Pause Play Pod

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Pause Play Pod

The podcast about live music, why it matters and what comes next. Hosted by Miles Bloxson and Elizab
(2)

26/06/2023

We’re working on a new season all about how Austin music has changed. How does our conception of what it is and how it works line up with the current reality?

We want to know what stories you’d like to hear! You can DM us, leave us a comment in the stories, or reach out to us at kutkutx.studio/contactpauseplay

01/05/2023

Last Saturday and attended the Women Communicators of Austin () and won an award! They won the Anne Durrum Robison Creative Initiative Award for the work they’ve done on Pause/Play.

Thanks so much to the Women Communicators of Austin. It was a joy to meet so many incredible women who do such important work.

04/04/2023

Applications for the Live Musuc Fund Open today. If you’re thinking of applying, let us know! We’d love to follow a couple of people through the process for the next season! You can DM us or send us an email at [email protected].

Details on how to apply are below!

📢 The Live Music Fund Event Program is OPEN! Austin professional musicians, bands, and independent promoters can apply for either $5,000 or $10,000 grants to fund awarded projects.

🗓️ Application Deadline: May 16
🖱️ www.austintexas.gov/live-music-fund-event-program

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📢¡ABRE el Programa de eventos del fondo para la música en vivo! Músicos profesionales, bandas y promotores independientes de Austin pueden pedir $5 mil o $10 mil para proyectos subvencionados.

🗓️ Solicítelo hasta el 16 de mayo
🖱️ www.austintexas.gov/live-music-fund-event-program

29/03/2023

In this new episode, we asked y’all what you thought could be done to support the Austins music ecosystem, and you guys delivered in a big way. When you listen you’ll hear solutions from your fellow listeners. And you’ll also hear from about an idea he had that’s put over $200,00 in the pockets of Austin Musicians – the . Plus you’ll hear from singer-songwriter about how being a part of the Handyband Collective has worked for her.

You can listen on , or wherever you get your podcasts. The link is in the bio!

21/03/2023

Reposted from ATX Music & Entertainment] • ATX Music & Entertainment] Grant opening soon for the Event Program—supporting Austin professional musicians, bands, and independent promoters to produce and publicize awarded projects.

💰 Receive $5,000 or $10,000
🗓️ Application period: April 4 – May 16
🔍 www.austintexas.gov/live-music-fund-event-program

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Pronto abren las subvenciones del Programa de Eventos del Fondo para la Música en Vivo, en apoyo a la producción y publicidad del proyecto subvencionado de músicos profesionales, bandas y promotores independientes de Austin. 

💰 Reciba $5 mil o $10 mil  
🗓️ Solicitud: 4 de abril – 16 de mayo 
🔍 www.austintexas.gov/live-music-fund-event-program

13/03/2023

This week is putting together a series of music events and panels called Vision:8291 to elevate and direct resources to Austin’s BIPOC community.

You can find out more at kut.org or listen to the bonus episode all about it in the podcast now!

01/03/2023

Yep! We’re making a listener episode and we want to hear from you!

How can we support Austin music? Let us know. You can reply to our story, DM us, email us at [email protected], or go straight to
kutkutx.studio/contactpauseplay and send us a voice message right from your device.

We’d love to put you on the podcast!

22/02/2023

In the latest episode, you'll hear from four Black musicians - Anastasia Hera (), Cam the Tastemaker (), Blakchyl (), and Brannen Temple () - about how they've navigated the Austin music scene, and what support they'd like to see.

You can listen on kutx.org, kut.org or wherever you get your podcasts. The link is in the bio!

📸 1,2 & 4

21/02/2023

Yep! We’ve heard the road is not the same as it was before the pandemic. And we’re doing an episode about it.

If you’re an Austin musician who’s been on tour lately, we’d love to hear about your experience!

You can DM us, email us at [email protected], or leave a comment. You can also head to kutkutx.studio/contactpauseplay and record + send a message to us right from your device!

16/02/2023

Reposted The cost of living is pushing people in Austin’s music scene out of the city, a new census shows.

The Greater Austin Music Census found 84% of respondents who identified as performers, songwriters or producers plan on continuing in music over the next three years. But when asked if they plan on staying in Austin, that percentage dropped to 64%.

“Clearly there's a pretty large percentage of music people who are really questioning right now – how do I make this work economically?” said Peter Schwarz, a consultant who helped create the census.

The first-ever comprehensive survey of the Austin music scene was released in 2015. For years, folks had talked about the issues they were facing and that census confirmed everything they thought was true: Musician wages were way below average – and stagnant. The music ecosystem was scattered and siloed. Venues were facing pressure from rising property taxes and cumbersome city regulations.

That data was from 2014. But a lot has happened between then and now. The city has grown. In 2014, the population of the Austin metro area was around 1.6 million people. In 2022, it was around 2.2 million.

The city has also gotten more expensive. In 2014, the median home price in the Austin area was around $240,000. Now it’s around $450,000. In the actual City of Austin it was around $525,000 in December.

Around 2,200 people responded to the survey, about 1,700 fewer than in 2015. Schwarz said that drop could be because of census fatigue: People are often excited about the first music census in an area, but less enthusiastic about a second.

The biggest issue facing most respondents was, unsurprisingly, the price of housing. “There's such a vibrant music scene here in Austin. This is a deal killer — if people can't even, like, afford to live month-to-month somewhere," Schwarz said.

The data show a 10% drop in the number of musicians living in Austin’s 10 most central ZIP codes over the past eight years. Meanwhile, the number of respondents in places like San Marcos and Bastrop has gone up.

Tap the link in our bio to read more and listen to episodes
Photo:

18/01/2023

Austin has a music union that's had an office here since 1907. But many musicians have never heard of it.

In the latest episode, you'll learn about the Austin Federation of Musicians (Austin Federation of Musicians) Union President Aaron Lack (Aaron Lack - The Musician) and Secretary-Treasurer Blair Robbins (Blair Robbins) will tell you how it works and what benefits it provides for freelance musicians. And hosts Miles Bloxson (Miles To Mogul) and Elizabeth McQueen will talk about why you may not know it exists.

📸

05/01/2023

We wanted you let know that the next episode of will come on out January 18th rather than January 11th.
We’re doing an episode about the Musicians’ Union! We wanted to know, have you heard of the American Federation of Musicians? Do you have any questions about the Union? Do you have experience with the Union?
You can respond in our stories, or DM us. You can also email us at [email protected]. Or you can head to kutkutx.studios/contactpauseplay and record a message right there and send it right to us!

04/01/2023

Releasing music is a daunting task. It can be hard to make money on recorded music, both for record labels and for artists.

Sales of physical products are down. Streaming music pays, on average, half a penny per stream. But one Austin nonprofit is re-thinking the way record labels work to make it better for everyone.

was founded by , a long-time sound engineer who sometimes tours with Jack White. He had seen a lot of Austin records go nowhere because the artists didn’t have label support.

Orrison was particularly frustrated after producing a record for the Austin-based band Kalu and The Electric Joint in 2017.

“So out of angst, I guess, I said, ‘Let's start our own label called Spaceflight Records,’” he said.

They had some success with Kalu’s album, “Time Undone,” but the for-profit record label was suffering financially. Orrison knew if he kept things as they were, the label would fail.

Then one day he was talking to Erica Shamaly, director of the City of Austin’s Music and Entertainment Division, when the idea of Spaceflight becoming a nonprofit came up.

Spaceflight’s model has evolved over the years, but it’s now a three-tiered approach.

On the first tier, Artist Development, the label works with musicians and bands who already have finished recordings. Spaceflight’s role is to help the artist think strategically about how their music is released; the artist pays for any physical product.

“We help them release it. We send it to radio,” Orrison said. “We do a PR campaign. We maybe shoot the music video. We do photography. We do anything and everything we can.”

Spaceflight also helps get the artist’s music on streaming services — but it doesn’t take any money from streaming revenue. It provides artists at this level with legal services.

It connects them with sync licensing, to try and get their music into television and film. It connects them with merchandise at cost and mails out their products.
All of these services are free to the artist.

Tap the link in our bio to read more and listen to this episode of with and .

Photo: Brett Orrison by

21/12/2022

In the latest episode of Pause/Play, you'll learn about the non-profit record label Spaceflight Records. Founder Brett Orrison, director of Public Relations and Artist Development Samara Simpson, and Urban Heat front man Jonathan K. Horstmann will walk you through how it works, and why they're trying to take a new approach to releasing recorded music.
📸 Michael Minasi & Patricia Lim

09/12/2022

Posted • How can everyday people provide financial support for the Austin music scene, aside from attending shows and buying merch?

There are a lot of music nonprofits in Austin that people can donate to. Many provide services to musicians, like health care or professional development.

But there are two nonprofits that actually give musicians money — Sonic Guild, formerly known as , and .

Sonic Guild is membership-based. Anyone can become a member by paying $750 a year. Each year, the members nominate 20 Austin bands to receive grants, and Sonic Guild throws events where members can see these bands play.

This year 10 bands received grants of $10,000, nine bands received grants of $15,000 and one band received a grant of $20,000.

Another nonprofit that provides financial assistance to musicians is DAWA, which was founded in 2019 by Jonathan “Chaka” Mahone (). DAWA means “medicine” in Swahili.

DAWA provides $200 grants to people of color in Austin who are social workers, teachers, artists, creatives, health care providers and service industry workers.

“Those are the essential workers in our community,” Mahone said. “We see you, we value you. You don't have to explain yourself. You don't have to feel ashamed.”

The idea for DAWA initially came from Mahone’s experience as a musician in Austin. He and his wife, , perform as the hip-hop duo Riders Against the Storm (). The couple moved here from Rhode Island in 2010

“There wasn't a lot of acceptance of hip-hop when we first got here,” Mahone said.

After years of struggle, they were able to establish themselves in Austin, eventually becoming the first hip-hop group to win “Band of the Year” at The Austin Chronicle Music Awards.

“We couldn't have done it without people seeing us, without people valuing us, without people witnessing who we were before some article was written or before some type of stamp was put on our name,” Mahone said.

Tap the link in our bio to read more from and . Listen to wherever you get your podcasts.

Photo of Chaka Mahone by .

01/12/2022

Do musicians need corporate support to survive in the new Austin?

Repost from
•
Once a college town attractive to artists for its music scene, Austin has become a hub in the last few decades for tech companies, corporations and startups. This influx of highly paid workers has contributed to an increase in the cost of living, pushing the creative class out.

But what if business did more to help them stay? Corporations can support local music in a number of ways.

For Austin hip-hop artist J Soulja (), who has worked with brands like Swisher Sweets, sponsorships are the preferred route to take when it comes to funding. He says it’s better than dealing with record labels.

“I've gone to several different A&R [artists and repertoire] meetings as a hip-hop artist, as J Soulja, and they tell me, ‘Yo, I like you, you’re talented, but I'm not going to offer you a deal because you don't have 10,000 followers" on social media, he said.

This need to be established and popular can be a reality check for some artists. How can you get the followers if you don’t have the financial backing? In J Soulja’s mind, sponsorships are more like real partnerships; they’re more personal.

Corporate support can also just be investing money in musicians. is doing just that.

“It was all about us sitting down and thinking about: What's authentic to the city? What are the passion points of the people who work for us? What are we going to do that really ties us into the community of Austin,” Dillan Knudson, regional president for PNC Bank, said.

The answer was simple for PNC: Support the Austin music scene.

PNC decided to invest in Austin music in three ways. First, it provides grants and sponsorship dollars to nonprofits that support musicians, like , and .

Second, the bank provides financial education for musicians around things like first-time home-buying, managing credit scores and small-business planning.

And third, PNC committed to creating performance opportunities for Austin musicians.

Tap the link in our bio to read more from . Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

📸:

23/11/2022

How can corporate support help the Austin Music Scene?

That’s the question we explore in the latest episode of Pause/Play—

We chat with Dillan Knudson, regional president for PNC Bank and Hugo Lagarda, a former director of client and community relations for the bank,

“What it really came down to was it's all about the musician.

Like, what can we do to help the musician?

How do we support the musician?

How do we help them with livable wages?” Knudson said.

“And then how do we do that? Because we also have to be a bank, right? ... People rely on us to be their financial partners.”

You’ll also hear from Austin artist , music editor and founder of Brett Orrison 🎤

You can hear pause/play at K*T.org or wherever you get your podcasts!

15/11/2022

Take Note Austin 🚨🚨🚨

Repost from
•
People working in commercial music in the U.S. don’t tend to get a lot of financial assistance outside the support of fans. But you don’t have to look very far to find a country that does support its music ecosystem; all you have to do is head north.

Canada has a robust system of support for the arts in general and for commercial music specifically.

The government in Ottawa has a requirement called Canadian Content, or CanCon, that requires 35% of songs played on commercial radio stations between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. to be by Canadian artists.

There’s also a system of arts councils at the city, province, territory and national levels that hands out hundreds of millions of dollars in grants to the arts, including music, annually. The Ontario Arts Council alone gave $56 million to the arts last year.

Around $10 million of that went to individual grants, funding collectives, art organizations, nonprofits and large-scale music organizations. In comparison, Texas, which has twice the population of Ontario, gave $11 million to the arts last year.

And then, there’s .

The Foundation to Assess Canadian Talent on Records is “a private nonprofit dedicated to providing assistance toward the growth and development of the Canadian music industry.” It’s partially funded by the Canadian government and partially funded by Canadian private broadcasters.

FACTOR hands out grants for music production, record promotion, music video creation, tour support and live event production. Last year the organization gave away more than $55 million to artists (some of that money was COVID relief).

Austin bands usually don’t have access to FACTOR funds – except when the Austin band is comprised of Canadians, like .

Drummer Eric Owen said the system of support for the arts in Canada is “just positive across the board.”

“It creates a great environment for working-class artists,” he said. “You might not become rich doing it … it might not even be a full career. But for a while, you can do it as your job.”

📸:

09/11/2022

New Episode Alert 🚨🚨🚨🚨

In this episode of Pause/Play hosts and explore the Canadian system of support for the arts – and for music specifically.

They also talk to Austin musician Eric Owen, from Black Pistol Fire, about his experience with the Canadian system and how something similar could work here in Austin🎤

To hear this episode you can visit kutkutx.studio or wherever you get your podcasts!

28/10/2022

Posted • Austin is becoming too expensive for residents in the music industry. And it’s not clear that the music scene will survive on its own.

The city has made strides in supporting the live music scene by creating the Live Music Fund. There are also quite a few nonprofits that provide support — , , , the , the list goes on.

But is this support enough to maintain the music scene? Will we let the market decide the fate of the ecosystem? What are possible strategies to sustain the industry?

Hosts Miles Bloxson () and Elizabeth McQueen () focus on these questions in Season 4 of . In the first episode, they talk to professor Charles Carson about why the United States doesn't treat commercial music as an art form worthy of government support.

Download and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Photo:

26/10/2022

Today we launched Season 4 of Pause/Play! This season hosts and are going to be looking at ways to sustain the Austin Music Ecosystem.

In the first episode they’ll talk to UT Professor Charles Carson about why we as Americans don’t view commercial music as an art form worthy of support outside of capitalism.

“It's highly exceptional that someone's going to be a Drake. But just enough of a Drake, enough of a Kendrick, enough of someone at that that level. Proves, Oh, the system worked.” - Charles Carson

You can find Pause/Play on K*TX.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

23/08/2022

Yes! We’re getting ready for season 4 and we want to know what stories about Austin music you think we should be covering! You can tell us your thoughts in our stories, DM us, or send us a voice message at kutkutx.studio/contactpauseplay.

We can’t wait to hear from you!

14/07/2022

We talked to , , , about their thoughts on music and NFTs. This was after we went on a journey to learn what NFTs actually were, and then went on another journey to write and record a song, and mint it on a blockchain.

You can hear the entire mini-season about NFTs and music on kutkutx.studio/pauseplay or wherever you get your podcasts. The link is in the bio!

11/07/2022

We know lots of people in Texas are worried about the power grid today. So are we! If you want to know why our grid is so fragile, what happened during the winter storm of 2021 and what’s been done — or not done — about it, you can check out the *T podcast The Disconnect. It’s fascinating, informative and infuriating.

Or maybe listening to the podcast is too heavy. We get that. You can also follow Mose Buchele and Matt Largey on Twitter to get good insight into what’s happening with the grid right now.

We hope you stay safe, take care of yourself and check in with folks around you today.

06/07/2022

We know people feel all kinds of ways about NFTs, so we asked 4 Austin musicians what they thought about them. Some people, like Jackie Venson, aren't believers - at all. Others, like Erin Ivey, are interested in seeing what's possible. You can hear their NFT takes, along with Deezie Brown's and David Shabani in the latest episode of Pause/Play.

And whether you love NFTs, hate them, or couldn't care less, we hope you'll at least understand them after listening to our mini-season about NFTs and music. You can check it out on kut.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

30/06/2022

Here we are back in May making our hit song 😂 “What is an NFT.” If you want your own copy you can head over to Kutkutx.studio or wherever get your podcasts!

And if you want to learn more about NFTs check out our mini season✨

In the next episode we will be speaking to Austin artists about how they feel about NFTs - that episode comes out next Tuesday. Don’t miss it 🎙

31/05/2022

We were hearing a lot about music and NFTs, but we had no idea what they were. And we think maybe you might not know what they are either! So we made this mini-season all about music and NFTs for you!

In the first episode, you'll learn about what NFTs are and how they could be applied to digital music. You'll hear from Mark de Clive-Lowe who founded the web3 community mashibeats, and Melody Hildebrant from Blockchain Creative Labs.

Listen: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/nfts-and-music-what-is-an-nft/id1531408688?i=1000564668110

And in our next episode, we'll take you through the steps of actually making, or minting as they say, and NFT.

26/05/2022

Pause/Play is coming back on May 31st with a mini-season all about Music and NFTs! We are going to explain what they are, how they work and find out what they mean for the Austin music ecosystem‼️

You can hear Pause/Play on K*T.org, K*TX.org or wherever you get your podcasts!

28/04/2022

Yep. We’re going there. We’re working on a mini-season about music and NFTs. And we want to know what you think about the whole NFT thing. You can leave a response in our story, leave your thoughts in the comments, DM us or record your thoughts at kutkutx.studio/contactpauseplay

14/04/2022

On the one hand , who plays keys with , had a great time at this year, playing gigs to big crowds and watching his friends kill it on stage. On the other hand, he played a couple of shows in packed clubs where he didn't get paid -- and it left him feeling disenchanted.

Hear his story, along with other people's take's on this years festival in the latest episode. The link is in the bio!

13/04/2022

In the latest episode of , we spoke to musician Jackie Venson about her views about this year’s SXSW.

She told us about her experiences over the years and why this year she decided to do things her way ✨

You can hear the full episode on Kutx.org, Kut.org or whoever you get your podcasts.

07/04/2022

We talked to rapper and event curator JSoulja about his experience during this last SXSW and how felt after it was all done. Spoiler alert -- he was TIRED.

He also told us how this year was different than previous years and what it was like to throw an event during SXSW versus perform as an artist.

You can hear the full episode on kutx.org, kut.org or wherever you get your podcasts. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-return-of-sxsw/id1531408688?i=1000556295477
📸

05/04/2022

In the final episode of season 3, we’re looking at the return of the first in person in 3 years!

You’ll hear from rapper and event curator , bartender and founder of , artist manager , owners & , musician and composer , freelance writer , artist, instrumentalist and band leader and musician .

How was for you?

Listen: https://kutkutx.studio/pause-play/the-return-of-sxsw-2

21/03/2022

Did you go to SXSW? We want to know how it went for you! Leave response in our stories, or you can record a message to us at kutkutx.studio/contactpauseplay

17/03/2022

The City of Austin's Economic Development Department just raised their rate of pay for musicians to $200 per hour per musician and we did a story about it for ! told us what led to this decision.

The Economic Development Department is a sponsor of tonight's showcase at Auditorium Shores featuring , , , & . It also marks the first time that musicians will get this rate from the city!

You can listen to the story on kut.org!

14/03/2022

In the latest episode, talked about his perspective on the Live Music Fund with hosts & .

This is a companion episode to our episode about the story of the Live Music Fund. We recommend you listen to that first and then listen to what the mayor has to say! https://kutkutx.studio/pause-play/what-mayor-adler-has-to-say-about-the-live-music-fund

Also, we took this picture at a press conference where the mayor talked about wanting Austin to become a web3 / cryptocurency / NFT ecosystem. So guess what. Miles and Elizabeth are working on a mini-season about NFTs -- what are they, and what do they even mean for musicians?

📸

07/03/2022

We spoke to Austin Mayor Steve Adler about his thoughts on the Live Music Fund, and the evolving conversation around who gets the money. This is a companion episode to our last episode about the Live Music Fund. We recommend you listen to that story and then listen to what the mayor has to say!
Listen: https://pod.link/1531408688/episode/b625629550113eb112a3c91a8b9d9628

04/03/2022

In the latest episode we tackle the Live Music Fund, and specifically the conversation around who gets the money from the Fund. It's been a long, involved process. Luckily we had people like Sylnovia Holt-Rabb, who heads Austin's Economic Development Department to walk us through the ins and outs of everything.

She talked us through the back and forth between the city council, city staff, and the music commission. Plus she laid importance of equity in distributing these funds.

Hear the full story on kut.org, kutx.org, or wherever you get your podcasts. The link is in the bio!
📸

01/03/2022

In the latest episode, we're looking at the Live Music Fund. We'll tell you what it is, how it came to be, and we'll explore the conversation around who gets the money.

Since the city created the Live Music Fund in 2019, it has grown to more than $3 million.

But the music community hasn’t seen any of that money yet.

One reason is because the fund is the first of its kind; there’s no blueprint for how to dole it out. Another reason is because there’s been a debate about who the money should go to.

Listen: https://pod.link/1531408688/episode/68685c3bf5d18c2b4214d8adc87b0ab5

22/02/2022

After the pandemic hit, and all the gigs went away, Greg Clifford () found a way to supplement his income by producing Lofi beats. In the latest episode, he'll walk you through the world of lofi beat-making.

His story is especially interesting given that in the latest episode we also talked about how gig pay for musicians has hovered around $100 per musician per gig for the last 40 years.

Listen: https://pod.link/1531408688/episode/7a21e75097a30925a6f418699d0985fb
📸

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Here we are back in May making our hit song 😂 “What is an NFT.” If you want your own copy you can head over to Kutkutx.studio or wherever get your podcasts! And if you want to learn more about NFTs check out our mini season✨ In the next episode we will be speaking to Austin artists about how they feel about NFTs - that episode comes out next Tuesday. Don’t miss it 🎙

Pause/Play is coming back on May 31st with a mini-season all about Music and NFTs! We are going to explain what they are, how they work and find out what they mean for the Austin music ecosystem‼️ You can hear Pause/Play on KUT.org, KUTX.org or wherever you get your podcasts!

@chinasabroxton of @tribemafiamusic gives us his perspective about affordability and housing in Austin🏠 To hear his story and others check out the latest episode of @pauseplaypod on Kutx.org or wherever you get your podcasts ❤️ * * * #housing #atxmusic #austinhousingmarket #austnhousing #tribemafia

Local musician @autumncymone had to make the decision to slow down performing after the latest covid surge. She also just released her single “Sweet Potato” 🔥🔥🔥Hear her story and how the Austin Music scene is navigating this current covid surge in the latest episode. You can find the link in our bio! * * Thanks for sharing your story @autumncymone 🤎🤎

In the first episode of season people told us how the last 12 months changed them.

In this episode we spoke to Patsy Dolan Bouressa.

Co-host Elizabeth McQueen talks about how going to therapy has helped her, especially during the pandemic.

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