland and fellow Academy members, staff, elected leaders and special guests.

Speaker: Christopher Willits

Envelop is a nonprofit dedicated to connecting and inspiring community through immersive listening. The organization creates listening spaces, hosts diverse events, and develops free open-source spatial audio tools for artists.

Join Christopher Willits, artist and Envelop co-founder and director, for an introduction to Envelop. Attendees will experience immersive music inside Envelop SF, a pioneering 32-speaker permanent listening space at The Midway, learn about E4L (Envelop for Live) the software they create, and discover ways to get involved with the nonprofit.

Speaker: Trovarsi

A synthesizer can create an almost endless range of sounds, but with so many possibilities, where do you start?

Join Trovarsi for a hands-on introduction to analog synthesis fundamentals using the Sequential Fourm, packed into two fast-paced 20-minute sessions.

Participants will pair up on one of 10 Sequential Fourm synthesizers and follow along through headphones as we explore how oscillators, filters, envelopes, and modulation work together to create and shape sound. We'll also break down presets to demonstrate how they can serve as powerful starting points for understanding sound design and creating something uniquely your own.

In just 20 minutes, you'll gain a practical understanding of how an analog synthesizer works and leave with the confidence to start crafting sounds.

Stick around until the end: every participant can enter for a chance to win a Sequential Fourm of their own.

Speaker: Jai Josefs, World Renowned Songwriting Coach

What makes the difference between a song that's merely good and one that has a profound impact on the listener and the potential to reach a much larger audience? In this hands-on workshop, you'll learn the specific steps that hit songwriters use to elevate their songs from ordinary to extraordinary. We'll explore both melodic and lyric techniques that consistently make a powerful difference—and you'll learn how to immediately apply them to your own writing.

Speakers: Todd Porter, Wendy Griffiths, Michael Gross, Charlie Davis, Kristin Engineer, Elad Marish, Stefan Lit

Sync licensing isn't just a placement — it can be a lifeline. Join music supervisors, artists, and sync industry leaders for an honest conversation about how sync can build a sustainable career, not just a one-off payday. Panelists will dig into what sustainable sync income actually looks like, how artists can build lasting relationships with supervisors and agencies rather than chasing single placements, and what ownership, publishing, and rights decisions matter most for long-term financial health. Whether you're an independent artist trying to make music your livelihood or already landing placements and want to build something more durable, this panel offers a grounded look at how sync can fit into a real, sustainable career—and the pitfalls to avoid.

Speaker: Valentino Khan, DJ and Producer

Speaker: Linney, Singer, Songwriter, Producer, DJ, Tastemaker

Great songs rarely begin with a melody. They begin with a moment: a passing thought, a conversation, a memory, or an emotion that refuses to let go.

In this workshop, songwriter and artist Linney shares her process for recognizing those creative sparks before they disappear and transforming them into meaningful lyrics, melodies, and stories. Through real-world examples from her own catalog, practical writing exercises, and techniques for developing stronger creative instincts, you’ll learn how to uncover inspiration in everyday life, build a library of song ideas, and write from a place of honesty that resonates with listeners.

Whether you’re an experienced songwriter or just beginning, you’ll leave with a practical framework for turning ordinary moments into extraordinary songs.

Speakers: Karina ‘Xarina’ Flonnoy, Lien Do, Kiara Moreno

What does it take to build a lasting career in recording? Join a panel of accomplished Bay Area recording engineers, producers, studio managers, and studio owners as they share the experiences, decisions, and philosophies that have shaped their careers. From landing early opportunities and developing their craft to building studios, fostering creative communities, and adapting to an evolving industry, this conversation explores what it takes to build a meaningful and sustainable career in audio.

Speaker: Jai Josefs, World Renowned Songwriting Coach

Jai’s SongShop is a rare, deep-dive song critique workshop for talented and aspiring songwriters ready to elevate their craft. In this immersive session, Jai offers professional, in-depth feedback on selected songs—using each one as a springboard to explore all the key elements of great songwriting: melody, lyrics, chords, groove, structure, and even marketing. Participants generally say they’ve learned as much or more from Jai’s insights into others’ songs as from the critique of their own. So this isn’t just about improving one track—it’s about gaining powerful tools and perspectives that will sharpen everyone’s songwriting overall.

Speakers: Sho Mitchell, Rasha Rahman, Dani Deahl, Medasin, Clint Choi

As AI-generated music becomes harder to identify, the industry needs better tools to understand what’s synthetic, what’s authentic, and why that distinction matters.

This panel explores a discussion of why distinguishing human-made music from AI-generated music is crucial. We intend to discuss how AI detection and audio provenance work in practice, using real examples to show how companies analyze audio signatures, trace origin patterns, and help platforms, artists, and listeners navigate a rapidly changing music landscape.

Speakers: Valentino Khan, Jeff Straw

Loïc Maestracci, MONO Founder

Speakers: Magie Hue, Gera Akate

A hands-on exploration of SLAB and its key features, designed to show producers and DJs how it can become part of their creative workflow. We’ll explore its capabilities for beatmaking, sampling, remixing, and live performance, while highlighting how SLAB can bridge the gap between music production and DJ performance.

Speakers: Toby Gad, Khris Riddick-Tynes

Hosted by legendary songwriter Toby Gad, Songs You Know goes behind the songs you know by heart. Each episode, Toby sits down with the writers, producers, and artists who made them to uncover the stories, the creative process, and the moments of accidental magic that turned a demo into a hit — or into a hidden gem that deserved to be one. Expect inspiration, surprising confessions, and a whole lot of music.

For this live filming at MONO, Toby is joined by Grammy-winning producer, songwriter, and executive Khris Riddick-Tynes — the ear behind records for Kehlani, SZA, and Ariana Grande. Together they'll get into how an artist goes from unknown to unavoidable, and the work nobody sees along the way.

Speaker: Christopher Willits

Envelop is a nonprofit dedicated to connecting and inspiring community through immersive listening. The organization creates listening spaces, hosts diverse events, and develops free open-source spatial audio tools for artists.

Join Christopher Willits, artist and Envelop co-founder and director, for an introduction to Envelop. Attendees will experience immersive music inside Envelop SF, a pioneering 32-speaker permanent listening space at The Midway, learn about E4L (Envelop for Live) the software they create, and discover ways to get involved with the nonprofit.

Speakers: Lorne Padman, Nick Garcia, Elaine Huang, & Andrew Conde

What does it take to break through in the music industry and take your career to the next level?

Come hear what these industry professionals have to say about building a career that lasts; from a strong mindset, valuable habits, to meaningful relationships.

Speaker: Kody Standridge, Novation Product Specialist & Field Trainer

In this masterclass, we’ll build a track from scratch in FL Studio and show how FLkey puts the entire creative process at your fingertips.

Starting with a blank project, we’ll sketch out beats using FLkey’s responsive RGB pads, build melodies and hooks with its great-feeling keys, and use Scale and Chord modes to quickly explore musical ideas. From there, we’ll shape the track using the FLkey’s dedicated controls—triggering samples in the Channel Rack, controlling the Mixer, tweaking plugins, and switching between custom pad layouts.

Speakers: Steve Horowitz, Chase Bethea, Clay Xavier, Dani Deahl

Careers in music and sound extend far beyond hit records, perhaps now more than ever. As the music industry continues to evolve, game audio has emerged as one of the most exciting and rewarding fields for composers, sound designers, producers, and audio professionals to apply their creative and technical skills. This is your chance to join a panel of experienced game audio professionals as they discuss the current state of the industry, the wide range of career opportunities available, and practical strategies for breaking into the field.

Speakers: Karina “Xarina” Flonnoy, Tyler Reese

Experience a high-speed vocal session in real time. Engineer Xarina and vocal producer Tyler Reese team up to demonstrate elite workflow efficiency, showcasing advanced comping techniques and instant harmony stacking while keeping client comfort and musical taste at the forefront.

Want to know what promoters, agents, and talent buyers are looking for when booking their next lineups? Come meet the people in charge of booking talent all around San Francisco / Bay Area, Los Angeles, and cities around the world! Everyone will get a chance to speak to different promoters, agents, and talent buyers and introduce themselves on a 1-to-1 level.

Speakers: Elaine Huang, Goshfather, Jon Sax, B Patt, & Nikita Page

No matter the role, it can sometimes be lonely, overwhelming and challenging to step foot into the music industry. Come learn about the power of community and the impact of collectives for artists, talent buyers, promoters, agents, creatives and more. This is also the perfect place to find out where you can fit in if you are looking to get your foot in the door.

Speakers: Steve Horowitz, Scott Looney

Everything you wanted to know about game audio education, but were afraid to ask. Whether you're a student, educator, or working professional, this interactive roundtable is your opportunity to ask questions and explore the many pathways into game audio. What are the latest degree and certificate programs? How do you start a game audio curriculum at your school? Is self-directed learning a viable path? What skills are employers actually looking for, and how can educational programs better prepare students for careers in the industry? This discussion will examine current trends in game audio education, emerging technologies, industry partnerships, portfolio development, mentorship, and the growing role of online and hybrid learning.

Bring your questions, experiences, and ideas for this open, informal conversation about the future of game audio education.

Speaker: Kiara Moreno, Mixing and Recording Engineer

Sometimes the hardest thing to do is nothing.

Kiara Moreno opens up a Kodak Black mix built around one vocal and a surprisingly small number of plugins. The session is a look at how much, or how little, you actually need to do when the record already knows what it wants to be.

The breakdown will cover vocal processing, speed, decision-making, and developing a workflow that stays out of the way of the artist and production. Kiara will also talk about working on records that pass through multiple engineers, and how to add value without feeling the need to leave your fingerprints everywhere.

The mix isn't where you demonstrate how much you know. It's where you demonstrate how well you understand what the record needs.

Speakers: Jessica Fajfar, Justine Levy

Presented in partnership with California Lawyers for the Arts, this panel brings together attorneys at the forefront of AI, copyright, and intellectual property law to explore the rapidly evolving relationship between artificial intelligence and the music industry. From AI-generated music and voice cloning to copyright litigation, licensing, and emerging regulatory developments, AI is transforming how music is created, distributed, and protected. Through a moderated conversation, our panelists will examine how these technologies are impacting artists, songwriters, producers, and rights holders, what legal protections currently exist, where the law may be headed, and how creative professionals can navigate this changing landscape. Attendees will leave with a practical understanding of both the opportunities and challenges AI presents for the future of music.

Speakers: Nicolas de Porcel, Devvon Terrell

What makes music worth listening to in an era of infinite scroll, social media virality, and restless algorithms? This talk explores the philosophy of mastering for ubiquity, where each millisecond can translate to billions of listening-minutes across humanity. We will explore the "Million Dollar Snare" mastering philosophy that has garnered astonishing results in modern music history.

Speakers: Steve Horowitz, Scott Looney, Pat Scandalis

Artificial intelligence is transforming audio, but separating genuine innovation from marketing hype can be a challenge. Presented by members of the Interactive Audio Special Interest Group (IASIG) of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) and the MIDI Association, this session offers a practical, experience-based look at how AI is actually being used by today's game audio professionals. Drawing on the work of the IASIG AI Working Group, composed of leading composers, sound designers, audio directors, researchers, and technology companies, we'll share current findings, best practices, and real-world insights into the rapidly evolving AI landscape. Through live demonstrations and case studies, attendees will see and hear some of the latest AI-powered tools for music, sound design, dialogue, and audio production, while gaining a realistic understanding of their strengths, limitations, ethical considerations, and practical applications in game development. Whether you're AI-curious or already experimenting with these technologies, this session will provide an informed, balanced perspective—focused on what actually works, what doesn't, and where the industry is headed.

Speakers: Nick Garcia, Lauren Anderson, Andrew Conde, Natasha Nichols, Lorne Padman, & Goshfather

Come for a chance to get your music discovered, heard and signed! Meet with dance music's leading labels, tastemakers, and curators to play your music and get live feedback! Submit demos ahead of time for a chance for live play at The Midway sound system to: https://neonowl.co/demos

There will be a chance for a breakout session for you to play your demos 1 on 1 for each different label (bring the link to your track and USBs as backup just in case).