Episodes
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Big news! The Recordings Academy announced that in 2027, the show will move to Disney and be broadcasted on ABC, Disney+, and Hulu in a new deal worth over $500 million. This is a huge loss for CBS, the home to music's biggest night since the early 1970s.
In this episode we break down the reasons for the move, along with upcoming storylines from the 2025 Grammys in February. I'm joined by LA Times pop music critic, Mikael Wood!
This episode was brought to you by elgato, my go-to for podcasting tools. Learn more here.
This episode was brought to you by FUGA, a Downtown-owned company empowering independent music. Learn more here.
Make sure you check out our Chartmetric Stat of the Week!
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Here's my fireside chat with the Founder and CEO of EMPIRE, Ghazi, live from the Trapital Summit. We talked about the success behind his label's hit record, Shaboozey "A Bar Song (Tipsy)," the rise of indie music, and why he will never sell his company.
We'll be sharing more of our conversations from the summit on this feed, so stay tuned for that!
This episode is brought to you by music creation platform Splice, the world’s best sample library. Learn more here.
Listen in for our Chartmetric Stat of the Week.
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There's arguably no executive more synonymous with the music business than Clive Davis. His influence still shapes the industry today. From his creative and business balance, to the outlook for newer genres, and the salacious scandals. In today's episode, we break it all down with Zack O'Malley Greenburg, who interviewed Davis years ago for his 2012 autobiography. Hope you enjoy!
Sponsors:
TIDAL: This episode is brought to you by TIDAL, who are building the hub for artists to manage and grow their careers. Learn more here.
Listen for our Chartmetric Stat of the Week
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Can you fill out Trapital's short 5-min annual survey? We want to learn more about you and get your feedback to help make Trapital even better.
Trapital has evolved quite a bit. Our newsletter and podcast continue to get great feedback. Our reports and events have become a cornerstone of what we offer to the community.
Your survey responses will help shape the topics we cover, events we plan, and the sponsors and partners we include that will be most relevant to you and your businesses.
Can you spend 5 minutes and fill out our survey? It's quick, short, and to the point. Even if you've filled out our surveys in previous years, we still want to hear from you.
Thanks in advance! We'll be back next week with a new episode.
Here's the survey:
https://trapital.typeform.com/to/q6mDOFEt
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It's crisis management time for Drake. He's in rare territory right now as his reputation has taken a hit. What should his next moves be? What's realistic and what's not? How did we get to this point in the first place?
I'm joined by journalist and author, Sowmya Krishnamurthy. We break down Drake's career and what's ahead for Aubrey Graham. Enjoy!
Thank you to our sponsors:
Songtrust - Start your music publishing journey today
Chartmetric - Providing our Stat of the Week!
Check out Sowmya's book, Fashion Killa: How Hip-Hop Revolutionized High Fashion
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A few big updates on our Trapital Summit in LA on October 3! Tickets are available here. Use promo code RUNCIE for a discount.
You'll hear from Issa Rae, (writer, producer, actress), Denis Ladegaillerie, (Founder and CEO, Believe), Kakul Srivastava (CEO, Splice), Tunji Balogun (Chairman and CEO, Def Jam), Sherrese Clarke Soares (Founder and CEO, HarbourView Equity Partners), Eliah Seton (CEO, SoundCloud), and Troy Carter (Co-Founder and CEO, Venice Music), Larry Jackson, (Co-Founder and CEO, gamma.), Carletta Higginson, (EVP Chief Digital Officer, Warner Music Group), and Tatiana Cirisano, (Senior Analyst and Consultant, MIDiA).
Thanks again to the companies who supported our summit to help make it possible. Our platinum partner is Splice, gold partners are Tidal and Warner Music Group, silver partners are SoundCloud and Too Lost, and our bronze partner is Luminate.
We still have some tickets available. You can get them here using promo code RUNCIE for a 10% discount!
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Were you "silent" or "silenced"? We explore Oprah career, from her rise in broadcast, impactful television show, lucrative syndication deals, and how it helped her become a billionaire. We breakdown each of her business ventures, including her book club, magazine, OWN, and various partnerships with Weight Watchers and Apple TV+.
I'm joined by Zack O'Malley Greenburg, Listen wherever you get podcasts!
Episode sponsors:
-State Farm - the coverage for your small business needs: https://shorturl.at/Euwjl
-Chartmetric - providing our stat of the week! https://trapital.co/chartmetric/
Make sure you check out our Trapital Summit. Tickets are still available! https://trapital.co/summit/2024
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Whenever Will Page joins the show, we always go deep in a number of big topics:
has music reached "peak oil"?the case for completion in royalty fairnessgrowing impact of glocalization (winners and loser)Carole King and breadth, not depth, or catalogsWill is the author of Pivot, the former chief economist at Spotify, and a consultant for several companies in music. Hope you enjoy!
Episode sponsors:
-State Farm - the coverage for your small business needs: https://shorturl.at/Euwjl
-Chartmetric - providing our stat of the week! https://trapital.co/chartmetric/
Make sure you check out our Trapital Summit. Tickets are still available!
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Let's take a trip inside Sphere in Las Vegas. This is a story about James Dolan's wild idea coming to life. We discuss U2's expensive yet lucrative residency, the 'Postcard from Earth' that prints money, and the endless advertising opportunities, and more. We break down the business, strategy, and challenges for the entertainment venue.
I'm joined by Tati Cirisano from MIDiA Research to break it all down. Listen wherever you get podcasts!
Episode sponsors:
-Downtown Artist & Label Services - reach your fans wherever they are - https://trapital.co/downtown
-State Farm - the coverage for your small business needs: https://shorturl.at/Euwjl
-Chartmetric - providing our stat of the week! https://trapital.co/chartmetric/
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In May, the U.S. Justice Department sued Live Nation - Ticketmaster for "monopolizing markets across the live concert industry," and called for the two companies to be broken up. But the DOJ's lawsuit may be focused on the wrong solution to the problem it wants to solve.
In this episode, NYU Steinhardt professor Larry Miller and I break down the case, our issues with the lawsuit, and the best way to improve the concert business for consumers.
Learn more about the Trapital Summit here. Join us Oct 3 in LA!
This episode is presented by State Farm, the home for your small business needs. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.
Make sure you check out our Chartmetric Stat of the Week.
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StubHub has IPO plans this year, so it was the perfect time to breakdown the complicated, controversial, and crazy story of this ticket resale marketplace. We discuss its 25-year history, M&A, impact on the live concert business, and ways to improve the secondary ticketing experience for fans.
I'm joined by Tati Cirisano from MIDiA Research. Hope you enjoy!
Learn more about the Trapital Summit here. Join us Oct 3 in LA!
This episode is presented by State Farm, the home for your small business needs. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.
Make sure you check out our Chartmetric Stat of the Week.
Learn more about Alts music investor trip to Nashville!
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There are very few people in entertainment who move quite like 50 Cent. He's a true One of One, and the focus for today's episode.
We break down his origins in music. From Jam Master Jay to Trackmasters, from "How to Rob" to his mixtape run, the highs of Get Rich or Die Tryin', the brand deals, influence, drama, and where he is today. The man turned trolling into a full time profession.
I'm joined by Zack O'Malley Greenburg, friend of the pod, who interviewed 50 during his time at Forbes. Hope you enjoy!
Learn more about the Trapital Summit here. Join us Oct 3 in LA!
This episode is presented by State Farm, the home for your small business needs. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.
Make sure you check out our Chartmetric Stat of the Week.
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A handful of artists are having their moment. Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan, Coco Jones, Victoria Monet, the list goes on. Will these artists be as big as Beyonce? Who knows, but they broke through an industry that becomes harder and harder to break through.
But how does this change the strategy for the major labels? How are the companies outside of the label system handlling things differently. What do the economics of a true non-superstar model look like?
To break it all down, I'm joined by Tati Cirisano from MIDiA Research. We first visited this topic in 2022, but so much has changed since then. Hope you enjoy!
This episode is presented by State Farm, the home for your small business needs. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.
Make sure you check out Chartmetric Stat of the Week.
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We're introducing a new series in Trapital called One of Ones! We'll break down some of the most important moguls and executives in music, media, and entertainment.
Our first one is on Quincy Jones. We discuss how his upbringing shapes his strategy in business, his leadership style compared to Motown founder Berry Gordy, Michael Jackson, two truths and a lie, and more.
This episode is presented by State Farm, the home for your small business needs. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.
Make sure you check out Chartmetric Stat of the Week.
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We've all seen the headlines: another well-known artist struggles to sell tickets to their arena shows. But there are plenty of artists selling out those same venues. So what's really going on?
I'm joined by CAA agent Akin Aliu to break it all down. We discuss the post-pandemic touring landscape and the role of each stakeholder: artists, managers, agents, promoters, venues, and more. They each have different incentives that shape the economics, and the product that hits the streets.
This episode is presented by State Farm: the coverage for your small business needs. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.
Make sure you check out our Chartmetric Stat of the Week.
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Depending on who you ask, it's either the best or worst time to be an artist. There's plenty of evidence on both sides. Today, we're breaking down all of that and more.
I'm joined by beatBread's Peter Sinclair. We covered it all:
why it's the best time to be an artistbut why it's harder to be an omnipresent superstarthe role and perception of Spotify, YouTube, and DSPsmaking it in music today vs. the CD erathe impact of a great producer and a guest versewhy it's harder than ever to be the biggerThis was a jam packed episode. Hope you enjoy!
This episode is presented by State Farm. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.
Listen in for our Chartmetric stat of the episode!
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Let's dive deep into the world of A24, the film studio known for its distinctive approach to storytelling. We explore A24’s journey from a savvy film distributor to a powerhouse production studio with hits like "Moonlight" and "Everything, Everywhere, All at Once."
But A24 faces some headwinds: big investments with higher expectations, a string of underperforming releases, and pressure to expand to bigger budget IP.
How can the brand known for its mystique be able to maintain its unique positioning?
I'm joined by friend of the pod, Dr. Marcus Collins, to break it all down.
Make sure you listen for our Chartmetric Stat of the Week!
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The biggest stars in the world, like Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar, and Drake, have all the leverage to go independent, but they continue to work with the major labels. A big reason why is that they sign licensing deals. These deals have shifted over time, and become much more artists friendly, especially for the superstars in the streaming era.
We break down the different types of deals, how they’ve shifted over time, and unique case studies like Brent Faiyaz, Kanye West, and more.
I’m joined by Brian “Z” Zisook from Audiomack, who is a wealth of knowledge on this topic.
This episode is brought to you by EVEN. Buy the art from the artist. Learn more at https://get.even.biz/trapital
This episode is also brought to you by SymphonyOS, the marketing platform for today’s creative businesses. Learn more at https://symphony.to/trapital
Make sure you listen for our Chartmetric Stat of the Week!
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The market is booming for generative music. Suno raised $125M and Udio has raised over $10M. The tools are impressive, but they raise some important questions:
What data are these products trained on?Are startups in music incentivized to ask for permission?Is this what 'IG for music' looks like?Are these products or features?I'm joined by Tati Cirisano from MIDiA Research. Hope you enjoy listening.
Make sure you listen to our Chartmetric stat of the episode!
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NPR Tiny Desk is 15 years old and arguably stronger than ever. It helped Usher perform at the Super Bowl. It helped Tank and the Bangas break through to a Grammy nomination. And it elevated the perception of artists like T-Pain and Mac Miller.
But how does Tiny Desk maintain its influence? Any company can host a stripped-down acoustic series for artists to perform in their office. But even if they did, it wouldn't hit the same.
In this episode, we break down the dynamics that make Tiny Desk work, the tradeoffs that the show balances, how it maintains its status over time, and what the future may hold.
Listen to me and Tati Cirisano from MIDiA Research break it all down.
Make sure you listen to our Chartmetric stat of the episode.
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