Pop/rock artist Celeste Krisha draws from influences like Van Morrison, Lauryn Hill, and Björk, all with her own twist. Mick Brege chats with her about her background, her songwriting process, and where her name comes from. Visit her website at celestekrishna.com and check out her music on Spotify.

On this episode of Play the Music, Jeff and Rich interview Shannon DeVries, Director of Programming and Production at the Kalamazoo State Theatre.

Jeff and Rich interview George Howard, professor of Music Business/Management at Berklee College of Music. He is also a copyright attorney, author, co-founder of Music Audience Exchange and co-founder of TuneCore.

Mick Brege sits down with electronic music producer and singer, Tessa Fornari (a.k.a. Allium). She shares what inspired her futuristic image, how she's taking advantage of her education to perfect her art, and how she's building a career in the EDM music scene. Visit her website at allium.audio, follow her on Instagram (@tess.allium) and Twitter (@tessallium), and check out her music on Spotify.

Mick Brege sits down with multi-talented jazz/R&B artist, Hannah Baiardi. Together they chat about her creative process, what inspires her writing, how she connects with new fans and more! Visit her website at hannahbaiardi.com, like her page on Facebook (hannahbaiardimusic), and check out her music on Spotify.

Jeff Sloan and Mick Brege introduce "FanLabel B-Sides," bonus episodes hosted by Mick Brege. In addition to our main episodes, we'll feature this collection of in-depth interviews with artists, specifically on their music-making process, and how they’re navigating the music business today. This episode features two preview clips of our "B-Sides" interviews with Hannah Baiardi, jazz artist, and Allium, EDM artist.

Jeff Sloan and Mick Brege interview keyboardist, vocalist and harmonica player, Jimmie Bones - Kid Rock's full-time keyboardist, both recording and touring as a member of Twisted Brown Trucker. He also has co-writing credits with Kid Rock and Uncle Kracker. During the interview, he discusses how he broke into the music industry, his early inspirations, and his favorite (and least favorite) aspects of performing live.

Jeff and Rich chat with Chris Gehringer, a mastering engineer whose work has been nominated for numerous Grammy Awards. He's worked with artists including Lizzo, Harry Styles, Drake, Halsey, St. Vincent, Selena Gomez, Dua Lipa, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Lana Del Rey, Cardi B, and more.During the interview, Gehringer talks about what the role of a mastering engineer entails, his experience working on some of the biggest hip-hop and rap tracks, the moment when he knows that a song will be a hit, and how artists, producers and mastering engineers work together to craft a song and album.

Jeff and Mick chat with Rebecca Sansom, founder and artist manager at Blonde Artist Management; and Celeste Krishna, pop-rock artist and producer.

On this episode of Play the Music, Jeff and Rich interview Rutger Rosenborg, digital marketing strategist at Chartmetric.

We're talking with up-and-coming Hip-Hop Artist R.I.P to learn how he's breaking into the industry.

What goes into getting a song on Billboard’s Hot 100? And what factors into charting when it comes to Christmas music?

Gil Green has directed music videos for DJ Khaled, Jason Derulo, Pitbull, Nicki Minaj, and many more! Today, he's here to tell us about his experience, and give us some insight into the role a music video plays in a song's promotion. We're also going over hot new music from Miranda Lambert, Alfie Templeman, UMI, Hootie & The Blowfish, and Fred the Godson.

Stephanie Wagner and Christina Bosch work under NYCountry Swag, New York’s #1 country music lifestyle & media brand. They interview artists, host events to showcase rising talent, and even have their own clothing brand! This week, they're sitting down with us to chat about country's recent rise up the charts through pulling inspiration from different genres. We also covered some genre-bending tracks from Blanco Brown, Maren Morris & Hozier, Marshmello & Kane Brown, Sam Hunt, and Dan + Shay & Justin Bieber.

We're sitting down with Matt Miller, culture editor at Esquire, and Folk Artist Matt Sauter (a.k.a. Adventures with Vultures), to cover some of the hottest releases this week, including brand new songs from Chris Janson, Gucci Mane, Caroline Polachek, Vagabon, and James Arthur.

Ann DeLisi has been an influential tastemaker in the media for over 20 years. Ralphe Armstrong played bass for Aretha Franklin, Santana, Sting, and many more. They're here to tell us about their experience in the industry and what fuels music discovery. We're also going over songs from Nilüfer Yanya, Ted Hawkins, Allen Stone, J.S. Ondara, and Ibibio Sound Machine!

Rick Smith sold over 40 million records through his career in the music business - now he's here to tell us just how things have changed since his beginnings. We're also covering fresh new releases from Lauv, Five North, AJ Tracey, Wilco, and Kim Petras!

We sat down with rising country singer Renee Blair and up-and-coming artist Reginald Hawkins to chat about what exactly the term "rising star" means to them. What are some important landmarks in an artist's career? How does an artist know they're "breaking"? We also covered some of the hottest new tracks from artists on the rise, including releases from Melii, Example, Dallas Moore, Four of Diamonds and GRACEY.

Ever wonder how a hit gets from the notebook of a songwriter to your favorite artist's discography? Kelly Bolton, VP of Creative at Tape Room Music, gave us a glimpse into the world of song plugging and A&R. She also joined our friends, Matt Miller (Esquire culture editor) and Gavin Rudolph (music insider), to run down this week's "Artists on the Rise" FanLabel Five. Check it out!

This week, we’re joined by Matt Miller, culture editor at Esquire Magazine, and Gavin Rudolph, music industry insider. We went over some of the hottest new music releases across multiple genres, with our lineup including fresh drops from Angel Olsen, Charli XCX, Drake, Charlie Puth, and Green Day. Get the inside scoop here, and be sure to join FanLabel’s "Hot New Music" contest - live in the app today!