This week the lads are delighted to be joined by sync expert, Tom Stingemore. In his own words he is “a long time major label, major publishing sync person. Pushing on eighteen years of doing sync for the world’s greatest artists and songwriters - in my own biased opinion.” We have to say we agree!

Tom has worked on some of the most iconic syncs during his time at Universal Records, BMG and Hypnosis such as the famous John Lewis Christmas ads and the iconic iPod adverts. However times are changing and brands are no longer making one or two big adverts a year, they’re making hundreds of pieces of branded content. Is traditional sync licensing able to keep up with the increasing demand? Or will brands and advertising companies start to opt for royalty free music? Tom tells us all about the inspiration behind his new company ALLOY sync distro. and what he’s doing to streamline the licensing process for commercial music in the social media age.

@tomstinge @alloysyncdistro

https://www.alloysyncdistro.com/

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Welcome back! This week we're diving deep into an AI rabbit hole.

AI has proven to be both a blessing and a curse for many industries, but how is it affecting the music industry? You may remember the Beatles using AI for their recent single "Now and Then" to isolate John Lennon’s voice, or maybe you’re a fan of the new AI artist, Anna Indiana. However, AI-generated music first appeared back in 2016, and the lads take us back to the beginning to tell us all about it.

In this episode, Alfie and Fionnán chat about the legalities and ethics of AI, the alleged illegally trained AI machines by Udio and Suno, and YouTube’s plans to offer payments to artists willing to train their AI technology. It doesn’t just stop at music, though, as they also discuss the effects of AI on the gaming and film industries. All that and more chats in this episode!

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It’s summertime and for many musicians and music fans that means one thing… festivals!

We’re sure many of you have been to or are going to one this summer, or maybe you’re even playing at one! So in this episode we’re going to try and cover everything you need to know.

Alfie shares his festival memories and tells us about the festivals he’s played with Hudson Taylor. How did they end up playing so many great stages at festivals? Is it just luck or are booking agents integral to being booked?

Fionnán accepts a hypothetical slot at a made up festival next week, and together the lads go over how they could make it work comparing it to Hudson Taylor’s budgets from 2022 festival season.

The lads also go over some of the issues faced by fans trying to attend festivals, obviously they talk Glastonbury! They also check in on some independent music festivals in the UK to see if they are experiencing the same success.

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Welcome back! We’ve been covering a lot of doom and gloom recently so we want to lighten things up a little this week with a catch up.

Fionnán's got some big news. He’s changed his artist name to Fionnán Barrett, which is his own name (obviously!). He’s been thinking about it a lot and reveals to us why he’s done it and why it’s important to define who and what you are as an artist.

The lads catch up and reflect on the first time sharing a line-up together at the Never Fade sessions in London and finally tell us about the first time they wrote together.

We also hear exciting news from one of our listeners who shares exciting news about signing a US sync deal and loads of other stuff because as we know, Alfie loves to talk!

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Welcome back! Whilst we pride ourselves on being candid, this episode we get a little more serious as we are discussing boycotts and art washing. We’re going to focus on the boycott of SXSW (sponsored by the US Army) and Barclaycard sponsored events such as The Great Escape, Latitude and other Live Nation/Festival Republic festivals.

Many artists scheduled to play The Great Escape boycotted the festival in solidarity with Palestine, however Irish trio Kneecap didn’t. Alfie and Fionnán discuss Kneecap’s reasons to not boycott the festival and why they instead pointed the finger at the company behind the sponsorship, Live Nation.

Whilst on the subject of Live Nation, CMAT was among artists and performers who publicly announced that they won’t be playing their planned sets at Latitude because of their sponsor, Barclaycard.

This episode the lads try to answer the question, do boycotts work? It’s good news as this year artists have proven that they have power to make positive change. But does it come at a cost?

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This week the lads welcome the formidable RuthAnne. RuthAnne is a two-time grammy nominated songwriter, artist, producer and music industry campaigner.

You will have no doubt heard her work. She’s written for Diana Ross, Jojo, Britney Spears, One Direction, Ella Henderson.. the list is endless! And she’s on this weeks episode to tell us all about her incredible career, her songwriting process and the changes she’s passionate about making to the music industry. From fair pay for songwriters and gender equality.

This was such an inspiring episode for us to record and we’re so grateful to RuthAnne for her time and expertise.

Enjoy! And do join us over on our socials. We love hearing from you!

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And 3, 2, 1... Welcome back to How To Break an Artist! We’ve got so much to talk about this series, and today we’re jumping right in.

During the break, Alfie went on tour for the first time ever as a solo artist. He transparently tells us about the budgets, how he booked, promoted, and played the shows, and breaks down exactly what his hourly wage was for the tour. Alfie gives advice on how to deal with hecklers, and we even hear from the heckler themselves!

Fionnán, on the other hand, has been busy preparing for future gigs and the imminent release of his second single, ‘Fall For You,’ while putting the final touches on his upcoming EP. He tells us about the pressures on his mind as he approaches these releases, such as social media and costs.

The lads bring us up to speed on what’s been happening in music over the last few weeks, focusing on the plight of grassroots music and the sheer cost of pursuing such careers. Is this the cost of gigging crisis?

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Welcome back to How To Break an Artist! Alfie and Fionnán are excited to dive into Series 3 with you. Episode One drops on June 19th, but in the meantime, here's a little taster of what's to come.

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