And The Writer Is...with Ross Golan

And The Update Is…a weekly beat on the industry . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today's guest is Brittany Howard — four-time Grammy winner, the voice of Alabama Shakes, and one of the most singular artists of her generation. But her real story isn't the accolades or the sold-out rooms. It's a single-wide trailer, a junkyard full of animals, and a garbage truck — and a woman who never once chased any of it. From a Cotton Patch trailer park to Paisley Park, Brittany built a car...

And The Update Is…a weekly beat on the industry . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

And The Update Is…a weekly beat on the industry . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today's guest is one of the most recognizable faces of her generation — an actor whose voice you'd know in a single frame. But her real story isn't the one you've watched. It's the one she kept secret: for 20 years she's been a songwriter, and barely anyone — even people who know her — knew it. This is one of the more honest conversations we've had about being underestimated — as an actor who "cou...

And The Update Is…a weekly beat on the industry . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today's guest built an audience of millions before she was old enough to sign a record deal, turned a 30-minute crying freestyle into her debut single, and made one of Gen Z's defining breakup anthems out of a phrase that became its own internet language. But her real story isn't the viral fame or the streams. It's the part that plays like a runaway and teaches like a masterclass: how she left hom...

And The Update Is…a weekly beat on the industry . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today's guest is a Grammy winner, a two-time Billboard #1 artist, and one of the defining pop voices of the last decade. But her real story isn't the anthems or the awards. It's the part that plays like a rollercoaster and teaches like a masterclass: how she almost quit, what going #1 actually felt like, and everything about the music business nobody explains until you've survived it. The press ve...

Today's guest is a multi-Latin-Grammy-winning songwriter and producer with a wall of platinum records — and one of the few people in music willing to say the quiet part out loud. He came up as an actor and a rapper, moved to LA broke, stumbled into songwriting, and turned it into the kind of career most writers spend a lifetime chasing. He's also built one of the sharpest voices in the room as the...

And The Update Is…a weekly beat on the industry . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

And The Update Is…a weekly beat on the industry . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today's guest is a rising star who's risen so fast he's not really rising anymore — he's just a star. From a bedroom in Luton playing $50 nylon-string covers and open mics playing for 4 people... Three years later: a billion streams, "Stargazing" on President Obama's summer playlist, two singles that took over pop radio before he'd ever made a debut album, and a debut album sourced from the notes...

And The Update Is…a weekly beat on the industry . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today's guest came up in the biggest band in the world at seventeen, watched it pause at twenty-two, and built a solo career almost no one in his position has ever managed to sustain. From success, to tragedy, and back... This Irishman makes his triumphant return to the stage and our hearts with 'Dinner Party'. And The Writer Is... Niall Horan! He talks about Liam not as a tribute beat, but as a p...

And The Update Is…a weekly beat on the industry . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today's guest is a Grammy Producer of the Year who's tied with Babyface for the only three-in-a-row run in the award's history — and whose real story isn't the trophies, the radio, or the run of hits. It's the decision he makes once every few years that almost no other producer at his level makes: which artist he'll spend the next decade building. From frontman of touring indie band Steel Train to...

And The Update Is…a weekly beat on the industry . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today's guest is a multi-instrumentalist, music educator, interviewer, producer, and songwriter. He is also one of the most influential independent music voices online. His real story isn't the channel he built after a 90-second video of his son's perfect pitch hit 80 million views overnight, it's his incredible value to the music community and the conversations he sparks online about the state of...

And The Update Is…a weekly beat on the industry . This week Ross dives into No Fake Act, Justin Bieber's comeback to charts since Coachella, Country & KPOP chart toppers & more. Tune into this weeks episode of ATWI with Roget Chahayed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today's guest is a prolific producer behind Sicko Mode, Broccoli, Bad at Love, Kiss Me More, Laugh Now Cry Later, First Class, and APT. — but whose real story isn't the catalog. It's how most of those songs happened by accident. A classically trained concert pianist who spent his teens grinding through Liszt and Prokofiev knuckle-busters, Rogét quietly became one of the most important producers in...

Every week, And the Writer Is brings you the most important news moving through the music industry — straight, sharp, and no fluff. This week Ross Golan opens the weekly And The Writer Is… news update (week of April 20, 2026) by highlighting major chart wins: Swimf by BTS is #1 on the Global 200 for a fourth week Choose In Texas by Ella Langley holds #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for a seventh week...

Today's guest is the Grammy Producer of the Year who built the two biggest pop breakthroughs of the last five years back to back — and whose real story isn't about the hits. It's about the three years he spent making nothing and the rule he wants every producer in the game to understand. From indie rock frontman in As Tall As Lions to pop's most trusted collaborator, Dan built his career against a...

Every week, And the Writer Is brings you the most important news moving through the music industry — straight, sharp, and no fluff. This week: a jury ruled Live Nation and Ticketmaster violated antitrust laws and operate as illegal monopolies, with a judge now weighing whether to force a breakup or sale. Max Lousada and Julie Greenwald — the A&R legends behind Warner's modern run — launched a...

Today's guest is the architect of alternative rock who sold 30 million albums and defined the sound of an entire generation — but whose real story begins after the hits stopped mattering to him. From the suburbs of Chicago to the apex of 90s mainstream success, Billy Corgan built an empire. Then he spent the last 20 years quietly dismantling the idea that commercial success is the same thing as re...