Over the past two years, we’ve seen a major shift from pursuing incremental change to taking truly meaningful action in establishing a more inclusive and equitable workforce. In this month’s episode, we talk to three executives leading the charge to bolster diversity and inclusion in the music industry about the successes of their initiatives and what work still needs to be done.

Episode #198: Ongoing Diversity Efforts In the Music Industry

The recent ruling by the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) to increase royalty payout rates for songwriters and publishers is a great step forward in fairly compensating creatives for their work. However given the complex nature of the industry, other segments of the business, particularly those involved in selling and distributing music both physically and digitally. In this episode, we discuss the industry-wide implications of the rate increase with Colin Rushing of Duck Road Advisory LLC and Danielle Aguirre of the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA).

Episode #199 — The Impact of the CRB Royalty Rate Increase

It is of utmost importance for creators, especially in the age of digital music consumption, to log EVERY detail of who participates in the preparation of a song to ensure that all collaborators are properly paid. With his background as a songwriter and producer, Niclas Molinder set out to create a creator-friendly toolset to help not only fairly track credits directly in-studio, but also facilitate deeper collaboration. At Session, he's done just that with the help of some high-profile partners — listen to this month's episode to find out how!

Episode #200 — Capturing Creator Credits While In-Studio

Born from the renewed calls for focus on mental health & wellness during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Lazuli Collective works to establish "a new cultural paradigm" that puts the human needs of both artists and music industry executives front and center. In this month's interview, we sat down with the organization's founder, Brandon Holman, to discuss how the Lazuli Collective is making a difference for entertainment professionals, as well as the cultural shift taking place to support mental health and well-being.

Episode #201 — The Lazuli Collective & Mental Health In Entertainment Industries

While major strides have already been made to improve the work culture of companies across the music business, it’s a never-ending task to ensure that EVERYONE who works in our industry is welcome, supported and truly happy in their day-to-day roles. To kick off the new year, we sat down with BMI’s SVP, Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer, Sandye Taylor in a conversation about sustaining the important work of supporting both greater inclusivity across the global music business and work-life balance with consideration for mental health needs.

Episode #202 — Continued Support For Inclusion & Mental Health in the Music Business

For many years, smaller independent labels have found it challenging to provide health insurance options to their employees that were not cost prohibitive. This month we talked with A2IM's President and CEO, Dr. Richard Burgess about the A2IM Benefits Store, launched in September of 2022 to deliver member labels access to affordable health insurance packages, as well as other vital resources they may need.

Episode #203 — Affordable Health Insurance For Indie Labels

Released on International Women's Day 2023, the 3rd iteration of the BE THE CHANGE study showcases the perspectives of more than 1,500 music industry professionals across 100+ countries on how gender discrimination is both experienced and perceived across the music industry. In the first of two episodes focused on this year's report, Matthew Yazge of Luminate breaks down findings from this year's survey and their impacts on industry professionals, and discusses possible solutions to issues of systemic discrimination.

Episode #204 — BE THE CHANGE Gender Equality Study, Pt. 1

Black Lives in Music (BLiM) began as after Blackout Tuesday in 2020 to combat issues of systemic racism in the UK music industry. After learning there was no available data on the topic, the organization commissioned a survey of 2,000+ artists & industry professionals about issues & perception of racism in the region. In our latest podcast, we speak with BLiM CEO, Charisse Beaumont on what’s changed since the first report was released, and what hurdles the UK industry still has to overcome.

Episode #206 — Black Lives in Music CEO, Charisse Beaumont

2022 marked the first edition of Music Biz’s Bizzy Awards program, a crowd-nominated series of honors recognizing music industry individuals and companies who strive to advance commerce in our industry and make it a better place to work. This ceremony marked the debut of the Leading Light Award, which is given to a company or executive that has supported their staff via internal initiatives aimed at improving mental health, wellbeing and work/life balance. In our second episode covering the 2023 Leading Light Award, we talk with Mike Heyliger of The Orchard, Sarah Robertson of A to Z Media, and Karen Steincke of WMG about each company’s nomination and how they have evolved to support their staff!

Episode #208 — 2023 Leading Light Award Nominees, Pt. 2(The Orchard, A to Z Media, WMG)

At the outset, Amber Health was founded to analyze the mental health needs of artists & touring professionals and develop resources to support them navigate their incredibly taxing line of work. After the COVID-19 pandemic hit, its mission and scope expanded to create boots-on-the-ground support for the mental health needs of all music industry professionals. In this interview, we speak with Amber Health co-founder, Dr. Chayim Newman about the organization’s mission and evolution over time, and what it’s doing to support executives and artists alike.

Episode #210 — Music Industry Mental Health: A Conversation With Amber Health’s Dr. Chayim Newman

AI and machine-learning technologies have been utilized in various capacities in the music industry for decades now. However, the rise of Generative AI — which uses existing human-created art within its algorithms to generate content — presents new legal challenges over who is compensated when the tech is used. This month, we spoke to the NMPA’s Danielle Aguirre about the current legal issues regarding copyright for AI-generated content like music, and what organizations like the NMPA are doing to support songwriters.

Episode #211 — Generative AI and the Music Industry: Interview with Danielle Aguirre of the NMPA

The Presidential Award for Outstanding Executive Achievement is one of the Music Business Association’s highest and longest-standing honors, presented to individuals or organizations who have contributed greatly to the overall success of the music industry. In our latest podcast interview, Gina Miller of MNRK Music Group — our 2023 Presidential Award winner — discusses her life journey from piano student to accomplished music industry executive, approaching her music industry career as a fan first, her advocacy work across Nashville Music Equality and other outlets, and so much more!

Episode #212 — 2023 Music Biz Presidential Award Winner, Gina Miller (MNRK Music Group)

Originally hailing from the record label side of the business, Bruno Guez founded Revelator 10 years ago to help jumpstart an evolution in digital payments to help meet the needs of the increasingly digital music industry. Fast-forward to today, and Web3 asset distribution & sales may have a similarly transformative effect on the global music business. In this month’s interview, we spoke with Guez about how Web3 will help artists & rightsholders monetize new forms of interactive content and build connections between artists and their fans with direct compensation models!

Episode #213 — Building Community In Music With Web3: Interview With Revelator’s Bruno Guez

Recent months have shown an uptick in the frequency and variety of fraudulent music streaming practices, allowing bad actors to collect undue revenue by criminally inflating the number of streams for tracks they upload to DSPs. In the first of two episodes this Fall covering music streaming fraud, we talk to CD Baby's Chief Revenue Officer, Christine Barnum about the history of fraudulent behavior since the start of digital music sales, CD Baby’s participation in the Music Fights Fraud initiative, why there is a need for a coalition to combat streaming fraud, and what steps are being taken today to address the issue.

Episode #214 — Music Fights Fraud: A Discussion on Streaming Fraud with CD Baby’s Christine Barnum

While generative AI can be used to help human creators develop original works, concerns exist as major film & TV studios stand to reap huge financial benefits by using the technology to wholesale develop screenplays or substitute in digital recreations of actors. This is one of the pillars of the ongoing SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes, as workers in the creative industry fight for regulations on the technology to ensure they are not exploited for the sake of corporate profits. In our latest podcast, J. Christopher Hamilton of ARS Counsel joins us to discuss the ins-and-outs of the present issues around the strikes, as well as what early steps are being taken to support creative professionals.

Episode #215 — Generative AI In Film, TV & Other Entertainment Spaces

After running a record label and finding common issues across several different music distribution platforms, Gregory Hirschhorn decided to enter the distribution space with Too Lost, paying extra attention to technologies and methods for combating fraud. The company uses Know Your Client (KYC) protocol, which has roots in the financial industry, to add extra security for users uploading their tracks for distribution to DSPs. This added measure helps to weed out bad actors who game the system to generate undue revenue. In our latest podcast, we talk with Hirschhorn about the benefits of implementing KYC tools and how they help protect artists and relevant rightsholders.

Episode #216 —  KYC Compliance To Fight Music Fraud: A Discussion With Too Lost’s Gregory Hirschhorn

Bad actors have already learned how to exploit generative AI to either pose as popular artists or misappropriate copyrighted material. However companies like DAACI are working with artists, songwriters & composers to develop tools that are additive to the creative process, helping to eliminate tedious parts of their job and overcome writer’s block. In our latest podcast, we talk to DAACI CEO, Rachel Lyske about her company’s mission to support composers with a tech suite backed by three decades of research and deep collaboration with members of the creative community to address their specific needs!

Episode #217 — DAACI Talks AI Tools To Enhance The Creative Process

While some say nothing quite captures the experience of listening to music performed in-person, new technologies are bringing unparalleled levels of immersion to the music listening experience. Enter Dolby Atmos, an immersive audio format which debuted for movies more than a decade ago that is now available across music services on 2.5 billion devices. In our latest podcast, Dolby’s Head of Music Industry Relations, Christine Thomas discusses the evolution of the company’s immersive audio efforts and how it gives artists the ability to deliver their music to audiences in an exciting new medium!

Episode #218 — Dolby’s Christine Thomas Talks Dolby Atmos & Immersive Audio

In just a few short years, song lyrics have gone from a “nice to have” addition that music fans could seek out in liner notes or on the internet to a hot commodity on streaming platforms, graphics-heavy promotional videos, user-generated content and beyond. This month, we talk with LyricFind Founder & CEO, Darryl Ballantyne about the evolution of lyric-centric products, how his company liaises with labels & publishers to help support their needs, the renewed importance of proper song translations as music’s reach breaks cultural barriers, and much more!

Episode #219 — LyricFind’s Darryl Ballantyne On New Tools To Enhance Lyric Offerings

The early days of the COVID-19 pandemic opened eyes across the world to just how vital touring & live music is to the entire music business ecosystem. As venues of all sizes closed to stop the spread of COVID, a number of organizations and initiatives were founded in the first pandemic year to help local independent music houses financially stay afloat. Today, these groups now work to keep the live industry alive, providing vital grant funding and support networks to ensure these important local cultural centers remain open. This month we spoke with Executive Director of the Live Music Society, Cat Henry about how her organization got its start pre-COVID, as well as the ways it has evolved since 2020 to assist the U.S. live music industry!

Episode #220 — Supporting U.S. Indie Venues: An Interview With Live Music Society’s Cat Henry

Tune in to this special message from Music Business Association President, Portia Sabin with some updates regarding our inaugural Trust & Safety In Music Symposium, Music Biz 2024, the Common Ground Webinar Series & our new Music Biz Events app, changes to our website & socials, and more!

Portia’s 2024 New Year’s Message

Founded in 2020 by five tenured independent music professionals, Exceleration Music set out to invest in music rights, enter strategic partnerships and develop a suite of support services, all backed by authenticity and reverence for everything essential to indie music’s DNA. The company doubled down on that commitment in September 2023 by acquiring Redeye Distribution, effectively creating an indie music powerhouse with a vast catalog and distribution reach potentially rivaling that of the major labels. In our first podcast of 2024, you’ll hear from Exceleration founder & managing partner, Glen Barros and Redeye co-founder, Glenn Dicker about the acquisition and how it stands to benefit the entire indie music business!

Episode #221 — Exceleration Music + Redeye: An Indie Music Powerhouse

The National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) was founded at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic as a lifeline for small live music houses, pulling together federal grant money to ensure that venues would remain afloat until it was safe for artists to tour again. Since then, the organization has shifted focus to develop a member services suite, tackle major issues like the ticketing debacle, and address the needs of venues on a local level. We spoke with NIVA's Executive Director, Stephen Parker about the organization’s history and recent advocacy work, as well as the variety of issues indie venues still face.

Episode #222 — NIVA’s Journey From Survival To Advocacy

Sync placements have become a highly lucrative revenue stream for artists and rightsholders alike in recent years, as the production teams behind tv shows & movies constantly search for the perfect tracks to set the scene in their latest project. With that expanded attention to this part of the business comes a lot of extra paperwork, something that until recently sync licensing teams did not have help with. This month, we spoke with Trevanna Tracks’ CEO, Jennifer Freed and COO, Selina Meere to learn more about the company’s origins, its all-in-one solution for logging & organizing complex sync project data, and the importance of centralizing this data to increasing sync teams’ productivity!

Episode #223 — Trevanna Tracks’ Tools For Improving Sync Licensing

RAMPD (Recording Artists and Music Professionals with Disabilities) was founded in 2021 as a collective of artists, performers and music professionals with disabilities seeking to raise awareness of disability culture in the music business. Since then the organization has worked to advocate and create opportunities for disabled music professionals and ensure they have access to inclusive & accessible spaces, including partnering with the GRAMMYs to make the annual awards event more disability-inclusive. This month, we spoke with RAMPD’s founder, Lachi & President, Precious Perez to learn about RAMPD’s story and what the group is working on in 2024!

Episode #224 — RAMPD’s Lachi & Precious Perez on Disability Awareness & Activism

With more artists creating and releasing more music now than ever, there is a major need for new revenue streams and funding options to help artists take their careers to the next level. This month on The Future of What, we speak with two representatives from companies that do just that: Nick Struzenski of Vault, a bespoke catalog brokerage & artist funding service, and Matthew Tilley of beatBread, which provides funding for artists & labels alike powered by data science. Tune in for conversations about their companies’ offerings, why the need for funding is so prevalent right now, how new technologies like machine learning are making it easier to provide funding, and more!

Episode #225 — Vault & beatBread’s Funding Options For Indie Artists

While looking into higher-ed music business programs, David Fritz and Steven Ship found that the segmented approach to curriculums was helpful for new students, but it did not help artists and songwriters who needed to know the ins-and-outs of how the industry works for their already established careers. This led them to start Creative Intell, which offers practical classes that give students insights and step-by-step guides on everything from recording and releasing a cover song to tracking all of their income streams. In our latest podcast, we discuss the platform’s founding, the feedback from early users, future plans for expansion and updates, and more!

Episode #226 — Creative Intell’s David Fritz & Steven Ship On Educating Today’s Artists

With almost a decade of experience securing copyrights for artists & rightsholders, Cosynd identified that music producers were being potentially priced out of registering their backlog of work with the U.S. Copyright Office. This led them to develop a new group registration service, allowing producers to save time & money by registering groups of beats and other musical elements instead of individually registering each element. We spoke with Cosynd CEO, Jessica Sobhraj about this new initiative, the company’s mission of supporting creators’ legal protections, the importance of registering music with the Copyright Office, and much more!

Episode #227 — Cosynd’s New Producer Copyright Registration Initiative

Merch sales is one of, if not the primary, revenue generator for artists at certain levels of their careers. Tie this into the fact that merch proudly worn or displayed by their fans helps spread the word about their music, and it becomes all too essential for today’s artists to have a strong merch strategy. This important need is what led Vanessa Ferrer to found Merch Cat, a POS & inventory management tool that helps artists track what merch they sell each night on tour, easily identify what merch items & types of products are most popular among their fans, and unify sales across the merch table and a fan-centric shopping app. We spoke with Ferrer about Merch Cat’s story, the importance of using sales metrics to understand your fanbase, why every artist should have a holistic approach to merch sales, and beyond!

Episode #228 — Holistic Strategies For Selling Music Merch with Merch Cat’s Vanessa Ferrer

The fight against all forms of music fraud has been a major watershed moment for intra-industry collaboration, as was seen in the Music Business Association’s establishment of its Spin Fraud Task Force and its hosting of the Trust & Safety Symposium in January 2024. Now a few months away from that event, our latest The Future of What podcast explores how music professionals & companies are developing internal tools & best practices to fight fraud, while also learning lessons from others who have dealt with bad actors in the finance, film, game industries and beyond. Be sure to listen for insights from Symphonic Distribution CEO, Jorge Brea and Ethixbase360 consultant, Virna Di Palma!

Episode #229 — Music Fraud Update: Combating Bad Actors From All Angles

A weekly podcast & radio show about the music industry hosted by Music Business Association president, Portia Sabin. Listen to new episodes here, or wherever you get your podcasts!

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