While many have speculated about what the long term economic impacts of the COVID-19 quarantine might be, fewer have openly discussed what the long term psychological impacts on society might be. In this episode, Portia speaks with several mental health experts who were actively working with musicians before the quarantine began, and gets their take on what was working for their clients pre-quarantine and what should happen next, if those mental health gains are to be maintained.
May 15, 2020•57 min•Transcript available on Metacast Over the past several episodes, Portia has had countless discussions with the heads of music business organizations who represent various facets of the industry within the United States. This week, she’s speaking with their peers and equivalents in the U.K. and E.U. about how they’re weathering the pandemic, and what efforts their various governing bodies are making to aid musicians and other cultural workers in this time of crisis. The six person panel also speculates on what happens next withi...
May 08, 2020•56 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #186 : While the effects of the COVID-19 quarantine on live entertainment and brick and mortar retail are already apparent, other sectors of the music industry like publishing haven’t truly felt the effects of the pandemic yet because of their buffered collection timeline. Will some sectors bare the brunt of this pandemic, while others thrive? Join us this week as Portia speaks candidly with members of the MusicBiz board about how they intend on mediating the effects of this pandemic on ...
May 01, 2020•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #185 : It should come as no surprise that independent record stores have been particularly hard hit by the “shelter in place” orders established by many states around the country in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak. Some retailers have pivoted to online sales and other creative means to keep customers happy, but for many brick and mortars, this move just isn’t enough to maintain community or their bottom line. To make matters worse, the revenue generated by Record Store Day will not be ...
Apr 24, 2020•52 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #184 : On this week’s episode, we’re revisiting another MusicBiz LIVE! event that features candid conversation about what music business trade associations are doing to help their specific constituencies navigate the COVID-19 quagmire. Joining Portia in conversation about the CARES Act and more are : Mitch Glazier and Michele Ballantyne of the RIAA, Richard Burgess of A2IM, Bart Herbison of the NSIA, David Israelite of the NMPA and Sarah Trahern of the CMA. Listen in to find out what rel...
Apr 17, 2020•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #183 : In the few weeks since our last episode, COVID19 has changed the world and how we interact with one another, and that has had many impacts upon the music business as a whole. With venues and record stores closed to the public for the foreseeable future, musicians are having to find new ways to interact with their fans, and because of the quarantine, most of those interactions are happening virtually. To help with this transition to a digital-only reality, the teams at Facebook and...
Apr 10, 2020•57 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #182 : While many people start their career in the music business by forming a band or record label, and learning the industry’s norms and quirks largely through trial and error, others choose to enroll in various university programs to learn about the industry. This week we’re exploring what those university programs look like for both undergraduate and graduate students, and what the key takeaways from those programs are. Join us as we speak with Serona Elton (University of Miami), Joe...
Mar 13, 2020•57 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #181 : Music production has become increasingly fragmented thanks to the advent of affordable studio technology and high speed internet connections, which comes with both benefits and drawbacks. The main benefit is that band members and songwriting teams can now collaborate from anywhere in the world at any time of day, and they can arrange for special guest features with little more than a simple email exchange. The drawback to this evolution is that proper attribution for these collabo...
Mar 06, 2020•57 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #180 : Matt Black and Jonathan Fine first joined forces in the late 1980’s, after a chance encounter at a local record shop. Now, some thirty-odd years later, the two are still working together in multiple capacities, and show no signs of stopping. They’ve released multiple albums as the electronic duo Coldcut, and helped produce several others, in addition to founding the highly regarded UK electronic label Ninja Tune, which is now in its thirtieth year of existence. In the recent past,...
Feb 28, 2020•48 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #179 : Touring has quickly become one of the most effective ways for bands and artists to earn money in the streaming era, despite the fact that getting around is more expensive than it’s ever been. Thankfully, some new technologies have made planning and booking a tour easier than ever, so that bands and artists can push into new markets, without the same level of financial risk that was associated with doing so in the past. Join us this week as we speak with Fabrice Sergent (BandsInTow...
Feb 21, 2020•58 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #178 : While music consumption has pivoted away from piracy and downloads, the spectre of the past is once again looming over the industry, as podcasts become an even more dominant medium. Generally unregulated, most podcasts contain at least one musical work, that is likely unlicensed, which means that those episodes you’re downloading are really no different than the unauthorized downloads of the past. So, will the industry coalesce around a standard blanket license to solve this issue...
Feb 14, 2020•57 min•Transcript available on Metacast When you hear people within the industry referring to “The Black Box,” they’re most likely referring to the growing sum of undistributed and/or undistributable royalties that have been collected on an artist’s behalf by organizations like SoundExchange. What happens with this “Black Box” is a hotly debated topic within the industry, as every collection society that has one deals with these unclaimed royalties differently. Join us as we discuss the problem and its potential solutions with John Si...
Feb 07, 2020•57 min•Transcript available on Metacast As we move into 2020, two things have become all the more apparent, artists have to view themselves as small businesses in order to survive, and income streams within the industry are increasingly fragmented. Thankfully, these trends have been tracked for several years in a row, and there are a multitude of services available to bands, artists, and songwriters to help them collect these fractionalized income streams so that they can keep their creative businesses afloat and their rights secure. ...
Jan 24, 2020•45 min•Transcript available on Metacast Since 2015, the Nashville Entrepreneur Center has played host to Project Music, an accelerator program for tech start-ups whose focus is upon creating solutions for the music industry. This first of its kind accelerator program has supported five different cohorts to date, and several members of those cohorts have already gone to market with their unique solutions, as a result of the mentorship and fundraising help they received through the program.
Jan 17, 2020•57 min•Transcript available on Metacast After several years of growth, the music business no longer feels like its in freefall, and some hopeful industry insiders are hinting that the best is yet to come in the 2020’s. As streaming goes global, and the overall adoption rate goes up across the board, continued revenue growth will be the norm in 2020 and beyond, which is to say nothing of the new ways that music is being monetized in video games, short form video, and more. Join us as we hear 2020 projections from Vickie Nauman of Cross...
Jan 10, 2020•1 hr 8 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today’s streaming market is a crowded arena that’s chock full of big brands, all of whom are vying for the same monthly subscribers, but none of them have truly distinguished themselves from the other. Yes, they all have different visual interfaces and apps, and some are even offering higher bitrates, but as listeners switch over to voice activated listening via smart speakers, how will users know the difference between Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, etc. when the interaction becomes purely audio?...
Jan 03, 2020•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast With 2019 coming to an end, it feels like the right time to highlight a few of our audience’s most listened to episodes and of the year, so we’re doing a best of 2019 this week! We went through this year’s stats, and isolated the top ten episodes of the year, and then culled the most informative and/or interesting interviews from that bunch. Listen in as we revisit our interviews with writer Cherie Hu, former Merlin CEO Charles Caldas, and Bayonet Records owner Katie Garcia.
Dec 27, 2019•59 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 this episode, we speak with Chelsea Cressman (AGD Entertainment) and Cameo Carlson (mTheory) about the ...
Dec 20, 2019•1 hr•Transcript available on Metacast 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 dates entirely in the process, costing them countless dollars, but also chart positions, which means l...
Nov 22, 2019•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 companies like Ursa Music, Corite, and Pitch who are creating new revenue streams for artists and labels, ra...
Nov 15, 2019•53 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 decades, as does Craig Finn, who’s bands The Hold Steady and Lifter Puller have enjoyed success unde...
Nov 08, 2019•44 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 scared off of sampling, and/or confused by the myriad of clearances and fees needed to sample legally....
Nov 01, 2019•51 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 cases, and now there are companies stepping in with solutions. On this episode, we speak with Bruno Gue...
Sep 27, 2019•40 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 often costs hundreds of thousands of dollars in court and attorney(s) fees, and you must travel to D...
Sep 20, 2019•44 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 developed a web based “virtual management” application that helps developing artists manage themselves, as w...
Sep 06, 2019•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 talk to Charles Caldas, the man at the helm of Merlin for the past eleven years, along with Jorge Br...
Aug 02, 2019•46 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 this topic with journalists, PR folks, and band managers, and talk about what comes next for this s...
Jul 19, 2019•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 with international crossover hits from bands like Junior Senior and The Raveonettes, while Johannes ...
Jul 05, 2019•44 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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, based on time of day, the specific plan you’re on, etc.? On this episode, we talk to Vickie Nauman a...
Jun 21, 2019•51 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 shows as part of her tour route. Rounding out the episode, we talk about the non-traditional venue hos...
Jun 13, 2019•1 hr 10 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
