We continue our Trapital Summit series with Jason Sklar, a partner at Shamrock Capital, to explore music rights as an asset class, as well as gaming, film, and more. We discuss Shamrock’s perspective, market trends, valuation approaches, the role of AI, and cross-industry opportunities.

02:27 State of Music Rights Investing

09:37 Shamrock’s Investment Approach

16:01 AI, Gaming, and Music

19:39 Why Investing in Film is a B2B Business

20:13 What’s Next for Catalog Deals

This episode is brought to you by SoundCloud for Artists, the all-in-one platform that empowers artists to distribute music, grow their audience, and get paid directly.

From uploads to insights, SoundCloud helps creators take control of their careers.

Listen in for our Chartmetric Stat of the Week.

We continued our Trapital Summit series with our talk with Udio CEO Andrew Sanchez and MIDiA Research’s Tati Cirisano. AI is rapidly transforming how music is created, distributed, and experienced. You’ll hear them unpack the challenges and opportunities shaping this new era of sound. From redefining creativity to fostering trust between artists and technology, we explore how collaboration, ethics, and innovation can drive a more equitable and inspiring future for the music industry.

03:36 AI Music: Trends and Future

08:11 What Sets Udio Apart

14:06 Trust and Fair Use in AI

21:19 Future Vision and Rapid Fire

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At the Trapital Summit, we were joined by the CEO of VERZUZ, Steve Pamon. His career is all about turning events into big moments, from his time at McKinsey, HBO, NFL, WWE, IMAX, and more. We discussed how major shows scale into franchises, covering team execution, fan value, storytelling, and lessons from Beyoncé, Roger Goodell, and more.

03:50 Story and Execution in Live Events

09:49 Music Industry Challenges

16:23 WWE and IMAX Takeaways

24:02 What’s Next for Verzuz

This episode is brought to you by Laylo, a platform built for artists, creators, and live-event teams that helps turn shows into fandom. Laylo powers drops, tour campaigns, fan lists, SMS & DM outreach, and more to grow engagement and enable deeper connections.

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We’re continuing our Trapital Summit series with TuneCore CEO Andreea Gleeson. You’ll hear her and Billboard’s Taylor Mims discuss how TuneCore empowers artists worldwide, how indie artists break through the noise, successes, challenges, and more.

03:48 Wins and Milestones

09:55 Superfans Opportunities

12:57 Future Tools for TuneCore Artists

15:33 Indie Artist Trends

This episode is brought to you by beatBread a music funding platform that empowers independent artists to access advances on their streaming income while keeping 100% ownership of their music.

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We’re continuing our Trapital Summit series. In this episode, we’re with Kakul Srivastava, CEO of Splice, to discuss how technology is reshaping music. From Splice’s acquisition of Spitfire Audio to the rise of AI-powered tools, we explore innovation, M&A lessons learned, and more.

03:51 Acquiring Spitfire Audio

10:24 Product and Data-Driven Growth

16:47 Royalty-Free Tradeoffs

20:22 Future of AI

This episode is brought to you by Splice, a cloud-based music creation platform offering millions of royalty-free samples, plugins (via rent-to-own), and AI-powered tools to inspire creators everywhere

We’re continuing our Trapital Summit recap series. In today’s episode, you’ll hear my conversation with Oliver Schusser, VP of Apple Music and International Content, to explore Apple’s journey in music. We dive into the state of music streaming, AI ‘s impact , and Apple’s partnerships in sports and live content.

02:46 From iTunes to Apple Music

01:39 Focusing on Music

08:41 Apple Music Growth and Subscribers

11:40 AI

14:49 Halftime Show, MLB, MLS and more

This episode is presented by TooLost, a platform empowering artists with tools to manage, distribute, and grow their music independently.

Listen in for our Chartmetric Stat of the Week.

We’re kicking off our Trapital Summit recap series. In today’s episode, you’ll hear my conversation with Elliot Grainge, CEO of Atlantic Music Group.

This was Elliot’s first public talk since becoming CEO in October 2024.

We discuss his response to the fanfare around the Warner Music Group transition, Elliot’s experience selling 10K Projects, and adapting the 10K playbook for superstars like Bruno Mars and Ed Sheeran. We dig into Elliot’s view on leadership, entrepreneurship, and the future of AI.

02:41 The New CEO

03:44 Selling 10K Projects

09:35 Adapting 10K Playbook to Established Stars

14:08 The AI Generation

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In this episode, we take you behind the scenes of last week’s second annual Trapital Summit.

Listen to me and Tati Cirisano from MIDiA Research break down what went into the event. From the NeueHouse bankruptcy to speaker selection, key moments, feedback from guests, curating the right room, and plenty more.

01:13 A Last-Minute Surprise

09:40 Curating the Room

12:05 Programming Decisions

25:45 AI and Industry Trends

36:43 2026 Summit

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Our Trapital Summit is Wednesday, September 10 in Los Angeles! Get your tickets here.

Today's mini-episode is a breakdown on The Weeknd's $1 billion music rights financing goals and whether it is worth that massive price tag. I also share a few words on the late Peter Sinclair, CEO and co-founder of beatBread.

How Much Is The Weeknd's Music Really Worth? - Trapital

Trapital Summit 2025

Trapital Summit is on Sep 10 in LA. Join us! Get your tickets here.

The major record labels are adapting for the modern era. Lately, that shift has them looking less like RCA and more like KKR. These companies have invested less in signing new artists and more in acquiring the legendary back catalog of music. With streaming driving steady royalties, the music rights of proven hits are valuable. Music companies have teamed up with private equity firms to cash in.

I also break down how this changes artist deals, lowers risk-taking, and opens the door for global investors and even artists to buy in.

00:33 The Shift to Private Equity

03:45 The Back Catalog Boom

09:24 A&R Reductions

12:14 What The Future Holds

This episode is presented by State Farm, the home for your small business needs. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.

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Trapital Summit is on Wednesday September 10 in LA. Join us!