Spotify For Artists recommends 7 podcasts for musicians, the music industry

Check out these listen-worthy pods that explore the business, from how it works to the latest trends recommended by Spotify for Artists.

by Bianca Gracie for Spotify For Artists

As the podcast world continues to boom, it can be a challenge to discover which ones deliver a valuable analysis of the ever-changing music industry, and which ones are just a lot of talk. We got you. To help you stay in the loop on the biz, here’s a rundown of seven key pods regularly pumping expertise and ideas into your ears — including our own Co.Lab Sessions and Best Advice.

The New Music Business with Ari Herstand

After the 2016 release of his How To Make It in the New Music Business best-seller, Ari Herstand decided to bring the book to life with a podcast. The New Music Business podcast dives into how the industry works, including monetizing music NFTs, artist management, understanding sync licensing, and more. The podcast has made significant waves in the industry, winning the “Best Music Podcast” Webby award in 2021. Listen Now.

Music Industry Blueprint with Rick Barker

If you’re looking for a straightforward approach to industry advice, Music Industry Blueprintgives unfiltered tips. Host Rick Barker combines his artist development background (he’s Taylor Swift’s former manager) and entrepreneurial skills to help others figure out the complicated business. Created using Spotify’s free Anchor podcast creation platform, MIBoffers free episodes that include guests like Blue Avenue Music Group CEO Jenny Powers, trend explainers, and more. MIB also has paid, subscriber-only resources. Listen Now.

The Business Side of Music

On The Business Side of Music podcast, host Bob Bender shares his experiences as a longtime tour manager and festival producer to independent artists and songwriters looking to make sense of the business. Each week, Bender and his guests candidly break down their wins and losses navigating things like recording, copyright, songwriting and catalog. Past conversations have featured veteran promoter Danny Zelisko, songwriter Chad Harvey, and others. Listen Now.

Behind the Music Business

After spending seven years working in music publishing (at Sony Music Publishing and peermusic), supervision and sync in London, Danny Champion launched his Behind the Music Business podcast in 2018 to talk to a cross section of people working in the industry about their jobs and perspective. Also created using Anchor, Behind the Music Business invites UK-based guests like Anara Music Publishing director Deborah Smith and lawyer Dean Marsh to the mic to share insight into their respective roles. Listen Now.

Music Is My Business

Music Is My Business hopes to lower the hurdles to success in music by offering real-life advice. It’s hosted by Anthony Clint Jr., a music producer who has worked with the likes of Tamar Braxton and has placements in shows like Keeping Up With the Kardashians and MTV’s Catfish. The podcast is like a coaching session as Clint Jr. shares tips on securing TV/film placements, the importance of music licensing and the production business as a whole. Listen Now.

Best Advice

From Big Freedia explaining the importance of taxes to Prince Royce sharing why you need to understand music accounting, our Best Advice podcast is filled with actionable info on how to manage the business side of music direct from the mouths of successful artists. The series of friendly-yet-frank conversations, hosted by Kim Taylor Bennett, gleans wisdom from music makers across genres. Listen Now.

Co.Lab Sessions

From explaining A&R to exploring merch monetization and brand collaborations, Spotify for Artists own Co.Lab Sessions taps experts from across the industry for in-depth conversations about topics that matter to working artists. Guests have included everyone from Grammy-winners and label execs, to innovative gaming and merch entrepreneurs. Listen Now.

Want to launch your own podcast about music? Get started with Anchor, then check out Music + Talk, which allows you to bring together talk commentary with Spotify’s entire catalog of licensed songs. Plus, be sure to explore Music + Talk ideas for artists and their teams to get inspired.

HYPEBOT

We love this list from Spotify, but would be remiss if we didn’t add two of our favorite music industry podcasts:

• MUSIC BIZ WEEKLY PODCAST with Michael Brandvold and Jay Gilbert – Practical advice and interviews weekly.
• YOUR MORNING COFFEE PODCAST with Jay Gilbert and Mike Etchart – A look inside the week’s most important music industry news.