Society of Sound Podcast

A conversation with Simon Boas Hoffmeyer - Director of Sustainability at The Carlsberg Group

My guest today is Sanchali Pal, the CEO & Founder of a newly launching sustainability social enterprise, Joro. Joro is a soon to be launched app that helps you track your daily carbon footprint and see how your sustainable actions impact your life, but also add up to big impact in aggregate. Joro does this by giving users a carbon score to help them understand their daily impacts on things like travel, spending, and consumption and then helping give them pushes and rewards for sustainable activity that can be used for sustainable products or to support sustainable projects. They are about to launch the beta, so head over to their website at joro (J-O-R-O) DOT tech (T-E-C-H) to sign up to take part.Sanchali's personal story is amazing. She is a graduate of Princeton for her undergrad, and received her MBA from Harvard. She has been in the worlds of social impact and tech for her entire career, including global development consulting on smart cities and urban development across Asia, Europe, Africa and US as part of the widely respected development consultancy, Dalberg . Though entrepreneurship has been a key focus of her career journey, she has also spent time working for the likes of Tesla and Morgan Stanley.Our conversation moves from her background to how Joro came together. What it takes to build a great team, and consequently how hers is made up. How Joro is designed and why design matters can impact people and motivate decision-making. To the language and action around climate change and sustainability, how that adds up and what some of the biggest myths and challenges are moving forward.This is a bit of a spoiler, but I was shocked to learn some of the pitfalls of recycling for instance, I learned I need to work a bit more to have the sustainable impacts I assumed I was having. But people like Sanchali have a way of educating while also inspiring.I thoroughly enjoyed our conversation and I hope you do too. Without any further or do, here's Sanchali Pal of Joro.0:00 - 3:02 - Intro3:02 - 5:52 Sanchali's Background - Journey to Joro.5:52 - 8:27 How did Joro come together? How did you meet and assemble your team? What does it take to be a good team?8:27 - 10:21 How is Joro designed to help make people more sustainable? How can design be leveraged to help motibate people to change their actions?10:22 - 11:50 How is the language around climate change impacting narratives and action around the issue?11:50 - 14:52 What is the vision for Joro? How will it ultimately work into the lives of users?14:52 - 18:58 How can we drive more people to think about sustainability? What is the effect on the larger concept of sustainability for individuals who use Joro, but also for the wider population, particularly those that might not be as interested in sustainability?18:58 - 20:44 What is the biggest challenge for people to live more sustainably?20:44 - 24:54 Biggest myths/misconceptions around sustainability.25:02 - 29:22 What role do you envision technological innovations playing vs, or in addition to ,individual actions?29:41 - 30:55 Best ways to keep up with JoroTake a look at Joro here: Joro.TechTake the Climate Pledge to lower your carbon footprint - ouraccord.comConnect with Sanchali on Linkedin or TwitterCheck out her VentureFizz interview here - https://venturefizz.com/stories/boston/joro-startup-profile

Panos A. Panay BioPanos A. Panay is the vice president for innovation and strategy, leads strategic initiatives at Berklee College of Music and also serves as the founding managing director of the Berklee Institute for Creative Entrepreneurship (BerkleeICE). For BerkleeICE, he spearheaded the founding of the Open Music Initiative, which brings together over 250 leading music, media, and technology industry organizations, and academic institutions to create an open protocol for uniform identification of rights owners across the music industry.Prior to Berklee, Panay was founder and CEO of Sonicbids, where he created the leading online platform for matching bands with music promoters, resulting in over 1 million new artist shows around the globe over a 13-year span. Earlier in his career, he was an international talent agent for artists such as Chick Corea and Pat Metheny.His awards include Fast Company's Fast 50, Inc Magazine's Inc 500, and Boston Business Journal’s 40 under 40, and he's a Mass Hi-Tech All Star. He was named one of the Boston Globe’s Game Changers in 2017 and is a frequent speaker at global events such as the World Economic Forum at Davos, South by Southwest, Web Summit, and countless others.Full bio hereMore on Panos & OMIOpen Music InitiativeBerkleeICEPanos’ personal websitePanos LinkedinPanos Email: ppanay@berklee.eduPanos Panay WikipediaShow Notes3:15 - Panos' Background3:55 - Open Music Initiative Overview5:50 - The complicated process of music creation & rights ownership8:20 - OMI's mission & vision10:00 - Future of music production & consumption in light of technological developments11:30 - Music Collaboration & Changes in Writing Music13:30 - Changing Business Models & Monetization Strategies in Music16:00 - What is the next massive technological development in Music that will change consumption beyond streaming17:15 - Siri sucks! Voice Activated Interfaces18:45 - What role might music play in cultural communication, recognition, and understanding?21:35 - Artists responsibility beyond entertainment22:30 - Democratization of Music Production25:00 - Learning about people and culture through music26:50 - Polarization & Role of Music29:00 - Language & Music31:00 - Where to Connect more with Panos

On this double-header podcast episode, Leland sits down with two interesting and important music industry players at two very different stages of their careers. The first, a seasoned and I mean SEASONED professional in media and entertainment, Steven Fong, of Chinese Music World and a young, up and coming, go-getter, Li Gao, of Love Survive and the President of Berkelee's Chinese Music Industry Club.Show Notes:Steven 1:0:00 - Intro to Steven & Li2:37: Events overview. Why is it important that people experience music in the form of live events? Business Overview - Cruises, Live Events, Dance6:34 - Thoughts on Chinese Music Market and Reflections on how that reflects culture of today8:07 - Impacts of regulatory and cultural protections on music creation.9:02 - Where is China headed in terms of music production?9:51 - Why is it important that US and China share music, media, and culture with each other?10:33 - END STEVEN LI INTERVIEW10:33 - START Li10:54 - Artist MGMT11:49 - Why Have hold a China-US Music summit?12:47 -Why is it important that China-US share culutre, and why is it important that is contextualized in music?13:47 - What are the hopes for this summit, this year and moving forward?14:13: How artists learn from others.15:09 - Advice for musicions who want to make music that resonates with people?16:24 - What else is he working on?16:43 - What do you think defines music as Chinese music?17:40 Sign Off

Georgina Wilson-Powell (Joint podcast with Aleron Group)Georgina is a passionate journalist and magazine editor who is using her 16 years in the media industry for global change. She founded pebble magazine 18 months ago as a stylish portal for sustainable living advice and positive stories that help inspire people to change the world. pebble covers everything from eco-travel to ethical fashion, plastic waste, food waste, permaculture, foraging, heritage crafts, yoga and pioneers trying to impact the planet.Georgina has become an expert in ethical fashion, plastic free living and eco-travel (after being a luxury travel journalist for many years) and also gives talks on aspects of living more sustainably without sacrificing your life. A few useful links:https://pebblemag.com/abouthttps://yuhme.se/blogs/be-the-yuhme-blog/grief-has-to-take-some-responsibility-for-pebble-magazine-the-award-winning-sustainable-lifestyle-magazine-that-i-ve-built-from-scratch-over-the-last-year-and-a-halfPebble descriptionpebble is a digital magazine with a mission. It’s a stylish platform that inspires sustainable living and empowers individuals all over the world to make everyday decisions more ethical. We cover food, fashion, travel and design and combine up to date info on issues like microplastics with aspirational ideas and inspiring interviews to tackle global consumption. We break down and repackage the issues so that people like you and me feel like they can make a difference.

Meet the amazing, Billy Koh!Billy Koh is one of the most instrumental and influential figures in the Asian Chinese-Pop (C-Pop) music industry. Having previously founded Ocean Butterflies - a highly successful comprehensive independent music company in Asia whose businesses include record labels, music production, and more - Billy now works to tackle music rights issues in China as founder of Amusic Rights Management.Over the course of his 30-year long music career, Billy has produced more than 200 albums with many hits. He is the mentor who discovered & produced many successful Asian acts including Kit Chan, A-Do, JJ Lin, BY2 and Amuyi. Apart from speaking at international forums including (3 times in) MIDEM, TEDx, MacWorld Asia, Canadian Music Week, MaMA Festival and MU:CON, Billy has been judging for many popular TV talent shows including "I am a Singer", “Sound of My Dream”, "Supper Boy" in China, “One Million Star” and “Chinese Idol” in U.S., “Asia Song Festival” in South Korea, “Asia New Singer Competition” in Hong Kong, “Project SuperStar” and “SPOP sing” in Singapore.We caught up with Billy at the Berkelee China/US Music Summit to speak about the evolving C-pop landscape and the role that society, law, and culture play in determining regional hits and music creation.Important LinksLinkedinAmusic Rights Official WebsiteOther Awesome Interviews with BillyBlogTalk InterviewTEDx Tencent (Chinese)Entertain Naver Interview (Korean)Shownotes:2:19 - What brings you to the US/China Summit?3:42 - How has China progressed over the last 10 years?5:34 - Why hasn’t there historically been better IP protection in China?7:02 - What has China been doing to combat piracy?8:02 - How is improved copyright protection impacting the music coming out of China?9:04: How do we produce new hits in China over the next few years?10:11 - How do you think the Chinese market can incorporate the changing dynamics of what a hit is to move the Chinese music market forward? What is pop to you?12:34 - How have pops changed over the years?14:04 - Do you think that the background context of the time/environment of the artist plays a role in the success of modern songs to any degree? What is the trajectory of music in China given the different ways of creating music?16:00 - what is going to be the driving force behind music creation in China moving forward?17:04 - Music’s cultural underpinnings in the connected, internet era18:44 - What makes Chinese music Chinese? Can it be classified?21:09 - How does the culture translate into the music being created?

Royal Wang is a busy man! He is the founder of Learnable.ai, a human-centered AI company that provides understandable AI products to aide in the classroom. Learnable can scan a class to understand course sentiment and can even grade students in real time and deliver personalized feedback to help students improve. Royal is currently a Ph.D. candidate at Brown University and has developed this company in partnership with Harvard Innovation Labs with a team from Harvard University, MIT, and Columbia University.Learn more at Learnable.ai or send an email to the team at contact@learnable.ai.Full shownotes:Intro to Learnable.AI (0:00 - 2:35)Inspiration Behind Learnable (2:35 - 4:20)Future of Education (4:21- 6:12)Interest in US/China Summit (6:28 - 7:55)Role of Music in bridging cultural gaps (7:55 - 9:10)Can AI also teach/bridge the "soft" more human elements beyond technical (9:14 - 13:16)How do you assuage concerns/fears over AI (13:22 - 16:10Is AI already being used to make hit songs? (16:22 - 18:28)Is AI able to actually understand the reasoning behind lyrics or emotion behind songs? (18:28 - 21:08)Given advances in tech, what do you think music will look like in 5 years? (21:08 - 22:59)For people out there who have a vision, do you have any recommendations for gaining motivation or getting the message out there? (22:59 - 25:55)How can you learn more about Learnable? (25:55 - 26:38)

James works with young people as a trainer on issues such as cultural difference, diversity and inclusion, and masculinity. He has been volunteering in schools for two years as a workshop facilitator talking to boys about mental health, sexuality and violence and is in the process of starting an organisation which will deliver training on similar topics in universities and the corporate sector. In this podcast we cover a wide range of sub-topics regarding gender and sport from toxic masculinity to the externalities of sporting culture in society to the role that sports plays in constructing gender stereotypes in youth. We hope you enjoy and please reach out to us if you'd like to get in touch with James and learn more! ~Stay Chic SOS

On today's episode we have a unique guest. We were connected through Ulrike of the Impact Club (shouts out!) and I have enjoyed getting to know her over the last couple weeks. My guest is Theresa Lankes, she's a human rights lawyer from Germany. Her passion and fascination is with tensions in the burgeoning field of corporate social responsibility, where companies function between the dual obligations of profit and human rights. She studied in the UK how corporate management can consider human rights and has implemented campaigns for human rights corporate responsibility at the umbrella organization of Fair Trade. And She produces her own blog on CSR and human rights called Bizolutioners. In this episode, we dive into what CSR is and how we can live happy lives while also caring more about our personal supply chains. But before we get into that, I also want to note that Theresa selected the song that you hear playing, it's a big pop hit called "Crazy" by Lost Frequencies & Zonderling.She loves it precisely because she believes that the song is a trap! We should be wary about giving our everything because it can lead to unhealthy habits and burnout. For example, people who are negative give everything to be pessimistic in their future. There is a danger if you engage in this to burn out. Chose this song because it is a good reflection on how many people make themselves crazy by trying to change others so we will try to shirk this here.Key Muse Points:Polarization by individualized responsibility and its rejection:black-white picture of people either taking up the individual responsibility to "save the world" and getting frustrated by the mission or the rejection of the mission by others, who argue that it is impossible to change anything.Continental understanding of corporate responsibilityCSR as something which is separate from charity, but includes legal responsibility for fair wages and working conditions at subcontractors; this responsibility is directed by the social welfare state via legislation and enforced by courts. If you look at your own shopping habits like a company looks at its supply-chain, where is an area which you could influence within your limited time, energy and budget?Maybe you have a very limited budget and buying second-hand clothes suits with your lifestyle, too? Or you want to take a practical step against the tobacco supply-chain exploiting child labor and take this as an extra incentive to stop smoking? Or you notice that you shoe-shop when you're stressed out, so you could cut down on non-required consumption if you give yourself time to do nothing, absolutely nothing at all.Note: Theresa would suggest focusing on only one area to stress the point of using leverage with fun at a point which does not involve great stress and anxiety. The objective is to avoid piling on additional pressure to perform to a set standard of ‘being good’ by ‘consuming correctly’. Underlying is the idea that most people are already more than maxed out by the demands of daily life. Hence, we do not help saving the world by piling on even more stress.; taking away pressure for creating the space to avoid harm and/or build solutions.For a general introduction to Theresa's life and work:Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/theresalankesSpeaker Profile: https://speakerinnen.org/de/profiles/theresa-lankesTheresa's CSR perspective and an Armenian view blog: https://bizolutioners.wordpress.com/what-this-blog-is-about/

Shownotes to come!

Live podcast with Dr. Lilia Giugni on the topic of gender equality - on what role can men play in gender equality and activism.  Recorded live at The Cambridge Union, at the University of Cambridge.  Huge thanks to our generous sponsor The Cambridge Centre for Social Innovation. 

Erik Douds and I met while studying abroad in Denmark. It was a long time ago, but even then he seemed on a mission. Having been diagnosed with diabetes at a young age, he was really drawn to help others like himself who suffer from this. But not to help in the traditional sense, the one that takes pity on those who have to work a little bit harder in life, but instead he wants to turn diabetics into DIABADASSES, but it's not enough for him to just talk about it, write about it, or to just create an online community about this (all of which he has done, I might add) but after being compelled by those in his online community to go out into the world to spread his message. He packed up his bike and did an entire year of travel around the US and Canada connecting with other Type 1's, friends, family, and strangers to share his story and experience and to empower those around him.If it isn't obvious from our discussion, Erik is an incredibly charismatic and energetic guy. It therefore should be completely unsurprising that he has managed to bike into a town a stranger, and leave a member of a community. We talk about travel, we talk about biking, we talk about Amtrak, we talk about diabetes, we talk about movements, we talk about people, we talk about small town and big town America, but at it's core what we really discuss is how to connect with people on topics that matter to you and the power of sharing stories. Erik is a walking (or riding depending on the day) inspiration and this is just the beginning. But let’s get into it - ladies and gentlemen Erik Douds, the Diabadass himself.Get Involved with the Diabaddasses!Website: https://www.diabadass.com/Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/imadiabadass/Follow on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/erikdoudsCheck out their Miles of Portraits Project: https://milesofportraits.com/Contribute to their Miles of Portraits Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1567547110/miles-of-portraits-a-magazine-and-filmContribute to the Diabadass Movement: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?token=q9zebpXp-8Rl2_KpXlXwCoPkMtCmDZzXPMcSah0xlSy7m9fzdPu6ZoMHaVLcy1bQpUvWoW&country.x=US&locale.x=Music: Ben Browning - Sunshine BabyEdited by the one and only, Alison Morales!

Andrew Cassara is a Canadian -born singer and songwriter. He is based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and with dual citizenship in the U.S.A., he frequents is family home in Vero Beach Florida. In 2013, Andrew signed a production deal with his current producer, Steve Gardiner of SGMGRoupArtists, and has been writing and recording music consistently for his own releases as well as for other artists. Under a development deal with SGMGRoupArtists, Andrew has developed a very strong presence online, and with a significantly engaging social media influence, he has established an ever growing world wide fan base. Over the summers of 2016/2017 and now 2018, Andrew and his band have become a familiar sight at many summer festivals, and in 2017, Andrew headlined the Youth X Canada Tour, which had him performing at Youth Centres across Ontario in support of an open and honest dialogue on the subject of Youth Mental Health. In the current year, Andrew’s most notable performance will be at the Ottawa RBC Bluesfest sharing the main stage with Shawn Mendes. Andrew tends to spend most summers performing live, but his focus is shared by a great deal of studio time, writing and recording new music.With an ever developing team of professionals in his camp, Andrew continues to write and release new music and with each release, his reach stretches further. His team is looking for touring opportunities with already established artists.To date, Andrew has released an E.P. as well as a dozen or so singles, and there are plans for an album release towards the end of 2018. In the meantime Andrew continues to take his music to live audiences and with an ever-growing fan base.

Mohammed Faisal is the founder and CEO of the Money Hub, a social enterprise that teaches financial literacy to teens and adults in disadvantaged neighborhoods to prevent future financial ailments and increase quality of life. Having grown up in NYC, he saw firsthand the dearth of basic financial literacy in his community and the impact that poor money management coupled with tight resources had on the people around him. So, Mohammed started the Money Hub and now works with many young high school students and dropouts to help empower them to take control of their finances and lives.On this podcast, we discuss messaging in music around financial literacy, the example that artists have on peoples lives, and the way that technology and social media have transformed the way that youth think about themselves and the possibilities before them, and how they share and tell the story of their own lives.Follow Mohammed and the Money Hub NYC:Website: http://moneyhubnyc.org/about/Twitter - @mo_faisall @themoneyhubnycFacebook - /impacthubnycTO SCHEDULE A WORKSHOP, BUILD A PARTNERSHIP, FOR SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES, OR QUESTIONS ABOUT MONEY MANAGEMENT, AND ANY OTHER INQUIRIES: http://moneyhubnyc.org/contact-us/ If you enjoyed the podcast be sure to take a deeper look at the posts on our site sosmusicmedia.com and also consider subscribing to us on iTunes. To make sure that you are up to date on all things SOS Music be sure to follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, or subscribe to our newsletter.

Lily Jo is a Manchester, UK artist and the creator of the Lily Jo Project – an online mental health resource designed to help people help themselves. Her inspirational story is one of a roundabout journey, but one rooted in genuine intention and infectious energy. She began as a counselor, meeting with people, promoting well-being and self-help, continuously working to help people “be free” and get through trying times. One thing led to another and she began writing songs on the same issues she was treating in herself and others. Her confidence grew as she developed a mission and music flowed after she embodied it. Our discussion is around her journey, the importance of intentionality and mission in pursuit of freedom and small things we all can do to help us build the confidence to take the small steps toward our dreams. Follow Lily Jo: Twitter - @lilyjoprojectFacebook - /lilyjoprojectInstagram - @xxlilyjoxxSnapchat - @xxlilyjoxxYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAXpYISQi__cRa1EpN0wOpA?view_as=subscriberSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4Cq8z1nH31zlBYiY6Wxqqj Artist Website: www.lilyjo.co.uk (bio on homepage)The Lily Jo Project: www.thelilyjoproject.com Make a financial contribution to her mission to promote positive well-being through music and in schools: http://www.give.net/20237820

Podcast theme: Creative mediums and social issues - does the medium influence the way people engage with the content?Background:Lauren Shippen is the writer and creator of the science fiction podcast, The Bright Sessions. Since its debut in November of 2015, the podcast has won numerous awards, was named iTunes Best of 2016 and has been featured in Vox, Popular Science, Wired, and The London Evening Standard, among others. Lauren is currently developing the podcast as a TV series with Universal Cable Productions and Dark Horse Entertainment. On top of her writing work, Lauren also has acted in numerous podcasts - including her own - as well as short films and web series. She has a degree in music from The College of William & Mary and was named one of Forbes 30 Under 30 in Media for 2018. Lauren is a New York native and now resides in Los Angeles.Show notes:You can listen to the bright sessions here: The Bright Sessions (http://www.thebrightsessions.com/)You can download the bright sessions from iTunes here: (https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-bright-sessions/id1053268058?mt=2)You can check out the write up by Forbes 30 under 30 on Lauren here: https://www.forbes.com/30-under-30/2018/media/#7142c802158bTo our guests listening in, as always we hope you enjoy the podcast and please do write to us with any themes you'd like us to talk about or guests you'd like us to talk to, we'd love to hear from you!Stay chic out there,~SOS Music

In a way that only she can, Kay Soul has managed to build a venerable music career. By sharing her unique story and embodying an image of incredible power and positivity, Kay Soul has used her platform as an artist to cultivate a movement around positive body image and in the process has been an inspiration for those that struggle with the issue as well as an example of the power that comes from comfort in ones body. On this episode, we discuss music as a tool to make deeper connection comfortable, developing a message and believing in that message to generate an impact, and the importance of starting from within in finding what really means something in your life and working tirelessly to project and refine that vision.Link to Youtube Full Album Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiaBm_IFuOxCHwyB6--i6-Gm-SVdDkLSxLink to Kay’s feature in Luxe Kurve Magazine “Unwrapping the Standards Placed on Women in Music": http://luxekurves.com/2017/09/12/the-package-upwrapping-the-standards-placed-on-women-in-music-kay-soul/Kay released a mini-documentary over the summer “As I Am: Behind the Mic w/ Kay Soul": https://youtu.be/60aNFuBzpsoiTunes purchase Link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/hiding-in-plain-sight/1310262362

On this episode, lead singer and lyricist, Emma Bleker, and the founding singer-songwriter, Brendan Ra Tyler of the band called Nah discuss turning emotion into art, the importance of connectivity in building an audience and movement, nurturing and cultivating open and honest communication both within a band and with fans, and connecting with an audience to boost excitement, and spur action/dialogue around an issue. For more on the band and how to interact with them check the links below and be stay tuned for an upcoming post post on the song – Open Letter. Open Letter Song link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsVbywasY48 Live video of Teeth, performed at Rock n' Roll Hotel, DC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RnJeZzOwCY Follow Nah. • Band page/tour calendar: http://nah.band/ • Band Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nah.musics/?ref=br_rs • Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2AxkuNRBTJQXF3gb2Xwz8O • Their next big show is in DC at Pearl Street Warehouse where they will be playing alongside Jonny Grave. o Tickets are only $10, get them here: https://www.ticketfly.com/event/1610273-jonny-grave-washington/

Filmmaker and lead singer of City of Ashes, Orion Powell discusses the development of the band’s "Sometimes Project" (a UK Lottery Funded initiative sharing stories and creating a community of support and understanding around depression through film, live events, and a Facebook group), how to engage in dialogue around issues of mental health, and the role that music and other create mediums can potentially play in advancing that dialogue.Before listening, read our post on Sometimes by City of Ashes hereSometimes Full Film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDFwR4Xwnag&t=3sSometimes Project Cover: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmOowju0omEJoin the Sometimes Project Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/967919276588004/about/Follow Orion Powell & City of Ashes• Orion’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/oriofashes• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/cityofashesband• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/cityofashesband• Band Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/CityofAshes• Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/cityofashesband