Break the Business

BTB Ep 529: Remembering Dolly Parton (1946-2026); Vered Benhorin Interview

TOPICS: Ryan and Zak Sloan spend the first segment giving a fitting tribute to music legend Dolly Parton, reflecting on her achievements as a musician, songwriter, and ph

BTB Ep 528: Ellie Goulding sues her former managers; Prima Apollinaare

TOPICS: Continuing our discussion of scam trademark and copyright emails; EllieGoulding sues her former managers; our guest this week is indie singer-songwriter PrimaApol

BTB Ep 527: Spotify and Claude offering AI transparency; Orphiq CEO JC Sanchez

TOPICS: Katie Zaccardi’s movie review of “One Night Only”; artists and entrepreneurs putting up with junk mail; Spotify announces that it will disclose AI accounts on the

BTB Ep 526: A tribute to Glen Hansard; Fritz Michel of Young Allies

TOPICS: Ryan and Zak Sloan talk about the loss of Oscar-winning musician Glen Hansard; BTS withdraws from Grammy consideration; our guest this week is Fritz Michel, front

BTB Ep 525: Live Nation Settlement Update; Gregoire Gensollen interview

TOPICS: Ryan and Producer Lauren talk about the latest in the Live Nation antitrust lawsuit and what creators can do to speak out about the pending DOJ settlement; we ans

BTB Ep 524: “I Am Rocky” Biopic; Steff Agathis from Vitalize Records

TOPICS: Ryan is confused about the “One Night Only” romantic comedy coming out soon; Ryan and Katie Z talk about the upcoming “I Am Rocky” biopic and how the story of the

BTB Ep 523: UMAW’s “Raise the Bar” pledge; Nadim Rahman of SongProof

TOPICS: Ryan and Gideon King have a belated celebration of the Knicks' NBA title; the UMAW launches the “Raise the Bar” campaign to get venues to pledge to adopt artist-

BTB Ep 522: Are record labels making themselves obsolete; singer - songwriter Ammar Farooki

TOPICS: By demanding that artists have established careers before signing them, are labels making themselves obsolete? Ryan answers a listener question about copyright re

BTB Ep 521: Remembering Clive Davis; John Lister of Rap Fame

TOPICS: Legendary music executive Clive Davis passes away at the age of 94; the NOFAKES Act passes the Senate Judiciary Committee; our guest this week is John Lister, the

BTB Ep 520: Are we making changes to the Copyright Office; singer - songwriter Nick Cain

TOPICS: Can artists really get business opportunities through Instagram DMs? Congress is proposing a bill that would make the Register of Copyrights a President-appointed

BTB Ep 519: An “Obsession” with indie filmmakers; music executive Russ Rieger

TOPICS: Ryan and Zak Sloan talk about “Obsession” topping the box office with less than a $1m budget; how to fix Spotify; our guest this week is music executive Russ Rieg

BTB Ep 518: YouTube is trying to win Emmys; musician and actor Martin Luther McCoy

TOPICS: YouTube and Dropout are investing heavily in FYC Emmy campaigns—will the industry take note?ElisaRockDoc career update: our guest this week is musician and actor

BTB Ep 517: Rising fuel costs are making tours more expensive; Kelly and Paul from Blue Frog Immersive

TOPICS: What can artists do about rising fuel costs making tours more expensive? Boring bands don’t get booked; our guests this week are Kelly Breaks and Paul Mezier, dev

BTB Ep 516: Taylor Swift’s Sound Trademarks; entrepreneur Caro Castilla

TOPICS: Ryan and Producer Lauren talk about Taylor Swift’s latest trademark news, including her new “Hey, It’s Taylor” sound trademarks and the latest in her “Life of a S

BTB Ep 515 : Zak and Lauren takeover with guest Maria Ellis

Topics: Zak and Lauren run the show while Ryan is away celebrating his 10th wedding anniversary. Touring artists: Ticketmaster is causing artists Blue Dot Fever. Taylor S

BTB Ep 514: A love letter to the music industry; Sarah Nagourney of She Creates Noise

TOPICS: Is the music industry a good place for indie artists in 2026? We answer a listener's question about equity crowdfunding. Our guest this week is Sarah Nagourney, e

BTB Ep 513: LiveNation Verdict; Simonetta Lein

TOPICS: Ryan and Gideon King break down the April 15th jury verdict in the LiveNation/TicketMaster Trial; our guest this week is TV host and social entrepreneur Simonetta

BTB Ep 512: Are record deals becoming more favorable with artists; singer and podcaster Miist

TOPICS: Record deals are becoming more favorable for artists but also less favorable; Rock and Roll Hall of Fame snubs; the power of positive visualization; our guest thi

BTB Ep 511: Sync opportunties in indie video games; author Amani Roberts

TOPICS: Ryan and ElisaRockDoc talk about indie video games and the unique sync licensing opportunities that they provide to artists; Taylor Swift is facing a lawsuit over

BTB Ep 510: “Fair Use” in Anthropic copyright case; Mike Cykoski of A is for Atom

TOPICS: Ryan and Katie Z talk about how to select a good artist consultant; Universal Publishing submits a legal filing arguing that Anthropic’s use of song lyrics to tra