The Future of What

While some artists are eschewing the traditional label route to market, there is no getting around the fact that artists simply can’t do everything they need to do in order to be successful on their own. Most developing artists need help with marketing, branding, social media strategy, booking, publishing, content creation and more, if they’re going to breakthrough the din of digital noise. On thi...

Episode #170 : At the beginning of the year, record stores big and small started noticing a difference between what they ordered and what they received in the mail. This became all the more noticeable when stores were shorted important and highly sought after titles for Record Store Day in April. Since then, the problem has only gotten worse according to some, and bands have missed their street da...

In the past, digital start-ups frequently approached the music industry with tech solutions to problems that didn’t exist for most artists and labels. That paradigm has seemingly shifted in the past few years, and now the solutions being brought forth by tech companies are helping to alleviate certain stresses and strains on the music industry. On this episode, we’re highlighting new tech companie...

Twenty years ago, Syd Butler started Frenchkiss Records, after his band Les Savy Fav couldn’t find a home at the prominent labels of the time. Fast forward up until today, Syd’s now part of Seth Meyer’s 8G Band, the label is still going strong, and Les Savy Fav is still playing shows. On this episode, Syd joins us to talk about the label’s triumphs and tribulations over the course of the last two...

Episode #167 : Several high profile artists moved away from sampling in the late 90’s, after a smattering of lawsuits were brought against artists like De La Soul, Biz Markie, 2 Live Crew, etc. for the use of unauthorized samples in some of their biggest hits. As a result, the familiar sounds of hip-hop, pop, and electronica changed dramatically in the decades that followed, as people were both sc...

Episode #166 : Under the current distribution model, labels and rights holders typically only get paid once a month by their distributor, and those payouts are often for streams and downloads that occurred well before the pay period. In an era where artists and labels are able to see nearly real-time usage data for their catalog, these delays in payment have made rapid growth difficult in some cas...

The Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act of 2019, or C.A.S.E. Act, is currently making its way through Congress, and it stands to have a significant impact on musicians and labels across the country. As it stands now, if you’re a musician who’s had their music used without a license, your only recourse is to go to a federal copyright court to defend your claim of ownership, which...

Episode #164 : Like every other role in the music industry, the face of management is changing to meet the current needs of artists. With fewer and fewer labels investing in artist development, the work of building a team up around an artist has started to land more and more on the shoulders of managers. In our exploration of this topic, we speak with Brian Dubb of Centralized.me, who has develope...

Episode #163 : For the last eleven years, Merlin has been championing the independent music community in a variety of ways. During that time the organization has put over two billion dollars into the pockets of indie labels and distributors, through its negotiated deals with DSP’s like Spotify, et. al., and the organization is only continuing to grow its reach internationally. On this episode, we...

In previous episodes, we’ve discussed the diminished role that music criticism plays in today’s market, and now we’re turning our focus towards music journalism at large. With more and more magazines and newspapers going out of business, writers find themselves with even fewer publishing options, and they’re being forced to look for work outside of the music industry. Join us this hour as we cover...

Episode #161 : Denmark’s Crunchy Frog has been releasing albums for a quarter century this year, and they are celebrating their anniversary with a new compilation of music from the label’s roster, that’s being released in tandem with a variety of specialty beverages to commemorate the occasion. Listen in as label head, Jesper "Yebo" Reginal, talks about the origins of the label, and its successes...

Episode #160 : At this point, we all know that streaming royalties have become a larger and larger share of revenue within the music industry, but how those royalties are calculated by DSP’s is still somewhat of a mystery to artists, labels, and consumers. For example, why doesn’t your $9.99/mo. only go to the artists you’ve streamed that month? And, why do the per-stream rates fluctuate so much,...

With more and more venues shutting down due to rising costs in metropolitan areas, some musicians are looking towards non-traditional venues, and people’s homes, as a means to an end. On this episode, we talk with the founder of the Undiscovered Music Network, a service that pairs musicians with willing home concert hosts, and Amber Sweeney, a singer/songwriter who’s recently done several house sh...

Episode #158 : The world has changed quite a bit since the Pacific NW queercore outfit Team Dresch released their first full-length album 25 years ago. There was no internet, there weren’t any openly gay people running for president, and there weren’t nearly as many corporations sponsoring pride festivals. While the band never truly broke-up, they have returned to the public eye after announcing a...

Episode #157 : Given the success of films that have been adapted from comic books and graphic novels, it makes sense that other industries would start adopting them, too, and Herø Records is doing just that. Blending the worlds of music and graphic art into a transmedia experience, Herø Records, has released several singles, EPs and more that are all tied to comics in some shape or fashion. On thi...

Episode #156 : Thousands of hours of content are uploaded to sites like YouTube, SoundCloud, TikTok, Facebook, etc. every minute, and a fair amount of it contains unlicensed music. Technologies like YouTube’s “Content ID” system can help rights holders find offending usages once they’re uploaded, but not all sites have that kind of functionality, and certain uses are so short that the current tech...

Episode 155 : Record labels, music supervisors, management companies, et. al. deal with high volumes of music submissions on a daily basis, and until recently, managing those files (and their requisite metadata) hasn’t been easy. Enter DISCO, a cloud based storage solution for music professionals, that combines the best parts of iTunes, Soundcloud, Dropbox and MailChimp all in one easy to use brow...

Episode #154 : While little attention was given by the U.S. population at large, the creative class, and musicians in particular, paid close attention to the wars waged over the EU’s new copyright directive, known colloquially as Article 13. Although is has yet to be ratified, and passed into law by its member states, Article 13 has the potential to close the “safe harbor” loophole for UGC giants...

Episode #153 : Perennially popular at music business conferences, “demo” listening roundtables can be extremely helpful and informative for artists, labels, and others, since you get direct and immediate feedback from gatekeepers within the industry. On this episode, we asked three Portland professionals to bring in a new favorite track of theirs, that they’ve received as a solicited or unsolicite...

Episode #152 : As smart speakers, like the Amazon Dot and Google Home, take up residence in more homes across the U.S., kids’ music has seen an unexpected uptick in its overall consumption, mostly due to the agency imparted to children via voice activated technologies. On this episode, we explore this trend with the president of Kidz Bop, Vic Zaraya, along with Grammy nominated singer/songwriter,...

In the final installment of the Get Paid series (in collaboration with Vortex Music Magazine), Portia discusses sync licensing and brand partnerships with Brett Byrd of CD Baby, Marissa Hernandez of Marmoset, and Scott Wagner of WagsWorks. Do you want to know if your music sync-able, or how to make sure that music supervisors can find your music among thousands of songs when a request comes in? Li...

Episode #150: The landscape of independent distribution is rapidly changing. As more independent labels move toward truly independent distribution models, their market share becomes clearer. On this episode, we talk to Chris Welz of Secretly Distribution, Kevin Breuner of CD Baby, and Jim Mahoney of Merlin.

Episode #149: Last year, the music industry came under fire for an ongoing lack of meaningful representation for women. What's different in 2019? On this episode we hear about efforts toward greater diversity and inclusion from leaders across the industry, including Michele Ballantyne (RIAA), Richard Burgess (A2IM), and Terri Winston (WAM).

Episode #148: What is the role of A&R in 2019? We break down the ins and outs of signing new (and established) talent with Katie Garcia, who oversees A&R for Secretly Group (Dead Oceans, Jagjaguwar, & Secretly Canadian) as well as her own label, Bayonet. We also look back at our conversation with A&R great Tom Whalley, whose signees have included everyone from Bonnie Raitt to Tupac. Plus, hear fro...

Episode #147: From AI to to the EP, we discuss trends and innovation in the music industry. First, journalist Cherie Hu shares a few music tech developments to look out for in 2019. Then, Jon Chattman explains his recent article "How the EP Killed the LP Star." Finally, Eric "Skippy" Mueller of Pirate's Press updates us on what's happening in vinyl. Produced by Will Watts and Anna McClain. Enginee...