Bobby Owsinski's Inner Circle Podcast

My guest this week is my old friend 17 time Grammy winner Benny Faccone. Benny has a rich credit history with artists like Mana, Santana, Ricky Martin, Luis Miguel, Sting, and so many more. He’s a veteran of the old A&M Studios when it was one of the hottest recording facilities in Los Angeles. That’s where he honed his recording and mixing skills under old school legends like Bruce Swedien, S...

In this episode I cover some recent overlooked audio and music industry news. We cover: The eras of popular music and why they’re not what you think The emergence of AI-generated band Velvet Sundown Major labels in the middle of licensing discussions with AI music generators Udio and Suno. Major label and private equity want to buy more catalog, and what that means to their artists The TikTok clos...

My guest today is bass player, author and music business marketing consultant, Carter Fox.  Known as the Soulful Traveling Spaceman Bassman, Carter has toured with R&B legend Freddie Jackson and Grammy-winner Regina Belle, while also collaborating with artists and producers such as Skrillex, Leon Huff, David Ivory, Adventure Club, and more. Carter is also the author of Music Business Bassics s...

My guest this week is modular synthesizer maven Chris Meyer, who has done important engineering work at Sequential Circuits, Digidesign, Marion Systems with the legendary Tom Oberheim, and Roland R&D U.S., where he was chief engineer. Along the way he created Vector Synthesis and worked on the Sequential Prophet 2000, Prophet VS, and Studio 440; Digidesign's Q-Sheet; and the Roland DM-80....

Online music collaboration is for many the holy grail for efficiently working in a home studio.  The problem is that most tools that are available suffer from latency that makes true collaboration impossible.  SyncDNA is the first online platform that allows frame-accurate synchronization of collaborators anywhere in the world. Co-founders Dominic Castro and Gary Lux joined me to discuss SyncDNA a...

My guest today is the CEO of the Merlin Network of independent music labels, Jeremy Sirota. Merlin is a member-based organization representing the digital licensing rights for hundreds of independent labels and distributors in nearly every country around the globe. That makes up 15% of the recorded music market. Under Jeremy’s leadership, Merlin has entered into new partnerships and created progra...

I read a lot of music biographies and history books, especially from the Rock era. Like most people, I love reading about the story behind the hits. The best book I’ve ever read about that era is Buzz Me In: Inside The Record Plant Studios.  The Record Plant was co-founded by engineer Gary Kellgrin and businessman Chris Stone, and it’s three studios in New York City, Los Angeles, and Sausalito, pl...

My guest today is Josh Simons, CEO of Australia's only ASX-listed music company, Vinyl Group.  Josh’s journey is as diverse as it gets. He founded Vampr, the 'LinkedIn for creatives,' connecting over 1.4 million music professionals worldwide. He’s also been instrumental in developing platforms like Jaxsta and Vinyl.com , tackling challenges in music metadata and e-commerce. Prior to...

My guest today is music marketing strategist, speaker, author, and the founder of Cyber PR, Ariel Hyatt. Known for her bold ideas and practical strategies, Ariel has helped thousands of independent musicians and creative entrepreneurs craft sustainable careers over the course of two decades.  Ariel has always been at the forefront of music promotion, and she continues once again with her new book...

My guest today is Danny Garcia, co-founder and CEO of the music promotion and discovery site Songtools. Songtools makes it easy to promote your music across Facebook, TikTok and Instagram, and reach out to over 150,000 curated Spotify playlists. It also helps playlisters discover new music, and vets both artists and playlists to make sure that the experience is top quality for both. The company’s...

My guest today is Lon Neumann, the president of Neumann Technologies, a company that’s focused on designing and commissioning production facilities for immersive audio. Lon has a long history with Sony, and is especially keen on their 360VME virtual mix environment system, which he discussed at length during the podcast. He started in the business as a live sound engineer at the famous Whisky a Go...

In this week's podcast episode, I bring back my popular music and audio industry news segment with a full episode dedicated to stories that matter—but often fly under the radar. In this episode, I dive into a wide range of timely and thought-provoking topics, including: Why today’s music has been scientifically proven to be simpler than it used to be How hit songs have evolved over the last 5...

My guest today is owner and president of HIP Video Promo Andy Gesner. Andy’s firsthand experience in playing in bands and releasing records gives him a special insight into music promotion and marketing. Over the past 25 years, he has built HIP from the ground up, developing innovative promotional strategies that adapt to the ever-changing media landscape.  Andy and his team have promoted more tha...

My guest today is someone who’s spent the last 35 years on a mission to protect the hearing of musicians, audio pros, and music lovers alike. Dr. Michael Santucci is an audiologist and the founder of Sensaphonics, a custom in-ear monitor company that’s become a go-to for top performers around the world. What sets Michael apart is that he’s not just running a company—he’s an audiologist first. That...

My guest today is country music author and historian, and a member of the Western Music Hall Of Fame Don Cusic. Don is the author of over 30 books, including biographies of Roger Miller, Eddy Arnold, Gene Autry and Chet Atkins. He’s also written album liner notes for Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, George Jones, Ray Stevens, Eddy Arnold, and Sonny James, as well as for multiple film soundtracks. Don...

My guest today is my good friend for many years, Engineer Dennis Moody. Dennis was my first guest way back on Episode #1, and he’s been on the podcast almost every year since. Dennis is unique in that he does live sound as well as studio recording, as he’s he’s engineered some of the biggest acts at some of the world’s most famous venues. He’s also known as “the Drummer’s Engineer,” since some of...

My guest today is composer, orchestrator, and CEO of Budapest Scoring, Balint Sapszon.  Trained at the prestigious Bartók Conservatory and Liszt Academy of Music in Hungary, Bálint holds a Master’s Degree in Composition, Jazz Arrangement, and Music Theory. In 2007 he received a Fulbright Scholarship to study film scoring at the University of California Los Angeles, where he quickly began establish...

My guest today is is one of my oldest and dearest friends – Los Angeles studio bass player Paul ILL. I’ve known Paul for such a long time that I sometimes forget what a heavyweight musician he is, as he’s played with a wide variety of great artists both in the studio and on the road. This includes superstars like Tina Turner, Pink, Gwen Stefani and Alicia Keys, to legends Bob Weir, Mike Love and p...

My guest today is musician, book and magazine publisher, and artist Mike Lawson, who also happens to be my book publishing champion. Mike was the person who took a chance on me to publish my first book, and then most of my subsequent 20+ books after that. He’s since gone on to become the owner and publisher of notable publications like School Band and Orchestra and Musical Merchandise Review magaz...

In this week’s episode, I had the pleasure of speaking with Rich Thomson, the founder and CEO of Dreamliner Luxury Coaches, a leading provider of tour buses and logistics in the United States. Rich's journey in the industry began in 2020 with just 12 coaches, and he has since expanded Dreamliner to an impressive fleet of over 200 luxury buses, 70 trucks, and 220 trailers. The company now serv...

My guest today is engineer, mixer, and podcaster Matt Boudreau. Matt’s musical journey began in the late '80s as a band member and drummer, eventually transitioning into the world of audio recording in 1994. Since then, he’s developed expertise in Stereo and Dolby Atmos mixing, with credits including Alanis Morissette, Death Cab For Cutie, and Green Day among others. Matt is also the founder...

My guest today is Grammy-nominated producer, songwriter and music tech entrepreneur Sidney Swift.  Sidney is a 10x platinum producer with major credits like Beyoncé, Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, Drake, Sabrina Carpenter, and many more. In 2019, he started Defient to bridge the gap between music, pop culture, and next-gen technologies. This led to being granted a US patent for inventing "secondary...

In this episode of the podcast, I had the pleasure of speaking with Mimi Camara, an accomplished entertainment attorney known for her work with rising artists such as Soulja Boy, Gracie's Corner, and Young N' Ace. With a background in business and legal affairs at major labels like Atlantic, Warner Brothers, and Encore Records, Mimi has transitioned to focus on helping independent artist...

My guest today is Grammy-nominated producer/mixer/composer, Richard Tozzoli. Rich may be the most prolific television composer anywhere, as his work has appeared in an astounding 1800 TV series, 20,000 episodes, in 40 countries. His unique style has been featured on CBS Sports, NBC Olympics, Counting Cars, Pawn Stars, Duck Dynasty, Trading Spaces, MLB, FOX NFL and many more. Artists he’s worked wi...

My guest today is renowned musician, composer, and inventor of the groundbreaking Mutantrumpet Ben Neill. Ben’s Mutantrumpet is a hybrid electro-acoustic instrument that combines 3 trumpets and a trombone into one. It then incorporates interactive computer technologies that produces a sound that blurs the lines between acoustic and electronic music.  Ben became interested in electronic music when...