10 Top Music Industry Podcasts That’ll Up Your Music Business Education

I feel like podcasts are something everyone gets into at some point in their life. A couple years ago I dove way into podcasts, and it was awesome.

I was on the road a lot, and sometimes I got sick of listening to music. I also crave educational content and like learning new things to discuss with friends.

There are podcasts for almost every subject imaginable. News, politics, religion, comedy, fandom, whatever. As it turns out, music nerds like to talk about music for hours on end and make podcasts too!

Here are my top ten favorite music-related podcasts. Some will help you think more clearly about your career and how to make music your life, others will help you think about your creative life, and still others provide interesting insights into some less-common areas of the industry.

Here are my top 10 favorite shows.

1. And The Writer Is… (For Musicians)

Ross Golan hosts And The Writer Is… – he is a multi-platinum selling songwriter with songs cut by Maroon 5, Justin Bieber, Nicki Minaj, Ariana Grande, Snoop Dogg, and so many more it’s almost redundant to name them.

Having a host this accomplished is incredibly interesting.

His interviews go deep into the process of songwriting, co-writing, and getting songs cut by other artists. He interviews other songwriters who've written songs that you have definitely heard before.

If you’re looking for insight into the craft, inspiration and different writing techniques you can employ, this is a great place to start.

If writing songs for other artists is something you’ve always wanted to do, this podcast removes some of the shroud of secrecy that surrounds that industry.

2. Creative Juice – One Of The Best Podcasts For Musicians?

Creative Juice goes deep into indie marketing.

Are you lost in Facebook-land? Swimming in your Insta-timeline? Distracted by Twitter?

This podcast goes in depth on things you want to hear about. Digital tour marketing, music marketing fundamentals, copyright law, building a music career from absolutely nothing, building a great Facebook page – all the stuff you want to know but don’t know how to learn.

The podcast is affiliated with Indiepreneur – a service that teaches aspiring musicians about building a career. Be aware that this is the sponsor of the show – I don’t find the marketing over the top, but it’s present.

3. The Music Industry Blueprint

The Music Industry Blueprint is hosted by Rick Barker, who broke Taylor Swift. No big deal or anything.

Rick has an inspiring story about overcoming drug addiction and homelessness and building a music industry empire from the ground up.

The whole podcast is dedicated to showing artists how to build their career and ultimately partner with a label.

He’ll also cover major developments in the music industry, interview interesting people, but mostly, he’s giving good advice away for free.

4. The Third Story

The Third Story is a weekly podcast featuring long-form interviews with all types of creatives. This includes musicians and artists from all genres, recording and mix engineers, writers, filmmakers, visual artists, industry professionals, and more.

The Third Story is especially worth listening to if you appreciate the art of a good interview. Leo knows where to take his guests and how to get good nuggets of wisdom out of them.

Leo is a jazz musician, and if you have any interest in jazz, listening to him talk with other jazz artists (both current and legacy) is a real treat.

5. Kreative Kontrol

Kreative Kontrol is a bit of a personal favorite, as it features in-depth interviews with many of my favorite Canadian artists.

I love hearing some of my favorite, lesser-known artists go in on their demoing process, their thoughts on creativity in general, and how they perceive a career in the music industry.

Vish Khanna is a great interviewer, and nerdy in all of the right ways.

I specifically recommend the interviews with Leif Vollebeck and Andy Shauf.

6. Don’t Keep Your Day Job

Singer-songwriter Cathy Heller hosts Don’t Keep Your Day Job.

This podcast is full of fantastic inspiration and healthy reminders to keep at it and believe in yourself – but not in a kitschy way.

She has frank conversations with successful creative entrepreneurs (not just musicians, but many types of creatives) and then tries to home in on practical steps that will help you build the life you want to live.

Cathy is herself a successful creative, having found success licensing her music to TV, films and advertisements. She then started a music agency, and also began mentoring artists.

She interviews musicians, but also dancers, make-up artists, fashion designers, novelists and more.

7. Promoter 101

Dan Steinberg hosts Promoter 101. He started producing shows at the age of 16 and hasn’t stopped. He has booked shows with Jason Mraz, Avett Brothers, Keith Urban, Trailer Park Boys, and countless more.

If you’re an aspiring promoter, this should be required listening. I only listened to a few episodes and was blown away at how in-depth he could go into concert promoting.

The podcast’s success speaks for itself. Dan now goes on speaking tours around the U.S. and it has received a Billboard Music Summit Award.

Whether you’re promoting independently or trying to work for an established promoter, it’s worth checking out.

8. The Greg Noire Show

I love shows that interview people that never get interviews, but should be.

The Greg Noire Show interviews the industry’s best concert photographers. These people are usually under the radar, but they work very closely with some of the biggest artists in the world.

Greg and his guests swap stories and shoot the breeze talking about life in the industry, and usually drink a few glasses of whiskey in the process. It’s worth a listen, and there are currently only nine episodes, so it’s easy to get caught up.

9. Song Exploder

Song Exploder is already very popular, partly because it’s accessible to anyone.

Every episode puts a magnifying glass on one song and picks it to pieces. They’ll go in on everything from the songwriting to the production to the mix to the instrumentation.

It’s completely fascinating, and super addictive. You’ll end up coming across songs that you love, and gain a whole new appreciation for them, or you’ll end up gaining a new appreciation for songs you don’t love!

10. Scorecast

If you’re interested in making music for film, television, or video games, then Scorecast is for you.

Film composers Deane Ogden and Brian Ralston talk news and give their opinions on the stats of the music-for-media industry.

They’ll review soundtracks, talk about hot-button issues in the industry, review gear, talk about geography in relation to the industry, and more.

I love it when podcasts go in deep on very specific corners of the industry. It’s all interesting and worth listening to, and is made more interesting if that specific corner happens to be yours.

10 Top Music Industry Podcasts That’ll Up Your Music Business Education Conclusion

Those are some of the best music business podcasts around. Which are your favorites? Let us know in the comments below. 🙂