Bobby Owsinski's Inner Circle Podcast

In this episode, I’m going to make some predictions for 2023 in both the music business and the audio industry. These are based on trends that have happened this year that give us some insight on what may be in store for us in the coming year. These include: What happens with TikTok and social media The "Lipstick Effect" and how it plays out with streaming Changes coming to Spotify next year How song forms will change Fake artists on streaming services Changes coming in sync licensing The end of music genres The new power brokers in the music business Audio company acquisitions AR and VR music Copyright laws and how they affect AI Immersive audio outlook for 2023 AI plugins and how they affect bedroom producers And more. Thank you for your support through the years! We have a lot of great guests lined up for 2023, and I hope to continue to earn your listenership. I know there are a lot of other things you can be doing other than listening to this podcast, so just

In this episode I take a look back at the events in the music business and music production during 2022, including: Songwriters get a raise in two places TikTok trends Playlist influence waning Streaming scams Streaming music trends Apple Music raising prices Classical music gets a boost Major labels wiping unrecoupted royalties Ticketmaster troubles New York State's new concert ticket law Music NFTs and Web3 trends and deals Signing and dropping an AI artist Artists tire of social media The hype of Dolby Atmos and the balloon bursting AI music generators and AI music online AI plugins New tech like Bluetooth LE and USB4 The rise and fall of smart speakers Effects pedals selling for big money The Anaheim NAMM show in June Slate Digital acquired And much more! var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 84422386, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontCol

My guest this week is Tom Trones, co-founder and chief product officer for Minuendo lossless earplugs. Minuendo earplugs can be manually adjusted from 7 to 25dB with no loss in sound quality. Besides being a musician and audio engineer, Tom has worked for a number of companies as an acoustics engineer. After working as a mixer at a number of festivals, he discovered the need for earplugs as he was asked to raise the level ever louder. Learning about the limitations of hearing protection that was on the market led to the development of an earplug that keeps the natural flat frequency response while the attenuation is easily adjustable. During the interview we spoke about playing an 8 string guitar, the difference between music and industrial earplugs, the different government standards for hearing protection, how your ear canal changes over time, and much more. I spoke with Tom from his home in Oslo via zoom. On the intro I’ll take a look at the reason why European radio royalty payments are not be

My guest this week is songwriter Sam Hollander, who has written and produced for the likes of Panic! At The Disco, One Direction, Katy Perry, Weezer, Def Leppard, blink-182, Fitz and the Trantrums, Train, Ringo Starr, Carole King, Tyga, The O’Jays, and many others.  To date, he’s achieved 22 US Top 40 Hits, as well as 10 Number 1's, 10 top fives, and 87 Top 10 chart positions globally. His songs have been streamed over 7 billion times, and in 2019, he held the #1 position on the Billboard Rock Songwriters Chart for nine weeks, a year-end record. Sam has also been chosen to be on Variety's Hitmakers list, as well as being named Rolling Stone's Hot List Producer of the Year. Sam has written a book entitled “21 Hit Wonder: Flopping My Way To The Top of the Charts” that looks more at his struggles, flops and bad luck in the business before he made it than his many successes. During the interview we spoke about sticking it out despite many years of failures, his collaboration technique, reading the body l

My guest this week is Lenise Bent, who was one of a handful of women working in the Hollywood recording studio business in a technical role during the 1970s, and was the first woman to receive an RIAA Platinum album for her engineering of AutoAmerican by Blondie. While working as an assistant at Village Recorder, Lenise worked on a number of classic albums, including Aja by Steely Dan, Breakfast In America by Supertramp, and Tusk by Fleetwood Mac. She then became chief engineer for producer Mike Chapman, working on albums by Blondie, The Knack and Suzi Quatro. Lenise eventually moved over to post-production sound where she worked as a sound editor, sound supervisor and re-recording mixer on films like Shrek, Spirit and Shrek 2. During the interview we spoke about her getting her start as an assistant at Village Recorders, working on Steely Dan’s Aja Album, being chief engineer for producer Mike Chapman, getting sick from the intense work schedule, starting back at the bottom in post, and much more.

My guest this week is Ramon Hervey II, who’s worked as a highly regarded entertainment manager, brand consultant, and public relations specialist with a diverse and impressive roster of entertainers that encompass a wide spectrum of contemporary music genres, ranging from pop/rock, rhythm & blues, hip-hop, jazz, and gospel.  The list includes Richard Pryor, Bette Midler, Little Richard Lenny Kravitz, Don Cornelius, Paul McCartney, Herb Alpert, Vanessa Williams, Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds, Peter Frampton, Andrae Crouch, Nick Nolte, and James Caan, and many more.  He has also served as an Executive Producer for several films, television and live events, including the Peabody Award-winning documentary, "Chisholm '72: Unbought & Unbossed," the anniversary album, "NBA AT 50," and was a Music Supervisor for the NAACP Award-winning film "Free Angela and All Political Prisoners. Ramon recently wrote about his experiences in a book entitled “The Fame Game: An Insider’s Playbook For Earning Your 15 Minutes.”

My guests this week are Mike Dickey and Russ Gavin, of JackTrip Labs. The JackTrip Foundation is a non-profit collaboration between Stanford University’s Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA) and Silicon Valley software entrepreneurs. JackTrip Labs provides a low-latency collaboration tool that makes it easy for musicians to perform together online. Mike Dickey, who’s the CEO of JackTrip Labs, founded his first company in high school, and dropped out of Carnegie Mellon to become a full-time entrepreneur. Since then, Mike has built and sold three startup companies. His latest venture was Cloudmeter, which Splunk acquired in 2013. Prior to co-founding JackTrip, Mike held various leadership roles at Splunk focusing on Engineering, Architecture, Infrastructure and Product Management. Besides being the co-founder and COO of JackTrip Labs, Dr. Russ Gavin is also the Director of Bands at Stanford University. A lifelong advocate for accessible music education, Russ has taught music in K-12

My guest this week is Joe Chiccarelli, who’s a ten-time Grammy-winning producer/engineer/mixer whose credits include Beck, U2, The White Stripes, The Strokes, The Killers, Elton John, Morrissey, Jason Mraz among many others. Other projects through his twenty-year career have included music supervision of films such as Suicide Kings and Men with Guns, the TV series Cracker and Robert Altman’s The Gun. Joe is the studio designer for the state-of-the-art Royaltone Recording Studios (now Sphere) in Burbank, CA, and has served as an A&R consultant for several major and independent labels. Leapwing has recently released his Signature plugin that captures his sounds on the most common mix elements. During the interview we spoke about , and much more. I spoke with Joe via zoom from his studio at Sunset Sound in Hollywood. On the intro I’ll take a look at if it’s worth being an opening act on a tour, and the AES 2022 New York show. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 8407730

My guest this week is Darryl Hurs, who has a 25 year history in the music business including launching and running Indie Week Canada (Nov 8 - 12), one of Canada’s largest emerging artist showcase conferences. He has also launched Music Pro Summit, SCREENxSCREEN and the indie101 online music and tech conferences.  Darryl currently is also the director of market development in Canada for online distributor, CD Baby. Some of his past positions include graphic design and event branding for Live Nation, artist manager and venue booker. During the interview we spoke about the advice that led him to change careers, getting a job with Live Nation, the biggest mistake indie artists make, trends in the indie world, and much more. I spoke with Daryl via zoom from his office in Toronto. On the intro I’ll take a look at how playlists control the music industry, and the way consumers listen to audio every day. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 84033728, backgroundColor

My guest this week is Sean O’Malley who is the CEO of the boutique music publisher Regard Music. Sean has more than 20 years of experience in music publishing and operations, including royalty collection and distribution, licensing, data processing and systems development.  He was also part of the the team that started GMR, the first new Performing Rights Organization in 75 years. Prior to that, Sean worked at ASCAP for 8 years where he supervised a large, multi-coast team to resolve issues on behalf of its members. During the interview we spoke about working for ASCAP, the differences between GMR and other PROs, AI-generated songs, the era of derivative content, the future of music publishing, and much more. I spoke with Sean via zoom from his office in Los Angeles. On the intro I’ll take a look at the rise and fall of music clubs, and the Global Music Vault. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 84000347, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined,

My guest this week is Chuck Kentis, who has worked as a touring and session player with artists like Nona Hendryx, Julian Lennon, Power Station, John Waite, Richard Marx, Paul Young, ABC, and Micheal Bolton. He has also been a collaborator and musical director for Rod Stewart for over 30 years. Chuck has composed for many music production companies such as Killer Tracks, Mega Trax, Extreme Music and others and his music can also be heard in many commercials, promos for Showtime, television movies, and documentaries. During the interview we spoke about playing sessions in New York City, getting the gig with Rod, writing production and game music, cutting basics with a band, Eurorack synthesis, and much more. I spoke with Chuck via zoom from his studio in Los Angeles. On the intro I’ll take a look at Spotify’s reported new tier, and some of the overlooked aspects of mastering. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 83956005, backgroundColor: 'white', fon

My guest this week is Josh Simons, CEO and co-founder of Vampr, the world’s largest and most active social-professional network for musicians.  Often dubbed the “LinkedIn for creatives”, Vampr is home to over one million users, and active in every country on the planet. The music startup has helped fledgling musicians broker over 7 million connections worldwide, and has made the Best Apps lists for both Apple and Google. Prior to running Vampr, Josh spent the better part of a decade as a successful artist, songwriter and producer. His artist project Buchanan enjoyed multi-million streams & chart impressions worldwide. As a producer and songwriter, Josh has shared credits with Travis Scott, Troye Sivan and Kanye West to name a few. He was also named in The Music Network’s 30 Under 30 List in addition to being voted Reader’s Choice. During the interview we spoke about touring expenses, using unseen collaborators, representing artists for sync placements, learning from bad publishing deals, and much mor

My guest this week is engineer Jason LaRocca, who has recorded and mixed music for major motion pictures, games and television. Jason not only engineers the scores, but often produces them as well, along with creating sound design and instrumentation. Jason has worked on films like Marvel's "Morbius,"“Paddington,” “Aquaman,” “The Harder They Fall,” “Coming to America 2”, “Godzilla: King of Monsters,” and the 2018 Oscar-winning documentary “Icarus,” among many others.  He’s also mixed the music for the hit video games “Fortnite,” “Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War,” “Assasin’s Creed Valhalla,” “CyberPunk 2077,” and Sony Playstation’s highly anticipated upcoming “God of War: Ragnarök.” among others. His TV credits include ABC’s long-running hit fantasy series, “Once Upon A Time,” “Godfather of Harlem,” “American Crime Story,” “Handmade’s Tale,” the award-winning mini-series “Little Fires Everywhere,” FOX’ #1 drama “The Cleaning Lady,” and the Amazon epic series “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of P

Photo: Mike Krstic My guest this week is Cassie Petrey who’s been behind the social media marketing for some of the music’s most iconic artists including Backstreet Boys, Camila Cabello and Britney Spears.  Cassie is the co-founder of Crowd Surf, a leading marketing and music management firm. She started at age 12 creating a newsletter for the Backstreet Boys that reached fans worldwide — then years later she helped re-introduce the band to new generation of fans.  At age 17 as a college rep for Warner Music Group, Cassie was among the first in the music industry to recognize the vast marketing potential of nascent mid-2000s platforms Myspace and Facebook.  Today, her company Crowd Surf has worked with tech giants Apple and Google, and labels such as Universal, Disney, Sony, Warner and more.  Cassie is a Forbes 30 Under 30 and Billboard 30 Under 30 recipient, and she is a leading social media and artist management Hollywood powerhouse. During the interview we spoke about convincing a major l

My guest this week is Grammy-award nominated engineer/producer Justin Cortelyou. Justin started his career working with Chuck Ainlay at Soundstage Studios in Nashville before moving to Los Angeles to work with mix-master Mike Shipley. He eventually teamed up with artist/producer Tommy Henriksen, and in 2008 they moved their operation back to Nashville and began working with legendary producer Bob Ezrin.  Through the years Justin has worked with a wide variety of artists including Paul McCartney, Alice Cooper, Ke$ha, Taylor Swift, Phish, Vince Gill, Andrea Bocelli, U2, Randy Travis, KISS, Will I Am, Lady Gaga, and many others. During the interview we spoke about personal studio dynamics, working with legendary producer Bob Ezrin, his hybrid mixing technique, the importance of a sonic signature, and much more. I spoke with Justin via zoom from his studio in Nashville. On the intro I’ll take a look at what the layoffs at Soundcloud might mean, and some unusual effects pedal packages.

My guest this week is Ryan Dusick, who was Maroon 5’s original drummer until he retired because of chronic nerve damage. After departing the band, Ryan struggled with anxiety and addiction for a decade before making a commitment to recovery. Founding the group Kara’s Flowers in 1994 with fellow Brentwood High School students Adam Levine, Jesse Carmichael, and Mickey Madden, Ryan and his bandmates worked tirelessly for a decade before the group changed its name to Maroon 5 and finally had its first hit album Songs About Jane. Multiple hit songs, two Grammy Awards, and 20 million albums sold later, Ryan found himself suffering and without direction when his career as a performer came to an end just as it was taking off. After years of struggling with physical and mental health challenges, Ryan finally overcame in 2016, when he began his journey of recovery, culminating in a new life path.  Ryan now works as a mental health professional at the Missing Peace Center for Anxiety where he now helps othe

My guest this week is professional song doctor Molly Leikin, who’s coaching has helped 12 clients become Grammy winners and another 19 become Grammy nominees. Molly has been as a staff writer at Almo Music, Interworld Music and Chappell Music, and she’s written songs for and with everyone from Katy Perry to Placido Domingo  to, Cher, Tina Turner, Anne Murray, Billy Preston and many others. An Emmy nominee, she’s written themes and songs for dozens of TV shows and movies, including Violet, which won an Oscar. She’s also the author of the books How to Write A Hit Song and How To Be A Hit Songwriter, and producer of the bestselling Master Class in Songwriting, which is a collection of the Master Classes she taught at UCLA. Her latest book is Insider Secrets To Hit Songwriting In The Digital Age. During the interview we spoke about being a staff writer for a publisher, the most common song problems, writing for the current marketplace, the process of creative songwriting, and much more. I spoke with M

My guest this week is Kevin Kelly, who’s a producer, mixer and long-time audio educator with a host of major label, film score and jingle credits. These include projects by Blondie, Edgar Winter and Rick Wakeman, among many others that he worked on from his well-known studio called The Workshoppe. For 14 years, Kevin was the producer/engineer for the WLIR-FM live concert series that featured Hall & Oates, Billy Joel, The Police, Charlie Daniels Band, Peter Tosh, Ziggy Marley, Pure Prairie League and many more, and also served as co-producer and chief engineer for a series of short-form radio shows for Sixty Second LP. Kevin also taught studio recording technology for 22 years at Nassau Community College, and continues to teach one adjunct course per semester there.  During the interview we spoke about the importance of networking, the new generation of plugins, how mutlitasking has changed attention spans, analog summing during mixing, and much more. I spoke with Kevin via zoom from his studio

My guest this week is Jason Kramer, who’s been working in radio in Los Angeles since 1992  and has hosted an influential weekly radio show on KCRW for the past 24 years.  Jason has also worked at Fox Sports TV as their full-time music supervisor for 6 years, which then led him to work as a show producer on Fox Sports Radio. He has also worked in various other aspects of music including management, publishing, creative consulting, music photography and continues to work presently as a commercial concept music supervisor for the prestigious music company, Elias Arts. During the interview we spoke about the work of a music supervisor, how music supervision has changed over the years, dealing with temp tracks, what a sports radio producer does, the future of radio, and much more. I spoke with Jason via zoom from his office in Los Angeles. On the intro I’ll take a look at some interesting Shazam numbers, and 10 microphones that haven’t changed in a really long time.

Credit: Gaston McGary My guest this week is Talya Elitzer, who along with her partner Nick Sylvester leads godmode, a company that offers label, management, publishing and creative direction services. godmode has an unorthodox approach to artist management in that they specialize in managing artists that don’t quite fit pre-existing formats. During the pandemic godmode was able to successfully stabilize their artists’ careers and help them achieve growth on streaming services andTikTok. They were even able to secure Four Apple TV ad spots in the last 12 months. Before godmode Talya began her career at the giant WME looking after tours for Britney Spears, and M.I.A. She then left for a stint in A&R at Capitol Records, taking on projects for artists like Katy Perry, Beck, and Sky Ferreira. During the interview we spoke about what it’s like to start in the mail room at William Morris, working with unique artists, the importance of the artist being involved with marketing themselves, her view on We