5 Podcasts all Musicians should Listen to RIGHT NOW

As a musician, a great way to stay informed and up to date is by listening podcasts. These can be educational, informative, or just plain entertaining. One of my favorite thigns about podcasts is how they can be used as a means of being exposed to new ideas, and I’ve curated 5 of my favorites for you to check out below

1. Score the Podcast

   
   

   

   
   

Score: The Podcast is perhaps the most well known one in the film scoring community. From the team that created Score: A Film Music Documentary comes a podcast interviewing some of the top composers of today. Hosts Robert Kraft and Kenny Holmes have deep conversations with active composers, often times about some of their biggest or most recent projects, and offer an inside glimpse into the life and work of being a Hollywood film composer.

2. Creative Pep Talk

   
   

   

   
   

Though not strictly a musicians podcast, Creative Pep Talk by Andy J Pizza is a great series exploring the creative journey and what it mean’s to be an artist. Andy discusses everything from how to handle feeling lost, to finding your purpose, and even exploring various ways to get your project done. These podcasts really are structured like long form pep talks, and can be incredibly motivating when you’re feeling loss, lonely, or unsuccessful as a freelancing artist.

3. The Portfolio Composer

   
   

   

In The Portfolio Composer, Garrett Hope takes a deeper look at the business side of music and how to approach diversifying your abilities like that of an investment portfolio. There are many ways out there that a composer can make money, and you don’t need to put all your eggs in one basket in order to be successful. This is a great podcast for understanding many of the more “business” elements of being a freelance composer, but also super fascinating as Garrett takes the time to interview and talk with musicians from many different paths.

4. Switched on Pop

   
   

   

   
   

Switched on Pop is produced by Vulture and is really a phenomenal listen both in terms of entertainment and information value. Switched on Pop explores trends and artists in pop music: the why’s and how’s of pop music as well as in depth analysis of different artists, songs, and genres. Pre-pandemic (and before Tik Tok really kicked off) they did an episode exploring “what is the tik tok sound?”. In December 2023, they did a feature on Chappel Roan (again, months before she really blew up.) This is a phenomenal podcast where you can really have your finger on the pulse of pop music trends and discover lots of things you might not be aware of.

5. Tonebenders

   
   

   

Tonebenders is a sound design focused podcast exploring how sound is used and created in all of the movies, tv shows, and video games we love. I am personally someone who aligns himself more as a composer than a sound designer, but I find this podcast to be so fascinating and informative. In a recent episode, they talked all about the sound design in Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu, and how for instance the sound designers used the actors breath for the wind sounds to make the castle feel like both it and Nosferatu were connected. Fascinating, fascinating stuff. You can pick up so many cool bits of knowledge and inspiration through this podcast and I highly recommend checking it out!

Have a favorite podcast I missed or one that I should check out? Shoot me an email at Joe@joechrismusic.com or DM me on instagram, @Joe_Chris_