The FM Podcast

Bonus episode time! We decided to put together a BEST OF SEASON 1 episode to get everyone fired up about Season 2 which starts next week! We went through and found some of our favourite moments from Season 1 which was super fun to do BTW - it was great to relive a lot of the conversations and it got us really excited about doing Season 2. We really hope you enjoy it and we'll see you next wee...

Just a quick check-in to let you know that Season 2 of The FM Podcast will premiere on November 2nd. And to get you fired up and ready to go - next week we’ll have a bonus episode featuring The Best of Season 1! We're back, baby!

OK so brace yourself because things are gonna be a little crazy this week! First of all, I have to let you know that this week’s show is the final episode of Season 1 of The FM Podcast and we’ll be back with Season 2 in a couple of months.  Make sure that you stay subscribed to the podcast though because we’ll be sending out updates and letting you know when we’ll be back.  So, our guest on the sh...

This week on the show we’re discussing a topic that has become increasingly important over the last year - Mental Health Resources for Musicians. And joining me on the show is the Executive Director of the Unison Benevolent Fund - Amanda Power. Unison is a non-profit, registered music industry charity that provides counselling and emergency relief services to the Canadian music community. They hel...

This week on the show we’re going to talk about how indie artists have to DIY it at the beginning of their career which can seem like A LOT when you’re just starting out! And joining me on the show is Edmonton indie pop musician Kaeley Jade . When Kaeley released her 1st single a couple of years ago, she immersed herself in the music industry and began learning all aspects of the business. I met h...

So this week we’re going to talk about Rights and Revenue Streams For Musicians + joining me on the show is Rebecca Webster who is the  Director of Industry Relations & Communications at the Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency ( or the CMRRA ). And before Rebecca joined the CMRRA in 2019, she was actually an independent music publicist like me + she ran highly-respected music public re...

The topic of this week’s episode is COVID vs Summer Music Festivals and joining me on the show is the Artistic Executive Director of the Vancouver Folk Music Festiva l - Debbi Salmonsen. We all know that things have been extremely difficult for the live music industry over the past year and Debbi and I discuss how the Vancouver Folk  Fest adjusted their plans in 2020 + 2021 and how she thinks thin...

We all know that Branding is something that is very important for musicians. It’s one of those things that can feel like just one more thing to add to the list of all of things you have to do as a musician in 2021, but it is one of the most important parts of being a musician. Figuring out who you are as a musician and how you’re going to express that to the world, as an extension of your music, s...

So this week’s show is all about Social Activism in Music + joining me on the show is Vancouver rapper Neon Empty (aka Bryce Lokken) who just released a single last week called 'Red Lives Don't' a song that he describes as  “an expression of frustration and disgust with white Canada’s hypocrisy about racial inequality during the summer 2020 - the summer of Black Lives Matter.” Neon...

This week's show is all about singing, which is something I pretty much have ZERO experience in. And joining me on the show is someone who thankfully knows more about singing than I do - Greg Barker - who is one of the founders of Singdaptive . Greg is going to tell us all about Singdaptive, which is a multi-instructor online learning platform for singer-musicians. As well as his new venture...

Social media is something that most musicians struggle with. Both on the organic side - that is just creating content for all of their social channels each week - and  on the social advertising side.  It’s something that we see our clients struggle with here at Fritz Media which is why we added additional services last year, including social media strategy + digital advertising. And joining us on...

The COVID pandemic has not been great for the music industry and I think it’s fair to say that the live sector of the industry has been hit the hardest. In fact, since March of last year the live music industry in Canada has suffered a 92% average revenue loss + 64% of the industry is at risk of permanent closure which is scary for all of us because the live sector is the backbone of our business....

So a few weeks ago we did an episode about the state of music journalism in Canada + I talked to Mike Devlin who is an arts reporter for the Victoria Times-Colonist. And this week’s episode is sort of a Music Journalism in Canada Part 2 episode, where we take a look at music journalism in the digital age + explore the online side of things since we mostly discussed music journalism at traditional...

The theme of this week’s episode is Artist Management + I talk to Savannah Wellman from Tiny Kingdom Music .  Savannah runs Tiny Kingdom with her business partner and best friend Meagan Davidson + their company not only manages musicians but they also do grant writing and they recently started their own record label which just released ‘Boxes’ - the killer collab from Vancouver musicians  IAMTHELI...

On this week’s episode I talk to Vancouver musician + Fritz Media client Bukola about what it’s like to be starting out your career as an artist in the music industry right now. Bukola is releasing her debut EP Chronicles of a Teenage Mind this summer + her first single/video is coming out this Friday (March 19th)!  Bukola is only 19 years old but she’s been pursuing her dreams of becoming a profe...

So it’s now officially a full year since we’ve been living with the COVID pandemic + it obviously has had a very detrimental effect on the music industry. It’s affected everyone in the business, from record labels to booking agents to managers to promoters to publicity companies like mine, and of course, the musicians themselves. Everyone has had to pivot to figure out different ways to bring inco...

When I started working as a publicist in the music industry, my job was a lot different that it is now. When I started, there were fewer outlets to pitch for coverage because music blogs were barely a thing AND there were local music writers at nearly every print newspaper across Canada. Which is crazy to think about now, but that's how it was.   And out of all of those journalists that I use...

Here in Canada we are lucky to have a lot of different options for funding our arts projects. And the music industry in particular has an incredible national foundation called FACTOR which is a public/private partnership that supports the production of sound recordings by Canadian musicians and helps Canadian music companies make recordings available to a wider public. We also have funding availab...

Although things are moving in the right direction, the lack of diversity in the Canadian music  industry is still a problem, not just for the artists trying to gain access but for those that work within the industry as well. This week on the show we discuss diversity + education in the music industry. Jen talks to rapper, motivational speaker, and author, D.O. Gibson , about how he is creating cha...

When you choose to have a career in music, you often end up wearing a lot of different hats + learn about many different aspects of the business. And Alberta-based singer-songwriter Ryland Moranz is definitely an artist that knows all about this. Ryland releases his own music as a solo musician, is a part of Leeroy Stagger 's band The Rebeltone Sound + he's even worked as a tour manager....

The COVID pandemic has had a huge effect on the music industry + without live shows, many  artists + businesses have had to pivot in order to stay afloat in the last year. And who better to talk to about pivoting than Vancouver indie musician Dan Mangan . Dan is not just an artist, he's also the co-owner of Side Door Access , a business that Dan describes as "Airbnb but for shows" +...

For the very first episode of The FM Podcast, Jen talks to digital marketer Danielle McNeill. Danielle is the lead digital strategist at Fritz Media + also runs her own digital marketing firm, The Social Circle . Great conversation about how to navigate social media as a musician in 2021! Follow Fritz Media: Website Twitter Facebook Instagram