The Music Maestro Podcast with Dan Fisk

The Music Industry Is Turning It's Back On This | Grammy Award Winner Fraser T Smith

Fraser T Smith is a Grammy-winning producer, songwriter, and musician whose work spans pop, grime, and UK rap, shaping era-defining records for artists including Adele, Stormzy, Dave, Raye, and Craig David. With over 2,500 songs written and billions of streams worldwide, Fraser has played a key role in redefining what it means to be a producer in the modern music industry. 🎙️ In this episode, we explore his journey from guitarist to global hitmaker, the true role of a producer, the making of Adele’s Set Fire to the Rain, the blurred line between songwriting and production, and why success today is about balance, health, and building a sustainable creative life.📌 Highlights:◼️ Redefining success beyond awards, charts, and industry validation◼️ Inside the making of Adele’s Set Fire to the Rain◼️ What needs to change to keep live music accessible and sustainable◼️ How human feel and creativity protect producers in an automated era⏱️ Timestamps:00:00 - Meet Fraser T Smith: From Pop to Grime00:45 - Redefining What It Means to Be a Producer01:36 - Why Awards Don’t Define Success03:17 - What Success Really Means at 5405:29 - A Successful Life Is Just a Collection of Great Days06:18 - Meeting Craig David 09:31 - The Moment That Set Fraser on the Producer Path09:44 - Songwriter vs Producer: What’s the Difference?11:00 - The Producer’s Real Job: Serving the Artist14:27- How the Producer Role Has Changed Over 25 Years17:37 - Producing Bands vs Solo Artists19:01 - Inside Adele’s “Set Fire to the Rain”22:17 - Letting Go: You Can’t Control a Hit Song23:38 - Writing 2,500 Songs and only releasing 30024:46 - From Guitarist to Grime and UK Rap35:45 - Why Helping the Artist Always Comes First39:42 - The Harsh Reality of Touring & Live Music Today56:06 - Fraser’s Favourite Artist of All Time57:15 Fraser T Smith’s Top Five Songs Ever📲 Follow Fraser T SmithInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/frasertsmith/📲 Follow Dan Fisk:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danleonfiskTikTok:https://www.tiktok.com/@danleonfisk__________________________________________________________________🎵 Music Maestro helps artists and brands grow with music content fans love 🫶🌍 Visit our website:https://www.musicmaestro.co.uk📬 Join our newsletter:http://eepurl.com/gKhqHX📽️ Watch our showreel:https://musicmaestro.box.com/s/vnzcu89ik251sic5uaojto7b1kql0zq3#musicindustry #musicbusiness #musicmarketing #music #podcast

Inside The New Era Of Music Marketing | Founder Jukebox Alex Jukes

Alex Jukes is the founder of Jukebox and The Tribes — two of the most influential marketing engines in global dance music.Through his work with 150+ festivals worldwide and a 40M-follower creator network, he’s helped shape how events, artists, and brands build audiences in the modern era.Now leading both a full-service creative agency and one of the fastest-growing influencer communities in electronic music, Alex is redefining what festival marketing looks like in 2026 — from raw fan-shot content to micro-raves, cultural storytelling, and algorithm-native campaigns.🎙️ In this episode, we dive into his journey, how music marketing has evolved, the death of aftermovies, the rise of pop-ups and fan communities, TikTok vs Instagram strategy, and what the future of festival culture looks like.📌 Highlights:◼️ How PR evolved from magazine placements to algorithm-native storytelling◼️ TikTok vs Instagram: what actually works in 2026 Building ◼️ Building The Tribes network and spotting viral creators early◼️ The Ministry of Sound “toilet rave” prank that fooled the whole industry⏱️ Timestamps:00:00 - Intro Meet Alex Jukes: The Man Behind 150+ Festivals 02:29 - What Jukebox Really Does Today 03:48 - What Is PR?09:17 - Birth of The Tribes: Building Early Community Pages 13:06 - Why Polished Content Is Dying 14:50 - Are Phones Killing the Dancefloor? 19:35 - Aftermovies Are Dead — FOMO Clips Win 20:02 - The State of the Live Industry 22:23 - The Ministry of Sound “Toilet Rave” Campaign24:14 - The Future of Music Marketing 25:41 - Why Pop-Ups & Micro-Raves Work 27:32 - Can DJs Survive Without Social Media? 30:45 - Why Alex Started His Podcast - Loud & Unfiltered📲 Follow Alex Jukes:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexjukebox/👉 Follow Jukebox:https://linktr.ee/jukebox.pr🎧 Listen to the Loud & Unfiltered podcast:https://linktr.ee/loudandunfilteredpod📲 Follow Dan Fisk:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danleonfiskTikTok:https://www.tiktok.com/@danleonfisk__________________________________________________________________🎵 Music Maestro helps artists and brands grow with music content fans love 🫶🌍 Visit our website:https://www.musicmaestro.co.uk📬 Join our newsletter:http://eepurl.com/gKhqHX📽️ Watch our showreel:https://musicmaestro.box.com/s/vnzcu89ik251sic5uaojto7b1kql0zq3#musicindustry #musicbusiness #musicmarketing #music #podcast

How A&R Has Changed - And Where It’s Going Next | Ex-Warner Records A&R Alex Peppiatt

Alex Peppiatt is a former Senior A&R at Parlophone / Warner Music, where he helped discover and develop breakout stars like PinkPantheress, Ashnikko, CKay, S1mba, and more.Now the founder of All Ways Dance Records, Alex is building a new wave of culturally-led music platforms and redefining what A&R means in today’s industry.🎙️ In this episode, we explore his career journey, what makes a viral artist, how to build independent artist infrastructure, and the future of music talent discovery.📌 Highlights:◼️ How PinkPantheress was discovered and developed◼️ What A&R really means in 2025 - and how it’s changed◼️ Why his label bets on niche, culturally distinct sounds◼️ The difference between managing vs signing artists◼️ What makes a song truly viral - and how to spot it early⏱️ Timestamps:00:00 – Intro01:15 – What does an A&R actually do?04:40 – From Sony to Ministry of Sound: Alex’s first breaks08:50 – Discovering PinkPantheress: the real story14:28 – Building All Ways Dance Records from scratch18:10 – How niche, culture-led music wins in 202423:05 – Viral hits: what made “Rover” & “Love Nwantiti” work27:33 – The rise of independent artist infrastructure30:20 – Management vs Label: how artists choose34:00 – Why “luck” is actually about readiness39:15 – Tips for aspiring A&Rs and artist managers42:00 – Which artist does Alex think will break in 2026?44:30 – Final thoughts and industry advice📲 Follow Alex Peppiatt:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexpeppiatt🎧 Listen to the latest AWD Records releases:https://linktr.ee/allwaysdance📲 Follow Dan Fisk:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danleonfiskTikTok:https://www.tiktok.com/@danleonfisk__________________________________________________________________🎵 Music Maestro helps artists and brands grow with music content fans love 🫶🌍 Visit our website:https://www.musicmaestro.co.uk📬 Join our newsletter:http://eepurl.com/gKhqHX📽️ Watch our showreel:https://musicmaestro.box.com/s/vnzcu89ik251sic5uaojto7b1kql0zq3#musicindustry #musicbusiness #musicmarketing #music #podcast

How To Grow Brands With Music : Tony Arthy (Founder & Director, Worn Out)

🎙️ This is the Music Maestro Podcast. A show that gets beneath the skin of the music business by speaking to the people that live and breathe this industry. In every show we deep dive into hot topics to explore what's happening right now and what the future holds. Plus we talk about career paths, music tastes and more. 🎵 Music Maestro creates content for the music industry working with labels globally across Sony, Universal & Warner Music.

$5B in Music Revenue Will Be LOST by 2030 : Sunjay Kohli (Founder & Managing Director, AAA Media)

🎙️ This is the Music Maestro Podcast. A show that gets beneath the skin of the music business by speaking to the people that live and breathe this industry. In every show we deep dive into hot topics to explore what's happening right now and what the future holds. Plus we talk about career paths, music tastes and more. 🎵 Music Maestro creates content for the music industry working with labels globally across Sony, Universal & Warner Music.