Behind the Music Business Podcast

Here we are. Episode 80 of this little podcast that I launched back in 2018. Since then I have spoken to music business execs from the world of record labels, publishing, artist management, sync, artists themselves and also live music which is where my very special guest number 80 comes from.

I had a lot of fun talking to Russ and hearing how much we had in common growing up when it comes to music. Please forgive the alarm that you might be able to hear in the background. There was a test going on at the DICE building whilst we spoke.

https://dice.fm/

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Very excited about getting ever closer to episode 80 of the podcast which is mad when I think about it. Episode 79 is with Emily Ardagh-Walter of This is Music. Emily recently moved into the world of artist management after leaving her breakthrough role as part of the finance team at Universal Records.

We spoke about Music business courses at uni, about internships and how to make the most out of them and how she made the decision to move on from that first role at a major to what she is doing now.

This episode is definitely a good one for those of you out there interesting in making your first steps into the music business either before or after a degree.

https://www.thisismusicltd.com/

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Big thanks to Liam for jumping on a Zoom call with me to talk about all things live music (pre and post Pandemic). I reached out to Liam as he and his agency ‘Echelon Talent’ currently look after the live side of things for a couple of acts I work with as DC Music Publishing. The Hyena Kill and Blanket.

Liams agency look after a whole host of acts based in the UK and beyond who I am a big fan of so it was great to speak to him about how he has built his business, especially during such a difficult time for the live music industry.

Echelon was launching only 6 months before the global pandemic shut the live entertainment business down so it was really interesting to hear what that whole period was like. We also talked about how Liam and his business work with his clients and how he likes to start working with acts early in their careers.

It was a great conversation, we shared a lot of similar views and I am sure that we could have carried on talking for ages if given the chance.

https://echelontalent.agency/

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As I hurtle (slowly) closer to episode 80, this weeks conversation is with Head of Publishing, A&R and Label Manager at A&G Group/Power Haus Creative Livia Cruz. I reached out to Livia via Linkedin as she is another guest of the pod that I am yet to meet in person. I was very pleased that she was able to jump on a Zpom call with me at short notice to have this conversation.

I really enjoyed meeting and speaking with Liv and I hope you enjoying listening to our conversation.

https://agsyncmusic.com/

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This episode is with a fellow podcaster. If you haven’t checked out the MeloCompass podcast already you definitely should. If you are listening to this then Nicky’s pod will be right up your street. Check it out on Spotify, Apple, Google or wherever you get your podcasts from.

Nicky reached out to me to talk about podcasts and podcasting and in doing so we managed to set up a time to get her on BTB which was awesome. Nicky has had a varied career in the business and has loads of insights for those who are interested in getting in the business. Her area of specialism is music licensing so we have a good and thorough discussion on that and where its all going in the future as well as chatting about Nicky's personal journey in the business and the specific places she has worked as well as the MeloCompass project that she has been building for the past few years.

https://www.melocompass.uk/

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Episode 75 of my little podcast!!!! Three quarters of the way to the big 100. Thanks to everyone who listens and shares these episodes. It really means a lot.

This episode has been a long time in the making. My guest for this episode, Vikrum Gudi, is an incredibly busy man. He currently runs a number of different businesses that we spoke about when we finally managed to find time in both of our schedules that worked. Elephant Music is a music production company that focuses on the world of sync, Split Music is a sync focused music publishing business, Protege School is an online based education facility that focuses on working with songwriters and producers for the world of making music for media and Mmmoth Beer is a London based micro brewery. As I mentioned, Vik is a busy guy.

We spoke about all of these businesses and a whole lot more as well including how he got into the business and how the pandemic impacted his ‘empire’ (both positively and negatively). It was an awesome chat and I hope you enjoy listening to it.

http://www.elephantmusic.net/

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This is one of my all time favourite conversations. This episode, I chatted to the wonderful Jack Williamson about his journey through the music business and his current relationship with the industry as a coach, psychotherapist and mental health activist.

During the chat we realised that our paths had crossed back in the day. Whilst I was the head of sync at peermusic in the UK Jack was co-manager of Gabrielle Aplin. We were keen to sign Gabrielle and Jack and I definitely spoke about all things creative at least once in one of our past lives.

This conversation though was really uplifting and inspiring to me to hear Jacks outlook on life, how he motivates himself to move forward, how he carved out his own path through the industry and how he is currently ticking items of his ‘fuck it’ list.

It’s a great chat. I hope you enjoy it to.

http://jackwilliamson.co.uk/

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I’m back for part 2 of the podcasts for 2022. This first episodes is a cracking chat about music publishing with Deborah Smith who is the Director at Anara Music Publishing based in Leicester in the UK.

I reached out to Deborah online as I had never met her and managed to find a window of time in her busy schedule (Anara do a lot of work over in India which Deborah has been getting involved with now that travel is that much easier again) and the conversation was about her start in music and how to set up a publishing company from scratch.

As someone currently in the process of setting up a music publishing business it was a very informative chat.

https://www.anarapublishing.com/

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We’re into April 2022 and this is episode 72 of the pod. It’s a conversation with music industry lawyer Dean Marsh. Dean is based in Brighton and runs a company called Creative Law and Business.

I first knew of Dean waaaay back in 2003 in my first music business job and since then he has worked with many individuals and businesses that I have done work for and with.

He is a fountain of knowledge about the business and the legal side of it and it was a real pleasure to talk to him about the role of a lawyer in the modern music business, Some of the specific work that he has done through the years, his time as a litigator and his early adoption and championing of the now flourishing DIY aspect of the modern music business.

I really appreciate Dean finding the time to speak to me as, like most lawyers, its a hugely busy person. If you would like to know more about his company then check out the links below.

https://creativelaw.eu/

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[email protected]

Here is another conversation with someone doing great things in the world of metal and heavy music in the UK. I reached out to George via Instagram on the off chance he would be interested in speaking to me as I am a fan of the work he has done with bands including: Monuments, Loathe and Sleep Token as well as newer acts who I have discovered via diving further into his work like Kubrick and Graphic Nature.

It was an interesting and insightful conversation. George is a very open and honest person who operates in a world I only have a small working relationship with (those who operate in and around the record process) so it was great to dive into this area more and get his personal points of view on many things.

I’ll be keeping a very close eye on new work from George and if you like some of the bands I have mentioned you should too. Spotify playlist link below

https://g1productions.com/

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