The Future of What

Twenty years ago, Syd Butler started Frenchkiss Records, after his band Les Savy Fav couldn’t find a home at the prominent labels of the time. Fast forward up until today, Syd’s now part of Seth Meyer’s 8G Band, the label is still going strong, and Les Savy Fav is still playing shows. On this episode, Syd joins us to talk about the label’s triumphs and tribulations over the course of the last two decades, as does Craig Finn, who’s bands The Hold Steady and Lifter Puller have enjoyed success under the Frenchkiss umbrella.

Episode #167 : Several high profile artists moved away from sampling in the late 90’s, after a smattering of lawsuits were brought against artists like De La Soul, Biz Markie, 2 Live Crew, etc. for the use of unauthorized samples in some of their biggest hits. As a result, the familiar sounds of hip-hop, pop, and electronica changed dramatically in the decades that followed, as people were both scared off of sampling, and/or confused by the myriad of clearances and fees needed to sample legally. To solve this dilemma, Tracklib has stepped into the arena to act as both a clearinghouse, and conduit between sample based producers and the companies that own both sides of the material that producers want to use in their derivative works.

Episode #166 : Under the current distribution model, labels and rights holders typically only get paid once a month by their distributor, and those payouts are often for streams and downloads that occurred well before the pay period. In an era where artists and labels are able to see nearly real-time usage data for their catalog, these delays in payment have made rapid growth difficult in some cases, and now there are companies stepping in with solutions. On this episode, we speak with Bruno Guez of Revelator and Daniel Dewar of Paperchain about their efforts to increase the liquidity of assets for rights holders by advancing payments to them based upon their catalog’s performance on DSP’s.

The Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act of 2019, or C.A.S.E. Act, is currently making its way through Congress, and it stands to have a significant impact on musicians and labels across the country. As it stands now, if you’re a musician who’s had their music used without a license, your only recourse is to go to a federal copyright court to defend your claim of ownership, which often costs hundreds of thousands of dollars in court and attorney(s) fees, and you must travel to D.C. for the hearing. The C.A.S.E. Act seeks to change that reality by creating a small claims court, that would be much more accessible to artists and labels, both financially and physically, since proceedings can happen remotely.

Episode #164 : Like every other role in the music industry, the face of management is changing to meet the current needs of artists. With fewer and fewer labels investing in artist development, the work of building a team up around an artist has started to land more and more on the shoulders of managers. In our exploration of this topic, we speak with Brian Dubb of Centralized.me, who has developed a web based “virtual management” application that helps developing artists manage themselves, as well as Adina Friedman who works for the management company, “Friends At Work.”

Episode #163 : For the last eleven years, Merlin has been championing the independent music community in a variety of ways. During that time the organization has put over two billion dollars into the pockets of indie labels and distributors, through its negotiated deals with DSP’s like Spotify, et. al., and the organization is only continuing to grow its reach internationally. On this episode, we talk to Charles Caldas, the man at the helm of Merlin for the past eleven years, along with Jorge Brea of Symphonic Distribution and Katie Alberts of Reach Records, who both use Merlin’s services for their businesses to great advantage.

In previous episodes, we’ve discussed the diminished role that music criticism plays in today’s market, and now we’re turning our focus towards music journalism at large. With more and more magazines and newspapers going out of business, writers find themselves with even fewer publishing options, and they’re being forced to look for work outside of the music industry. Join us this hour as we cover this topic with journalists, PR folks, and band managers, and talk about what comes next for this side of the industry.

Episode #161 : Denmark’s Crunchy Frog has been releasing albums for a quarter century this year, and they are celebrating their anniversary with a new compilation of music from the label’s roster, that’s being released in tandem with a variety of specialty beverages to commemorate the occasion. Listen in as label head, Jesper "Yebo" Reginal, talks about the origins of the label, and its successes with international crossover hits from bands like Junior Senior and The Raveonettes, while Johannes Gammelby tells us why his many bands are all signed with the label. Guests: Jesper "Yebo" Reginal (Crunchy Frog) Johannes Gammelby (The Malpractice, I Am Bones, Beta Satan) Music: I Am Bones "Restorer" Dtroit "What's A Man Got To Do" The Malpractice "Get Daddy On The Phone" Delta 5 “Mind Your Own Business”

Episode #160 : At this point, we all know that streaming royalties have become a larger and larger share of revenue within the music industry, but how those royalties are calculated by DSP’s is still somewhat of a mystery to artists, labels, and consumers. For example, why doesn’t your $9.99/mo. only go to the artists you’ve streamed that month? And, why do the per-stream rates fluctuate so much, based on time of day, the specific plan you’re on, etc.? On this episode, we talk to Vickie Nauman and Louis Posen about the “pool method” of royalty calculation (currently in use by most DSP’s), and alternatives to this method that are being proposed by some, and piloted by others.

With more and more venues shutting down due to rising costs in metropolitan areas, some musicians are looking towards non-traditional venues, and people’s homes, as a means to an end. On this episode, we talk with the founder of the Undiscovered Music Network, a service that pairs musicians with willing home concert hosts, and Amber Sweeney, a singer/songwriter who’s recently done several house shows as part of her tour route. Rounding out the episode, we talk about the non-traditional venue host, So Far, with writer Emma Silvers, who wrote an exposé on the business’s rather unscrupulous practices for KQED.