Innovating Music

Jason Kramer shares his journey to being an EMT during the AIDS Epidemic, LA Riots, and Northridge Earthquake to Fox Sports to KLOS and KCRW. He talks about the magic of Sunday nights, how he created and drove his own luck through persistent work, asking for opportunities, and taking on new challenges. He shares a bit of his experience being present during the inception of Billie Eilish, including being in the opening scene of her documentary and playing himself in three movies. Jason discusses his various creative pursuits, including photography, directing videos, and teaching.Guest: Jason Kramer, KCRW DJ, Music Supervisor, Photographer, and EducatorFor the last 20 years, Jason Kramer has been in the field of music and radio. Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Kramer worked as an EMT during the late 80s and early 90s; and through the 1992 Los Angeles riots. After changing his career as a medic in the hard streets of LA for ten years, he decided to work in radio starting in 1992 on KLOS, screening calls for the widely popular "Seventh Day." From that point on, Jason realized that music and radio were his calling.During his transition, he started off with a stint working with SoCal favorites Sublime and their label Skunk Records. In 1996, he moved on to Fox Sports TV as their full-time music supervisor for 6 years, leading him to become a show producer on Fox Sports Radio. He has also worked in various other aspects of music including management, radio DJ, publishing, creative consulting, music photography, education, and as a music supervisor. Jason started off as a KCRW volunteer in the mid-90s and has been on air since 1997 during a show called The Lab. You can hear Jason on his weekly show on Sunday nights on KCRW and KCRW.com, and can be found playing himself on several films and TV shows in the past few years. Links:KCRW: https://www.kcrw.com/music/shows/jason-kramerX: https://twitter.com/kcrwkramerIMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2625239/Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_KramerFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/jason.kramer.37LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/liquidcourage/

Jordy Freed from Sony Corporation of America shared his journey from jazz saxophone and building websites to public relations and marketing. Twists and turns took him to radio, Blue Note, Grey Advertising, and finally to Sony. He shares the stories of his twists and turns and the challenges of managing and growing diverse brands.  Jordy talks about what he's excited about now and what is changing the workflow of creators.Guest: Jordy Freed, Head of Partner Marketing & Strategy, Brand & Business Development, Video & Sound Products, Sony Corporation of AmericaAs the Head of Partner Marketing & Strategy, Brand & Business Development, Video & Sound Products at Sony Corporation of America, Jordy Freed leads marketing, business development, and communication strategy for the multinational company. A talented sax player who considered becoming a professional musician, the Philly native got his start as a publicist for the jazz firm DL Media, held marketing and PR roles at Blue Note, and made a quick foray into advertising at the top firm Grey. Upon returning to Blue Note in 2016, he partnered with Sony on the creation of NYC’s Sony Hall, the first venue to feature Sony’s immersive music experience, 360RA. This led to an in-house position at Sony, where he became the first U.S. employee on their Brand & Business Development team, with the remit to develop multi-million dollar business strategies. In this role, he has overseen collaborations with Doja Cat, Pink, Lil Nas X, Pharrell Williams, and Alicia Keys, struck deals to reimagine the David Bowie catalog in 360RA alongside immersive activations, led the company’s partnership with Amazon Music, and much more. He now leads marketing and business development for 360RA, as well as global branding activities for a host of sound products.Mentioned LinksSony Corporation of America: https://www.sony.com/en_us/SCA/index.htmlJordy Freed on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordyfreed

Michael Huppe, CEO of SoundExchange, fell in love with IP and came into music through law. He had played keyboard and trombone as a young person and ended up at the Recording Industry Association of America, which led him to SoundExchange. He shares how SoundExchange is also a tech company, needing to help and represent its members with opportunities from new technologies, as well as providing a system's backbone for a growing streaming music industry.Guest: Mike Huppe, President and CEO, SoundExchangeMichael Huppe is the President and Chief Executive Officer of SoundExchange, where he champions creators and spearheads the use of technology, data, and advocacy to power the future of music.Whether he is leading efforts to launch new lines of business or advocating on the steps of Capitol Hill for creator-first legislation, every aspect of Michael’s work is undertaken on behalf of SoundExchange’s larger mission: to ensure that creators are compensated fairly, efficiently, and accurately for their work. To date, SoundExchange has distributed more than $9 billion in digital performance royalties to over half a million music creators.In addition, Michael is an adjunct professor at Georgetown Law School, a frequent contributor, published author, lecturer, and active community member. His opinions have been published in Variety, Rolling Stone, The Wall Street Journal, Music Business Worldwide, Billboard, and The Hill, among other outlets. >What are you most passionate about with your current work? : "Being able to champion creators and helping to create a fairer, simpler, and more efficient music industry through innovative technology and data solutions." Mentioned Links: <SoundExchange website: https://soundexchange.org Mike at SoundExchange: https://www.soundexchange.com/team/michael-huppe/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhuppe/ and https://www.linkedin.com/company/soundexchange/ Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Huppe Follow Michael on Twitter at @MikeHuppe AI article in Forbes, 12-12-22, “Artificial Intelligence Has Big Implications for Ownership in the Music Industry”, https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/people/michaelhuppe/?sh=6dd42e5140b2 

Dave Ratner moved from skiing to managing bands into law, and now works with creative companies out of Boulder, CO to understand how to maneuver so many different new opportunities in music.  He talks of innovation in his own life as to how to add capabilities, learn by doing, and then add that in with great creatives. He shares wisdom in how to evaluate risk, plan for success, and use both common sense and contracts to decide what innovations to pursue and how to understand the questions under the legal hood.Guest: David Ratner, Managing Partner of Creative Law NetworkFollowing a career in the music businesses as a tour manager, publicist, band manager, and founder of his own management agency, Dave Ratner is now the Managing Partner of Creative Law Network, a boutique entertainment law firm in Colorado. Dave counsels clients throughout the music industry on everything from contracts and licensing, to intellectual property registration and protection, to dispute resolution. He is a graduate of Cornell University and the University of Denver College of Law. Dave is an adjunct professor at the University of Denver College of Law, Chair of the Entertainment & Sports Section of the Colorado Bar Association, Advisory Committee Chair of Colorado Attorneys for the Arts, Vice President of the Swallow Hill Music Board, Secretary of the Board of the Colorado Independent Venue Association, and speaks frequently on entertainment law issues throughout the country.What are you most passionate about with your current work? : Helping artists succeed! Mentioned Links:Creative Law Network: https://www.creativelawnetwork.com/dave-ratner/Twitter: https://twitter.com/creativelawnetLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daratnerInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/creativelawnetwork/

Many of our guests move on a nonlinear line between jobs and ideas.  Kevin in one of our few guests who has been with a single company -- CD Baby -- for a long period of time.  He shares his journey with both CD Baby and as an artist with Small Town Poets.  We talk about challenges exploring new technologies that don't yet have revenue models, educating creators on how to better engage and focus, and producing the long-time CD Baby Podcast with more than 300 episodes.  Guest: Kevin Breuner, CD Baby’s SVP of Engagement & EducationCD Baby’s SVP of Engagement & Education, Kevin Breuner, has spent over 25 years working in the music business, both as a recording artist and an industry professional. A San Diego native, Kevin went east to attend Belmont University in Nashville, TN where he studied Music and Music Business. After college he joined the Atlanta-based band Smalltown Poets who later signed a recording contract with a major label under the EMI umbrella. Their self-titled debut album received critical acclaim, selling over 200,000 copies and landing the guys with a Grammy nomination, plus multiple Dove Award nominations. Over their career, Smalltown Poets has amassed ten Top 10 songs on radio, with two reaching the coveted #1 spot.Now residing in Portland, Oregon, Kevin heads up CD Baby’s content marketing efforts and hosts their popular DIY Musician Podcast, with the goal of helping artist understand the vast opportunities they have in this new music economy.“I’m very passionate about helping artists understand that they can have a career on their own terms,” says Kevin. “I’ve been on a label and I've released music independently; I know what it feels like for an artist to pour their heart into a project and then send it out to the world.”Smalltown Poets (smalltownpoets.tv) recently celebrated the release of their 10th album titled NWxSE. Kevin has also had songs used by the NFL, Peacock, ABC, Rock N Roll Hall of Fame, and countless indie film productions.What are you most passionate about with your current work? : Helping artist understand how they can build a career on their own terms.Mentioned Links: Twitter: https://twitter.com/kbreuner Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kbreuner DIY Musician Podcast: https://podcast.cdbaby.com/ DIY Musician Blog: https://diymusician.cdbaby.com/ CD Baby: https://cdbaby.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-breuner-a512938 EDM article: The Changing Role of a Music Distributor in 2022: https://edm.com/industry/the-changing-role-of-a-music-distributor-in-2022 Small Town Poets: https://smalltown-poets.lnk.to/LITO and https://smalltownpoets.tv/

Jessica's journey -- what a ride!  Music change agent Jessica Powell shares her Roads Taken, ranging from following a now-ex boyfriend across countries to using her languages at CISAC and on a wild boar farm (!!) -- to Google London, Google Asia, and to her current AI and Stems startup, AudioShake.   And even that founding with her co-founder Luke Miner began as a "What If" exercise around bass lines and karaoke, before landing with Billy Mann and peermusic to experiment with AIs and stems to create a next-generation stem separation platform for artists and new creative technologies.  We ran into her at Music Tectonics' annual conference as AudioShake won the "Swimming with Narwhals" Tech Startup Pitch Competition, the latest in a recent series of wins for this new company.Guest: Jessica Powell, CEO and Co-Founder, AudioShakeJessica Powell is the CEO and co-founder of AudioShake, which uses AI to separate songs into instrumentals and stems so that they can be opened up for new opportunities in sync licensing, remixing, and emerging immersive, education, and social media formats. The company won Sony’s Demixing Challenge, and was called the “cleanest stem separation tech” by DJ Mag.Powell spent over a decade at Google, where she sat on the company's management team, reporting into the CEO, and ran the company’s global communications organization. She began her career at CISAC, the International Society of Authors and Composers, in Paris. She is also an author and essayist, whose work has have been published in the New York Times, TIME, WIRED, and elsewhere.Mentioned Links: Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/themoku and https://twitter.com/AudioshakeAI LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/audioshake/ and Website: https://audioshake.ai and https://indie.audioshake.ai Music Tectonics' Swimming with Narwhals Music Tech Startup Pitch Competition: https://www.musictectonics.com/pitchcompetition Billy Mann: https://www.billymann.com/ Mary Megan Peer and peermusic: https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/mary-megan-peer-named-as-new-chief-executive-officer-of-peermusic-as-ralph-peer-ii-shifts-to-executive-chair/ Donovan's Season of the Witch: https://youtu.be/GU35oCHGhJ0 CISAC (International Confederation of the Societies of Authors and Composers): https://www.cisac.org/ Her book, The Big Disruption: A Totally Fictional but Essentially True Silicon Valley Story - https://www.amazon.com/Big-Disruption-Jessica-Powell-ebook/dp/B07PK5S8D9/ Canadian Music podcast interview: https://www.canadianmusicianpodcast.com/episodes/audioshake-jessica-powell Webby Awards info: https://www.webbyawards.com/news/jessica-powell-co-founder-audioshake/ Magnetic Magazine interview: https://www.magneticmag.com/2022/02/industry-insider-interview-audioshake-co-founder-jessica-powell/ Hypebot article: https://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2022/08/how-to-make-money-from-song-stems-with-audioshakes-jessica-powell.html NYU articles (as author): https://www.nytimes.com/column/jessica-powell