Break The Business Podcast

This week, we talk about a recent article in Variety about how Taylor Swift's deal with her label Big Machine is set to expire in November. What will she do next? Re-up with Big Machine? Go to a new label? Or...will she go independent? This is her first opportunity to go her own way since she first signed her deal with Big Machine 13 years ago. Ryan makes the case for why she needs to declare her independence and take her place as a true mogul in the industry.In the second segment, Ryan sits down with Gabe Kubanda, the Founder of the Epic Proportions Tour. The Epic Proportions Tour is a successful music and education organization that tours high schools around the country performing and teaching music to students. We talk to Gabe about his organization and how musicians can find opportunities performing for high schools (a truly untapped revenue stream). You can find out more about Gabe's organization by visiting www.epicproportionstour.com.Rate/review/subscribe to the Podcast on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher,

This week, Ryan answers a listener question about compulsory mechanical licenses and sits down with Soundfly Founder/CEO Ian Temple. Ryan and Ian talk about Soundfly, music entrepreneurship education, how musicians can get more educated about the industry, and much more. Great tips from a terrific music biz mind this week.Rate/review/subscribe to the Podcast on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher, and Google Play. Follow Ryan @ryankair and the Podcast @thebtbpodcast. Like Break the Business on Facebook and tell a friend about the show! And visit www.breakthebusiness.com to get a copy of Ryan’s Book “Break the Business: Declaring Your Independence and Achieving True Success in the Music Industry.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, we discuss the loss of Aretha Franklin and Ryan tells the amazing story of how the Queen of Soul saved the 1998 Grammys by filling in for a sick Luciano Pavarotti to sing an Italian aria without any notice or rehearsal. She was truly one of the greats. Ryan also sits down with Genius Chief Strategy Officer Ben Gross. We talk about the Genius platform, how artists can use lyrics to build fan engagement, and the monetization opportunities artists have with their lyrics. Rate/review/subscribe to the Podcast on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher, and Google Play. Follow Ryan @ryankair and the Podcast @thebtbpodcast. Like Break the Business on Facebook and tell a friend about the show! And visit www.breakthebusiness.com to get a copy of Ryan’s Book “Break the Business: Declaring Your Independence and Achieving True Success in the Music Industry.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Ryan breaks down the bombshell music industry report from Citi, "Putting the Band Back Together: Remastering the World of Music." He talks about the report's conclusion that artists are only capturing 12% of the revenues generated by the music industry and discusses who are the "intermediaries" standing between artists and their fans that are keeping money out of artists' pockets. You can read the report at http://citi.us/2KC0gjU.In the second segment, Ryan sits down with acclaimed publicist Ariel Hyatt. Ryan and Ariel discuss charity/music crowdfunding projects. They also talk about Ariel's latest initiative, Cyber PR Labs. Cyber PR Labs is a series of masterclasses hosted by Ariel and other prominent music industry thought leaders. Find out more by visiting http://cyberprmusic.com/cyberpr-labs/.Rate/review/subscribe to the Podcast on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher, and Google Play. Follow Ryan @ryankair and the Podcast @thebtbpodcast. Like Break the Business on Facebook and tell a friend about the

This week, Ryan talks about entertainment lawyer Erin M. Jacobson's recent article in Forbes about the Twitch and its effect on musicians. Twitch is a platform that has benefited many indie artists by helping them build their fan base through live streaming. But Jacobson argues that the platform could be harming musicians as well. Ryan discusses the article and also gets an opposing view of sorts on the subject from music industry journalist Cherie Hu of Forbes and Billboard. Cherie also talks to Ryan about Spotify, United Masters, and more!Rate/review/subscribe to the Podcast on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher, and Google Play. Follow Ryan @ryankair and the Podcast @thebtbpodcast. Like Break the Business on Facebook and tell a friend about the show! And visit www.breakthebusiness.com to get a copy of Ryan’s Book “Break the Business: Declaring Your Independence and Achieving True Success in the Music Industry.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Ryan answers a listener question about publishing administration: Should you use CD Baby's Pro Publishing service if you are already using them for your album distribution? What are the pros and the cons? Ryan also sits down with musician and former therapist Laini Marenick of Laini and the Wildfire. Laini talks about her band's album "Wandering" and about transitioning from her old job to becoming a full-time musician. She also discusses her recent article that she wrote for CD Baby and Women Crush entitled "Five Emotionally Draining Musician Problems and How to Cope." LOTS of great advice in that article. Find out more about about her band by visiting www.lainiandthewildfire.com. Rate/review/subscribe to the Podcast on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher, and Google Play. Follow Ryan @ryankair and the Podcast @thebtbpodcast. Like Break the Business on Facebook and tell a friend about the show! And visit www.breakthebusiness.com to get a copy of Ryan’s Book “Break the Business: Declaring Your Independenc

This week, Ryan interviews legendary music supervisor Maureen Crowe (Wayne's World, The Bodyguard, Chicago). Maureen gives some great tips for our listeners on how to increase your sync placement opportunities and how to build the right relationships with the industry professionals who can get your music in movies, TV, commercials, and more. This is a not-to-be-missed interview for any independent artist who wants to get more placements for their music. Maureen also gives some amazing stories from her incredible life in Hollywood. Check it out!Rate/review/subscribe to the Podcast on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher, and Google Play. Follow Ryan @ryankair and the Podcast @thebtbpodcast. Like Break the Business on Facebook and tell a friend about the show! And visit www.breakthebusiness.com to get a copy of Ryan’s Book “Break the Business: Declaring Your Independence and Achieving True Success in the Music Industry.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Ryan answers a listener question about growing your social media following, which then led to another question: What should you focus on more as an artist, increasing your following or investing in the following you already have? Ryan discusses this topic by referencing a recent article in TuneCore Blog by Suzanne Paulinski (aka "The Rock Star Advocate") entitled "The One Place Your Focus Should Always Be". You can check out the article here: https://www.tunecore.com/blog/2018/07/the-one-place-your-focus-should-always-be.html. Ryan also sits down this week with Chris Brereton, the President and CPO of Thematic. Thematic is a peer-to-peer platform that connects video creators to music artists to help the former license music from the latter. Chris talks about Thematic and gives us some tips on how to connect to YouTube artists to get licensing opportunities for your music. Find out more about Thematic by visiting www.hellothematic.com.Rate/review/subscribe to the Podcast on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitc

Hi Podcast Listeners! The Podcast now has its own Twitter account! Visit us @thebtbpodcast.This week, Ryan talks about a recent article by Greg Puciato of Dillinger Escape Plan. The article talks about the value in maintaining your independence as a musician. The content of the article is interesting, but what is more interesting is the fact that article came out on one of Spotify's blog pages. Is Spotify trying to send a message to artists? Are they trying to draw musicians away from labels? Big implications there. Ryan also sits down with industry executive and startup technologist Laurens Kusters (@BKLarrydotcom). He gives us some great tips on how to delegate tasks in your music career. He also talks about his new platform Indie Ninja (@indiedotninja), an online marketplace where artists can buy and sell services to run their music careers. You can find out more about it at www.indie.ninja.Rate/review/subscribe to the Podcast on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher, and Google Play. Follow Ryan @ryankair and the

Hi Podcast Listeners! The Podcast now has its own Twitter account! Visit us @thebtbpodcast.This week, Ryan talks about last week's copyright lawsuit involving Ed Sheeran, his song "Thinking Out Loud" and the investment firm that owns the royalty rights to the Marvin Gaye song "Let's Get it On". Ryan discusses what lawsuits like these could mean for songwriters going forward. Ryan also sits down with acclaimed publishing executive Jonathan Stone. Jonathan gives us some great tips on how to get more sync licensing opportunities. He also discusses his platform Rocket Songs, which allows artists to easily license compositions for their next album project. Find out more about it by visiting www.rocketsongs.com.Rate/review/subscribe to the Podcast on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher, and Google Play. Follow Ryan @ryankair and the Podcast @thebtbpodcast. Like Break the Business on Facebook and tell a friend about the show! And visit www.breakthebusiness.com to get a copy of Ryan’s Book “Break the Business: Declaring You

Hi Podcast Listeners! The Podcast now has its own Twitter account! Visit us @thebtbpodcast.This week, Ryan talks about the CASE Act, a bill currently going through Congress that would create a special court for small claims copyright disputes. Could this law create a means for indie artists to get justice when their works are stolen, or is it promising more than it can deliver? Ryan also sits down with Bobby Owsinski to talk about Bobby's recent article in Forbes about Spotify doing direct licensing deals with indie artists. Bobby has some great insight about what Spotify's move means for the current balance of power in the music industry between Spotify, labels, and independent musicpreneurs. Check out more of Bobby's work by visiting www.bobbyowsinski.com. Rate/review/subscribe to the Podcast on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher, and Google Play. Follow Ryan @ryankair and the Podcast @thebtbpodcast. Like Break the Business on Facebook and tell a friend about the show! And visit www.breakthebusiness.com to get a

Hi Podcast Listeners! The Podcast now has its own Twitter account! Visit us @thebtbpodcast. This week, Ryan discusses Sony's sale of part of its stake in Spotify and its decision to share some of the proceeds with its artists. Is Sony being magnanimous, or is there an ulterior motive driving their actions? Ryan discusses the issue and reflects on what this story signifies for the balance of power between labels and artists in the New Music Industry. Ryan also sits down with entertainment lawyer and friend of the Podcast Ilana Broad. Ilana gives some tips on how to keep your mailing lists and websites GDPR compliant. Ryan and Ilana also discuss best practices when selecting a PR agent for your next music release. Be sure to check out Ilana by visiting www.ilanabroadesq.com.Rate/review/subscribe to the Podcast on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher, and Google Play. Follow Ryan @ryankair and the Podcast @thebtbpodcast. Like Break the Business on Facebook and tell a friend about the show! And visit www.breakthebusiness

Hi Podcast listeners. Ryan is back from his hiatus with new episodes! This week, Ryan discusses the recent article in Vulture about Lily Allen's abuse allegations and how they relate to the dangers of record industry contracts. Ryan also sits down with industry expert Clara Charron to discuss her "Pop of Colour" music blog. Clara gives some great advice on how musicians can start their own video series. Check out Clara's work at popofcolourmusic.com and be sure to check out her weekly Facebook Live show.Rate/review/subscribe to the Podcast on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher, and Google Play. Follow Ryan @ryankair. Like Break the Business on Facebook and tell a friend about the show! And visit www.breakthebusiness.com to get a copy of Ryan’s Book “Break the Business: Declaring Your Independence and Achieving True Success in the Music Industry.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, we feature an interview with Bobby Owsinski of the Music 3.0 blog and Guy & Ilan Ferdman of Satori Prime. Great music industry advice this week that will definitely inspire your inner entrepreneur! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, we feature an interview with The Krickets where we discuss collaborating effectively with bandmates and an interview with songwriter Shawnee Kilgore to discuss hypercreation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, we feature an interview with Cheryl B. Engelhardt to discuss branding and an interview with Holley Maher to discuss The Other Nashville Society and finding sync opportunities for your music. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, we feature interviews with Suzanne "The Rock Star Advocate" Paulinski and Bruce Wawrzyniak. In the first interview, we discuss self care and time management. In the second interview, we discuss how to get more show bookings as an artist. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hi Podcast listeners! Thanks for downloading. Be sure to get a copy of the Break the Business audiobook, now available on Amazon, Audible, and iTunes!This week, music entrepreneurship expert Andrew Hitz stops by to give us lots of fantastic tips to help you move your career forward. We also have a discussion with him about the current state of higher education and music and whether music schools are doing enough to teach entrepreneurship to its indie artist students (spoiler alert: they aren't!). Be sure to check out Andrew's terrific podcast The Entrepreneurial Musician by visiting www.andrewhitz.com. We also open up the Break the Business Coffeehouse this week as musician and University of Miami student Emia stops by to play a fantastic original song for us. You're not going to want to miss this. She absolutely crushes it. Check her out at www.thisisemia.com.Rate/review/subscribe to the Podcast on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher, and Google Play. Follow Ryan @ryankair. Like Break the Business on Facebook and t

Hi Podcast listeners! Thanks for downloading. Be sure to get a copy of the Break the Business audiobook, now available on Amazon, Audible, and iTunes!In the first segment, Ryan talks about the recent lawsuit involving Cardi B and her former manager. He uses the story to talk about the common pitfalls in artist management deals and how to avoid them as an indie artist. In the second segment, music industry expert James Shotwell stops by to talk about music piracy and the importance of using watermarking to protect your art. You can find out more about James and his work by visiting www.jamesshotwell.com and www.haulix.com. In the final segment, Podcast favorite Dave stops by to talk about Avengers Infinity War and plenty of other pop culture. A great episode all around. Don't miss it!Rate/review/subscribe to the Podcast on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher, and Google Play. Follow Ryan @ryankair. Like Break the Business on Facebook and tell a friend about the show! And visit www.breakthebusiness.com to get a copy o

Hi Podcast listeners! Thanks for downloading. Be sure to get a copy of the Break the Business audiobook, now available on Amazon, Audible, and iTunes!This week, Ryan discusses findings from a recent study released by Midia Research which noted that unsigned artists only make up 2.7% of global recorded music revenue. Does this mean that it is a bad idea to go indie? Heck no! Ryan breaks down the study and discusses why there has been no better time to take control of your own music career. Music business consultant and radio host Bree Noble stops by in the second segment to talk about her upcoming Profitable Musician Summit and goes over the finer points of cooperative marketing. Find out more about the Summit by visiting www.profitablemusiciansummit.com. Great resources for indie musicians like you!Rate/review/subscribe to the Podcast on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher, and Google Play. Follow Ryan @ryankair. Like Break the Business on Facebook and tell a friend about the show! And visit www.breakthebusiness.com