Our guest this week is legendary Cellist Zoe Keating. Zoe is an independent artist who found success in fusing musical styles through technology. Her music has been used in television shows, radio shows, and has been used in over 20,000 third party videos. Beyond that, her work has hit #7 on the Billboard Classical charts, and #1 on iTunes classical charts- 4 times.
She is a tremendous advocate for artist and creator rights and speaks at regular engagements about the mechanics of the music industry economy. Zoe joins us to talk about the path that music took her, and the successes and hardships she faced on her journey, in this episode of The Big Break.
Show Notes
1:18Where are you calling us from today?
1:40How have you been managing with the current COVID-19 situation?
3:10Have you been doing any streaming performances?
4:49Take us back to when you first became interested in music in general
7:15Did your parents encourage you into music?
8:50So was it always the Cello for you? Or were there other instruments you enjoyed?
9:16At what point did you determine that music was something you wanted to do?
11:30When you were at Sarah Lawrence did you focus on music? Or was it just liberal arts?
13:05Talk to us about switching from being in an orchestra, to composing your own works
15:34When you started to mix the music yourself, did that start you on the path to your current music?
17:50Why did you move out to the Bay Area? How did you sustain yourself as a musician?
20:20Getting taken advantage of professionally
23:05Was there a momentum generating event for music while you were working in the food industry?
24:35Putting out newspaper ads
25:14Van Gogh’s Daughter
26:40Did your own personal mixing and recording come back into play?
28:30Digital Performer
30:20Were you focusing on licensing as you got more serious into your music?
32:50A lot of the artists we talk to didn’t have one big break, but several small breaks. Would you say that was similar to your experience?
34:30Were there events that led to that evolution of your career that helped it grow and get to that next track?
41:00Having a track broadcast on NPR and getting the iTunes #1
42:30Being the biggest fish of your small pond, and putting yourself out there
44:16You have always been aware and open about your earnings in music- how did that become part of your outlook?
45:50Having control over your work, and being at the mercy of labels and publishers
49:11“I didn’t want to have to use my physical appearance to sell the music.”
52:55Publicly speaking for independent artists
55:30The impact of Spotify
57:55Releasing earnings figures and what that means
61:00Elementary on CBS
63:20Thanks for joining us
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