Modern Musician Podcast

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.
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→ 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.
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→ Learn more about Robina and her work at: trackstagepro.com
Book an Artist Breakthrough Session with the Modern Musician team: 
https://streetteam.fm/masterclass

What happens when music becomes infinite?
TuneCore artists can now opt in to let Suno train on their music. Suno is limiting downloads. CDs are somehow booming again. And a Katy Perry song from 2011 just became TikTok’s biggest song of the summer.
This week, we’re asking what actually becomes valuable when music itself is abundant: ownership, scarcity, physical artifacts, fan relationships—or simply giving a great song enough chances to be discovered.
Along the way, we ask:
Would you let AI train on your music—and for how much?
Do download limits reduce AI slop or just put creativity behind a paywall?
Would 50 paying fans change your career more than 50,000 streams?
Why are CDs coming back in a streaming world?
Are artists abandoning great songs way too quickly?
In this episode, we explore AI and music, Suno and TuneCore’s evolving relationship, the resurgence of CDs and physical music, the value of direct fan connections, the power of catalog rediscovery, and how Jason Dmore’s “Breeze” is inspiring a new wave of connection through music and dance.
Key Takeaways
Don’t treat releases as having an expiration date.
Give your catalog multiple chances to be discovered—a song can find its audience years later.
Build systems that keep your best work discoverable instead of focusing only on creating more.
As digital music becomes infinite, scarcity shifts toward physical products, access, identity, community, and direct fan relationships.
Your next breakthrough might already exist—sometimes, you just need to find a new context for an older song.
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→ Book an Artist Breakthrough Session with the Modern Musician team: https://streetteam.fm/masterclass

Jesse Cannon is a music marketing expert, producer, author, and educator who helps independent artists navigate the modern music industry. He hosts Musformation and is the author of Get More Fans: The DIY Guide to the New Music Business and Processing Creativity. Jesse has worked with artists including The Cure, Animal Collective, Laufey, and Weird Al Yankovic, while also building expertise in music production, artist development, podcasting, and education. Through his work, he shares practical insights on audience growth, creative careers, music marketing, and building a sustainable path forward for independent artists.
In this episode, Michael Walker and Jesse Cannon explore how independent artists can build sustainable careers in a rapidly changing music industry, from growing a loyal fan base and fighting for fair compensation to navigating AI, music rights, and the future of human creativity.
Key Takeaways
Build a stronger fan base: Learn why audience growth and direct relationships with fans are increasingly important for independent artists.
Understand your rights and compensation: Discover the challenges artists face around streaming, rights management, and fair compensation—and why awareness matters.
Protect the human side of creativity: Explore where AI can support the creative process while understanding why emotional authenticity and human connection remain essential to music.
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→ Learn more about Jesse and his work at: musicmarketingtrends.beehiiv.com
Book an Artist Breakthrough Session with the Modern Musician team: 
https://streetteam.fm/masterclass

The technology changed. The strategy didn’t.
Dolly Parton spent her career protecting ownership. This week, the rest of the music industry showed exactly why that matters.
Sony and Warner sued Anthropic. Universal built an AI patent portfolio. All three majors bought equity in Stability AI. And session musicians went to court arguing that the AI economy is being built on work they were never compensated for.
Meanwhile, one DIY artist showed another path entirely: let the audience take your music, mutate it, and help distribute it.
Along the way, we ask:
What would you be willing to give up for the opportunity of a lifetime?
If AI learns from your work, what do you actually deserve?
What happens when labels own the music and the machinery?
Can contracts written before AI still protect musicians from AI?
Should artists protect their music—or make it easier for fans to transform?
In this episode, we explore Dolly Parton’s $150M lesson in ownership, the music industry’s legal battle with AI, major labels investing in AI, musicians fighting for compensation, the philosophy of AI and creativity, and why making art “forkable” could be the future of music.
Key Takeaways
Protect future opportunities: The most valuable rights may be tied to uses that haven’t been invented yet.
Learn from Dolly Parton: You can’t predict how your music may be used or transformed in the future.
Think beyond today’s technology: Session musicians couldn’t anticipate AI training, and today’s artists can’t predict what their catalogs might power years from now.
Own what you can: Understand what rights you’re keeping, licensing, or giving away.
Make your art forkable: When it comes to your audience, giving people room to remix and build on your work can create new possibilities.
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→ Book an Artist Breakthrough Session with the Modern Musician team: https://streetteam.fm/masterclass