Culture · 6 March 2026
The Music That Changed Me
The chapters of my own soundtrack. Not just music, but moments where an artist offered up something that changed how I saw the world.
Zac Froud
Founder, ADVCY · Billboard 2025 Global Power Player
Key Takeaways
- Music does not just accompany life — it gives life its texture, anchoring the moments that genuinely change our internal chemistry
- What machines cannot generate is lived emotion: the tension in a room where everyone holds the same breath, the presence between humans
- As AI-generated content floods every medium, art with authentic human lived experience becomes rarer and therefore more valuable
- The spaces, performances, and art that offer genuine emotion and human connection will matter more — not less — in an AI-saturated world
The Last Frontier of Feeling
We're told that life is a series of milestones. The jobs. The moves. The birthdays. But when I look back at the moments that actually changed my internal chemistry, there's always something else anchoring them. Music.
Music that doesn't just sit in the background of your life like furniture, but the kind that reaches out and grabs you. Performances where I connected with an artist because they said something I didn't have the words for yet.
I've noticed a lot of AI posts, clickbait, noise lately, so I wanted to share something more personal. The chapters of my own soundtrack. Not just music, but moments where an artist offered up something that changed how I saw the world — either in the moment or forever.
Life is a tapestry. A patchwork of moments, stitched together from different stages, different years, different versions of you. Not the clean, curated kind. The messy kind. Fragments of scenery, faces, cities, car journeys, hospital corridors, dance floors, first kisses, last goodbyes. And woven through every single one of them, always, without fail, is a song.
For me, art doesn't just accompany life. It gives life its texture.
Why This Matters More Than Ever
We are entering a world where machines can generate almost anything. Images. Videos. Writing. Music.
But the thing machines cannot generate is lived emotion. They cannot replicate an artist delivering their art. They cannot recreate the tension in a room where everyone is holding the same breath. They cannot produce goosebumps. That moment exists only in the space between humans.
This feels more important than ever for me right now. Places, spaces, and art that offer us emotions, presence, and connection.
These are just a selection of performances that opened my aperture. Maybe they can change the light in the room for you.
Feel free to share your soundtrack — drop a link in the comments. Let's turn this thread into a tapestry of music with meaning.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does live music matter more in the age of AI-generated content?
As AI floods every medium with generated images, video, and music, art rooted in authentic human lived experience becomes rarer and therefore more valuable. Machines cannot recreate the tension in a room where everyone holds the same breath, or the goosebumps that exist only in the space between humans. The spaces, performances, and art that offer genuine emotion and connection will matter more, not less.
What can AI not replicate about music and live performance?
AI can generate images, video, writing, and music, but it cannot generate lived emotion. It cannot replicate an artist delivering their art in the moment, the shared breath of a room, or the goosebumps a performance produces. That moment exists only in the space between humans.
What does it mean that music gives life its texture?
Looking back at the moments that genuinely change our internal chemistry, there is almost always a song anchoring them. Music does not just sit in the background like furniture — it reaches out and grabs you, giving life its texture across every stage and version of yourself.
Written by
Zac Froud, Founder of ADVCY
Billboard 2025 Global Power Player. 17 years across Warner Music, Universal, Disney, and Coinbase. Building technology that turns audiences into communities.