Break the Business

This week, Ryan sits down with Arnau Bosch, co-founder and CEO of the new social music collaboration and discovery platform Soundstorming. Soundstorming allows musicians to create with others on a smartphone-based app and it has some robust social and discovery features. Ryan talks to Arnau about the app and the role that collaboration technology will play for musicians during the global pandemic....

Recent copyright cases such as the "Blurred Lines" verdict have created concerns among songwriters who are fearful that they might accidentally write a song that could put them on the wrong end of an infringement claim. But with two pro-defendant rulings in the last few days in cases involving Led Zeppelin and Katy Perry, perhaps the pendulum might be swinging back. We talk to acclaimed IP lawyer...

This week, Ryan sits down with Amadea Choplin, the COO of content monitoring platform Pex. Pex works with music creators to monitor online platforms to identify music to monitor consumption data, facilitate content takedowns, and to negotiate content licensing deals. Ryan talks to Amanda about how the platform works (and how powerful it is!), and how artists can use this technology to protect thei...

This week, Ryan talks to Eric Nizgretsky, the lead singer of NYC-based indie band Loose Buttons. Loose Buttons released its debut album “Something Better” in February as a true DIY effort. The band managed every aspect of the successful release process, including producing their own release show and getting their album into New York City’s largest record store without a distributor. Eric has lots...

This week, Ryan chats with with Zack O’Malley Greenburg, the senior editor of media and entertainment at Forbes. Zack joins us this week to talk about his latest book, "A-List Angels: How a Band of Actors, Artists, and Athletes Hacked Silicon Valley,” which is available on March 10th. Zack talks to us about the emerging phenomenon of entertainment superstars capitalizing on their fame to obtain st...

This week, Ryan sits down with DIY Media Group CEO Tony Van Veen. DIY Media Group is the parent company for music and book distribution brands Disc Makers, BookBaby, and Merchly. Tony and Ryan talk about Tony’s work in guiding Disc Makers and CD Baby through an economic recession and how physical and digital distribution platforms have adapted to changes in the music business. Tony also provides h...

This week, Ryan sits down with the DeCarlos Garrison and Gleb Teper, co-founders of the music tech venture BandPay. BandPay is a customizable platform for indie artists that facilitates payments by setting up milestone-based compensation processes. The platform also provides a mediation feature to help artists settle payment disputes. DeCarlos and Gleb talk about their platform and provide advice...

BTB Ep 214: Getting started in home recording with Dustin Speckman of Musician on a MissionThis week, Ryan sits down with the Dustin Speckman, the Operations Manager of home recording education platform Musician on a Mission. Dustin talks about how to get started in home recording, the best microphones to buy on a budget, developing efficient home recording processes, and much more! You can find o...

This week, Ryan sits down with Jamie Lambert from UK-based singing group and 2014 Britain’s Got Talent winners Collabro. Jamie talks about his BGT experience and offers excellent advice on maintaining a strong relationship with your bandmates and navigating relationships with the music industry effectively. The interview is a must-listen for anyone who wants to get to the next level in the music b...

This week, Ryan welcomes back one of his favorite guests, blogger and music publicist Angela Mastrogiacomo. Ryan and Angela talk about their favorite desserts, lessons they’ve learned over the past decade, and how introverts can find success in the music industry. Ryan also talks to Angela about her new platform Thrive, an online community that provides indie artists with affordable year-round men...

This week, Ryan talks to New Jersey-based indie musician Jonathan Mann. Jonathan is a prolific singer-songwriter who currently holds the Guinness world record for most consecutive days writing a song. Over the course of his “song a day” project, Mann has written over 4,000 original songs that he posts to his YouTube channel. Recently, his 3,974th song, the Mandalorian-inspired “Baby Yoda Baby Baby...

This week, Ryan talks to music industry expert and author Bobby Owsinski. In addition to writing dozens of books about music and the music business, Bobby is also the creator of the super-informative Music 3.0 blog. Bobby joins us this week to talk about recent studies about social media engagement. Which platforms are best for getting engagement and what sorts of posts get will get your fans to i...

As we get to the end of 2019, now is the time for you to check off items on your artist-entrepreneur to-do list before we head into the new decade. Here to help you with that is our guest this week, music marketing expert James Shotwell. James talk to Ryan about his recent article in Hypebot, "Things that Artists Must Do Before the End of 2019”. In the interview, James provides insight on using th...

This week, Ryan sits down with Andres Lauer, co-founder of Five Vectors, an organization that provides customized music solutions for the global gaming industry and helps game communities and e-sports tournaments reach wider audiences through music. Ryan talks to Andres about the work the Five Vectors does, the monetization models that exist for musicians in the gaming industry, and what indie art...

This week, Ryan is joined by acclaimed music executive Jason Davis. Co-founder and president of organizations like One One 7, Noble Management, and Radar Label Group, Jason has worked with the some of the biggest names in the music industry. Ryan talks to Jason about his career and Jason provides his insight on the importance of music entrepreneurship for indie artists, and how indie artists can b...

This week, Ryan breaks down the ongoing feud between Taylor Swift and her former label Big Machine. On this episode, we will be rising above the noise and discussing what this story means for indie artists. There are lessons for artists to learn from this situation about what it means to truly control your career and who should own the art that you create. Rate/review/subscribe to the Break the Bu...

This week, Ryan continues our conversation last week about the CASE Act. He provides his thoughts on the law (which currently passed the House and is being considered by the Senate) and the potential impact it could have on indie artists. Rate/review/subscribe to the Break the Business Podcast on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher, and Google Play. Follow Ryan @ryankair and the Break the Business Podcas...

This week, Ryan is joined by Dr. Portia Sabin, former longtime president of indie label Kill Rock Stars and current president of the Music Business Association, to discuss the CASE Act of 2019. The CASE Act would significantly affect US copyright law for indie artists by creating a voluntary small claims dispute resolution forum for copyright lawsuits, potentially providing creators with a more ef...

This week, Ryan sits down with BandsInTown Co-Founder and Managing Partner Fabrice Sergent. BandsInTown is an online platform that provides music fans with information about artists playing shows in their area and also has tools for artists to manage and promote their tour dates. Fabrice gives us some great advice on how artists can use the platform to gather valuable data and engage with (and bui...

This week, we welcome back indie singer-songwriter Jessica Allossery. Jessica’s music is played regularly on the SiriusXM Coffee House Channel and she has received endorsements from Takamine Guitars, Rode Microphones, and (most recently) Ford. Jessica’s latest project is a house concert tour to raise money for the Ronald McDonald House. Ryan talks to Jessica about her tour and Jessica offers insig...

This week, Ryan sits down with Tampa-based indie acoustic pop artist Frankie Raye. To call Frankie a prolific touring artist would require a gift for understatement. She has 32 tour dates scheduled for the 31-day month of October! Frankie shares her insight on how she was able to keep her touring calendar full and how you can too. She also shares how she handles her busy schedule and how she keeps...

This week, Greg Delaney joins us on the Podcast. Greg is the founder of Entertainment Intelligence a UK-based data service provider that helps indie artists, indie labels, and distributors manage data to gain valuable insight on playlist performance, stream sources, and listener behavior. Greg talks to Ryan about how Entertainment Intelligence provides tools to indie creators on listener behavior...

This week, Ryan sits down with critically-acclaimed Miami-based pop artist Judah Holiday. During the interview, Ryan finds out that he and Judah have an amazing Break the Business connection that Ryan did not know about beforehand (it is mind-blowing!). Judah also shares with Ryan his story of overcoming addiction and what it meant for his art, his career, and his happiness. This episode is valuab...

Our guest this week is Robonzo. He is an author, indie artist, and the host of the Unstarving Musician Podcast, a weekly interview series featuring interviews with musicians and music space professionals that you can check out on Spotify, Google, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and more. We talk to Robonzo about his main area of expertise: reaching your full potential as a live performer. We talk about c...

This week, Ryan sits down with Nashville based indie singer-songwriter and cellist Sarah Clanton. In addition to being an incredible artist, Sarah also has an incredible story about how she was able to save her music career after the owner of her record label was convicted of a $175 million Ponzi scheme. Sarah learned some powerful lessons that are valuable for all indie artists to hear, and her s...