Shows
BeatseekerMastering and Remastering Masterpieces at Abbey Road StudiosAbbey Road Studios is the most famous recording studio in the world, renowned for its creativity and technological excellence. It is a global icon that for the last 90 years has been the musical home to artists such as The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Ella Fitzgerald, Radiohead, Ed Sheeran, Kanye West, Lady Gaga,, Amy Winehouse and Adele. We wanted an insider take on this sacred studio so we could learn about the art of mastering and remastering music.
Our studio guide is Simon Gibson. Simon is one of the world's leading audio restoration and remastering engineers and has 30 years’ expe...
2023-08-1542 minBeatseekerPlaying with Music. Endless Music, Endless FunAt Beatseeker, we love music and we love games, so combining them in interesting ways is bound to get our attention. Our guest today blurs the lines between music creation and video games and he has even developed an arcade-style ‘Beat Machine’ which puts musical creativity at the centre of any private or public space.
Meet Tim Shaw, AKA Tim Exile, a producer and performer of electronic music spanning drum and bass, IDM, breakcore and gabber. A classically trained violinist, Tim began experimenting with electronic music aged 12 and never looked back. Unsatisfied with the possibilities of conventional DJing...
2023-08-0143 minBeatseekerIf Music is Medicine, What’s Your Prescription?If administered correctly, can music be used as medicine? We reached out to a fascinating company called MediMusic for some answers. MediMusic creates individualized playlists that reduce heart rate and influence the Vagus nerve to stimulate a positive physio-endocrine response. The software uses algorithms to automatically create playlists based on a range of academic data on how people consume music –like age, gender and nationality – that prompt a positive physiological and emotional response.
Joining us today is Gary Jones, the CEO and Co-founder of MediMusic. Gary is an award-winning entrepreneur with 30 years of experience in music and conten...
2023-07-1824 minBeatseekerWhat’s That Sound Giving Me the Chills? All About ASMR.Ever get the chills when listening to some amazing music? It used to be something that occurred accidentally but is now being engineered by artists and influencers into a more potent form called ASMR. ASMR or Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response, has captured the attention of the Internet with millions watching viral clips of whispered voices, delicate hand movements or tapping.
Our guide to ASMR is Giulia Poerio, an associate lecturer at the University of Sussex. Dr. Poerio is a world-renowned expert on ASMR and was one of the first academics to conduct formal studies on the subject. Sh...
2023-06-2731 minBeatseekerInside Vevo, the OG of Music VideosThe vast majority of people go to YouTube for video content on the web, but when it comes to music videos, Vevo is the OG. Jointly owned and operated by the big record labels, Vevo specializes in streaming music videos and artist-exclusive content. Even when you stream a music video from YouTube, chances are that it was served up by Vevo.
Taking us inside the company is JP Evangelista, Vevo’s Senior Vice President of Content, Programming & Marketing. JP oversees Vevo’s original content, production, music programming, editorial, talent, events, label relations & social teams globally. He’s the ideal...
2023-06-1326 minBeatseekerThe Rapid Globalization of Music and CultureMusic and other media are becoming increasingly globalized. Not so long ago, it was rare to discover music that originated far from your home. But now it’s increasingly easy to discover music, movies and TV shows made anywhere in the world. We now watch shows like the Korean hit Squid Game and listen to Puerto Rican sensation Bad Bunny without giving it much thought.
To explain the rapid globalization of music and culture, we reached Srishti Das in Mumbai. Srishti graduated from Berklee Valencia with a masters degree in music business, and went on to work in d...
2023-05-3031 minBeatseekerVirtual Orchestra: When the Composer Can’t be in the RoomThe pandemic caused many of us to work from home. For most people this wasn’t a big deal but if you’re a world renowned composer who needs to collaborate with a big symphony, a zoom meeting just isn’t going to cut it. Today you’ll hear about a very unique work from home story that inspired a novel workaround. Like many pandemic innovations, it turns out this workaround had lasting benefits long after things have returned to normal.
Joining us today are the duo that developed this technology, Jody Elff and Anna Clyne. Elff is a Gra...
2023-05-1633 minBeatseekerWhy do Pizza Hut, lululemon and UFC Need Their Own Streaming Apps?It seems like there’s little room to enter the music streaming market with companies like Spotify, Apple, Amazon and Tencent dominating global market share, but innovators always seem to find a way in. Tuned Global is a B2B streaming technology provider that helps companies launch their own streaming services. Their technology has been used by some of the big names, including the UFC, Warner, Universal and Sony Music Group.
Joining us today is Con Raso, the founder and Managing Director of Tuned Global. Con is a life-long innovator and music technologist, who has cre...
2023-05-0223 minBeatseekerLet’s Start with BTS. Two-way Live Streamed Concerts with KisweLive streamed concerts gained some momentum during the pandemic, but will people keep attending now that things have returned to normal? To help us answer this, we spoke to the industry leader in live streaming - Kiswe. Kiswe’s two-way video technology enables audiences to both consume and contribute to live digital content. They have delivered the world’s largest digital pay-per-view events and serve some of the top sports, media, and entertainment companies.
Joining us today is Glenn Booth, CEO at Kiswe. Glenn was named one of Billboard's 2022 International Power Players and previously held senio...
2023-04-1828 minBeatseekerOn Aux for 20,000 Fans: Toronto Maple Leafs DJ Cale GrantonMusic is an important tool for sports teams to get fans - and players - amped up for a game. The tunes need to rock the arena to keep the energy level high and a DJ needs to pick the right song to match each game situation. We wondered what it must be like to be a pro sports DJ: what’s involved in preparing and what it’s like to spin tunes for a big game. Taking us behind the scenes is music producer and DJ, Cale Granton.
Cale has performed alongside top musical talents including Snoop...
2023-04-0434 minBeatseekerPiracy, Censorship & Copyright in Today’s Music Tech ClimateThe launch of Napster in June of 1999 ushered in a new era for the music industry. Music was pulled kicking and screaming into the digital era and the demise of the CD format was not long off. The subsequent collapse in revenues for music, caused the industry to reluctantly embrace streaming platforms like Spotify it also caused far reaching ripple effects we are still living with today in both music and culture at large.
Here to explain is Dr. Aram Sinnreich. Aram is a Professor and chair of the Communication Studies division at American University’s School of...
2023-03-2144 minBeatseekerMusic is What Makes Us Human: The Musical Human with Michael SpitzerThe connection between music and human beings runs deeper than you might think. Humans are innately musical beings - and our relationship with music has been deeply intertwined since the homo sapiens first emerged. Our guest today is Michael Spitzer, who boldly makes the case that music is the most important thing we ever did; and is in fact a fundamental part of what makes us human.
Michael is a British musicologist and professor of Music at the University of Liverpool. He is the author of four books including his most recent, The Musical Human: A History...
2023-03-0728 minBeatseekerSwipe to Like, Save and Share. HotDrop is a New Way to Discover What’s Hot in Indie MusicAt Beatseeker, we’re constantly looking for new ways to discover good tunes. HotDrop is a new app that guides music lovers and discoverers through a feed of underground indie music. In their words, HotDrop “... keeps your music taste fresh with millions of new songs you've never heard before.”
Here to tell us how it all works is HotDrop’s CEO Max Goldberg. Max and his co-founder Steven Segel founded the company in their Indiana University dorm room. Max is a self-taught app developer and sold his first app venture when he was still in high school. He joins...
2023-02-2121 minBeatseekerThe Fight to Break Up TicketmasterAny concertgoer will tell you that good tickets are hard to come by, cost an arm and a leg and charge an obscene amount of service fees. Ticketmaster has a firm stranglehold on the business of concert ticketing and ever since merging with promoter and venue operator Live Nation in 2010, critics have pointed to an unfair marketplace for consumers. Here to break down the problem is Krista Brown, one of the people fighting to break up the monopoly in an effort to put an end to their unparalleled influence over the ticketing market.
Krista is a Senior...
2023-02-0731 minBeatseekerClassical Music. It’s What the Cool Kids Are IntoClassical music is making a big comeback. More and more people - including the younger generation - are enjoying music that was written hundreds of years ago. Do recent tech developments, like streaming and social media have something to do with reawakening these age-old works?
Here to help us understand the classical revival is Jess Gillam. Jess is the first ever saxophonist to be signed to Decca Classics and her debut album “Rise” shot to No.1 in the Official UK Classical Charts. She became the youngest ever presenter for BBC Radio 3 and hosts her own weekly show call...
2023-01-2424 minBeatseekerFeature Episode: The Future of Music with the Legendary Alan CrossToday’s episode is our year end wrap-up where we look at the biggest tech trends impacting music and we contemplate where things may be headed in 2023 and beyond. We wanted to discuss the music metaverse, the state of Web3, the increasing popularity of old material and ‘streaming fatigue’. We discuss these developments with legendary storyteller Alan Cross.
Alan is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. Based in Toronto, he is best known nationally and internationally as host of the syndicated radio series The Ongoing History of New Music, The Secret History of Rock...
2023-01-1036 minBeatseekerA Musical Response to Global Climate EmergencyCan the music industry come together to lower our carbon footprint and save the planet? A unique organization is working to transform the music industry to address our climate emergency because in their words, there is #NoMusicOnaDeadPlanet”. Here to tell us about the initiative is Fay Milton.
Fay is co-founder of Music Declares Emergency, a group of artists, music industry professionals and organizations that stand together to declare a climate and ecological emergency and call for an immediate governmental response. She is a presenter of the music and climate podcast Sounds Like a Plan produced by New Al...
2022-12-3041 minBeatseekerDo You Live in a Music City?Nashville. Seattle. New Orleans. These are but a few examples of cities that have organically developed incredible music scenes. But in fact, any city can encourage their local music scene so residents can benefit culturally, economically and in a host of other ways. Today we speak with Shain Shapiro who helps cities understand these benefits and create the right policies to enable them.
Shain is the founder of Sound Diplomacy and a globally recognised thought leader at the convergence of music, culture and urban policy. He has influenced over 100 cities and places to invest in music and...
2022-12-1329 minBeatseekerJamming with Animals. Interspecies Musician David RothenbergBiology would teach us that animal noises are purely functional - the sounds animals make for attracting mates or warning of danger are evolutionary adaptations necessary for surviving in the wild but nothing more. Our guest today contends the story is more complex than what you learned in bio class. Animals can make music and it’s even possible to jam with them.
To help us sort out this musical jungle is David Rothenberg - a professor of philosophy and music at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, with a special interest in animal sounds as music. He...
2022-11-2933 minBeatseekerIs Heavy Metal Good for Your Health?Heavy metal music might not conjure up images of positive mental health, but research shows that for some people, a little metal might be just what the doctor ordered. It’s time to challenge those negative stereotypes and learn about the health benefits of metal. While we’re at it, we’re going to find out why sharks love heavy metal too.
Joe Daly is an award-winning music journalist who joins us today to explain the healthy metal paradox. Joe regularly contributes to Metal Hammer, Classic Rock, Men’s Health and Bass Player Magazine among other outlets. We reach...
2022-11-1522 minBeatseekerMusicians and Social Influencers Need Each Other. Thematic’s Audrey Marshall Explains.Social media influencers have massive audiences that can help catapult a budding musician's career. The challenge for artists is how to get their attention. Unlike Coke or Pepsi, they can’t afford to pay for placement. Our guest today was working at a record label when she stumbled on a brilliant idea, why not create a matchmaking platform to connect these groups together. Enter Thematic, a platform that connects content creators with artists across YouTube and other digital platforms. Launched in 2018, the Thematic community has grown to over 400,000 creators in 220 countries.
Here to tell us their story is...
2022-11-0124 minBeatseekerYou’re an 8, But Your Music is a 10. Let’s Go on a Date! The Beatmatch Story.Most dating apps use sophisticated algorithms to help singles find compatible mates based on common interests and backgrounds. One company taking an entirely new approach is Beatmatch, the dating app that helps music lovers find love connections by matching people with similar music tastes.
Our guest today is Chudi Iregbulem, the founder and CEO of Beatmatch. Chudi believes your music taste speaks volumes. Everything from how you talk to how you dress to how you think is influenced by the type of music you like. In other words, Chudi is on a mission to connect the world t...
2022-10-1817 minBeatseekerMusicasa: Intimate Home Concerts that Connect Musicians with Music Lovers.Stadiums, amphitheaters, bandshells, nightclubs - every live music venue offers a different type of experience. How about attending a performance in someone’s home? Musicasa is a startup that is helping facilitate such performances: intimate home concerts hosted by music lovers supporting independent and emerging musicians from the comfort of their house, apartment, or loft.
Here to walk us through the story is Beatriz Ayala, the founder and CEO of Musicasa. Beatriz comes from the advertising and communications world, having spent over a decade working for agencies and co-leading the strategy, comms, planning, media and creative initiatives fo...
2022-10-0429 minBeatseekerInside the Highly-Profitable World of Artist Estates with Eamonn FordeBefore the death of Buddy Holly, the conventional wisdom among record companies was: ‘stiffs don’t sell’. Times have certainly changed and the estates of some artists have become massive money makers. But how did this trend come about - and how might the artists feel about the posthumous commercialization of their work?
Our guest today is Eamonn Forde, an award-winning music business writer and author. Eamonn has been writing about all areas of the music business since 2000 in publications including Forbes, The Guardian and Music Business World. He is the author of three books, most recently Leavin...
2022-09-2045 minBeatseekerThe Beautiful Union of Math & Music with Marcus MillerThe linkage between music and math is not well understood. People tend to think music is creative and math is perhaps the antithesis of the creative arts. But when you think about it, music is full of mathematical concepts: time signatures, sets, loops, patterns and recursion to name a few. There are even studies that show that children who play musical instruments are better at solving complex math problems. Helping us understand the music-math relationship is Marcus Miller.
Born in New Jersey, Marcus grew up in a house full of music. He took up saxophone at age...
2022-09-0634 minBeatseekerMining the Past for Gold with Archival Label The Numero GroupBack before streaming services, and before the internet ushered in widespread distribution, great music could be overlooked for one reason or another. Enter The Numero Group: an archival record label that researches and preserves musical gems by artists and entrepreneurs who found little commercial success upon their material's initial release.
Numero creates compilations of previously released music, reissues original albums and creates album reconstructions from a variety of musical genres. Here to tell the Numero story is Ken Shipley, a former A&R manager for the equally eclectic Rykodisc label and one of Numero’s founders. Ken jo...
2022-08-2340 minBeatseekerLabels Then & Now with Claude VonStrokeThis episode features a special guest, Barclay Crenshaw also known as Claude VonStroke. Claude is the founder of one of the hottest EDM labels - Dirtybird Records. He’s also world-renowned EDM DJ and artist, performing at virtually every major festival and club across the globe.
We start with the origin story of Dirtybird: how it started and how the label has evolved. Then we discuss the rave scene over the years. As you’ll hear, Dirty Bird is not your typical label and Claude isn’t your typical DJ. He curates unique experiences with fans to get th...
2022-08-0928 minBeatseekerMusic is the Best Medicine with Dr. Joy AllenWe all know that music can be soothing; it can reflect your mood or enhance it - it can even change it. But did you know that it can be used as therapy for a wide range of conditions? We wanted to learn about music therapy and how it works, so we reached out to Dr. Joy Allen, a licensed music therapist and thought leader in the field.
Joy is an accomplished clinician, researcher and educator with extensive experience in psychological health, pain management, and trauma-informed education and supervision. She presents at music therapy and music-and health-related...
2022-07-2636 minBeatseekerWhen Fans Are More Than Fans. Fan-to-Fan with Tatiana CirisanoThe artist-to-fan relationship is constantly evolving. In the old days, middlemen at the record label used radio, TV and other marketing channels to promote an artist. Then, new tools and technologies emerged which enabled artists a direct relationship with their fans - or a ‘direct–to-fan’ model. Now things are advancing again towards a ‘fan-to-fan’ model - where the fans themselves become the key to reaching and engaging new fans.
Our guide today to this evolution is Tatiana Cirisano. Tatiana is an award-winning music industry journalist, analyst and consultant based in Brooklyn by way of Miami. As an analyst...
2022-07-1227 min
BeatseekerHow to Start a Radio Show from Your Bedroom, with Ryan Star of StationheadSocial audio has gained some attention in recent years, with platforms like Clubhouse and new offerings from the likes of Twitter and Spotify. But what is Social Audio - and can it provide new opportunities for the creator economy? Today we’re speaking with Ryan Star, CEO and founder of Stationhead, a social audio app that enables anyone to start their own social, global radio program.
Ryan is a recording artist that got his big break playing at CBGBs in New York and then opening for Bon Jovi when he was still in high school. Today, he ha...
2022-06-2827 minBeatseekerRestore High Quality Audio to Your Digital MusicWhile it’s now easier than ever to access music over streaming platforms, what we gain in convenience we lose in audio quality. Orastream is a company that helps audiophiles stream their music collection in high definition. Counting Neil Young as a customer and fan of their tech, Orastream’s mission is to restore high quality audio to your digital music.
Helping us understand what makes for good quality audio streaming these days is Frankie Tan, Oratsream’s founder. Frankie is an engineer by training and holds MSc degrees in Financial Management from University of London and in Str...
2022-06-1427 minBeatseekerThinking Twice About 'Cranking the Volume to 11', Safe Listening with the WHO’s Shelly ChadhaThe iPhone was first introduced in 2007. This world changing product brought us some amazing benefits but it also created some issues. Besides the screen addiction affecting us all, there is growing evidence that our constant use of headphones might be creating a hearing loss epidemic - especially in younger people. We wanted to learn what listening habits might contribute to the problem and if there’s anything we can do about it.
To answer our questions, we reached out to one of the world’s leading experts on the topic, Dr. Shelly Chadha. She was trained as an ot...
2022-05-3132 minBeatseekerTicketing is Broken. Can it be Fixed?It’s no secret that concert ticketing is a mess. Service fees are sky high, sophisticated bots scoop the best seats and resale prices on secondary markets are too high for many fans. While the problem is widespread - help may be on the way. A promising startup called Lyte is creating solutions to level the playing field and ease the burden on fans’ pocketbooks.
Helping us dig into the issue is Lawrence Peryer. Lawrence is the Chief Strategy Officer at Lyte, a reservations technology platform that has reimagined event ticketing for artists, venues and fans. He has...
2022-05-2436 minBeatseekerNext Level Vinyl Collecting with VinylkeyOne theory explaining the recent comeback in record collecting is that its a backlash against the digitization of music. There’s a new company that is challenging this theory by integrating old school vinyl collections with a hot new digital collectible - NFTs. Vinylkey believes that by merging record collecting with NFTs, they can unlock new opportunities for artists to engage and delight their fans.
Taking us on a tour of Vinylkey are Gar Ragland and Sean Moore. Gar is a producer, musician, and entrepreneur - and the founder and CEO of Citizen Vinyl, a vinyl pressing pl...
2022-05-1729 minBeatseekerWhat Does Your Taste in Music Say About Who You Are?In past episodes we’ve covered how music can impact our brain’s chemistry. In this episode we look at an area of research that explores the relationship between musical preferences and our personality. What does your taste in music say about your character and can your personality traits predict what types of music you’ll like?
To walk us through his topic, we’re joined today by Dr. David M. Greenberg from Jerusalem, Israel. David is a psychologist, musician, and researcher at Bar-Ilan University and Cambridge University. His research examines music at the intersection of social science...
2022-05-1028 minBeatseekerThe Eurovision Song Contest. Will the Formula Work in the USA?The Eurovision Song Contest attracts over 180 million viewers and has been an annual event since 1956. Despite being such a huge success, the USA has never joined in on the action until now. This year NBC is running their own Americanized spinoff - The American Song Contest hosted by Snoop and Kelly Clarkson. Will it enjoy the lasting power of Eurovision or be a one and done flop?
Joining us today from North Edinburgh, Scotland is Ewan Spence. Ewan is a freelance broadcaster and journalist, with a particular interest in media, technology, music, and the arts. He has...
2022-05-0352 minBeatseekerThe Evolution of Protest Music with James SullivanIn 2022, Neil Young left Spotify to protest the platform’s support of podcaster Joe Rogan and his alleged misinformation about COVID, bringing the role of music and protest back into the spotlight. Using music to effect social change is nothing new but much has changed since the days of Bob Dylan and social upheaval of the 60s.
To help explain this evolution, we reached James Sullivan, a music and culture writer and journalism teacher at Emerson College. His book “Which Side Are You On? The History of America in 100 Protest Songs” offers a survey of how songs have b...
2022-04-2630 minBeatseekerThe Coming Explosion of Virtual Artists with Ian Simon of Spirit BombVirtual artists have been around since the time of Alvin and the Chipmunks but have never really penetrated mainstream music. This could be about to change. Increasingly we’re seeing breakout hits from artists like Grimes’ War Nymph and Lil Miquela. And with the coming of the metaverse, virtual artists could have the platform they always needed to propel this niche into overdrive.
To help explain this trend, our guest today is Ian Simon who joins us from Los Angeles. Ian is a co-founder of Strangeloop Studios, a visual production company that has created music videos and conc...
2022-04-1934 minBeatseekerBlurring the Lines between Music and the Metaverse with Inder Phull of PixelynxThe role of music in video games has been constantly evolving. We started with background music in iconic games like Super Mario Bros, Zelda or Tetris. Then games like Guitar Hero, Just Dance and Grand Theft Auto incorporated hit songs into the game play. More recently, popular artists have been performing concerts as avatars in game worlds like Fortnite and Roblox. Could the Metaverse be the next evolution? Where music can be streamed and concerts are reimagined in new paradigms that are immersive, interactive… and literally mind-blowing.
To help explain this trend, Inder Phull joins us from Los...
2022-04-1238 minBeatseekerRadio Jingles: Where Did They Come From and Why Do They Work?We can all remember a radio or TV jingle that's stuck in our heads. The first music jingle aired almost 100 years ago and since then advertisers have learned that music is critical to making a great ad. Who were the original mad men that discovered this innovation - and how has music in advertising evolved over the years?
To walk us through this interesting history, we’re joined by Dr. Timothy D. Taylor, a professor in UCLA’s Department of Music and an authority on music and advertising. Tim is an interdisciplinary social scientist studying capitalism, globalization, and...
2022-04-0530 minBeatseekerSoundCloud’s Fan-Powered Royalties with Drea JacksonStreaming platforms have given us the gift of cheap, easy access to any song in the world but they have also attracted criticism from indie artists who complain that the royalty system they ushered in unfairly favors the top artists. SoundCloud was an early pioneer in streaming and always catered to the indie community. So it makes sense that they are trying to improve the economics for emerging artists, in part with a new system they call Fan-Powered Royalties.
We’re joined today by Drea Jackson, Manager of Artist Relations at SoundCloud. Drea walks us through the hi...
2022-03-2927 minBeatseekerWhy do Songs Stick in Our Heads. The Fascinating Link Between Music and MemoryHave you ever wondered why certain songs get stuck in your head or why certain memories are triggered when listening to music? In this episode we get into a mind-blowing discussion about everything from ear worms to how music can be applied as an Alzheimer's therapy.
We’re joined by Dr. Kelly Jakubowski, a researcher specializing in music and memory. Kelly is an Assistant Professor of Music Psychology at Durham University in the UK. She studied Music Performance (on the violin) and Music Theory for her undergrad at Baldwin Wallace University - and her Masters at Ohio St...
2022-03-2225 minBeatseekerI, Audius! Will Web3 Conquer the Music Industry? The Audius Story.When most people hear about crypto or blockchains, they probably think it’s all about Bitcoin. Turns out there’s much more to it. Audius is a new kind of music streaming company built on the foundations of the blockchain or Web3 technology. Despite being only 3 years old, Audius was named one of the hottest companies of 2021 attracting investment from top Venture Capital firms and artists like Katy Perry, Nas, Pusha T, Steve Aoki and others. In this episode we get the down-low on the hype around Audius and how a crypto-based streaming platform can provide radical new benefits to a...
2022-03-1540 minBeatseekerHow to Catalog Your Vinyl Collection like a Boss with Jeffrey Smith of DiscogsYou probably know by now that Vinyl is making a comeback. Record sales have been growing like crazy for the past 10 years. But even before vinyl was cool again, Discogs was building a site to help collectors catalog their records and sell them to anyone around the world. Founded in 2000, Discogs has grown to become one of the top music sites on the web.
To help us get inside the vinyl underground and the rise of Discogs, we’re joined today by Jeffrey Smith, Director of Growth Marketing. Jeff has been with the company since 2017 and comes to...
2022-03-0836 minBeatseekerNew Musical Instruments That Anyone Can Play, with Artiphon’s Mike ButeraIt’s not everyday that you hear about a brand new instrument. Today we’re joined by Mike Butera, CEO of Artiphon. Artiphon is developing new types of musical instruments that can be played by anybody. Their first product launched in 2014 and set a record with Kickstarter as the best selling musical instrument ever on that platform. Mike tells us how he was inspired to start the company and how technology is lowering the barrier to music creation and growing an army of new artists.
Mike founded Artiphon in Nashville, Tennessee in 2011. He holds a Ph.D. in S...
2022-03-0131 minBeatseekerBeyond the Merch Table with Terrible* Group’s Tersha WillisMusic fans love their merch. How else do people know all the cool music you like if you’re not wearing the shirt? Merch has long been a way for fans to connect with artists and also a significant revenue stream for artists. When the pandemic hit, concert revenue died and merch revenue died with it. In this episode we hear the story first hand from a company that makes their living selling merch and how they pivoted to survive. We also learn about what makes a great concert tee and what genre of music sells more merch than an...
2022-02-2226 minBeatseekerThe Promise of Web3 for Music is a Revelation with Revelator’s Bruno GuezWeb3, or what many think of as ‘crypto’ was a major story in 2021 and is continuing to develop in 2022, but web3 is much more than just crypto. Emerging business models and things like Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs), for example, are a new type of entity with the potential to blow the doors off traditional centralized organizations. Web3 and its underlying blockchain technology have the potential to facilitate global IP rights administration and royalty management - paving the way for real-time payments and innovative revenue streams for rights owners, creators, artists, producers, and publishers around the world.
To help...
2022-02-1530 minBeatseekerHow are Smart Veteran Artists like Method Man Using NFTs? with John and Alison of TuneGONon-Fungible Tokens or NFTs took the world by storm in 2021 turning digital art into digital gold. NFTs could be an important new revenue stream for artists but so far music has been mostly left out of the party. In this episode we talk to one of the companies trying to change this with a new platform to create and sell music NFTs. We hear the story of how new artists and veterans like Method Man are getting in on the NFT market.
We’re joined today by John Kohl and Alison Ball of TuneGO. John is the CE...
2022-02-0832 minBeatseekerFan Clubs Then and Now with Kevin Brown of FanCirclesListeners connect with the artists on many different levels. Some are casual listeners, others might attend a concert or two and superfans make it a lifestyle choice. Consider ‘Deadheads’ who followed the Grateful Dead to hundreds of shows or the BTS Army that attacks online critics of the popular K-Pop group. What is it about some bands that create such rapid followings? Whatever the level of fandom, the ability for fans to connect to artists (and vice versa) has been ever evolving as new technologies have emerged: from snail-mail to email to social media to new dedicated fan engagement plat...
2022-02-0133 minBeatseekerDisrupting the Music Labels with SyncFloor’s Kirt DebiqueMusic labels were once the gatekeepers of the music industry, handling every part of the music production and distribution process. Now this oligopoly has been disrupted by new technologies that lower the cost for artists to create music, distribute it and promote it themselves. The labels and the business models needed to support them have had to adapt to this new reality.
To walk us through this topic we’re joined by Kirt Debique, CEO of music label Bricklane and technology startup SyncFloor. Kirt was a 20 year Microsoft veteran who left tech to start an indie music la...
2022-01-2529 minBeatseekerThe Best Song No One Wrote with International AI Song Contest Winner Jon GillickIn the epic 1968 Stanley Kubrick sci-fi film ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’, Hal, an artificial intelligence sings a song called Daisy Bell while being decommissioned by the space crew. Over 50 years later, AI is no longer sci-fi. It’s here and it’s real. In this episode we’re joined by Jon Gillick, a computer scientist that was part of the winning team of the 2021 international AI song contest. Their winning track, "Listen to Your Body Choir" took inspiration from the song Daisy Bell, an homage to the 2001’s Hal. Daisy Bell was also the first song to be sung by a computer b...
2022-01-1830 minBeatseekerShazam on Steroids. Going Deeper into Music with Deepr’s Austin WebsterWho wrote that song? What’s that sample? When music went digital, listeners lost the liner notes along with the ability to easily discover the musicians and other individuals who made it. Enter the Deepr music app. Known as ‘Shazam on steroids’, Deepr uses audio recognition and manual search inputs to identify who was involved in making that music. The app shares interactive data behind the music: songwriters, producers, featured artists, background singers, samples, and more. Listeners can click on any of the creators’ names and direct Deepr to generate a playlist based on their selections. Love that drummer? Make a p...
2022-01-1125 minBeatseeker2021 Music Tech Roundup with Music Tectonics’ Tristra Newyear Yaeger and Dmitri VietzeWhat were the biggest stories in music tech from 2021 and what might we see in the coming year? In today’s episode we recap the top trends of the year and make our predictions for what’s coming next.
Tristra Newyear Yaeger and Dmitri Vietze join us from Bloomington Indiana for an end of the year round-up. Dmitri is the Founder and CEO of rock paper scissors, a music tech and innovation PR firm where Tristra is a writer, strategist and creative force. Dmitri and Tristra also host a music tech conference - and podcast - called Musi...
2022-01-0453 minBeatseekerCan Music Make You Better at Sports? with Professor Costas KarageorghisHave you ever listened to music while exercising? You were probably just trying to make it more enjoyable or pass the time more quickly. But, did you know that music can actually make you perform better as an athlete? Music has been proven to produce a measurable improvement in many types of athletic activities. We’re joined today by a world-renowned expert who will explain why music has this super-power and how to harness it for your own sporting activities.
Costas Karageorghis is a professor in sport and exercise psychology at Brunel University London. He has established an...
2021-12-2840 minBeatseekerNew Music from Nirvana? The Lost Tapes of the 27 Club with Ace PivaIn this episode Ace Piva joins us from Brantford, Ontario. He is creator of the Lost Tapes of the 27 Club, which uses artificial intelligence to create new songs by artists lost to music's mental health crisis. Ace is a certified addictions counsellor who knows the ins and outs of the road and its associated pressures and struggles. He’s been there as a musician, tour manager, sound engineer, stage manager and production manager - and today, Piva is a co-founder and Executive Director of Over The Bridge, whose goals are to change the conversation about mental health and recovery in...
2021-12-2135 minBeatseekerMusic Class with Metallica. Learning is Fun When it’s a Game with Yousician’s Hadley SpanierFirst there was the neighbourhood music teacher. Then along came instructional videos on YouTube. Now Helsinki-based Yousician dominates music education with more than 20 million users tapping the service each month to learn and play music. In this episode we learn about Yousician, the world’s largest music education platform. Yousician turns learning into a game (sort of like Guitar Hero, but with real instruments) offering gamified music education for guitar, bass, ukulele, piano and voice. Recently they’ve started to roll out ‘Spotlight courses with renowned artists like Jason Mraz and Metallica, and a collaboration with language-learning app Duolingo and GR...
2021-12-1423 minBeatseekerTikTok is Not a Toy, with Songfluencer’s Nathan PyleIn recent years, TikTok has exploded onto the social media scene, dominating the attention span of the youth set. TikTok’s users now spend more time each month watching content than YouTube users. Songs routinely surpass a billion video views and according to the company, 100 songs have racked up over 50 billion views on over 125 million creations. Five of these reached number one on Billboard’s Hot 100 Chart.
In this episode we are joined by Nathan Pyle from Nashville, Tennessee. Nathan is General Manager of Songfluencer, a music tech startup that uses data-driven technology to earn music success on T...
2021-12-0732 minBeatseekerIs the Vinyl Revival Here to Stay? with Pip Piper and Graham JonesIn this episode we look at the disappearance of record shops in the UK in the late 2000s, followed by a sharp resurgence that continues into the 2020s. While it seemed record shops were going the way of the 8-track and the cassette, the industry did a complete 180 and did the unthinkable - and boutique record stores started popping up again all over the UK.
To take us through the downs and ups, Pip Piper and Graham Jones join us from Dawlish, England. During his career as a sales-rep, Graham visited more record shops than any other h...
2021-11-3034 minBeatseekerPortugal the Man Coins and How Creator Coins Can Monetize Fans with Rally’s Bryce CarrIn this episode we dig into disruptive new business models for artists that use social tokens also known as creator coins. Creator coins represent a potential breakthrough for artists to earn a living and also for fans to participate directly in economy of the artists they want to support. Rally is a new platform for allowing - artists and creators of all types - to make and issue these coins.
To explain how this all works, we’re joined by Bryce Carr from Los Angeles California. Bryce is the Director of Creator Partnerships, Music at Rally. Bryce ex...
2021-11-2338 minBeatseekerMurdering Beats with Splice’s Ale KoretzkyIn this episode we explore the world of Splice and the music creation tools they create for artists. We dive into the expanding world of DIY music tools that enable creators to make music in their bedrooms. We learn how the rise of new tools like Splice and creators like Murda Beats are disrupting the music creation process.
To take us through this topic, Ale Koretzky joins us from Venice, California. Ale is the Head of Machine Learning at Splice and leads Splice's AI strategy, roadmap, and execution, from machine learning R&D to engineering. He also...
2021-11-1623 minBeatseekerWhy Music is the Hottest New Investment with Industry Legend Michael McCarty of Kilometre Music GroupIn this extended length episode we’re joined by Michael McCarty from Toronto. Michael is a veteran music publisher who was inducted into the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame in 2019. He was president of EMI Music Publishing Canada for 17 years, spent four years as the president of Anthem (formerly ole), and seven years as the Chief Membership Officer of SOCAN. McCarty has worked in various capacities with artists including Neil Young, Michael Jackson, Glass Tiger, Loverboy, Jim Vallance, Bryan Adams, Drake and Alessia Cara.
We sit down with Michael to discuss the Kilometre fund, where he an...
2021-11-051h 12BeatseekerMutating Music with MIT Media Lab’s Charles HolbrowIn this episode we speak with music of the future researcher Charles Holbrow. When we spoke with him, he was on the brink of earning his PhD from the Opera of the Future group within the famed MIT Media Lab.
We talk to Charles about the fact that while new styles and new technologies are constantly emerging, recorded music itself has not fundamentally changed. We dig into the concept of adaptive or interactive music - music that changes itself as we listen to it, triggered by the events in the environment or listener behaviour. We discuss how a...
2021-10-2936 minBeatseekerPandora’s DNA with Music Genome Architect Nolan GasserNolan Gasser is a critically acclaimed composer, pianist, and musicologist – most notably, the architect of Pandora Radio’s Music Genome Project and the company’s chief musicologist from its founding in 1999. He holds a Ph.D. in Musicology from Stanford University. His original compositions have been performed in numerous prestigious venues.
Pandora was a pioneer in music streaming - arriving on the scene well before Spotify. They also popularized the concept of automated music recommendations - realizing their vision of creating a personalized DJ for all of us. We speak with Nolan about how Pandora got started and wh...
2021-10-2248 minBeatseekerReinventing Radio with Xperi’s Joe D’AngeloIn today’s episode we speak with Joe D’Angelo who joins us from Annapolis Maryland. Joe is Senior Vice President of Broadcast Radio at Xperi - a company that is modernizing our FM dial in the form of HD Radio. You might be surprised at how many cars already use their tech and how HD Radio fits into the ecosystem.
For years radio has been fighting off competition from satellite services but now they might be facing an even more serious threat from music streaming and podcasts. We sit down with Joe to understand the current stat...
2021-10-1535 minBeatseekerNot Your Grandma’s Elevator Music with Mood Media’s Anida GurlitIn this episode we speak to Anida Gurlit who joins us from Charlotte, NC. Anida is a Creative Director of Music Design at Mood Media. Mood Media is a leading in-store media solutions company whose goal is to create greater emotional connections between brands and consumers through the right combination of sight, sound and even scent. The company reaches 150 million consumers each and every day through more than 500,000 subscriber locations in 100+ countries around the globe, so it’s probably safe to say your mood has been influenced by their handiwork at some point.
Most people know Muzak as...
2021-10-0827 minBeatseekerHow to Stop an Earworm and Why We Love Music with Dr. Robert ZatorreIn this episode we speak to Dr. Robert Zatorre. Dr. Zatorre is a cognitive neuroscientist at the Montreal Neurological Institute of McGill University. He helped to pioneer a new field of study that focuses on the intersection of music and the brain and is a founder and the co-director of an international laboratory for Brain, Music, and Sound research.
We all know that music gives us pleasure but you’ll be fascinated to find out exactly why. What is happening inside our heads when we listen to music? Why do some people like music more than others? Why...
2021-10-0152 minBeatseekerKellylee Evans: Jazz / Soul Vocalist in Conversation with BeatseekerIn this episode we get another artist perspective on the new technologies that are changing the industry, for better or worse. In this Artist Perspective episode we speak to Kellylee Evans, an award winning jazz vocalist. Kellylee has published six albums and has toured extensively around the world, opening for artists such as George Benson, Tony Bennett, Maceo Parker, Derek Trucks and Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings.
From streaming to social media, Kellylee walks us through how her career and ability to make a living from music has been changed by disruptions in the music technology market. Kellylee...
2021-09-2431 minBeatseekerBehind the Scenes of a Soundtrack with Music Supervisor Alison MosesIn this episode Alison Moses joins us from Los Angeles. Alison is a music supervisor at Aperture - a company that specializes in curating soundtracks for TV and movies. She oversees the music in projects including High Fidelity (Hulu), Good Girls (NBC), Fresh Off the Boat (ABC), Girls (HBO), and films including The Craft, Game Night, Neighbors, and Trainwreck. She knows how to pick amazing tunes in part because she has DJed all over Los Angeles and she’s hosted DJ shows on KChung Radio and Resonance Extra.
A good soundtrack has always been critical for setting the...
2021-09-1729 minBeatseekerPsst, Wanna Buy a Drake? The Royalty Exchange with Antony BrunoIn this episode we speak to Antony Bruno. Antony is the director of communications for Royalty Exchange, an online marketplace for buying and selling music royalties.
Investing in music royalties used to be something that only a small number of elite labels could take part in. That is no longer the case. Thanks to new marketplaces like royalty exchange, you can now buy the royalties from artists like Drake in just a few clicks. Buyers can brag about how they own a cool asset while making serious returns on their investments. For the artists, marketplaces offer a...
2021-09-1040 minBeatseekerFuture of Vinyl with HD Vinyl’s Guenter LoiblIn this episode we discuss the future of the Vinyl record with the CEO of Rebeat, Guenter Loibl. Guenter has been working at the intersection of music and technology throughout his career. He runs a music label, a digital distribution company and is now working on re-inventing the vinyl record.
We reached Guenter in Vienna, Austria to discuss the surprising comeback of the vinyl record, and learn about new technologies enabling HD Vinyl and what benefits it could bring to record collectors.
If you want to find out more about Guenter’s work and HD Vi...
2021-09-0333 minBeatseekerWhat Does Music Sound Like in 3D? with Audible Reality’s Matt BoerumIn today’s episode we speak with Matt Boerum who joins us from Boston, Massachusetts. Matt is a musician and recording engineer with a PhD in sound technology. He is co-founder and CEO of Audible Reality, an immersive audio technology company revolutionizing music engagement through unique and interactive AI-driven 3D audio software.
When itunes launched 20 years ago, the MP3 took over from Cds. We gained convenience but lost audio quality. Now things are about to change. Spotify, Apple and others are all launching new features to improve audio quality. We sit down with Matt to help educate us...
2021-08-2045 minBeatseekerFuture of Online Concerts with Mandolin’s Steve CaldwellIn this episode Steve Caldwell joins us from Louisville, Kentucky. Steve is a lifelong musician, hip-hop junkie, and one of the founders of Mandolin. When COVID struck and the live music industry was turned upside-down, Steve and his partners saw the opportunity to revolutionize live-streaming.
Steve tells the story of Mandolin and how they responded to the situation in a matter of weeks and how they produce their live-streamed shows. We talk about the lasting changes that this type of technology is going to have long after the pandemic and what new opportunities it presents to venues...
2021-08-0629 minBeatseekerFestivals VS COVID: How One of the Largest Festivals in North America AdaptedIn this episode we discuss the future of concerts and festivals with Mark Monahan. Mark is the CEO of Bluesfest, one of Canada’s largest festivals drawing over 300,000 concertgoers each year.
When COVID struck, Mark’s organization needed to make the hard decision to cancel their summer event. They moved quickly to pivot their events to online. We chat with Mark about how the online experiment went down, their results and whether online concerts are a temporary workaround or permanent part of our concert experiences moving forward.
Check out Bluesfest at https://ottawabluesfest.ca/ and on T...
2021-07-2340 minBeatseekerThe New Deal / Dragonette: Jamie Shields & Dan Kurtz in Conversation with BeatseekerWhat do artists think about new technologies that are changing the industry, for better or worse? In this Artist Perspective episode we speak to Dan Kurtz and Jamie Shields. Longtime members of the Toronto music scene, Jamie and Dan (along with Darren Shearer) formed the New Deal in 1998 fusing electronic music with live improvisation. Dan also formed the electro-pop band Dragonette with singer/songwriter Martina Sorbara.
In past Beatseeker episodes we’ve covered how new technologies like streaming, social media and online concerts are changing the industry. In this episode we get an artists take on these tren...
2021-07-0954 minBeatseekerMoneyballing Music with Analytics. Inside Chartmetric with Jason Joven.What can you do with an insane amount of data about an artist? Can you use that data to predict hitmakers? In this episode we speak to Jason Joven, Manager for Content and Insights at Chartmetric. A former US Navy cryptologic intelligence officer, Jason helps create actionable insights for Chartmetric via special client projects, deep-dive articles, podcast episodes and product development.
Chartmetric is a music analytics company that is measuring unbelievable amounts of data about digital music. They track how many streams each artist and song gets. How many followers they have on social media. Who’s tr...
2021-06-2543 minBeatseekerThe Rise and Fall of the LP Album Format with Jeff BreithauptDoes anyone still listen to albums? Is the album format dead? In this episode we discuss the rise and fall of the album format with Jeff Breithaupt. Jeff is the lyricist half of the award-winning Breithaupt Brothers songwriting team; the co-author of two books on pop music in the 1970s; and Vice President for Media and Communications at Manhattan School of Music.
With streaming now accounting for well over 80% of music consumption, most consumers are not buying physical albums anymore. Beyond that, they are not consuming digital albums either. More and more, consumers are listening to singles...
2021-06-1135 minBeatseekerHow NFTs and Social Tokens Can Transform Music: Reinventing Music Economics with George HowardWTF is an NFT and WTF does it have to do with music? What are social tokens? In this episode we speak to George Howard, Professor of Music Business Management at Berklee College of Music, and the founder of GHS, a strategic consulting firm. George is a columnist for Forbes, and has authored a book called “Everything In Its Right Place: How Blockchain Technology Will Lead To A More Transparent Music Industry.”
George is a passionate champion of the independent artist. He is critical of the negative impacts of centralized power in the music industry from labels to n...
2021-05-2840 minBeatseekerCreator Economics with Damon KrukowskiHow can musicians make a living in the age of streaming when they earn fractions of a penny per Spotify play? In this episode we talk about the changing economics of making music with musician, poet and writer Damon Krukowski.
Streaming platforms have been a great innovation for consumers but this invention is not universally loved by musicians. We speak to Damon about what it was like to make a living in the pre-digital era and how challenging it is to live off royalties in the age of streaming. We also discuss his work with the Union o...
2021-05-141h 06BeatseekerShazam, Pandora and MUSIIO: Influence of AI on Music Tech with Hazel SavageLearn how companies like Musiio are making tools that automatically tag tracks with descriptive data, like: mood, genre, tempo, key, instrument and energy. A human might painstakingly tag a few tracks or even a few albums, but what about hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of tracks? Enter Artificial Intelligence (AI) to do what it does best: automating the tagging process.
We speak with Hazel Savage, music tech lifer and the Co-founder and CEO of Musiio. We trace Hazel’s storied career from her playing in a punk band and working in a London HMV to la...
2021-05-0143 minBeatseekerHow Tech is Changing the Charts with Chris MolanphyHow do music charts work? How does a song get on Billboard’s Hot100? How have the charts had to adapt over the years to stay relevant as new ways of listening to and purchasing music have come into play?
We speak with chart analyst Chris Molanphy, who explains the charts, how they are always evolving and why they are so important to the industry. We discuss a variety of charts, focusing mostly on Billboard and their Hot100. Chris carries deep insights into the fascinating history and evolution of music charts, from formulas used to determine how man...
2021-04-301h 12BeatseekerSpotify’s Discover Weekly with Music Hacker Paul LamereHow does Discover Weekly work? We speak with Music Hacker Hall of Fame inductee Paul Lamere, part of the team that created Spotify’s Discover Weekly service. Discovery Weekly automatically creates a playlist of 30 new songs for you to discover each week. We learn about its early roots in the Echo Nest platform, how it works today and some tips for listeners to optimize their own weekly discoveries.
We talk through the upsides and the downsides of computer-generated playlists. While it’s almost as is if we all have our own personal music guru telling us what we sh...
2021-04-3035 minBeatseekerTeaser TrailerWe’ve come a long way from the days when we browsed the shelves of HMV and Sam Goody or asked the record store dude what albums to buy. Radio play and late night talk shows still connect artists to new fans, but these are quickly becoming the old way to find new stuff.
Beatseeker explores the changing world of music discovery. While there are plenty of podcasts about new music, Beatseeker digs into the ways people find new artists and their songs - and the ways they find us.
From record store gurus and th...
2021-04-1902 min