Interviewing Madonna, Taylor Swift & Everyone In Between — Inside Music Media with Andrea Dresdale

On this episode I sit down with Andrea Dresdale—a two-time Gracie Award winner and longtime ABC radio host who has interviewed everyone from Elton John to Madonna, Taylor Swift to Adele and Teddy Swims among many others. A voting member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame  —Andrea and I chat about the real levers of access, trust, and influence in today’s music media.
 
Andrea traces her path from a teenage radio obsessive to syndicated programming, where small stations gain national access. From there, we explore how the interview landscape shifted as podcasts, YouTube, and social platforms splintered attention. With more outlets chasing the same 20 minutes and listeners, she shows why relationship capital with publicists and managers beats clout chasing—and tells the story of how a smart early bet led to three Madonna interviews. We also revisit the VMAs and hear how a kept promise turned into a rare, respectful conversation with Taylor Swift right after the Kanye call.
 
The red carpet gets its own spotlight: tactics for breaking through the noise and the value of a long boom mic, and how split-second prep differs from a studio sit-down. Then we zoom into newsroom reality at ABC: independent verification, high standards around celebrity news, and why being second but right still matters in a social-first cycle. Andrea opens up about navigating rock spaces as a woman, the quiet ways women's expertise gets questioned, and tangible signs of progress as voting bodies broaden and gatekeeping weakens.
 
When the conversation turns to legacy, Andrea votes with influence over pure sales—naming artists whose impact echoes through other artists, like Amy Winehouse. We challenge old industry myths with a look at Bad Bunny’s rise: a Spanish-first catalog, minimal traditional media, massive global demand, and deals that flip the script on power. The takeaway is clear: authenticity travels fast, research earns trust, and relationships endure longer than trends. We close on a love letter to radio as a living discovery engine that still surprises, one local station at a time.
 
If this conversation shifted how you see music journalism and artist access, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a quick review so more curious listeners can find us. 

Transcript

Sarah’s Background And Mission

SPEAKER_01 0:23

Hi, you're listening to Sarah McGurney, and welcome to She Creates Noise, a new podcast spotlighting women who power the music industry, coming to you from New York City. Now, if you don't know me yet, here's a little background. I'm a songwriter, producer, manager, educator, and mentor. I've written platinum-selling songs, had tracks on Grammy-nominated records, and released music on both major and independent labels. I've been a jazz singer, a jingle singer, toured with big bands, and became a pop artist, and I performed at festivals across the US, Europe, and Asia. These days I focus on writing with and developing young talent. In the coming weeks, I'll be pulling back the curtain on the music industry's female change makers. Some are close friends, others I'm just getting to know, but all have reshaped the business in profound ways. My goal here is to help listeners better understand how the music business really works, and just how instrumental women behind the scenes have been. You'll hear from both sides of the desk artists, producers, managers, label executives, lawyers, women making things happen, often without the spotlight on them. Thank you for joining me on this journey. Now let's dive in.

Meet Andrea Dresdale

SPEAKER_03 1:43

CPA's night!

SPEAKER_01 1:45

Today's guest is Andrea Dresdale. Andrea is a veteran music journalist and content strategist with over 25 years at the intersection of storytelling and music. A two-time Gracie Award winner and voting member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, she's a trusted voice for artists and authority on the music that defines our culture. A Syracuse University Newhouse School graduate, Andrea has interviewed icons spanning generations from Madonna, Mick Jagger, and Aretha Franklin to Taylor Swift, Beyonce and Adele, as well as emerging stars like Teddy Swims and Tate McRae. As manager of entertainment content for ABC Audio, Andrea steers the network's music coverage, securing top-tier interviews, confirming breaking news, and shaping stories across ABC platforms, including the Start Here podcast plus 1,500 radio affiliates. Widely respected for her cultural analysis, Andrea has lectured at Syracuse, Hofstra, and Stonebrook Universities and spoken on a Beatles panel at the Paley Center for Media in 2025. Considering that I'm kind of a newbie on this side of the desk, I'm very honored to have her here today. I hope I do you proud. Thank you so much for being here.

SPEAKER_03 3:02

CPA Snow.

SPEAKER_01 3:05

How the heck did you get started doing this? Please tell us a little bit about your origins and why.

SPEAKER_00 3:12

Well, my origin story. When uh when I was, I guess when I was a teenager, I was always really into music as a child. And when I was a teenager, I got really, really into music and I started thinking about radio as a career because I started to think, well, what kind of career could I have that would incorporate my love of music? So I had always set my sights on that particular career. I went to college for it. I studied it. Actually, at the school that I went to, which was Syracuse University, everybody wanted to be in TV. I was one of the few people who actually wanted to be in radio. I was a little unusual for that. And then I was lucky enough when I graduated to get a job right out of college in syndicated radio, which I didn't even really know what it was at first. It turned out to be a really great career option. A lot of people still don't know what syndicated radio is. It's basically creating content for radio stations and then syndicating it to them for either a barter or cash. Barter meaning a radio station will give up some of the time that they would have otherwise sold to a company like, you know, Joe's Auto Service. They give us that time and we sell it. And in exchange, we give them programming. You have multiple stations that pick it up all over the place. Yeah, it's multiple stations. So then a station in Otumwa, Iowa, who wouldn't normally get an interview with a celebrity or even our newscast, our top of the hour, bottom-of-thour newscast, they can't field a whole news team if they become our affiliate. We provide that for them. We provide them with entertainment content, news content, all kinds of things. It makes the stations sound a lot bigger than they are, which is what's really good about the idea of it.

SPEAKER_01 4:56

And it's so interesting that at a young age, you already knew what you wanted to do, because I have to say, so few people really know. And I think the people that know in life kind of go forward, you know, full speed ahead. So that's probably why you've had this stellar experience. I'd like to ask you some more questions about the actual job. Now, I was saying earlier before we started recording that I'm new to being a podcast host, and you're a 25-year veteran. So again, thank you for being here. And I hope I can uh live up to my my better than newbiness here. Oh, that's okay.

SPEAKER_00 5:30

I'll be I'll be silently judging you the whole time.

Access In The Multi‑Platform Era

SPEAKER_01 5:32

Quite thank you so much. As I was saying, you've interviewed everyone from Madonna and Mick Jagger in earlier decades to Teddy Swims and Tate McCrae. How has the artist-journalist relationship fundamentally changed over the 25 years you've been in the industry? And what do you think you've gained or lost in that evolution?

SPEAKER_00 5:50

Well, I think what's really fundamentally changed is that these days there are a lot more outlets for an artist to talk to, which means we're all sort of fighting for the same little piece of the pie, the pie being the artist's time. And since an artist only has, or uh, you know, a publicist is only given X number of hours, days, whatever with an artist, the artist gatekeepers, the publicist, the record label, et cetera, the manager, they have to decide where they want to put that artist's time. When I first started, there weren't any podcasts and there weren't any online YouTube video shows or any of that stuff. It was really just, you know, print media, radio, TV, and we all just sort of chop that up. But now with everything else, I find that it becomes sort of increasingly difficult to get access to artists. And there are artists that I've been interviewing for for many, many years that thankfully always try to make time for me just because we've known each other for so long. For the new artists that are just taking off, I find it very challenging sometimes to have them say yes to me when they have so many other opportunities and so many. And we try to say, well, talking to me will get you in front of this many people, 80 million listeners a week, 1500 radio stations, etc. But a lot of times people are just, well, we want to go on the hot new podcast, we want to go on the the new new thing, which is fine. It just makes my job a little harder. I try to get artists just as they're coming up, which I used to do. It's sort of always been my goal is to try to get artists that I think are gonna be big and then establish a relationship there and then continue that relationship. You've got to be a bit of a soothsayer. You gotta kind of I think this person's going somewhere, so I'm gonna Right. That works in the sense where sometimes I get them early, but then they become really, really big, and then I can't go near them because their time is so taken up with other things. That's happened to me multiple times. But more often, more recently, not not as much anymore. More recently, yes, just because that that's the way things happen sometimes, especially with streaming and TikTok and stuff like that. An artist can be nobody one day and then tremendously famous within two weeks, and then all of a sudden it's like, sorry, too busy.

SPEAKER_01 8:11

That's yeah, that's hard. I mean, I'm I'm trying to get some you know better known people on this pod. And and I'm I'm doing well. I'm very proud of the people that have agreed to be on it, including your charming self.

SPEAKER_00 8:24

I would think that, you know, in your years as a songwriter, you would have made so many connections that you could, you know, parlay that into many art many.

SPEAKER_01 8:31

It's definitely it's definitely helped for sure. But um, but you know, getting I'm trying to get that like big artist, but it's it's it's it'll come, but it's not not happening right uh uh right away. I was out in LA for Grammy Week and met a bunch of people, so that was good.

SPEAKER_00 8:44

I saw your Instagram post. That looks that looks like a lot of fun.

Relationship Capital And Madonna

SPEAKER_01 8:47

It was really fun, yeah. Now, with such an incredible roster of interviews under your belt, was there a specific conversation, maybe not the biggest name, that fundamentally shifted how you approached your craft or changed your perspective on what you do? And I think I think actually relating to that, was there a favorite interview? I mean, you there were a bunch of questions in there, but pick what you like.

SPEAKER_00 9:08

People ask me that a lot. Who's the best person you ever interviewed? And you know, I usually don't have an answer for that. It's more like who do I have more of an ongoing relationship with so that our conversations are more like just kind of conversations rather than I'm interviewing you. But I would say that the things there was a couple of interviews that not fundamentally changed but kind of reinforced to me the importance of what I think is the most important thing if you're gonna do what I do for a living, which is relationships. And once you establish relationships with the gatekeepers of the artists, they're going to think, and those are good relationships, they're going to think of you when it comes time for interviews with bigger artists. That's how I got to interview Madonna. I had interviewed a smaller artist with this particular publicist. That person enjoyed what I did with that person, that particular artist. So when it came time for her to look for people to talk to Madonna about their project, she asked me. That's great. How long ago was that? It was quite a while ago. It was right around the time that she was writing children's books, because that was the first time I ever I've interviewed her three times total. That was the first time. And then the publicist told me she really enjoyed your interview. So that's really great because if if you can keep that up, then they'll always think of you. I mean, eventually things become impossible when you're talking about people like Madonna, but it did work for a while. And then the Do you give lessons, by the way? Yeah, I'll get I'll sell you a package for a small thing.

SPEAKER_03 10:50

CPS nice.

SPEAKER_00 10:53

The other thing that really hit home to me, the importance of relationships, was when I interviewed Taylor Swift. Now, I had interviewed her, I think, a couple of times when she was like a country star before she became the biggest pop star in the universe. Um, and right when she was making that transition, you might recall the thing that happened to her at the VMAs when Kanye West interrupted her. It was sort of the interruption heard around the world. So before any of this happened, I had arranged to speak to her the day after the VMAs because she was going to be in my building appearing on one of our other shows. And after that happened, the publicist very easily could have said, you know what, this is this is crazy. This is too big. No, we can't do this. But because I had a relationship with her, she honored that relationship and she let me talk to Taylor Swift the morning after the Kanye thing happened. And in fact, I think I talked to her something like 15 minutes after she got off the phone call where Kanye apologized to her. Wow. So that was uh again, that was one of those things that really hit home about the importance of relationships. And it's nice to know that people, I have a publicist friend who told me once, and I'll always remember this because it was so flattering, that she always liked to either when she was scheduling a press day, start or end with me so that her person would be in a good mood for the rest of the day, or the person would, you know, be able to wrap up the day with a positive experience.

SPEAKER_01 12:28

That's lovely. How how nice. And no wonder my publicist, Sarah Fachi, who's wonderful, loves you because you you must make such a good impact on everyone. One thing I was gonna say is I know that uh Taylor Swift is gonna be doing the Songwriters Hall of Fame this year, which is of course gonna make I'll have to talk to you about helping me get a ticket. Uh it's gonna make it really hard to get a ticket, but that's a big, that's a big one.

Red Carpet Tactics And Chaos

SPEAKER_00 12:49

Yeah, and I'm really interested. That is actually an event I cover every year. If I'm if I if I'm in town, I'm on that red carpet. It's always a very hectic and chaotic and fun red carpet, but I don't quite know what they're gonna do with Taylor Swift because it's this will be something. Yeah, I mean, that's another thing as journalists. The art of the red carpet is something completely different than actually having a one-on-one interview with people. There are people that I've always wanted to talk to that I've I've never been able to sit down with, but I have briefly spoken to them on a red carpet, which is about the best I can do.

SPEAKER_01 13:24

That's it's fantastic. And if you get the chance to really sort of give them questions, it's it's it's great. Certainly great for social media.

SPEAKER_00 13:32

Right. But I mean, I remember I I've been on red carpets where so many people, you're supposed to stand behind a barrier. So many people have swarmed. I remember once I was at the MTV VMAs and Jennifer Lopez was on the red carpet. I had somehow gone to this event with a super, super long boom microphone. So I was sort of able to extend my microphone into her, into her space so I could ask her a question. It's a great idea. And then another time I was doing a red carpet with Kanye West. He brings he comes up again. Everybody swarmed him in the red carpet. I I think I was crouching and bending backwards, holding up my microphone just to record whatever he happened to be saying.

SPEAKER_01 14:13

Do we have a picture of that? I want to picture that. You do not have a picture of that. No. Are you petite? I can't tell from just your upper torso.

SPEAKER_00 14:20

Um, I'm I'm about five, four and a half.

SPEAKER_01 14:23

Petite-ish, yeah. I'm I'm even littler, so yeah, but I I make my make some noise. So that's that's what we have to do.

SPEAKER_00 14:28

That's right. I have a very loud voice.

Verifying News In A Social World

SPEAKER_01 14:31

No, the other thing I know you sort of touched on just talking about social media a bit. If you're trying to break news in an era where artists can bypass traditional media entirely, how do you navigate maintaining journalistic authority when the story is often being told simultaneously? I mean, we did touch on that a bit.

SPEAKER_00 14:48

Well, that's a really good question because I work for ABC, specifically for ABC News. So we have very, very strict rules about when and what we can report. Even if the New York Times is reporting something, we need to get our own confirmation. This happens a lot when celebrities die, sad to say. But one outlet will report that a celebrity has died. We need to get our own confirmation. And sometimes when that person is not as well known, it can be difficult to track down somebody who can personally say, you know, yes, I confirm that this person has passed away. But there's all kinds of news that happens every single day that we always get confirmed, either through sources or the person's rep, things like that. But it it really is kind of a constant struggle because sometimes even if somebody posts on their Instagram that such and such has happened, then we have to make the the decision, okay, such and such has posted it on their Instagram. Is it reportable? Should we go with it? One of the jokes that people made, I mean, even before I I got to ABC, is you know, you you never want to kill someone if they're not dead. And that has, of course, happened over the years to multiple outlets.

SPEAKER_01 16:02

I mean, they're saying this totally side. They're saying Jeffrey Epstein may not be dead. I mean, like, how do they really identify the body? You know, and it's just so much stuff about him right now.

SPEAKER_00 16:11

I know. I mean, there was a story the other day about Kurt Cobain wasn't, he didn't really take his own life. He was murdered, and my colleague had to go run that one down. So it's like I said, every day it's something. It's something news.

SPEAKER_01 16:23

But it is good that you're affiliated with such a big company that you you have to have a certain amount of verification of the news, but also people do want to speak to you because you are ABC.

Women Navigating Rock Spaces

SPEAKER_00 16:33

Yes, I would say more, more or less. Sometimes, though, I feel that I get interviews because of who I am and not because of who I work for, simply because people know that I do a good job. So it's like, you know, I want her or him to talk to Andrea because Andrea will, for example, actually listen to their album, which is something we're talking about musicians here, something that doesn't happen very often. Because I mean, a lot of people have said to me, wow, I can't believe you actually listened to my album, or thank you for listening to my album, which I feel badly for an artist is supposed to be interviewed and the person has not done the research. That's the one thing in the times that I have spoken to people, students and such, about this. I always say the most important thing is to do research.

SPEAKER_01 17:18

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 17:20

And I'm sure that you have learned that very quickly, being a uh a newbie podcast host.

SPEAKER_01 17:25

Yeah, no, I I try I try to do my homework. Now you've won the Gracie Awards a few times in an industry that's historically been male-dominated. What specific challenges or dynamics did you navigate as a woman building authority in music journalism? And what do you see as the unfinished work in creating equity in music media today? And I particularly ask that because the reason I'm having only women is I'm really trying to address what it is to be a woman in various parts of the music entertainment industry. So how how what challenges? I mean, it sounds like you've had a fairly smooth ride, but I'm sure there's always you don't have to tell me bad stories, but you know.

Voting For Influence At The Hall

SPEAKER_00 18:01

No, I mean, there are challenges, and some of the challenges I think are sometimes, specifically when I've moved in the rock spaces, there are fewer women in those spaces. So sometimes I find that I am the only woman in that particular space. And I think that sometimes women can get challenged. It's sort of like this trope where you hear about a woman is wearing a Rush t-shirt and a guy will say, Oh, you like Rush, huh? Name three songs by them. That's a very extreme example, but that's something that that people I'm sure it's actually happened, hasn't really happened to me, but that sort of thing. Where I think that when it comes to certain genres of music, a woman's knowledge or uh expertise would be questioned more, not in pop, but probably more in rock. That's an interesting point. Has that happened to you? I'm trying to think of like an example. I was chosen to speak on a particular panel, and somebody I know asked me, why were you there? Which, why do I have to justify my existence, basically? I don't think that that person would have asked a man the same question. So annoying. That is just really annoying.

SPEAKER_01 19:22

You know, as a voting member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, you're literally helping decide what gets canonized as culturally significant. How do you personally wrestle with that responsibility, especially when you're balancing commercial success against merit and the inevitable accusations of gatekeeping that come with any institution deciding what matters?

Bad Bunny And The New Playbook

SPEAKER_00 19:45

There's many, many voters in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. So I feel like if there's any gatekeeping there, it begins in who gets nominated. The nominating committee is a much more exclusive, smaller body. So when I get my ballot, I just do what I can to raise up artists that I feel have merit. I usually don't look at the the first thing that I always look for is influence. If I feel that an artist has influenced people, not just sold 25 million, 30 million records, but like has truly influenced people. Like, for example, I've had people say to me, I was influenced by such and such. If somebody has said to me, I was influenced by such and such, and that person's on the ballot, I am more likely to vote for them because I have real life true experience of how much this person has influenced them. For example, this hasn't happened yet, but somebody that has, I have been told many times, has been a huge influence, especially on women, well, mostly on women, is Amy Winehouse. So if Amy Winehouse were to come on the ballot of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, I would vote for her because I know what a huge impact she's made on so many artists firsthand. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is hard to say because in the last few years it has completely changed because of changes in who's involved and who is running it and things like that. I think the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has changed their voting body in recent years and their steering committee in recent years, and it has become much more inclusive.

SPEAKER_01 21:23

I mean, I do feel that about all the awards in general. That's that's been that has been the case.

SPEAKER_00 21:28

Yes. I mean, in the Grammys, for example, because they just, I mean, this is sort of like inside baseball, but because they just recently allowed all the members of the Latin Grammys to vote on the general Grammys, I think that had a big part of Bad Bunny winning album of the year. I I don't know if that would have necessarily happened if they had not done that. And they did that very recently.

SPEAKER_01 21:54

Yeah, that that's I mean, that's actually kind of my next question because he's on everyone's lips. Bad Bunny essentially rewrote. The playbook staying independent, performing primarily in Spanish, rarely doing traditional media, and still becoming the most streamed artist globally. As someone who spent decades in traditional music media and artist relations, what does bad bunny success reveal about what's actually required to break through today versus what the industry has always told us was necessary? Does this model make you your job harder?

Authenticity, Mentoring, And Breakthroughs

SPEAKER_00 22:24

You know, what what do you Well, I mean it it does because it it's and I started noticing this probably maybe 15 years ago or so, where you have artists that don't necessarily uh are on their first album, but they've sold out Madison Square Garden. Now, that was not something that happened in the past. But I think because these days, because of social media and then streaming, the process of music discovery is so much easier and frictionless. And the opportunity to build a relationship with an artist, parasocial or otherwise, is so much easier and likelier that artists can gain a rabid fan base, ra a rabid and expanding fan base much more quickly than they could in the past, which allows artists that, for example, have never been on the Billboard Hot 100 or charted a song on a media base playlist to tour sold out audiences all over the world. And this is constantly astonishing to me.

SPEAKER_01 23:31

I I know a little bit about him. I know some people who were involved with the record, and they they were telling me that his Orchard deal is a 90-10 deal, which of course is unheard of. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 23:40

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 23:40

So um, you know, that's that's because I think that the story was that he'd made a record and his label didn't like it, and I'm not sure if they dropped him or something, whatever happened, he then just did whatever he wanted, which of course was the most successful record in on the planet. It's it's a it's an a testament to someone just following their heart first of firstly, you know.

SPEAKER_00 24:01

I mean, I'm sure that over the years you've run into people who said this, or maybe perhaps you yourself have said it is when you stop thinking about what can I do that people will like and start thinking, what can I do that is authentic, that's when things hit. I've had many artists tell me that over the years.

SPEAKER_01 24:23

I've done some mentoring, and that's always my like, as long as you believe it, then other people will believe it too. Because if you don't believe what you're singing or writing about, it's gonna be inauthentic.

SPEAKER_00 24:33

It's like my guitar teacher always says, play it like you mean it, and nobody will realize that maybe you're playing something that you shouldn't be playing.

SPEAKER_01 24:41

That's good. The other thing I wanted to say is this has all been very interesting, and thank you again for being able to and willing to have me interview the interviewer. What's something that we I haven't talked about or something we don't know about you?

Life Beyond Work And Loving Radio

SPEAKER_00 24:54

What's something that that we don't know? Well, I I contain multitudes. No, a lot of my identity is wrapped up in my job and what I do just because my job is so much based on my passion, which is music. So sometimes I find it hard to separate my job from the things that I enjoy. So it's hard for me to sometimes find things that don't have to do with music that I enjoy doing in my spare time. Although a lot of those things end up having to do with music, like going to concerts or playing guitar or reading books about music and reading magazines about music. So it sort of like kind of consumes me in a way. Oddly enough, I don't listen to that much music all the time just because I have to do it for work so much.

SPEAKER_01 25:39

I've had my husband say to me, like, you know what, why aren't we listening to music all the time? Like, because I'm around it all the time. I need quiet.

SPEAKER_00 25:45

Right. Or I want to listen to music that's different, very different from the things that I cover at work. That's the other thing. Or I just want to listen to the radio because I'm in radio. I want to support radio. I want to support music discovery through radio. I still think that it is a great way to discover music. People will talk about playlists and everything like that. But I there's so many artists I've discovered listening to my favorite radio station. So it's, you know, I still am a great believer in that.

SPEAKER_01 26:14

I I love the radio too. I don't, I'm not in a car as much because I'm a New Yorker. But when I am in the car and listening to radio, like out in eastern Long Island, I hear the local station has a lot of good things. I'm often Shazaming. What's who is that? So yeah, I think it it is a good way to find artists.

SPEAKER_00 26:29

Yeah, I mean, I'm very rarely in the car too, because I work in New York City. I don't live in New York City, but I work in New York City, so I'm not around driving in a car from place to place all day long. But what which is why I enjoy listening to the radio when I do get that opportunity.

Closing Thanks And Credits

SPEAKER_01 26:42

Yeah. Anyways, it's been so interesting to have you here, and and uh I appreciate your joining us. And and um today is Friday the 13th, and uh it's it's been a a very start, a lovely start to the day.

SPEAKER_00 26:54

Fingers crossed it's gonna stay that way. Thank you so much for having me. I uh I really like I said it's unusual for me to be interviewed. So thank you for giving me that experience. That unique experience.

SPEAKER_01 27:05

Thank you. I hope I was able to give you the experience that you needed. Yes, thank you so much. All right, thank you, Andrea. I'd like to thank today's sponsor, Herd City, the premier audio post-production company servicing the advertising, motion picture, and television industries right here in NYC. I'd also like to thank Antello, aka XON, for seeing the She Creates Noise theme that I wrote. Thanks for listening to She Creates Noise. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe, rate, and share. I want to thank the team here Blair Rhinely, Yelena Stevanovich, Emily Wilson, and the Master of Engineering and Grammy winning Cooper Anderson. We'll see you next time.