Drop The MIC: Music Industry Conversations
Drop The MIC: Music Industry Conversations is a podcast hosted by students at Stanford University looking to discover the ins and outs of the music business. Tune in each week to hear a new team of students learn about aspects of the industry ranging from Record Labels to Touring, Marketing to Songwriting, and so much more, straight from some of the most established individuals who have spent their careers making the music we all know and love.
Episodes
26 episodes
Rising Songwriters: Cracking the Creative Process
From voice memo to release day, emerging artists Jereena Montemayor and Pretty Boy Aaron deep-dive into their creative process, sharing the songs and stories that have shaped their journey to date.
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Season 2
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Episode 13
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44:44
An Artist's Arsenal
In addition to the obvious necessity of a repertoire of musical talents and skills, an artist will benefit from an arsenal of professionals. Through our conversations with Doug Mark, an entertainment attorney, Liv Seltzer, an artists and repert...
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Season 2
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Episode 12
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31:31
Finding the Right People: Making it as a Songwriter
Success as a songwriter in the music industry requires collaboration. Our guests today will talk about what it looks like when you've found the right people to work with. We’ll be hearing from Gracie and Lawrence Clyde from Lawrence the band, B...
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Season 2
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Episode 11
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58:03
From Ticket Sales to Soundcheck: A Breakdown of the Domestic Touring Experience
What puts a tour into motion? In this podcast episode, we sat down with live music and touring experts Kaleb Herbel-Eisenmann (Artist Manager at Abstract MGMT), Darius Zelkha (Artist Manager/Marketing Partnerships at Brilliant Corners Artist Ma...
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Season 2
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Episode 10
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40:00
From Artist Management to Activism: Carving Your Own Path in the Music Industry with Kyle Frenette
In this episode, we’re talking with Kyle Frenette, who previously was the long-time manager of the band Bon Iver. Throughout his successful and multi-faceted career in the music industry, Kyle has been involved in many different ventures includ...
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Season 2
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Episode 9
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30:44
Music Streaming: Tipping Scales and Sales
In this episode, we chat with Stanford alum Jose Serrano who manages emerging artists like Emery Kelley and Sybyr and rising artist Heidi Rolph-Statt about the role of streaming platforms in artists' careers. We discuss imbalances in pay, strea...
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Season 2
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Episode 8
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32:18
200 Days on the Road: Building a Business in the Music Industry
Building a business is hard. Building a business in the music industry is even harder. Artists and managers put their blood, sweat, and tears into their businesses, spending as many as 200 days at a time on the road. On this episode we hear fro...
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Season 2
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Episode 7
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35:19
Age and Experience: The Lifespan and History of A&R
In this episode of Stanford’s Drop the MIC podcast, we hear from A&R professionals spanning over 20 years of music industry history. We have Daouda Leonard, a tried and true vet who was part of the generation that christened the internet ag...
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Season 2
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Episode 6
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32:46
Reinventing the Jam Session: Music Technology's Response to COVID-19
Through the anecdotes and experiences of musician Mike Rocha, pianist and coder Dan Tepfer, investor Mike McGinley, and Stanford professor Chris Chafe, we delve into the impact and development of music collaboration technology during the COVID-...
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Season 2
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Episode 5
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44:14
Revolutionizing the Relationship Between Artist and Audience
In this episode, game-changers Roneil Rumburg (Co-Founder and CEO of Audius), Elomida Visviki (Co-Founder and CEO of Weav Music), and Matt Block (Head of Production at Splice and Co-Founder of La Reserve) discuss the new paths they’ve created f...
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Season 2
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Episode 4
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38:48
Artist and Analyst Conversations on Music Streaming
This episode dives into the world of music streaming with interviews from Jay Troop, who works in Artist & Industry Insights at Pandora, Lyric Rains-Bury, an artist, producer, and student, and Shun Hendrix, recording R&B artist and acto...
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Season 2
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Episode 3
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44:46
Becoming Undeniable: Building a Brand that Takes You to the Top
From new artists selecting their target audience, to well-known stars switching up their style, building, maintaining, and even re-working their brand is a major aspect of an artist’s time in the spotlight. In this episode, we speak with the fo...
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Season 2
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Episode 2
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48:12
Stories of Seasoned Songwriters: How to Craft Your Next Song
In our first episode of Season 2, we catch up with songwriters Jamie Hartman and Sam Dixon to talk about their creative process, artist collaborations, and how those play out in the studio. Jamie Hartman co-wrote Rag’n’Bone Man’s hit single, “H...
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Season 2
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Episode 1
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44:29
Next Up: Streaming, Discovery, and Innovation
In our exclusive bonus episode, we dive into conversations with the creators of Apple Music’s renowned Up Next program and managers of up-and-coming artist Gracie Abrams. Chris Hovsepian and JJ Corsini, the Senior Vice Presidents of Artist Deve...
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Season 1
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22:23
From Perfectly Ordinary to Pop Star: A Guide to Marketing and Branding in the Music Business
Marketing and Branding is at the foundation of launching and maintaining a successful career in the music business. Top marketing experts such as Jesse Coolbroth (VP of Fan Engagement and Digital Marketing at Warner Records), Jon Romero (Head o...
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Season 1
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Episode 12
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49:57
Back To Our Roots: Emerging Artists from Stanford
Pop singer and producer Clarissa Carter as well as Jack Seigenthaler and Henry Ingram of rock band Sloan Woolly describe their involvement in music during their time at Stanford and recall what it was like to dive into careers as musicians afte...
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Season 1
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Episode 11
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42:23
Pioneers in Music Festivals and Artist Discovery
Want to meet the former Stanford undergrad who brought The Grateful Dead to Frost Amphitheater in 1982? Tune into this episode which features Vinnie Freda, the Chief Data Officer of Warner Music Group and a proud Stanford alum, among other indu...
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Season 1
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Episode 10
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1:06:30
From Rising Star to Grammys: Here’s How Music is Made
You’re in for an exclusive look at the art of music making. Hear from recording artist, Sun Kuma, manager of Leon Bridges and Carly Rae Jepsen, Jonathan Eshak, and Oscar winning and Grammy nominated engineer and producer, Daniel Roland. They ea...
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Season 1
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Episode 9
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46:11
Artist Management and the Art of Forming Partnerships
In this episode, a team of Stanford students meet with industry professionals who have managed big-time artists like Jai Wolf, Cody Simpson, and Sandro Cavazza. They reveal the different pathways to becoming a manager, the keys to success as an...
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Season 1
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Episode 8
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37:43
Songwriting, Grit, and Country Music
Two of country music's best songwriters, GRAMMY-nominated Angaleena Presley and rising star Hailey Whitters, share how the songwriting process works. Additionally, Angaleena and Hailey share a glimpse of the sheer grit required to start a caree...
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Season 1
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Episode 7
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1:06:33
What You Need to Know to Manage a Festival and Rock a Crowd as a DJ
This episode sheds light on the new age of live performance featuring the Biasha Mitchell, owner of music festival Hog Farm Hangout, and producer, DJ, and investor John Acquaviva.
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Season 1
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Episode 6
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42:31
Shaping your Brand and Growing your Fanbase
We have the pleasure of sharing advice from some of the most accomplished executives in the music business, including Phylicia Fant, Head of Urban Music at Columbia Records, Adam Ruehmer, Director of Fan Engagement and Digital Marketing at Warn...
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Season 1
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Episode 5
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48:19
The Business of Touring: Plotting Global Treks and the Growing Role of Technology
Greg Patterson, chief strategist at livestream company Veeps (formerly at Eventbrite), returns to the Podcast to break down the numbers of the domestic touring business while Arthur Fogel of Live Nation explains the detail-oriented process of t...
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Season 1
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Episode 4
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37:02
What it Takes To Manage Pop Powerhouses
We talk to the wizzes who manage Dua Lipa, Lana Del Rey, Hailee Steinfeld, Conan Gray, Lauv, and more artists we all love. So, how do some of the music industry’s most successful managers build their artists’ careers while also building their o...
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Season 1
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Episode 3
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46:07
Indie Music Stars and Their Managers: Journey from Obscurity to Celebrity
Stanford students dive into the early careers of indie staples Mac DeMarco, Mt. Joy, and Omar Apollo, following their journey of indie success through chats with their managers Michelle Cable, Jack Gallagher, and Dylan Shanks. We also find out ...
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Season 1
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Episode 2
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47:51