Music Growth Talks: Podcast for Musicpreneurs

Jason Davis, described by The 700 Club as “a music mogul,” has been in the music industry for more than two decades as an award-winning songwriter, author, president of a record label, executive TV producer, and entertainment consultant. Davis has worked with numerous worldwide stars, including Boyz ll Men, Sugar Ray, P. Diddy, Alabama, Lonestar, Dolly Parton, among many others. He has secured record deals with CEOs of companies like Capitol Records, Sony, Interscope, Island / Def Jam, Epic, and more. Davis has also launched and runs several major companies, including One One 7, Radar Label Group (Jimmy Eat World, Plain White T's, Neon Trees, The Unlikely Candidates), Awaken Records (Austin French), and Care For Kids. On this Music Growth Talks episode, Jason Davis talks about his approach to the development of up-and-coming artists, finding new talent (and why he only meets new artists in person), as well as what changed his whole approach to life and business—something he wrote two books about. Listen to the episode in full to learn how they develop very particular artist skills at One One 7, and to hear Davis’ insights on what many people in the entertainment industries get wrong. “The [artist’s] gift is always hidden, and it takes a lot of love and care to uncover it.” – Jason Davis ⏯ Go to http://dottedmusic.com/2020/podcast/mgt155-jason-davis for the show notes and http://musicgrowthtalks.com to subscribe to the podcast. Become a patron to access a secret podcast feed with patron-only episodes at https://www.patreon.com/andrewapanov

The Portnoy Brothers (also known as PORTNOY) is an Israeli duo, Israel & Mendy, who recently released their new album called No Complaints. They successfully raised over $30,000 in an IndieGoGo campaign to fund the record. On this Music Growth Talks episode, The Portnoy Brothers reveal which tactics were most impactful for their crowdfunding success, share how they almost launched the campaign on PledgeMusic (right before the company ceased their operations), and give content and networking tips. Listen to the episode in full to also learn about their recent single, an anthem for musicians struggling with the digital reality called “Spotified.” ⏯ Go to http://dottedmusic.com/2020/podcast/mgt154-portnoy-brothers for the show notes and http://musicgrowthtalks.com to subscribe to the podcast. Become a patron to access a secret podcast feed with patron-only episodes at https://www.patreon.com/andrewapanov

Jonathan Stone is a highly regarded music-publishing professional and co-founder of Rocket Songs. Jonathan’s career highlights include executive positions at ATV Music, MCA Music, Quincy Jones Productions (where he handled A&R for the likes of Michael Jackson, Patty Austin, and James Ingram), and Windswept Pacific Music Publishing, a company that published the works of Bruno Mars, Kings of Leon, Beyonce, The Spice Girls, Snow Patrol, and many more. On this Music Growth Talks episode Jonathan explains how Rocket Songs works for music artists who are looking for original songs to record, and for songwriters who want to “sell” their songs to other creators. Listen to the conversation in full for Jonathan’s insights on exclusive vs. non-exclusive rights, how A-list artists find songwriters, and what areas of the music publishing world you may want to educate yourself about before signing up for Rocket Songs. ⏯ Go to http://dottedmusic.com/2020/podcast/mgt153-jonathan-stone for the show notes and http://musicgrowthtalks.com to subscribe to the podcast. Become a patron to access a secret podcast feed with patron-only episodes at https://www.patreon.com/andrewapanov

This week’s Music Growth Talks guest – an artist, songwriter and producer Muyinza – shows how he has been using his creativity to overcome hard times and succeed in business. Muyinza’s family emigrated from Uganda to Canada in the mid-90s. After losing his mother to cancer in 2001, Muyinza and his family relocated to Boston, Massachusetts. Living in a dangerous neighborhood, Muyinza stayed home a lot to make music. Starting to work at 13 years old to pay for studio time, eventually he would go to college for music, release two full-length albums, move to LA, and win multiple awards. In 2014, Muyinza established a successful online business, which enabled him to focus on making music full-time. On this Music Growth Talks episode, Muyinza comments on what the creative community around him experiences during the current difficult times, and gives actionable tips on how you can create excellent content, engage with your fans, and grow your music career during the lockdown. ⏯ Go to http://dottedmusic.com/2020/podcast/mgt152-muyinza for the show notes and http://musicgrowthtalks.com to subscribe to the podcast. Become a patron to access a secret podcast feed with patron-only episodes at https://www.patreon.com/andrewapanov

Bas Grasmayer is a digital strategist who has held various roles in music & tech over the last decade, most recently as Product Director at IDAGIO, a music streaming service dedicated to classical music. He’s the founder of the MUSIC x TECH x FUTURE newsletter and the Music Tech Network community. On this Music Growth Talks episode, Bas talked about one of his latest ventures, MUSIC x GREEN. Designed to “create more visibility for organisations and initiatives that make the music industry less impactful on the climate and ecology”, MUSIC x GREEN makes it easy to browse through various projects which can make music greener, without “greenwashing.” Listen to the episode in full for the examples of how others make performing greener, and to see if moving from CDs to streaming has actually reduced music’s carbon footprint (it may not be what you expect). We also encourage you to subscribe to Bas’ most recent MUSIC x CORONA newsletter, for daily updates “for the music business on the coronavirus,” at musicxcorona.com. ⏯ Go to http://dottedmusic.com/2020/podcast/mgt151-bas-grasmayer for the show notes and http://musicgrowthtalks.com to subscribe to the podcast. Become a patron to access a secret podcast feed with patron-only episodes at https://www.patreon.com/andrewapanov

Matt Bacon is a consultant, A&R man, and journalist specializing in the world of heavy metal. The founder of Dropout Media, Matt has worked with the likes of Phil Collen of Def Leppard, Coven, Exhorder as well as labels including Prophecy Productions, Artoffact Records and Ripple Music. Matt has also been dedicated to helping and developing young bands, through his numerous educational resources, the daily Instagram #BaconsBits series, and his podcast, Dumb & Dumbest. In this Music Growth Talks episode, Matt talks about his journey from an unemployed 19 year-old college dropout living in Brooklyn to an industry expert working with some of the biggest acts in the heavy metal world, and the methods he used to grow his career. In particular, we go over creating content at scale, and being “unreasonably” aggressive in your marketing to stand out. Listen to the episode in full for Matt’s practical tips on understanding your community, making the “one to many” experience feel “one to one”, and being on as many channels as you like. ⏯ Go to http://dottedmusic.com/2020/podcast/mgt150-matt-bacon for the show notes and http://musicgrowthtalks.com to subscribe to the podcast. Become a patron to access a secret podcast feed with patron-only episodes at https://www.patreon.com/andrewapanov

Judah Holiday is a Miami-based singer/songwriter who delivers a timeless breed of pop music. He just released his first album, Feelings in My Head, and is already working on his next two, while performing across the US. In this episode of Music Growth talks, Judah talks about how his music calendar is planned out, shares the story of his drug addiction and how quitting has impacted his life’s mission and music career. Listen in to hear what advice Judah has for up-and-coming musicians who are confused about where to start and how they can turn their passion into a business. “We don’t get penalized for our misses, but we get awarded for our wins.” Key Points: • Judah talks about the aggressive release strategy he chose to meet the obligations of his record label. • Finding trustworthy people to be on his team. • Judah explains his view on how technology has impacted putting out content. • He explains how he first got addicted to prescription pills. The side effects of drug addiction and his turning point. • How is Judah’s life after recovering from addiction? • Why Judah believes he’s not in a safe place emotionally to fight for better mental health care for others. • How did addiction affect his music creativity? • There are many avenues of harm if you’re not careful: it’s not just drug addiction. • Judah’s advice to anyone planning to succeed in the music industry. ⏯ Go to http://dottedmusic.com/2020/podcast/mgt149-judah-holiday for the show notes and http://musicgrowthtalks.com to subscribe to the podcast. Become a patron to access a secret podcast feed with patron-only episodes at https://www.patreon.com/andrewapanov

Marcus Cobb is the CEO of Jammber, a company behind North America’s first self-serve, end-to-end royalty management platform called Jammber Splits. The app streamlines the process of metadata collection to help creatives receive proper credit and faster payment for their work. Jammber was founded in a Nashville's music tech accelerator, and has acquired over $5.5M in investor funding since 2013. On this Music Growth Talks episode, Marcus demonstrates how broken the current workflow is, with musicians often not being able to receive money owed to them, and describes the three key features of the Splits platform: tracking the creators working on a song and their ownership, automatically registering that song across North American agencies, and collecting royalties via Jammber Money. Listen to the episode in full to see how easier it can be to agree on song shares via a mobile app, and to learn about Jammber’s other upcoming products. ⏯ Go to http://dottedmusic.com/2020/podcast/mgt148-jammber for the show notes and http://musicgrowthtalks.com to subscribe to the podcast. Become a patron to access a secret podcast feed with patron-only episodes at https://www.patreon.com/andrewapanov

Vasja Veber is a co-founder of Viberate, the biggest live music network designed to bring artists, promoters and fans together. It makes performing acts’ life easier by giving them a better version of an EPK, or even a traditional website. Viberate features over a million profiles of musicians, venues, events and festivals and employs over 100 people all over the world, with the majority in their offices located in Ljubljana, Slovenia. In this episode of Music Growth Talks, Vasja shares how he launched the project with a fellow music manager Matej Gregorcic and a world-famous techno producer, UMEK, originally as a simple website that measured DJs’ social media metrics. Vasja shows what Viberate does today, how they keep artists’ profiles up-to-date, and reveals plans to make the platform the world’s biggest marketplace for underrepresented artists to be found by promoters. Listen on in full for an in-depth explanation of how Viberate gets information on live events and how you can use the app to research venues to perform at. ⏯ Go to http://dottedmusic.com/2020/podcast/mgt147-viberate for the show notes and http://musicgrowthtalks.com to subscribe to the podcast. Become a patron to access a secret podcast feed with patron-only episodes at https://www.patreon.com/andrewapanov

Andres Lauer is a former UMG exec who is now a co-founder of Five Vectors, alongside an esports/gaming expert Wasae Imran. They are building a technology that will enable independent artists and labels to engage with gaming communities in their native environment. In this episode of Music Growth Talks, Andres shares how music impacts people’s identity in the social space like gaming and how they’re using that to market artists’ music. He then explains how Five Vectors is going to create a new music interaction layer for gamers, while presenting new revenue opportunities for independent artists. Andres talks about the scale of the gaming industry, describes the importance of understanding gamers and what type of music they may be best responding to (it’s not only EDM!), and looks into the future of music. ⏯ Go to http://dottedmusic.com/2020/podcast/mgt146-five-vectors for the show notes and http://musicgrowthtalks.com to subscribe to the podcast. Become a patron to access a secret podcast feed with patron-only episodes at https://www.patreon.com/andrewapanov

Nat Jay is a Canadian singer-songwriter who has a vast experience in sync licensing: getting her music placed in movies and TV shows. She recently released a 10-song album which saw her make a shift from folk-pop to electro-pop while working with a new producer. In this Music Growth Talks episode, Nat talks about how signing with a one-stop licensing company has lessened the burden of doing everything all by herself. She goes into detail about how the sync licensing industry works for both established and emerging artists. Nat not only shares her story, but also gives valuable insights into the industry for anyone planning to take on the journey of sync placements. What you will learn from this episode: • Transitioning to a new music genre. • What is a one-stop music company? What are the benefits of being a one-stop artist? • How has the sync placement industry changed over the years? • Who is a music supervisor, what’s their job, and where do you find them? • Tips on how to approach music supervisors at conferences. Building a friendship wins over pushing your music. • What to do and not to do when choosing a sync licensing agent or doing it yourself. • The importance of an artist getting interested in the business aspect of their music career. ⏯ Go to http://dottedmusic.com/2020/podcast/mgt145-nat-jay for the show notes and http://musicgrowthtalks.com to subscribe to the podcast. Become a patron to access a secret podcast feed with patron-only episodes at https://www.patreon.com/andrewapanov

Steve Jones is a musician and co-founder of Beatchain, an online music marketing platform that offers guidance and growth tools to up-and-coming musicians. Several years ago Steve became interested in creating a platform where his band could advertise their content without the help of a record label. This later turned into a bigger project that now helps other artists grow their careers online. On this Music Growth Talks, Steve explains how a combination of music and tech backgrounds of its co-founders created a platform designed to be a one-stop-shop for an artist’s marketing needs. He goes over Beatchain’s features, from distribution and collecting all the artist’s online data in one spot, to advising artists on creating engaging content for their audience. Here are some of the topics we covered with Steve in our conversation: • Introduction to Beatchain and how it came to be. • The tools and functionality of the platform. • Simplification of online ads placement that grows your audience. • How machine learning is used to track valuable ad performance. • Steve explains how artists can create engaging content for their audience without spending much money. • Creativity wins over big budgets. • How both Facebook and Spotify are used for data collection. How artists are able to make the right career decision based on the information provided on the platform. • The sign-up process. • Upcoming features for managers. • How email marketing is incorporated into the platform. • Why artists need to view music as a business. The impact of social media on music today. • Understanding the difference between entertainment and business social media accounts. ⏯ Go to http://dottedmusic.com/2020/podcast/mgt144-beatchain for the show notes and http://musicgrowthtalks.com to subscribe to the podcast. Become a patron to access a secret podcast feed with patron-only episodes at https://www.patreon.com/andrewapanov

D Grant Smith is a syndicated radio host, personal development coach and speaker. He has two decades of experience guiding artists and creatives to become the best version of themselves. D’s latest venture is the exciting world of publishing, and in his latest book, Be Solid: How To Go Through Hell & Come Out Whole, he shares tried and true advice on how artists can overcome hardship, trial, challenge and difficulty for greater personal and professional success. According to research from Record Union, the most underestimated and often misunderstood element required for building a successful career as a professional musician is having the right mindset. • 73% of independent musicians suffer from symptoms of mental illness. • Nearly three-quarters of independent musicians have experienced “stress, anxiety and/or depression” in relation to their work. • 1 out of every 10 musicians struggles with suicidal thoughts. On this Music Growth Talks episode, D explains the importance of telling your story through your music to build better relationships with your audience. To do this authentically, you must first learn to love yourself and develop confidence. If you often find yourself doubting your abilities, not believing in your talent or leading yourself down a dark path through comparison, tune in to hear D’s transformation through the simple practice of ‘rewriting your narrative’ to love yourself and overcome hardship, trial, challenge and difficulty. ⏯ Go to http://dottedmusic.com/2020/podcast/mgt143-be-solid for the show notes and http://musicgrowthtalks.com to subscribe to the podcast. Become a patron to access a secret podcast feed with patron-only episodes at https://www.patreon.com/andrewapanov

David Wimble started The Indie Bible over 20 years ago as a way to help independent artists across genres get their music reviewed and promoted. Finding receptive resources and contacts that will actually make a difference for your music and give you the exposure you need can be tricky. The Indie Bible has your back with the directory of over 7,000 radio stations and music blogs, as well as 3,000 Spotify Playlists and 2,400 booking agents. In this episode of Music Growth Talks, David goes over the daunting task of pitching your music to curators as an independent artist, making the most of The Indie Bible, and getting placements on Spotify playlists. He also shares the story behind the directory, the benefits of its digital format today, and how you can make new real connections that’ll matter for your music. Listen to the show in full to learn how they’re keeping the directory fresh and up-to-date, and to hear David’s thoughts on when you need (and do not) to follow-up with the curators. ⏯ Go to http://dottedmusic.com/2020/podcast/mgt142-indie-bible for the show notes and http://musicgrowthtalks.com to subscribe to the podcast. Become a patron to access a secret podcast feed with patron-only episodes at https://www.patreon.com/andrewapanov

Jordan Valeriote is a music producer and engineer who started selling online courses around 3 years ago. Since then, he's generated over $1.5M with his courses, and now teaches other musicpreneurs how to do the same thing. On this Music Growth Talks episode Jordan talks about the opportunity musicians have to supplement their income by teaching and selling their own online courses. He answered the questions you may have if you're new to the idea, such as the costs involved, how to find out what your followers want to learn, or how to combine your "artist" and "teacher" identities. If you're considering to start your own course, you will hear a bunch of practical tips here as well: comparison of self-hosting and third-party solutions, how to sell your course before it's created, and a lot more. Listen to the episode in full to also learn several examples of successful niches ("drumming for dads" FTW!) and the artists who have done this. ⏯ Go to http://dottedmusic.com/2019/podcast/mgt141-jordan-valeriote for the show notes and http://musicgrowthtalks.com to subscribe to the podcast. Become a patron to access a secret podcast feed with patron-only episodes at https://www.patreon.com/andrewapanov

Katie Zaccardi is a wellness and career coach for women in music, as well as host of The Out to Be podcast, focused around mental health & self-care in the music industry. She's also a songwriter, artist, and certified yoga instructor. On this Music Growth Talks episode, Katie shares her personal journey after being diagnosed with anxiety, and explains why we have to change our mindset around the "starving musician" stereotype and the misconception that in order to be successful you must work hard all the time. She then talks about finding triggers and coping mechanisms if you suffer from anxiety, depression, bipolar, or other mental disorders. Katie also shows how you can take care of yourself through time management and a wellness routine. Listen to the episode in full to see if musicians are more prone to suffer from anxiety and depression or not, and to learn practical techniques for avoiding a burnout. ⏯ Go to http://dottedmusic.com/2019/podcast/mgt140-katie-zaccardi for the show notes and http://musicgrowthtalks.com to subscribe to the podcast. Become a patron to access a secret podcast feed with patron-only episodes at https://www.patreon.com/andrewapanov

Ari Herstand is a musician and the man behind Ari's Take, a music business blog which became the go-to resource for independent musicians on how to run a successful music career. He's also the author of "How To Make It in the New Music Business," originally released in 2016. The second edition of the best-selling book is out this week, and Ari shares what was changed and added with the Music Growth Talks listeners. Listen to the episode in full for Ari's practical tips on building authentic brands and communities of fans, as well as numerous real-world examples of how indie musicians "make it" without major record label deals or touring today. ⏯ Go to http://dottedmusic.com/2019/podcast/mgt139-ari-herstand for the show notes and http://musicgrowthtalks.com to subscribe to the podcast. Become a patron to access a secret podcast feed with patron-only episodes at https://www.patreon.com/andrewapanov

Steve Welty is a successful entrepreneur and singer-songwriter, who, as many of you, has to juggle a lot on a daily basis: from running a business and spending time with family to creating and promoting his music. The San Diego-based artist doesn't only practice healthy approach to living a balanced and fruitful life, he also shares his ongoing experiments and insights with others on Instagram and in the "Lit Up Life" video series on YouTube. On this Music Growth Talks episode, Steve talked about defining your "fascinating and motivating" category of activities, finding other songwriters to collaborate with, not stacking your losses, bringing values to others, delegating work, and much more. Listen to the episode in full to hear Steve's tips on becoming comfortable with showing up on social media, as well as the secret to doubling your rate of success and being unstoppable. ⏯ Go to http://dottedmusic.com/2019/podcast/mgt138-steve-welty for the show notes and http://musicgrowthtalks.com to subscribe to the podcast. Become a patron to access a secret podcast feed with patron-only episodes at https://www.patreon.com/andrewapanov

Bif Naked, called the “Princess of Punk” and the “Rock Goddess”, is a Canadian recording artist and author. Her career heights have taken her around the world on tour for twenty years, with numerous hits in 90s and 2000s, and, quite recently, her candid memoir called “I, Bificus”. On this Music Growth Talks episode, Bif talked about everything... from social media to activism, vulnerability, veganism, embracing limitations, straight edge being a true representation of the DIY ethic, and more. Listen to the full episode for Bif's practical career tips, and to learn more about her upcoming book on cancer. ⏯ Go to http://dottedmusic.com/2019/podcast/mgt137-bif-naked for the show notes and http://musicgrowthtalks.com to subscribe to the podcast. Become a patron to access a secret podcast feed with patron-only episodes at https://www.patreon.com/andrewapanov

Michael Sloane is the CEO of Nashville-based Streaming Promotions, a company specializing in music placement in streaming platforms. They primarily focus on Spotify, which gives artists more ways to market their music than any other competitor on the streaming market as of today. On this Music Growth Talks episode, Michael covered some of the most common topics surrounding the Spotify promotion. From avoiding companies who offer "guaranteed" streams and the differences between third-party and Spotify-curated playlists to how the platform's algorithm works, and why music will soon be mostly curated by "robots". Listen to the episode in full for more insights, such as the importance of your Monthly Listeners metric, getting traction in the first week of a release, converting streams into fans, case studies, and more. ⏯ Go to http://dottedmusic.com/2019/podcast/mgt136-streaming-promotions for the show notes and http://musicgrowthtalks.com to subscribe to the podcast. Become a patron to access a secret podcast feed with patron-only episodes at https://www.patreon.com/andrewapanov

Tommy Stalknecht is the founder of Single Music, a Nashville-based company offering a music distribution component to Shopify. Over the years Tommy has overseen the development and management of many high-profile websites, including Sam Hunt, Kenny Rogers, Josh Turner, Larry The Cable Guy, and The Americana Music Association, among others. On this Music Growth Talks episode, Tommy explains how they help record labels and artists to sell directly via their official web sites with instant reporting to Nielsen for official Billboard chart tallying. We talk on what "direct to consumer" means in music today, the pros and cons of integrating with another platform, and the importance of great design in ecommerce. Listen to the episode in full to learn the tricks major artists use to increase "scans" on Billboard, how to run a crowdfunding campaign on Shopify, and much more. ⏯ Go to http://dottedmusic.com/2019/podcast/mgt135-single-music for the show notes and http://musicgrowthtalks.com to subscribe to the podcast. Become a patron to access a secret podcast feed with patron-only episodes at https://www.patreon.com/andrewapanov

JP Evangelista is Vevo’s Senior Vice President of Content, Programming & Marketing. His teams work with artists, managers, and record labels to secure and promote music videos, exclusive premieres, and live events across the Vevo platform. Over the course of the last 18 months, Vevo has been pushing original content creation and promotional strategies to support emerging artists, championing acts like Billie Eilish and Alessia Cara. On this Music Growth Talks episode, JP explained how their DSCVR and LIFT programs work for artists at different stages of their careers (regardless of label affiliation), and gave tips on optimizing music videos for the YouTube environment. Listen to the episode in full to learn why a long intro in your video will hurt its performance, as well as how to appear on Vevo's radar for potential inclusion in the DSCVR program. ⏯ Go to http://dottedmusic.com/2019/podcast/mgt134-vevo-jp-evangelista for the show notes and http://musicgrowthtalks.com to subscribe to the podcast. Become a patron to access a secret podcast feed with patron-only episodes at https://www.patreon.com/andrewapanov

Amadea is the COO of Pex, an LA-based video and music search engine with a fingerprinting technology that identifies reused content – even if it's a half-second sample in a remix, a GIF, or your song's melody in a cover video – across the whole web. This enables rights holders to understand the virality of their content, and claim copyrighted material at scale. On this Music Growth Talks episode, Amadea explained how Pex works, why their solution is more precise than YouTube's Content ID, and how Pex is opening the platform to indie creators. With data showing that 99% of fan engagement comes from reposted versions of popular artists' content, understanding where these reposts happen becomes more important than ever. As Amadea said, "it's no longer a one-platform game out there". Indeed, you have little control over your music or video popping up on the likes of Tik Tok or Giphy (and to be clear, most of you want that to be happening). We also talked about the recently approved by EU Copyright Directive's Article 13 (now Article 17), and its effect on the creative world. Listen to the episode in full to learn more about Pex, Article 13, and why the music industry has largerly moved from taking down user-generated content in the recent years. ⏯ Go to http://dottedmusic.com/2019/podcast/mgt133-amadea-choplin for the show notes and http://musicgrowthtalks.com to subscribe to the podcast. Become a patron to access a secret podcast feed with patron-only episodes at https://www.patreon.com/andrewapanov

Taishi Fukuyama is a co-founder and COO of Amadeus Code, an AI-powered songwriting assistant. The technology behind this mobile app breaks "centuries of melodies" down into constituent parts and transforms them into data, allowing the tool to generate an endless stream of melody. On this Music Growth Talks episode, Taishi, who's also a contributing writer at WIRED Japan, shared his thoughts on the current state of artificial intelligence in music and explained how his team aims to help songwriters and foster creativity with Amadeus Code. Listen to the full episode to learn why each song needs a story (which can only be created by a human), how you can collaborate with the AI inside the app, and more insights from Taishi Fukuyama. ⏯ Go to http://dottedmusic.com/2019/podcast/mgt132-taishi-fukuyama for the show notes and http://musicgrowthtalks.com to subscribe to the podcast. Become a patron to access a secret podcast feed with patron-only episodes at https://www.patreon.com/andrewapanov

Greg Wilnau is the founder of Musician Monster, where he teaches independent artists to succeed in the music business, with the focus on branding and earning sustainable income through live shows. In his second appearance on Music Growth Talks, Greg focused exclusively on branding. He listed three steps to defining a music brand, explained the importance of understanding how you want to impact others and why traditional branding doesn't work well for music, and showed how artists can integrate personal stories into their brands. Listen to the full episode for Greg's merch advice, the 3-part music story framework, and more. ⏯ Go to http://dottedmusic.com/2019/podcast/mgt131-music-branding for the show notes and http://musicgrowthtalks.com to subscribe to the podcast. Become a patron to access a secret podcast feed with patron-only episodes at https://www.patreon.com/andrewapanov

After a decade of fighting for the rights to the .MUSIC top-level domain, alongside other applicants like Google and Amazon, DotMusic's application for the registry prevailed in April 2019. .MUSIC is now a community-based domain name extension, supported by thousands of the most influential music organizations worldwide, representing over 95% of global music (probably including yours). Constantine Roussos, the founder and CEO of DotMusic, shared with us the complicated history of the project, the numerous challenges they face prior to launching the domain next year, explained how artists will be verifying their identities, and commented on the security measures designed to protect creators' rights (and fight cybersquatting or piracy). Listen to the episode in full to learn how to claim your .music domain today, the potential cost of registering, why Constantine doesn't recommend using it as a redirect to your existing website, and more. ⏯ Go to http://dottedmusic.com/2019/podcast/mgt130-dotmusic for the show notes and http://musicgrowthtalks.com to subscribe to the podcast. Become a patron to access a secret podcast feed with patron-only episodes at https://www.patreon.com/andrewapanov

Alexey Kochetkov is the CEO and founder of Mubert, an AI generative music app. Mubert's algorithm creates unique audio streams from samples and loops uploaded by various electronic music producers. Each such stream is an infinite 'live' track that is constantly changing in real time. Listeners of the mobile app can choose from channels based on genres (e.g. Chill, Dub Techno, Hip Hop, House) and actions (e.g. Focus, Work, Sleep, Relax). On this Music Growth Talks episode, Alex talked about musicians' role in the future of music AI; the increasing interest in generative music from commercial brands, games, and social media platforms; the fair monetisation model where producers earn money from the sounds they've uploaded; and a lot more. Listen to the episode in full to also learn how to create a personal generative stream consisting only from your samples with Mubert. ⏯ Go to http://dottedmusic.com/2019/podcast/mgt129-mubert for the show notes and http://musicgrowthtalks.com to subscribe to the podcast. Become a patron to access a secret podcast feed with patron-only episodes at https://www.patreon.com/andrewapanov

Aaron Bethune, the author of “Musicpreneur: The Creative Approach to Making Money in Music” and founder of Play It Loud Music, Above the Noise and JAM, is back to Music Growth Talks. Listen to episodes #29 and #80 for more on Aaron. This episode starts with the discussion of a blog post Aaron wrote about last year's scandal around the LA metal band Threatin, who faked their whole online presence to land a European tour no one attended, which led to the promoters exposing the band online. Was the case all that shockingly new to the music industry though? Did Threatin go too far, or didn't they go far enough? Listen to Aaron's insights on this controversial topic, with examples of Elvis Presley and Taylor Swift applying the "fake it till you make it" mindset at early stages of their careers. Aaron then broadens the theme of con artists, and gives examples of how his artists and himself have been attempted to be scammed. There is a few crazy stories involving Def Jam, president of UPS, and US Secret Service, so listen on to hear it all. ⏯ Go to http://dottedmusic.com/2019/podcast/mgt128-aaronbethune for the show notes and http://musicgrowthtalks.com to subscribe to the podcast. Become a patron to access a secret podcast feed with patron-only episodes at https://www.patreon.com/andrewapanov

Matty Harris is a music producer, mixing and mastering engineer from Boston, now based in LA. After touring with bands as a drummer as early as at the age of 14, he studied Music Production and Engineering at Berklee College of Music. Since then, he has worked on numerous records for Atlantic, RCA, WB, Sammy Adams, A$AP Rocky, and many more. He worked on the Grammy Award-winning song “Stronger” by Kelly Clarkson and won the 2008 Boston Music Award for Best Hip-Hop Engineer and Producer. On this Music Growth Talks episode, Matty talked about a range of topics, from singles taking over albums and who to have in your music team, to "wah wah west" and avoiding the common mistakes a lot of DIY musicians make when recording at home. Listen to the podcast in full to also learn about trends in mastering music for streaming platforms, and to discover the "hidden" benefit of hiring a professional to help you finish a song. ⏯ Go to http://dottedmusic.com/2019/podcast/mgt127-mattyharris for the show notes and http://musicgrowthtalks.com to subscribe to the podcast. Become a patron to access a secret podcast feed with patron-only episodes at https://www.patreon.com/andrewapanov

Elmo Lovano is a professional drummer, musical director, producer and founder of Jammcard, the invite-only music professionals network. Dubbed a "LinkedIn for musicians" by Forbes, Jammcard is currently available in Los Angeles, Nashville and Atlanta. Even if you don't have an account on the platform, there is a lot to learn from the educational content Elmo has been putting out on Jammcard. He interviews some of the world's most successful freelance musicians for backstage stories, gear insights, and the nitty-gritty of how they've landed their dream gigs. On this Music Growth Talks episode, Elmo talked about the different ways you can prepare yourself for being hired, networking in the physical and digital worlds, and how they merge the two at Jammcard. Listen to the episode in full to learn how to improve your social media game, and how to master a working musician's "funnel": from being discovered to closing a deal. ⏯ Go to http://dottedmusic.com/2019/podcast/mgt126-jammcard for the show notes and http://musicgrowthtalks.com to subscribe to the podcast. Become a patron to access a secret podcast feed with patron-only episodes at https://www.patreon.com/andrewapanov

Darryl Ballantyne is the founder and CEO of LyricFind, the global leader in lyric licensing. The Toronto-based company handles the vetting, licensing, and royalty splits and payments when lyrics are displayed in Google Search, Apple Music, Amazon, Shazam, Pandora, Deezer, and many more platforms and services. LyricFind works with over 5,000 publishers around the world to ensure that songwriters and rights holders are paid when their lyrics are shown. On this Music Growth Talks episode, Darryl talked about their recent African deal with CAPASSO, explained how and why to submit your lyrics to LyricFind, and showed the creative ways that they turn lyric publishing into revenue (hint: one of it is through merch). Listen to the episode in full to learn how your songs' lyrics might bring you exposure (probably more than money if you are a developing artist), and hear Darryl's thoughts on how lyrics enhance a listener's experience. ⏯ Go to http://dottedmusic.com/2019/podcast/mgt125-lyricfind for the show notes and http://musicgrowthtalks.com to subscribe to the podcast. Become a patron to access a secret podcast feed with patron-only episodes at https://www.patreon.com/andrewapanov

Rich Redmond is an influential drummer, having toured and recorded with the likes of Ludacris, Kelly Clarkson, Bryan Adams, Joe Perry, Chris Cornell, and dozens of others. As the drumming powerhouse behind Grammy-nominated Jason Aldean, Rich has recorded 23 #1 singles with sales over the 10 million mark. Also a successful entrepreneur, speaker, educator, and an actor, Rich truly knows how to laser focus on his goals and to be one of the most prolific people in the business. On this Music Growth Talks episode, Rich shows how he's not only survived in the music industry, but has been thriving in it. He talks about building multiple income streams as a musician, such as teaching and offering speaking engagements to corporations. Rich also explains his "C.R.A.S.H. Course For Success"™ presentation, which he refers to as "edu-tainment." C.R.A.S.H. is a practical concept, applicable to Fortune 500 companies and music artists alike. Listen to the episode in full to hear time management tips from the person who juggles an insane amount of projects, to learn why Rich encourages all aspiring musicians to move to music hubs like Nashville or Los Angeles (the two cities he resides in), and to hear an unexpected speculation on the question: do we really need music? ⏯ Go to http://dottedmusic.com/2019/podcast/mgt124-rich-redmond/ for the show notes and http://musicgrowthtalks.com to subscribe to the podcast. Become a patron to access a secret podcast feed with patron-only episodes at https://www.patreon.com/andrewapanov

Stephen White, who served as the President at Gracenote from 2012-2014, is now the CEO of Dubset, an innovative music marketplace for DJs, artists, labels, publishers, and distributors. Dubset gets mixtapes, remixes and DJ sets the licenses they need to be distributed on streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music, and hence monetized. On this Music Growth Talks episode, Stephen talked about Dubset's history (some of you may still remember it as a place to host your DJ mixes), explained how complicated the clearance process has been traditionally and how a DJ, a producer or a label can do it differently using Dubset's MixBANK. Stephen also shared details of the recent project by J.PERIOD, featuring hip hop legends Rakim, Pharoahe Monch, and Black Thought, which is a live mixtape that was recorded in one take. This is the first time such a mixtape has been cleared for commercial distribution. Listen to the episode in full to find out more about Dubset's recent partnership with SoundCloud, and learn why to pay attention to Apple Music's new DJ-friendly features. ⏯ Go to http://dottedmusic.com/2018/podcast/mgt123-dubset for the show notes and http://musicgrowthtalks.com to subscribe to the podcast. Become a patron to access a secret podcast feed with patron-only episodes at https://www.patreon.com/andrewapanov

Mandy Aubry is a director of Global Business Development and Client Relations at Songtrust. Once named a "Top Music Startup" by Billboard, Songtrust now powers the publishing administration technology for over 150,000 songwriters and 20,000 music publishers worldwide, as well as more than 1 million copyrights. One out of every five new songwriters in the US use the Songtrust platform today, and the number seems to be growing steadily. As you will hear, Mandy has a fascinating music industry background, having worked at Mercury Records, Roadrunner Records, and Fintage House prior to joining Songtrust's team in their Amsterdam office. On this Music Growth Talks episode, Mandy talked about Songtrust's rich background and what makes the platform unique, explained how to collect publishing royalties from streaming, clarified a difference between publishing administration and a publishing deal (and why the latter may in fact be bad for you), and shared her thoughts on if you should sign up with your distributor's publishing services. Listen to the episode in full to learn how to never ever leave money that's due to you as a songwriter on the table. BONUS! As you will hear at the end of the episode, Mandy offered a discount on Songtrust's registration fee to the Music Growth Talks listeners. The first 100 of you who sign up with Songtrust will receive a 10% discount on the usual $100 (USD) per songwriter/per 50 titles if you use the discount code DOTTEDMUSIC. ⏯ Go to http://dottedmusic.com/2018/podcast/mgt122-songtrust for the show notes and http://musicgrowthtalks.com to subscribe to the podcast. Become a patron to access a secret podcast feed with patron-only episodes at https://www.patreon.com/andrewapanov

iLLvibe is an acclaimed hip hop artist from Toronto, Canada, who also runs a lyric video company, LyricVids.com. He came on our radar after speaking at Future Music Forum in Barcelona, where he hosted a session called "The Importance of Musicians/Artists Thinking Like Content Creators". As someone who creates a lot of high-quality content for himself and others, Illy had much to say on this Music Growth Talks episode. He gave examples of when lyric videos come particularly handy, explained why filming a low budget music video can “brand you down”, and talked about reaching new fans through video on social media. He shared tips on using targeted ads and crafting your brand’s story, as well. Listen to the podcast in full to also learn why being an underdog can boost your growth, and what kind of call to acton to give to you superfans. ⏯ Go to http://dottedmusic.com/2018/podcast/mgt121-illvibe for the show notes and http://musicgrowthtalks.com to subscribe to the podcast. Become a patron to access a secret podcast feed with patron-only episodes at https://www.patreon.com/andrewapanov

Betsy McHugh is the Founder and Chief Product Officer at Hurdl, pioneering "the next generation of fan-based marketing" at live events (the statement which we endorse). Event attendees get an LED wristband upon entering a venue, which can then be activated via SMS to answer a short set of questions. Those who choose to answer survey in turn become a part of the light show, get special offers, merch deals, and any other incentives determined by the artist's team. The Nashville-based startup claims to identify 8 times the data on who is in the audience versus other methods (for the organiser to then start a conversation with those fans). The system has a 67% average audience opt-in rate with 95% of those who do so answering up to 5 survey questions. On this Music Growth Talks episode Betsy shares how acts like Deadmau5 and Why Don’t We have already benefited from the platform. Listen to the episode in full to learn about the new ways to enhance fan experiences at your live shows, and to hear Betsy's take on the experience economy. ⏯ Go to http://dottedmusic.com/2018/podcast/mgt120-betsy-mchugh-hurdl for the show notes and http://musicgrowthtalks.com to subscribe to the podcast. Become a patron to access a secret podcast feed with patron-only episodes at https://www.patreon.com/andrewapanov

Jesper Skibsby's life journey has taken him from working at a sea shipping company in Denmark to "shipping" a music tech startup, which is now the most accessible platform for tracking radio airplay. WARM, standing for World Airplay Radio Monitor, claims to be the first large-scale airplay monitoring service built specifically to serve individual musicians. On this Music Growth Talks episode Jesper explained the technology behind WARM, and how they manage to track song plays even on small radio stations across the globe. You may be surprised where your tracks are being played. He also talked about two general reasons why you would want to monitor worldwide airplay for your songs, and reminded us that the music is truly global these days—meaning you, as an artist, may see more success with your genre internationally than locally. Listen to this podcast episode in full to also hear Jesper's thoughts on how difficult it is to put a monetary value on a single radio spin, yet how many insights you can gain from one at the same time. ⏯ Go to http://dottedmusic.com/2018/podcast/mgt119-jesper-skibsby-warm for the show notes and http://musicgrowthtalks.com to subscribe to the podcast. Become a patron to access a secret podcast feed with patron-only episodes at https://www.patreon.com/andrewapanov

Kevin Breuner, CD Baby’s VP of Marketing, is back to the Music Growth Talks podcast to talk about this year's DIY Musician Conference, which took place in Nashville on August 24-26th 2018. On this episode, recorded a couple days after the event, Kevin explained what DIY means for a music artist nowadays, shared encouraging stats on musicians' royalties growing thanks to streaming, discussed the importance of understanding how platforms like Spotify and YouTube work to get the most out of them, and told a story of an artist who makes a living releasing cover songs. Listen to the episode in full for some great knowledge from Kevin, and watch the video recordings of selected DIY Musician Conference sessions on CD Baby's YouTube channel for even more insights. ⏯ Go to http://dottedmusic.com/2018/podcast/mgt118-diy-music-conference for the show notes and http://musicgrowthtalks.com to subscribe to the podcast. Become a patron to access a secret podcast feed with patron-only episodes at https://www.patreon.com/andrewapanov

As a musician and a record label executive, Chris Tanner has gone through the challenges all indie artists face when marketing their music online. Equipped with programming skills and frustrated by the lack of simple solutions for their promotional needs, Chris and his business partner Greg Ashburn started working on a set of scripts for their own projects. The two musicpreneurs quickly saw a huge potential and demand in what Chris was developing, and so Spektrol was born – a collection of marketing, analytics, and business apps now available to everyone in the industry. Today, there is over a dozen tools offered within the platform (most are free), and new features are being added weekly. On this Music Growth Talks episode Chris and Andrew discussed the different ways Spektrol and its underlying growth tactics can be used, and talked about Spotify playlist marketing, cold outreach, and even the Atlanta music scene. Listen to the episode in full to learn a bunch of new marketing hacks such as finding influencers you didn't know you have already been connected to, researching Spotify playlist curators' contacts, mining emails of your social media followers, pre-saving a Spotify record, analyzing which of your posts perform best, and monetizing content with the help of cryptocurrency. ⏯ Go to http://dottedmusic.com/2018/podcast/mgt117-spektrol for the show notes and http://musicgrowthtalks.com to subscribe to the podcast. Become a patron to access a secret podcast feed with patron-only episodes at https://www.patreon.com/andrewapanov

Phillip Ryan Block has been involved in a range of jobs, from sales to investment consulting, prior to pursuing his dream and launching the Independent Ear record label. The imprint is a "testament of his abilities to analyze, predict, project, produce and then change it all up when one business model doesn’t fit the next," according to Mr. Block's bio. As a prove to the latter statement, Ryan recently turned Independent Ear into one of the world's first non-profit labels. An experienced marketer and branding expert, he continues to work with various music projects, and also does a lot to raise awareness of mental health issues in the music community. On this Music Growth Talks episode, Phillip Ryan Block talked about his new show, The Open Heart Collective, where his guests open up and share their life stories. The listeners can then learn what to do better in their own lives through these stories. Besides talking about the mental health awareness, Ryan also explained how he's been connecting his labels' artists with relevant causes and non-profits. "When you make it not about you, amazing things happen," in Ryan's words. We also chatted about the sacrifices you have to be making in life to live to your full potential, music being the strongest art form in existence and musicians often forgetting that fact, and more. Listen to the conversation in full and check out the links in the show notes for all the resources we mentioned on this episode. ⏯ Go to http://dottedmusic.com/2018/podcast/mgt116-ryan-block for the show notes and http://musicgrowthtalks.com to subscribe to the podcast. Become a patron to access a secret podcast feed with patron-only episodes at https://www.patreon.com/andrewapanov

Greg Wilnau is the founder of Musician Monster, where he teaches independent artists how to brand themselves and earn sustainable income through live shows, among other music marketing and business topics. Two years ago Greg and his wife sold their house in Florida to start travelling the world and working remotely full-time. On this Music Growth Talks episode, Greg talked about his new lifestyle and finding the reason he was not making money with his own band, and how he acted upon the discovery. Listen to the episode in full to learn Greg's five-phase strategy for earning income at every gig, packed with a ton of actionable hacks, insights in artist branding (and how it's very different from branding a "regular" business), as well as a look into how to sell when you hate being a salesman. ⏯ Go to http://dottedmusic.com/2018/podcast/mgt115-greg-wilnau for the show notes and http://musicgrowthtalks.com to subscribe to the podcast. Become a patron to access a secret podcast feed with patron-only episodes at https://www.patreon.com/andrewapanov

Jamie New Johnson is a retired artist manager, author, and educator from Toronto, who started her music industry career planning educational workshops with some of North America’s top artist managers. She then moved on to manage internationally touring artists independently, before shifting her focus back to education and starting Smartist University a.k.a. SmartistU (formerly Smart Band Management). SmartistU is a resource built for aspiring artist managers, self-managed artists, and musicians who want to start working with managers. On this Music Growth Talks episode, Jamie New explained a ton about the world of music management, from managers' responsibilities and the skills good artist managers must have these days, to a typical management deal structure and what managers usually look for in artists they're considering to sign. Listen to the show in full to also hear Jamie's tips for managers on finding great talent, and for artists on finding great managers. ⏯ Go to http://dottedmusic.com/2018/podcast/mgt114-jamienewjohnson/ for the show notes and http://musicgrowthtalks.com to subscribe to the podcast. Become a patron to access a secret podcast feed with patron-only episodes at https://www.patreon.com/andrewapanov

Tom Sarig is a music business veteran of over two decades, who has helped a number of acclaimed music artists sell millions of records, either as their manager or as a label A&R, in genres ranging from electronic to rock, pop, and hip hop. Prior to launching the AntiFragile Music label, Tom has run Esther Creative Group, where he's managed the careers of artists such as Lou Reed, Bryan Ferry/Roxy Music, Rickie Lee Jones, CAKE, Against Me!, Blonde Redhead, and many others. For the 11 years prior to starting ECG, Tom served as a Grammy-winning Senior A&R executive at various major labels including Universal Records, Arista Records, MCA Records, A&M Records, and TVT Records, working with the likes of The Roots, Nine Inch Nails, Erykah Badu, Blink-182, Annie Lennox, Mos Def, Imogen Heap, DJ Shadow, Aphex Twin, Squarepusher, and so many others. Tom has also produced several feature films, having served as Film Producer for two acclaimed features, Red Shirley and Lou Reed’s “Berlin”, and as a Producer for MTV’s annual television special on his Shortlist Music Prize. AntiFragile Music was established as "a reaction against some of the established big labels who are not doing enough for artists anymore." On this Music Growth Talks episode, Tom Sarig explained how their approach to working with artists is different, mentioned how he discovers new talent, shared an interesting artist success story, and outlined terms of a typical AntiFragile's record deal. We also talked about the impact which placements in popular Apple and Spotify playlists have on the label, and how those placements alone never "break" an artist – it's the job of an artist's team to develop them, and turn passive listeners into fans. Listen to the show in full to learn what Tom is looking for in a music act besides the music, hear his excellent content marketing advice, and a lot more. ⏯ Go to http://dottedmusic.com/2018/podcast/mgt113-tomsarig/ for the show notes and http://musicgrowthtalks.com to subscribe to the podcast. Become a patron to access a secret podcast feed with patron-only episodes at https://www.patreon.com/andrewapanov

Nathan Hanks is the Founder and CEO of Music Audience Exchange (MAX), a company whose mission is to connect brands and artists "to engage fans together". MAX has built a platform for brands to reach their target audiences through "breakthrough" artists, who have growing and loyal fanbases yet who may not be signed to a major label, or selling out stadiums. This new model helps brands reach potential customers in a more authentic and human way, while allowing artists to grow their careers through meaningful investment from brands (e.g. buying radio play for a song, or sponsoring a music video instead of a plain video advertisement). On this Music Growth Talks episode, Nathan shared details on how their matching engine maps 1.8 million artists to the psychographic and behavioral attributes of their audiences, and gave examples of how MAX' campaigns have been helping both the brands and the artists. Listen to the episode in full to learn more about the power of brand partnerships, and to hear a few specific music marketing tips from Nathan Hanks. ⏯ Go to http://dottedmusic.com/2018/podcast/mgt112-nathanhanks/ for the show notes and http://musicgrowthtalks.com to subscribe to the podcast. Become a patron to access a secret podcast feed with patron-only episodes at https://www.patreon.com/andrewapanov

Danny Turner is a Global Senior Vice President of Creative Programming at Mood Media. Danny has over 25 years of experience in the industry, including helping launch XM Satellite Radio, or creating programs for the likes of Starbucks, MTV, VH1, United Airlines, and Oprah. At Mood Media (a company which acquired Muzak, the inventor of background music), Danny and his team of over 65 music curators design custom playlists for some of the biggest brands, like Target, CVS, McDonald's, Whole Foods, and many more. With 500,000 active client locations around the globe, and Mood's playlists reaching 150 million people per day across 40 countries, Danny manages what can truly be called one of the largest music networks in the world. On this Music Growth Talks episode, Danny explained how music affects retail experience, and how they select music designers (one of the coolest jobs in the world). He also described his approach to creating unique music experiences, and what we liked there was that his team is not attached to certain artists or genres when building their playlists. They pick whatever will work for each brand, which gives them complete artistic freedom – great news for indie musicians. To put it in Danny's words, "I don't program by the charts". Listen to the show to also learn which mistakes to avoid when making submissions to Mood or other licensing company, and to hear about Danny's experience being one of the founding programming executives at XM Satellite Radio. ⏯ Go to http://dottedmusic.com/2018/podcast/mgt111-dannyturner for the show notes and http://musicgrowthtalks.com to subscribe to the podcast. Become a patron to access a secret podcast feed with patron-only episodes at https://www.patreon.com/andrewapanov

Muzooka is a free app allowing artists and their teams to manage their media assets across various platforms, such as festival, venue, or ticketing websites (i.e. no more ancient photos and outdated bios), as well as to report setlists to performing rights organizations for proper distribution of live performance royalties. On this Music Growth Talks episode, Muzooka's founder and CEO Shawn Wilson shared his story of building a product based on real needs of the industry, and explained in detail how their asset management and playlist reporting systems work for music acts. Listen to the show in full to learn how the app collects and validates artists' data, to see why you should get on board, and to hear Shawn's practical advice on getting more attention to your festival gig. ⏯ Go to http://dottedmusic.com/2018/podcast/mgt110-muzooka/ for the show notes and http://musicgrowthtalks.com to subscribe to the podcast. Become a patron to access a secret podcast feed with patron-only episodes at https://www.patreon.com/andrewapanov

Elroy "Spoonface" Powell (Spoon) is a British voice artist, actor, music publisher and social entrepreneur. After achieving international success as the voice behind a Black Legend hit, "You See The Trouble With Me", he experienced all possible ups and downs the music industry has got to offer. He shares his experience in a new short book he wrote, to offer fellow artists and musicpreneurs support with a focus on balance and wellness. On this Music Growth Talks episode, Spoon talked about his own path to sustainability, and gave a great creative advice to help you feel less anxious about the music you put out, among other topics we covered. Listen to this episode in full to also find out how marshal arts influenced Spoon's mindset, and to learn a brilliant advice on marketing your brand. ⏯ Go to http://dottedmusic.com/2018/podcast/mgt109-spoonface for the show notes and http://musicgrowthtalks.com to subscribe to the podcast. Become a patron to access a secret podcast feed with patron-only episodes at https://www.patreon.com/andrewapanov

Suz Paulinski is "a mindset coach for musicpreneurs", helping musicians and other music industry professionals reach their goals with custom time management solutions. Suz wrote and published The Rock/Star Life Planner, a tool for creatives to find focus in their daily lives. On this Music Growth Talks episode, Suz shares her journey from working at major record labels (and hating it), to getting a masters in psychology and becoming the Rock/Star Advocate. We talk about musicpreneurs having no choice but to care about their mental and physical health, the dangers of "sleep shaming", maintaining a healthy work/life balance, and the ways musicians can start managing their time more effectively. Listen to the podcast in full to also learn what "the purse curse" is, why The Rock/Star Life Planner is sold as a physical book, and how journaling will make you more creative. ⏯ Go to http://dottedmusic.com/2018/podcast/mgt108-suz-paulinski for the show notes and http://musicgrowthtalks.com to subscribe to the podcast. Become a patron to access a secret podcast feed with patron-only episodes at https://www.patreon.com/andrewapanov

Cherie Hu is a music tech columnist for Billboard and Forbes, who also contributes to publications like Music Ally, Cuepoint, Inside Arts and the Harvard Political Review. A musician passionate about technology, Cherie has written numerous impactful pieces about technology in the music industry. Her work was acknowledged at the Reeperbahn Festival last year, where she got the Music Business Journalist of the Year award. On this Music Growth Talks episode, Cherie comments on her Forbes article about the rapidly growing label and management company 88Rising, and explains how you can apply the tech adoption life cycle to your music career, something she describes in detail in her Medium post called "The Artist as Technology, Part 1: Breaking The Adoption Cycle". Listen to this episode to also hear why you can't really "break" overnight (neither can't you fake a meme), and learn about the challenges musicians face in the Asian markets. ⏯ Go to http://dottedmusic.com/2018/podcast/mgt107-cherie-hu/ for the show notes and http://musicgrowthtalks.com to subscribe to the podcast. Become a patron to access a secret podcast feed with patron-only episodes at http://musicianswebkeeper.com/

Alex Frecon is a hip hop artist and a media producer turned copywriter from Minneapolis. With many funny and experimental projects behind his back, the biggest one so far is a trip Alex made in March 2017... The trip was to North Korea. To play hockey against the North Korean Men's National Hockey Team. Alex brought his GoPro along for the ride, and created a video about the trip. Listen to this Music Growth Talks episode to find out more about Alex' experience in North Korea and how it helped promote his music, to see the true power of storytelling, and to learn how Alex applied the hedgehog theory to his music creation. ⏯ Go to http://dottedmusic.com/2018/podcast/mgt106-alex-frecon/ for the show notes and http://musicgrowthtalks.com to subscribe to the podcast. Become a patron to access a secret podcast feed with patron-only episodes at http://musicianswebkeeper.com/

Sony Theakanath is the CEO and Founder of Asaii, an automated machine learning lead generation A&R platform serving record labels, Fortune 500, booking and promoting agencies. Coming from Apple, Facebook, Uber, Salesforce, and Yelp, Asaii's team has built a product which focuses on in-depth analysis and prediction, instead of simply aggregating data across multiple sources. On this Music Growth Talks episode, Sony talked about their Discover and Track products, currently in private beta, and explained how exactly their clients use Asaii. He also shared tips for musicians aiming to be noticed by record labels and industry influencers who use data to discover talent. Listen to the episode in full to hear a new reason (in case you haven't had enough) not to buy fake followers and listens, and a lot more. ⏯ Go to http://dottedmusic.com/2018/podcast/mgt105-asaii/ for the show notes and http://musicgrowthtalks.com to subscribe to the podcast. Become a patron to access a secret podcast feed with patron-only episodes at https://www.patreon.com/andrewapanov