The Music Lens Podcast

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Happy Pride Month!
We're spotlighting two groundbreaking LGBTQ+ artists who helped pave the way for generations to come. First, we dive into the legacy of Ma Rainey, the “Mother of the Blues,” whose bold lyrics and unapologetic identity made her a trailblazer in early American music. Then, we explore the story of Jobriath, the glam rock pioneer whose short but impactful career in the 1970s challenged norms and opened doors for queer representation in rock. Join us as we celebrate their contributions, impact, and the importance of v...

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We’re recapping our CMA Fest experience—from stormy setbacks to sweet puppy snuggles and, of course, nonstop country music. Tune in as we share the highs, the lows, and everything in between from one of the biggest weekends in country music!

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After a recap of Eric Church's one-of-a-kind show at The Pinnacle, we're diving into the basics of a record label contract. Join us as we break down the basics, from key beginner terms to a few advanced ones that every artist should understand before signing a deal.

Resources:

What a Record Label Deal Looks Like

Recording Contracts Terminology

Recording Contracts Explained

All You Need To Know About The Music Business - Donald S. Passman

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Step into the hazy hills of Los Angeles and uncover the story of Laurel Canyon — the unlikely neighborhood that became the epicenter of a musical revolution. In this episode, we dive into how this tucked-away enclave in the Hollywood Hills transformed into a creative sanctuary during the 1960s and '70s, attracting legends like Joni Mitchell, The Byrds, Frank Zappa, Crosby, Stills & Nash, The Mamas & the Papas, and more.

Resources:

'The Truth Doesn't Rhyme'

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The 60th American Country Music Awards was more than just a celebration of 2024’s biggest stars — it was a tribute to six decades of country music history. This week on the podcast, we’re breaking down the night: the standout performances, the surprising wins (and snubs), and the fashion moments that had us talking.

From heartfelt tributes to the future of the genre, we’re recapping all the highlights and sharing our unfiltered thoughts on what made this milestone show one to remember.

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This week, we’re unpacking some of the freshest drops in music and major tour announcements. Tune in as we explore Eric Church’s bold new album Evangeline vs. The Machine, Maddie & Tae’s heartfelt release Love & Light, plus the buzz around Katy Perry’s Lifetimes Tour and Beyoncé’s epic Cowboy Carter Tour.

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Festival season is officially underway — Coachella and Stagecoach have already set the stage, and now it’s our turn to join the celebration in our own way. In this fun-filled episode, we kick things off by designing our ultimate dream festivals— complete with fantasy lineups, fun names, and all the vibes we wish we could experience in real life.

But the party doesn’t stop there! After curating our personal mega-festivals, we dive into a music-themed board game that puts our knowledge and creativity to the test. It’s a laid-back, laughter-f...

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This week on The Music Lens Podcast, we’re trading music business talk for neon lights and rooftop bars. Join us as we recap an unforgettable night on Broadway in Nashville—made even more wild by storms, downpours, and a full-on tornado warning.

But that’s not all! We also break down our night at an Ian Munsick concert at Nashville's newest music venue, The Pinnacle, where modern country met mountain soul in the best way possible. Whether you're a die-hard fan or new to his music, you'll want to hear our ta...

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In part two of music production DIY, we're discussing the last two steps to producing a song: mixing and mastering. Join us to hear about the difference between the two, setting levels, EQ, compression, and more!

Resources

Avid How To Mix Music

LANDR How To Mix Music

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Following a discussion into the nominees for the 60th ACM Awards, we're turning our attention to a cornerstone of Nashville's songwriting scene: the writers' round.
If you've ever played—or watched—one, you know it's a special kind of magic. But do you know where the format came from or how it started? In this episode, we explore the roots of the writers' round and how it became a beloved tradition in Music City. Tune in and uncover the story behind the round.

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With today's technology, anyone can learn how to produce music on a relatively low budget. From which equipment you need to setting up and actually recording, we're discussing what you need to do to get started producing music by at home!

Resources:

LANDR Music Production

LANDR Home Studio

LANDR 50 Best MIDI Controllers

How To Set Recording Levels

AVID: How To Produce Music

AVID: How To Edit Audio

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There's always something (or many, many things) going on in the music industry, so we're taking this episode to catch up on some of its current events. Join us for some new music, some award shows, Broadway happenings, and more!

Resources

Billboard Women in Music

Sabrina Carpenter

Anna Vaus

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When you hear the term "ghostwriter", you probably think of books, but did you know that ghostwriting happens in music industry too? Join us for a discussion about what a ghostwriter is and how it differs from a work-for-hire in this week's episode.

Resources

Famous Artists Who Moonlight As Ghostwriters

The Power of Ghostwriting in Music

Invisible Musicians

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Happy Women's History Month! It's our second year celebrating and we're discussing updated statistics on women in music as well as highlighting women who achieved great success in the past year.

Resources:

Barbie Career of the Year

Inclusion in the Recording Studio

2024's Top Women in Music

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Happy Black History Month! Join us as we discuss the lives and achievements of two important Black artists in the history of recorded music, the first commercially recorded African American, George W. Johnson, and the Queen of the Blues, Mamie Smith.

Resources:

NPR

Hearing the Americas: George W. Johnson

Hearing the Americas: Mamie Smith

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After Chappell Roan used her Best New Artist acceptance speech time at the Grammy's to advocate for labels to pay artists a living wage and provide health insurance, we decided to talk about how artists currently get paid by labels with what is known as advances as well as go over some healthcare resources that are available for artists.

Resources:

Recording Contracts Explained

Unraveling Music Artist Advances

Healthcare Resources For Music Artists

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It's hard to believe we've been podcasting for a whole year already! Join us as we celebrate our one year anniversary by discussing the 2025 Grammy Awards.

Resources:

2025 CMT Awards Canceled

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You can also follow Alex and Katie on all socials at: @alexallegramusic and @katiefeemusic

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It's February and that means Valentine's Day is right around the corner, so we took a look at the history of love songs this week. But before that, hear us talk about our experience at Kelsea Ballerini's sold-out Bridgestone Arena show on her first ever arena tour!

Resources:

The World's Oldest Love Poem

Deconstructing The Love Song

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The 67th Grammy Awards will take place on Sunday, February 2nd in Los Angeles. To prepare for the big event, we're giving you an update on LA wildfire relief before diving into the history of the Grammy Awards as well as the award process and some fun facts about the gilded gramophones. Check out the episode description for places you can donate to LA wildfire relief efforts.

Donate to LA Wildfire Relief:
Red Cross
Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles
Pasadena Humane Society
Musicares<...

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After a discussion about the potential banning of TikTok (this was recorded the day prior to when the ban was supposed to begin), we are back to our Artist Inventory series with a look at music producers. What is a producer and what do they do? If you're an artist, how do you find one to work with? We're covering all that and more in this episode.

Resources:
Lemon8 Article
Music Production: What Does a Music Producer Do?

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We're returning to our series of taking a look at the history of different cities that are music hubs in this episode! This time, we're covering New York City: home to Broadway, but also places like Tin Pan Alley and the Brill Building.

Resources:
History of Music in NYC Timeline
A Walking Tour of Music Landmarks in New York City
A Look Back at 100 Years of Pop Music in NYC

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Happy 2025! Join us for a discussion on how you can get you and your career prepped for the year by turning your new years resolutions into SMART goals, creating vision boards, and taking a look at your show booking/music release plans for the year.

Resources:
A Psychologist Explains The Power Of 'Vision Boarding' For Success

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The end of the year is a time to reflect and to make plans for the year ahead. After a discussion about new music we missed talking about in previous episodes, we're using this episode to do both! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from The Music Lens Podcast! Enjoy this final episode of 2024 and we will see you in 2025!

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Happy Holidays! After a discussion about this year's CMA Awards, we're taking this episode to have a holly jolly Christmas time by playing a guess the Christmas song game and learning the backstory of several Christmas classics.

Resources:
The Stories Behind 24 of Your Favorite Christmas Songs

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We're diving back into our guide to releasing a single this episode! Join us for a discussion on how to promote your new music utilizing social media, advertising, as well as a few other little-yet-important details for releasing music out into the world.

Have a question, story, or feedback to share? Email us at: themusiclenspodcast@gmail.com

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You can also follow Alex and Katie on all socials at: @alexallegramusic and @katiefeemusic

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Last week we began a discussion about how to release a single as an independent artist. One of the things you need to do is submit your music to a distribution service for them to distribute to streaming platforms. What is a distribution service and what are some differences between the main companies independent artists tend to use? We're discussing it all now!

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So you’ve written a song that you love and you want to release it out into the world. In order for the song to have the best shot at being successful, you're going to need to plan out your release. This week, we're back to bringing you some educational content with a guide to releasing a single as an independent artist.

Resources
CD Baby Release Plan Generator

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For our last episode of Spooky Season, we are reading to you musician horror stories that Alex found on Reddit.

Have a question, story, or feedback to share? Email us at: themusiclenspodcast@gmail.com

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First of all, we'd like to thank Beyonce. We're keeping the spooky and mysterious vibes going this week with a look into a few music conspiracy theories. Is Elvis alive and well and preaching down in Arkansas? Was Paul McCartney killed in a car crash and replaced in The Beatles? Maybe, maybe not. Listen to our discussion and let us know your thoughts.

Resources
The Week
Time Magazine
HubPages
Time: Paul is Dead
The Strangest Musical Conspiracy Theories

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Happy Spooky Season! We're celebrating by sharing stories of haunted places in Nashville, sightings of the ghosts of musicians, and more. Join us for a frightfully good time.

Resources
Belmont Mansion
Haunted Ryman Auditorium
Ryman Auditorium: Nashville Ghosts
6 of Country Music's Spookiest Tales and Creepiest Coincidences
Ghosts of Country Music
The Ghosts of Famous Musicians
John Lennon Ghost

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We're back to our Artist Inventory series with a discussion on what an artist needs to establish their artist brand online. From social media handles to websites, tune in to hear how to get your digital branding as an artist off to a great start.

Resources
Donate to the Red Cross's Hurricane Relief fund here

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The third installment of our songwriting series, we're looking at a couple of songwriting books that are great for songwriters to read.

Have a question, story, or feedback to share? Email us at: themusiclenspodcast@gmail.com

Follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube at: @themusiclenspodcast

You can also follow Alex and Katie on all socials at: @alexallegramusic and @katiefeemusic

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We're wrapping up the month of September by discussing some current events within the music industry including the VMAs, Miranda Lambert's new album, lawsuits, and CMA nominations.

Resources
Miranda Lambert discussing "Run"
BMI Files Rate Court Action Against SiriusXM
Miley Cyrus Copyright Lawsuit "Flowers"
CMA Nominations

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AI is becoming more and more prevalent not only in everyday life, but also in the music industry. We're delving into how AI is revolutionizing music creation and promotion, including the positives and negatives, as well as some legal cases aiming to protect the rights of artists against harmful uses of AI.

Resources
Rolling Stone Blog
Randy Travis Article
Artists Submit Letter to AI Developers
Tennessee Becomes First State To Protect Artists Against AI
Major Record Companies Sue Suno, Udio for "Mass Infringement" of...

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Chappell Roan has recently come forward with a statement to the public about how artists are also humans who deserve to be treated as such. While artists choose to pursue careers that put them in the public eye, that doesn't mean they don't deserve privacy and respect. We're discussing her post as well as putting in our two cents on the topic of humanizing artists.

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This week is a catch up on some of the new music that's come out recently as well as a discussion of how virality (is that a word? It is now) of music can determine the direction an artist's projects take.

Have a question, story, or feedback to share? Email us at: themusiclenspodcast@gmail.com

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As an independent artist, you do not have to wait to be invited to open for major artists to go on tour. You can build your own tour from the ground up playing smaller shows of your own! Check out the episode to get a step-by-step guide to DIY touring.

Resources:
How To Write a Good Booking Inquiry Email - Nashville Tour Stop Podcast episode

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The reality of independent artists in today's music industry is that it is tough to have music as their sole income. Many artists work "day jobs" or side hustles in addition to music in order to make ends meet and fund their careers. In this episode, we're discussing some ideas for side hustles you may want to consider while working to make music the full time career that you want it to be. 

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Do you know who Tanner Elle Schneider is? What about Reginald Dwight or Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta? You may not know them by these names, but you probably know their stage names of Elle King, Elton John, and Lady Gaga. Join us for a game of guess who before diving into the Hollywood Hair Theory with us.

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It's the final part of our first half of 2024 new music recap! Let us know if you enjoyed these episodes and if you have suggestions for new music for us to review for the second half of the year.

Have a question, story, or feedback to share? Email us at: themusiclenspodcast@gmail.com

Follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube at: @themusiclenspodcast

You can also follow Alex and Katie on all socials at: @alexallegramusic and @katiefeemusic

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