The Ongoing History of New Music, episode 853: The music industry glossary, part 1
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 exploring of how the music business works, you inevitably run into unfamiliar words 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 Wilhilte has complied this playlist.
The Ongoing History of New Music can be heard on the following stations:
- 102.1 The Edge/Toronto – Sunday night at 7
- Live 88-5/Ottawa
- 107.5 Dave-FM/Kitchener
- FM96/London – Sunday night at 7, Monday night at 11
- Power 97/Winnipeg (Sunday nights at 11)
- Rock 97.7/Grand Prairie – Sunday nights at 6.
- Sonic 102.9/Edmonton
- The Zone/Victoria
- The Fox/Vancouver
- WAPS/WKTL The Summit/Arkon, Canton, Cleveland, Youngstown The show runs at 11 am Sunday. This, by the way, is a great option for American listeners who are prevented from listening to the show live because of geo-blocking,
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.
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