Fox Tales - a music industry podcast by Stereofox – Détails, épisodes et analyse

Danny Hajjar is a music journalist, curator, DJ, and creator of the newsletter Sa’alouni El Nas. The newsletter focuses on the music, culture, social, and political stories of the Middle East, North Africa, and the diaspora community. Danny has a wealth of experience, having worked at Spotify's Data Curation team and contributed to esteemed publications such as The Washington Post, Esquire, and The New Arab. 

His unwavering dedication and commitment to popularizing the rich culture of the region is commendable and inspiring to us. His rich overview of the music industry and dedication to be present and keep doing what he loves are among the reasons why we are more than honoured to welcome him to the Fox Tales.

The episode is published in the midst of the horrific earthquake that happened in Turkey and Syria. Our heart goes out to everyone affected. Below we are sharing a list of resources for people to donate and help.

List of resources for people to help and donate:

» Molham

» Syrian American Medical Society

» AKUT

» Turkish Red Crescent

Links

» Sa’alouni El Nas newsletter

» @DanielGHajjar (Twitter)

» Stereofox IG (@wearestereofox)

» our newsletter at Stereofox.com

» host (@himynameisivo)

» Join our Discord Server

Mentioned:

@bladelsham

@frenchysaysrelax

@dj.bonita

@narcynarce

@big_hass

@offendum

@thanksjoey 

@abdulisms

@norfafrica

Podcast notes

[2:50] on music in Danny’s life growing up

[06:10] on his goal when it comes to popularising music from the Middle East and North African region 

[07:20] on the creation of the Saaluni newsletter and how to stay consistent when it comes to content creation

[11:05] on the balance between music and social / political stories and how they humanize the culture 

[13:30] on the future of the newsletter and turning it into a media platform

[16:50] on music that resonates with you 

[19:30] on Danny’s career path toward, writing  

[24:00] on being part of the creator’s ecosystem and connecting with artists from the Middle East and North African region  

[27:10] key curators in the Arab Music / Middle Eastern scene

[29:30] the next growth wave of Arabic music

[33:35] Spotify, the Arab team there and what’s happening for artists from the region

[35:30] on everyone’s responsibility to explore and be open to global  music

[40:00 ] the balance between data and human curation aka the human vibe check at Spotify

[42:30] an advice for artists

In our new episode we had the pleasure of talking to US producer xander. on the release day of his new album Bliss. We cover the creative process behind and and how it all came to be, his journey from picking up Fruity Loops to working with Meek Mill and building up his followership in recent years.

Shoutout to all the amazing people mentioned in the podcast!

Links

» xander. (@iamxandermusic)

» artworks (@jim_spendlove)

» Stereofox IG (@wearestereofox)

» subscribe to our newsletter at Stereofox.com

» listen to our label releases 

» host (@himynameisivo)

» Join our Discord Server

Podcast notes

[1:26] Moving to Boston and the beat/culture scene there

[3:12] The Xander sound

[5:17] The new Bliss album creative process and release journey

[11:20] On playing instruments

[13:10] The importance of collaboration 

[18:24] On meeting his collaborators

[24:32] Drumming and early days of producing music

[26:30] On getting triple gold certified and working with Meek Mill

[29:52] On the important of being consistent & building followership

[33:10] Pros and cons of social media

[35:50] What to look for in a record label

[37:45] Xander’s favourite place to listen to Bliss

Drummer, producer, DJ, engineer, and product manager… Those are among the many roles Robin Brink occupies in the music industry. His rise to stardom occurred in 2014 when his band called Beatenberg hit mainstream consciousness and eventually became among the most iconic South African bands of this generation. Even though he had success as a drummer, he still forged his own path as a producer under the name Okayshades, and recently he joined Marx Audio as a product manager who specializes in Dolby Atmos.

Throughout this conversation, Robin Brink shares with us why Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos are the future industry standard, the success of Beatenberg, and we dive into the state of the South African Music scene.

Links:

» Robin Brink (@okayshades)

» Stereofox (@wearestereofox)

» host (@skai_lounge)

» Join our Discord Server

Show Notes

[05:52] On helping artists realize their dreams

[10: 52] On intense creative energy

[12:48] On Beatenberg Changing his life

[15:00] On signing with Island Records

[17:00] On the South African Music Scene

[25:37] What does producing give you that drumming can’t

[28:33] On his start with Marx Audio

[34:09] General responsibilities at Marx Audio

[38:40] The difference between Dolby Atmos and Spatial Audio

[42:13] Why Dolby Atmos is the future?

[45:30] What needs to happen for Dolby Atmos to be the norm?

[48: 45] Making a mix for Dolby Atmos

[53:05]  Why some Spatial Audio remixes sound bad

[56: 20] The barriers of entry for Dolby Atmos

[1:00:41] On Apple’s marketing for Spatial Audio

[1:05:40] On what makes a good Atmos mix

[1:12:01]  On rectifying bad remixes in Spatial Audio

[1:17:20]  What would you say to skeptics of Spatial Audio and Dolby

In the new episode of our Artist Stories segment we have the absolute honor & pleasure to welcome the legendary beatmaker Florian Meiers, or FloFilz.

He’s been making music since 2013 and we’ve been following his journey since the early Stereofox years. Flo has collaborated with outstanding artists like Alfa Mist, Blu, K, Le Maestro, Barney Artist, Blue Lab Beats, Ivan Ave, and just released his new album Close Distance via our friends at Melting Pot Music

He dropped by for a chat to share some details about it and also share some stories about his musical background & his view on the contemporary beat scene.

Links

» FloFilz (@flofilz)

» Melting Pot Music (@melting_pot_music)

» Stereofox (@wearestereofox)

» host (@atanas.kutsev)

» Join our Discord Server

Show Notes

[02:11] On where the name FloFilz comes from

[04:14] On how his musical journey started

[07:27] On his debut album Duplex (2013) & on Cenario (2016)

[13:35] On the pandemic, the beginning of Close Distance & the title meaning

[16:08] On the diverse collaborations on the album

[17:56] On the song titles

[20:49] On working with Alfa Mist

[22:44] On the visual identity of the album

[25:36] On the collaboration with Jerome Thomas & the music video for “Sensitive”

[27:47] On working with vocalists

[29:49] On the collaboration with Summers Sons & C.Tappin

[31:53] On the vinyl of Close Distance

[34:58] On remixing Tom Misch & Laura Misch’s “Follow”

[37:47] On playing the violin

[39:05] On live shows for Close Distance

[41:16] On his view on the beat scene nowadays

[51:05] On his music/production equipment

[55:43] On his advice to up-and-coming producers

If you’ve been following the music world closely, there’s certainly one name that stood out in the UK scene last year.

Emerging half-Japanese, half-English artist Miso Extra blends so many genres and both her native languages in her super captivating music.

Her debut EP called Great Taste is out via Beatnik Creative who work with the outstanding Arlo Parks and it’s quite the ride.

She was so nice to drop by for a chat to share more about herself and the Misoverse.

Links

» Miso Extra (@misoextra)

» Beatnik Creative (@beatnikcreative)

» Stereofox (@wearestereofox)

» host (@atanas.kutsev)

» Join our Discord Server

Show Notes

[01:00] On the Misoverse

[01:50] On her moniker origin

[04:07] On the role of food in her life

[07:09] On childhood & involvement with music

[09:43] On Great Taste EP

[15:39] On songwriting

[18:34] On inspiration

[20:55] On the growing interest in Asian cultures

[23:21] On femininity & equality

[26:45] On musical influences

[29:58] On dancing

[32:02] On performing live

[35:49] On collaborations she’d like to do

[36:47] On Arlo Parks & Beatnik Creative

Learn the latest when it comes to major streaming platforms from Mike Warner - Director of Artist, Label and DSP Relations at Chartmetric and author of Work Hard Playlist Harder. Mike is one of the people we follow in order to stay up to date to all music industry news. Besides going over Amazon, Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer and TIDAL, we share news on new streaming platforms and some pro tips for artists when it come to platforms like TikTok and Linkedin.

The episode was recording while doing a Live on our Discord server.

Links

» Mike Warner (@askmikewarner)

» Stereofox (@wearestereofox)

» host (@himynameisivo)

» Join our Discord Server

Show Notes

[02:00] Intro (2nd attempt) and Mike’s take on LinkedIn for artists

[4:30] Mike’s responsibilities at Chartmetrics

[6:45] The 2 sides of TikTok

[12:50] TikTok’s new distribution service SoundOn

[16:43] Amazon Music and the focus on voice control 

[20:30] Amazon Music pitching process, changes and tips

[24:30] The importance of tagging and metadata 

[27:45] The key of artist to fan direct connection

[33:05] User-centric payment systems 

[36:45] Pros and cons of allowing users to create playlists on streaming platforms 

[41:30] Pitching music to Apple Music

[48:05] Pitching music to Spotify

[49:30] Relevance of music blogs 

[52:50] Staying up to date with the music industry news

[1:00:01] Spotify’s Discovery Mode 

In this podcast episode we meet Hayden Mcguigan - editor-in-chief at US publication Electric Hawk. We catch up on his journey prior that, talk about the good and bad sides of music blogging and how to start in the music industry if you don't have experience prior to that.

It's just a genuine chat about all-things-music really, hope you enjoy this! 

Links

» Hayden McGuigan (@woahbruhhh_)

» Electric Hawk (@electric_hawk)

» Stereofox (@wearestereofox)

» host (@himynameisivo)

» Join our Discord Server

Show Notes

[6:40] Journey into music blogging and intro 

[12:15] How do you start with writing in the music industry

[20:00] On the state of readership and consumption in music industry

[24:24] Work and team at Electric Hawk

[27:50] The history of Electric Hawk 

[31:32] The positive and negative sides of working in the music industry 

[36:12] Is Friday a good really the best day to release music?

[38:19] Hayden’s approach to being editor in chief

[41:40] Payola in blogging

[43:20] Submission process at Electric Hawk

[47:01] Spotify pitches, PR importance and random chats  

It’s time for another episode from our Artist Stories segment and today we’re stoked to welcome the legendary LA soul & jazz trio Moonchild, whom we’ve been following for years.

Amber Navran, Andris Mattson & Max Bryk have been together for 10 years and this special anniversary is marked by their 5th studio album called Starfruit, released last month via our friends at Tru Thoughts.

They dropped by for a chat to share more about their journey so far and especially about the process behind creating Starfruit alongside amazing collaborators like Lalah Hathaway, Rapsody, Alex Isley, Tank and The Bangas & more.

Links

» Moonchild (@thisismoonchild)

» Starfruit 2022 Tour (tickets)

» Tru Thoughts (@tru_thoughts)

» Stereofox (@wearestereofox)

» host (@atanas.kutsev)

» Join our Discord Server

Show Notes

[01:05] On the beginning of Moonchild

[03:48] On 10 years working and growing together

[04:40] On Be Free & Voyager from 2022’s perspective

[06:38] On their “sound”, the creative process & songwriting

[09:46] On how Starfruit came together

[13:35] On the new sonic approach in Starfruit

[17:03] On collaborating with Black Female creators

[19:52] On working with Lalah Hathaway, Rapsody, Tank and the Bangas & more

[25:03] On favorite song from Starfruit

[26:10] On the 2022 Tour

[27:20] On playing live vs working in the studio

[28:41] On writer’s block

[30:27] On improving musicianship

Today we have Elijah Nang over to talk about his journey as an artist, the Gaijin series and the work behind Gaijin 3000 - a label release we’re working together on.

We’re also covering the importance of story-telling for artists and the influence of Japanese culture in his art and music.

"there's no I in team" / Elijah Nang

Links

» Elijah Nang (@elijahnang)

» Gaijin 3000 album (link)

» Gaijin 3000 vinyl/merch (link)

» Wenyi Geng (@wenyigeng)

» Trina Hines (@hinestheartist)

» Stereofox (@wearestereofox)

» host (@himynameisivo)

» Join our Discord Server

Show notes

[4:35] Storytelling in and outside of music

[6:22] Japanese culture and influence

[9:00] The Gaijin concept

[11:20] First steps in producing beats

[12:42] Advise to younger self

[14:37] Gaijin I and the journey into lofi beats

[16:05] Planning Gaijin 3000 - art, visuals, merch, vinyl and the digital release

[22:00] A new sound - exploring synthwave and retrowave music

[29:02] Working with a label as an independent artist

[34:42] Taking a break of social media

Every label manager, A&R, music marketer, etc. uses numbers, statistics, and graphs to justify the decisions they make, to choose the right place to invest, or to find new trends.

If you’re an artist, numbers are probably the last thing you’d like to look at. But in this constantly changing and very much data-driven music industry we're in, you either need to find someone to help you out or you’ve got to suck it up and start understanding what all those lines & charts mean.

To shed some light on this, we’ve got Alex Brees here, the CEO & founder of  a London-based AI marketing company, called un:hurd. Alex is also a former senior analyst in Universal and has a rich background in marketing and operations.

Links

» un:hurd (@unhurd_)

» Stereofox (@wearestereofox)

» host (@atanas.kutsev)

» Join our Discord Server

Show notes

[5:56] How Alex ended up in the music industry

[8:00] On Keakie

[11:50] On working in Universal

[14:07] On the difference between major labels & independent ones/self-releasing

[16:02] On importance of data in the music industry

[18:19] On how tech helps handling data

[19:44] On how AI is used in the music industry

[21:42] On AI music creation

[24:29] On data & context

[25:24] On the Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” viral video on TikTok

[27:44] On tightening the gap between major labels & independent ones/DIY artists

[31:54] Tips on how to use data, what stats to look at & marketing approach

[37:06] On playola & playlisting

[43:27] On the success stories of M24 and MckNasty