Business Side of Music

As a songwriter, you have to be a student of your genre. Whether it be Rock, Pop, Hip Hop, or Country. You have to learn to keep your eyes on your own paper as you create this body of work, and be fearless in doing so. At the same time, there are so many questions when it comes to not only writing songs, but what to do with your creation afterwards. It's what goes into the song that makes it succe...

On the show with us today is Dave Ratner, the lead lawyer at Creative Law Network, a boutique entertainment law firm in Denver Colorado. We talk about what the difference is between an entertainment lawyer and a regular business attorney, along with navigating the waters when it comes such contracts as a record deal, a publishing deal, how copyrights protect your music, the new Copyright Claims Bo...

Milana Rabkin Lewis is Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Stem, the leading distribution, payment, and financing solution built to simplify the process of releasing music in today's industry and designed to empower artists & their teams to run their business truly independently. Backed by industry-leading investors including Upfront Ventures, Evolution Media, and WndrCo, Stem is one of the...

How do you go about conquering stage fright? Do you know the best way to handle a heckler from the audience? Do you have an idea of what your single most important element of your music performance is? How do you go about reading an audience if you see that you're "losing them". Singer, Songwriter, and author of the book "Performance Matters" John M comes on this episode of The Business Side of Mu...

Did you know that the portable, cheap, flimsy, music stand we all recognized in school growing up was patented in 1900, then modified in the 1950s – and hasn't really changed much since. Every musician has a story. Stands that didn't assemble easily (or collapsed in the middle of a performance), not to mention the struggle to fold them back up… Seriously, has anyone ever been able to fit a traditi...

In one of our most powerful, intimate, and deeply thought provoking interviews we've ever had on this our 200th episode, we spend time back in the studio with the legendary lyrical illustrator and hit songwriter Jack Williams. Adopted, and raised as a single child, Williams talks of his childhood, which included a physically abusive relationship with his dad. From that experience, along with other...

You've written that first song, and you're ready to record, but where do you start? Should you release a single, or does it make sense to release an entire album. Being a newbie in the music business is tough enough, but how do you tap into your creative and musical self, and determine where to go next? Connor Frost to the rescue. Connor is a Musician and Educator, hailing from just outside New Yo...

What happens when you mix together a Jazz musician, Bluegrass performer, and songwriter / performer for a major television show? While you're at it, throw in spending time on the boards of Broadway (NYC), Lower Broadway (Nashville), along with being on the road with one of the Rock N' Roll industry's legends, and you get singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist Tim McDonald. On this episode of Th...

John Cowan, also known as the Voice of Newgrass, has been singing his heart out for thirty-seven years now, and his soaring vocals have only improved with time. His rise to fame began in 1974, when he auditioned to play bass for the then up and coming "New Grass Revival. Fellow members Sam Bush, Courtney Johnson, Curtis Burch, and later on Bela Fleck and Pat Flynn joining the band, went to to shap...

On the show today, we have Matt Wilson , about his new book "Hooks: Lessons on Performance, Business, and Life from a Working Musician" . In the book, Matt shares eighty life lessons from decades of experience as a performing musician and business owner. In 2021, Matt released his first book, Hooks: Lessons on Performance, Business, and Life from a Working Musician.   In the book, Wilson shares ei...

As we wind down the year, we have a conversation with one of our major sponsors for the show. James Sajeva is the Senior Brand Manager - Music Technology Products for Korg Musical Instruments. We discuss the technology of the Korg keyboards, including their latest one, the Korg Nautilus which we have in our studio. We also talk about the history of the company, how it got its roots, and the drive...

Whether you're just getting started in your career, or you're already down a path and don't know exactly what your next step is, then maybe it's time to read the book "The Blueprint: The Bible for Becoming a Successful Performing Artist in the Digital Age." Author Frank Demilt joins us to share his vision and journey of writing this book, from his days at the Roy Park School of Communications at I...

RJ Curtis, former past president of Country Radio Seminar (CRS) joins us in the studio. After being forced to take a year off due to the pandemic and having to go virtual, the Country Radio Broadcasters Association announces the return of in-person CRS which will be held on Feb. 23-25, 2022. RJ talks about what potential attendees should know about this year's event. The upcoming conference will f...

Tis' the Christmas season, and it's time for Tom Sabella, the founder, and executive producer, along with Bob Bende, the host of the show, to finally get together in the studio and reflect on this past year. As we're coming up to our 200th episode early in 2022, we also talk about how the show started, what it was like for Bob to take over in 2017, and how the podcast had changed since its incepti...

Being a creative person isn't easy, especially if you're trying to do this the whole time. It's not your regular 9 to 5 job. This is your life. Your passion. Your ongoing creation. And it most often takes money to advance your dreams to the next level, especially if you decide to take the independent route and not seek out the traditional record deal. Enter Matt Lutz, the Founder, and CEO of Music...

Byron Nemeth , a multi-instrumentalist and demanding rock specialist who has done tours and taken part in many stellar releases to date, knew at a young age that music was his true calling. Upon hearing Elvis & The Beatles from his beautiful parents as a birthday music gift, he turned his attention to learning guitar and studying the styles of Randy Rhoads, Michael Schenker, Jimmy Page, Joe Satria...

Here's a question for you. Will the person who you think is your fan, actually like your music. Are they willing to put the time and effort into becoming a fan of your career? How devoted and passionate of a fan are they? How do you go about getting them engaged in your career? How do you go about creating new fans, who will also become devoted followers. Just as you nurture prospects in the real...

You've spent time writing songs. You've gone into the studio to record some demos. Now it's time to get out there and pitch your artistry to the masses. But how do you go about doing it? Do you need a manager to help you thru the gauntlet known as the music industry? Is your career at a point where you would be ready for a manager? We talk with Chuck Thompson, who is a 40+ year veteran in the musi...

What IMDB has done for the movie industry is what Vibrate is doing for the music business.  How popular are you as an artist? Are your followers a good reflection on your success, or even your visibility? Is your album or touring success an accurate barometer of where your career is at? Vibrate helps with the analytics of it all. It provides the data to show you that a slightly lower fan base isn'...

The music industry is this huge, and very wide set of different vertical spaces. These consist of performers, composers, freelance musicians, music educators, and folks in production. But all of these various entities are all one thing, and that's all part of the music business. Even if you're an employee, you're still directly involved. The 2nd annual Ultimate Music Business Summit is an event th...

Recording artist Karen Waldrup and record producer Paul Worley join us in the studio on this episode. Karen discusses what it takes to release her new music, with Paul at the helm, producing the project. Karen and Paul share how she's funding her new project, through in a new and innovative way called Music Benefactors, an SEC registered investment platform, designed to help the independent artist...

Vincent James along with his wife Joann are on a mission to help more children (and adults) reap the educational, therapeutic and social benefits of playing music. They founded the national non-profit Keep Music Alive and two international music holidays: Teach Music Week (March) & Kids Music Day (October) and now partner with 1,000+ music schools and stores every year to offer free lessons to new...

Can crowdfunding be a viable source for the indie music artist to assist in paying for the project, or cover such things as the cost of getting out on the road touring? Not all crowdfunding platforms are created equal and Carl Allocco, along with Nicole Hogland from MCRCrowdfund explain to us that with their curated approach, their company is tailored to the indie music artists needs. They not onl...

The music business is a 10 part process. 9/10th of it is exposing what you have, the 1/10th is the actual product, and that is probably the most important part. But in order for that to be the most important part, you have to find, expose, and promote to that audience. Keep in mind that so much of it today is an "instant gratification" business. An overnight success typically won't stand the test...

On June 1st, 2008, a fire broke out on the backlot of Universal Studios in Hollywood, CA, destroying nearly 175,000 audio master tapes belonging to some of the most well-known artists worldwide, including Peter Frampton, Beck, Sheryl Crow, Elton John, Les Paul, and thousands of others lost forever.  John Kohl, the CEO, and co-founder of TuneGO, is our guest on this episode to discuss the music ind...