Business Side of Music

As an independent artist, especially as a female performer, you can't replicate what the traditional music industry model is doing, so why try? One of the most important things that today's independent artists need to understand is online entrepreneurship. Especially when it comes both to and from the female perspective, which can be more challenging for today's independent artists in what many co...

How does a record label, or distribution platform work these days, especially in such parts of the world where the technology opportunities are quite different than in the United States or Europe? Is there a demand in other continents deemed worthy of creating outlets for artists to provide music on? Diego Farias who is the CEO and co-founder of the record label and music distributor Amuse, explai...

Did you know that when playing your instrument, that there's actually a question of ergonomics? Beyond getting the best sound possible, is there a better way to hold your instrument? Is your posture the best for you when performing? Are you standing or sitting correctly? How about that pain-related playing you experience after long hours of practicing or performing. Are the bad habits you've picke...

On this episode of The Business Side of Music, we have a conversation with legendary performer Royce Taylor, who talks about his early days of being in the music business, winding up on a worldwide Elvis Presley tribute concert tour, and after all these years on the road, why he doesn't hold back when performing on stage, keeping his show fresh each night. Starting out thinking he would be a preac...

Honored as a 2018 Inductee to the prestigious Songwriter's Hall of Fame in NYC, 3 time Grammy and 6 time Emmy nominated Steve Dorff has written songs sung by the likes of Barbra Streisand, Kenny Rogers, Celine Dion, Whitney Houston, Anne Murray, George Strait, Garth Brooks, and countless others, while also establishing himself as a gifted film and television composer. He's tallied over 40 BMI awar...

Joey Stuckey is an award-winning guitarist, songwriter, singer, composer, producer, radio and television personality, music columnist, educator and sound engineer. He is also the official music ambassador for his home town of Macon Georgia. And... he's blind. As an infant, Joey lost his sight and sense of smell as the result of a brain tumor and was introduced to music from an early age. His mothe...

 On the show today, we chat with i ndustry veteran April Rider, who is the VP of Radio Promotion & Marketing for Quartz Hill Records. Our conversation hinges around whether the radio is viable anymore, can an artist break out on such music platforms as Tik Tok, Spotify, and YouTube, or does it take both radio promotions along with social media. We also discuss the crazy days of radio promotions th...

On this episode of The Business Side of Music, we talk with singer/songwriter Heidi Newfield, who was one of the founding members of the award-winning and chart-topping group Trick Pony. We discuss her career, along with her exciting new solo project "The Barfly Sessions". On the album, she includes such collaborators as Randy Houser, Jim Lauderdale, Delbert McClinton, Kenny Vaughan, Mickey Raphae...

In this episode, we talk with Amira Alvarez, the founder, and CEO of "The Unstoppable Woman", on different aspects of creating a successful career, and how to get around some of the obstacles that can get in your way… most importantly getting out of your own way. In our discussion we talk about:       How you Have to Sell Yourself On Yourself      You have to be Unstoppable and Persistent      Be...

Meet David Roys. This guy is a walking encyclopedia when it comes to the record industry. We're not talking about the record labels here. We're discussing the actual creation of making records. It all starts with his dad who was the chief engineer at RCA Records from 1956 until 1967 (and won the Emile Berliner Award from the Audio Engineering Society). David followed in his footsteps, starting out...

The Music Biz is challenging, scary, and full of the unknown. Entertainment attorney and author Kamal Moo wants to help you avoid mistakes along the way.  In this episode, we talk with Kamal about his book "The Straightforward Guide to the Music Biz", and about why its a must-read for anyone looking for a clear, simple, and concise overview of how the music industry is organized and the typical co...

If you had to come up with a word to define Michael Omartian, it would have to be that he's a "Renaissance Man" (okay... that's two words, but you get the idea). He's a man with many talents and areas of knowledge In this episode, we chat with Michael about how he came to work on such projects as Steely Dan's "Aja", "Katy Lied", and Pretzel Logic", and wound up being the Grammy Award-winning produ...

Can an artist find happiness without finding success? Wanna Be Rock Star, Songwriter, and unwitting comedian  Doug Robertson thinks so and shares his story with us on this episode. He got into the business because he liked the idea of girls screaming after him when he performed, an idea he got after seeing the Beatles perform on the Ed Sullivan Show when he was a young boy. At the age of nine, Rob...

It's been a solid 12 years, packed with earned life experiences and songwriting since Chad Harvey has released a new studio album. 2008 saw the release of his Get Lit album which provided a platform to tour through 2011. Initially to Harvey, that was a good thing. "The live shows to me are what it's all about. That is where you connect with your fans and I lay it all out there on the line and don'...

Sarah Beth Perry is the Founder and CEO of With the Band, a fan engagement platform founded in 2017 that strives to develop a community for fans and artists to feel a part of something bigger than themselves. In only 3 years, Perry has grown With the Band from an idea in her dorm room to captivating packed out arenas with her creative and collaborative fan projects and meetups. Some of her most no...

In 2004, as a musician, Ryan Kintz found that if you weren't signed to a label, or didn't have a booking agent, it difficult to book shows as an Indie Artist. He started renting out venues in the Portland OR area, having friends who had bands, play shows and wound up producing 6 to 10 shows per month. With that, Afton Shows was born. Ryan talks with us regarding his different platforms, including...

In 2019, "Indie Week" had 24 music venues in downtown Toronto Canada, Over 220 International artists performing and showcasing in those venues, with 350 music industry delegates in attendance. The 5-day conference of Indie Week focused on education, networking, business development, and how to grow internationally. After 18 years running, In 2020 Indie Week is moving entirely online for the very f...

Meet Ty Frankel who is the CEO of Shut Down Media. Shut Down Media makes modern production music for television and film which is commissioned to them by the various studios and production companies that need a custom fit for a project. This company became creative during the pandemic, figuring out new ways to generate revenue to keep their doors open, and have the ability to pay their employees,...

In this episode, we travel out to Los Angeles CA (actually Studio City) to be in the studio with Ryan Neill who is the Vice President of Music Production & Music Supervisor for Spirit Music Collective. He's worked on such projects as Hallmark Movie Mystery Channel's "Darrow & Darrow", along with the Hallmark Film "Christmas at Dollywood" with Dolly Parton. Ryan started out at CSUB Northridge perfo...

Unlocking music and having it create value in its art form, especially when used in a retail environment is especially critical these days. Ola Sars CEO of Soundtrack Your Brand the world's fastest-growing music platform for B2B (background music market) shows us how. He feels that the value chain which supplies music has been broken, and the one who is affected by that is the creator of the music...

John Waupsh is the CEO of Nerve, which is a service in an app that is crafted to stream unique audio and video content, from your favorite artist. How this app is different from the others is that this one helps the artist make money. Around 2012 he started Preservation Project, finding and releasing previously unreleased projects from artists, especially those that had never been discovered or si...

They've had 12 studio albums, two Greatest Hits records, One Christmas album, 38 singles at radio, and 8 music videos later, the Band Exile is still going strong 57 years since their beginnings. Marlon Hargis, the keyboardist for Exile is our guest on today's episode. Originally called "The Fascinations" they changed the band's name to Jimmy Stokely and the Exiles in reference to the Cuban exiles...

What is the Electronic Music Scene? Is it a concert, a Rave, a Party? In the electronic music scene, it separates itself from the other forms of music, in that the majority of the artists recording the music, are also the creators of the content, along with being their own producer for the project, and encompasses the aspect of the DJ. The Electronic Music Scene is also more singles driven than sa...

Meet Rick Cua. A member of the successful mainstream rock group "The Outlaws", garnering 2 Gold Records, he's toured with such acts as ZZ Top, 38 Special, Molly Hatchett, Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne, Rod Stewart, Joan Jett, Marshall Tucker Band, The Allman Brothers, and the Dixie Dregs, then spending the next 39 years as a Christian recording artist. Eventually, he would release 11 albums, with s...

In this episode, we chat with Michael Sloane who is the CEO of Streaming Promotions, s trategic platform promotions company that specializes in Spotify playlisting.  Started about 5 ½ years ago, Streaming Promotions ( www.streamingpromotions.com ) works with the  independent artist or label that typically won't be getting editorial support from Spotify or its staff, which is usually reserved for m...