Frequently Asked Questions

Q1: What is the Innovating Music podcast?

The Innovating Music podcast is an podcast series originally hosted by the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music and the UCLA Center for Music Innovation. It focuses on the ever-changing landscape of the music industry, exploring new technologies, social shifts, and business models. The podcast aims to bring conversations that are thought-provoking and examine how technology impacts our music lives, collaborations, distribution, and ways of thinking and engaging with music. It also looks at the futures in music, including changing systems and the impact on live performance and communities, both locally and globally.

Q2: Who hosts the Innovating Music podcast?

The podcast is hosted by Dr. Gigi Johnson, who is now a retired faculty member from the Music History and Industry Program at UCLA’s Herb Alpert School of Music. The is the Managing Director of Rethink Next, a thinktank and creative educational program producer.

Q3: Where can I listen to Innovating Music?

You can find the Innovating Music podcast everywhere you listen to podcasts. This includes platforms like Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and Spotify. You can also find it on Radio.com and Pandora. For more information and to subscribe, visit the official website at innovatingmusic.com.

Q4: How can I engage with the Innovating Music podcast or suggest guests?

The podcast actively welcomes listener engagement:

You are invited to suggest events, places, spaces, cities the podcast team could engage with or visit.
You can also suggest guests you’d like to hear on the podcast and other topics you’d like them to cover.
Share the podcast with friends and colleagues.
If you listen on Apple Podcasts, please take a minute to review the podcast, as this helps algorithms recommend it to others.
You can find contact details and follow-up information on the podcast’s websites, which are linked in the show notes of each episode.

Q5: What is the Maremel Podcast Network?

The Maremel Podcast Network is now Rethink Next, the network that hosts “Innovating Music”. This network also features other podcasts such as Amplify Music Conversations (which originated from Amplify Music Conferences during the pandemic) and Creative Innovators.

Episodes

Connecting Creators and Social Impact with Fans with Jeremy Gruber, Friends at Work

Aug 5, 2019

Jeremy Gruber enjoys connecting artists, creators, and social impact forces directly with fans. He shared his adventures with Friends at Work, working with not only John Legend and Lindsey Stirling, but also emerging artists. We discussed the current state of...

Data and Emotions Painting on a Canvas with Shelita Burke

Jul 29, 2019

Shelita joins the podcast to share how as an artist she uses data and emotions to connect with fans and create community -- and to create music itself. Most of us think about data and music about marketing -- which she has done well to attract more than 175,000...

Music Cities and Evolving Songs with Storm Gloor, CU Denver

Jul 9, 2019

Storm Gloor has been tracking how songs succeed since he was a young teen . . . and now explores anything from how music cities can succeed and how one-hit wonders thrive (or don't). We enjoyed talking about how cities create and sustain music scenes with help from...

Social Justice Melded with Music with Rehan Choudhry

May 27, 2019

Rehan Choudhry joined our podcast to discuss the upcoming second year of Emerge LV -- and to share his journey on how he re-melds social justice and music in this Facebook-embedded era. He walked us down his path through college, Homeland Security, Atlantic City, the...

Complexity on the Road with Paul Bradley, Eventric

May 13, 2019

Paul Bradley joined the podcast to talk about his adventures creating the tour management software system, Eventric. He shared how he started in band management and tour operations, along with being a drummer on tour, and created databases on a Compaq computer on...

Changing Limiting Beliefs with Laura Escudé

May 6, 2019

In this week's podcast, we enjoy Laura Escudé taking us on a tour of live performance music . . . and touring . . . and breaking negative beliefs about performance and ability through tech tools. She mixes Ableton Live, her own violin skills, tools like the Unreal...

An Invitation Amplify Music in Los Angeles

Apr 22, 2019

This brief episode features our host and Center director, Gigi Johnson, sharing an invitation to join us in person at UCLA (while supplies last) or via Zoom online for our May 15 Conference on Amplifying Music in Our Los Angeles. Gigi shares the questions that...

Down the Music Data Rabbit Hole with Amadea Choplin, Pex

Apr 1, 2019

In this week's podcast, Amadea Choplin, the COO from Pex, takes us down the online music data rabbit hole. She shares how official music distribution is just the beginning of the adventures of distributed songs, and how on average 99% of top artists' music use has...

Marrying Tech and Opera with Marivi Valcourt

Mar 26, 2019

Marivi is connecting digital marketing to a more traditional, low-tech, multilingual art form. She shares practical ideas for building local audience while learning from other cities and building tourism tools for our local opera scene. She also shares ways to work...