The internet reshaped every industry, but few more dramatically than music. Today’s producers, many of whom once burned CDs and downloaded tracks off LimeWire, have lived through seismic shifts with the rise of streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music.

“I don’t think any other generation has seen changes like this in the music industry,” says Justice Baiden, cofounder of Atlanta-based record label LVRN. “Those shifts definitely influenced how I approach discovering talent.”

As the head of A&R at LVRN, Baiden is constantly shepherding the company through transitions, learning not just to adapt to trends but to anticipate them. In the ’90s and 2000s, he recalls, media channels were far more unified.

“If you had a song and an artist everyone believed in, you could get people to see

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