The Music Business Buddy
The Music Business Buddy is a podcast about the future of music careers.
Each episode explores how artists and creators are navigating today’s evolving music industry — from AI and streaming to publishing, sync licensing, branding and fan growth.
Featuring conversations with music executives, creatives, entrepreneurs and innovators, the show offers practical insights into how the modern music business really works.
The Music Business Buddy is hosted by award winning UK based music professional Jonny Amos. Author of The Music Business For Music Creators (Routledge, 2024), Jonny is a music industry consultant, artist manager, producer and educator.
Episodes
101 episodes
Episode 100: What 100 Music Industry Conversations Taught Me
Episode 100 is a landmark for me, so I went back through the first 99 conversations and pulled out the 10 biggest lessons I want every music creator to use into 2026. If you make songs, release recordings, or collaborate with anyone at all, thi...
Episode 99: Why India Is Becoming Music’s Next Global Powerhouse
Royalties don’t disappear, they get stuck. When the data can’t identify you, the system can’t pay you, even if the money has been collected. That’s why I wanted to bring on Amit Dubey from Beat Street Music and Publishing in Mumbai, India; a sp...
Episode 98: Music Royalties Explained - Distribution vs Publishing
Confusing distribution with publishing is one of the fastest ways to lose time, miss money, and second guess every release decision you make. I’m Jonny Amos - host of The Music Business Buddy and I’m stripping it back to basics so you can clear...
Episode 97: How Artists Build Real Fans In China (Platforms, Strategy & What Actually Works)
China can look like the biggest opportunity in music and the easiest place to get lost. I sit down with Jonathan Heeter, who runs Middle8, an outsourced China division for Western labels and artists, to translate what actually works on the grou...
Episode 96: How Indie X Turn Fans Into Income (Artist Ownership & Revenue Strategy)
The fastest way to stall a music career is to build a following you can’t reach. I sit down with Jack McCarthy from IndieX to get practical about artist ownership: how attention becomes data, how data becomes relationships, and how relationship...
Episode 95: How SongPot AI is Changing Music Discovery (And What It Means for Sync & Creators)
You can feel the right track in your bones, but finding it inside a giant catalogue can still be painfully slow. That gap between what we mean and what search engines can understand is where sync licensing briefs stall, temp tracks take over, a...
Episode 94: How To Build A Music Fanbase From Zero
The leap from making songs to building a career isn’t magic — it’s momentum you can engineer. I pull back the curtain on how to launch a brand-new artist from zero data to investable, using a practical framework that blends creative clarity wit...
Episode 93: Inside Hit-Making With Grammy-Winning A&R Pete Ganbarg
Hits don’t happen by accident. They happen when the right singer meets the right song and a focused team executes without ego. That’s the throughline of my conversation with Pete Ganbarg—a two-time Grammy-winning A&R leader whose fingerprin...
Episode 92: Why Artists Don’t Need Permission Anymore
What if the power in music has already shifted—and you just need the receipts to prove it? We sit down with Nashville and LA veteran Jason Hollis to unpack a modern blueprint for building leverage, owning your audience, and turning proof into p...
Episode 91: How to Become a Session Drummer (Real Career Path with Collette Williams)
The path from rehearsal room to global stages is rarely straight, and Collette Williams shows how grit, honesty, and community can bend the line in your favour. I sit down with the session drummer and multi-instrumentalist to unpack the craft b...
Episode 90: How to Release Music Independently (Tools, Strategy & Startup Insights)
Your song is done. The artwork is perfect. Now what? We sit down with Adriano and James, the creators of Release Assist, to unpack a smarter way to launch music without drowning in choices. Their goal-led approach replaces vague hopes with a cl...
Episode 89: How Fintech is Changing Artist Funding (What Artists Need to Know)
Money talks in music, but the language is changing—and fast. We dive into how fintech is rewiring artist funding, why streaming didn’t fix the economics, and how data has quietly turned songs and catalogues into investable assets with predictab...
Episode 88: Understanding Music Supervision in Context
What if the song that makes a trailer unforgettable could also launch an artist’s career? We sit down with music supervisor, consultant and sync creative Drew Sherrod to unpack the craft behind placing music to picture, the business mechanics t...
Episode 87: How Artists Define Their Sound, Genre & Identity (Step-by-Step)
Identity isn’t a vibe—it’s a system. We dig into the practical steps artists can take to define who they are, where they fit, and how that clarity turns into real momentum. From choosing a primary genre and useful secondary tags to shaping a so...
Episode 86: Music Rights & Catalogues Explained (What Artists Must Understand)
What if the biggest lever on your music’s success isn’t a new single, but the data behind it? We sit down with music catalogue specialist Robin Maddicott to unpack the hidden systems that decide where your tracks land, who discovers them, and h...
Episode 85: How to Write Music for TV (Inside the World of TV Composers)
Big‑league scores don’t appear out of thin air—they’re built through craft, collaboration, and choices that balance art and business. I sit down with George Warren and Nico Pacella; two composers from Hans Zimmer's award winning Composer Collec...
Episode 84: How Artists Can Fund Their Music Without Giving Up Ownership
Money changes the music you can make, and control changes the way you make it. I sit down with Duetti’s Head of Growth, Elliot Bahmoul, to unpack how music creators can sell a slice of their catalogue for upfront cash and pair that capital with...
Episode 83: How Brands Choose Music (And How Artists Get Selected)
Great music doesn’t have to start from scratch every time. We sat down with Ryan Dickinson, Creative Director at made by ikigai, to unpack how he creates brand-defining music for Adidas, Nike, Samsung, and beyond—without losing the human sp...
Episode 82: Napster Explained: How It Changed the Music Industry Forever
A single headline sent me down a rabbit hole: Napster, the name that once shook the music world, is now pausing streaming to chase AI companions and immersive experiences. We unpack what that actually means, tracing the arc from MP3 file sharin...
Episode 81: What is Sonic Branding? How Music Shapes Brand Identity
What if three notes could carry an entire story? I sit down with Erik Reiff, CCO of Black Cat White Cat Music, to unpack how composers build sonic identities for global brands and screens without losing the soul of the music. From Nike to sci‑f...
Episode 80: Music Marketing Strategies That Actually Work (For Independent Artists)
Want to understand why some young artists accelerate while others stall? We sat down with Mike King—VP of Enrolment Management and Marketing at Interlochen Center for the Arts and longtime music marketing educator—to map the through-line from c...
Episode: 79: How Independent Artists Can Hire World-Class Session Musicians (Musiversal Explained)
What if your next song could jump from idea to radio‑ready with world‑class musicians in the time it takes to finish a coffee? We sit down with Musiversal Co‑Founder and Chief Growth Officer, Xavier Jameson, to unpack a model that flips the rem...
Episode 78: Best Music Business Lessons of 2025 (What Artists Should Know)
Year’s end is the perfect moment to trade myths for evidence. We brought together the most useful ideas from the season—data that flips audience assumptions, a calmer path to releasing music that actually moves your career, and a funding shift ...
Episode 77: Music Business Q&A: Royalties, Publishing & Common Mistakes Answered
This episode is a Q & A session where I take questions from listeners and provide answers. A range of topics are covered and explored. Tension sits at the heart of modern music careers: protect your rights, move faste...
Episode 76: How to Turn a Band Into a Business (Step-by-Step Guide)
The dream is the music. The longevity is the paperwork. We dig into the real steps that turn a tight-knit band into a professional, protected business without draining the joy that brought you together. From first royalty registrations to compa...
