For the first time, AI development took centre stage at one of America’s most celebrated music festivals. The inaugural Outside LLMs Music & AI Buildathon, a partnership between Outside Lands and Swedish AI unicorn Lovable, invited 38 teams to “vibe-code” working apps in under four hours. The winning build, Hear Me Out, uses AI to analyse an artist’s music and online presence, revealing their authentic brand and how to connect with superfans.
“This is the future of how culture will be built,” said MC Hammer, one of the event’s celebrity judges alongside will.i.am, Jane Manchun Wong, Josh Constine, and Chris Messina. “With vibe-coding, you can speak an idea into existence.”
Unlike traditional hackathons, vibe-coding lets developers and non-developers alike turn ideas into production-ready tools through conversation, with no technical barrier. Within two weeks, finalist teams were deploying their creations into the official Outside Lands festival app, reaching tens of thousands of fans in real time.
The Outside LLMs Music & AI Buildathon, powered by Lovable and organized by Trav Lauren of CODEMKRS, concluded with a darkhorse win for Hear Me Out – an AI-driven platform that analyzes an artist’s music and online presence to uncover their authentic brand, and shows exactly how to use it to reach their superfans. The team, composed of genius international talent from Canada, Jamaica, & India, didn’t know each other prior to the event and first connected online using Outside LLMs’ custom collaboration signup and dashboard, which was itself vibe-coded using the Lovable platform.
Presented in connection with the Outside Lands Music Festival going back to 2013, this year’s program also marked the first time a vibe-code company has partnered with a mainstream live entertainment event and the music industry’s first ever AI Buildathon.
Evolving from Outside Hacks (2013-2019), Outside LLMs founder Trav Lauren reimagined the hackathon as a more inclusive buildathon (with MC Hammer providing the name) where both developers and non-developers craft ideas into products in hours using Lovable’s chat-driven vibe-coding platform. In 2025, 38 teams built AI-powered tools (on campus at the super vibey Presidio inside the posh Edge & Node offices) that elevated live music, storytelling, and fan engagement. All their submission times are all live alongside the projects on OutsideLLMS.com along with the judges and audience ballot results. The teams then speedran the startup process in two weeks polishing their vibe-coded apps and getting them working properly in time to demo at AWS Builder Loft Aug 4th and deploy to real festival users at Outside Lands Aug 8-10th. Aug 11th will.i.am joined virtually to celebrate the teams, announce the winners and invite them to future Lovable events he will host in Los Angeles.
The Champion: Hear Me Out
Analyzes an artist’s music and online presence to reveal their authentic brand.
Provides clear, actionable guidance to help artists reach and grow their superfans.
Praised for strategic insight, artist empowerment, and instant real-world application.
Notable Contenders & Highlights
FestFlow – AI-curated itineraries personalized to each attendee’s vibe. Founder Abi delayed her return flight to Singapore twice just to attend demo day and the awards ceremony – and will now meet the Black Eyed Peas in her home country.
FanFunnel – Artist growth toolkit converting listeners into superfans, built by AI Homegirl (Kaila Love) based on her own experience growing her business to six figures in six months.
AutoMix – Cloud-based virtual mixing console for instant collaboration.
OutsideCam – Interactive photo experiences enhancing festival memories.
Memory Weaver – Songs reshaped by personal emotional memories.
Pixel Glitcher – Transforms your voice and music into real-time AI-generated visuals; was offered an investment on the spot by will.i.am.
Jury of Cultural + Tech Icons
MC Hammer, will.i.am, Jane Manchun Wong, Josh Constine, Chris Kelly (co-owner of Sacramento Kings), Chris Messina (creator of the hashtag), and Peter Hirshberg.
“Outside LLMs was my first buildathon format developer & creator experience ever and my first time producing an IRL event since I became a hardcore vibe coder myself thanks to first GPTEngineer then Lovable. For the first time I was actually deploying code myself and the idea clicked that hackathons were a thing of the past and that a new model that was more inclusive would emerge and that my niche of mainstream entertainment related hackathons would serve as the foundation for this new model. Thanks to sage advice from global icon and the first ever celebrity hackathon judge MC Hammer, the era of the Buildathon has begun and we and will.i.am and other Hollywood heavyweights couldn’t be happier with the results of this new model.”
– Trav Lauren, Organizer, Outside LLMs. Previously organized hackathons for UMG, SXSW, EDC, Bonnaroo, CMW, Capitol Records the Super Bowl and more.
Partnering on Outside LLMs brought together two of my biggest passions — music and unlocking creativity for people who never thought they could build. At Lovable, we believe anyone should be able to turn an idea into something real, fast. Bringing that to the music industry felt like the most natural collaboration I’ve ever been part of.” Mindaugas Petrutis – Lovable
Lovable’s role as a presenting sponsor signals a turning point: AI is no longer just a backstage tool – it’s a cultural partner in creating live entertainment.
MC Hammer
“The new generation today have tools we never would have dreamt of. Spiritual people know we were told you could speak something into existence. Now with vibe coding you can.”
Lovable is a next-generation AI development platform that turns conversation into code. With low-code capabilities, integrated back-end services, and an ethos of inclusivity, Lovable empowers anyone – regardless of technical skill – to build impactful applications fast.
will.i.am
“Lovable allowed us to see a different side of ourselves, what we’re capable of. We all had ideas, but we weren’t liberated to materialize those ideas.”
Outside LLMs is the world’s first vibe-coding buildathon for music and culture, organized by Trav Lauren and powered by Lovable in proud connection with the Outside Lands Music Festival. It convenes innovators, artists, and dreamers to shape the future of live entertainment.
Founded in 2008 and produced by Superfly and Another Planet Entertainment, the Outside Lands Music Festival is one of the world’s premier music, food, wine, and arts festivals, held annually in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.
TLDR Quick Facts
Winner: Hear Me Out
Program: Outside LLMs – Music & AI Buildathon
Connection: Outside Lands Music Festival
Organizer: Trav Lauren
Website: Outsidellms.com
Producer/Platform: Lovable (chat-driven vibe-coding)
Teams: 38 invited teams – for more info about the teams, check out the website
Judges: MC Hammer, will.i.am, Jane Manchun Wong, Josh Constine, Chris Kelly, Chris Messina (creator of the hashtag)
Milestone: First time a major AI company served as a major sponsor of any live entertainment event
Location/Date: San Francisco, August 11, 2025
