Bobby Owsinski's Inner Circle Podcast

Jim Dunne is the founder and senior acoustic consultant of the ground-breaking Smart Studio, which completely disrupts how recording studios and dubbing theaters have been built. Smart Studio supplies a modular system that provides not only isolation but excellent acoustic design. Jim has over 30 years experience in the acoustics and noise control industry, as well as on-site construction activities, recording studio design, electro-acoustic equipment supply and install, and company management. He has also worked for a number of years in the world famous Windmill Lane Studios, one of the premier recording studio facility in Ireland which catered to clients like U2, the Waterboys, and Kate Bush. In the interview we talk about the the technical aspects of Smart Studio, the typical build time, what a deconstruction is like, speaker calibration, and much more. On the intro I'll look at the brand new Billboard charts, and how speaker cabinets are being used for smuggling.

My guest on the podcast this week is Bree Noble, who is a champion for women in music thanks to her Female Entrepreneur Musician Podcast and Female Musician Academy. Bree quit her corporate job as a Director of Finance at a top opera company to pursue a successful run as a touring singer/songwriter where she won several songwriting and artist awards and even sang the National Anthem at Dodger Stadium. During her time as a musician, she founded an online radio station called Women of Substance Radio, to promote quality female artists in all genres. That eventually led to her current Female Entrepreneur Musician Podcast, where she teaches marketing and business strategies for musicians and conducts interviews with successful Indie female artists and industry professionals. Bree has also created several online courses to help musicians learn to make a living from their music. Her most popular offering is an online training and mentoring community exclusively for female musicians called the "Female Music

Jonathan Stone has had a long career as a director of creative services in music publishing at heavyweight companies like ATV Music, MCA Music, Quincy Jones Qwest Music Publishing, and Windswept. He now runs the disruptive music service Rocketsongs, that not only helps artists to find and license songs, but supplies the tracks as well. In the interview we talk about the new song structure and how that affects music publishers, a day in a song pluggers life, the value of publishers, disrupting the publishing business, and more. On the intro I take a look at the big differences between Spotify and music radio, and how playlists are replacing the album.

Zubin Gadhoke is a co-founder and producer for Olympus Projects, which is a management and consulting agency that provides artists with help in the day-to-day operations and development of their businesses. In the interview we talked about artist branding, building social authority, creating a new industry sound, the power of SoundCloud, and much more. The intro takes a look at the YouTube’s frequent copyright mistakes, and a formerly huge social network that lost 50 million songs.

Rick Goetz has been a a major label A&R representative, a music supervisor, an artist manager, a bass player, and record label owner.  He has worked for Lava/Atlantic, Elektra, and EMI, with projects by artists that include Kid Rock, Matchbox 20 and Sarah Brightman, and on television shows including Sesame Street and Psychic Detectives. Since leaving the major labels in 2007, he has handled music clearances and major marketing campaigns for a range of artists, from young, local, and aspiring bands, to multi-platinum, international superstars.  In recent years he’s also been a guest speaker at SXSW, The Recording Academy, CMJ and The New Music Seminar. In the interview we talked about the transition from being in a band to working to a record label, if radio is an effective promotional tool anymore, marketing to playlists, how physical products fit in for an artist, and much moreThe 50 Stat. On the intro I'll take a look at the results of the 50 States of Music, and look into a repair tech who went on an acid

David Kalt launched the super popular gear site Reverb.com in  2013 after growing frustrated with the process of buying and selling guitars on eBay. To get it started, David raised more than $47 million in funding from investors ranging from Cheap Trick's Rick Nielsen and country star Brad Paisley to tech leaders like Eric Ries and Max Levchin. Since then, Reverb has sold more than $1 billion worth of new and used instruments on the platform. In that time David has worked with artists ranging from the Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl to Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong to get gear into the hands of fans. In the interview we talked about how he made a pivot from being a studio engineer to the business world, integrating with local music stores, an overview of Reverb’s customers and gear, and much more.  On the intro I'll take a look at the hottest new platform for tween and teens Tik Tok and its battle with the major labels, and some tips for singing better while playing guitar or bass.

My guest today is Robert Siciliano, who started as a music recording engineer, but by almost a quirk of fate got a temp job at NBC that turned into a career. In the interview we talked about making the transition to postproduction, the turnaround time for an audio job, dealing with audio that isn’t well-recorded.  On the intro I'll take a look at Google and YouTube’s streaming numbers, and the major labels getting back into hi-res.

After years as a touring pedal steel guitarist with everyone from Dan Fogelberg and Phil Everly to Pat Boone and Bobby Womack, Dave Pearlman opened his Rotund Rascal Studio in North Hollywood in 1979. To save money on outside techs, Dave began to do repairs and modifications on classic mics like the U47, 67 and AKG C12. His side business became so successful that Dave closed the studio after 25 years and started Pearlman Microphones. He now hand-builds a full line of excellent vintage-style tube mics, including the mostly overlooked Church MGM microphone from the 50s, Telefunken 250, and the U 47, among others. In the interview we talked about how he started building mics, the history of the famous Church microphone, finding vintage tubes, the magic of older parts, and much more.  On the intro I'll take a look at payola and how it’s making a legal comeback, and a new well-intentioned law that might end up hurting musicians in Pennsylvania.

  David Frangioni started his music career as a drummer, but soon became a pioneer in MIDI technology. This lead him into the studio as an engineer and producer for dozens of top artists including The Stones, Ringo Starr, Aerosmith, Elton John, Sting, Carl Palmer, Journey, Styx, KISS, Phil Collins, Shakira, Ozzy Osbourne, and more. David is also the founder of Audio One, one of the most successful and awarded A/V firms in the U.S, as well as multimedia design, installation and content company Frangioni Media. Audio One specializes in the super sophisticated home automation, and the company has built hundreds of technology, sound, and automation installations to date. He’s also an author with 3 books to his credit, and he’s extremely active in a variety of charitable foundations. In the interview we talked about David getting his start in the studio with Aerosmith, why credits are so important, the challenges of high-end home automation, writing books about Clint Eastwood and vintage drums, and much more. I sp

My guest today is Michael Abbott, who started in television audio doing front-of-house sound for projects like the opening and closing ceremonies for the Olympics and the Academy awards, to working for the major television networks as a staff mixer on a variety of shows. Michael now heads the sound design, engineering and consulting company All Ears, where he not only co-ordinates the audio for the Grammy Awards show, but shows like The Voice and Shark Tank, presidential debates and awards shows like the ESPYs, the Country Music Awards, and the Oscars. In the interview we talked about the massiveness of the Grammy audio setup, keeping the performers happy, the super-fast sound checks involved, some of the last minute problems he’s presented with, and much more.  On the intro I'll take a look at Black Box money that songwriters aren’t receiving and the fight over it, and how a new study determined that background music doesn’t really help your concentration.

Ritch Esra is the former promotion coordinator for A&M Records and director of A&R for Arista Records, where he worked extensively with the publishing and songwriting communities for material for Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick, Melissa Manchester, Tanya Tucker, Jennifer Warnes and Jermaine Jackson, and various major motion pictures. Since 1992, Ritch has been running the Music Business Registry service, which includes The A&R Registry, The Publisher Registry, The Music Business Attorney Registry, The Artist Managers Registry and The Film and Television Music Guide. He also co-founded MUBUTV, which is an online video channel dedicated to educating recording artists, bands, and musicians on the realities of developing a career in music today. Ritch has also taught various classes on the music business at Musicians Institute, SAE and the UCLA Extension. In the interview we talked about the state of A&R over the years, the most difficult challenge that an artist has today, why fewer American hit

My guest today is producer/engineer Jack Miele, who’s won a Grammy, Emmy, 4 Telly awards and 2 Global Music awards. Based in New Orleans, Jack has a wide range of studio credits that include Rod Stewart, The Roots, Beyonce, Aloe Blacc and the Zac Brown Band, among many others. As a composer, Jack’s work has been featured TV shows like American Horror Story, Anthony Bourdain’s “The Layover,” and Toddlers and Tiaras, and commercials for Mercedes, IBT Clothing, Mountain Dew, also among many others. In the interview we talked about the state of recording in New Orleans, how musicians learn on the job there, the unique ways that musicians get paid, recording to tape and staying analog, and much more. I spoke with jack via phone from his studio in Los Angeles. On the intro I'll take a look at how streaming services are keeping more money than they did before, and beamforming audio in the new MSG Sphere Arena in Las Vegas.

My guest today is mastering engineer Kevin Gray who specializes in vinyl disc cutting. Kevin has mastered music at his Cohearant Mastering studio for every major label in every genre, including pop, rock, jazz, classical, adult contemporary, alternative, punk, heavy metal, new age, gothic, world ethnic, disco, dance, soul, blues, and hip-hop / rap. His credits include more than a hundred top ten and Grammy award-winning records, and dozens of gold and platinum albums and singles In the interview we talked about why he doesn’t take super-compressed projects, the custom-designed analog gear he uses, direct-to-disc recording, half-speed mastering, and much more. On the intro I'll take a look at the new 3 inch vinyl single that Jack White's Third Man Records label is releasing, and the future of music education with violinists being trained by artificial intelligence.

Michael Beinhorn has produced a wide range of artists including Herbie Hancock, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ozzy Osbourne, Aerosmith and Soundgarden, among many others. He is the author of Unlocking Creativity, and an outspoken advocate of the importance of artist development and pre-production within the creative process. To that end, Michael has begun consulting with artists specifically about their pre-production, and we had a lively discussion that delved deep into the subject. In the interview we talked about why pre-production is so important, how it can be done remotely, the psychology of production, and much more. On the intro I look at CD Baby's sale to Downtown Music, and the latest survey on audio interfaces.

Recently I had a conversation with engineer Bill Smith about the late engineer Geoff Emerick and realized that there was a lot that we didn’t know about this audio giant even though he was responsible for some huge records that shaped the lives and careers of so many people. Although he’s most famous for recording The Beatles, Geoff recorded songs that we hear every day by The Zombies, Stealer’s Wheel, Supertramp, America, Jeff Beck, Kate Bush, Oasis, Cheap Trick and so many more. Bill Smith was his assistant and best friend for many years and knows about as much about Geoff as anybody, so I asked him to come on the show and to give us some insight to this great man. In the interview you’ll hear some interesting facts about how Geoff miked Paul McCartney’s bass, how he needed to get EMI’s written permission to be able to experiment with some of his miking ideas that are since become the standard way we do things today, why his bass and drum techniques are so influential to today’s music, and much more. In

Bob is a founding member of The Surfaris, and every guitar player since 1963 has learned to play the band’s big hit “Wipeout” sometime early in their career. The song, which Bob recorded when he was 15, sold over a million copies and rose to #2 on the Billboard charts when it was released, and has re-entered the charts a number of times since thanks to being used in various movies and television shows. The band went on to record other surf hits like "Surfer Joe,"Point Panic," and "Similou" as well. Bob and the band still perform at concerts around the country. In the interview we talked about how "Wipeout" came about (and you won’t believe the story) and its continual life, the gear he used, his relationship with Leo Fender, the difference between old and new gear, life in the early music business, and much more. On the intro I'll take a what social media and streaming networks people are using most in the United States (you'll be surprised), and how songs and albums are being changed because of

Composer, producer and music supervisor Doug DeAngelis is my guest on the podcast today. Doug hit paydirt early in his career when he recorded the Nine Inch Nails hit “Head Like A Hole.” In 1989, he embarked on a world tour with the Detroit Techno crossover dance artist Inner City, but after that he moved on to studio work in New York City, where he amassed over 300 album and remix credits, including 31 #1 Billboard Chart singles. Doug’s album credits include New Order, Michael Jackson, Queen Latifa, Chaka Khan, Love and Rockets, Alicia Keys, and No Doubt, among others. Doug’s career then shifted to Los Angeles where his music was embraced by Hollywood producer Michael Mann as the scorer for his CBS crime drama series Robbery Homicide Division. His music has since appeared in over 100 television shows including CSI, Bones, CSI Miami, and ER, as well as dozens of reality and late night television programs. Doug is also the Conference Chair and Co-Founder of A3E, The Advanced Audio & Applications Exchange, a le

My guest on the podcast today is CD Baby’s VP of international development, Heli Del Moral. Before coming to the company Heli worked in television as the international director of marketing for ESPN and Univision where he won 3 Emmy awards, and numerous Telly, Promax and other honors for his creative efforts. In the interview we talked about the strength of CDs worldwide, promotional tools for artists that CD Baby has available, the difference in markets outside the US, albums versus singles, and much more. On the intro I’ll take a look at radio wanting to pass a law against performance royalties, and the improved health of the musical instrument business.

Amphion loudspeakers have become a favorite of award-winning mixing engineers the world over, and founder and CEO Anssi Hyvonen is my guest on the podcast today. Anssi spent most of his life as a hi-fi enthusiast, but he got into building speakers sort of by accident. His speakers are very well respected by that community, but acceptance by the pros was a total surprise. Today the company provides speakers to mixers and composers just about everywhere, even though they're passive and buck the current trend in monitors. In the interview we talked about the difference between speakers made for hi-fi and pro audio, why passive speakers can provide higher quality reproduction, the use of passive radiators, the Finnish speaker building tradition, and much more. This interview was recorded live from the speaker evaluation room at Vintage King in Los Angeles. On the intro I'll take a look at Facebook launching Lasso to counter Gen-Z favorite TikTok, and a look at the person and event that started the modern recordin

Ben Mendoza created UK-based Beatchain along with co-founder and musician Steve Jones to accelerate artist growth by using data science and automation. Ben has spent almost 25 years using software to improve decision making and automate time-consuming processes with leading expense management company MDSL, which Beatchain now brings to the music industry. He leads a team that includes behavioral economists, Ph.D. data scientists, artificial intelligence and machine learning experts and senior music industry professionals that helps artists and bands to build up their fan bases across social media, improve fan engagement, identify the most engaged fans, and promote only to those most likely to respond. The platform offers a version for artists, and also a B2B version for major and independent record labels, artist managers, and promoters. In the interview we talked about the real-world background of the company, new data possibilities for artists, how analytics works in the new music business, and much more. O