Critical Listening

6:11

Episode 25: September 2026 Headlines (PATREON PREVIEW)

Critical Listening ·

2026/09/30

Earlier this month, Suno unveiled its new "v6" model, advertising it as the first product created with material licensed from Warner, BMG and Believe. But it also says the model is trained on the "creations" of its users, opening up new conversations in the gen-AI licensing discourse. If a so-called legal model is trained on user "creations" that were in-turn made using an old, unlicensed model, what is materially different? We get into all of the above, as well as Suno's claims that its "v6-wild"

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56:38

Episode 24: Sweeping Promises

Critical Listening ·

2026/09/18

Welcome back to another episode of Critical Listening, DIY Lifers edition. For our third installment of Listening Habits, our series where we talk to musicians about how they interact with music on an everyday basis, we're joined by Lira Mondal and Caufield Schnug of the Lawrence, Kansas group Sweeping Promises. We met on the occasion of their new record, You Say I Romanticize, released in August on Sub Pop, for a truly inspired and wide-ranging conversation.In the first half, we dig into: why

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5:08

Episode 23: August Headlines (PATREON PREVIEW)

Critical Listening ·

2026/08/31

As usual, this Headlines episode is for paid subscribers only. Head to Patreon.com/criticallistening to access all of our monthly Headlines episodes, as well as our Discord community, and occasional bonus segments.Jimmy Iovine recently told the New York Times that he "doesn't see a downside at all" when it comes to generative AI music, despite that tens of thousands of fully AI-generated recordings are reportedly flooding streaming services every day. Is he being sincere as a legendary producer, or

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53:59

Episode 22: L'Rain

Critical Listening ·

2026/08/14

For Episode 22, we spoke with songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and curator Taja Cheek, on the brink of her group L’Rain’s fourth record, fata morgana, out today on Mexican Summer. Taja is a lifelong New Yorker with roots in underground cultural organizing and the institutional art world alike; in addition to her work as a musician, she is also currently the Artistic Director at Performance Space New York.In the first half of the show, we spoke about the new album and what it means to

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2:50

Episode 21: July 2026 Headlines (PATREON PREVIEW)

Critical Listening ·

2026/07/31

The CEO of SoundCloud recently revealed that he regularly seeks advice from what he calls his “AI board”—a model he trained on the interviews and writings of top pop musicians and record industry executives.So for our July 2026 Headlines segment we are wondering: did AI Billie Eilish tell him to buy Nina Protocol? We might not be able to give you an exact answer but we do dive into what we know about the deal and what it might mean for musicians. We are also discussing the Kalshi power-users who

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61:28

Episode 20: Why Panda Bear & Sonic Boom's New Record...

Critical Listening ·

2026/07/24

Why did Panda Bear and Sonic Boom decide to not put their new record, A ? of WHEN, on any streaming services? And how did they get their label, Domino Recording Co, on board? For episode 20 we're joined by the Lisbon-based Animal Collective and Spacemen 3 members to dive into all of this and more.Since the launch of the pod, we've been hoping to have these sorts of conversations centered on divestment from streaming platforms--not just about why artists are opting out, but the specifics of what

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4:05

Episode 19: June 2026 Headlines (PATREON PREVIEW)

Critical Listening ·

2026/06/29

For this month's installment of our monthly headlines show, we're digging into two stories around the increasingly entwined worlds of generative AI and music streaming. First, a look into a new tool created by the French streaming platform Deezer that shows users how many gen-AI tracks are already on their own playlists. Is this just another hollow marketing campaign by a tech company, or something that's actually useful? What role should streaming services be playing in the fight to label AI slop

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4:30

Episode 18: May 2026 Headlines (PATREON PREVIEW)

Critical Listening ·

2026/06/01

We're back for another Headlines episode for the month of May 2026. As with all Headlines episodes this season, this episode is a subscriber exclusive. You can listen to it in full and catch up on older headlines and more by signing up for our Patreon at patreon.com/criticallistening.This month we dive in to some major developments in the world of music tech as we discuss the acquisition of German music production software conglomerate Native Instruments by their American rivals InMusic, one of

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61:28

Episode 17: Maine Music Alliance

Critical Listening ·

2026/05/15

Welcome back! This month we are joined by Peter McLaughlin and Scott Mohler of the Maine Music Alliance. They explain how local musicians in Portland, Maine successfully stopped Live Nation from opening a 3300-cap venue in their town. It is a truly inspiring story involving musicians organizing to save local spaces during the COVID-19 lockdown, and eventually turning that network out in massive numbers—building a broad coalition, showing up to city council meetings, and convincing local government

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4:21

Episode 16: April 2026 Headlines (PATREON PREVIEW)

Critical Listening ·

2026/05/01

We’re back with another Headlines episode, and this month it’s our first time spending the whole episode on one story. You probably already know which one it is.For this month we are begrudgingly wading into the discourse that has ensued following the Wired piece “The Fanfare Around the Band Geese Actually Was a Psyop,” published April 14. We dive into the manipulative tactics of “trend simulation” agencies like Chaotic Good, how pre-existing laws around deceptive advertising can reign them in, and

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104:14

Episode 15: Wendy Eisenberg

Critical Listening ·

2026/04/17

For today's episode of Critical Listening we are joined by guitarist, songwriter and improviser Wendy Eisenberg to launch a new segment, "Listening Habits." Wendy joined us a few weeks before the release of their new self-titled album, which is out now on Joyful Noise Records. In the first half of the show, we speak with Wendy about their own work as a musician and a teacher. We discuss the new album, a class they are teaching this fall on theorizing musical community, and also some headier stuff

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42:07

Episode 13: Following the Money with Henk Willem Smits

Critical Listening ·

2026/04/07

What happens when a private equity company takes over a music festival? For this Critical Listening live taping at the ESNS Conference in Groningen, we spoke with Dutch investigative journalist Henk Willem Smits to unpack this very question. Smits works with the community-supported outlet Follow the Money, specializing in tax avoidance by multinationals and wealthy individuals in music, and the intersections of private equity and electronic music culture. His 2025 piece "Loud Music, Silent

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3:00

Episode 14: March 2026 Headlines (PATREON PREVIEW)

Critical Listening ·

2026/04/01

Hey all, we're back with another headlines episode.This month we start by digging into UMG CEO Lucian Grainge's recent appearance on stage at a NVIDIA-hosted conference described as the "Super Bowl of AI," where he was discussing his company's partnership with the AI-enabling tech giant. What does this say about different ways major labels are embracing AI beyond the headline-grabbing licensing deals for gen-AI content? We unpack the ways labels seem to be embracing so-called tech solutions to

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53:51

Episode 12: February 2026 Headlines

Critical Listening ·

2026/03/06

Welcome back to another episode of Critical Listening. For this month’s Headlines, we’re joined by Hearing Things co-founder and longtime music critic Jill Mapes to discuss her recent piece “The Wasserman Exodus is A Different Kind of Reckoning” about the artists protesting music exec Casey Wasserman’s appearance in the Epstein files. Before that we’re also talking about Spotify’s recent 2025 Q4 earnings call, where it presented a financial update to shareholders, and what it says about the

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51:12

Episode 11: Live from Groningen

Critical Listening ·

2026/02/11

WE’RE BACK. Today we start the year with a dispatch from what some may call the front lines: a bunch of AI-related panels at a European music biz trade conference. It’s also our first episode recorded in person!We are starting our new season with two episodes recorded in the city of Groningen in the Netherlands, where we were invited to participate on some panels and to host a live taping of the show at the annual conference and festival ESNS. That live taping—an interview with Dutch investigative

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81:07

Episode 10: Season Finale w/ Anthony Fantano (The...

Critical Listening ·

2025/12/24

As 2025 comes to a close, so does the first season of Critical Listening. And with us to send off the year, we have none other than the internet's busiest music nerd himself: Anthony Fantano of The Needle Drop. We discuss how public perception of streaming culture discourse has shifted this past year, his efforts to offer a critical perspective on the music industry in his videos, the state of on-screen music journalism in 2025, and more.We also dive into Anthony's background as a music

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54:55

Episode 9: November 2025 Headlines LIVE at Purchase...

Critical Listening ·

2025/12/09

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

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97:35

Episode 8: Amirtha Kidambi

Critical Listening ·

2025/11/26

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

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55:30

Episode 7: October Headlines

Critical Listening ·

2025/11/05

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

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90:57

Episode 6: Why Sound Matters w/ Damon Krukowski

Critical Listening ·

2025/10/20

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

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