Modern Musician Podcast

Glory St. Germain is the Founder and CEO of Ultimate Music Theory, an award-winning music education company dedicated to helping teachers and students master music theory. An international bestselling author of over 60 books, including Teach Music, Change Lives, she also created the UMT Certification Course and UMTC Elite Educator Program, empowering music teachers to elevate their teaching, increase their income, and build six-figure studios. A three-time TEDx speaker and entrepreneur, Glory is passionate about building meaningful business relationships, fostering collaboration, and helping musicians turn their expertise into sustainable, profitable businesses. In this episode, we discover how musicians can turn their passion into profit, diversify their income, and build a sustainable music business through strategic teaching, a growth mindset, and the power of community. Key Takeaways Build new income streams from your musical expertise: Discover Glory's POW system—Problem, Offer, Win-Win—and learn how to turn your skills into valuable offers that serve your audience while increasing your earning potential. Grow your teaching business and increase your income: Explore how group teaching, strategic pricing, and creative education models can help you reach more students and build a thriving, six-figure teaching studio. Develop the mindset and community needed for long-term success: Learn how continuous growth, collaboration, supportive relationships, and embracing technology can help you overcome business challenges and create a lasting impact. --- → Learn more about Glory and her work at: ultimatemusictheory.com Book an Artist Breakthrough Session with the Modern Musician team: https://streetteam.fm/masterclass

The music industry is fighting over who controls the future. Universal calls DistroKid an “AI slop pipeline.” Universal and Sony are suing Suno over its supposedly clean AI model. Meanwhile, session musicians are suing the labels themselves for a share of AI licensing revenue. Everyone is fighting over ownership, distribution, and compensation—but where does that leave independent artists? Michael Walker, Chris Saunders, Sol Gold, and guest artist Jason explore how AI is rewriting the rules of music, why Spotify is moving into artist development, and whether the next generation of gatekeepers will look suspiciously like the old ones. Along the way, we ask: Is AI destroying the democratization of music distribution? Can an AI model ever be truly free of copyrighted training data? Is AI-generated music fundamentally different from human creativity? Is Spotify becoming the new record label? Who deserves to get paid when AI companies license music? In this episode, we discuss Universal vs. DistroKid and the rise of AI-generated music, how AI could create new gatekeepers for independent artists, Suno’s $9 billion legal challenge from Universal and Sony, whether AI-generated training data can resolve copyright issues, the debate over AI creativity and human originality, Spotify’s Fresh Finds Forward artist development program, session musicians’ fight for a share of AI licensing revenue, Street Team’s announcement of free music distribution to 450+ stores for subscribers with AI disclosure requirements, and Samantha Dingle as this week’s Music Moment winner. Key Takeaways New gatekeepers are emerging: AI is making music creation easier, but platforms increasingly control distribution, discovery, and monetization. Don't rely on one platform: Diversify your channels instead of depending entirely on a single service. Build direct fan relationships: Create a loyal community you can reach beyond streaming platforms. Understand your rights and revenue: Know how your music is used, who profits from it, and where your income comes from. Own the fan relationship: The real power lies not just in who owns the music industry, but in who controls the connection between artists and their fans. --- → Build your fanbase and music career with Modern Musician. → Ready to build your audience? Book Your Breakthrough Session. → Want your music featured on The Artist Economy? Submit your Music Moment.

David Baird is the founder and CEO of Gigmor, a platform connecting musicians with live performance opportunities and helping independent artists monetize their talent. A serial entrepreneur, technology executive, and musician, David previously led America Online’s E-Commerce group, growing it to over $1 billion in revenue. He also founded Troubadour Digital Media, serving notable clients including music legend David Foster and Iron Chef star Cat Cora. With degrees from the University of Toronto and École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées in Paris, David continues performing with his soul band, Mojo Soul, and jazz ensemble, The Sultans of Swing. In this episode, David Baird explores how musicians can leverage AI, monetize their talent, and build sustainable careers without sacrificing their creativity and authenticity. Key Takeaways Turn your music into sustainable income: Discover how platforms like Gigmor help independent artists access live performance opportunities and explore new monetization strategies. Use AI to enhance your creativity, not replace it: Learn why embracing emerging technology can help musicians save time, experiment with new ideas, and adapt to a rapidly changing industry. Build a loyal community beyond streaming: Understand why authentic fan connections, live performances, and community support are essential to building a sustainable music career. --- → Learn more about David and his work at: gigmor.com Book an Artist Breakthrough Session with the Modern Musician team: https://streetteam.fm/masterclass

AI music is getting licensed. Now the harder question begins. Suno says its new model was trained on licensed music. Universal is building AI-powered fan remixes. Distributors are introducing new AI and fraud checks. The fight is moving beyond whether AI belongs in music toward who controls it, who gets paid, and what artists should actually consent to. Meanwhile, Ella Langley proves that release calendars don't matter when audiences keep listening—and somehow that conversation led us to create an AI surf anthem about cows. Along the way, we ask: What is your music actually worth as AI training data? Would you license your voice for fans to remix? Should artists own their own AI models? Are release calendars putting artists on a hamster wheel? Where's the line between using AI creatively and deceiving an audience? In this episode, we dive into AI’s impact on music, from Suno’s licensed models and AI voices to new industry rules, artist strategies, superfans, Spotify’s music video push, and featured artist Tyler Herwig’s “Romcom Gone Wrong.” Key Takeaways AI isn’t going away, but artists don’t have to accept the first deal they’re offered. Permission, compensation, and ownership are three different things. Listen to your audience and test songs with your real fans to see what truly connects. Don’t rush to your next release—keep building new contexts around a song that’s working. Ride the wave: your next hit doesn’t always need to be your next release. Sometimes, you just need to ride the wave till the cows come home. --- → Build your fanbase and music career with Modern Musician. → Ready to build your audience? Book Your Breakthrough Session. → Want your music featured on The Artist Economy? Submit your Music Moment.

Robina Ritchie-Barker is the co-founder of TrackStage, a music management platform built to help independent music creators organize their catalogs, manage the business behind their music, and get their tracks opportunity-ready. As a composer and music creator herself, Robina experienced firsthand the growing administrative burden of managing files, versions, metadata, collaborators, and pitches. That experience inspired TrackStage, which helps creators reduce the “Administrative Tax” of making music so they can spend less time managing their catalogs and more time creating, pursuing opportunities, and getting their work heard. In this episode, Robina Ritchie-Barker shares her journey from music creator to co-founder of TrackStage, exploring how the platform helps indie artists organize their catalogs, streamline metadata and administrative tasks, prepare music for sync opportunities, and navigate the evolving role of AI in music creation and licensing. Key Takeaways Reduce the administrative burden: Learn how TrackStage helps indie artists organize their music, files, metadata, and catalog information in one streamlined workflow. Make your music easier to pitch: Discover why complete metadata and organized catalogs matter to music supervisors and how better preparation can help artists capitalize on opportunities. Understand AI’s role in music: Explore how AI can enhance music-management workflows while creating important copyright considerations, particularly in sync licensing. --- → Learn more about Robina and her work at: trackstagepro.com Book an Artist Breakthrough Session with the Modern Musician team: https://streetteam.fm/masterclass