My guest this week is Lisa Machac, who’s a music consultant with Little City Sounds and Director of the Omni Sound Project, which is an inclusive community for women and marginalized genders in audio engineering.  Lisa’s writing has been featured in Tape Op magazine as well as a popular Substack newsletter. She’s also the creator and host of the Reference Tracks podcast, which features producers and engineers discussing the songs that shaped their careers. Lisa coaches independent musicians who are looking to grow their audiences and promote their music. She adds 20 years of community building and marketing experience to a natural enthusiasm for mentoring others. During our interview Lisa and I spoke about how the Omni Sound Project began, how there are more women audio engineers than generally realized, the vibrancy of the Austin music scene, artists not knowing what to do with their projects, and so much more. I spoke with Lisa via zoom from her studio in Austin.  On the intro I looked at how songwriters will be making less even though Spotify’s prices are going up, and we may be at the end of the guitar amplifier era.

My guest this week is Stephen Schultz, who besides being an expert flautist specializing in Baroque flute, is an Associate Teaching Professor in Music History and Flute at Carnegie Mellon University and director of the Carnegie Mellon Baroque Orchestra. Stephen is also an advocate for hearing protection for all musicians as he’s learned to overcome his personal difficulties with hearing loss. Many people falsely identify hearing loss with rock musicians, but the fact is that 52% of classical musicians have some degree of permanent hearing damage, as opposed to only 30% of rock musicians. The latest generation of hearing aids are so sophisticated that musicians can now wear them without any impediments to their playing, and so many high profile musicians are now doing so that the stigma of wearing hearing aids has now greatly diminished. During our interview Stephen and I spoke about discovering he had a hearing problem, finding the right hearing aids for music, why more orchestral members suffer from hearing loss than even rock musicians, advice on looking for the right pair, and so much more. I spoke with Stephen via zoom from his home in Pittsburg.  On the intro I looked at how Spotify may be introducing a new song speed feature soon, and whether we’ve reached Peak Music Gear as fewer new music and audio products are released.  var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 99250945, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

My guest this week is Josh Young, who’s the founder and CEO of Atrium Music, as well as an Emmy-nominated supervising television and film editor. His credits include shows like Lego Masters, Big Brother, World of Dance, The Masked Singer, and many more. Atrium Music is a publishing and music library that licenses and places music in television, film, and commercial productions.The company allows “artists to be artists” while allowing the business structure of Atrium to handle their business needs. Over 550 artists and composers from over 30 countries have found a home with Atrium. When not producing, editing, or music supervising television shows, Josh speaks at conferences and educational institutions across the United States, and is a board member of the California Copyright Conference. During our interview we spoke about why communication skills are so important, the duties of a supervising television editor, the hectic pace of a hit TV show, learning a new workstation software package, what makes Atrium Music different from other libraries, and so much more. I spoke with Josh from his studio outside of Los Angeles.  On the intro I looked at how UMG’s TikTok ban isn’t hurting its market share, and how lyrics have change in the last 40 years. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 98758766, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

My guest this week is Shelly Palmer, who’s an award winning composer, inventor, author, educator and a leading voice in technology. He is also an expert in Ai and it’s integration into the workplace.   Shelly began his career as a composer for television, working with hundreds of brands, agencies, broadcasters, publishers and tech platforms on advertising and marketing campaigns such as Meow Mix, Burger King and The City of Las Vegas. He was honored at ASCAP’s 13th Annual Film and Television Awards in the category of “Most Performed Television Themes.” He holds a patent for the underlying technology for Enhanced Television that’s used by programs such as ABC’s Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and ESPN’s Monday Night Football, which led him to pivot his career into technology. He is currently a Professor of Advanced Media in Residence at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and CEO of The Palmer Group, a consulting practice that helps Fortune 500 companies with technology, media and marketing. Shelly also covers tech and business for Fox 5 New York, and is a regular commentator for CNN and CNBC, and he offers a series of free technology courses via his Metacademy. During our interview we spoke about growing up in a music store, how a used synthesizer got him into the jingle business, how one of his patents took him from music into the world of technology, why AI is a skills amplifier, and so much more. By the way, I learned a lot about AI from Shelly's free Metacademy, which is something that you should check out. I spoke with Shelly from his studio in New York City.  On the intro I looked at how the RIAA’s recent revenue numbers might be misleading. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 98586594, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

My guest this week is Michael Walker, who’s the founder and energy behind the Modern Musician program. You can hear all about his journey on Episode 411 from March 2022, but this time our discussion centered around Ai and how it can help or hurt the music industry in the future. Modern Musician recently incorporated its own Ai-driven helper bot, so Michael has a lot of hands-on experience on the subject. During our interview we spoke about integrating ChatGPT into Modern Musician, his experiences with Apple’s new Vision Pro headset, what spatial music and spatial picture mean to each other, how sometimes Ai image generation is creating more what a dream might look like, what future AI technology might hold for us, and much more. I spoke with Michael from his studio in Florida.  On the intro I looked at the ELVIS Act bans unauthorized voice use, and the best DAWs of 2024. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 98313823, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

My guest this week is engineer Alan Meyerson, who many believe is the top scoring mixer in film today. With more than 200 credits, Alan has worked with leading film score composers like James Newton Howard, John Powell, Harry Gregson-Williams, and Danny Elfman, and has a particularly long-standing working relationship with the great Hans Zimmer that continues to this day. Alan’s credits as a scoring mixer include blockbuster movies like Man of Steel, Iron Man, the Pirates of the Caribbean series, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, Inception, The Dark Knight, Kung-Fu Panda 1 & 2, Despicable Me 1 & 2, The Last Samurai, Gladiator, and Hannibal. In addition to this, he also has a number of music mixing credits that include Bryan Ferry, New Order, Etta James, and OMD. During our interview, Alan told me about being a part of the first wave of dance music, making the transition to film work, his approach to orchestral recording, why he isn’t into vintage microphones, how he tailors his reverbs, dealing with 750 tracks of orchestra, his adventures at Abbey Road, and much more. I spoke with Alan from his studio in Los Angeles.  On the intro I looked at the possible TikTok ban in the United States, and the Caesar’s Palace console finds a new home with UA. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 97908956, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

This week I speak with Randall Michael Tobin in Part 2 of our conversation. Randall founded his Theta Sound Studio way back in 1977 and has worked on thousands of projects in various genres including Jazz, Pop, R&B, Classical, Hip Hop, Country, Ragtime, Gospel, Ballet, Alternative, Film Score and Spoken Word. Besides offering just about every audio service you can think of, he also offers art and graphics, online marketing and promotion, video production and editing, and website design and maintenance. As I said last week, there’s more to Randall’s story than just audio. His interest in artisan cooking led him to baking sourdough bread loafs that he gave to clients and friends as gifts. This eventually led to a side business called Random Acts of Breadness, where as an artisan baker, Randall sells sourdough bread along with raw farm butters, honey spreads, jams and organic extra virgin olive oils. And as I also said last week, I eat at least one piece of Randall’s most delicious sourdough just about every day. During Part 2 of our interview, we spoke about how some house concerts started his side-career in cooking and baking, the similarities between food and music, using guerrilla marketing to start his bakery, the importance of pivoting when opportunities present themselves, and much more. I spoke with Randall from his studio in Burbank, California.  On the intro I looked at Warner Music looking to buy Tunecore parent company Believe Music, and the most popular hardware synthesizer by country. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 97658673, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

My guest this week is Randall Michael Tobin, who founded his Theta Sound Studio way back in 1977. Since then he’s worked on thousands of projects in various genres including Jazz, Pop, R&B, Classical, Hip Hop, Country, Ragtime, Gospel, Ballet, Alternative, Film Score and Spoken Word. Besides offering just about every audio service you can think of, Randall also offers art and graphics, online marketing and promotion, video production and editing, and website design and maintenance. But there’s more more to Randall’s story. Along the way his interest in artisan cooking led him to begin baking sourdough bread loafs that he gave as gifts to clients and friends. This eventually led to a side business called Random Acts of Breadness, where as an artisan baker, Randall sells sourdough bread along with delicious compliments like raw farm butters, honey spreads, jams and organic extra virgin olive oils. In fact, I eat at least one piece of Randall’s most excellent sourdough just about every day. During part 1 of the interview, we spoke about how some gear never goes out of style, recording big band, his unique studio clientele, where he got his technical chops, and much more. I spoke with Randall from his Theta Sound studio in Burbank, California.  On the intro I looked at some totally unique physical release formats that you won’t believe, and what we know about Western tuning and harmony just might be wrong. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 97378487, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

My guest this week is mixing and mastering engineer Nick Squids Squillante, who’s recent immersive mixes include “Rescue Me” by Dirty Heads, which went to Number 1 on the Billboard Alternative charts, and “Psycho” by Asking Alexandria, which also scored a spot at Number 1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock charts. He’s also done other immersive mixes for artists such as Tommy Lee, Papa Roach and Bad Wolves to name a few. Nick began his career working at Electric Lady Studios with 7-time Grammy-award-winning mixer Michael Brauer. During his time at the studio, Nick worked on records for Bon Jovi, Frank Ocean, Mumford & Sons, and Elle King, to name a few. Since then, Nick has been working with both major label and independent artists, amassing millions of streams on Spotify, Apple Music, and other major platforms. As a result, Nick has worked on records that have charted in the top 10 on iTunes and even more recently was considered for Grammy nomination. During the interview we spoke about his biggest learning moment with the great Michael Brauer, his favorite plugins, how he got into immersive mixing, creating memorable moments in a mix, and much more. I spoke with Nick from his studio in Brooklyn.  On the intro I looked at how social media doesn’t monetize fans, and the new huge optical storage format. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 97068155, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

My guest this week is co-founder and CEO of Moises Ai Geraldo Ramos. Moises is an AI-driven application that enables musicians to separate their tracks into stems, identify chords, adjust tempo or pitch without affecting other musical elements, and refine their audio with professional mastering, among a host of other features. Another feature is Voice Studio, which serves as a marketplace for AI-powered voice modeling, allowing vocalists to monetize their own voice models to other music makers.  Geraldo invented Moises when he was looking for a better way to practice his drums by playing the drums to songs he liked without hearing the original drummer. During the interview we spoke about interesting uses for source separation, how source separation Ai’s are trained, why some producers are developing private voice cloning models, the reason why Ai audio resolution isn’t higher, where Ai music is going, and much more. I spoke with Geraldo from his office in Los Angeles.  On the intro I looked at how many videos are on YouTube, and the $40,000 guitar amplifier. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 96735718, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

My guest this week is Grammy-nominated producer-engineer-scoring mixer Jason LaRocca, who has recorded and mixed music for major motion pictures, games and television. Known for mixing the score of "The Lord of The Rings: Rings of Power" series, Marvel's "Morbius" and more, Jason recently mixed the Grammy-nominated albums "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" and the "God of War: Ragnarok" soundtrack. He has also recorded and mixed for such top recording artists as Jay-Z, CeeLo Green, Fiona Apple, Schoolboy Q and Serj Tankian, of System of a Down. Jason was guest back on podcast #441 a couple of years ago, but I thought I’d have him back to give us an update about what’s going on in television, gaming and film mixing. During the interview we spoke about the enormous number of tracks required to record Sweeny Todd, the differences between mixing a Broadway record and a game soundtrack, whether automation or clip gain is faster, his approach to immersive mixing, mixing trends in film and TV, and much more. I spoke with Jason from his studio in Los Angeles.  On the intro I looked at why the vinyl record backlog has decreased, and hit songs that almost didn’t make the album. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 96487487, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

This week's episode is dedicated to the memory of legendary guitarist, singer, songwriter, producer and film and television composer Wayne Kramer, who passed away recently.  Wayne was far more influential than many realize as his band MC5 basically invented punk rock a full decade before it even emerged as a genre. The band and its albums became a model for punk bands on both sides of the Atlantic. In fact, The Clash even wrote not one, but two songs about him! A formidable player, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked Wayne as one of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. He also collaborated with a who’s who of rock’s most elite artists over the years, and his scoring work can be heard on films like Talladega Nights, Step Brothers, the HBO comedy series Eastbound & Down, ESPN’s 5-4-3-2-1, In My Own Words, and Under The Lights, and even for the “Unlabeled” Jim Beam commercial. Musical accolades are well and good, but I think what Wayne was most proud of was the fact that he was able to overcome his  personal trials with drugs and jail time. He emerged from this darkness transformed, and then went on to save countless lives through his tireless acts of service. He was extremely passionate about his work with Jail Guitar Doors, a program that provides guitars and music lessons for inmates at more than 50 penal institutions throughout the United States. Through the years, he regularly played concerts with an all-star band at prisons around the country. During this interview from January 6th, 2022, we talked about why musicians from Detroit have a special edge to them, why the MC5 was banned from radio, how going to prison saved his life, getting into film scoring, and much more. This is a replay of an interview that I did with Wayne via Zoom from his studio in Los Angeles. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 96191804, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

In this episode I take a big overview of the recent Winter NAMM 2024. Among the things discussed include: A bit of NAMM history Attendance was up but several exhibit halls were empty Big manufacturers that were no-shows The biggest surprises Interesting new products Products that were just more of the same Is a NAMM show (or AES for that matter) even needed? What is the future of NAMM? This is a short but to the point episode that will give you something to think about if you were there, and show you why your FOMO was unnecessary if you weren't. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 95500370, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

My guest this week is a partner at Integral Studios and CEO of SymphonyOS, Megh Vakharia. Since 2016, he’s spearheaded product and data strategy as CTO of Integral Studio, one of the music industry’s leading marketing agencies. At Integral, Megh has worked with every major label and alongside artists of all sizes, from independent creators to today’s superstars, including Travis Scott, SZA, and Future ~ helping them figure out how to most effectively roll out their music in the most creative, data-driven ways. To date, Integral has supported campaigns that have led to 4 Grammy-nominated albums and over a dozen platinum-selling records. SymphonyOS helps creators put their fanbase growth on autopilot with smart, automated marketing. Its suite of apps centralizes the digital marketing workflow, empowering creators with the tools to better understand their audience, engage their fanbase, and increase their revenues. During the interview we spoke about why we’re in a post TikTok era, why artists should consider advertising, how Ai can play into your marketing decisions, why a mailing list is more important than ever for marketing, and much more. I spoke with Megh from his office in Los Angeles.  On the intro I looked at the best times during the year to release music, and how much producers make. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 95226015, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

My guest this week the founder and CEO of Killphonic Rights, Caleb Shreve.  Caleb began professional career in 1998 at Sony Music Studios in New York. As part of the Sony Music Special Projects team, he began working alongside artists such as Michael Jackson, Ricky Martin, Destiny’s Child and Marc Anthony.  In early 2003, Caleb left Sony to work independently as a producer and engineer. He was quickly hired almost exclusively by music producer and executive, Sean “Puffy” Combs. Over the next decade and a half, Caleb wrote, produced and mixed countless records.  He started Killphonic Rights in 2014 originally as a management company, but eventually pivoted to administrating publishing and neighboring rights for indie artists. During the interview we spoke about the importance of metadata in music publishing, why there are so many writers on some songs, collecting TikTok royalties, the idea of neighboring rights, and much more. I spoke with Caleb from his office in Los Angeles.  On the intro I looked at what happens every minute on the internet, and who actually invented the microphone. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 94825541, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

My guest this week specializes in helping musicians and songwriters get their music into film and television. Chris started off as an award-winning music producer who saw how lucrative the income could be for artists with just one good sync placement.  Chris not only teaches indie songwriters how to get their music heard by top music supervisors in TV and film, he actually introduces them to the gatekeepers.  During the interview we spoke about how the recent Hollywood strikes affected sync placements, how artists and songwriters can rise above the competition for placements, how to determine if your music is right for TV and film, his upcoming Music Supervisors Panel event, and much more. On the intro I looked at the real money behind the global music business, and the doom and gloom in the music instrument and pro audio side of the business is overstated. Click here to save your seat for the free Music Supervisors Panel. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 94552117, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

A look back at how my predictions for 2023 fared, as well as my predictions for 2024. Yep, I'm going out on a limb this year! Happy New Year, and lets make this one the safest and most prosperous ever! var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 94111126, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

It's been an eventful year in the music industry and that's what we'll review in the latest episode of my Inner Circle Podcast. We'll look at: The multiple streaming scams that popped up The surprising outcome of the Ed Sheeran plagiarism lawsuit Venues suffering from not enough alcohol sales Record labels losing influence because of data-analysis Spotify's new royalty structure Ai's influence on the music and production business How hidden way that the Hollywood strikes affected composers and songwriters The many companies that were sold and acquired last year Some of the biggest and oldest Hollywood recording studios closed The breakthrough on tonewood sound The breakthrough on hearing loss And so much more. Listen to it at BobbyOInnerCircle.com, or on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Mixcloud, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Deezer, TunIn Radio, and RadioPublic. I hope you've had a great 2023 and I look forward to us both having a fruitful 2024. Enjoy the show! var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 93905174, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

When I first started this podcast way back in March of 2014, the first person I thought to call was Dennis Moody. Including the inaugural Episode #1, he's been part of every anniversary podcast since, from #50, 100, 151, 200, 300, 400 (actually 399), and now 500. We worked a lot together over the years, and he's has become a great friend and super source of information. Dennis is one of the few engineers who's as comfortable in a recording studio as he is in a live concert setting. Likewise, he's just as comfortable mixing a rock, R&B, or jazz band as he is doing a full orchestra, again either live or in the studio. I think a great distinction is that he's also the “Drummer’s Engineer,” as he's the one who all the A-list drummers call when it's time to do their solo album because they trust he'll make their drums sound great. During the interview we spoke about the some the exotic places around the world he’s visited recently, finding high-quality gear in out-of-the-way places, what the world looks like post-pandemic, the typical problems he has to fix in home recordings, some excellent travel tips, and much more. I spoke with Dennis from his studio in the Los Angeles. On the intro I’ll take a look at the new TikTok artist accounts, and Samsung and Google have teamed up for a new immersive audio format. Thank you all for listening and your support! I wouldn't be doing this if it wasn't for you!! var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 93271582, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

My guest today is Biz Morris, a multi-platinum and Grammy Award-winning mixing engineer with credits like Lecrae, Tori Kelly, Kirk Franklin, PJ Morton, and Andy Mineo. For the last decade, Biz has represented independent Atlanta hip-hop label Reach Records as a Vice President and Head of Studio Operations. Biz started recording when he was 14 years old with a small setup at his mom’s house, and incredibly, he was nominated for a Grammy for an album he engineered while he was still in school. Since then accolades have continued to flood in, including Grammy and Dove wins as well as gold and platinum albums. Recently he also launched "GetMxd," a cutting-edge company aimed at providing top-tier mixing and mastering services for independent artists at an affordable price.  During the interview we spoke about why Biz loves editing vocals, making the transition to only mixing, how engineers can overthink a mix, his opinions on mastering, how GetMXD came about, and much more. I spoke with Biz from his studio in the Atlanta. On the intro I’ll take a look at a new Senate bill to reform live ticketing, and Rode acquires Mackie. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 92821647, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };