Bobby Owsinski's Inner Circle Podcast

Indie plugin developers who want to launch a genuinely new synthesis tool will recognize their own blind spots in Evan Mezeske's story.Indie plugin developers who want to launch a genuinely new synthesis tool will recognize their own blind spots in Evan Mezeske's story.Evan left Google after 11 years building large-scale fraud systems to create Anukari, the first commercially available 3D physics modeling synthesizer that runs in real time. He discovered that technical originality creates a marketing problem most developers never anticipate. When a product is genuinely new, the market has no category for it, and polished 3D visuals can trigger skepticism instead of excitement. His path from that invisible launch to being discovered by Doom Eternal composer Mick Gordon and Star Trek's lead sound designer reveals what actually moves a tool without a genre.Listen to how this totally unique approach to synthesis went from unnoticed to being on everyone's radar in this Inner Circle Podcast episode.Connect with Evan:LinkedInAnukariInstagram (Anukari)YouTube (Anukari)“You do not need to know chemistry to enjoy fireworks”: Exploring the physics-driven thinking behind some of the most groundbreaking pluginsAd link: Explore The Mixing Engineer’s Handbook (6th Edition), the go-to guide for modern mixing.Thank you for tuning in to Bobby Owsinski’s Inner Circle, the podcast that takes you deep inside the music industry. Each week, Bobby shares insights, news, analysis, and conversations with the movers and shakers shaping today’s music world.📌 Explore Bobby’s best-selling books🎙️ Nail that pro vocal sound: clear, upfront, and mix-ready. Learn how in Bobby’s Vocal Mixing Mini-Course🎧 Discover more mixing and production courses📲 Follow Bobby for more tips, insights, and updates:FacebookLinkedInInstagramBluesky🎙️ New episodes release every Tuesday at 9AM Pacific on YouTube and your favorite podcast app.Music. Business. Creativity. Straight from the Inner Circle.Produced by APodcastGeekhttps://apodcastgeek.com/

8/4/26 • 35:58

Audio plugin developers who assume machine learning is the right tool will find the process used by Hannes Andersson and the team at Oeksound genuinely surprising.Andersson is CEO of Oeksound, the creator of Soothe, the dynamic resonance suppressor that became so dominant on Spotify's Top 50, yet it's team rebuilt the algorithm from scratch. Oeksound's secret is two people in a room listening for hours until the math feels right, a standard that quietly shaped the sound of a lot of recorded music without anyone outside the company knowing it.When Soothe 2 went viral during COVID and overuse artifacts began appearing on Spotify and Apple Music top tracks, the team rebuilt the core. Knowing what a plugin is actually taking away matters as much as knowing how to use it, and Oeksound's other tools reflect that same standard. Bloom, the adaptive tone shaper, reads the entire incoming signal before processing, so a high-shelf boost for warmth automatically pulls back when sibilance arrives rather than amplifying it. Spiff began as a mouth-click suppressor for close-mic'd vocals and evolved into an adaptive transient shaper that Andersson also uses for frequency-specific stereo placement, boosting attack on one channel while keeping overall levels balanced. Every product is tuned through hours of listening sessions by engineers who also write, produce, and mix, because emotion is the only benchmark Oeksound trusts.Connect with Hannes:LinkedInOeksoundAd link: Explore The Mixing Engineer’s Handbook (6th Edition), the go-to guide for modern mixing.Thank you for tuning in to Bobby Owsinski’s Inner Circle, the podcast that takes you deep inside the music industry. Each week, Bobby shares insights, news, analysis, and conversations with the movers and shakers shaping today’s music world.📌 Explore Bobby’s best-selling books🎙️ Nail that pro vocal sound: clear, upfront, and mix-ready. Learn how in Bobby’s Vocal Mixing Mini-Course🎧 Discover more mixing and production courses📲 Follow Bobby for more tips, insights, and updates:FacebookLinkedInInstagramBluesky🎙️ New episodes release every Tuesday at 9AM Pacific on YouTube and your favorite podcast app.Music. Business. Creativity. Straight from the Inner Circle.Produced by APodcastGeekhttps://apodcastgeek.com/

7/28/26 • 41:23

Song copyright protection for musicians who record ideas with a voice memo at 3am proves nothing in a dispute. That original moment completely unverifiable.  Nadim Rahman built Songproof, a dual-blockchain platform, after recognising that musicians needed an irrefutable timestamp at the exact moment inspiration strikes, not after the fact. For 99 cents per song, Songproof issues what Rahman calls a birth certificate for your music, anchored to the blockchain, so that if a collaborator or label ever questions who wrote what first, the proof already exists and cannot be altered.Songproof actually uses two separate blockchains for distinct purposes: Bitcoin handles the timestamp, creating irrefutable proof of when a song was created, while Polygon handles split sheets through smart contracts. Hear more about Songproof on this week's episode.Ad link: Explore The Mixing Engineer’s Handbook (6th Edition), the go-to guide for modern mixing.Thank you for tuning in to Bobby Owsinski’s Inner Circle, the podcast that takes you deep inside the music industry. Each week, Bobby shares insights, news, analysis, and conversations with the movers and shakers shaping today’s music world.📌 Explore Bobby’s best-selling books🎙️ Nail that pro vocal sound: clear, upfront, and mix-ready. Learn how in Bobby’s Vocal Mixing Mini-Course🎧 Discover more mixing and production courses📲 Follow Bobby for more tips, insights, and updates:FacebookLinkedInInstagramBluesky🎙️ New episodes release every Tuesday at 9AM Pacific on YouTube and your favorite podcast app.Music. Business. Creativity. Straight from the Inner Circle.Produced by APodcastGeekhttps://apodcastgeek.com/

7/21/26 • 30:08

Music industry professionals still betting on major labels to develop artists should know the system has structurally exited that business. On this week's episode I break down the data showing how UMG and WMG now redirect spending toward catalog acquisitions rather than new careers. . . . . . have made AI licensing deals explicitly designed to reduce artist relationships. . .. . . and then kept the copyright settlement money those deals generated without passing any of it on to the artists whose music was used for training. I also looked at:TikTok trying to fill this development vacuum, but 59% of its new-user feeds are already AI-generated content, so even that alternative is narrowing fast. Spotify's global top 50 fell from over 90% new releases in 2019-2020 to roughly 70% by early 2026, and by May seven of the top ten songs were more than two years old. Luminate found that 56% of 13-to-24-year-olds regularly listen to music made before 2000, with 25% of that group favoring tracks from the 1990s or earlier. Hip hop, which held roughly 30% market share at its late-2000s-to-2020 peak, has gone entire months without a single Billboard top 10 placement. Suno raised $400 million at a $5.4 billion valuation while battling UMG and Sony in federal court over training data. Tidal announced it will pay zero royalties on fully AI-generated tracks and badge them for listeners. The AFM's lawsuit against Warner and Universal over withheld AI settlement money gives artists a concrete legal precedent to cite when evaluating any publisher or label deal where royalty flow-through terms are left unstated. YouTube's argument that uploading a video constitutes blanket consent to train Google's Lyria 3 model shows why reading platform terms of service before posting has become a practical rights-management step, not a formality. On the gear side:Dean Guitar's parent Armadillo Enterprises filing for Chapter 11 after a Gibson trademark loss illustrates how intellectual property exposure can collapse a company faster than market conditions, while Höfner's acquisition by GEWA Music suggests bankruptcy does not always end a legacy instrument brandRoyer Labs has a new homeand a new honor for Jimi Hendrix in New York CityThank you for tuning in to Bobby Owsinski’s Inner Circle, the podcast that takes you deep inside the music industry. Each week, Bobby shares insights, news, analysis, and conversations with the movers and shakers shaping today’s music world.📌 Explore Bobby’s best-selling books🎙️ Nail that pro vocal sound: clear, upfront, and mix-ready. Learn how in Bobby’s Vocal Mixing Mini-Course🎧 Discover more mixing and production courses📲 Follow Bobby for more tips, insights, and updates:FacebookLinkedInInstagramBluesky🎙️ New episodes release every Tuesday at 9AM Pacific on YouTube and your favorite podcast app.Music. Business. Creativity. Straight from the Inner Circle.Produced by APodcastGeekhttps://apodcastgeek.com/

7/14/26 • 16:34

Independent musicians sometimes upload masters that are too hot, so they lose transient detail the moment streaming platforms apply loudness normalization.Mastering engineer Jeff Graves spent two and a half years measuring 214 audio fingerprints across 15 samples per genre to build a 24-stage AI mastering platform, and in this conversation he explains exactly why delivering at the target LUFS level protects the dynamics and clarity that make a song translate from earbuds to car speakers. His platform flags any process that compresses the loudness range by more than 1.5 LU, giving independent artists the transparency that black-box services have always withheld.Jeff built LuvLang Studio after years of frustration with opaque online mastering services like Landr and eMaster, which he says run tracks through only seven or eight processes without explaining what they do. His platform applies 24 named stages, measures LRA pre and post chain, and rejects uploads where headroom is insufficient rather than attempting to salvage a bad recording. Users can choose single or album mode, blend a reference track via a percentage slider, and adjust a 7-band EQ. Three output tiers cover MP3, 24-bit, and 24-bit with full options, with bundle pricing for multi-song projects. The platform also embeds metadata with track titles formatted exactly as the artist specifies and links directly to distributors such as CD Baby.For bedroom producers who have never had a mastering budget, the educational layer built into this workflow may matter as much as the output file. Every stage is named and visible, so each session teaches the vocabulary behind the decisions, things like why true peak spikes hiding between samples cause distortion only after a platform compresses the file, or why classical dynamic LRA typically falls between 10 and 20 LU while a heavily compressed master lands between 3 and 7. Understanding those numbers gives an independent artist enough grounding to judge when a result is trustworthy and when it signals a problem upstream in the mix.Connect with Jeff:LinkedInLuvLang StudioAd link: Explore The Mixing Engineer’s Handbook (6th Edition), the go-to guide for modern mixing.Thank you for tuning in to Bobby Owsinski’s Inner Circle, the podcast that takes you deep inside the music industry. Each week, Bobby shares insights, news, analysis, and conversations with the movers and shakers shaping today’s music world.📌 Explore Bobby’s best-selling books🎙️ Nail that pro vocal sound: clear, upfront, and mix-ready. Learn how in Bobby’s Vocal Mixing Mini-Course🎧 Discover more mixing and production courses📲 Follow Bobby for more tips, insights, and updates:FacebookLinkedInInstagramBluesky🎙️ New episodes release every Tuesday at 9AM Pacific on YouTube and your favorite podcast app.Music. Business. Creativity. Straight from the Inner Circle.Produced by APodcastGeekhttps://apodcastgeek.com/

7/7/26 • 36:27

On this week's episode, session vocalist Darlene Koldenhoven tells us how her music hit #4 on the Billboard classical crossover chart with no manager or label.The common assumption that a major-label infrastructure is required to chart is exactly what her story dismantles, and she walks through the specific decisions that produced number-one worldwide radio chart results as an independent artist.Darlene, a veteran of over 1,000 studio sessions and 14 self-produced solo albums, separates creative and business calendar periods rather than blending them, because the mental demands of each pull in different directions.On the chart side, she treats Billboard eligibility as a research problem: the weekly sales threshold shifts based on competing releases, so she tracks rule changes instead of targeting a fixed number.Her vocal coaching draws on audio psychophonology, a listening-rehabilitation method developed by Dr. Alfred Tomatis, which she uses to address frequency deficiencies standard technique cannot reach.These same principles of persistence, research, and structured execution are what allowed Darlene to chart and build a career without a manager or agent.Of special note is the story where she served as the session contractor who hired the vocal trio for Pink Floyd's sessions with producer Bob Ezrin, and Ezrin asked her personally to coax David Gilmour out of the tracking room when the blend wasn't working.Connect with Darlene:WebsiteFacebookInstagramYouTubeAd link: Explore The Mixing Engineer’s Handbook (6th Edition), the go-to guide for modern mixing.Thank you for tuning in to Bobby Owsinski’s Inner Circle, the podcast that takes you deep inside the music industry. Each week, Bobby shares insights, news, analysis, and conversations with the movers and shakers shaping today’s music world.📌 Explore Bobby’s best-selling books🎙️ Nail that pro vocal sound: clear, upfront, and mix-ready. Learn how in Bobby’s Vocal Mixing Mini-Course🎧 Discover more mixing and production courses📲 Follow Bobby for more tips, insights, and updates:FacebookLinkedInInstagramBluesky🎙️ New episodes release every Tuesday at 9AM Pacific on YouTube and your favorite podcast app.Music. Business. Creativity. Straight from the Inner Circle.Produced by APodcastGeekhttps://apodcastgeek.com/

6/30/26 • 36:50

Music career longevity is what separates artists who last from those who burn out chasing the wrong metrics.Too many aspiring musicians hand control to social platforms, grinding out content as servants to algorithms while the industry gaslights them with success measures that have nothing to do with real longevity. Keith Jopling spent 25 years inside the business, including time at Spotify, then interviewed 80 artists and bands to write Riding the Rollercoaster, and the creative director model he extracted from that research shows musicians how to flip the equation: command the platforms, define your own hit, and build a career on your terms before the rollercoaster throws you off.Jopling maps five routes to longevity: a hit song, a classic album, being dropped by your label, becoming a cult artist, and building your brand. The dropped-by-your-label route surprises people, but his case studies show artists consistently respond by making their strongest record since their debut, independently or on a new label. On the album question, he credits Taylor Swift's pandemic releases Folklore and Evermore with pulling fans back to long-form listening, and points to Charli XCX's Brat as proof an album can still become a genuine cultural phenomenon. Harry Styles launched a new album with listening parties in 40 cities, a Netflix special filmed at the Co-op in Manchester, reinforcing that the release cycle still drives touring and commercial momentum.Jopling's most actionable insight is the creative director model: appoint someone inside the band, or bring in a trusted collaborator, to own the visual and commercial identity of your project from day one. Your manager handles the weekly hustle; this role thinks longer term, ensuring your photography and platform presence tell one coherent story. He also reframes the hit song entirely: forget chart position and focus on the song your crowd sings back loudest at every show. That is your hit, and that is what you build forward from. Both moves return control to the artist and away from the platforms and gatekeepers that longevity research consistently shows will not build a career for you.Connect with Keith:LinkedInRiding the Rollercoaster (Book)WebsiteAd link: Explore The Mixing Engineer’s Handbook (6th Edition), the go-to guide for modern mixing.Thank you for tuning in to Bobby Owsinski’s Inner Circle, the podcast that takes you deep inside the music industry. Each week, Bobby shares insights, news, analysis, and conversations with the movers and shakers shaping today’s music world.📌 Explore Bobby’s best-selling books🎙️ Nail that pro vocal sound: clear, upfront, and mix-ready. Learn how in Bobby’s Vocal Mixing Mini-Course🎧 Discover more mixing and production courses📲 Follow Bobby for more tips, insights, and updates:FacebookLinkedInInstagramBluesky🎙️ New episodes release every Tuesday at 9AM Pacific on YouTube and your favorite podcast app.Music. Business. Creativity. Straight from the Inner Circle.Produced by APodcastGeekhttps://apodcastgeek.com/

6/23/26 • 42:05

On this week's episode, Bobby speaks with Dr. Bill Evans, audio scientist, producer, educator, and inventor of the Performance Restoration methodology.Bill believes that drum recording has always involved a painful tradeoff, but it doesn't have to.Most engineers accept mic bleed as an unavoidable character of a drum sound, questioning whether removing it could actually alter the drummer's true performance DNA.Bill spent seven years answering exactly that question. His concept of the Virtual Audio Workstation, involves a new audio file format that remains compatible with WAV files while carrying additional performance metadata.The format separates articulations, preserves room information as an independent element, and provides what Bill describes as functionally infinite dynamic range, allowing details like hi-hat foot checks to be raised dramatically without introducing grain or artifact.At the center of that work is PRISM, Bill's AI framework that converts audio to MIDI, edits it, and converts it back again, using the artist's own recordings as the sole training data rather than a generative pool.The distinction is important. Generative AI aims for plausible. PRISM aims for what a specific musician would actually play.One of the earliest demonstrations came during a Flying Colors session when seven seconds of guitarist Steve Morse's solo disappeared. Evans reconstructed the missing passage through PRISM, and Morse, known for being exacting about his performances, could not identify the recreated section.The larger takeaway is a fundamental rethinking of how engineers approach drum recording.By separating articulations and ambience into controllable elements, PRISM preserves ghost notes, cymbal strike positions, and subtle performance details that are typically lost in the production process, allowing the final recording to reflect the musician's actual performance rather than a substitute version of it.Ad link: Explore The Mixing Engineer’s Handbook (6th Edition), the go-to guide for modern mixing.Thank you for tuning in to Bobby Owsinski’s Inner Circle, the podcast that takes you deep inside the music industry. Each week, Bobby shares insights, news, analysis, and conversations with the movers and shakers shaping today’s music world.📌 Explore Bobby’s best-selling books🎙️ Nail that pro vocal sound: clear, upfront, and mix-ready. Learn how in Bobby’s Vocal Mixing Mini-Course🎧 Discover more mixing and production courses📲 Follow Bobby for more tips, insights, and updates:FacebookLinkedInInstagramBluesky🎙️ New episodes release every Tuesday at 9AM Pacific on YouTube and your favorite podcast app.Music. Business. Creativity. Straight from the Inner Circle.Produced by APodcastGeekhttps://apodcastgeek.com/

6/16/26 • 32:06

Female artists who hire producers risk losing creative control before a single song is released.On this week's podcast episode, Xylo Aria, founder of Music Production for Women(MPW), tells us how she learned this the hard way, by paying for sessions where male producers overrode her vision, leaving her with music she never put out and studios where personal safety competed with creative freedom.Seven years building MPW taught her that the real barrier isn't technical knowledge, but confidence and the self-imposed belief that production simply isn't for women.She shares how she dismantled those barriers and why owning your production is the only way to fully own your art.Xylo started writing songs at 12, spent four years as a corporate accountant, then quit after a close friend died suddenly, moved to the UK, and launched MPW about two weeks after leaving a contract role.The platform runs a year-long Master Your Music program, alongside free online and in-person events throughout the year.Students range from complete DAW beginners to demo-makers with knowledge gaps, spanning electronic, folk, singer-songwriter, and sound-healing genres.Xylo's sharpest takeaway from her years of teaching is that 70 percent finished is great. Stop tweaking, release, and move on because productivity compounds when you let go.For women who have paid for sessions and walked away with music they never released, she advises to open the DAW now, build muscle memory across your own genre, and take the first step before you feel ready.Waiting until you're further along is the trap, because every finished project you own outright is one where no one else controlled the outcome or the room.Connect with Xylo:LinkedInWebsiteMPWInstagramTikTok (MPW)Ad link: Explore The Mixing Engineer’s Handbook (6th Edition), the go-to guide for modern mixing.Thank you for tuning in to Bobby Owsinski’s Inner Circle, the podcast that takes you deep inside the music industry. Each week, Bobby shares insights, news, analysis, and conversations with the movers and shakers shaping today’s music world.📌 Explore Bobby’s best-selling books🎙️ Nail that pro vocal sound: clear, upfront, and mix-ready. Learn how in Bobby’s Vocal Mixing Mini-Course🎧 Discover more mixing and production courses📲 Follow Bobby for more tips, insights, and updates:FacebookLinkedInInstagramBluesky🎙️ New episodes release every Tuesday at 9AM Pacific on YouTube and your favorite podcast app.Music. Business. Creativity. Straight from the Inner Circle.Produced by APodcastGeekhttps://apodcastgeek.com/

6/9/26 • 17:53

On this week's episode, Elliot Easton, guitarist for The Cars and Creedence Clearwater Revisited, takes us through his journey with the band and beyond.Easton looks back at The Cars' origins, from getting a label deal the old fashioned way, to connecting with famed producer Roy Thomas Baker, to recording the band's initial albums, to how his many influences shaped his solos in the studio.He then tells us about his time with Creedence Clearwater Revisited, and the broken tour with The New Cars where bad management sunk a potentially good thing.Finally we talk about Elliot's Rickenbacker 12 string and his signature Gibson Tikibird Firebird, which has become somewhat of a collectors item.If you've ever enjoyed The Cars music and Elliot's playing, you'll love the ground that we cover in this episode.Connect with Elliot:InstagramFacebookXAd link: Explore The Mixing Engineer’s Handbook (6th Edition), the go-to guide for modern mixing.Thank you for tuning in to Bobby Owsinski’s Inner Circle, the podcast that takes you deep inside the music industry. Each week, Bobby shares insights, news, analysis, and conversations with the movers and shakers shaping today’s music world.📌 Explore Bobby’s best-selling books🎙️ Nail that pro vocal sound: clear, upfront, and mix-ready. Learn how in Bobby’s Vocal Mixing Mini-Course🎧 Discover more mixing and production courses📲 Follow Bobby for more tips, insights, and updates:FacebookLinkedInInstagramBluesky🎙️ New episodes release every Tuesday at 9AM Pacific on YouTube and your favorite podcast app.Music. Business. Creativity. Straight from the Inner Circle.Produced by APodcastGeekhttps://apodcastgeek.com/

6/2/26 • 39:54

Music business professionals who still see major labels as career partners need to hear what Bobby Owsinski lays out plainly: Universal Music Group's pursuit of a $3 billion Spotify stock sell-off signals that labels have shifted from artist development engines into financial instruments that happen to license music. The failure mode is assuming the label is on your side when, as Bobby explains, artists are a line item on a balance sheet. His counterintuitive fix is to stop waiting for label validation and recognize that AI flooding submissions without capturing listeners, and stagnating streaming growth, are signals that independent builders have more leverage now than at any point in the modern music business.Bobby walks through specific pressure points across the business. YouTube raised individual plans from $10.99 to $11.99 and family plans from $16.99 to $18.99, compounding recent hikes from Netflix, Spotify, and Amazon that together push subscribers toward cancellation. Universal Music Group's proposed $3 billion Spotify stock sell-off earmarks roughly $850 million for artists, but under an artist-centric model that concentrates payouts on Taylor Swift and Drake rather than developing acts. The BMG-Concord merger introduces private equity firm Great Mountain Partners at 33% ownership. IFPI data shows 837 million global streaming subscribers, doubled since 2020, yet growth in high-revenue Western markets is stalling.Listeners leave with a clear-eyed framework for evaluating every major-label conversation. Bobby's evidence shows labels are optimizing for catalog margins and investor returns, not artist development, so traction you build independently is no longer a stepping stone to a deal but leverage you already own. Private equity now shapes both BMG and the UMG acquisition bid, compressing the window where a label adds more than it extracts. The practical move is to treat label infrastructure as a specific tool for scaling from star to superstar, and only if you are already there. Otherwise, the balance sheet math works against you before the contract is signed.Ad link: Explore The Mixing Engineer’s Handbook (6th Edition), the go-to guide for modern mixing.Thank you for tuning in to Bobby Owsinski’s Inner Circle, the podcast that takes you deep inside the music industry. Each week, Bobby shares insights, news, analysis, and conversations with the movers and shakers shaping today’s music world.📌 Explore Bobby’s best-selling books🎙️ Nail that pro vocal sound: clear, upfront, and mix-ready. Learn how in Bobby’s Vocal Mixing Mini-Course🎧 Discover more mixing and production courses📲 Follow Bobby for more tips, insights, and updates:FacebookLinkedInInstagramBluesky🎙️ New episodes release every Tuesday at 9AM Pacific on YouTube and your favorite podcast app.Music. Business. Creativity. Straight from the Inner Circle.Produced by APodcastGeekhttps://apodcastgeek.com/

5/26/26 • 25:42

What matters more in the music business, mastering every plugin, or becoming the kind of person people want to hire again?On this episode of Bobby Owsinski's Inner Circle Podcast, Bobby talks with songwriter, producer, engineer, and educator Gary Gray about music licensing, post production, rhythmic integrity, AI, immersive audio, and the character traits that keep people working in a changing industry.Gary shares how his early life as a drummer, his music theory training, and his work alongside artists and mentors like Quincy Jones shaped the way he approaches production and problem solving. He explains why he often fixes rhythm first when a deadline is tight, why written music licensing briefs can leave composers guessing, and how You Score the Scene helps composers submit music synced directly to picture.The conversation also gets into Gary’s work studying cinematography, shooting professional footage on an iPhone, the stigma around AI tools, consumer demand for immersive audio, and why “character counts” may be the most important business advice for anyone in music, production, or post.Connect with Gary:WebsiteLinkedInInstagramYouTubeYou Score the SceneAd link: Explore The Mixing Engineer’s Handbook (6th Edition), the go-to guide for modern mixing.Thank you for tuning in to Bobby Owsinski’s Inner Circle, the podcast that takes you deep inside the music industry. Each week, Bobby shares insights, news, analysis, and conversations with the movers and shakers shaping today’s music world.📌 Explore Bobby’s best-selling books🎙️ Nail that pro vocal sound: clear, upfront, and mix-ready. Learn how in Bobby’s Vocal Mixing Mini-Course🎧 Discover more mixing and production courses📲 Follow Bobby for more tips, insights, and updates:FacebookLinkedInInstagramBluesky🎙️ New episodes release every Tuesday at 9AM Pacific on YouTube and your favorite podcast app.Music. Business. Creativity. Straight from the Inner Circle.Produced by APodcastGeekhttps://apodcastgeek.com/

5/19/26 • 45:29

What can a 1956 recording console teach us about the future of music production?In this episode of Bobby Owsinski’s Inner Circle Podcast, Bobby talks with Tom Camuso, Director of Engineering at The Les Paul Recording Studio, and Michael Braunstein, 3rd Generation Les Paul Manager.They discuss the newly restored Les Paul Recording Studio in Los Angeles, Les Paul’s groundbreaking recording innovations, and why his original Fairchild based console still feels ahead of its time today.Tom and Michael take us inside the restoration of Les Paul’s original gear, including his 1956 console, early multitrack machines, lathe, sound on sound system, and studio setup. They also explain why the studio is designed as both a working space and an educational resource, how Les Paul’s inventions shaped modern recording, and why today’s DAWs still follow many of the same ideas he was using decades ago.You’ll also hear how the Les Paul Foundation supports music education, preserves Les Paul’s legacy, and funds hearing related research, including tinnitus research.Connect with Tom and Michael:LinkedIn (Michael)WebsiteThe Les Paul Foundation“Les would be over the moon knowing his studio exists again.”Les Paul’s Groundbreaking Recording Gear Gets Back to Work – Part 1Ad link: Explore The Mixing Engineer’s Handbook (6th Edition), the go-to guide for modern mixing.Thank you for tuning in to Bobby Owsinski’s Inner Circle, the podcast that takes you deep inside the music industry. Each week, Bobby shares insights, news, analysis, and conversations with the movers and shakers shaping today’s music world.📌 Explore Bobby’s best-selling books🎙️ Nail that pro vocal sound: clear, upfront, and mix-ready. Learn how in Bobby’s Vocal Mixing Mini-Course🎧 Discover more mixing and production courses📲 Follow Bobby for more tips, insights, and updates:FacebookLinkedInInstagramBluesky🎙️ New episodes release every Tuesday at 9AM Pacific on YouTube and your favorite podcast app.Music. Business. Creativity. Straight from the Inner Circle.Produced by APodcastGeekhttps://apodcastgeek.com/

5/12/26 • 36:29

What makes a compressor become one of the most trusted pieces of gear in modern recording studios? In this episode of Bobby Owsinski's Inner Circle Podcast, Bobby talks with Dave Derr, founder of Empirical Labs and creator of the legendary Distressor.Dave shares the story behind the Distressor’s development, including how early studio challenges, dead drum sounds, 1176 experiments, and real-world testing helped shape one of the most widely used analog compressors in music production. He also talks about the creation of Nuke mode, the thinking behind Brit mode, the evolution of the Distressor, and how products like FATSO, Mike-E, and Empirical Labs plugins fit into his design philosophy.Along the way, Dave and Bobby get into analog saturation, transformer sound, plugin clones, trademarking knobs, Eventide, the Philadelphia music scene, favorite instruments to record, and why the 1980s may have been a peak era for audio quality.Learn more about Dave Derr and Empirical Labs:LinkedInEmpirical Labs WebsiteEmpirical Labs InstagramEmpirical Labs FacebookAd link: Explore The Mixing Engineer’s Handbook (6th Edition), the go-to guide for modern mixing.Thank you for tuning in to Bobby Owsinski’s Inner Circle, the podcast that takes you deep inside the music industry. Each week, Bobby shares insights, news, analysis, and conversations with the movers and shakers shaping today’s music world.📌 Explore Bobby’s best-selling books🎙️ Nail that pro vocal sound: clear, upfront, and mix-ready. Learn how in Bobby’s Vocal Mixing Mini-Course🎧 Discover more mixing and production courses📲 Follow Bobby for more tips, insights, and updates:FacebookLinkedInInstagramBluesky🎙️ New episodes release every Tuesday at 9AM Pacific on YouTube and your favorite podcast app.Music. Business. Creativity. Straight from the Inner Circle.Produced by APodcastGeekhttps://apodcastgeek.com/

5/5/26 • 39:01

What does it really take to turn a good voice into a sustainable music career? In this episode of Bobby Owsinski's Inner Circle, Bobby talks with vocal coach, singer, songwriter, and artist developer Patrice Peris about the voice, the business, and the habits that help independent artists move from practice room to real performance.Patrice shares why today’s singers need more than technique, including branding, web presence, booking strategy, emotional delivery, and a real understanding of the music business. She also breaks down the differences between classical, musical theater, and contemporary singing, why pitch perfection is not the same as a great vocal, and how simple warmup habits can create real vocal improvement over time.You’ll also hear Patrice talk about finding your authentic sound, helping artists stop hiding behind imitation, thriving after cancer, and her move into trailer music and sync placements.Learn more about Patrice Peris:Voice Studio WebsiteInstagramFacebook YouTube Ad link: Explore The Mixing Engineer’s Handbook (6th Edition), the go-to guide for modern mixing.Thank you for tuning in to Bobby Owsinski’s Inner Circle, the podcast that takes you deep inside the music industry. Each week, Bobby shares insights, news, analysis, and conversations with the movers and shakers shaping today’s music world.📌 Explore Bobby’s best-selling books🎙️ Nail that pro vocal sound: clear, upfront, and mix-ready. Learn how in Bobby’s Vocal Mixing Mini-Course🎧 Discover more mixing and production courses📲 Follow Bobby for more tips, insights, and updates:FacebookLinkedInInstagramBluesky🎙️ New episodes release every Tuesday at 9AM Pacific on YouTube and your favorite podcast app.Music. Business. Creativity. Straight from the Inner Circle.Produced by APodcastGeekhttps://apodcastgeek.com/

4/28/26 • 35:10

What happens to iconic guitar shops when the founders want to step away, and who makes sure those legendary brands do not disappear? In this episode of Bobby Owsinski’s Inner Circle Podcast, Bobby talks with Ben Montague, Founder and CEO of The North American Guitar Global, TNAG, about vintage guitars, legacy music retail, trusted online selling, and the future of some of the world’s most respected guitar stores. Ben shares how he went from touring musician and guitar trader to building The North American Guitar, expanding into Nashville, partnering with Carter Vintage, and acquiring Norman’s Rare Guitars. Along the way, he explains why trust is everything in the vintage guitar market, how customer relationships still drive high-end instrument sales, and why preserving great retail brands matters to the entire music industry. This is a fascinating conversation about guitars, entrepreneurship, collectibles, and the people behind the stores that shape music history.Guest links and episode links:LinkedInCarter VintageNorman’s Rare GuitarsYouTubeTNAG Global acquires Norman’s Rare GuitarsAd link: Explore The Mixing Engineer’s Handbook (6th Edition), the go-to guide for modern mixing.Thank you for tuning in to Bobby Owsinski’s Inner Circle, the podcast that takes you deep inside the music industry. Each week, Bobby shares insights, news, analysis, and conversations with the movers and shakers shaping today’s music world.📌 Explore Bobby’s best-selling books🎙️ Nail that pro vocal sound: clear, upfront, and mix-ready. Learn how in Bobby’s Vocal Mixing Mini-Course🎧 Discover more mixing and production courses📲 Follow Bobby for more tips, insights, and updates:FacebookLinkedInInstagramBluesky🎙️ New episodes release every Tuesday at 9AM Pacific on YouTube and your favorite podcast app.Music. Business. Creativity. Straight from the Inner Circle.Produced by APodcastGeekhttps://apodcastgeek.com/

4/21/26 • 36:24

What does it take to keep a commercial recording studio thriving as the music industry keeps changing? In this episode of Bobby Owsinski's Inner Circle, Bobby talks with Tom Weir, Grammy-winning engineer, producer, mixer, and owner of Studio City Sound, about how his studio continues to grow by expanding beyond traditional music recording into ADR, voiceover, livestreaming, Dolby Atmos, podcast production, and AI augmentation sessions.Tom shares how Studio City Sound adapted from its longtime location into a larger North Hollywood space, why commercial studios have to diversify to stay competitive, and what he is seeing firsthand as more artists bring in AI-generated tracks that still need real singers, players, instruments, and engineering to sound right. He also explains why he still mixes through his Neve console, what analog gear continues to earn its place in every session, and how a working studio survives by staying useful, flexible, and sonically excellent.If you care about recording studios, analog mixing, Dolby Atmos, AI in music production, and the future of the music business, this conversation delivers a real-world look from inside the control room.Connect with Tom:Studio WebsiteLinkedInInstagramAd link: Explore The Mixing Engineer’s Handbook (6th Edition), the go-to guide for modern mixing.Thank you for tuning in to Bobby Owsinski’s Inner Circle, the podcast that takes you deep inside the music industry. Each week, Bobby shares insights, news, analysis, and conversations with the movers and shakers shaping today’s music world.📌 Explore Bobby’s best-selling books🎙️ Nail that pro vocal sound: clear, upfront, and mix-ready. Learn how in Bobby’s Vocal Mixing Mini-Course🎧 Discover more mixing and production courses📲 Follow Bobby for more tips, insights, and updates:FacebookLinkedInInstagramBluesky🎙️ New episodes release every Tuesday at 9AM Pacific on YouTube and your favorite podcast app.Music. Business. Creativity. Straight from the Inner Circle.Produced by APodcastGeekhttps://apodcastgeek.com/

4/14/26 • 29:08

What happens when a world-class mastering engineer tries to replace himself with AI, and fails? On Bobby Owsinski’s Inner Circle Podcast, Bobby sits down with Jonathan Wyner, mastering engineer at M-Works, professor at Berklee College of Music, head of artistic technology initiatives for BEATL, and past president of the Audio Engineering Society, for a sharp, eye-opening conversation about AI mastering, music production, education, and the future of human creativity in the studio. Jonathan explains why AI mastering still cannot match the listening pass, judgment, and intention that a human mastering engineer brings to a record. He also shares why he spent years trying to automate his own work, what today’s tools can actually do well, where they still fall short, and why music creators need to think carefully about controllability, quality, copyright, and the role of mentorship as AI becomes a bigger part of the creative process. This episode also explores Berklee’s artist-centered AI music summit, how AI is reshaping music education, why mixing remains a much harder challenge than most people realize, and where the next breakthroughs in music technology may come from. If you want a deeper look inside music production, mastering, AI in music, and the future of creative workflows, this episode delivers exactly that. Guest links: Website Ad link: Explore The Mixing Engineer’s Handbook (6th Edition), the go-to guide for modern mixing.Thank you for tuning in to Bobby Owsinski’s Inner Circle, the podcast that takes you deep inside the music industry. Each week, Bobby shares insights, news, analysis, and conversations with the movers and shakers shaping today’s music world.📌 Explore Bobby’s best-selling books🎙️ Nail that pro vocal sound: clear, upfront, and mix-ready. Learn how in Bobby’s Vocal Mixing Mini-Course🎧 Discover more mixing and production courses📲 Follow Bobby for more tips, insights, and updates:FacebookLinkedInInstagramBluesky🎙️ New episodes release every Tuesday at 9AM Pacific on YouTube and your favorite podcast app.Music. Business. Creativity. Straight from the Inner Circle.Produced by APodcastGeekhttps://apodcastgeek.com/

4/7/26 • 33:33

What is the biggest problem in mixing right now, and why are so many modern sessions making that problem worse? In this episode of Bobby Owsinski’s Inner Circle Podcast, Bobby sits down with multi-platinum mixer and engineer Richard Chycki, known for his work with Rush, Dream Theater, Aerosmith, Mick Jagger, Alice Cooper, and Pink, to unpack what is really hurting mixes today. Richard explains why too many recording decisions are being postponed, how immersive audio changes the way mixers create space, and why clearer standards are needed if Atmos mixes are going to translate in the real world. Bobby and Richard dig into the realities of mixing legacy artists in immersive formats, including the challenge of preserving the original intent of a classic record while adapting it for modern playback. They also talk about why dense sessions with hundreds of tracks can actually slow down decision making, how bed versus object choices affect impact and glue, what makes Sony 360 different from Atmos, and why emotional intent still matters more than technology. If you care about mixing, immersive audio, Dolby Atmos, Sony 360 Reality Audio, session management, and modern music production, this conversation is packed with insight.Ad link: Explore The Mixing Engineer’s Handbook (6th Edition), the go-to guide for modern mixing.Thank you for tuning in to Bobby Owsinski’s Inner Circle, the podcast that takes you deep inside the music industry. Each week, Bobby shares insights, news, analysis, and conversations with the movers and shakers shaping today’s music world.📌 Explore Bobby’s best-selling books🎙️ Nail that pro vocal sound: clear, upfront, and mix-ready. Learn how in Bobby’s Vocal Mixing Mini-Course🎧 Discover more mixing and production courses📲 Follow Bobby for more tips, insights, and updates:FacebookLinkedInInstagramBluesky🎙️ New episodes release every Tuesday at 9AM Pacific on YouTube and your favorite podcast app.Music. Business. Creativity. Straight from the Inner Circle.Produced by APodcastGeekhttps://apodcastgeek.com/

3/31/26 • 31:35

Can compressor presets really fix a weak vocal, or are most mixers solving the wrong problem first? In this episode of Bobby Owsinski’s Inner Circle, Bobby sits down with author, musician, and lecturer Craig Anderton to unpack the art and science of vocal production, from performance psychology and gain envelope “microsurgery” to why a single vocal can connect more directly than a doubled one. The conversation also moves into inside out mixing, recording vocals flat, plugin minimalism, DIY creativity, and the mindset required to keep evolving with music technology. Craig Anderton is an internationally recognized authority on music technology, has written more than 1,000 articles, authored over 50 books, and continues to publish through Sweetwater while sharing educational resources at craiganderton.org.Craig explains why great vocals start before the compressor, why performance still beats presets, and how subtle gain moves can often outperform heavy processing. He also shares stories about learning from top engineers, working with voices like Martha Davis and Chuck D, building bigger sounding vocals without the usual tricks, and finding creative freedom by using fewer plugins and following what the song actually wants.Connect with CraigWebsiteSweetwater articlesInstagramFacebookYouTubeAd link: Explore The Mixing Engineer’s Handbook (6th Edition), the go-to guide for modern mixing.Thank you for tuning in to Bobby Owsinski’s Inner Circle, the podcast that takes you deep inside the music industry. Each week, Bobby shares insights, news, analysis, and conversations with the movers and shakers shaping today’s music world.📌 Explore Bobby’s best-selling books🎙️ Nail that pro vocal sound: clear, upfront, and mix-ready. Learn how in Bobby’s Vocal Mixing Mini-Course🎧 Discover more mixing and production courses📲 Follow Bobby for more tips, insights, and updates:FacebookLinkedInInstagramBluesky🎙️ New episodes release every Tuesday at 9AM Pacific on YouTube and your favorite podcast app.Music. Business. Creativity. Straight from the Inner Circle.Produced by APodcastGeekhttps://apodcastgeek.com/

3/24/26 • 30:54

What does it really take to stay relevant in today’s music business when private equity is reshaping pro audio, viral success is far rarer than people think, and YouTube keeps gaining influence? In this solo episode of Bobby Owsinski’s Inner Circle Podcast, Bobby breaks down the latest music industry news and production trends, connecting the dots between business shifts, platform power, legacy gear, and loudness myths so artists, producers, mixers, and music creators can better understand where the industry is heading.Bobby digs into Native Instruments filing for insolvency, what that could mean for users of Native Instruments, iZotope, Plugin Alliance, and Brainworx, and why private equity continues to create concern in pro audio. He also looks at AudioTonics acquiring more respected audio brands, the sale of Norman’s Rare Guitars, and why not every acquisition is bad news.From there, Bobby tackles the reality of going viral in music, why slow growth often creates a stronger long-term catalog, and why YouTube may be the smartest platform for artists who want sustainable traction. He also explains why YouTube views no longer count toward Billboard in the same way, why that matters less for indie artists than many think, and why platform relevance is shifting right in front of us.The episode also celebrates 75 years of the Fender Telecaster, with Bobby explaining why its design still matters today, before wrapping with a practical breakdown of LUFS, streaming loudness, and the new laws affecting video streamers. If you want a sharper view of the modern music business without hype, this episode delivers exactly that.Ad link: Explore The Mixing Engineer’s Handbook (6th Edition), the go-to guide for modern mixing.Thank you for tuning in to Bobby Owsinski’s Inner Circle, the podcast that takes you deep inside the music industry. Each week, Bobby shares insights, news, analysis, and conversations with the movers and shakers shaping today’s music world.📌 Explore Bobby’s best-selling books🎙️ Nail that pro vocal sound: clear, upfront, and mix-ready. Learn how in Bobby’s Vocal Mixing Mini-Course🎧 Discover more mixing and production courses📲 Follow Bobby for more tips, insights, and updates:FacebookLinkedInInstagramBluesky🎙️ New episodes release every Tuesday at 9AM Pacific on YouTube and your favorite podcast app.Music. Business. Creativity. Straight from the Inner Circle.Produced by APodcastGeekhttps://apodcastgeek.com/

3/17/26 • 22:32

Is AI really coming for your gig, or are most musicians worried about the wrong things entirely? In this episode of Bobby Owsinski’s Inner Circle Podcast, author, musician, and lecturer Craig Anderton breaks down what AI actually means for working artists, producers, and songwriters, and why the real advantage is still the human fingerprint that machines cannot touch.Craig unpacks new listener data that shows real pushback against AI-generated music, why fans still want to support human artists, and how musicians can stop trying to “out-computer a computer” and instead double down on feel, emotion, and creative risk-taking. He also shares where AI tools are genuinely useful in the studio, from vocal comping and demo production to research and writing, and where they fall apart on nuance, vibe, and context.You will hear Craig’s take on legal and copyright minefields around training data, the difference between influence and imitation, and what K-pop and modern fan culture can teach every independent musician about building deeper connections and putting a unique “fingerprint” in the music.Connect with CraigWebsiteSweetwater articlesInstagramFacebookYouTubeAd link: Explore The Mixing Engineer’s Handbook (6th Edition), the go-to guide for modern mixing.Thank you for tuning in to Bobby Owsinski’s Inner Circle, the podcast that takes you deep inside the music industry. Each week, Bobby shares insights, news, analysis, and conversations with the movers and shakers shaping today’s music world.📌 Explore Bobby’s best-selling books🎙️ Nail that pro vocal sound: clear, upfront, and mix-ready. Learn how in Bobby’s Vocal Mixing Mini-Course🎧 Discover more mixing and production courses📲 Follow Bobby for more tips, insights, and updates:FacebookLinkedInInstagramBluesky🎙️ New episodes release every Tuesday at 9AM Pacific on YouTube and your favorite podcast app.Music. Business. Creativity. Straight from the Inner Circle.Produced by APodcastGeekhttps://apodcastgeek.com/

3/10/26 • 29:50

What role do commercial recording studios really play in today’s home studio world? In this episode of Bobby Owsinski’s Inner Circle, Bobby sits down with Sam Rudy, founder of Pro Studio Time, to explore whether studios are still necessary for modern music production, or simply a creative luxury. From writing camps and residential studios to AI disruption and changing booking habits, this conversation dives deep into how artists, managers, and labels are navigating studio choices in 2025.Sam shares insights from working with over 130 studios globally, explains why so many studio inquiries never turn into bookings, and reveals what artists actually look for today, which is often less about gear and more about feel. If you have ever wondered whether high-end studios still matter, or how to choose the right space for your next session, this episode delivers answers.Guest: Sam RudyFounder, Pro Studio Timehttps://prostudiotime.comhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/pro-studio-timeKEY TAKEAWAYS• Studios are perhaps not a necessary part of the production anymore the way they used to be, but they are still a place where people can get together and collaborate• High quality audio is still very much a thing and necessary• Most studio inquiries do not turn into bookings, often only 20 to 40 percent convert• Many artists book studios not for the gear, but for how the space makes them feel• A pair of speakers and a decent vocal chain is sometimes all you need• Daylight and atmosphere are increasingly important factors when choosing a studio• Residential studios have gained popularity due to flexibility and creative focus• AI and new technology may disrupt parts of the industry, but past tools like drum machines and autotune ultimately expanded creativity• Lowering the barrier to entry for music creation can lead to more artists eventually seeking professional studios• Success in any field comes down to volume of iteration, doing it as often and as long as possibleAd link: Explore The Mixing Engineer’s Handbook (6th Edition), the go-to guide for modern mixing.Thank you for tuning in to Bobby Owsinski’s Inner Circle, the podcast that takes you deep inside the music industry. Each week, Bobby shares insights, news, analysis, and conversations with the movers and shakers shaping today’s music world.📌 Explore Bobby’s best-selling books🎙️ Nail that pro vocal sound: clear, upfront, and mix-ready. Learn how in Bobby’s Vocal Mixing Mini-Course🎧 Discover more mixing and production courses📲 Follow Bobby for more tips, insights, and updates:FacebookLinkedInInstagramBluesky🎙️ New episodes release every Tuesday at 9AM Pacific on YouTube and your favorite podcast app.Music. Business. Creativity. Straight from the Inner Circle.Produced by APodcastGeekhttps://apodcastgeek.com/

3/3/26 • 29:07

What if immersive audio is not about the future at all, but about going back to how music was always meant to be heard?In this episode of Bobby Owsinski’s Inner Circle, Bobby sits down with Adrian Weidmann, CEO and founder of Immersive Design Labs, to unpack why Dolby Atmos and immersive audio have left so many engineers scrambling, and how the real breakthrough is not technology, but clarity. Adrian shares how his background in test and measurement, studio microphones, and live capture shaped a radically simple philosophy, accuracy over novelty.From designing a preamp to be “the electrical equivalent of effectively a 12 inch piece of copper wire” with no coloration, to building a 7.1.4 array that mirrors Dolby’s speaker layout, Adrian explains why immersive audio should feel natural, not futuristic.If you care about sound, space, and the emotional impact of music, this conversation will challenge the way you think about recording.KEY TAKEAWAYS• Dolby Atmos came out of cinema and now engineers are scrambling to figure out what to do with it• The biggest challenge with immersive audio is clarity, not technology• The preamp was designed to be the electrical equivalent of a 12 inch piece of copper wire with no coloration• Immersive audio should capture musicians playing in a space, not chase novelty• The IDL array replicates the positioning of a 7.1.4 Dolby speaker configuration• Embrace the bleed, the room itself should become an active instrument• Each song should be affiliated with its appropriate acoustic space• A microphone is a transducer, and anything other than an omni is a compromise• Focus on the song, capture the emotions associated with the interaction with the musicians• Success advice from outside the studio, I show upConnect with Adrian Weidmann and Immersive Design Labs:Adrian's LinkedInImmersive Design Labs WebsiteImmersive Design Labs FacebookImmersive Design Labs LinkedInImmersive Design Labs InstagramImmersive Design Labs YouTubeAd link: Explore The Mixing Engineer’s Handbook (6th Edition), the go-to guide for modern mixing.Thank you for tuning in to Bobby Owsinski’s Inner Circle, the podcast that takes you deep inside the music industry. Each week, Bobby shares insights, news, analysis, and conversations with the movers and shakers shaping today’s music world.📌 Explore Bobby’s best-selling books🎙️ Nail that pro vocal sound: clear, upfront, and mix-ready. Learn how in Bobby’s Vocal Mixing Mini-Course🎧 Discover more mixing and production courses📲 Follow Bobby for more tips, insights, and updates:FacebookLinkedInInstagramBluesky🎙️ New episodes release every Tuesday at 9AM Pacific on YouTube and your favorite podcast app.Music. Business. Creativity. Straight from the Inner Circle.Produced by APodcastGeekhttps://apodcastgeek.com/

2/24/26 • 30:17

What if the biggest thing holding musicians back is not talent, but mindset?In this episode of Bobby Owsinski’s Inner Circle, Bobby sits down with DJ Bander, Zach Schnall, CEO of Bander Productions, to explore how artists can build real career momentum in today’s music business. From jazz roots to electronic dance music success, Zach shares how he transitioned genres, built a brand, invested in marketing, and developed the business skills most musicians ignore.This is a deep dive into branding, social media strategy, financial literacy, EDM production standards, and why waiting to be discovered is no longer a viable strategy in the modern music industry. If you want to learn something about the music business that you never knew before, this conversation delivers.KEY TAKEAWAYS• Musicians struggle because they are waiting to be discovered instead of building leverage• Labels want to see that you are already basically on the 80 yard line• Investing in your brand is essential, trying to find the cheapest way can hurt your career• Dance music requires concise structure, professional edits, and release ready production• Downtempo allows more compositional freedom, EDM demands technical precision and relevance• Marketing success depends on long term commitment, not short timelines• Bringing in an audience is only part of the equation, artists must actively engage• Financial literacy is critical, advances are often debt and poor management can derail careers• Mentorship accelerates growth in ways YouTube and AI alone cannot• The best artists trust the love they have for their own sound while being their most honest criticChapters: 00:00:00 - Coming up...00:01:15 - From jazz piano to electronic music00:03:15 - Becoming DJ Bander and learning to DJ00:04:54 - Why EDM is technically harder than it sounds00:06:52 - Release-ready production and commercial standards00:08:56 - Edit justifications and structure in long tracks00:11:24 - Staying relevant in a competitive EDM market00:14:11 - Building capital, investing in brand and ads00:16:58 - Waiting to be discovered vs building leverage00:19:01 - Financial literacy and managing advances00:22:40 - Branding your name with intention00:25:08 - The mentorship mistake young artists make00:26:53 - The best advice he ever received00:28:28 - How to connect with DJ BanderAd link: Explore The Mixing Engineer’s Handbook (6th Edition), the go-to guide for modern mixing.Thank you for tuning in to Bobby Owsinski’s Inner Circle, the podcast that takes you deep inside the music industry. Each week, Bobby shares insights, news, analysis, and conversations with the movers and shakers shaping today’s music world.📌 Explore Bobby’s best-selling books🎙️ Nail that pro vocal sound: clear, upfront, and mix-ready. Learn how in Bobby’s Vocal Mixing Mini-Course🎧 Discover more mixing and production courses📲 Follow Bobby for more tips, insights, and updates:FacebookLinkedInInstagramBluesky🎙️ New episodes release every Tuesday at 9AM Pacific on YouTube and your favorite podcast app.Music. Business. Creativity. Straight from the Inner Circle.Produced by APodcastGeekhttps://apodcastgeek.com/

2/17/26 • 30:08

Is the gig economy really built to support musicians and freelancers, or is it setting them up to fail?In this episode of Bobby Owsinski’s Inner Circle Podcast, Bobby talks with Ben Ikwaugwu, CEO of SoundCheck Live, about why the freelance economy is growing faster than the tools designed to support it. Drawing from his background as a professional vocalist and supply chain professional, Ben explains why fragmented communication, lack of systems, and one time execution pressure make it harder than ever for musicians and gig operators to run a sustainable business.Ben also shares how SoundCheck Live is being built as an operating system for the gig economy, and why understanding people, workflows, and relationships matters more than technology alone.KEY TAKEAWAYS• “Companies are operating more and more with freelancers, but they want to act like they’re enterprises.”• “The number one pain that we’re eliminating right now is the fragmentation of managing gigs and freelancers.”• “You don’t get a performance review in the gig economy. You have one time maybe to just screw it up.”• “Musicians turned business owners are some of the best negotiators, but some of the worst at building systems.”• “We’re building an operating system for on demand teams.”• “You have to be really good at your job to keep getting jobs.”• “More than half of the US economy will be freelance.”• “We don’t have infrastructure built for people who don’t operate nine to five.”• “The world is built on relationships and how you treat people.”Chapters:00:00:00 - Coming up...00:01:14 - Meet Ben Ikwaugwu and the gig economy problem00:03:21 - Learning systems through supply chain00:05:08 - The idea behind SoundCheck Live00:07:37 - Fragmentation in gig management00:11:50 - Why the gig economy gives you one shot00:16:10 - Education, AI, and building your own tools00:21:14 - Leadership lessons from supply chain00:26:19 - Building teams and company culture00:29:00 - Advice on balance and staying groundedAd link: Explore The Mixing Engineer’s Handbook (6th Edition), the go-to guide for modern mixing.Thank you for tuning in to Bobby Owsinski’s Inner Circle, the podcast that takes you deep inside the music industry. Each week, Bobby shares insights, news, analysis, and conversations with the movers and shakers shaping today’s music world.📌 Explore Bobby’s best-selling books🎙️ Nail that pro vocal sound: clear, upfront, and mix-ready. Learn how in Bobby’s Vocal Mixing Mini-Course🎧 Discover more mixing and production courses📲 Follow Bobby for more tips, insights, and updates:FacebookLinkedInInstagramBluesky🎙️ New episodes release every Tuesday at 9AM Pacific on YouTube and your favorite podcast app.Music. Business. Creativity. Straight from the Inner Circle.Produced by APodcastGeekhttps://apodcastgeek.com/

2/10/26 • 31:55

What really matters in music production when AI can generate songs, demos, and arrangements almost instantly? In this episode of Bobby Owsinski’s Inner Circle, Bobby sits down with legendary Nashville engineer and producer Ed Seay to unpack how AI, modern songwriting practices, and changing production tools are reshaping the music business. From demo studios being bypassed to why human instinct still cannot be replaced, this conversation offers an inside look at where music has been and where it is headed.KEY TAKEAWAYS• “90% of the people in the world aren’t pros. It’s all about the song and the singer.”• “You give it the prompts and then it spits it back at you in like five or six seconds for different versions.”• “They’ve analyzed everything from Bach to now.”• “They don’t know what you’re thinking of tomorrow or next week.”• “If somebody can create a demo, you just eliminated the players that were going to play on it.”• “The sum of all the stuff sounds great, but the individuals don’t.”• “If it sounds good, it is good.”• “I remain the boss. I don’t let it become the boss.”• “Everything is moving really fast and interesting to watch.”Ad link: Explore The Mixing Engineer’s Handbook (6th Edition), the go-to guide for modern mixing.Thank you for tuning in to Bobby Owsinski’s Inner Circle, the podcast that takes you deep inside the music industry. Each week, Bobby shares insights, news, analysis, and conversations with the movers and shakers shaping today’s music world.📌 Explore Bobby’s best-selling books🎙️ Nail that pro vocal sound: clear, upfront, and mix-ready. Learn how in Bobby’s Vocal Mixing Mini-Course🎧 Discover more mixing and production courses📲 Follow Bobby for more tips, insights, and updates:FacebookLinkedInInstagramBluesky🎙️ New episodes release every Tuesday at 9AM Pacific on YouTube and your favorite podcast app.Music. Business. Creativity. Straight from the Inner Circle.Produced by APodcastGeekhttps://apodcastgeek.com/

2/3/26 • 31:16

Why Do Musicians Still Struggle to Grow a Fanbase in 2026?This week on Bobby Owsinski's Inner Circle, Prospect Hill drummer and FanFlowy co-founder Mark Roberge reveals how the music industry still lacks the systems that every other business takes for granted. From cost-per-acquisition to automated fan engagement, Mark shares why most artists burn out - and how FanFlowy was built to fix that. If you're serious about building a music career that scales, this is a must-listen.KEY TAKEAWAYS• The music industry lacks core systems like cost-per-acquisition tracking• Why so many talented artists give up before making it• How FanFlowy automates fan engagement, growth, and nurturing• The role of DMs, funnels, and targeted ads in fanbase building• Why Spotify and YouTube followers are harder to grow than monthly listeners• How conversation trees inside Instagram helped convert fans• Why “real” content outperforms polished production in ad strategy• The importance of mental toughness and staying power in music• How Indie Artist Compass maps the path to real income from music• The dangers of relying too much on AI-generated musicBEST MOMENTS00:00:10. “That’s Mark Roberge, rock drummer and co-founder of FanFlowy.”00:00:19. “They’re losing because the workload is so crushing.”00:01:44. “It’s not just make your music and then go play live. It doesn’t work like that.”00:03:01. “Every other industry has this and the music industry did not.”00:05:14. “The hardest one to grow is the follower count on Spotify and the subscriber count on YouTube.”00:06:02. “They went from a ghost town to hundreds of messages in their DMs.”00:10:56. “The migration thing is a big deal. Do you have a way to do that?”00:13:20. “I want all the marketing to happen as well.”00:21:08. “I just gave you the foundation. Get the foundation laid, get it set up.”00:30:23. “If you really want this bad, you have to be all in and you have to take the hits.”Also, a video version of this podcast is now available on YouTube as well.Ad link: Explore The Mixing Engineer’s Handbook (6th Edition), the go-to guide for modern mixing.Thank you for tuning in to Bobby Owsinski’s Inner Circle, the podcast that takes you deep inside the music industry. Each week, Bobby shares insights, news, analysis, and conversations with the movers and shakers shaping today’s music world.📌 Explore Bobby’s best-selling books🎙️ Nail that pro vocal sound: clear, upfront, and mix-ready. Learn how in Bobby’s Vocal Mixing Mini-Course🎧 Discover more mixing and production courses📲 Follow Bobby for more tips, insights, and updates:FacebookLinkedInInstagramBluesky🎙️ New episodes release every Tuesday at 9AM Pacific on YouTube and your favorite podcast app.Music. Business. Creativity. Straight from the Inner Circle.Produced by APodcastGeekhttps://apodcastgeek.com/

1/27/26 • 32:10

What happens when a lifelong audio engineer suddenly can’t work in a studio anymore?In this episode of Bobby Owsinski's Inner Circle, Bobby sits down with Luke Delalio, engineer, educator, cognitive artist, photographer, and creative force at Korneff Audio. Luke shares the deeply personal story of how tinnitus changed everything, forcing him to step away from music production just as his career was thriving.But what began as a devastating setback became the catalyst for an entirely new creative life. From theater to photography, plugin design to painting, Luke’s journey shows how curiosity, experimentation, and a refusal to follow the rules can lead to surprising breakthroughs.If you’ve ever had to reinvent yourself, or are curious about the mindset behind some of the most innovative audio tools today, this is a must-listen.KEY TAKEAWAYS:• How tinnitus forced Luke to abruptly leave the music industry• Why boredom can be a powerful driver of creativity• How Luke helped shape Korneff Audio's unique plugin philosophy• The engineering story behind Chocolate Milk and the Siemens W295 EQ• How real studio problems inspired new plugin workflows• Why Luke believes experimentation is central to audio innovation• The hidden history of the Sound Techniques console• How photography and theater helped rebuild Luke’s creative identity• Why he’s skeptical about AI’s impact on the future of creativity• The one piece of life advice Luke regrets not following soonerBEST MOMENTS:00:03:18. “It just never stopped. It's been my one true love.”00:04:56. “Dan showed up at my mom's funeral and said, I'm setting up Cornford Audio. You want to come along?”00:06:01. “That is pretty much mapped to Dan's thinking big because he was always a tinkerer.”00:09:09. “That's like the real fun of being in a recording studio, was all the experimenting.”00:17:09. “Tinnitus is audible anxiety.”00:22:09. “I'm writing about that, and I'm trying to figure out what console was it mixed on... Sound Techniques.”00:33:16. “The things that really get under my skin are the moments when I've been unkind.”Ad link: Explore The Mixing Engineer’s Handbook (6th Edition), the go-to guide for modern mixing.Thank you for tuning in to Bobby Owsinski’s Inner Circle, the podcast that takes you deep inside the music industry. Each week, Bobby shares insights, news, analysis, and conversations with the movers and shakers shaping today’s music world.📌 Explore Bobby’s best-selling books🎙️ Nail that pro vocal sound: clear, upfront, and mix-ready. Learn how in Bobby’s Vocal Mixing Mini-Course🎧 Discover more mixing and production courses📲 Follow Bobby for more tips, insights, and updates:FacebookLinkedInInstagramBluesky🎙️ New episodes release every Tuesday at 9AM Pacific on YouTube and your favorite podcast app.Music. Business. Creativity. Straight from the Inner Circle.Produced by APodcastGeekhttps://apodcastgeek.com/

1/20/26 • 34:24

Can one sync placement change your entire music career?On this episode of Bobby Owsinski's Inner Circle, I’m joined by Chris SD - producer, engineer, songwriter, and founder of Sync Songwriter. Chris has helped artists get $30,000 placements, land Billboard features, and book world tours through sync licensing. In this deep-dive conversation, he breaks down how sync really works today, why connections matter more than ever, and how indie artists can win big in film and TV without major label backing.If you’ve ever dreamed of getting your music into movies, shows, or commercials, this episode is your ultimate roadmap.You can find out more about Chris SD's Art Of The Song Pitch program here - https://www.syncsongwriterprograms.com/a/2148209546/o6RJ27FZKEY TAKEAWAYS:• What a music supervisor actually does• Why sync licensing is the last place for massive music exposure• Why indie music is often preferred over major label tracks• Why you need to write authentically, not “for sync”• How AI is affecting sync, and what it can’t do• What supervisors look for in an ideal track• Why relationships are more valuable than random pitches• The difference between stems, masters, and what’s really required• How The Art of the Song Pitch program works• Why now is the time to act, not just learnBEST MOMENTS:00:01:32. “A music supervisor is someone who is hired by movie studios, TV studios, ad agencies to go and find music.”00:02:57. “Indie music, that's exactly where indie music comes in.”00:04:37. “Every single story I've heard, even the ones that look like people just went viral, there was someone involved who was connected in the industry.”00:06:18. “Music supervisors are the new A&R.”00:10:07. “Nora Ryder won five Oscars... the genres were jazz and Russian hip hop.”00:14:06. “You can't legally place an AI song in TV and film right now.”00:20:32. “You're certified. You're ready for me to introduce you to music supervisors.”00:31:08. “It wasn't for the money. The money is amazing... but the reason I got into it was the exposure.”Ad link: Explore The Mixing Engineer’s Handbook (6th Edition), the go-to guide for modern mixing.Thank you for tuning in to Bobby Owsinski’s Inner Circle, the podcast that takes you deep inside the music industry. Each week, Bobby shares insights, news, analysis, and conversations with the movers and shakers shaping today’s music world.📌 Explore Bobby’s best-selling books🎙️ Nail that pro vocal sound: clear, upfront, and mix-ready. Learn how in Bobby’s Vocal Mixing Mini-Course🎧 Discover more mixing and production courses📲 Follow Bobby for more tips, insights, and updates:FacebookLinkedInInstagramBluesky🎙️ New episodes release every Tuesday at 9AM Pacific on YouTube and your favorite podcast app.Music. Business. Creativity. Straight from the Inner Circle.Produced by APodcastGeekhttps://apodcastgeek.com/

1/13/26 • 36:20