Episode #261 – Streaming Services Keep The Money, Beamforming Audio, And Producer-Engineer Jack Miele

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  • Streaming services are keeping a lot more money even as they appeal a songwriter royalty increase
  • Beamforming audio is coming to the new MSG Sphere Arena in Las Vegas

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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.

Episode #260 – Vinyl Mastering Engineer Kevin Gray, The 3 Inch Single, And Violinists Trained By AI

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  • Here comes the 3 inch vinyl single and it’s not a joke
  • Violinists are being trained by artificial intelligence. The future of music education?

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  • Vinyl mastering engineer Kevin Gray
  • Reach Kevin at cohearent.com

My guest today is mastering engineer Kevin Gray who specializes in vinyl disc cutting. Kevin has mastered music 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.

Episode #259 – Producer Michael Beinhorn, CD Baby Sold, And Audio Interface Survey

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  • Distributor CD Baby was sold to music publisher Downtown Music Holdings
  • This survey describes which type of audio interface is everyone using

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  • Producer Michael Beinhorn talks about pre-production

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.

Episode #258 – 5th Anniversary Geoff Emerick Tribute With Bill Smith, Record Deal For Algorithm, And Counterfeit Gear

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  • An algorithm just got a record deal for 20 albums with Warner Music
  • Counterfeit gear ring in China busted

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  • 5 Anniversary Show – Tribute to Geoff Emerick with Bill Smith

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 photo on the Inner Circle PodcastBill 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. I

Episode #257 – Social Usage, Song Skip Rates, And Surf Guitar Legend Bob Berryhill

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  • The numbers are changing for both social media and streaming music usage in the U.S.
  • Skip rates for your songs are changing the way songs and albums are being made

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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 the skip rate metric.

Episode #256 – RIAA Numbers, USB 3.2, And Producer-Composer-Mixer Doug DeAngelis

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  • The RIAA year-end numbers are surprising, especially when it comes to CDs
  • Are you ready for USB 3.2? An attempt to clarify the USB types

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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 leading industry resource dedicated to the future of new music technologies. He’s also involved in an interesting interactive music app called Stylus,

In the interview we talked about the early days synthesizer programming, becoming a mixer in New York City, composing for television, his newly developed Stylus app, and much more.

On the intro I’ll take a look at the latest numbers on music sales from the RIAA, and take an overview at the new USB 3.2 computer ports (and a look at all the other USB ports too).

Episode #255 – Radio Royalties, MI Business Health, And CD Baby’s Heli De Moral

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  • Radio wants legislation against paying performance royalties
  • The musical instrument business is healthy again

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  • CD Baby’s VP of international development, Heli Del Mora

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.

Episode #254 – Amphion CEO Anssi Hyvonen, Facebook’s Lasso, And The Start Of Modern Recording

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  • Facebook launches Lasso, an alternative to TikTok
  • Bing Crosby and the start of modern recording

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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 recording industry.

Episode #253 – Apple Buys Label Services Company, Hit Songs Keys And Tempos, And Beatchain CEO Ben Mendoza

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  • Apple just purchased a company that provides record label services
  • A look at the keys and tempos of the recent Top 40 hit songs

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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.

On the intro I’ll take a look at Apple buying a company that does a lot of the work of a record label, and the tempos and keys or recent hit songs.

Episode #252 – Songwriters Get A Raise, High Sample Rates, And Engineer Paul Edwards

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  • Songwriters are getting a 44% raise for streams
  • The ins and outs of sample rates, especially 192kHz

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Paul Edwards is a Montreal-based engineer who has worked on projects by Smashing Pumpkins, Flaming Lips, Ben Harper, Arctic Monkeys, Interpol, Bloc Party, Seal and many more.

For 3 years Paul was also the lead audio engineer for the online mastering service LANDR.

In the interview we talked about getting into mastering, some insights into LANDR, artificial intelligence in audio, and much more.

On the intro I’ll take a look at why songwriters are getting a 44% raise for streams, and provide a high sample rate overview.