Episodes

Hello! The topic of this week's show is LGBTQ representation in the music industry and joining me on the show this week is actor, musician and filmmaker Sunny Chen who is also known as Sad China for their music projects. Sunny and I had a great chat where we talked about more than just LGBTQ representation. Because they are a non-binary Asian Canadian, their experiences in the music industry involve more than just their gender identity - so we covered a lot! We had a really great chat and ...

The topic of this week's show is How To License Your Music For Film + TV which I’m sure will be of interest to all of the musicians out there - since it’s one of the only ways to make money as a musician these days! And joining me on the show is Music Supervisor Kaya Pino - a music supervisor and curator at The Wilders in Toronto. Kaya and I had a great discussion about how there’s so many film + TV licensing opportunities out there due to the amount of streaming content we have these days. And...

The topic of today’s show is Creating Community + Excellence in the Studio and my guest is producer, engineer and musician - Jane Aurora. Jane wears many hats in the music industry and one of those hats is as the host / program curator of Producers Lounge which is a popular Vancouver-based creative workshop and conversation series that elevates women and non-binary producers. We had a great discussion about how things are shifting globally when it comes to creating more equity in recording stud...

With my job, I talk to a lot of independent musicians on a regular basis and I’ve found over the years that many of them don’t realize what an incredible resource their provincial and territorial Music Industry Associations are. MIAs can provide musicians and music industry professionals with funding opportunities and they also provide things like educational workshops and are a hub of information and connections. Joining me on the show today is Kentya Kurban who is the Community Engagement Coo...

The pandemic has forced a lot of us in the music industry to pivot and get creative in the last year and a half. And today on the show I’m talking to artist manager Alex Wyder from High Tide Artists about how he’s had to get creative with his artists during this crazy time. Like what do you even do when your artists can’t tour? Alex has been working in the music industry for about 10 years and has built an impressive resume across Canada with experience touring and working with established and ...

Well hello hello hello! It’s so good to be back for Season 2 of The FM Podcast. And this week on the show I’m talking to singer-songwriter / producer Leeroy Stagger about Career Longevity. I’ve known Leeroy a long time + have worked on many albums of his over the years. And it’s been pretty cool to see his career trajectory and the many ups and downs, he’s experienced along the way. And so we had a great talk about his long career and how he’s managed to stay in the game so long. And we also ...

Bonus episode time! We decided to put together a BEST OF SEASON 1 episode to get everyone fired up about Season 2 which starts next week! We went through and found some of our favourite moments from Season 1 which was super fun to do BTW - it was great to relive a lot of the conversations and it got us really excited about doing Season 2. We really hope you enjoy it and we'll see you next week for the premiere of Season 2! Learn more about The FM Podcast: thefmpodcast.com Learn more about Frit...

Just a quick check-in to let you know that Season 2 of The FM Podcast will premiere on November 2nd. And to get you fired up and ready to go - next week we’ll have a bonus episode featuring The Best of Season 1! We're back, baby!

OK so brace yourself because things are gonna be a little crazy this week! First of all, I have to let you know that this week’s show is the final episode of Season 1 of The FM Podcast and we’ll be back with Season 2 in a couple of months. Make sure that you stay subscribed to the podcast though because we’ll be sending out updates and letting you know when we’ll be back. So, our guest on the show this week is someone who I’ve known for a long time - Geoff Goddard - who is a managing partner...

This week on the show we’re discussing a topic that has become increasingly important over the last year - Mental Health Resources for Musicians. And joining me on the show is the Executive Director of the Unison Benevolent Fund - Amanda Power. Unison is a non-profit, registered music industry charity that provides counselling and emergency relief services to the Canadian music community. They help professional music makers in times of hardship, illness or economic difficulties. We are so luck...

This week on the show we’re going to talk about how indie artists have to DIY it at the beginning of their career which can seem like A LOT when you’re just starting out! And joining me on the show is Edmonton indie pop musician Kaeley Jade. When Kaeley released her 1st single a couple of years ago, she immersed herself the music industry and began learning all aspects of the business. I met her earlier this year when she started working with Fritz Media and I was so impressed with how much she...

So this week we’re going to talk about Rights and Revenue Streams For Musicians + joining me on the show is Rebecca Webster who is the Director of Industry Relations & Communications at the Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency ( or the CMRRA). And before Rebecca joined the CMRRA in 2019, she was actually an independent music publicist like me + she ran highly-respected music public relations company Webster Media Consulting Inc. for ten years. Music Rights and Royalties is probably one...

The topic of this week’s episode is COVID vs Summer Music Festivals and joining me on the show is the Artistic Executive Director of the Vancouver Folk Music Festival - Debbi Salmonsen. We all know that things have been extremely difficult for the live music industry over the past year and Debbi and I discuss how the Vancouver Folk Fest adjusted their plans in 2020 + 2021 and how she thinks things will look for all music festivals in the future. Debbi and I had a great chat + I hope you’ll enjo...

We all know that Branding is something that is very important for musicians. It’s one of those things that can feel like just one more thing to add to the list of all of things you have to do as a musician in 2021, but it is one of the most important parts of being a musician. Figuring out who you are as a musician and how you’re going to express that to the world, as an extension of your music, should be one of the first things you do in your music career. So the topic of this week’s episode i...

So this week’s show is all about Social Activism in Music + joining me on the show is Vancouver rapper Neon Empty (aka Bryce Lokken) who just released a single last week called 'Red Lives Don't' a song that he describes as “an expression of frustration and disgust with white Canada’s hypocrisy about racial inequality during the summer 2020 - the summer of Black Lives Matter.” Neon Empty, who is Métis, uses shocking language on 'Red Lives Don't' to get people’s attention in order to highlight a ...

This week's show is all about singing, which is something I pretty much have ZERO experience in. And joining me on the show is someone who thankfully knows more about singing than I do - Greg Barker - who is one of the founders of Singdaptive. Greg is going to tell us all about Singdaptive, which is a multi-instructor online learning platform for singer-musicians. As well as his new venture - Exchangely which is asynchronous + team-based 1-on-1 coaching for singers. So if you’ve been sitting ...

Social media is something that most musicians struggle with. Both on the organic side - that is just creating content for all of their social channels each week - and on the social advertising side. It’s something that we see our clients struggle with here at Fritz Media which is why we added additional services last year, including social media strategy + digital advertising. And joining us on the show this week is one of our very own digital strategists here at Fritz Media - Phoenix Bain! Ph...

The COVID pandemic has not been great for the music industry and I think it’s fair to say that the live sector of the industry has been hit the hardest. In fact, since March of last year the live music industry in Canada has suffered a 92% average revenue loss + 64% of the industry is at risk of permanent closure which is scary for all of us because the live sector is the backbone of our business. So the topic of this week’s episode is Pivoting and Touring and joining me on the show is Grant Pa...

So a few weeks ago we did an episode about the state of music journalism in Canada + I talked to Mike Devlin who is an arts reporter for the Victoria Times-Colonist. And this week’s episode is sort of a Music Journalism in Canada Part 2 episode, where we take a look at music journalism in the digital age + explore the online side of things since we mostly discussed music journalism at traditional media outlets on Mike’s episode. And joining me this week is Sajae Elder who is a Toronto-based c...

The theme of this week’s episode is Artist Management + I talk to Savannah Wellman from Tiny Kingdom Music. Savannah runs Tiny Kingdom with her business partner and best friend Meagan Davidson + their company not only manages musicians but they also do grant writing and they recently started their own record label which just released ‘Boxes’ - the killer collab from Vancouver musicians IAMTHELIVING + Teon Gibbs. Savannah’s experiences in the music industry have seen her on both sides of the cu...

On this week’s episode I talk to Vancouver musician + Fritz Media client Bukola about what it’s like to be starting out your career as an artist in the music industry right now. Bukola is releasing her debut EP Chronicles of a Teenage Mind this summer + her first single/video is coming out this Friday (March 19th)! Bukola is only 19 years old but she’s been pursuing her dreams of becoming a professional musician since she was 9 and has been building momentum ever since! In fact, the CBC recentl...

So it’s now officially a full year since we’ve been living with the COVID pandemic + it obviously has had a very detrimental effect on the music industry. It’s affected everyone in the business, from record labels to booking agents to managers to promoters to publicity companies like mine, and of course, the musicians themselves. Everyone has had to pivot to figure out different ways to bring income in. Many musicians are trying different things to see what works, like ticketed live streams + s...

When I started working as a publicist in the music industry, my job was a lot different that it is now. When I started, there were fewer outlets to pitch for coverage because music blogs were barely a thing AND there were local music writers at nearly every print newspaper across Canada. Which is crazy to think about now, but that's how it was. And out of all of those journalists that I used to call up on the phone, there are not very many that are still working in the industry in the same capa...

Here in Canada we are lucky to have a lot of different options for funding our arts projects. And the music industry in particular has an incredible national foundation called FACTOR which is a public/private partnership that supports the production of sound recordings by Canadian musicians and helps Canadian music companies make recordings available to a wider public. We also have funding available through our Music Industry Associations (MIAs) in each province and territory, and some provinces...