Drop The MIC: Music Industry Conversations

This episode dives into the world of music streaming with interviews from Jay Troop, who works in Artist & Industry Insights at Pandora, Lyric Rains-Bury, an artist, producer, and student, and Shun Hendrix, recording R&B artist and actor. These three interviews touch on our guests' experiences distributing their music, using music analytic tools, and dives into their overall experiences on music streaming platforms. This episode features music from Ace, the Storyteller. 

From new artists selecting their target audience, to well-known stars switching up their style, building, maintaining, and even re-working their brand is a major aspect of an artist’s time in the spotlight. In this episode, we speak with the founder of Daemon, a company that offers modern music marketing by implementing a holistic marketing strategy across disciplines, and with executives at Harbor Park Media Company, which provides tailored media and management services to artists. Listen to this episode to hear about their time in the music industry working with artists and carefully curating the perfect image.

In our first episode of Season 2, we catch up with songwriters Jamie Hartman and Sam Dixon to talk about their creative process, artist collaborations, and how those play out in the studio. Jamie Hartman co-wrote Rag’n’Bone Man’s hit single, “Human,” and has worked with Ellie Goulding, James Bay, Celeste and many others. Sam Dixon is a Grammy award-winning songwriter and producer whose songwriting credits include songs from Adele, SIA, and Christina Aguilera. Whether you are an aspiring artist or an avid music listener, we hope that this podcast will give you a glimpse into the world of music making.

In our exclusive bonus episode, we dive into conversations with the creators of Apple Music’s renowned Up Next program and managers of up-and-coming artist Gracie Abrams. Chris Hovsepian and JJ Corsini, the Senior Vice Presidents of Artist Development at Universal Music Group, reveal how they innovate and stay ahead of the curve while the music landscape changes at lightning speed. They also dig into how they championed stars-in-the-making through the Up Next program at Apple Music (Billie Eilish, Conan Gray, BENEE, Khalid, Juice WRLD, and more) and how artists today are changing the game. That’s a wrap on Season One!

Marketing and Branding is at the foundation of launching and maintaining a successful career in the music business. Top marketing experts such as Jesse Coolbroth (VP of Fan Engagement and Digital Marketing at Warner Records), Jon Romero (Head of marketing at Vector Management), and Erin Cooney (Marketing Director at Interscope Records) discuss the importance of designing and promoting an artist's brand.

Pop singer and producer Clarissa Carter as well as Jack Seigenthaler and Henry Ingram of rock band Sloan Woolly describe their involvement in music during their time at Stanford and recall what it was like to dive into careers as musicians after their time at The Farm came to an end.

Want to meet the former Stanford undergrad who brought The Grateful Dead to Frost Amphitheater in 1982? Tune into this episode which features Vinnie Freda, the Chief Data Officer of Warner Music Group and a proud Stanford alum, among other industry professionals like VP of A&R at Warner Records, Kate LaBrel.

You’re in for an exclusive look at the art of music making. Hear from recording artist, Sun Kuma, manager of Leon Bridges and Carly Rae Jepsen, Jonathan Eshak, and Oscar winning and Grammy nominated engineer and producer, Daniel Roland. They each share their unique perspective into creating music and offer invaluable advice to aspiring artists looking to break into the music industry.

In this episode, a team of Stanford students meet with industry professionals who have managed big-time artists like Jai Wolf, Cody Simpson, and Sandro Cavazza. They reveal the different pathways to becoming a manager, the keys to success as an artist manager, and share their hopes for the music industry post-Coronavirus.

Two of country music's best songwriters, GRAMMY-nominated Angaleena Presley and rising star Hailey Whitters, share how the songwriting process works. Additionally, Angaleena and Hailey share a glimpse of the sheer grit required to start a career in Nashville and explore some of the ins and outs of the country music industry.