Beatseeker

At Beatseeker, we love music and we love games, so combining them in interesting ways is bound to get our attention. Our guest today blurs the lines between music creation and video games and he has even developed an arcade-style ‘Beat Machine’ which puts musical creativity at the centre of any private or public space. 

Meet Tim Shaw, AKA Tim Exile, a producer and performer of electronic music spanning drum and bass, IDM, breakcore...

If administered correctly, can music be used as medicine? We reached out to a fascinating company called MediMusic for some answers. MediMusic creates individualized playlists that reduce heart rate and influence the Vagus nerve to stimulate a positive physio-endocrine response. The software uses algorithms to automatically create playlists based on a range of academic data on how people consume music –like age, gender and  nationa...

Ever get the chills when listening to some amazing music? It used to be something that occurred accidentally but is now being engineered by artists and influencers into a more potent form called ASMR.  ASMR or Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response, has captured the attention of the Internet with millions watching viral clips of whispered voices, delicate hand movements or tapping. 

Our guide to ASMR is Giulia Poerio, an associate le...

The vast majority of people go to YouTube for video content on the web, but when it comes to music videos, Vevo is the OG. Jointly owned and operated by the big record labels, Vevo specializes in ​streaming music videos and artist-exclusive content. Even when you stream a music video from YouTube, chances are that it was served up by Vevo. 

Taking us inside the company is JP Evangelista, Vevo’s Senior Vice President of Content, Pro...

Music and other media are becoming increasingly globalized. Not so long ago, it was rare to discover music that originated far from your home. But now it’s increasingly easy to discover music, movies and TV shows made anywhere in the world. We now watch shows like the Korean hit Squid Game and listen to Puerto Rican sensation Bad Bunny without giving it much thought.  

To explain the rapid globalization of music and culture, we rea...

The pandemic caused many of us to work from home. For most people this wasn’t a big deal but if you’re a world renowned composer who needs to collaborate with a big symphony, a zoom meeting just isn’t going to cut it. Today you’ll hear about a very unique work from home story that inspired a novel workaround. Like many pandemic innovations, it turns out this workaround had lasting benefits long after things have returned to normal.

It seems like there’s little room to enter the music streaming market with companies like Spotify, Apple, Amazon and Tencent dominating global market share, but innovators always seem to find a way in. Tuned Global is a B2B streaming technology provider that helps companies launch their own streaming services. Their technology has been used by some of the big names, including the UFC, Warner, Universal and Sony Music Group.

Joini...

Live streamed concerts gained some momentum during the pandemic, but will people keep attending now that things have returned to normal? To help us answer this, we spoke to the industry leader in live streaming - Kiswe. Kiswe’s two-way video technology enables audiences to both consume and contribute to live digital content. They have delivered the world’s largest digital pay-per-view events and serve some of the top sports, media,...

Music is an important tool for sports teams to get fans - and players -  amped up for a game. The tunes need to rock the arena to keep the energy level high and a DJ needs to pick the right song to match each game situation. We wondered what it must be like to be a pro sports DJ: what’s involved in preparing and what it’s like to spin tunes for a big game. Taking us behind the scenes is music producer and DJ, Cale Granton.

Cale has...

The launch of Napster in June of 1999 ushered in a new era for the music industry. Music was pulled kicking and screaming into the digital era and the demise of the CD format was not long off. The subsequent collapse in revenues for music, caused the industry to reluctantly embrace streaming platforms like Spotify it also caused far reaching ripple effects we are still living with today in both music and culture at large.

Here to e...

The connection between music and human beings runs deeper than you might think. Humans are innately musical beings - and our relationship with music has been deeply intertwined since the homo sapiens first emerged. Our guest today is Michael Spitzer, who boldly makes the case that music is the most important thing we ever did; and is in fact a fundamental part of what makes us human.

Michael is a British musicologist and professor ...

At Beatseeker, we’re constantly looking for new ways to discover good tunes. HotDrop is a new app that guides music lovers and discoverers through a feed of underground indie music. In their words, HotDrop “... keeps your music taste fresh with millions of new songs you've never heard before.”

Here to tell us how it all works is HotDrop’s CEO Max Goldberg. Max and his co-founder Steven Segel founded the company in their Indiana Uni...

Any concertgoer will tell you that good tickets are hard to come by, cost an arm and a leg and charge an obscene amount of service fees. Ticketmaster has a firm stranglehold on the business of concert ticketing and ever since merging with promoter and venue operator Live Nation in 2010, critics have pointed to an unfair marketplace for consumers. Here to break down the problem is Krista Brown, one of the people fighting to break up...

Classical music is making a big comeback. More and more people - including the younger generation - are enjoying music that was written hundreds of years ago. Do recent tech developments, like streaming and social media have something to do with reawakening these age-old works?

Here to help us understand the classical revival is Jess Gillam. Jess is the first ever saxophonist to be signed to Decca Classics and her debut album “Rise...

Today’s episode is our year end wrap-up where we look at the biggest tech trends impacting music and we contemplate where things may be headed in 2023 and beyond. We wanted to discuss the music metaverse, the state of Web3, the increasing popularity of old material and ‘streaming fatigue’. We discuss these developments with legendary storyteller Alan Cross.

Alan is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consulta...

Can the music industry come together to lower our carbon footprint and save the planet? A unique organization is working to transform the music industry to address our climate emergency because in their words, there is #NoMusicOnaDeadPlanet”. Here to tell us about the initiative is Fay Milton.

Fay is co-founder of Music Declares Emergency, a group of artists, music industry professionals and organizations that stand together to dec...

Nashville. Seattle. New Orleans. These are but a few examples of cities that have organically developed incredible music scenes. But in fact, any city can encourage their local music scene so residents can benefit culturally, economically and in a host of other ways. Today we speak with Shain Shapiro who helps cities understand these benefits and create the right policies to enable them.

Shain is the founder of Sound Diplomacy and ...

Biology would teach us that animal noises are purely functional - the sounds animals make for attracting mates or warning of danger are evolutionary adaptations necessary for surviving in the wild but nothing more. Our guest today contends the story is more complex than what you learned in bio class. Animals can make music and it’s even possible to jam with them.

To help us sort out this musical jungle is David Rothenberg - a profe...

Heavy metal music might not conjure up images of positive mental health, but research shows that for some people, a little metal might be just what the doctor ordered. It’s time to challenge those negative stereotypes and learn about the health benefits of metal. While we’re at it, we’re going to find out why sharks love heavy metal too.

Joe Daly is an award-winning music journalist who joins us today to explain the healthy metal p...