Critical Listening

• Episode 9: November 2025 Headlines LIVE at Purchase College

  We are back for our penultimate episode of Season 1 of Critical Listening! Recorded on November 13th at the coveted Stood at Purchase College, we're discussing the latest developments in the Spotify deal to create "artist first" generative AI tools in partnership with major labels and distributors. We also review the platform's continued growth as it rounds out its second full year of profitability and what that means for both artists and users alike. We have just uploaded the second part of this episode for Patrons only where we take questions directly from the students of Purchase College themselves, sign up now at patreon.com/criticallistening to catch up on the full season and bonus episodes before our season finale at the end of the year! Do you want the Critical Listening team to do a live taping at your college, music venue, conference, record store, or general hang in 2026? Shoot us an email at [email protected] and let's chat!

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• Episode 8: Amirtha Kidambi

  For Episode 8 we have composer, educator, curator, and activist Amirtha Kidambi stopping by. We discuss Amirtha's various musical outputs, including her Elder Ones ensemble and her recent duo release with Matt Evans as Neti-Neti. We discuss the inseparability of politics from pedagogy as teaching artists, the importance of solidarity amongst working artists and the need for us to Do-It-Together rather than simply DIY. Amirtha has a new podcast out called Outernational that explores the relationship of music and revolution through poignant conversations with fellow artists around the world, subscribe and support her work via her Substack and Bandcamp. Support critical and independent media at the intersections of music, tech, and culture industry hell by subscribing to our Patreon.

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• Episode 7: October 2025 Headlines

  We’re back with another headlines ep, where Liz and Max each bring one story from across the music-tech biz press to summarize and contextualize. On this ep we are unpacking the imminent major label deals with gen-AI companies. At the time we recorded, those reportedly landmark deals were thought to be signed within weeks, and since recording we’ve already started to see more details emerge. We discussed some implications of Spotify being included on the list of companies major rightsholders are working out gen-AI deals with, and more details of that collaboration have already dropped, too. Lastly, we of course also spoke about what it means that Daniel Ek is stepping back from his role as CEO of Spotify. Thanks for tuning in, remember to support the show by joining our Patreon & head over to the Discord if you want to chat about anything mentioned on the show!

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• Episode 6: Why Sound Matters w/ Damon Krukowski

  We're back from a month of touring and we missed you! We are thrilled to have musician and author Damon Krukowski on the show to discuss his upcoming book "Why Sound Matters", available everywhere on October 21st from Yale University Press. We discuss Galaxie 500, Damon & Naomi, the acoustic ecology writings of Bernie Krause, the Boston independent music scene in the 1980s compared to today, and how much of the material aspects of music relate directly to the labor issues in sound as a whole. Support the show and listen to exclusive bonus content from this episode at patreon.com/criticallistening.

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• Episode 5: August 2025 Headlines

  Max & Liz return for another installment of their series diving into some intriguing headlines from across the music, tech and business hellscape. What does it mean for organizations representing independent record labels to be inking deals with gen-AI companies? How are AI-driven tech platforms impacting the realm of music education? Never fear, we’ve got a bloomscroll in there too. Check it out and support the Patreon to join the convo on Discord!  

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