Violetta Zironi talks about inscribing her song No Ordinary Kind directly onto the Bitcoin blockchain, why she did it, what it means to truly own music digitally, and how this intersects with her songwriting. She explains the technical process behind compressing a song to fit a Bitcoin block, and why she sees NFTs as a way to reclaim control over distribution, audience connection, and creative direction.

Violetta Zironi is an Italian singer-songwriter and actress, living in Nashville, who first gained recognition in 2013 as a finalist on X Factor Italy. After several years as a major label artist, touring internationally and releasing studio projects, she transitioned into the Web3 space, where she's become a leading voice in music NFTs. Since 2022, she’s sold over 10,000 NFTs and generated millions in revenue directly from her fans. She also made history by inscribing a one-of-a-kind song onto the Bitcoin blockchain as an Ordinal.

In this episode we listen to and talk about music by Sebastian Pfeifer who is a pianist, producer and composer blending jazz, dubstep and experimental electronic music. He tells the story of how getting kicked out of classical piano lessons as a child led him to dubstep production, and eventually into jazz.

We talk about how he uses AI tools like Neutone to transform his own voice into something strange and expressive, how he tricks Ableton's audio-to-MIDI engine to generate dense string arrangements from distorted piano recordings, and why glitchy, broken-sounding algorithms are more interesting to him than polished prompt-to-music tools like Suno.

He also shares the process behind the track Endling from his trio Endern — a one-take improvisation transcribed and re-orchestrated for saxophone and synth, ending in a chaotic crescendo of distorted drums, screaming sax and fake soprano sax generated by AI.

This episode digs into hybrid workflows, AI as a performance instrument, and the blurred lines between improvisation, composition and machine learning.

Christopher Wieduwild started as a musician in a garage band, toured the US, and worked with world-class producers. Later, he scaled a startup to $150K a month, collaborating with brands like Lufthansa, Goodyear, and L'Oréal. Now, he helps musicians navigate AI through his company, The Music AI Musicpreneur, offering tools, education, and a community for artists.

In this episode, Christopher talks about how AI is transforming music, from creative tools to promotion strategies. He shares insights on text-to-MIDI plugins, automated organization tools, and the impact of AI on networking and community building. He discusses how musicians can effectively use AI to grow their audience, engage fans, and streamline their workflow without losing focus on creativity.

The episode also explores the rise of microcultures in music, the challenges of independent artistry in the digital age, and the balance between algorithm-driven content and authenticity.