Your Morning Coffee Podcast

A Your Morning Coffee Podcast special episode: A conversation with Oana Ruxnadra, Chief Executive Officer at PopHatch.    Subscribe to the newsletter! YourMorning.Coffee 

Episode 297   This week, Jay Gilbert & Mike Etchart break down these important music industry stories:   •  The State of Music Streaming in 2026 •  As Live Nation Trial Ends, Jury Must Decide If It's a 'Monopolistic Bully' or a 'Fierce Competitor' •  The Music Business Has a Problem. Bill Ackman Just Pounced •  A Folk Musician Had Her Voice Cloned by AI—And Her Recordings Claimed by a Copyright Troll. Welcome to 2026.     Subscribe to the newsletter! : YourMorning.Coffee

A Your Morning Coffee Podcast special episode: A conversation with Russ Crupnick, Managing Partner of MusicWatch.   Subscribe to the newsletter! YourMorning.Coffee 

Episode 296   This week, Jay Gilbert & Mike Etchart break down these important music industry stories:   •  Inside the Digital Marketing Agency that Creates Your Musical Taste •  The Architecture of Affinity: How Instagram Facilitates Music Superfandom •  The Taylor Swift Effect: Why Music Deals Are Getting Shorter And Smarter   Subscribe to the newsletter! : YourMorning.Coffee

A Your Morning Coffee Podcast special episode: A conversation with 2X Grammy award winning record producer, A&R executive, music publisher, university professor and president of Pure Tone Music Pete Ganbarg.   Subscribe to the newsletter! YourMorning.Coffee 

This week, Jay Gilbert & Mike Etchart break down these important music industry stories:   •  Inside the Secret Tactics Digital Marketers Use to Make Songs Go Viral in 2026 •  How Music Streaming Saved the Industry but Stifled the Artist. •  How Prediction Markets Are Changing the Music Industry •  Tools, not tricks: How musicians are actually using AI.   Subscribe to the newsletter: YourMorning.Coffee!

This week, Jay Gilbert & Mike Etchart break down these important music industry stories:   •  10 Quick (and crucial) Takeaways from IFPI's GLOBAL Music Report 2026 •  US Wholesale Recorded Music Revenue Reached $11.5B in 2025, As Paid Streaming Subscriptions Hit 106.5M •  No One Gives a Shit About Your Pre-Save Campaign   Subscribe to the newsletter: YourMorning.Coffee!

This week, Jay Gilbert & Mike Etchart break down these important music industry stories:   •  Everything You Need to Know About the Live Nation Settlement and What Comes Next •  The Problem with AI Companies 'Starting Fresh' •  80 Artists Generated Over $10M Each From Spotify Last Year. Over 1,500 Generated Over $1M. Here's The Full Breakdown.   Subscribe to the newsletter: YourMorning.Coffee!

This week, Jay Gilbert & Mike Etchart break down these important music industry stories:   • 'The Concert Ticket Industry Is Broken,' Justice Department Says As Ticketmaster Trial Begins •  The 6 Biggest Music Industry Trends of 2026 •  No More Foreplay - How Streaming Has Changed Song Structure   Subscribe to the newsletter: YourMorning.Coffee!

A Your Morning Coffee Podcast special episode: A conversation with Musician, Executive, and Educator, Drew Thurlow, Author of MACHINE MUSIC - How AI is Transforming Music's Next Act.  https://machine-music.ai/  

This week, Jay Gilbert & Mike Etchart break down these important music industry stories:   • The Death of Spotify: Why Streaming is Minutes Away From Being Obsolete • Artist Representatives Launch 'Say No To Suno' Campaign • Primary Wave Nears Deal to Acquire Kobalt, Which Would Create a $7B Indie Music  Powerhouse Take the YMC Industry Survey! https://tinyurl.com/pzd8sn5y   Subscribe to the newsletter: YourMorning.Coffee

The YMC AI Roundtable #3 On this very special episode of the YMC podcast, your hosts Jay Gilbert and Mike Etchart convene a third edition AI Roundtable special since so much continues to be happening in this space.  Our panel joining us on this latest special is Kristin Robinson (Billboard), Dani Deahl (Caldecott Music Group), Vickie Nauman (CrossBorderWorks), and Bobby Owsinski (Music 3.0).    Subscribe to the newsletter! YourMorning.Coffee

This week, Jay Gilbert & Mike Etchart break down these important music industry stories:   • "The Sinister Question Spotify Has Not Answered About Its AI: What Did They Train On?" • "Open Letter: Irving Azoff Gives Kudos To Billboard Charts For Standing Up To YouTube" • "Noah Kahan Wanted Buying Tickets to Be Fair for Fans — Here's How He Made It Happen"   Subscribe to the newsletter: YourMorning.Coffee!

This week, Jay Gilbert  & Mike Etchart break down these important music industry stories:   • "Spotify Eyes AI 'Derivatives' As New Revenue Stream For Artists –Says Its Technology To Let    Fans Make Remixes And Covers Is Ready" • "Songs Are Reaching 1bn Spotify Streams 14x Faster Than A Decade ago:  This, And Other Stats From Chartmetric's 2025 Year In Music Report" • "Could a Combined BMG & Concord Create a Fourth 'Quiet' Major Label?"   Subscribe to the newsletter: YourMorning.Coffee!

A special episode of the Your Morning Coffee Podcast: A conversation with audio engineer, producer, musician and author Bobby Owsinski.    We discuss how AI is now involved in the recording process, as well as the roles and responsibilities of engineers, mixers and producers in today's studio environment.     Subscribe to the newsletter! YourMorning.Coffee

This week, Jay Gilbert  & Mike Etchart break down these important music industry stories:   • "Fan Burner Accounts: Music's Latest Dirty Secret" • "Universal and Suno are in a PR battle over 'Walled Gardens' in AI Music" • "iTunes Isn't Just Surviving — It's Becoming a Superfan Powerhouse"   Subscribe to the newsletter: YourMorning.Coffee!

This week, Jay Gilbert  & Mike Etchart break down these important music industry stories:   • "Who Is Building the Future of AI Music? Start With These 11 Companies" • "Billboard "Power 100" Honorees Answer This Question: What Are Your Frustrations With the Music Industry Right Now?" • "Could An Upload Fee Help Fix Music Streaming? "   Subscribe to the newsletter: YourMorning.Coffee!

A special episode of the Your Morning Coffee Podcast: A conversation with Lisa Hresko and Ian Harrison from A2IM (American Association of Independent Music). A2IM is the US independent music coalition of more than 700 independent labels.   We discuss A2IM's mission, goals, initiatives and the tireless work they do on behalf of the independent music community.    Subscribe to the newsletter! YourMorning.Coffee

This week, Jay Gilbert  & Mike Etchart break down these important music industry stories:   • "'Fake as F**k: The Wannabe Rock Star Accused Of Scamming Streamers" • "Suno Is 'The Ozempic Of The Music Industry,' CEO Says—'Everybody's On It And Nobody    Wants To Talk About It'" • "Where Will Spotify's Q4 2025 Monthly Active Users Land? The Week In "Prediction Markets."   Subscribe to the newsletter: YourMorning.Coffee!

This week, Jay & Mike break down these important music industry stories:   • Luminate's 2025 YearEnd Music Report • Music Streaming Platforms Now Host A Quarter Of A BILLION Tracks. Where Does It End? • Who Evaluates Music Authorship?   Subscribe to the newsletter: YourMorning.Coffee!

YMC Special Episode - A Conversation With Luminate's Jaime Marconette On this very special episode of the YMC podcast, your host Jay Gilbert speaks with our friend, Luminate's Jaime Marconette, about their recently released 2025 Year End Music Report.  Subscribe to the newsletter! YourMorning.Coffee

YMC Special Episode - A Conversation With Keith Jopling On this very special episode of the YMC podcast, your host Jay Gilbert has an in-depth conversion with author, podcaster and music strategist Keith Jopling  about his new book Body Of Work. Subscribe to the newsletter! YourMorning.Coffee

Episode 284 On this week's episode of the YMC podcast, your hosts Jay Gilbert and Mike Etchart cover these important stories: "UMG's Latest Major AI Partnership Arrives Via Tech Giant NVIDIA,With Promise Of 'Antidote To Generic AI Slop'" (Murray Stassen for Music Business Worldwide); "Sir Lucian Grainge Talks AI Music, Superfans In 2026 Memo, Taking Swipe At Firms (that are) 'Validating Business Models That Fail To Respect Artists' Work'" (Murray Stassen for Music Business Worldwide); "Streaming Innovation Highlights From The Past Year" (DIMA (the Digital Media Association).   Subscribe to the newsletter! YourMorning.Coffee    

YMC Special Episode - A Conversation With Morgan Hayduk & Andrew Batey from Beatdapp On this very special episode of the YMC podcast, your host Jay Gilbert has an in-depth conversion with Beatdapp co-founders and co-CEOs Morgan Hayduk and Andrew Batey about the state of fraud in the music business.  Subscribe to the newsletter! YourMorning.Coffee

Episode 283 On this the first episode of the YMC podcast for 2026, your hosts Jay Gilbert and Mike Etchart discuss these important music industry stories: "Spotify And The Cost Of Chasing Numbers" (Ariel Hyatt); "2025 - The Year In Music" (Bob Lefsetz); "The BOTS Act Was Created By Ticketmaster. So Why Is The FTC Using It Against Them?" (A Guest Column For Billboard By Barry Kahn). Plus audio drops from Rick Beato on artists promoting their own music, and Liam Mason on the 5 most f**cked up things Spotify did last year.    Subscribe to the newsletter! YourMorning.Coffee

Episode 282 On this last edition of 2025 for the the YMC podcast, your hosts Jay Gilbert and Mike Etchart discuss these important music business stories:  "Anna's Archive, Spotify, And The Shadow-Library Playbook: Why Spotify Is A Crime Scene" (Chris Castle's Music, Tech Solutions Blog); "Music Lawyer Chris Castle Shares His 2026 Music Predictions" (Hypebot); "Xania Monet's Manager And BMAC's CEO Debate AI Artists' Place On Charts And Streaming Services" (Billboard Staff).   Subscribe to the newsletter! YourMorning.Coffee  

YMC Special Episode - A Conversation With Author and Economist Will Page On this very special episode of the YMC podcast, your hosts Jay Gilbert and Mike Etchart call into our friend, author and economist Will Page to chat about his most recent report entitled "Global Value of Music Copyright Reach $47.2B in 2024".   Subscribe to the newsletter! YourMorning.Coffee

Episode 281 On this week's edition of the YMC podcast, your hosts Jay Gilbert and Mike Etchart discuss these important music industrry stories: "Podcaster, Writer & Consultant Jay Gilbert's 2026 Music Predictions!" (Jeremy Young for Hypebot);  "Global Value Of Music Copyright Reached $47.2 Billion In 2024, Says New Will Page Report" (Murray Stassen for Music Business Worldwide);  "Billboard Just Made 'Free' Streams Worth More On Its US Charts. But YouTube Is Not Happy – And Is Pulling Its Data" (Mandy Dalugdug for Music Business Worldwide).  Subscribe to the newsletter! YourMorning.Coffee

Episode 280 On this latest installment of the YMC podcast, your hosts Jay Gilbert and Mike Etchart discuss these important music industry stories:  "How To Market Old Artists? A Lot Like Marketing Younger Artists, Survey Finds" (Glenn Peoples / Billboard); "How Country Songwriters Are Combatting - And Adopting - Artificial Intelligence" (Tom Roland / Billboard); "Do Music Stars Write Their Own Songs? A Statistical Analysis" (Daniel Parris / Stat Significant). Subscribe to the newsletter! YourMorning.Coffee

YMC Special Episode - A Conversation With Geoff Halliday On this very special episode of the YMC podcast, your host Jay Gilbert sits down with Downtown Artists and Label Services SVP of Global Marketing Geoff Halliday. They discussed all of the different aspects of what Downtown does, as well as the crafting of individual release stategies that actually grow engaged audiences. Subscribe to the newsletter! YourMorning.Coffee

Episode 279 On this week's edition of the YMC podcast, your hosts Jay Gilbert and Mike Etchart cover these important music industry stories: "What Do The Suno And Udio Licensing Deals Mean For The Future Of AI Music?" (Kristin Robinson at Billboard); "Congress, Please Close Radio's 'Music Loophole'" (An Op-Ed from Gene Simmons of KISS for the Washington Post); "Spotify Wrapped 2025 Is Here — And It's More Vital To The Company's Bottom Line Than Ever" (Millie Giles at Sherwood).  Plus an audio drop from Rob Abelow from Openstage.   Subscribe to the newsletter! YourMorning.Coffee

Episode 278 On this week's edition of the YMC podcast, your hosts Jay Gilbert and Mike Etchart cover these important music industry stories: "Warner Music Group Strikes 'Landmark' Deal With Suno; Settles Copyright Lawsuit" (Murray Stassen at Music Business Worldwide); "It's About Time Spotify Raised Subscription Prices In The U.S." (Jem Aswad at Variety); "In Staff Memo, iHeartRadio Exec Says Company Won't 'Play AI Music' Or Use 'AI Generated Personalities'" (Kristin Robinson at Billboard).  Plus an audio drop from Rick Beato on The AI Race Is Over.    Subscribe to the  newsletter! YourMorning. Coffee

YMC Special Episode - A Conversation With Livia Tortella On this very special episode of the YMC podcast, your host Jay Gilbert sits down with Black Box Music Agency founder and CEO Livia Tortella to discuss the evolution of the music industry, and the importance of real engagement in artist marketing.  Subscribe to the newsletter! YourMorning.Coffee

Episode 277 On this week's edition of the YMC podcast, your hosts Jay Gilbert and Mike Etchart chat about these important music industry stories: "The AI Music Deals Are Here. They Raise Big, Complicated Questions" (Robert Levine at Billboard);  "AI Music Creators: Music's Superfans" (Mark Mulligan at MIDiA);  "AI Is Transforming How We Think About Music" (Erik Hayden at Variety).  Plus audio drops with Kristin Robinson  from her podcast On The Record, and Stephen Parker, Executive Director of NIVA (National Independent Venue Association).    Subscrnibe to the newsletter! YourMorning.Coffee

The YMC AI Roundtable #2 On this very special episode of the YMC podcast, your hosts Jay Gilbert and Mike Etchart convene a second edition AI Roundtable special since so much has happened since we did the original back in February. Our panel joining us on this new special is Kristin Robinson (Billboard), Virginie Berger (Matchtune), Vickie Nauman (CrossBorderWorks), and Bobby Owsinski (Music 3.0).    Subscribe to the newsletter! YourMorning.Coffee  

Episode 276 On this week's installment of the YMC podcast, your hosts Jay Gilbert and Mike Etchart break down these important music industry stories:  "AI Artists May Be on the Charts, But They're Not That Popular— Yet" (Glenn Peoples at Billboard); "50,000 AI Tracks Flood Deezer Daily – As Study Shows 97% Of Listeners Can't Tell The Difference Between Human-Made vs. Fully AI-Generated Music" (Murray Stassen for Music Business Worldwide);  "The Independent Artist With 1 Billion Streams - Mike Explains How Nic D Does It…" (Mike Epstein From His "Hey Mike" Blog). Plus audio drops from Chris Nolte, COO and Co-founder of Duetti, Rick Beato on the AI artists on the charts, and Eliah Seton, CEO of Soundcloud! And a correction: Soundcloud celebrated their 18th year! We incorrectly said 27th....   Subscribe to the newsletter! YourMorning.Coffee

YMC Special Episode - A Conversation With Josh Gruss On this very special episode of the YMC podcast, your hosts Jay Gilbert and Mike Etchart sit down with Round Hill Music co-founder, Chairman and CEO Josh Gruss to discuss the evolution of music rights and catalog investing. Subscribe to the newsletter! YourMorning.Coffee

Episode 275 On this week's edition of the YMC podcast, your hosts Jay Gilbert and Mike Etchart break down these important music industry stories: "Class Action Lawsuit Accuses Spotify Of Engaging In 'Payola' With Its 'Discovery Mode'" (Daniel Kreps at Rolling Stone); "Irving Azoff Says It's Time to Stand Up To YouTube's 'Bullying'" (Guest column for Billboard); "No Radio Without Royalties: New Rules For A New Era" (Michael Huppe in a guest column for Billboard).    Subscribe to the newsletter! YourMorning.Coffee

YMC Special Episode - A Conversation With MIDiA's Mark Mulligan On this very special episode of the YMC podcast, your hosts Jay Gilbert and Mike Etchart sit down with MIDiA's founder and Senior Analyst Mark Mulligan to discuss their recently released report "The Future of Streaming: Change or Be Changed".    Subscribe to the newsletter! YourMorning.Coffee

Episode 274 On this week's edition of the YMC podcast, your hosts Jay Gilbert and Mike Etchart chat about these timely music industry stories:  "The Universal / Udio Deal FAQ: What Questions Remain About The AI Agreement That's Shaken Up The Music Biz?" (Kristin Robinson at Billboard); "The Future Of Music Marketing Is No Marketing At All" (Sam Saideman for Rolling Stone);  "Will AI Do More Harm Than Good For The Music Business?" (Glenn Peoples at Billboard). Plus an audio drop with co-founder KP from Alchemy Artist Services.   Subscribe to the newsletter! YourMorning.Coffee  

YMC Special Episode - A Conversation With Chris Dalla Riva On this special edition of the YMC podcast, your hosts Jay Gilbert chats with Chris Dalla Riva. Chris lives at the intersection of data and music with his job as Senior Product Manager at Audiomack, where he focuses on data analytics and personalization. He also writes the popular newsletter Can't Get Much Higher and has a new book coming out entitled Uncharted Territory - What Numbers Tell Us About The Biggest Hit Songs And Ourselves. Subscribe to the newsletter! YourMorning.Coffee

Episode 273 On this week's edition of the YMC podcast, your hosts Jay Gilbert and Mike Etchart discuss these important stories:,"Spotify Exec Talks Working With Music Biz On Gen AI Products, Removing ‘Spammy' Tracks: ‘It's Still Early Days for AI Tech'" (Billboard);  "Let's Have an Honest Conversation About [Generative] AI" (Mark Mulligan at MIDiA); "Ticketmaster Lawsuit Explainer: Breaking Down The FTC Case With Veteran Attorney Paul Singer" (Billboard). Plus an audio drop from Kristin Robinson's podcast On The Record.   Subscribe to the newsletter! YourMorning.Coffee

YMC Special Episode - A Conversation With Serona Elton   On this special edition of the YMC podcast, your host Jay Gilbert speaks with Serona Elton! Serona is the Interim Vice Dean at University of Miami's Frost School of Music, and the MLC Head of Educational Partnerships, as well as the co-author of the Music Business Handbook and Career Guide (Baskerville / Elton).   Subscribe to the newsletter! YourMorning.Coffee

YMC Special Episode - A Conversation With Nathan McCartney. On this very special edition of the YMC podcast, your host Jay Gilbert chats with Nathan McCartney, founder of the bag newsletter and discusses his recent article "First Week Sales: The Most Misleading Stat"   Subscribe to the newsletter! YourMorning.Coffee

Episode 272 On this week's edition of the YMC podcast, your hosts Jay Gilbert and Mike Etchart cover these important music industry stories: "Spotify To Develop ‘Artist-First' AI Music Products In Partnership With Sony, UMG, Warner, Merlin, And Believe" (Music Business Worldwide); "The Average Musician Makes $12 A Month,' Garbage Singer (Shirley Manson) Says In Onstage Rant" (SF Chronicle); "Facing ‘Stream-Ripping' Allegations From Labels, Suno & Udio Weigh In" (Music Business Worldwide).    Plus audio drops from Dimitri Vietze on the upcoming Music Tectonics conference; music attorney Dina LaPolt, and Shirley Manson from Garbage.    Subscribe to the newsletter! YourMorning.Coffee

YMC Special Episode - A Conversation With Rio Caraeff from Musixmatch On this very special edition of the YMC podcast, your host Jay Gilbert sits down with Musixmatch Co-President Rio Caraeff to chat about the music data platform that allows users to search and share song lyrics, and how music publishers can monetize their lyrics catalogs.  For our YMC podcast listeners, here's a link for an exclusive discount code for Musixmatch Pro: https://www.musixmatch.com/pro/partners/your-morning-coffee-podcast   Subscribe to the newsletter! YourMorning.Coffee

Episode 271 On this week's installment of the YMC podcast, your hosts Jay Gilbert and Mike Etchart chat about these important music business stories: "First Week Sales in Music: The Most Misleading Stat" (Nathan McCartney);  "Spotify Brings Music Recommendations To ChatGPT Via New Integration" (Music Business Worldwide); "I Spent a Day Scrolling On Sora. The Music Industry Should Pay Attention" (Billboard).   Plus audio drops with Travis Rosenblatt from A&R research and scouting platform Meddling, and Kristin Robinson from Billboard on her piece on Sora.    Subscribe to the newsletter! YourMorning.Coffee

YMC Special Episode - A Conversation With Doc McGhee On this very special edition of the YMC podcast, your host Jay Gilbert sits down with the legendary music manager Doc McGhee to chat about his insights and wonderful stories from his decades-long career.    Subscribe to the newsletter! YourMorning.Coffee

Episode 270 On this week's edition of the YMC podcast, your hosts Jay Gilbert and Mike Etchart discuss these important music industry stories: "Can Spotify Maintain Its Dominance After Daniel Ek's Departure As CEO?" (Glenn Peoples at Billboard); "AI Artists Are Here. Is It Ethical To Sign Them To Record Deals?" (Steve Knopper for Billboard); "Michael Rapino Thinks Concert Tickets Are 'Underpriced.'. Here's Why He Might Be Right" (Eric Alper); "On Spotify, Not All Streams Are Created Equal" (Austin Staubus).  Plus an audio drop from Billboard's Kristin Robinson's interview with Atlantic Records CEO Elliot Grange from her new podcast On The Record!   Subscribe to the newsletter! YourMorning.Coffee

YMC Special Episode - A Conversation With Trapital's Dan Runcie On this very special Your Morning Coffee episode, your host Jay Gilbert sits down for a conversation with our friend Dan Runcie, a respected music industry writer and entrepreneur. Dan's company Trapital is a hip-hop media and research firm founded in 2018.   Subscribe to the newsletter!  YourMorning.Coffee

Episode 269 On this week's edition of the YMC podcast, your hosts Jay Gilbert and Mike Etchart discuss these important music industry stories: "Spotify Has Deleted 75m+ ‘Spammy Tracks' – As It Unveils New AI Music Policies" (Music Business Worldwide); "How TikTok Partnered With Luminate To Measure TikTok's Impact On Music Discovery, Monetization And Chart Success"(Luminate); "Denis Ladegaillerie (Believe) Sees The Future Of Music. It Looks Nothing Like The Past." (Music Business Woreldwide).   Subscribe to the newsletter! YourMorning.Coffee