

The Next Track
Doug Adams and Kirk McElhearn
Doug Adams and Kirk McElhearn discuss music and musicians, and how we listen to music, whether it be analog or digital, downloaded or streamed, audio, or video.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Aug 14, 2024 • 27min
Episode #288: Merch
It's tough to make money in the music business. So artists sell merch.
Help support The Next Track by making regular donations via Patreon. We're ad-free and self-sustaining so your support is what keeps us going. Thanks!
Show notes:
Shakedown Street (Grateful Dead parking lot market)
Live Nation announces it will drop merch cuts and pay $1,500 stipend to all club acts
Taylor Swift Sells a Rainbow of Vinyl Albums. Fans Keep Buying Them.
Adele in Munich
Robert Fripp: The Guitar Circle
Robert Fripp merch
Handmade by Toyah & Robert
Cameo - Robert Fripp videos
I thought Bob Dylan had fallen in love with me – then he asked me for $5,000
Episode #74 – Jeffrey Norman on Restoring, Mixing, and Mastering the Grateful Dead
Our next tracks:
Grateful Dead: Friend Of The Devils: April 1978
Elastica: Elastica
If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.Support The Next Track

Jul 31, 2024 • 30min
Episode #287: The Summer Doldrums
It's the summer of Apple beta software. We chat a bit about the Music app, new operating systems, and how Apple's AI could affect Apple Music.
Help support The Next Track by making regular donations via Patreon. We're ad-free and self-sustaining so your support is what keeps us going. Thanks!
Show notes:
macOS Sequoia Preview
Moom
Soulver
How to Install Apple Beta Software for macOS Sequoia, iOS 18, iPadOS 18, watchOS 11, and tvOS 11
Install macOS Sequoia Beta in a Virtual Machine on an M1, M2, or M3 Mac with UTM
"By saying, “Hey Siri, I like this song,” HomePod and Apple Music become the perfect musicologist..."
The Music Genome Project
Our next tracks:
Reformation: Mishka Rushdie Momen
Leon Russel: Carney
If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.Support The Next Track

Jul 17, 2024 • 29min
Episode #286: Reach
"Don’t confuse consumption with reach."
Help support The Next Track by making regular donations via Patreon. We're ad-free and self-sustaining so your support is what keeps us going. Thanks!
Show notes:
Reach, Bob Lefsetz
Glastonbury on the BBC iPlayer
Glastonbury 2024 line-up
Our next tracks:
Robert Fripp: Washington Square Church CD, download
Rory Gallagher: Calling Card
If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.Support The Next Track

Jul 3, 2024 • 28min
Episode #285: Is Classic Rock the New Classical Music
No one gets up in the morning and says, “I want to be in a classic rock band.”
Help support The Next Track by making regular donations via Patreon. We're ad-free and self-sustaining so your support is what keeps us going. Thanks!
Show notes:
The most popular, obscure, Democratic, Republican and hated music in America
Queen Catalog to Be Acquired by Sony Music for £1 Billion
Music on The Sopranos
Our next tracks:
Daniel Barenboim: Complete Wagner Operas
The Three O'Clock: Sixteen Tambourines
If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.Support The Next Track

Jun 19, 2024 • 29min
Episode #284: You Can't Beat the System
Something always goes wrong. "The grass may look great, but it's not real grass."
Help support The Next Track by making regular donations via Patreon. We're ad-free and self-sustaining so your support is what keeps us going. Thanks!
Show notes:
Episode #278: Gear Acquisition Syndrome
Our next tracks:
Charles Ives: Concord Sonata, by Donna Coleman)
Dog Party: Dangerous
If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.Support The Next Track

Jun 5, 2024 • 30min
Episode #283: Another Green World
Doug and Kirk discuss one of Brian Eno's best early albums, Another Green World.
Help support The Next Track by making regular donations via Patreon. We're ad-free and self-sustaining so your support is what keeps us going. Thanks!
Show notes:
Another Green World
Another Green World (Wikipedia)
Oblique Strategies
Episode #164 - Sid Smith on the Life and Times of King Crimson
Brian Eno — Everything Merges With The Night — Timo Andres
Another Day on Earth
David Byrne: Catherine Wheel
Our next tracks:
King Crimson - Full Show (The Noise - Live At Fréjus 1982)
Jane's Addiction: Nothing's Shocking
If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.Support The Next Track

May 22, 2024 • 30min
Episode #282: Embracing the CD Revival
Continuing with our multi-episode arc, we discuss the joys of listening to CDs.
Help support The Next Track by making regular donations via Patreon. We're ad-free and self-sustaining so your support is what keeps us going. Thanks!
Show notes:
My New Vitsœ Shelves Have Freed Up Space in My Office
Another Timbre
Episode #155 - Running a Small Record Label: Another Timbre
Dave's Picks Vol. 50: Palladium, New York City, NY 5/3/77
Barenboim: Complete Wagner Operas
Our next tracks:
Emerson String Quartet: Complete Recordings on Deutsche Grammophon
Simple Minds: Empires and Dance
If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.Support The Next Track

May 8, 2024 • 32min
Episode #281: Kirk's New Audio Gear
Kirk buys new audio gear for the first time in several years. Tech doesn't always work.
Help support The Next Track by making regular donations via Patreon. We're ad-free and self-sustaining so your support is what keeps us going. Thanks!
Show notes:
NAD C 3050 amplifier
NAD BluOS module
Cambridge Audio CXA61 amplifier
Belkin SoundForm Connect AirPlay 2 Adapter
CalDigit TS4 Thunderbolt 4 Dock
Our next tracks:
Durutti Column: Vini Reilly 35th Anniversary Edition
The Sex Pistols: The Original Recordings
If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.Support The Next Track

Apr 24, 2024 • 29min
Episode #280: When CDs Won’t Play, and Other Tech Tales
Tech is full of surprises.
Help support The Next Track by making regular donations via Patreon. We're ad-free and self-sustaining so your support is what keeps us going. Thanks!
Show notes:
NAD C 538 CD Player
Episode #177 - Author Michael Connelly on Music in the Harry Bosch Novels and TV Series
Our next tracks:
Original Cast Recording: Girl from the North Country
Thurston Moore: By the Fire
If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.Support The Next Track

Apr 10, 2024 • 27min
Episode #279: Lyrics
We discuss lyrics in popular music. Have they become simpler and angrier over the years?
Help support The Next Track by making regular donations via Patreon. We're ad-free and self-sustaining so your support is what keeps us going. Thanks!
Show notes:
Billie Eilish Clarifies Comments About ‘Wasteful’ Vinyl Variants: ‘I Wasn’t Singling Anyone Out’
Song lyrics have become simpler and more repetitive over the last five decades
Genius
Our next tracks:
Timo Andres: The Blind Banister
The Hanging Stars: On a Golden Shore
If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.Support The Next Track