Cliff Fluet (partner at Louis Silkin, joint head of Media & Entertainment; Chair of Music Technology UK; founder of Eleven Advisory) joins Michael Nevins to unpack how music, tech, and IP are colliding in the age of AI.

We cover: why MusicTechnology UK focuses on funding + ecosystem building, why Cliff believes AI is a paradigm shift on the scale of electricity, and his core argument: “Copyright isn’t the problem. Licensing is the answer.”

Plus: the case for focusing on outputs vs inputs, the music industry’s data problem, and practical advice for founders and people breaking into music tech.

• ​Cliff Fluet (Louis Silkin): #MusicTech#AI#Copyright#Licensing#MusicIndustry#startups

  00:00 – Start

  00:23 – Intro: Cliff Fluet (Louis Silkin, MusicTech UK, Eleven Advisory)

  01:54 – From hi-fi salesman to Warner Music: Cliff’s origin story

  04:00 – Warner Music in the CD boom → internet flips the industry

  04:47 – New media at Warner: early streaming + disruption

  05:51 – The jump to radio: “I’ve got to go on the other side and get some rights from you.”

  06:57 – Private practice: advising mobile + early streaming (Pandora → DSPs)

  07:58 – Why “legal + strategic” (and founding Eleven Advisory)

  09:22 – Building MusicTech UK: the what and the why

  12:56 – The #1 problem for music tech startups

  16:03 – Community + “space & place”: H.O.M.E. + Tileyard Studios ecosystems

  19:48 – Does the UK get enough credit for music innovation?

  23:58 – AI as a revolution (not an evolution)

  33:47 – AI training data + copyright: can we “unscramble the egg”?

  34:23 – Key thesis: “Licensing is the answer” (outputs vs inputs)

  38:13 – Flying the plane while building it: contracting in uncertainty

  44:13 – The music industry’s biggest blind spot: data

  48:16 – Disruption vs curiosity: what founders get wrong

  51:56 – Career advice: curiosity wins

  54:25 – What Cliff is listening to now

  56:23 – Cool tech: Bria & Uhmbrella

  57:07 – Closing: “help write music’s next verse.”