Dewey Bunnell From America, No Artist Pay For Airplay, And New Acoustic Advances On My Latest Podcast

My guest on the podcast this week is Dewey Bunnell, who’s a founding member and half of the band with a lot of big hits that you probably know well – America.  Dewey’s best known compositions include “Horse With No Name,” “Ventura Highway,” “Tin Man” and “The Border,” among many others. During this long interview we talked about […]

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Why Would Anyone Think That Microsoft Buying TikTok Is A Good Idea?

Rumors are wildly swirling that Microsoft will purchase the social video platform TikTok within the next 45 days or so, and as a result, you’ll find dozens of articles touting what a great fit it would be, at least for Microsoft. To this I say, “What cool aid are you drinking?” Forgetting the complex legal, […]

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Latest Data Shows That Music Videos Still Dominate YouTube

While gaming may be huge, it still has a way to go when it comes to overtaking music videos in terms of YouTube consumption, according to the latest data from the analysis group Pex. Music’s 2,944 views per video minute was more than twice of the nearest category (Entertainment) and more than 22 times that […]

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Google Play Will Be Silenced In December

Even though it was first announced in 2017 that Google Play would eventually be folded into YouTube Music, it still may come as a shock to many that the day of reckoning will be arriving soon. Google recently announced that it will be turning off the lights on the platform in December. If you’re an […]

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Music Videos Coming To Facebook, Capturing The Sounds Of Mars, And Songwriter/Entrepreneur Adam McInnis On My Latest Podcast

My guest on the podcast this week is Adam McInnis, who’s a singer/songwriter most known for his work on tv and film as well as for collaborating with the top DJ’s of EDM.  He has interests in 3 publishing companies, a recording studio in Austin, a skin care line, and a yearly songwriter camp in Costa Rica called […]

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If You Think Music Streaming Is The Devil, Think Again

It seems like a week doesn’t go by without someone from the “old music business” complaining about how small the royalty checks are these days and blaming it all on music streaming. Never mind that the music business paradigm was way different 20 to 50 years ago. Never mind that the music person making noise […]

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Tomorrowland Shows That Virtual Festivals Can Be A Real Thing

When the lockdown hit all over the world most artists eventually tried switching to livestreaming their own live concerts. Not only did that prove not to make money, but artists found they were actually losing money on the deal, as each one cost between $10,000 and $15,000 to stage. Virtually all festivals have punted on […]

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BeatStars Is A New Digital Distributor With A Great Price

There are plenty of digital distributors that can post your music to the various online streaming services, and now it’s gotten to the point where the major difference between them is their cost. This price can be anywhere from a monthly or yearly fee, to a fee per song or album, to a percentage of […]

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Gen-Z Influencing Listening, The 5 Mix Elements, And Composer David O On My Latest Podcast

My guest on the podcast this week is David O, who’s work as a composer is enhanced by his unique skills as a multi-faceted music-theatre artist, pianist, conductor, arranger, vocal coach, and sometimes actor.  He’s received numerous awards and accolades over the years for his work, including Ovation Awards, LA Weekly and LA Drama Critics Circle Awards, Backstage […]

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Billboard Shakes Up Its Charts Yet Again, This Time For The Better

Let’s face it, the song popularity charts, no matter where they come from, are primarily for people in the music industry. It’s bragging rights for the record labels and the artists, and supposedly a measure of how well a song or album is resonating with the public. That said, it’s getting more and more difficult […]

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SoundCloud Now Offers Dolby Audio Mastering

In order to compete against the other streaming services, SoundCloud has to offer more to creators. The good thing is that it constantly adds new features, and a brand new one is audio mastering, and it’s powered by Dolby. If you just asked yourself, “I didn’t know that Dolby offered audio mastering,” then join the […]

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UK Gives Music Venus Aid, Red Bull Studios Close, And Austrian Audio CEO Martin Seidl On My Latest Podcast

My guest on the podcast this week is Martin Seidl, who spearheaded the drive to start Austrian Audio from the ashes of AKG after Harmon decided to close the company 3 years ago.  In what might be an unprecedented move, Martin managed to keep the core of AKG together to start the new company and keep it operating […]

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Nielsen Mid-Year Music Report, Korg And Roland Get Fined, And Sweetwater’s Chuck Surack On My Latest Podcast

My guest on the podcast this week is Chuck Surack, who supplemented his playing career as a sax and keyboard player with a makeshift recording studio in the back of a his Volkswagen bus.  That mobile studio was the departure point for what was to become the largest online music retailer in the world – Sweetwater Sound. The […]

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There’s A New YouTube RPM Metric That’s Perfect For Creators

When it comes to sorting through the metrics that YouTube provides creators, it’s always required some extra math to determine if you’re really making money or not. The platform made CPM available (cost per thousand impressions), but that really didn’t tell you much except provide a general idea of what it cost an advertiser to […]

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The Row Over TikTok Shows Why You Can’t Depend On Social Networks

Over the last 5 years or so, musicians, artists, labels and businesses have sometimes taken to thinking that their online presence could be maintained just on social media. History has shown us that’s a bad strategy with multiple scenarios that have played out over time, and it looks like we’re seeing it happen again with […]

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