The Future of What

Episode #31: If women and girls are one of the fastest growing markets in the music industry, shouldn’t they be better represented in media? That’s what some, like our guests this week, are striving to do. A greater number of magazines and blogs oriented toward women and girls means that many of these aspiring musicians can finally recognize themselves in the publications they consume. But giving...

Episode #30: Could two multi-million dollar lawsuits be the downfall of one of music’s most popular streaming services? Earlier this year, two class-actions were brought against streaming giant Spotify by musicians David Lowery and Melissa Ferrick. The plaintiffs allege that Spotify knowingly distributes copyrighted material without obtaining the proper licenses. So what do these suits mean for mu...

Episode #29: How do you get your music on the “it” blog or radio station? When should you hire a publicist? What does a publicist even do? These questions are common among young musicians looking for their break. In our second installment of Music 101, we talk to tastemakers Sharlese Metcalf (KEXP) and Brandon Stosuy (Pitchfork) about how they discover new artists, then publicist Nathan Walker (Ri...

Episode #28: In an industry where it’s difficult to make a living, musicians have had to become more and more creative to survive, especially with shrinking royalties in their pockets. One way some artists have managed to succeed is to tap into -- or create -- a niche market. Whether it’s inventing a new genre or signing to an obscure label, their stories prove that there’s not just one path to su...

Episode #27: Health insurance, a 401K… employment benefits in general? Not so easy to find working in the music industry. Luckily, in 1989 the Recording Academy created the MusiCares Foundation, providing a safety net of critical services and resources for industry people in need. On this episode, Recording Academy president Neil Portnow gives us some background on the foundation and, while the se...

Episode #25: What do Justin Bieber and weird punk have in common? Well, not much, but we cover both on our last show of the year, where we celebrate the year in music. We also get into 2015 trends in shoegaze pop, comedy, feminism, top 40, and more. Portia brings in the Kill Rock Stars crew, James Reling and Ben Parrish, to hear their favorite songs of 2015. We then wrap up the year with Kiran Gan...

Episode #23: Subscribers pay about $10 a month for most streaming services -- with that kind of cash, shouldn’t musicians be making more from these platforms? For their short history, music streaming services have operated by putting all of their subscription revenue into one big pool. The pool is then divided by the total number of plays — this is called the pro rata method. Some people believe t...

Episode #22: In this episode, Portia moderates a SF Music Tech panel entitled "The Future of Indies," that was chock full of laughs and indie stalwarts of the past, present and future. Her panelists included: Molly Neuman (A2IM, Lookout! Records, Bratmobile), Bruce Pavitt (Sub Pop, 8Stem), Amy Dietz (INgrooves), Christiane Kinney (LeClairRyan), and Kevin Breuner (CD Baby). The panel discussed thei...

Episode #21: For the 15th annual Future of Music Summit, we headed to Washington DC for a special taping of The Future What. Portia talked with musician and innovator Merrill Garbus of tUnE-yArDs about her creative process, puppeteering past and more. Then we sat down with Tim Quirk, founder of Freeform Development Inc. and former Google Play exec. GUESTS Merrill Garbus (tUnE-yArDs) Tim Quirk (Fre...

Episode #19: When people hear about the Recording Academy, some scratch their heads in wonder, while others immediately recognize them as the organization that puts on the Grammy Awards every year. However, both of these responses bely the true effort and intent behind the organization, as they are just as involved in awards shows as they are in advocacy for musicians on Capitol Hill and beyond. A...

Episode #18: Some music services are more "artist friendly" than others, and some might say that Bandcamp is the ultimate in that regard. Unlike other services that charge artists a per year fee for their services, regardless of units sold, Bandcamp is totally free until you sell a song or album, and then their take is only half of what other services charge artists for distribution. In this episo...

Episode #17: As the music industry continues to shrink, investors have begun to circle around record labels and holders of large back catalogs, likely in the hopes of acquiring large amounts of publishing and master rights for an artificially low price. What do these investors know? In this episode, we explore this topic at length, and try to figure out why investors are spending a lot of money on...

Episode #16: In the second installment of our "Gatekeeper's Roundtable," we speak with Ali Hedrick of The Billions Corporation about some of the new acts that she's working with, and how they've come to her, or vice versa. Christen Green adds to the conversation by telling us about how she ended up working with The Lumineers, among the other notable acts that are a part of Onto Entertainment. We a...

Episode #15: In this episode, we explore the historical impact of musical videos by looking at the advent and evolution of MTV, and the explosion of YouTube as a format for music, and music videos. We kick off the hour with Courtney Smith, a former programmer for MTV and MTVU, who gives us a bird’s eye view of how videos were selected for air, and how her days with the station were different than...

Episode #26: You've recorded a song, now you want people to hear it. What's next? Our guests this week guide us through the basics of PROs and song distribution. ASCAP's Marc Emert-Hutner helps us decipher some of the acronyms every musician should know in order to understand their rights. Then, Kevin Breuner of CD Baby returns to the show to talk about how to distribute music yourself. SoundExcha...

Episode #14: In this episode, we speak with three different musical gatekeepers about what gets them to lower their guard long enough to allow a band safe passage to the next level in their career. Joining us for the discussion is Slim Moon (Kill Rock Stars, 5RC, Shotclock Management, Nonesuch Records, etc.), Ken Cheppaikode (Dirtnap Records, Green Noise), and Theo Craig (PDX Pop Now!, X-Ray FM, M...

Episode #13: Brooklyn band Here We Go Magic is set to release their fourth album with indie label Secretly Canadian on October 15th, and we wanted to explore the process that the album went through from "farm to table." First we speak with Michael Bloch, guitarist in the band, who explains how he and song writer Luke Temple tackled their first album as a two piece using only rudimentary tools to c...

Episode #12: In this episode, we dig deep into the "Fair Music: Transparency and Money Flows in the Music Industry” report recently presented by the Berklee Institute for Creative Entrepreneurship (BerkleeICE). Joining us for the discussion are Panos Panay (founder of BerkleeICE and SonicBids), David Lowery (songwriter for Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker, writer at The Trichordist), Mike Huppe (C...

Episode #10: At the height of the vinyl industry, over a billion units were being pressed per year in the United States. But, after the advent of the cassette and compact disc, vinyl production numbers dipped down into the hundreds of thousands. Now that vinyl "is back", and production figures are back up in the millions, what does this mean for the music industry, exactly? For major labels, and t...

Episode #9: Is Comedy The New Punk Rock? With Hari Kondabolu, Amy Miller, Nathan Brannon, and Adam Triplett from Helium Comedy Club!

Episode #8: A lot of discussion has been had recently about the resurgence of vinyl, but there are other formats that are also increasing in market share within the industry. In this episode, we talk with Anna Bond (Rough Trade Records) and Amanda Brown (Not Not Fun Records) about vinyl, and Shawn and Lee from Burger Records about their success in the cassette world. We also talk to Gavin Godfrey...

Episode #6: If you're a baker, you get paid for the bread you make. If you're a driver, you get paid for the road you travel. But if you're a singer, you DON'T get paid for the songs you sing that are played on the radio. We talk about radio performance royalties with Nu Shooz singer Valerie Day, Congressman Jerrold Nadler, and musicFIRST's Ted Kalo.

Episode #5: In this episode, Portia discusses the changing nature of scenes with Jon Fine (the author of "Your Band Sucks"), Marnie Stern (8G Band), and Claudia Meza (Explode Into Colors). In the age of the internet, are local, geographically specific music scenes important to artists success anymore? Tune in and find out what these folks have to say on the subject!

Episode #4:This month, the FCC ruled internet radio company Pandora could buy a small radio station in Rapid City, South Dakota. So why does Pandora want to run a small, top-40 station in one of the nation's smallest markets? It turns out this small station could reap big rewards for Pandora. We talk NMPA CEO David Israelite, Paul Resnikoff of Digital Music News, and Casey Rae of the Future of Mus...

Episode #3: This episode of the Future of What focuses on "Direct To Fan" sales, which have exploded in recent years thanks to the internet. Jessica Boudreaux and Marc Swart of Summer Cannibals and New Moss Records talk about their merch strategies as both band and label. James Reling from Kill Rock Stars speaks on his super-fandom and which artists in particular he follows intently. Ben Hubbird o...