Beatseeker

Abbey Road Studios is the most famous recording studio in the world, renowned for its creativity and technological excellence. It is a global icon that for the last 90 years has been the musical home to artists such as The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Ella Fitzgerald, Radiohead, Ed Sheeran, Kanye West, Lady Gaga,, Amy Winehouse and Adele. We wanted an insider take on this sacred studio so we could learn a...

At Beatseeker, we love music and we love games, so combining them in interesting ways is bound to get our attention. Our guest today blurs the lines between music creation and video games and he has even developed an arcade-style ‘Beat Machine’ which puts musical creativity at the centre of any private or public space.  Meet Tim Shaw, AKA Tim Exile, a producer and performer of electronic music spa...

If administered correctly, can music be used as medicine? We reached out to a fascinating company called MediMusic for some answers. MediMusic creates individualized playlists that reduce heart rate and influence the Vagus nerve to stimulate a positive physio-endocrine response. The software uses algorithms to automatically create playlists based on a range of academic data on how people consume m...

Ever get the chills when listening to some amazing music? It used to be something that occurred accidentally but is now being engineered by artists and influencers into a more potent form called ASMR.  ASMR or Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response, has captured the attention of the Internet with millions watching viral clips of whispered voices, delicate hand movements or tapping.  Our guide to ASM...

The vast majority of people go to YouTube for video content on the web, but when it comes to music videos, Vevo is the OG. Jointly owned and operated by the big record labels, Vevo specializes in ​streaming music videos and artist-exclusive content. Even when you stream a music video from YouTube, chances are that it was served up by Vevo.  Taking us inside the company is JP Evangelista, Vevo’s Se...

Music and other media are becoming increasingly globalized. Not so long ago, it was rare to discover music that originated far from your home. But now it’s increasingly easy to discover music, movies and TV shows made anywhere in the world. We now watch shows like the Korean hit Squid Game and listen to Puerto Rican sensation Bad Bunny without giving it much thought.   To explain the rapid globali...

The pandemic caused many of us to work from home. For most people this wasn’t a big deal but if you’re a world renowned composer who needs to collaborate with a big symphony, a zoom meeting just isn’t going to cut it. Today you’ll hear about a very unique work from home story that inspired a novel workaround. Like many pandemic innovations, it turns out this workaround had lasting benefits long af...

It seems like there’s little room to enter the music streaming market with companies like Spotify, Apple, Amazon and Tencent dominating global market share, but innovators always seem to find a way in. Tuned Global is a B2B streaming technology provider that helps companies launch their own streaming services. Their technology has been used by some of the big names, including the UFC, Warner, Univ...

Live streamed concerts gained some momentum during the pandemic, but will people keep attending now that things have returned to normal? To help us answer this, we spoke to the industry leader in live streaming - Kiswe. Kiswe’s two-way video technology enables audiences to both consume and contribute to live digital content. They have delivered the world’s largest digital pay-per-view events and s...

Music is an important tool for sports teams to get fans - and players -  amped up for a game. The tunes need to rock the arena to keep the energy level high and a DJ needs to pick the right song to match each game situation. We wondered what it must be like to be a pro sports DJ: what’s involved in preparing and what it’s like to spin tunes for a big game. Taking us behind the scenes is music prod...

The launch of Napster in June of 1999 ushered in a new era for the music industry. Music was pulled kicking and screaming into the digital era and the demise of the CD format was not long off. The subsequent collapse in revenues for music, caused the industry to reluctantly embrace streaming platforms like Spotify it also caused far reaching ripple effects we are still living with today in both mu...

The connection between music and human beings runs deeper than you might think. Humans are innately musical beings - and our relationship with music has been deeply intertwined since the homo sapiens first emerged. Our guest today is Michael Spitzer, who boldly makes the case that music is the most important thing we ever did; and is in fact a fundamental part of what makes us human. Michael is a...

At Beatseeker, we’re constantly looking for new ways to discover good tunes. HotDrop is a new app that guides music lovers and discoverers through a feed of underground indie music. In their words, HotDrop “... keeps your music taste fresh with millions of new songs you've never heard before.” Here to tell us how it all works is HotDrop’s CEO Max Goldberg. Max and his co-founder Steven Segel found...

Any concertgoer will tell you that good tickets are hard to come by, cost an arm and a leg and charge an obscene amount of service fees. Ticketmaster has a firm stranglehold on the business of concert ticketing and ever since merging with promoter and venue operator Live Nation in 2010, critics have pointed to an unfair marketplace for consumers. Here to break down the problem is Krista Brown, one...

Classical music is making a big comeback. More and more people - including the younger generation - are enjoying music that was written hundreds of years ago. Do recent tech developments, like streaming and social media have something to do with reawakening these age-old works? Here to help us understand the classical revival is Jess Gillam. Jess is the first ever saxophonist to be signed to Decca...

Today’s episode is our year end wrap-up where we look at the biggest tech trends impacting music and we contemplate where things may be headed in 2023 and beyond. We wanted to discuss the music metaverse, the state of Web3, the increasing popularity of old material and ‘streaming fatigue’. We discuss these developments with legendary storyteller Alan Cross. Alan is an internationally known broadca...

Can the music industry come together to lower our carbon footprint and save the planet? A unique organization is working to transform the music industry to address our climate emergency because in their words, there is #NoMusicOnaDeadPlanet”. Here to tell us about the initiative is Fay Milton. Fay is co-founder of Music Declares Emergency, a group of artists, music industry professionals and organ...

Nashville. Seattle. New Orleans. These are but a few examples of cities that have organically developed incredible music scenes. But in fact, any city can encourage their local music scene so residents can benefit culturally, economically and in a host of other ways. Today we speak with Shain Shapiro who helps cities understand these benefits and create the right policies to enable them. Shain is...

Biology would teach us that animal noises are purely functional - the sounds animals make for attracting mates or warning of danger are evolutionary adaptations necessary for surviving in the wild but nothing more. Our guest today contends the story is more complex than what you learned in bio class. Animals can make music and it’s even possible to jam with them. To help us sort out this musical j...

Heavy metal music might not conjure up images of positive mental health, but research shows that for some people, a little metal might be just what the doctor ordered. It’s time to challenge those negative stereotypes and learn about the health benefits of metal. While we’re at it, we’re going to find out why sharks love heavy metal too. Joe Daly is an award-winning music journalist who joins us t...

Social media influencers have massive audiences that can help catapult a budding musician's career. The challenge for artists is how to get their attention. Unlike Coke or Pepsi, they can’t afford to pay for placement. Our guest today was working at a record label when she stumbled on a brilliant idea, why not create a matchmaking platform to connect these groups together. Enter Thematic, a platfo...

Most dating apps use sophisticated algorithms to help singles find compatible mates based on common interests and backgrounds. One company taking an entirely new approach is Beatmatch, the dating app that helps music lovers find love connections by matching people with similar music tastes. Our guest today is Chudi Iregbulem, the founder and CEO of Beatmatch.  Chudi believes your music taste...

Stadiums, amphitheaters, bandshells, nightclubs - every live music venue offers a different type of experience. How about attending a performance in someone’s home? Musicasa is a startup that is helping facilitate such performances: intimate home concerts hosted by music lovers supporting independent and emerging musicians from the comfort of their house, apartment, or loft. Here to walk us throug...

Before the death of Buddy Holly, the conventional wisdom among record companies was: ‘stiffs don’t sell’. Times have certainly changed and the estates of some artists have become massive money makers. But how did this trend come about - and how might the artists feel about the posthumous commercialization of their work? Our guest today is Eamonn Forde, an award-winning music business writer and au...

The linkage between music and math is not well understood. People tend to think music is creative and math is perhaps the antithesis of the creative arts. But when you think about it, music is full of mathematical concepts: time signatures, sets, loops, patterns and recursion to name a few. There are even studies that show that children who play musical instruments are better at solving complex ma...