The Music Lens Podcast

Send us Fan Mail Billboard released their staff picks of the top 50 albums of 2026 so far, and we decided to take a look at the top 20 of them this week. Join us as we take a very genre-diverse journey through new albums by some artists that we know, such as Ella Langley and Harry Styles, and many that we are discovering for the first time. Resources: Best Albums of 2026: Our 50 Favorites So Far (...

Send us Fan Mail Happy July! It's time again for a recap on new music that came out this past month! New Music: Tenille Townes: “Sunshine’s Free” Paige King Johnson: “It Ain’t Me” Lauren Alaina: “Better Off" Maoli and Maddie Font: “Runnin’ Me Off” First song from Maddie without Tae. Maddie Lenhart: “Newton’s First Law” Taylor Swift: “I Knew It, I Knew You” Lainey Wilson ft. John Mayer: “...

Send us Fan Mail We're celebrating pride month this year by bringing you two episodes highlighting LGBTQ+ musicians in history, the second of which is one of the leading pop stars of the '80s and '90s, George Michael. Follow along as we discuss everything from his time in Wham! to his solo career, controversial headlines, and a 2008 comeback. Resources: George Michael Have a questio...

Send us Fan Mail Happy Pride Month! To celebrate this year, we're bringing you two episodes highlighting LGBTQ+ musicians in history. Up first is Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Russian composer of popular works such as Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, and The Nutcracker. Join us as we shift gears into the world of classical music to discuss the life, love, and music of Tchaikovsky. Resources Celebratin...

Send us Fan Mail CMA Fest took over Music City this past weekend, and it was jam packed full of killer sets, big surprises, and tons of fun! Join as we as recap our experience with this year's festival. Have a question, story, or feedback to share? Email us at: themusiclenspodcast@gmail.com Follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube at:  @themusiclenspodcast You can also follow Ale...

Send us Fan Mail We're back with another monthly rendition of new music and music news! Join us as we talk about some of amazing music that dropped in May as well as some music news discussions pertaining to the ever evolving state of the music industry. Resources: Brad Paisley 'Tacklebox' Project Fred again Dropbox Collab Who is Stella Lefty? New Music: Braid Paisley: Tacklebox Ban...

Send us Fan Mail This year's ACM Awards were filled with strong performances and record-setting wins! Join us as we discuss and give you a play-by-play of all the action. Resources Record Setters at the ACMs Have a question, story, or feedback to share? Email us at: themusiclenspodcast@gmail.com Follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube at:  @themusiclenspodcast You can also follo...

Send us Fan Mail Blue Dot Fever: a music industry term coined to describe the growing list of cancelled tours. Are these cancellations from low ticket sales due to high ticket prices, artists booking too big of venues for their audience, or perhaps a bit of both? Join us as we discuss this current industry trend in our first remotely recorded episode. Have a question, story, or feedback to share?...

Send us Fan Mail If you grew up in the 2000s, odds are you've watched a Disney Channel Original Movie or two as well as Hannah Montana. Have you ever noticed how so many of those movies/shows made it seem like getting famous is incredibly easy? Join us as we discuss this strange, reoccurring theme of 2000s Disney Channel. Have a question, story, or feedback to share? Email us at: themusiclens...

Send us Fan Mail Some incredible music came out this past month! Join us as we discuss new releases as well as music news, including the ACM Awards nominees. Music News: Live Nation and Ticketmaster Case ACM Awards Nominees New Music: Just Jayne: “Love A Loser” Dan + Shay: “Say So” LEW: “Someone I Want You To Meet” Miley Cyrus and Lainey Wilson: “Younger You” Belles, Dolly Parton:  “Son of Jolene”...

Send us Fan Mail We recently took a trip to down to New Orleans, so we thought we oughta do a dive into the history of the city's deep music roots. From jazz and gospel, to R&B and hip-hop, to opera, brass bands, and rock & roll, join us as we discuss the various sounds that make up the soundtrack of NOLA. Resources: Music of New Orleans New Orleans: The Birthplace of American Music N...

Send us Fan Mail In this installment of our Widening The Lens series, we're welcoming full-time independent artist Amanda McCarthy onto the podcast! Most people don't exactly plan to drop out of college, become a parent before the age of 21, and move to a new city in the middle of a pandemic - but Amanda McCarthy has always been pretty good at tackling the unexpected head on. In a situat...

Send us Fan Mail Take a dive with us into the world of touring as we discuss various touring terminology that you may come across on the road! Have a question, story, or feedback to share? Email us at: themusiclenspodcast@gmail.com Follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube at:  @themusiclenspodcast You can also follow Alex and Katie on all socials at: @alexallegramusic and @katiefeemus...

Send us Fan Mail Join us as we discuss the latest music releases from the past month! New Music: SJ McDonald: “Blue Ridge Red" Hunter Hayes: Evergreen Russell Dickerson: Worth Your Wild EP Gracie Carol: “Fake Flowers” Lainey Wilson: “Can’t Sit Still” Erin Kinsey: “Reasons Why We Broke Up” Julia Larkin: “Changes” Kacey Musgraves: “Dry Spell” Carly Pearce, Riley Green: “If I Don’t Leave I’m Gon...

Send us Fan Mail We're taking you back into our Artist Inventory series to discuss another member of an artist's team: the music director. Join us for a discussion on what the role of a music director entails, how it's similar/different to the role of a band leader, and how you can apply the skills of a music director into your own career yourself. Resources Berklee What Does It Tak...

Send us Fan Mail In this installment of our Widening The Lens series, we're welcoming Korie Burton Rott from One Writer To Another onto the podcast! Born and raised in South Carolina, Korie moved to Music City at the age of 18 to attend Middle Tennessee State University and begin her pursuit of a career in the music industry. With a passion in both country and pop music, her main goal as a cr...

Send us Fan Mail Happy Women's History Month! We're celebrating two women who were both deemed mothers of their genres: Sylvia Robinson and Mother Maybelle Carter. Join us as we discuss these two pioneers and how Hip-Hop and Country wouldn't be what they are today without these incredible women's contributions. Resources: Sylvia Robinson Lesley Riddle Maybelle Carter Wikipedia...

Send us Fan Mail February (and end of January) was filled with new music! Join us as we discuss our favs! New Music: Ella Langley: "Dandelion" and "Be Her" Ian Munsick: "Geronimo" Tim McGraw, Eric Church, HARDY, Morgan Wallen: "McArthur" Amanda McCarthy:  Looking For The Light Russell Dickerson: "The Roses" Luke Combs: "Be By You" Sam Fer...

Send us Fan Mail Happy Black History Month! We're taking the time to highlight Black voices who have been trailblazers in the music industry. Join us as we learn about the pioneer of neo-soul, D'Angelo, as well as the Black Opry, a movement to raise awareness for Black artists in country music. Resources : D'Angelo - Wikipedia D'Angelo - Variety Black Opry Have a question, stor...

Send us Fan Mail In our second episode of our Widening The Lens series, we welcome Kristian Veech to the podcast! Taking a songwriter-centric to production, Kristian Veech is a Nashville based producer, and mixing & mastering engineer whose work covers a wide variety of genres. From country, to pop, to rock, and everything in between, Kristian blends classic and familiar sounds with modern pro...

Send us Fan Mail It's time again for our annual Grammy Awards episode! Join us for a recap and review of this year's looks, performances, and awards! Have a question, story, or feedback to share? Email us at: themusiclenspodcast@gmail.com Follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube at:  @themusiclenspodcast You can also follow Alex and Katie on all socials at: @alexallegramusic...

Send us Fan Mail We’re kicking off February with a roundup of new music we enjoyed from January, along with a few industry headlines, including the Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees and a recent copyright case involving Drew Barrymore. Resources: Songwriters HOF Inductees Drew Barrymore Copyright Infringement Case New Music: Amanda McCarthy: "LOL WTF" BANDANA CHEYENNA: "The Artist&...

Send us Fan Mail Before producers were household names, Joe Meek and Sam Phillips were quietly (and sometimes chaotically) changing the sound of popular music. In this episode, we explore how Meek’s DIY experimentation and Phillips’ work at Sun Records helped launch new sounds, new artists, and a whole new way of thinking about recording. Resources: Joe Meek Sam Phillips Have a question, story, or...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to our new monthly series, "Widening The Lens", where we invite guests onto the pod to broaden our perspectives about different aspects of the music industry. Our guest for the inaugural episode is our good friend and collaborator, Sammy Kay. Sammy Kay is an independent folk-pop singer-songwriter based in Nashville, TN. Her music inspirations include Taylor Swift...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome back to the latest part in the Artist Inventory series, a dive into how to build an EPK. EPKs are essential tools for artists looking to book gigs, gain press, and showcase their work to potential industry collaborators. Join us for a discussion on the elements that make up an EPK as well as other tips and tricks to set you up for success. Resources: Earlier Podcast Episod...