Innovating Music Maremel Institute

Mike Butera has gone on some intriguing journeys, connecting music performance passions, philosophy and sound studies, and tech in creating new musical instruments for regular people to get into music. He shares his path to launching Artiphon after years in academic circles, ways he learned how to market new devices and thrive with Kickstarter, and how the adventure is going so far as they get ready to release the Chorda in late 2023.
Guest: Dr. Mike Butera, Founder & CEO, Artiphon
Dr. Mike Butera is the founder & CEO of Artiphon, a music tech company designing smart instruments that anyone can play. Mike received his Ph.D. in Sound Studies from Virginia Tech and was a professor of Sociology and Philosophy for 6 years. Prior to founding Artiphon, Mike was a consumer electronics product designer, a touring musician, and a public speaker in music & technology. 
What are you most passionate about with your current work? : Inspiring people to be musical for just a minute every day!
Links:
https://artiphon.comhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/mikebutera/https://www.facebook.com/Artiphon

Jason Kramer shares his journey to being an EMT during the AIDS Epidemic, LA Riots, and Northridge Earthquake to Fox Sports to KLOS and KCRW. He talks about the magic of Sunday nights, how he created and drove his own luck through persistent work, asking for opportunities, and taking on new challenges. He shares a bit of his experience being present during the inception of Billie Eilish, including being in the opening scene of her documentary and playing himself in three movies. Jason discusses his various creative pursuits, including photography, directing videos, and teaching.
Guest: Jason Kramer, KCRW DJ, Music Supervisor, Photographer, and Educator
For the last 20 years, Jason Kramer has been in the field of music and radio. Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Kramer worked as an EMT during the late 80s and early 90s; and through the 1992 Los Angeles riots. After changing his career as a medic in the hard streets of LA for ten years, he decided to work in radio starting in 1992 on KLOS, screening calls for the widely popular "Seventh Day." From that point on, Jason realized that music and radio were his calling.
During his transition, he started off with a stint working with SoCal favorites Sublime and their label Skunk Records. In 1996, he moved on to Fox Sports TV as their full-time music supervisor for 6 years, leading him to become a show producer on Fox Sports Radio. He has also worked in various other aspects of music including management, radio DJ, publishing, creative consulting, music photography, education, and as a music supervisor.
Jason started off as a KCRW volunteer in the mid-90s and has been on air since 1997 during a show called The Lab. You can hear Jason on his weekly show on Sunday nights on KCRW and KCRW.com, and can be found playing himself on several films and TV shows in the past few years.

Links:
KCRW: https://www.kcrw.com/music/shows/jason-kramerX: https://twitter.com/kcrwkramerIMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2625239/Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_KramerFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/jason.kramer.37LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/liquidcourage/

Jordy Freed from Sony Corporation of America shared his journey from jazz saxophone and building websites to public relations and marketing. Twists and turns took him to radio, Blue Note, Grey Advertising, and finally to Sony. He shares the stories of his twists and turns and the challenges of managing and growing diverse brands. Jordy talks about what he's excited about now and what is changing the workflow of creators.

Michael Huppe, CEO of SoundExchange, fell in love with IP and came into music through law. He had played keyboard and trombone as a young person and ended up at the Recording Industry Association of America, which led him to SoundExchange. He shares how SoundExchange is also a tech company, needing to help and represent its members with opportunities from new technologies, as well as providing a system's backbone for a growing streaming music industry.

Guest: Mike Huppe, President and CEO, SoundExchange

Michael Huppe is the President and Chief Executive Officer of SoundExchange, where he champions creators and spearheads the use of technology, data, and advocacy to power the future of music.

Whether he is leading efforts to launch new lines of business or advocating on the steps of Capitol Hill for creator-first legislation, every aspect of Michael’s work is undertaken on behalf of SoundExchange’s larger mission: to ensure that creators are compensated fairly, efficiently, and accurately for their work. To date, SoundExchange has distributed more than $9 billion in digital performance royalties to over half a million music creators.

In addition, Michael is an adjunct professor at Georgetown Law School, a frequent contributor, published author, lecturer, and active community member. His opinions have been published in Variety, Rolling Stone, The Wall Street Journal, Music Business Worldwide, Billboard, and The Hill, among other outlets.

What are you most passionate about with your current work? : "Being able to champion creators and helping to create a fairer, simpler, and more efficient music industry through innovative technology and data solutions."

Dave Ratner moved from managing bands into law, and now works with creative companies out of Boulder, CO to understand how to maneuver so many different new opportunities in music. He shares wisdom in how to evaluate risk, plan for success, and use both common sense and contracts to decide what innovations to pursue and how to understand the questions under the legal hood.

Many of our guests move on a nonlinear line between jobs and ideas.  Kevin in one of our few guests who has been with a single company -- CD Baby -- for a long period of time.  He shares his journey with both CD Baby and as an artist with Small Town Poets.  We talk about challenges exploring new technologies that don't yet have revenue models, educating creators on how to better engage and focus, and producing the long-time CD Baby Podcast with more than 300 episodes.  Guest: Kevin Breuner, CD Baby’s SVP of Engagement & EducationCD Baby’s SVP of Engagement & Education, Kevin Breuner, has spent over 25 years working in the music business, both as a recording artist and an industry professional. A San Diego native, Kevin went east to attend Belmont University in Nashville, TN where he studied Music and Music Business. After college he joined the Atlanta-based band Smalltown Poets who later signed a recording contract with a major label under the EMI umbrella. Their self-titled debut album received critical acclaim, selling over 200,000 copies and landing the guys with a Grammy nomination, plus multiple Dove Award nominations. Over their career, Smalltown Poets has amassed ten Top 10 songs on radio, with two reaching the coveted #1 spot.Now residing in Portland, Oregon, Kevin heads up CD Baby’s content marketing efforts and hosts their popular DIY Musician Podcast, with the goal of helping artist understand the vast opportunities they have in this new music economy.“I’m very passionate about helping artists understand that they can have a career on their own terms,” says Kevin. “I’ve been on a label and I've released music independently; I know what it feels like for an artist to pour their heart into a project and then send it out to the world.”Smalltown Poets (smalltownpoets.tv) recently celebrated the release of their 10th album titled NWxSE. Kevin has also had songs used by the NFL, Peacock, ABC, Rock N Roll Hall of Fame, and countless indie film productions.What are you most passionate about with your current work? : Helping artist understand how they can build a career on their own terms.Mentioned Links: Twitter: https://twitter.com/kbreuner Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kbreuner DIY Musician Podcast: https://podcast.cdbaby.com/ DIY Musician Blog: https://diymusician.cdbaby.com/ CD Baby: https://cdbaby.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-breuner-a512938 EDM article: The Changing Role of a Music Distributor in 2022: https://edm.com/industry/the-changing-role-of-a-music-distributor-in-2022 Small Town Poets: https://smalltown-poets.lnk.to/LITO and https://smalltownpoets.tv/