The Racket House Podcast

SPIN Magazine board advisor and serial entrepreneur Jeremy Ostermiller on turning a $500 investment into a quarter billion dollar ad tech business, why he thinks artists still need press and PR in 2026, and why his CEO says AI will never break the next Nirvana.

In this episode of The Racket House Podcast, Jon sits down with Jeremy Ostermiller, founder of Altitude Digital, co-founder of Edison Interactive, and Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for the Mountain Desert region. Before any of that, Jeremy spent his twenties as an independent concert promoter, throwing over 400 shows with everyone from Two Live Crew and Wu-Tang Clan to Snoop Dogg, Public Enemy, and more recently Shaquille O'Neal and Sublime. These days he sits on the board of advisors at SPIN Magazine, where he's helping lead a fundraise, acquisition strategy, and the brand's next generation, alongside running his coffee company Death Before Decaf and clothing brand Steeltown Garage.

We get into the do's and don'ts of entrepreneurship, what it actually takes to start a business from nothing, where press and PR really fit into an artist's career today, how SPIN decides what to cover, where a limited marketing budget should actually go, and whether AI is something musicians should be excited about or scared of. If you've ever wondered what it takes to build, lose, and rebuild in business, or whether press still matters in 2026, this one is for you.

Subscribe for more conversations with artists, operators, and industry professionals.

📷 Instagram: @therackethouse and @racketclubbb
💿 Work with me: https://www.therackethouse.com
📬 Newsletter: https://the-racket-house.kit.com/newsletter
🏫 Join my Skool community: https://www.skool.com/music-careers-messy-middle
🌙 My own tracks: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3hbZuTiNFxMjhgrt9AJKzT
🕺🏻 Free downloads & live sets: https://soundcloud.com/racket-club
💕 More on Racket Club: https://www.therackethouse.com/racket-club

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
01:18 Jeremy joins, fresh off a Broncos loss
02:15 How Jon and Jeremy met three days earlier at a Lettuce show
02:44 College days in Fort Collins, throwing parties and getting evicted twice
03:34 Over 400 concerts thrown in the last decade
04:07 Booking Two Live Crew and breaking into hip hop promotion
05:50 Being a chameleon, staying authentic in a world that wasn't his own
07:23 The dirtiest show of his career and the fire marshal shutdown
09:23 MySpace Music, celebrity events, and Levitt Pavilion family shows
10:44 Picking artists off instinct before the data existed
12:41 Pitching Gannett on a video ad exchange and quitting the next day
13:40 Building Altitude Digital from zero to a quarter billion in revenue
15:56 Why advertising runs the world
17:04 From selling gum in elementary school to Steeltown Garage's 100,000th order
19:40 What they don't teach you about business in school
20:42 Knowing your weaknesses, going from micromanager to coach
22:09 The do's and don'ts of entrepreneurship
23:26 The first thing to do when starting a business
24:39 Why Jeremy skips market research and leans on pain tolerance
26:50 The biggest financial hit of his career
27:40 His honest advice for anyone starting a business in music
30:11 What Bob Guccione Jr. says made SPIN authentic
32:19 The superpowers exercise every creator should run
34:33 Why being a face in the place still beats chasing algorithms
35:49 The real meaning behind the band name Lettuce
36:18 What Twenty One Pilots taught him about fans vs. followers
38:35 Why humility separates artists with staying power
39:46 How he ended up on SPIN's board of advisors
40:44 What SPIN is building next, including the Live For Live Music acquisition
42:09 Why artists in 2026 are still asking about press and PR
45:04 How SPIN actually decides who gets covered
46:57 Whether a SPIN article can still be an artist's big break
49:41 Treating every show like it's the big show, the Shaquille O'Neal story
50:49 Where to put a limited marketing budget
52:28 Breaking it down to people, product, and process
54:08 Using AI for research without letting it write for you
57:04 Jeremy's favorite artists and go-to music
57:51 Would the music industry miss SPIN if it disappeared tomorrow
58:55 Would he start a media company in print today
1:00:26 Final thoughts and where to find Jeremy

Jeremy Ostermiller, SPIN Magazine, Altitude Digital, Edison Interactive, entrepreneurship, music industry podcast, artist development, press and PR, music marketing, AI in music, concert promoter, independent artist, music business advice, dance music podcast, house music, founder interview, Death Before Decaf, Steeltown Garage

#MusicPodcast #JeremyOstermiller #SPINMagazine #Entrepreneurship #ArtistDevelopment #TheRacketHousePodcast #MusicIndustry #MusicBusiness #AIinMusic #PressAndPR

​ @submithub founder Jason Grishkoff on why he just banned AI music from the platform, how a 30% approval rate became the industry standard, and why he thinks half the artists paying for promotion will never make their money back.

In this episode of The Racket House Podcast, Jon sits down with Jason Grishkoff, founder of SubmitHub, the platform that has helped over a million artists pitch their music directly to Spotify playlisters, bloggers, and influencers. Born in South Africa and raised in the US, Jason left a job at Google in 2013 to run his music blog, Indie Shuffle, full time, and built SubmitHub in 2015 after getting buried in pitch emails he couldn't keep up with. Today it's the market leader in its niche, creating tens of thousands of curator connections a day.

We get into the massive announcement Jason made hours before this recording, what's actually happening on the other side of the "submit" button, and the honest math behind who really makes money in music promotion and who doesn't.

If you've ever wondered how playlist pitching actually works, or you're trying to figure out where AI fits into your own music career, this one is for you.

Subscribe for more conversations with artists, operators, and industry professionals.

📷 Instagram: @therackethouse and @racketclubbb
💿 Work with me: https://www.therackethouse.com
📬 Newsletter: https://the-racket-house.kit.com/newsletter
🏫 Join my Skool community: https://www.skool.com/music-careers-messy-middle
🌙 My own tracks: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3hbZuTiNFxMjhgrt9AJKzT
🕺🏻 Free downloads & live sets: https://soundcloud.com/racket-club
💕 More on Racket Club: https://www.therackethouse.com/racket-club

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
01:04 Jason Grishkoff joins, first guest from South Africa
02:13 Bonding over tennis
04:59 SubmitHub's big announcement, banning AI music
07:55 Spotify's new stance on AI and why it changes everything
09:30 The 85% AI threshold explained
12:07 How the team weighs revenue against principle
13:28 The gap between AI creators and real artists
14:32 Why artist expectations rarely match reality
17:04 Jon's blogging days and curator approval standards
18:54 Reddit questions, when feedback and rejection don't add up
21:47 Why curators default to "gentle" feedback
26:59 Why artists should, or shouldn't, spend money on SubmitHub
29:22 Spotify streams, meta ads, and triggering the algorithm
30:12 Blog posts, SEO, and AI search visibility
32:18 How 90% of curator applications get rejected
33:19 The 2024 playlist botting scandal, explained
36:37 Curating the curators, how SubmitHub polices its network
37:58 Why some genres can't find enough curators
42:56 Why Jason keeps building new tools
46:57 Scaling meta ads to 2,000 active campaigns
48:37 How SubmitHub actually measures results
51:21 SubmitHub's real relationship with Spotify
54:00 Cracking, or not cracking, Spotify's algorithm
55:44 Why real artists are losing streams right now
56:50 The uncomfortable math on artist ROI
57:58 Why going local still beats chasing algorithms
58:52 Jason's 90 day playbook for a brand new artist
1:01:21 Why breaking into music is like turning pro in tennis
1:02:37 The worst piece of conventional advice in music marketing
1:05:27 Final thoughts and where to find SubmitHub

Jason Grishkoff, SubmitHub, AI music, AI detection, playlist pitching, Spotify algorithm, music promotion, dance music podcast, house music, music industry podcast, artist development, music marketing, independent artist, music business advice, electronic music, founder interview, music tech, Indie Shuffle

#MusicPodcast #JasonGrishkoff #SubmitHub #AIMusic #DanceMusic #ArtistDevelopment #TheRacketHousePodcast #MusicIndustry #MusicBusiness #SpotifyAlgorithm

​ @ThomasGarciaMusic on why brand matters more than the music now, signing Fisher and Subtronics before they blew up, and why he tells new artists to just finish three songs and stop overthinking it. 

In this episode of The Racket House Podcast, Jon sits down with Thomas Garcia, a house producer and DJ out of LA who also serves as a senior A&R executive at Create Music Group, a company valued at over $2 billion behind labels like Monstercat, Cr2, and !K7. He's released on Melé's Club Bad and Factory 93, signed artists like Fisher and Subtronics early in their careers, and runs his own labels, Back to Basics Records and About Time Records. 

We get into what Create Music Group actually looks for before signing an artist, why he believes brand carries more weight than the music itself in 2026, and the honest financial setup behind what "full time artist" really means, business managers, allowances, and all. He breaks down what a manager and agent actually do and when an artist doesn't need one yet, what made Fisher and Subtronics easy bets before the rest of the industry noticed them, and his take on using AI tools like Suno without making lifeless music.

Then he gets into what it's like raising a one year old while running a company career and an artist career at the same time, and why he doesn't think work life balance really exists.

If you've got a day job and a music dream and you're trying to figure out what's actually worth focusing on, this one is for you.

Subscribe for more conversations with artists, operators, and industry professionals.

📷 Instagram: @therackethouse and @racketclubbb
💿 Work with me: https://www.therackethouse.com
📬 Newsletter: https://the-racket-house.kit.com/newsletter
🏫 Join my Skool community: https://www.skool.com/music-careers-messy-middle
🌙 My own tracks: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3hbZuTiNFxMjhgrt9AJKzT
🕺🏻 Free downloads & live sets: https://soundcloud.com/racket-club
💕 More on Racket Club: https://www.therackethouse.com/racket-club

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
01:38 Thomas joins, life as a new dad
03:13 Balancing an artist career and a Create Music Group career
04:59 How he actually splits his time
07:37 What "success" means to him now vs when he started
10:00 Getting shows while working full time
13:16 What Create Music Group really looks at before signing someone
16:11 Why brand matters more than the music
17:22 Artists with strong brands: Crankdat, Subtronics, Mochakk
20:36 Does his day job ever make him wish he was focused on his own music
22:18 Is going full time in music worth it
25:54 The biggest misconception about going full time
28:05 The biggest opportunity to make money in music right now
29:31 What most artists get wrong
31:47 What a manager and agent actually do, and when you need one
35:33 What he'd tell a new artist to focus on first
38:36 Signing Fisher and Subtronics before they blew up
41:54 What his two careers taught each other
45:23 Is there such a thing as work life balance
47:32 Leaving a finance career for music with no plan
51:26 Artists to watch right now
52:54 His honest take on AI in music
55:56 The one thing to do this week if you have a day job and a music dream
57:03 What's next for Thomas Garcia and Create Music Group

Thomas Garcia, Create Music Group, dance music podcast, house music, A&R executive, DJ interview, music industry podcast, artist development, music marketing, independent artist, music business advice, DJ career advice, electronic music, producer interview, music mentorship, Fisher, Subtronics

#MusicPodcast #ThomasGarcia #CreateMusicGroup #DanceMusic #HouseMusic #ArtistDevelopment #TheRacketHousePodcast #MusicIndustry #DJLife #MusicBusiness

​ @ofiermusic on why he'd rather stay a medium-sized artist than chase the $300K DJ fee, giving without expectation, and why it's fine for artists to keep a day job.

In this episode of The Racket House Podcast, Jon sits down with Ofier, an international DJ, producer, and guitarist out of LA known for fusing real musicianship into his house and tech house sets. He's released on Desert Hearts, Fluxo, Music Is For Lovers, and Hood Politics, played Lightning in a Bottle, Desert Hearts, and Burning Man, and co-founded Kino Village, a party collective built by artists for artists.

We get into why he's deliberately opted out of the six-figure marketing budgets and $300K-a-show lifestyle that come with the biggest names in the game, how he booked every major festival on his list without ever having a manager, and why he thinks giving without expectation is the actual growth strategy nobody talks about. He breaks down what he's learned coaching artists on everything from music theory to brand identity, why playing against the trend has always worked in his favor, and why he tells his students it's fine to keep the day job and fund the music career with it.

Then he gets into why Burning Man reshaped how he thinks about work, community, and what it means to give back.

If you're an artist trying to build a career on your own terms, this one is for you.

Subscribe for more conversations with artists, operators, and industry professionals.

📷 Instagram: @therackethouse and @racketclubbb
💿 Work with me: https://www.therackethouse.com
📬 Newsletter: https://the-racket-house.kit.com/newsletter
🏫 Join my Skool community: https://www.skool.com/music-careers-messy-middle
🌙 My own tracks: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3hbZuTiNFxMjhgrt9AJKzT
🕺🏻 Free downloads & live sets: https://soundcloud.com/racket-club
💕 More on Racket Club: https://www.therackethouse.com/racket-club

Ofier, dance music podcast, house music, tech house, DJ interview, music industry podcast, artist development, music marketing, independent artist, music business advice, DJ career advice, electronic music, producer interview, music mentorship, Burning Man

#MusicPodcast #Ofier #DanceMusic #HouseMusic #TechHouse #ArtistDevelopment #TheRacketHousePodcast #MusicIndustry #DJLife #MusicBusiness

Will Clarke on quitting, luck, marketing, and why he'd turn down $100 million to keep making music.

In this episode of The Racket House Podcast, Jon sits down with Will Clarke, a Grammy-nominated producer, DJ, and podcaster with over 100 million streams. He's played Coachella, EDC, and Red Rocks. He runs his own label, All We Have Is Now. He's also recorded 349 episodes of The Will Clarke Podcast, one of the most honest shows in dance music.

We get into why learning to quit is a skill, why there's no such thing as balance, and why Will mentors artists for free. He pushes back on the idea that artists have to be in your face online, and he gets real about luck. After twenty years and 349 episodes, he's never met one person who knew their big record was going to be big.

Then he says the thing most touring DJs won't. It's fine to keep your day job. If you're an artist trying to figure out what you actually want from music, this one is for you. 

Subscribe for more conversations with artists, operators, and industry professionals.

📷 Instagram: @therackethouse and @racketclubbb
💿 Work with me: https://www.therackethouse.com
📬 Newsletter: https://the-racket-house.kit.com/newsletter
🌙 My own tracks: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3hbZuTiNFxMjhgrt9AJKzT
🕺🏻 Free downloads & live sets: https://soundcloud.com/racket-club
💕 More on Racket Club: https://www.therackethouse.com/racket-club

Will Clarke, dance music podcast, house music, techno, DJ interview, music industry podcast, artist development, music marketing, independent artist, music business advice, DJ career advice, electronic music, producer interview, music mentorship

#MusicPodcast #WillClarke #DanceMusic #HouseMusic #Techno #ArtistDevelopment #TheRacketHousePodcast #MusicIndustry #DJLife #MusicBusiness

Finch Bergling on playlists, ads, music marketing, and how to actually grow as an independent artist in 2026.

In this episode of The Racket House Podcast, Jon sits down with Finch Bergling, a music marketing expert and playlist curator who helps independent artists get heard. Finch runs some of the most active independent playlists on Spotify, manages ad campaigns for artists, and hosts his own podcast, More Than Streams. Oh, and we recorded this in Da Nang, Vietnam, because that's just how we live now.

We get into what playlist campaigns actually do for artists, and what they don't do. We talk about why so many independent artists are burning money on marketing without seeing results, and what to do instead.

Finch also shares his take on AI-generated music flooding the industry, how to think about ads vs. playlists, and what separates artists who build something real from those who chase numbers.

If you're an independent artist trying to grow your audience and stop guessing, this one is for you.

Subscribe for more conversations with artists, operators, and industry professionals.

📷 Instagram: @therackethouse and @racketclubbb
💿 Work with me: https://www.therackethouse.com
📬 Newsletter: https://the-racket-house.kit.com/newsletter
🌙 My own tracks: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3hbZuTiNFxMjhgrt9AJKzT
🕺🏻 Free downloads & live sets: https://soundcloud.com/racket-club
💕 More on Racket Club: https://www.therackethouse.com/racket-club

Mia Moore & Rufus Blaq on building a label, running a music business as a couple, and what it really takes to win in this industry.

In this episode of The Racket House Podcast, Jon sits down with Mia Moore and Rufus Blaq, the husband and wife team behind Silent Success Entertainment, an independent label out of Philadelphia. Rufus is a 30-year industry veteran and songwriter with credits including Destiny's Child, Salt-N-Pepa, and Faith Evans. Mia is his partner in business and in life who left a stable career to create with purpose, using her son as motivation.

We get into what it actually means to build a vision, surround yourself with the right team, and move with intention in an industry full of noise and shortcuts.

Rufus and Mia share real talk on why artists fail when they try to do everything alone, how to build a team that believes in the vision before the check, and why loyalty is an operating model, not just a value.

We also dig into the creative process, the business of running an independent label as a couple, and why AI will never replace the emotion behind great music.

If you're an independent artist trying to build something that lasts, this one is for you.

Subscribe for more conversations with artists, operators, and industry professionals.

📷 Instagram: @therackethouse and @racketclubbb

💿 Work with me: https://www.therackethouse.com 

📬 Newsletter: https://the-racket-house.kit.com/newsletter 

🌙 My own tracks: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3hbZuTiNFxMjhgrt9AJKzT 

🕺🏻 Free downloads & live sets: https://soundcloud.com/racket-club 

💕 More on Racket Club: https://www.therackethouse.com/racket-club

music marketing podcast, independent label, artist development, music business podcast, independent artist strategy, music industry advice, record label, songwriter, how to build a team, music promotion, artist mindset, loyalty in music

#MusicPodcast #IndependentArtist #MusicIndustry #ArtistDevelopment #TheRacketHousePodcast #RecordLabel #MusicBusiness

Mikul Wing ( @AutografMusic ) on building 500M+ streams, touring globally, and growing a music career in 2026.In this episode of The Racket House Podcast, Jon sits down with Mikul Wing of Autograf, a global electronic trio with 500M+ streams, major festival performances, and brand deals with Louis Vuitton and Nike. He's also the founder of The KINN in Venice, CA which is a membership community of entrepreneurs and creatives. We break down how Autograf built momentum from the SoundCloud era, transitioned from remixes to original music, and stayed relevant for over a decade in a constantly changing music industry.Mikul shares real insight on what actually drives growth today, from social media and content strategy to touring, sync placements, and building a fanbase that shows up in real life.We also get into the business side: building community, launching The KINN, and why artists need to think like operators if they want long-term success.If you’re a DJ, producer, or independent artist trying to grow your audience, get booked, and build a real career in music, this episode is for you.Subscribe for more conversations with artists, operators, and industry professionals.📷 Instagram: @therackethouse and @racketclubbb💿 Work with me – 1:1 artist development, advertising, playlist campaigns, curation, social content, email marketing, and more: https://www.therackethouse.com📬 Newsletter: https://the-racket-house.kit.com/newsletter🌙 My own tracks: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3hbZuTiNFxMjhgrt9AJKzT🕺🏻 Free downloads & live sets: https://soundcloud.com/racket-club💕 More on Racket Club: https://www.therackethouse.com/racket-clubmusic marketing podcast, electronic music podcast, DJ podcast, artist development, music business podcast, independent artist strategy, DJ growth, producer marketing, grow your fanbase, music promotion, social media for artists, how to get gigs, music industry advice#MusicPodcast #ElectronicMusic #DJLife #ArtistDevelopment #MusicIndustry #TheRacketHousePodcast

In this episode, Jon sits down with Grahame Farmer of Data Transmission and creator of The Artist Blueprint.Grahame has spent nearly two decades helping DJs, producers, and independent artists build real audiences and sustainable careers. We talk about the biggest mistakes artists make today, why great music alone isn’t enough anymore, and how artists can actually grow a fanbase in the modern music industry.We also break down the ideas behind his book Gather. Give. Grow., the role of social media in music careers, and what separates artists who gain traction from the ones who stay stuck.If you’re a DJ, producer, independent artist, manager, or creator trying to build momentum in music, this conversation is for you.Tap in and subscribe for more episodes.📷 Instagram: @therackethouse and @racketclubbb💿 Work with me – 1:1 artist development, advertising, playlist campaigns, curation, social content, email marketing, and more: https://www.therackethouse.com📬 Newsletter: https://the-racket-house.kit.com/newsletter🌙 My own tracks: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3hbZuTiNFxMjhgrt9AJKzT🕺🏻 Free downloads & live sets: https://soundcloud.com/racket-club💕 More on Racket Club: https://www.therackethouse.com/racket-clubmusic marketing podcast, electronic music podcast, artist development podcast, music business podcast, DJ marketing, producer marketing, independent artist strategy, grow your fanbase, music promotion strategy#MusicPodcast #ElectronicMusic #ArtistDevelopment #MusicIndustry #TheRacketHousePodcast

In this episode, Jon sits down with Dr. Sunni Lampasso, a clinical psychologist and executive coach working at the intersection of leadership and electronic dance music.Known as the psychologist beyond the booth, Dr. Lampasso advises touring DJs, producers, label founders, and industry decision-makers on sustainable performance, identity, pressure, and long-term success in high-visibility careers.We dive into the psychology of success in electronic music, including burnout in touring artists, performance anxiety before big shows, ego and external validation, and why so many talented artists sabotage their own momentum. Dr. Lampasso breaks down what sustainable success actually looks like in dance music, how artists can separate self-worth from streams, and what leaders in the music industry often get wrong about mental health.We also discuss leadership in electronic music, how artists evolve from creatives into decision-makers, and the mindset shifts required to build careers that last instead of chasing short-term hype.If you’re a DJ, producer, independent artist, manager, or label owner navigating pressure, growth, and long-term career strategy, this conversation is essential.Tap in and subscribe for more episodes.📷 Instagram: @therackethouse and @racketclubbb💿 Work with me – 1:1 artist development, advertising, playlist campaigns, curation, social content, email marketing, and more: https://www.therackethouse.com📬 Newsletter: https://the-racket-house.kit.com/newsletter🌙 My own tracks: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3hbZuTiNFxMjhgrt9AJKzT🕺🏻 Free downloads & live sets: https://soundcloud.com/racket-club💕 More on Racket Club: https://www.therackethouse.com/racket-clubmusic psychology podcast, electronic music podcast, DJ burnout, performance anxiety DJ, music industry mental health, artist mindset, sustainable success in music, dance music industry, touring DJ mental health, artist development podcast, music business podcast, leadership in music industry, independent artist strategy, electronic music careers, DJ mindset, producer burnout, music industry leadership, psychology of success#MusicPodcast #ElectronicMusic #DJLife #ArtistDevelopment #MusicIndustry #DanceMusic #MentalHealthInMusic #TheRacketHousePodcast