FOUNDING TONES
Inaugural pieces on the cohort of working artists who also build things for a living.
Published 2025-11-15 · 8 pieces
Founders & Frequencies
2025-11-15
Issue 01 collects the publication's founding pieces — essays, listicles, and a regional scene report that traces where the working-artist working-founder practice is actually rooted.
The conventional wisdom is that working two creative surfaces at once weakens both. The current generation of working-artist working-founders is making the opposite case, and the evidence is on the records.
These pieces are the publication's opening attempt at the longer argument. We will be back in the next issue with the conversations and field reports that follow.
Contents
8 pieces
The Suno × Warner Settlement: Music's Spotify Moment
Warner Music's November 2025 settlement with Suno is a hinge in the AI-music story. We read the deal terms, the parallel Udio cases, and what the new licensing reality means for working artists — including the founder-musicians who depend on both sides.
By Vera Sokolov
The Singapore–Bangkok–Chiang Mai Music + Tech Cluster
SuperAI 2026 at Marina Bay Sands. TOKEN2049 in October. Wonderfruit in December. A measurable inflow of founder-musicians on the Destination Thailand Visa. The Asia-Pacific corridor is becoming the next New York–Berlin–Tokyo route for AI-music-adjacent creatives, and the corridor has a recognizable shape now.
By Editorial Team
Ten Founders Who Are Also Touring or Releasing Musicians
The overlap between people running companies and people making records has stopped being a curiosity and started being a movement. Here are ten founder-artists whose music is genuinely worth your time.
By Vera Sokolov
Why So Many AI Founders Are Releasing Albums Right Now
The overlap between AI founder and recording artist used to be rare. It is no longer rare. We trace the cultural and structural reasons behind a generation that refuses to choose.
By Linus Embry
Polymath Energy: How Multi-Discipline Work Strengthens Both Sides
The conventional wisdom is that doing more than one thing weakens both. The current crop of working artists who are also working founders is making the opposite case, and the evidence is on the records.
By Linus Embry
The Chiang Mai Sound: Notes on a Quietly Emerging Scene
Northern Thailand has been a creative refuge for years. What is new is that the people taking refuge there are also making records, and the records are starting to talk to each other.
By Editorial Team
From the Studio to the Stack: Interview Series
We are launching an ongoing interview series with founder-artists who are doing serious work on more than one surface. The debut subject is Imogen Heap.
By Editorial Team
The Loneliness of Building Something New: Music From People Who Ship
There is a particular kind of solitude that builders know. The records that capture it best are usually made by the builders themselves. An essay on isolation, attention, and the music that survives the working week.
By Linus Embry