This week, Ryan sits down with Jamie Lambert from UK-based singing group and 2014 Britain’s Got Talent winners Collabro. Jamie talks about his BGT experience and offers excellent advice on maintaining a strong relationship with your bandmates and navigating relationships with the music industry effectively. The interview is a must-listen for anyone who wants to get to the next level in the music biz and stay there. Collabro's new album Love Like This is available now and you can find out more ab...
Jan 26, 2020•19 min
This week, Ryan welcomes back one of his favorite guests, blogger and music publicist Angela Mastrogiacomo. Ryan and Angela talk about their favorite desserts, lessons they’ve learned over the past decade, and how introverts can find success in the music industry. Ryan also talks to Angela about her new platform Thrive, an online community that provides indie artists with affordable year-round mentoring from music industry experts, access to a growing community of creators, and much more. You ca...
Jan 19, 2020•22 min
This week, Ryan talks to New Jersey-based indie musician Jonathan Mann. Jonathan is a prolific singer-songwriter who currently holds the Guinness world record for most consecutive days writing a song. Over the course of his “song a day” project, Mann has written over 4,000 original songs that he posts to his YouTube channel. Recently, his 3,974th song, the Mandalorian-inspired “Baby Yoda Baby Baby Yoda,” went viral on the TikTok platform with over 300,000 videos using the track. Our guest talks ...
Jan 12, 2020•30 min
This week, Ryan talks to music industry expert and author Bobby Owsinski. In addition to writing dozens of books about music and the music business, Bobby is also the creator of the super-informative Music 3.0 blog. Bobby joins us this week to talk about recent studies about social media engagement. Which platforms are best for getting engagement and what sorts of posts get will get your fans to interact with you. Find out more about our guest by visiting www.bobbyowsinski.com.Rate/review/subscr...
Jan 05, 2020•15 min
As we get to the end of 2019, now is the time for you to check off items on your artist-entrepreneur to-do list before we head into the new decade. Here to help you with that is our guest this week, music marketing expert James Shotwell. James talk to Ryan about his recent article in Hypebot, "Things that Artists Must Do Before the End of 2019”. In the interview, James provides insight on using the end of the year to take inventory of your career progress and make an effective plan for 2020. It’...
Dec 08, 2019•20 min
This week, Ryan sits down with Andres Lauer, co-founder of Five Vectors, an organization that provides customized music solutions for the global gaming industry and helps game communities and e-sports tournaments reach wider audiences through music. Ryan talks to Andres about the work the Five Vectors does, the monetization models that exist for musicians in the gaming industry, and what indie artists can do to find more opportunities in this sector. You can find out more about our guest’s work ...
Dec 01, 2019•18 min
This week, Ryan is joined by acclaimed music executive Jason Davis. Co-founder and president of organizations like One One 7, Noble Management, and Radar Label Group, Jason has worked with the some of the biggest names in the music industry. Ryan talks to Jason about his career and Jason provides his insight on the importance of music entrepreneurship for indie artists, and how indie artists can build stronger relationships in the music industry. You can find out more about our guest’s work by v...
Nov 24, 2019•28 min
This week, Ryan breaks down the ongoing feud between Taylor Swift and her former label Big Machine. On this episode, we will be rising above the noise and discussing what this story means for indie artists. There are lessons for artists to learn from this situation about what it means to truly control your career and who should own the art that you create. Rate/review/subscribe to the Break the Business Podcast on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher, and GooglePlay. Follow Ryan @ryankair and the Break ...
Nov 16, 2019•19 min
This week, Ryan continues our conversation last week about the CASE Act. He provides his thoughts on the law (which currently passed the House and is being considered by the Senate) and the potential impact it could have on indie artists.Rate/review/subscribe to the Break the Business Podcast on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher, and Google Play. Follow Ryan @ryankair and the Break the Business Podcast @thebtbpodcast. Like Break the Business on Facebook and tell a friend about the show. Visit www.rya...
Nov 10, 2019•26 min
This week, Ryan is joined by Dr. Portia Sabin, former longtime president of indie label Kill Rock Stars and current president of the Music Business Association, to discuss the CASE Act of 2019. The CASE Act would significantly affect US copyright law for indie artists by creating a voluntary small claims dispute resolution forum for copyright lawsuits, potentially providing creators with a more efficient means to protect their works. Dr. Sabin provides her perspective on the CASE Act and gives s...
Nov 03, 2019•16 min
This week, Ryan sits down with BandsInTown Co-Founder and Managing Partner Fabrice Sergent. BandsInTown is an online platform that provides music fans with information about artists playing shows in their area and also has tools for artists to manage and promote their tour dates. Fabrice gives us some great advice on how artists can use the platform to gather valuable data and engage with (and build) their fanbases. Fabrice also talks to us about BandsInTown's recent launch of 24 worldwide, US, ...
Oct 27, 2019•19 min
This week, we welcome back indie singer-songwriter Jessica Allossery. Jessica’s music is played regularly on the SiriusXM Coffee House Channel and she has received endorsements from Takamine Guitars, Rode Microphones, and (most recently) Ford. Jessica’s latest project is a house concert tour to raise money for the Ronald McDonald House. Ryan talks to Jessica about her tour and Jessica offers insight on how artists and their art can be a force for good. Jessica also gives some great advice on doi...
Oct 20, 2019•29 min
This week, Ryan sits down with Tampa-based indie acoustic pop artist Frankie Raye. To call Frankie a prolific touring artist would require a gift for understatement. She has 32 tour dates scheduled for the 31-day month of October! Frankie shares her insight on how she was able to keep her touring calendar full and how you can too. She also shares how she handles her busy schedule and how she keeps her voice strong for every show. You can find out more about our guest’s work by visiting www.frank...
Oct 13, 2019•21 min
This week, Greg Delaney joins us on the Podcast. Greg is the founder of Entertainment Intelligence a UK-based data service provider that helps indie artists, indie labels, and distributors manage data to gain valuable insight on playlist performance, stream sources, and listener behavior. Greg talks to Ryan about how Entertainment Intelligence provides tools to indie creators on listener behavior that were previously only available to major labels. Greg also shares some great insight on finding ...
Oct 06, 2019•14 min
This week, Ryan sits down with critically-acclaimed Miami-based pop artist Judah Holiday. During the interview, Ryan finds out that he and Judah have an amazing Break the Business connection that Ryan did not know about beforehand (it is mind-blowing!). Judah also shares with Ryan his story of overcoming addiction and what it meant for his art, his career, and his happiness. This episode is valuable for anyone who is fighting demons in their own life. Find out more about our guest’s excellent mu...
Sep 29, 2019•24 min
Our guest this week is Robonzo. He is an author, indie artist, and the host of the Unstarving Musician Podcast, a weekly interview series featuring interviews with musicians and music space professionals that you can check out on Spotify, Google, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and more. We talk to Robonzo about his main area of expertise: reaching your full potential as a live performer. We talk about creating your own gigs in your local community and how to do house concerts effectively. Today’s indi...
Sep 22, 2019•19 min
This week, Ryan sits down with Nashville based indie singer-songwriter and cellist Sarah Clanton. In addition to being an incredible artist, Sarah also has an incredible story about how she was able to save her music career after the owner of her record label was convicted of a $175 million Ponzi scheme. Sarah learned some powerful lessons that are valuable for all indie artists to hear, and her story of redemption is sure to inspire you. You can find out more about Sarah’s work by visiting sara...
Sep 15, 2019•30 min
This week, we are joined by show favorite, entertainment lawyer Cassandra Spangler. She talks to us about the rise of indie hip hop artists and why hip-hop and EDM producers should always get 50% of the publishing on the songs they help create. She also gives her thoughts on the recent copyright lawsuits involving artists like Katy Perry and Robin Thicke. You can find out more about her work by visiting www.cspanglermusiclaw.com.Rate/review/subscribe to the Break the Business Podcast on iTunes, ...
Sep 08, 2019•19 min
This week, Ryan is joined by music entrepreneur J Bonilla. J is the co-founder and creative director of The Elements, a music licensing and sound design company based out of LA and London. The Elements specializes in the creation of “minirecords,” or record-quality original music for brands (music that sounds like it could be on the radio, but was actually created specifically for an ad campaign). Ryan talks to J about how minirecords are changing the world of sync and the opportunities that exi...
Aug 25, 2019•19 min
This week, Ryan is joined by two representatives from the music distribution company Soundrop (Pony, Brand Manager and Rebecca Helgeson, Community Manager). Soundrop specializes in music distribution and cover song licensing for indie artists and are particularly a distributor of choice for artists who want to distribute covers. Soundrop is currently partnering with humanitarian organization Save the Children for a unique collaboration called Create for Kids. Create for Kids features donated son...
Aug 18, 2019•18 min
This week, Ryan chats with Chris Jones, the co-founder of music streaming service Ursa. Ursa's platform focuses on being "artist-centered" by allowing creators to post additional content alongside their recordings to help build fan engagement. Ursa is also offering other elements within its platform, including its patent-pending linkable credits feature which will allow music fans to discover the work of all of the contributors to a recording. Ryan talks to Chris about the Ursa platform and gets...
Aug 11, 2019•20 min
Break the Business was at this year's Independent Music Awards and is bringing you a series of episodes featuring short interviews from IMA nominees and winners as well as other music industry professionals attending the event. You will hear from a bunch of fantastic indie music figures from all over the world, sharing with you TONS of information and inspiration. This is our last week of IMA episodes and we get back to regular podcasting format starting next week!Featured on this episode: Krist...
Aug 04, 2019•27 min
Break the Business was at this year's Independent Music Awards and is bringing you a series of episodes featuring short interviews from IMA nominees and winners as well as other music industry professionals attending the event. You will hear from a bunch of fantastic indie music figures from all over the world, sharing with you TONS of information and inspiration.Featured on this episode: Mamita Peyote (@mamitapeyote, mamitapeyote.com); Jessica La Rel (@Jessica_LaRel, jessicalarel.com); Katie Ca...
Jul 22, 2019•22 min
Break the Business was at this year's Independent Music Awards and is bringing you a series of episodes featuring short interviews from IMA nominees and winners as well as other music industry professionals attending the event. You will hear from a bunch of fantastic indie music figures from all over the world, sharing with you TONS of information and inspiration.Featured on this episode: Low Lily (@LowLilyBand, lowlily.com); Amira Al-Jiboori (@CasiiStephan); Sara Lovell (@saralovellmusic); Lucy...
Jul 21, 2019•22 min
Break the Business was at this year's Independent Music Awards and is bringing you a series of episodes featuring short interviews from IMA nominees and winners as well as other music industry professionals attending the event. You will hear from a bunch of fantastic indie music figures from all over the world, sharing with you TONS of information and inspiration.Featured on this episode: Patrice Jegou (@PatriceJegou, patricejegou.com); Elizabeth Joan Kelly (@ElizabethJelly, elizabethjoankelly.c...
Jul 14, 2019•25 min
Break the Business was at this year's Independent Music Awards and is bringing you a series of episodes featuring short interviews from IMA nominees and winners as well as other music industry professionals attending the event. You will hear from a bunch of fantastic indie music figures from all over the world, sharing with you TONS of information and inspiration. Featured on this episode: Stone Mecca (@stonemecca, stonemeccamusic.com); Amazing Show (@amazingshowtw); Bombay Rickey (@bombayrickey...
Jul 07, 2019•25 min
This week, Ryan chats with music supervisor Alec J. Stern. He is the Director of Music for two Chicago-based advertising agencies, DDB and We are Unlimited. Alec talks about his work, detailing how he helps brands find the right music for their campaigns. Oftentimes, that "right music" comes from an indie artist that may not be well-known, and so Alec gives some advice on how indie artists can position their music for these sorts of projects. Find out more about our guests's work by visiting www...
Jul 01, 2019•21 min
This week, Ryan talks to Musician Monster founder Greg Wilnau. Greg has a lot of great advice for you about building your brand as an indie artist, but you will also want to hear what he has to say about living your life on your own terms and having the courage to blaze your own trail--both professionally and personally. Get yourself a copy of Greg's Music Branding Cheat Sheet by visiting www.musicianmonster.com/brand.Rate/review/subscribe to the Break the Business Podcast on iTunes, SoundCloud,...
Jun 23, 2019•19 min
The Independent Music Awards are next week! Ryan sits down with one of our favorite guests, acclaimed publicist and Cyber PR founder Ariel Hyatt, to break down the IMAs and discuss how indie artists like you can get more involved in this awesome event. Ryan and Ariel will be hosting workshops and serving as mentors at the IMAs, June 21-22 in New York City. Get your tickets here! independentmusicawards.com/ima-ikon-2019/. Ryan and Ariel also talk about Ariel's new e-book "Fan 1st", which you can ...
Jun 16, 2019•18 min
This week, Ryan sits down with Emily Plazek, founder of Music Industry Connected. MIC's latest initiative is The Mountain, a platform that helps artists achieve success and balance their business strategy, art, and personal life using a six-step process. The first segment of the mountain is available now. and you can check it out and MIC’s services by visiting www.musicindustryconnected.com. Emily talks to Ryan about The Mountain, finding work-life balance in your music career, and overcoming th...
Jun 09, 2019•20 min
