Adrian Holovaty is the founder and CEO of Soundslice, a web-based application for learning music that combines audio, video, and music notation.

We recorded this conversation in July of 2025, a few weeks after Soundslice was in the news because Chat GPT was directing its users to Soundslice promising a feature that did not exist.

What makes the story even more insane is that in response Adrian decided to quickly develop and implement that feature, making Soundslice arguably the first company in history forced to add a feature to its product because of an AI hallucination.

Follow the work of the Music Notation Community Group

Today's episode is part two of my visit to Musicnotes Headquarters in Madison, Wisconsin and it features Michael Sinshack, a publications administrator, and Joe Harris, a music specialist for Musicnotes.com.

Both are experienced editors and engravers who've been working in digital sheet music since the very beginning and they have a lot of really great insight about music notation, quality control, and the human effort that is still required in this increasingly digital world.

Musicnotes Marketplace

Musicnotes Signature Artists

For today's episode I'm sharing an interview I recorded on location at Musicnotes Headquarters in Madison, Wisconsin with Dan Heiliger, the CFO and Vice President, and Tom Nauman, Chief Publications Officer.

We had a great conversation about the history of Musicnotes, digital music in general, how to react to trends online and a host of other things. I learned a lot from this conversation and I think you will too.

Musicnotes Marketplace

Musicnotes Signature Artists

I'm very excited for today's episode! Joining me is composer Dan Forrest to talk about everything that goes into composing and marketing a major or multi-movement work a.k.a. one that's much longer than a typical composition or arrangement.

We tend to focus on those shorter pieces of music on this show, because that's normally the place for aspiring composers to start. But, as you'll soon hear, those larger works have their place and there's a lot to be gained from writing them.

We of course got into publishing as well. Dan has a fantastic perspective as someone who's both a composer and an editor and also as someone who's chosen both traditional and self publishing for his works, making him the perfect type of guest for this show!

Today is the final episode of our coverage of the American Choral Director's Association Conference (ACDA) in Dallas. My guest is Jake Runestad, the featured composer of the Finale Concert, who conducted his Earth Symphony for choir and orchestra.

Afterwards he came on the show to talk about the performance, share about the piece, and discuss his compositional process. There's a lot of great advice in this episode, including insights on working with a lyricist, writing music about difficult subjects, and navigating the business of composing.

Listen to Earth Symphony:

Movement 1: Evolution

Movement 2: Ambition

Movement 3: Destruction

Movement 4: Lament

Movement 5: Recovery

Earlier this year, the US Copyright Office issued the second part of its long anticipated report on copyright and artificial intelligence, which was focused on issues of copyrightability. Today I'm very excited to share my conversation with one of the authors of that report, Jalyce Mangum, who serves as AttorneyAdviser to the Office of General Counsel at the U.S. Copyright Office.

Resources from the U.S. Copyright Office:

• Copyright and Artificial Intelligence Landing Page

• Copyright and Artificial Intelligence, Part 2: Copyrightability
• Copyright and Artificial intelligence, Part 1: Digital Replicas
• Copyright Registration Guidance for Works Containing AI-Generated Materials
• Engage Yor Creativity
• What Musicians Should Know About Copyright

Contact the Copyright Office in English or Spanish for assistance or to request a speaker: Contact Form and Speaker Request Form

Dive into the world of choral music publishing with this episode featuring Jack Zaino from Alfred Music! Gain insights into Alfred's focus on serving public schools, teachers, students, and community choirs. Aspiring composers will discover essential advice on submitting music and building industry connections. Choral directors will find valuable tips for selecting the perfect repertoire. Explore the collaborative nature of music publishing and hear Jack's reflections on his mentor, Audrey Snyder. A must-listen for anyone involved in the choral music community.

Joining me live at the American Choral Director's Association National Conference in Dallas is Scott Harris, Stacey Nordmeyer, and Luke Talen for a wide ranging discussion about the state of the choral industry and how composers can find their place in it!

Popping in to your feed today with two quick announcements!

First, this Friday we are officially launching "Sheet Music Insider," a new weekly newsletter compiling the biggest stories in our industry each week. Sign up at sellingsheetmusic.com today!

Second, we are adding video to the podcast! Follow our new YouTube channel, @sellingsheetmusic as well as our Facebook and Instagram accounts to stay up to date and be a part of the conversation!

We'll be back on Saturday with a brand new episode featuring the Hal Leonard Choral Team.

Today we are taking a behind the scenes look at the publishing process with Greg Gilpin, composer and editor for Shawnee Press. We've talked a lot on the show about submitting to publishers and what publishers are looking for. But today we're going to focus on what happens when they actually say "YES!" You might be surprised at how many steps there are in this process.