Bobby Owsinski's Inner Circle Podcast

Independent musicians sometimes upload masters that are too hot, so they lose transient detail the moment streaming platforms apply loudness normalization. Mastering engineer Jeff Graves spent two and a half years measuring 214 audio fingerprints across 15 samples per genre to build a 24-stage AI mastering platform, and in this conversation he explains exactly why delivering at the target LUFS lev...

On this week's episode, session vocalist Darlene Koldenhoven tells us how her music hit #4 on the Billboard classical crossover chart with no manager or label. The common assumption that a major-label infrastructure is required to chart is exactly what her story dismantles, and she walks through the specific decisions that produced number-one worldwide radio chart results as an independent ar...

Music career longevity is what separates artists who last from those who burn out chasing the wrong metrics. Too many aspiring musicians hand control to social platforms, grinding out content as servants to algorithms while the industry gaslights them with success measures that have nothing to do with real longevity. Keith Jopling spent 25 years inside the business, including time at Spotify, then...

On this week's episode, Bobby speaks with Dr. Bill Evans, audio scientist, producer, educator, and inventor of the Performance Restoration methodology. Bill believes that drum recording has always involved a painful tradeoff, but it doesn't have to. Most engineers accept mic bleed as an unavoidable character of a drum sound, questioning whether removing it could actually alter the drumme...

Female artists who hire producers risk losing creative control before a single song is released. On this week's podcast episode , Xylo Aria , founder of Music Production for Women (MPW), tells us how she learned this the hard way, by paying for sessions where male producers overrode her vision, leaving her with music she never put out and studios where personal safety competed with creative f...

On this week's episode, Elliot Easton, guitarist for The Cars and Creedence Clearwater Revisited, takes us through his journey with the band and beyond. Easton looks back at The Cars' origins, from getting a label deal the old fashioned way, to connecting with famed producer Roy Thomas Baker, to recording the band's initial albums, to how his many influences shaped his solos in the...

Music business professionals who still see major labels as career partners need to hear what Bobby Owsinski lays out plainly: Universal Music Group's pursuit of a $3 billion Spotify stock sell-off signals that labels have shifted from artist development engines into financial instruments that happen to license music.  The failure mode is assuming the label is on your side when, as Bobby expla...

What matters more in the music business, mastering every plugin, or becoming the kind of person people want to hire again? On this episode of Bobby Owsinski's Inner Circle Podcast, Bobby talks with songwriter, producer, engineer, and educator Gary Gray about music licensing, post production, rhythmic integrity, AI, immersive audio, and the character traits that keep people working in a changi...

What can a 1956 recording console teach us about the future of music production? In this episode of Bobby Owsinski’s Inner Circle Podcast, Bobby talks with Tom Camuso, Director of Engineering at The Les Paul Recording Studio, and Michael Braunstein, 3rd Generation Les Paul Manager. They discuss the newly restored Les Paul Recording Studio in Los Angeles, Les Paul’s groundbreaking recording innovat...

What makes a compressor become one of the most trusted pieces of gear in modern recording studios? In this episode of Bobby Owsinski's Inner Circle Podcast, Bobby talks with Dave Derr, founder of Empirical Labs and creator of the legendary Distressor. Dave shares the story behind the Distressor’s development, including how early studio challenges, dead drum sounds, 1176 experiments, and real-...

What does it really take to turn a good voice into a sustainable music career? In this episode of Bobby Owsinski's Inner Circle, Bobby talks with vocal coach, singer, songwriter, and artist developer Patrice Peris about the voice, the business, and the habits that help independent artists move from practice room to real performance. Patrice shares why today’s singers need more than technique,...

What happens to iconic guitar shops when the founders want to step away, and who makes sure those legendary brands do not disappear?  In this episode of Bobby Owsinski’s Inner Circle Podcast, Bobby talks with Ben Montague, Founder and CEO of The North American Guitar Global, TNAG, about vintage guitars, legacy music retail, trusted online selling, and the future of some of the world’s most respect...

What does it take to keep a commercial recording studio thriving as the music industry keeps changing? In this episode of Bobby Owsinski's Inner Circle, Bobby talks with Tom Weir, Grammy-winning engineer, producer, mixer, and owner of Studio City Sound, about how his studio continues to grow by expanding beyond traditional music recording into ADR, voiceover, livestreaming, Dolby Atmos, podca...

What happens when a world-class mastering engineer tries to replace himself with AI, and fails? On Bobby Owsinski’s Inner Circle Podcast, Bobby sits down with Jonathan Wyner, mastering engineer at M-Works, professor at Berklee College of Music, head of artistic technology initiatives for BEATL, and past president of the Audio Engineering Society, for a sharp, eye-opening conversation about AI mast...

What is the biggest problem in mixing right now, and why are so many modern sessions making that problem worse?  In this episode of Bobby Owsinski’s Inner Circle Podcast , Bobby sits down with multi-platinum mixer and engineer Richard Chycki , known for his work with Rush, Dream Theater, Aerosmith, Mick Jagger, Alice Cooper, and Pink , to unpack what is really hurting mixes today. Richard explains...

Can compressor presets really fix a weak vocal, or are most mixers solving the wrong problem first?  In this episode of Bobby Owsinski’s Inner Circle, Bobby sits down with author, musician, and lecturer Craig Anderton to unpack the art and science of vocal production, from performance psychology and gain envelope “microsurgery” to why a single vocal can connect more directly than a doubled one. Th...

What does it really take to stay relevant in today’s music business when private equity is reshaping pro audio, viral success is far rarer than people think, and YouTube keeps gaining influence?  In this solo episode of Bobby Owsinski’s Inner Circle Podcast, Bobby breaks down the latest music industry news and production trends, connecting the dots between business shifts, platform power, legacy g...

Is AI really coming for your gig, or are most musicians worried about the wrong things entirely? In this episode of Bobby Owsinski’s Inner Circle Podcast, author, musician, and lecturer Craig Anderton breaks down what AI actually means for working artists, producers, and songwriters, and why the real advantage is still the human fingerprint that machines cannot touch. Craig unpacks new listener da...

What role do commercial recording studios really play in today’s home studio world? In this episode of Bobby Owsinski’s Inner Circle, Bobby sits down with Sam Rudy, founder of Pro Studio Time, to explore whether studios are still necessary for modern music production, or simply a creative luxury. From writing camps and residential studios to AI disruption and changing booking habits, this conversa...

What if immersive audio is not about the future at all, but about going back to how music was always meant to be heard? In this episode of Bobby Owsinski’s Inner Circle, Bobby sits down with Adrian Weidmann, CEO and founder of Immersive Design Labs, to unpack why Dolby Atmos and immersive audio have left so many engineers scrambling, and how the real breakthrough is not technology, but clarity. Ad...

What if the biggest thing holding musicians back is not talent, but mindset? In this episode of Bobby Owsinski’s Inner Circle, Bobby sits down with DJ Bander, Zach Schnall, CEO of Bander Productions, to explore how artists can build real career momentum in today’s music business. From jazz roots to electronic dance music success, Zach shares how he transitioned genres, built a brand, invested in m...

Is the gig economy really built to support musicians and freelancers, or is it setting them up to fail? In this episode of Bobby Owsinski’s Inner Circle Podcast, Bobby talks with Ben Ikwaugwu, CEO of SoundCheck Live, about why the freelance economy is growing faster than the tools designed to support it. Drawing from his background as a professional vocalist and supply chain professional, Ben expl...

What really matters in music production when AI can generate songs, demos, and arrangements almost instantly?  In this episode of Bobby Owsinski’s Inner Circle, Bobby sits down with legendary Nashville engineer and producer Ed Seay to unpack how AI, modern songwriting practices, and changing production tools are reshaping the music business. From demo studios being bypassed to why human instinct s...

Why Do Musicians Still Struggle to Grow a Fanbase in 2026? This week on Bobby Owsinski's Inner Circle, Prospect Hill drummer and FanFlowy co-founder Mark Roberge reveals how the music industry still lacks the systems that every other business takes for granted. From cost-per-acquisition to automated fan engagement, Mark shares why most artists burn out - and how FanFlowy was built to fix that...

What happens when a lifelong audio engineer suddenly can’t work in a studio anymore? In this episode of Bobby Owsinski's Inner Circle, Bobby sits down with Luke Delalio, engineer, educator, cognitive artist, photographer, and creative force at Korneff Audio. Luke shares the deeply personal story of how tinnitus changed everything, forcing him to step away from music production just as his car...