360 Indian Classical Vocalist Crossover Artist – Roopa Mahadevan (Revisited)
This rewind episode features my conversation with Indian classical and crossover vocalist Roopa Mahadevan. We recorded it in February 2021,...
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The Unstarving Musician's Podcast
Features weekly interviews with musicians an industry professionals who share their experience and expertise on recording, touring, getting gigs, marketing, and much more. It’s the podcast i...
Episodes
20 of 360 episodes
359 Is Indie Radio Still Relevant?
In 2017, I published a blog post asking, "Is indie radio still relevant?" It was a terrible post. I was preparing to interview D. Grant Smit...
358 How to Build an Audience in a New Market When You Know No One – Janette Berrios, Symphonic
Every distribution company's international playbook assumes resources an independent artist doesn't have. In this conversation, Janette Berr...
357 George Macias – Capturing Ownership, Splits, & Metadata Before Song Royalties Can Go Uncollected
George Macias is co-founder of Lumoza, a free music rights-registration platform for independent artists, where you upload your song, and it...
356 Enough vs. More – Dan Scott on Financial Freedom for Independent Artists
Dan Scott lives at the intersection of creativity, law, and financial freedom. Equal parts artist, strategist, and advisor, he has spent his...
355 Cody DeLong's Fan Data Playbook – VIP, Pre-Sales, and Direct-to-Fan Revenue
Most independent artists walk away from a live show with whatever the ticket sales and merch table produced. Cody DeLong has spent more than...
354 Weariness Isn't Failure — Lynz Crichton on Walking Away vs. Staying In
Lynz Crichton makes her fourth appearance on The Unstarving Musician. She's a singer-songwriter based in Nottingham, England, and the creato...
353 The Only Opinion That Matters – Pete Ganbarg on What Independent Artists (and A&R) Get Wrong
After nearly 16 years at Atlantic Records (the last six as President of A&R) Pete Ganbarg has a clearer view than almost anyone of what sepa...
352 Analog on Purpose — How Terry Carleton Built a Career Too Busy to Market
What does it look like to build a recording career so busy you don't have time to market it — and do it entirely without computers? Terry Ca...
351 Learning Music Theory as an Adult Musician — A Practical Framework
Most music theory education is built for nineteen-year-olds in a conservatory. If you're a working musician who's been gigging for years on...
350 The Event Band Income Model — Cory Wade
Most musicians think of wedding and corporate gig work as a compromise — something you do until your "real" music career takes off. Cory Wad...
349 The House Concert Business Framework: How Independent Artists Create Their Own Market
Most independent musicians are competing for the same shrinking pool of venue slots, hoping someone books them. House concerts flip that mod...
348 Why Sync Licensing Is a Relationship Business – with Chris SD of Sync Songwriter
Most independent musicians trying to break into sync licensing are focused on the wrong problem. They're concerned about mix quality, metada...
347 Physical Products That Actually Make Money – Thom Skarzynski
Independent musicians with loyal fanbases are leaving significant revenue on the table by treating physical products as afterthoughts. Vinyl...
346 Christal Hector – How Independent Venues Actually Evaluate Artists
Most independent artists treat venue booking like throwing darts in the dark—mass outreach with generic pitches, hoping something sticks. Ch...
345 The Session Musician's 50-Year Career Blueprint with Johnny Thirkell
Most musicians dream of stability. Johnny Thirkell built a 50-year career with David Bowie, Paul McCartney, George Michael, and The Who - st...
344 The Economics of Niche Markets for Creatives
What if the best business decision you could make is accepting your music is "unmarketable"? Not in the sense that nobody wants it—but that...
343 The Pre-Streaming Revenue Model: Dollars Before Pennies
Most independent artists release their albums everywhere immediately—Spotify, Apple Music, every streaming platform. But what if that's back...
342 What I Learned in 2025
Welcome to 2026. In the last episode, I shared what I'm grateful for and the personal questions I'm sitting with. Today, I'm sharing the str...
341 Gratitude, Growth, and What I'm Learning (Holiday Edition)
Every year, I write up a gratitude list. This year, the list came easily - but it's mixed with what I'm learning, because growth and gratitu...