Singer, songwriter, producer and artist development/vocal coach Jeremiah Abiah is our special guest in this week's podcast episode #155 which is the final episode for 2020. Jeremiah, whose artist name is simply "Abiah" shares an extremely poignant account of his diverse journey in the music industry including working with such artists as Shanice, George Michaels, Amel Larrieux and Yolanda Adams. Having a Cuban and Ghanaian lineage, Jeremiah grew up listening to music throughout the Black diaspor...
Dec 14, 2020•44 min•Transcript available on Metacast Singer/songwriter Nialand is our next featured "Artist on the Rise" special guest in this week's podcast episode #154. Nialand is a Chicago-based artist who has an extremely diverse background in music both as an artist, background vocalist and even hype girl for legendary hip hop artist MC Lyte. Nialand shares her journey as an independent artist including releasing her first album in 2006 and then going on to provide supporting vocals for such artists as Chico Debarge, Roy Ayers, Lupe Fiasco a...
Dec 06, 2020•43 min•Transcript available on Metacast R&B/Soul singer/songwriter Sherry Amour is our featured "Artist on the Rise" special guest in this week's podcast episode #153. Sherry defines herself as an "artistpreneur" given her career is a mix of being an artist and an entrepreneur. Her entrepreneur hat is worn both while managing her music career while also running her own project management small business. Sherry shares her journey as an independent artist including how she began as a child singing and being heavily influenced by various...
Nov 30, 2020•44 min•Transcript available on Metacast International publicist Diane Hinds is our special guest in this week's podcast episode #151. Diane shares her dynamic journey in the music business as a public relations entrepreneur including how she began with an extreme passion for radio and evolved into a consummate music industry professional and educator. Having worked for BBC radio and then working for major labels like Arista, Diane gained a wealth of diverse experiences that allowed her to take a leap of faith and create her PR firm, T...
Nov 16, 2020•44 min•Transcript available on Metacast Co-hosts Dr. William E. Smith & Kenya McGuire Johnson celebrate their 150th episode with a discussion about the importance of taking small steps to reach big music goals. William and Kenya each share moments where small steps lead to a pivotal moment in their music careers. Listeners will be inspired to keep taking steps forward while finding the value of being patient and celebrating each moment no matter how small it may seem. www.makingmoneyinthemusicbiz.com
Nov 08, 2020•52 min•Transcript available on Metacast R&B/Soul recording artist Tracy Cruz is our special guest in this week's podcast episode #152. Tracy shares her dynamic journey as an independent artist including how she began as a child singing for her Philipino family receiving accolades for her amazing voice. Having released her first music project in 2006, Tracy describes a variety of situations that demonstrate her passion and dedication to being a professional musician. As a result, she has won numerous music awards, began her own vocal c...
Nov 08, 2020•43 min•Transcript available on Metacast In this special episode #149, Kenya interviews co-host Dr. William Smith in order for the audience to get to know more about the person behind the podcast. William shares an introspective discussion about his background in music including his journey of attending New York's LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts (which the movie Fame is derived) and Howard University. Throughout his education, William explored and developed many aspects of his artistry including visual arts, pl...
Nov 02, 2020•47 min•Transcript available on Metacast In this special episode #148, Dr. William Smith interviews co-host Kenya McGuire Johnson in order for the audience to get to know more about the person behind the podcast. Kenya shares an introspective discussion about her upbringing and background in music including being raised in a household where her father was a drummer and where she was constantly surrounded by music mostly within jazz, soul, funk and classic R&B. While music was very much a part of her childhood and adolescence, Kenya lef...
Oct 26, 2020•48 min•Transcript available on Metacast Recording artist and music producer Tall Black Guy (whose formal name is Terrel Wallace) is our special guest in this week's podcast episode #147. Terrel shares a dynamic and valuable conversation about his almost 20 year journey in music including how his love for music has made way for him to establish a sustainable career in the industry. From working with many noteworthy artists to being recognized for his progressive spin on hip hop and soul music, Terrel explains the 5 top ways he has been...
Oct 18, 2020•42 min•Transcript available on Metacast Co-hosts Dr. William E. Smith & Kenya McGuire Johnson discuss how to maximize use of the music licensing company Songtradr in this week's podcast episode 146. Dr. Smith leads the conversation by highlighting some of the major advantages of using Songtradr as an independent artist who wants to break into music licensing. Listeners will gain step-by-step strategies of how to register and use Songtradr as well as gain insight into some of the frequently asked questions artists have when creating a ...
Oct 11, 2020•47 min•Transcript available on Metacast Sarah Ponder, Music Director at APM (Sony, ATV-EMI/Universal Music Publishing) is our special guest in this week's podcast episode #145. Sarah shares an extremely informative and valuable conversation about her journey as a music supervisor and now director at a major music licensing library including how she went from being a dancer to freelance music supervisor for independent entertainment clients to now working for major labels/clients. Sarah provides a wonderful outlook of how busy her side...
Oct 04, 2020•43 min•Transcript available on Metacast Singer/songwriter Kenny Wesley is our special guest in this week's podcast episode #144. Kenny shares an amazing and valuable conversation about his journey in the music business not only as a musician but also as an eclectic creative who has managed to tie all of his passions into creating a successful entrepreneur lifestyle. Singing as young as a toddler and playing piano for church choirs and weddings at age nine has lead Kenny to a diverse journey including attending Howard University direct...
Sep 28, 2020•45 min•Transcript available on Metacast Publicist Vanessa Abron, owner of Abron Agency is our special guest in this week's podcast episode #143. Vanessa shares an enthusiastic and valuable conversation about her journey in the music business as a public relations professional including how she went from being an artist/creative herself to working for major labels like Def Jam and Hidden Beach to being jobless to becoming an entrepreneur and starting her own PR firm. Vanessa provides a unique outlook of how she has combined her intuiti...
Sep 20, 2020•43 min•Transcript available on Metacast Kenya M. Johnson & Dr, William Smith return from their summer hiatus to kick off their podcast's new season discussing "What Do You Do Now?" in episode 142. Now that venues are closing, audiences are not gathering, festivals are cancelled and shows/movies aren't being filmed as usual, what do artists do? The co-hosts share five top ways musicians can survive and thrive in today's current climate. They include: 1. Producing/performing live stream events 2. Build patreon, crowdfunding and other su...
Sep 13, 2020•44 min•Transcript available on Metacast This is a summer replay of our topic discussion on Artist Development www.makingmoneyinthemusicbiz.com
Aug 31, 2020•42 min•Transcript available on Metacast This is a summer replay of our topic discussion on Finding Your Voice www.makingmoneyinthemusicbiz.com
Aug 24, 2020•37 min•Transcript available on Metacast This is a summer replay of our interview with producer Centric www.makingmoneyinthemusicbiz.com
Aug 17, 2020•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast This is a summer replay of our interview with vocalist Shirley Jones www.makingmoneyinthemusicbiz.com
Aug 10, 2020•44 min•Transcript available on Metacast This is a summer replay of our interview with music supervisor Angela Jollivette www.makingmoneyinthemusicbiz.com
Aug 03, 2020•43 min•Transcript available on Metacast This is a summer replay of Episode #123 our interview with Tony Award-winning actor/vocalist Melba Moore. www.makingmoneyinthemusicbiz.com
Jul 27, 2020•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast This is a summer replay of Episode #98 where we talk about "Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone." www.makingmoneyinthemusicbiz.com
Jul 19, 2020•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast This is a summer replay of Episode #123 our interview with cellist and vocalist Shana Tucker. www.makingmoneyinthemusicbiz.com
Jul 12, 2020•51 min•Transcript available on Metacast This is a summer replay of Episode #105 our interview with artist, composer and musical director Michael Bearden. www.makingmoneyinthemusicbiz.com
Jul 05, 2020•45 min•Transcript available on Metacast R&B/Soul recording artist Guordan Banks is our special guest in this week's podcast episode #132 which is the final episode of the season. Guordan shares a sincere and candid conversation about his journey in the music industry in addition to delivering a conscientious perspective about Black music in general. His journey includes starting an independent artist career in Philly, developing a small label/team and going on to release his hit single "Keep You in Mind" which hit the #1 spot on Billb...
Jun 29, 2020•40 min•Transcript available on Metacast Dr. William E. Smith and Kenya M. Johnson discuss a variety of artist development opportunities they are producing and facilitating virtually this summer. The opportunities include monetizing music, increasing revenue, personal development & transformation during today's pandemic and civil unrest as well as music business management online classes & jazz camps. Listeners will gain valuable insight about the importance of artist & personal development during changing times and next steps to parti...
Jun 21, 2020•36 min•Transcript available on Metacast Music Manager, author and podcaster Cheryl Stabler is our special guest in this week's podcast episode #130. Cheryl shares a heartfelt conversation about her journey in the music industry as a music manager and a "behind the scenes" producer of multiple aspects of artist development and promotion. She started in the business working with recording artist Rachelle Ferrell showing her the ropes of the music business particularly with road/tour management. Later in her journey, she managed notewort...
Jun 14, 2020•43 min•Transcript available on Metacast Vocalist & recording artist Paula Champion is our special guest in this week's podcast episode #129. Paula shares an insightful conversation about her journey in the music industry as both a background vocalist as well as a solo artist. Her journey includes working with such noteworthy celebrity artists as Gerald Levert, Angie Stone, Neyo, Pharrell Williams and a host of other extremely accomplished musicians. Paula is candid about her journey from being a background singer to becoming a solo ar...
Jun 07, 2020•43 min•Transcript available on Metacast R&B/Soul recording artist Bradd Marquis is our special guest in this week's podcast episode #128. Bradd shares an honest and valuable conversation about his journey in the music business including his fast pace initial success with his hit single "Radio." He also admits how he didn't fully capitalize off of this success due to the fast pace. Bradd provides extremely informative points of how upcoming independent artists should consider their development including writing a business plan, keeping...
Jun 01, 2020•40 min•Transcript available on Metacast Grammy nominated jazz duo The Baylor Project is our very special guest in this week's podcast episode #127. The Baylor Project is comprised of married couple Marcus Baylor (former drummer for the iconic jazz group The Yellow Jackets) and Jean Baylor (former singer in the hit R&B/soul group Zhane). They both share engaging and extremely informative information about their current music careers as well as their previous experiences as signed major label artists. Now, they are independently produci...
May 24, 2020•42 min•Transcript available on Metacast Melba Moore, legendary singer and award-winning actress, is our very special guest in this week's podcast episode #126. Melba shares her incredible career as a celebrity artist including her childhood growing up within a very artistic family which inspired her to pursue her passion for music. As a singer, she began her career doing studio background vocals after meeting Valerie Simpson. Later she was cast in the Broadway production of Hair and eventually cast in Purlie which landed her a Tony aw...
May 18, 2020•47 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
