Ongoing History of New Music

The Ongoing History of New Music, encore presentation: The music industry glossary, part 1

Summer reruns begin with a look at some of the most popular episodes from the past couple of years. New programming resumes in September. Meanwhile, new podcasts will continue to appear every Wednesday.

I’m really bad with jargon. I hate it.

Jargon is by its very nature exclusive. If you don’t know the language, the codes, and the nuances, you’re locked out of the discussion.

I remember one financial guy who insisted on talking to me about a retirement savings plan. His pitch went something like this: “When it comes to diversification of your asset classes, you should consider taking out some warrants on pink sheet stocks on the VIX, backing them up wiht shorts on FANG stocks for a few months before rebalancing your portfolio through dollar-cost averaging.”

I think that’s what he said. All I remember is that I didn’t have a clue what he was talking about.

Let’s switch to music. If you do an exploration of how the music business works, you inevitably run into unfamiliar words that seem important, but you don’t know what they mean. You could ask, but who wants to admit ignorance, right? No one needs a condescending explanation, either. So you keep your questions to yourself.

But that’s not right. Music should be for everyone, so if you’re interested in how the industry works, your curiosity should be rewarded. And that’s what we’re going to do right now. This is a glossary of music industry terms. Once we’re done, you’ll be able to converse with the best of them.

Songs heard on this episode:

  • Sex Pistols, EMI
  • Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Someday I Suppose
  • The Selector, Three Minute Hero
  • Lenny Kravitz, American Woman
  • Pearl Jam, Alive (live)
  • The Beaches, Money
  • Tragically Hip, Courage
  • Florence + The Machine, Dog Days are Over (demo)
  • Muse, Dig Down

Eric Wilhite has a playlist for us.

The Ongoing History of New Music can be heard on the following stations:

We’re still looking for more affiliates in Calgary, Kamloops, Kelowna, Regina, Saskatoon, Brandon, Windsor,  Montreal, Halifax, Charlottetown, Moncton, Fredericton, and St John’s and anywhere else with a transmitter. If you’re in any of those markets and you want the show, lemme know and I’ll see what I can do.

If you ever miss a show, you can always get the podcast edition available through Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your on-demand audio.

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

Alan Cross has 39175 posts and counting. See all posts by Alan Cross

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