Niki &The Dove are a Swedish indie pop/electronic duo comprised of Malin Dahlström and Gustaf Karlöf. They broke through in 2012 after placing 5th in BBC’s Sound of Music poll and their first album received widespread press coverage. I was able to speak with them about their initial success, being signed to one of Sweden’s biggest indie labels and what the last 15 years has been for them.

Peter Rafelson's music career spans four decades of being a songwriter, producer, studio owner and more. Penning Madonna's "Open Your Heart" served as the entrypoint to mainstream success, and he's since gone on to host recording sessions for the likes of Taylor Swift and Beyonce.

I had a chat with Peter about his career, how his biggest hit was made, and what he's up to today.

Though hiphop went mainstream in the 90s, it wasn't until the early 2000s that gangsta rap dominated all other sub-genres and effectively monopolized the landscape. This was in no small part due to support from radio stations like Power 106 in LA and Hot97 in New York. Damion "Damizza" Young had influence over both and was the Senior Director of Programming at the former. By keeping artists like Jay Z, Eminem, Ja Rule, Snoop Dogg and Dr Dre in constant rotation, he helped establish their careers and mainstream appeal.

Damizza and I talked about his career spanning from the mid 90s to his current comeback, including his time running radio stations and working with A-listers.

Evan Bogart went from Interscope intern in the 90s that helped Eminem get signed, to a songwriter in the 2000s that penned hits for Rihanna and Beyonce, to the co-founder of a publishing company in the 2020s. He's currently the CEO of Seeker Music, which owns catalogs from artists like Run The Jewel, Jon Bellion, and Mark Morrison. I had a chat with Evan about his progression in the music industry and the kind of work Seeker is doing to carve out a space for itself in the business.

As one of the few Western executives with both work experience and language fluency in China and Japan, Gabe Bloch occupies a unique space in bridging the Asian and American music industries. He’s currently the Cheif Strategy officer for Pony Canyon USA, one of most well-known indie labels in Japan, and is helping to break their artists.

Gabe and I covered his background in Asia, his thoughts on the Japanese music industry and how their artists are gaining traction abroad. We also looked at how labels like Pony Canyon is using anime to fuel the popularity of their artists.

After a successful radio career in the 90s, Rick Barker became one of Taylor Swift's radio promoters in 2004 and then her manager from 2006 - 2008. He played an instrumental role in the success of her first album as well as her transition to a star. Since departing that role, he's worked as independent consultant for artists and labels, showing them how to maximize their careers.

Rick and I covered his time working with Taylor, and also talked about his consultancy, Music Industry Blueprint where he helps artists with their careers.

For the last thirty years, Tab Nkhereanye has made the journey from aspiring songwriter to hitmaker and now senior A&R. As a writer in the first decade of his career, he wrote for the likes of Mya, Britney Spears, Justin Bieber and Mary J Blige. From there he became an A&R at places like Sony/ATV, Republic and Def Jam. Some of his notable feats were signing Frank Ocean and Alessia Cara. He's now SVP of A&R at BMG and works with a slew of talented artists to help them craft hits.

I talked to Tab about his 30-year journey, how he accomplished his biggest signings as an A&R and how the publishing business works.

During the 2010s, blogs were the dominant form of online music discovery and very few had the industry-wide prestige of Hillydilly. Formed in 2007 by Chad Hillard, it gained traction in 2012 as one of the most well-curated places to find new music and helped to break artists like Lorde and Halsey. By 2016, it was directly responsible for helping to launch Billie Eilish's career, among others.

I had a chat with Chad about how Hillydilly came to be, what it was like running the blog, and why things came to an end in May of 2020.

Joe D'Ambrosio started off as a ball boy for the New York Yankees in the 70s and was soon hired as an assistant by legendary music producer, Phil Ramone. After years by his side, Joe went on to hold various music-related roles within marketing, sales and live events, but eventually returned to work with Phil in the 90s and later became his manager. He thereafter set up Joe D'Ambrosio Management in 2002 and currently has a roster of acclaimed producers and mixers. I spoke with Joe about his 5 decades in entertainment, and what his job as a producer-manager entails.

Though he started off as a drummer in the 70s, Pelle Lidell went on to become one of most well-known Swedish A&Rs of the last few decades, having a hand in countless records for artists like Christina Aguilera, Celine Dione, Christina Milian, Sugababes and more. He spent time at both indie and major label publishers, first in Sweden and then in the UK. He followed up by contributing to the K-Pop explosion of the 2010s, with several of his writers getting cuts with the biggest stars in the genre.

I had a chat with Pelle about his career from the 70s till now, covering most of what he's done, some of the people he's worked with, and what being an A&R means to him.