Is AI a Revolution Like Electricity? Cliff Fluet on Music Rights & What’s Next

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): https://www.lewissilkin.com/experts/cliff-fluet

• Music Technology UK: https://musictechnology.uk/

• Eleven Advisory: https://elevenadvisory.com/

#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.”