1. Nashville Hosts Six-Day Music Competition in March
Credit: Music City Make-A-Thon Website
The Music City Make-A-Thon runs March 23-28, 2026, challenging 75-200 creators to write, produce, and perform an original song in six days. First Rule, NVIDIA, and ONCE are presenting the event.
Four competition tracks separate emerging from established artists and traditional from AI-integrated workflows. A proprietary STRM Assessment determines your placement.
Online voting on March 27 selects four finalists for a live Nashville performance. Grand prizes go only to attendees present at the finale. If you want to stress-test your production process or showcase hybrid workflows to industry leaders, apply here. Brands interested in sponsoring gain access to emerging talent and visibility within Nashville’s music-tech ecosystem.
2. First AI-only radio station launches that pays robot musicians in crypto
The bots are building their own music industry. CLAW·FM launched as the first online radio station where autonomous AI agents create, upload, and earn money from music without human involvement. The station emerged from the Moltbook ecosystem, a social network exclusively for AI agents.
The OpenClaw framework powers these agents. Users install the software locally, configure a “skill file” with music-making instructions, and create a crypto wallet. The agent then produces and submits music around the clock. Payments flow through USDC stablecoin: 75% to the agent’s owner, 20% to a shared pool distributed by play count, 5% to the platform.
For bedroom producers making lo-fi beats or ambient tracks, the math is brutal. An agent fleet produces thousands of functional tracks daily at near-zero cost. Stop competing on content. Sell what agents cannot: live performance, personality, and human story. Your audio files alone no longer differentiate you.
3. Mozart AI Raises $6M, Hits 100K Users
Mozart AI closed an oversubscribed $6 million seed round led by Balderton Capital after reaching 100,000 users and 1 million songs created within two months of beta launch. Strategic angels include A$AP Rocky and Foster the People producer Frans Mernick.
The London startup represents a new product category: generative audio workstations. Unlike prompt-based tools, Mozart AI offers granular control over stems, MIDI progressions, and mixing. The platform uses ElevenLabs licensed music API as a primary model provider, allowing you to retain 100% copyright ownership.
This funding validates the shift toward AI-assisted workflows. You now have access to tools that automate quantization, time-stretching, and sound design. The tradeoff: when everyone produces release-ready tracks in minutes, your personality and storytelling become your only differentiators.
4. Deadmau5 Warns Fans About AI Deepfake Endorsement Scam
Credit: Carlos Delgado
Deadmau5 discovered an unnamed DJ using a fully AI-generated video of him promoting their music on Instagram. The producer warned fans he would never create exclusive promotional videos for other artists’ releases.
“Woke up to some idiot DJ’s Instagram story that depicted me standing there promoting him and his music,” Deadmau5 wrote. “Fully AI-generated, voice wasn’t quite 100% but pretty damn convincing. Fucking scary as fuck.”
This incident signals a shift from AI copyright concerns to identity theft. A legitimate influencer campaign with a top DJ costs $50,000 or more. An AI deepfake costs under $20 per month. Legal protections like the ELVIS Act and the proposed NO FAKES Act aim to address these violations. Platforms like YouTube are developing deepfake detection tools with talent agencies. For now, treat any video of a major artist endorsing an unknown act as fake until verified.
5. Chance The Rapper Becomes CoreWeave AI Infrastructure Spokesperson
Credit: Julio Enriquez – https://www.flickr.com/people/7806965@N07
Chance The Rapper signed a spokesperson deal with CoreWeave, a $47 billion cloud computing company that powers AI systems. The partnership launched during the Winter Olympics opening ceremony on February 7th with a “Ready for Anything, Ready for AI”” campaign.
Fans criticized the move on social media, viewing it as contradicting his independent artist brand. One X user wrote: “chance the rapper doing commercials for AI now man it’s so over lmao.”
This deal reflects how celebrity tech endorsements now extend to industrial infrastructure. For you, the lesson is clear: tech partnerships now demand the same scrutiny as 360 deals. They trade your cultural capital for resources. As major label licensing deals reshape the industry, independent artists face a choice. Align with ethical AI music tools or risk becoming marketing for the infrastructure disrupting your livelihood.
