Why Music Lives Best Between Analog and Digital

Nathan Fields
January 16, 2026

The Rareform Rundown #96

Hello Friends,

Nathan here. Hope all’s good in your world and thanks, as always, for taking a moment to read and stay connected. Things have been pretty busy on my end lately, but I wanted to pop in and catch up with you. I’m sharing about Universal Music Group and NVIDIA teaming up to shape how AI fits into the music world, and the ongoing analog versus digital conversation and why blending both still feels right.

Let’s get on with it!

New projects + music we are looking for

PROJECTS

This is such a fun one to be part of. Hyped to share that our track Colliding Worlds from our Major Key album by Rory Cairnduff was featured in the announcement trailer for Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis!

Excited to have our sound design elements featured in the campaign for The Undertone. Appreciate our friends at A24 Films for bringing us into the mix!

It’s been interesting watching how fast AI-generated music has scaled over the last year, and Universal Music Group’s new partnership with NVIDIA feels like a response rooted more in direction than resistance. The focus here is on building AI tools that actually understand music, how it’s made, who made it, and how it lives in the broader ecosystem, rather than flooding platforms with more generic output. With discovery, rights management, and attribution becoming real challenges as synthetic music overlaps with traditional catalogs, this collaboration signals a wider industry push to shape AI in a way that supports human creativity and brings more clarity to the process.

If you want to dig deeper into what this partnership could mean for artists, platforms, and the future of music, read more on our site to get the full breakdown.

Universal Music Group Takes a Strategic Step as AI Music Floods the Market

Universal Music Group and NVIDIA have announced a new partnership to develop AI tools for the music industry, with a focus on discovery, creative workflows, and transparency. The collaboration reflects a broader effort to guide AI adoption while supporting human creativity and rights. #MusicIndustry

www.rareformaudio.com/blog/universal-music-group-nvidia-ai-music-tools

The analog versus digital debate has been going on forever, but these days it feels less like a debate and more like a collaboration. Most producers are not choosing one lane anymore, they are borrowing what works from both. Analog still brings that warmth, character, and little imperfections people love, while digital keeps things clean, flexible, and fast. Tape machines were expensive, editing was slow, and mistakes were harder to hide, but those limits often pushed artists to commit and play with intention. Now, blending vintage gear with modern tools has become the norm, and that middle ground is where music can feel both alive and polished.

Read more on my personal site to dig into how this hybrid approach continues to shape modern production.

Vintage Gear, Modern Plugins, and the Sound In Between

Analog or digital? Modern producers don’t choose—they blend both. Discover how analog warmth and digital precision come together to shape today’s music, from tape saturation and console emulation to hybrid workflows and cutting-edge plugins. Explore the future of sound creation. #MusicProduction

www.nathanfieldsmusic.com/blog/analog-digital-hybrid-sound-production

That’s it for now, thanks for hanging with me! Take care out there, friends.

-Nathan

Products

Checkout Echelon — our first cinematic sound pack built for film composers and music producers looking to level up their sound and land more placements.