For Part 2 of our NAMM 2026 recap, we explore how music creators are building sustainable careers outside of the traditional music industry model. As streaming revenue continues to fail musicians and CD sales decline, artists are pioneering new paths through direct-to-fan experiences and developing products instead of traditional merchandise.

One great example of this shift is Tarun Nayar from Modern Biology. After going viral on TikTok making music with plants and mushrooms, Tarun reinvented his music career by skipping traditional album releases, creating immersive live performances like Mushroom Church, and co-developing the Pocket SCÍON, an affordable biodata sonification device that lets anyone make music with plants. His journey from viral content creator to instrument developer reveals emerging opportunities for artists beyond streaming platforms and merchandise sales, showing what creative sustainability looks like in the modern music industry.

Pocket SCÍON- https://modernbiology.xyz/products/pocket-scion

The News

• DistroKid is latest music firm rumoured to be exploring a sale

• Fan burner accounts: music's latest dirty secret

• So, AI music charts are a thing now…

The Music Tectonics podcast goes beneath the surface of the music industry to explore how technology is changing the way business gets done. Visit musictectonics.com to find shownotes and a transcript for this episode, and find us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. Let us know what you think!

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