And The Writer Is...with Ross Golan
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Ep. 271: Feist | The Wild Return of “My Moon My Man” & How a Doctor’s Orders Changed Her Sound
3 november 2026 · 1 uur 8 min
Today’s guest is a singer, songwriter and musician whose singular sound has spanned punk stages, intimate recordings and songs that have traveled around the world. From “1234” to the unexpected second life of “My Moon My Man,” her music continues to find new audiences. Lees meer
And The Writer Is… Feist!
In this episode:
- How losing her voice helped her find a new sound
- Why finding your people can change your creative life
- The collaborator who believed in her before she knew they were making a record
- How The Reminder brought different songs together into one world
- The unusual musical choices behind “My Moon My Man” and its unexpected return
- What “1234” taught her about success, belonging and staying true to herself
And The Writer Is… is presented by Amazon Music and SONA.
Listen on Amazon Music:https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/bfeec5ec-e02d-43eb-917c-5d4e182eadb4/and-the-writer-is-with-ross-golan
Join the ATWI Patreon for monthly Zoom hangs, demo feedback, special guests and access to 200+ archived audio episodes: https://www.patreon.com/andthewriteris
Subscribe for more conversations with the songwriters behind the songs
Follow And The Writer Is…https://instagram.com/andthewriteris
Chapters
00:00 Introducing Feist
01:05 The Stories Behind Her Guitars
04:49 Growing Up Around Art and Finding Her Voice
09:36 Amazon Music & SONA
09:48 The Punk Band That Changed Her Life
18:28 Losing Her Voice on Tour
20:25 Why Singers Have the Least Fun on Tour
21:40 How a Doctor’s Orders Changed Her Sound
23:45 Find Your People
25:35 Inside Broken Social Scene
27:53 Peaches, Chilly Gonzales and Their Creative Community
32:59 Finding the Freedom to Make Let It Die
38:29 The Friend Who Quietly Funded Her Breakthrough
42:12 Creative Control and Growing Beyond a Slow Start
44:05 Supporting Your Friends Instead of Competing
47:48 The Reminder, Folk Music and Sea Lion Woman
52:33 Making The Reminder and the 14-Day Sessions
55:23 My Moon My Man’s Heated Riv…
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Ep. 270: Miranda Lambert | How She Keeps Writing Country Hits 20 Years In
27 oktober 2026 · 1 uur 18 min
Today’s guest is a three-time GRAMMY-winning singer, songwriter and producer behind some of country music’s biggest songs. Lees meer
Across more than two decades, she’s built a career on honest stories, unmistakable songs and doing things her own way.
And The Writer Is… Miranda Lambert!
Recorded live at Casa Rosa in Nashville, Miranda joins Ross to tell the stories behind “Kerosene,” “Gunpowder & Lead,” “The House That Built Me,” “Mama’s Broken Heart,” “Vice” and “Tin Man.”
She shares how she co-wrote “Choosin’ Texas” with Ella Langley, why she gave Steve Earle half the credit for “Kerosene,” and why some of the most important songs in her set weren’t written by her.
And The Writer Is… is presented by Amazon Music and SONA.
Listen on Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/bfeec5ec-e02d-43eb-917c-5d4e182eadb4/and-the-writer-is-with-ross-golan
CHAPTERS
00:00 Introducing Miranda Lambert
00:56 Writing Choosin’ Texas with Ella Langley
05:21 Finding New Song Ideas After So Many Albums
06:36 Chris Stapleton and a New Retro Sound
08:47 Songwriting Retreats and Creative Chemistry
16:35 Learning the Craft in Texas Honky-Tonks
21:37 Nashville Star and Her Mom’s Wake-Up Call
25:06 Casa Rosa: A Place for the Girls
27:30 Kerosene, Steve Earle, and Doing It Her Way
33:42 The Stories Behind Gunpowder & Lead
36:52 Revolution and The House That Built Me
42:24 Writing Over You with Blake Shelton
45:03 Mama’s Broken Heart and Outside Songs
49:49 Building Platinum
53:55 Somethin’ Bad with Carrie Underwood
57:54 The Weight of These Wings and Vice
1:02:55 Writing Tin Man
1:06:01 Wildcard, the Love Junkies, and Bluebird
1:08:47 Life Off the Road and Writing on Zoom
1:13:08 Palomino and a Changing Music Business
1:14:52 Letting Go of Expectations and Staying Yourself
Join the ATWI Patreon for monthly Zoom hangs, demo feedback, special guests and access to 200+ archived audio episodes: https://www.patreon.com/andthewriteris Subscribe for more conversations with t…
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And The Update Is…Spotify’s Royalty Fight, Universal’s Bloodbath, and the Week in Music
21 oktober 2026 · 6 min
And The Update Is…a weekly beat on the industry . Lees meer
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Ep. 269: RAYE | How She Escaped Her Record Deal and Became a Superstar
20 oktober 2026 · 1 uur 31 min
Today's guest is the British singer-songwriter behind “Escapism.” and “WHERE IS MY HUSBAND!” Lees meer
After seven years in a record deal without releasing her debut album, she went independent, landed a UK No. 1 and won six BRIT Awards in one night.
This is the story of how she found her own way to succeed—and brought her people with her.
And The Writer Is... RAYE!
In this episode, we get into:
• Signing a record deal at 17, having hits, and still being unable to release her debut album.
• The album called “too risky,” the partner who backed it, and “Escapism.” changing everything.
• Bringing her family and band into the success, and demanding fairer treatment for songwriters.
• Her full writing process, early “Click Clack Symphony.” demos, and nine hours on the “WHERE IS MY HUSBAND!” bridge. and much more.
Hit subscribe and turn on notifications. Every week, we go deep with the most interesting creatives in music.
Join us on Patreon: patreon.com/andthewriteris
Follow us on socials: @andthewriteris
A special thank you to our sponsors for making these conversations possible.
Our lead sponsor, NMPA — the National Music Publishers' Association. Your support means the world to us.
PRS for Music — supporting songwriters, composers and publishers. Find out more: https://www.prsformusic.com/join
And @splice — the best sample library on the market. Period. Have you tried variations yet?
CHAPTERS
0:00 Intro
1:10 Making music and touring with her family
7:38 What happened to her grandfather's songs
9:49 Ad: PRS for Music
11:09 Ad: Splice 12:16
Ross's stolen-song story and the line between influence and theft
17:33 Who deserves a songwriting credit?
19:52 Why songwriters deserve fees and master points
25:29 The power to say no and protect your splits
28:50 Advice for young writers: choosing your battles and avoiding comparison
33:18 Writing her first song at seven
36:48 The BRIT School and finding her voice
42:21 Subscribe to And The Writer Is
42:50 Jazz …
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Ep. 268: Ilya Salmanzadeh | How The Swedes Cracked Hit Songwriting and Why Most People Won't
13 oktober 2026 · 2 uur 5 min
Today's guest is the Swedish producer and songwriter behind "Problem," "Into You," "Love Me Like You Do," "No Tears Left To Cry," "Santa Tell Me," and "Unholy,". Lees meer
He finally sits down with Ross for an And The Writer Is interview ten years in the making.
He taught himself to make music from a demo CD that came in a cereal box.
A radio singing contest got him discovered, and he signed a publishing deal at 17.
It then took him ten years to land his first real hit. He tells Ross how a year of playing FIFA with Shellback led to Wolf Cousins, and what Max Martin's famous "math" actually is.
If you've ever wondered how the biggest pop songs of the last decade actually get finished, this one's for you
And The Writer Is... Ilya Salmanzadeh!
JOIN THE ATWI PATREON
Monthly Zoom hangs, demo feedback, special guests and 200+ archived audio episodes (Charli XCX, Sabrina Carpenter, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Shania Twain, Babyface and more):
Patreon.com/andthewriteris
THANKS TO OUR SPONSOR SPLICE
Try Variations in the Splice Sounds plugin. It makes new versions of any Splice sample with a different structure, key and BPM, and the original creators get paid every time.
Splice.com
CHAPTERS
0:00 Cold open: what Max Martin's "math" really means
1:32 Welcome Ilya Salmanzadeh
3:12 What MXM is: "like Real Madrid signed me"
4:46 Jantelagen: why Swedes won't brag
9:57 Born in Iran, raised in Denmark
16:22 A cereal-box CD and teaching himself music
19:54 The hits: Problem, Into You, Unholy and more
21:32 Early influences: Tracy Chapman, Michael Jackson, hip-hop
24:50 Why the world's biggest pop writers live in Stockholm
27:14 Wanting to be an R&B artist
32:36 The radio singing contest that got him discovered
37:26 Ten years from publishing deal to first hit
39:09 Telemarketing and Apple tech support
43:08 The immigrant drive to prove he belongs
46:21 His first cut: the Bratz album
48:20 A year of FIFA with Shellback and the birth of Wolf Cousins
52:37 The MXM pop famil…
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Ep. 267: YG Opens Up. Bad Deals, Hit Records, and a Midlife Crisis
6 oktober 2026 · 1 uur 37 min
Today’s guest is a multi-platinum rapper and songwriter who took Compton to the charts and gave the world “My Hitta,” “Who Do You Love?” and “Big Bank.” Lees meer
From his debut album My Krazy Life to collaborations with Drake, Nipsey Hussle, and Nicki Minaj, he’s built a catalog that’s done serious damage to club speakers. Now, with The Gentlemen’s Club, he’s getting personal and reminding everyone there’s a storyteller behind the hits.
And The Writer Is…
YG!
In this episode we go deep on:
- The inspiration behind his new album
- The Def Jam singles deal with five album options: "I could have sued everybody"
- What he'd tell an 18-year-old holding a label offer
- Why having a catalog doesn't mean you own it
- What a YG session looks like: tequila, "next beat," and a BPM in his head
- How "FDT" got made with Nipsey, and why Def Jam wouldn't release it
- The night Nicki said "don't put this out without me"
- "Who Do You Love?": three months, hook writers, and Drake telling him to do it himself
And much more...
Hit subscribe and turn on notifications.
Every week, we go deep with the most interesting creatives in music.
Follow us on socials: @andthewriteris
A special thank you to our sponsors for making these conversations possible.
Our lead sponsor, our Patreon!
Patreon.com/andthewriteris
And @splice — the best sample library on the market. Period.
Chapters
0:00 Intro
0:32 Hiring a "Hitman"
8:07 "Were you ever suicidal?" and the homies who said "same"
9:10 Chin up, chest out: what the streets never let you say
10:28 "2004," the song he cut from the album
24:31 Turning himself in while his song blew up, and the label that called his mom
27:31 Signing young: "I could have sued everybody"
28:24 Ross: athletes get rookie orientation, artists get "good luck"
34:57 What he'd tell an 18-year-old holding a label offer
39:40 The masters trap: you have a catalog, but you don't own it
41:30 What a session with YG actually looks like
47:39 Why he made Gent…
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Ep. 266: Tinashe’s Guide to Making It on Your Own Terms
29 september 2026 · 1 uur 18 min
Today’s guest is a singer, songwriter, producer and dancer who has spent her career trusting her own instincts—and building a world around them. Lees meer
From “2 On” to “Nasty” and “No Broke Boys,” Tinashe has kept releasing music through major-label deals, independent projects and viral breakthroughs.
She’s collaborated with artists including Calvin Harris, Charli xcx and Kaytranada, and joins us to talk about the journey behind it all.
And The Writer Is... Tinashe!
Hit subscribe and turn on notifications.
Every week, we go deep with the most interesting creatives in music.
Follow us on socials: @andthewriteris
A special thank you to our sponsors for making these conversations possible.Splice, the best sample library on the market, period.
and our lead sponsor, our Patreon page!
We're still giving away free Universal Audio Recording Gear in our next zoom hang.
Join us on Patreon: patreon.com/andthewriteris
CHAPTERS
0:00 Intro
0:46 Tinashe and Ross reconnect—back to The Stunners
3:48 “Deep in the Night”—the song she wrote at five
5:08 Tinashe’s French fry rankings
6:12 Child acting, Whoopi Goldberg, and moving to LA
9:11 Life in a girl group without creative control
11:22 Buying a microphone and building a bedroom studio
14:10 Getting signed—and expecting it to be easy
18:40 Join the ATWI Patreon
19:32 Splice: Sounds and Variations
20:39 Early Travis Scott sessions and being taken seriously in the studio
23:29 Recording 200 songs—and trusting the big producer’s opinion26:33 Trusting your gut and knowing when to leave a session
30:43 “2 On” takes off. What happens after the first hit?
36:03 Writing “2 On” in a garage with friends
37:37 Does having a hit teach you how to make one?
39:20 Leaving her label and rebuilding trust in her own ideas
43:29 What releasing music independently actually takes
46:10 Filming her own videos and building her visual world
48:14 How dancing shapes the way she writes songs
50:08 Working with a label again—and findi…
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Ep. 265: How Remi Wolf Built Her Career: Study the Greats, Take the Gig, Say Yes
22 september 2026 · 1 uur 36 min
Today’s guest is one of the most unmistakable voices in modern pop — an artist, songwriter and producer who has built a career by making music that sounds like nobody else. Her catalog has passed two billion global streams. She’s played top billing at festivals including Coachella, Lollapalooza and Outside Lands, opened for Olivia Rodrigo, Lorde and Paramore, and collaborated with artists including Nile Rodgers, Beck, Dominic Fike and Sylvan Esso. Lees meer
And The Writer Is... Remi Wolf!
In this episode, we get into
- The USC training that rebuilt her voice
- Waiting tables and taking Craigslist gigs while building a career
- The 30-minute session behind “Photo ID,”
- Industry lessons for every artist to take notes on...
and much more.
Hit subscribe and turn on notifications. Every week, we go deep with the most interesting creatives in music.
Join us on Patreon: patreon.com/andthewriteris
Follow us on socials: @andthewriteris
A special thank you to our sponsors for making these conversations possible.
Our lead sponsor, NMPA — the National Music Publishers' Association. Your support means the world to us.
CHAPTERS
0:00 Intro
0:40 “You can’t teach tone” — how Remi found hers
2:13 USC: “We’re going to beat you down until you feel like you’re nothing”
6:15 Fourteen, busking the Bay Area, and writing songs in Chloe’s kitchen
13:40 “Carousel” — the first song she ever wrote
15:41 A substitute teacher, an apartment, and her first recording
18:05 Ski racer by day, songwriter by night
19:05 Meeting Jared Solomon at 15 — then finding each other again
21:07 Applebee’s on tour — and the road to sobriety
24:04 Rehab, writing Juno sober, and why clarity changed the songs
29:02 “It’s not ready” — why she refused to release music in college
30:22 Six songs in one week — the reunion that started everything
34:24 Restaurant shifts and Craigslist gigs: how she paid to keep making music
39:26 The Sofar show that led to her first manager
42:39 “I had no expectations…
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And The Update Is...Ella Langley Makes Billboard History, UMG Sues DistroKid & Songwriters Fight for Healthcare
20 september 2026 · 4 min
And The Update Is…a weekly beat on the industry . Lees meer
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Ep. 264: How Aaron Dessner Became an Industry Favorite and the 3AM Text That Became 'folklore'
15 september 2026 · 1 uur 22 min
Today's guest is a musician's musician who co-founded The National, the Grammy-winning band behind Boxer, High Violet and Sleep Well Beast. Lees meer
He co-wrote and produced Taylor Swift's folklore and evermore, including cardigan and willow. folklore won Album of the Year at the Grammys.
He worked on The Tortured Poets Department and produced Ed Sheeran's Subtract.
He's behind Gracie Abrams' I Love You, I'm Sorry and Noah Kahan's Porch Light.
In the last year alone, he's made records with Mumford & Sons, Florence + the Machine, Brandi Carlile, Sam Barber, Kevin Morby and Suki Waterhouse.
He's one half of Big Red Machine with Bon Iver's Justin Vernon.
And he built Long Pond, the Hudson Valley studio where many of these songs were made.
And The Writer Is... Aaron Dessner!
Hit subscribe and turn on notifications. Every week, we go deep with the most interesting creatives in music.
Follow us on socials: @andthewriteris
A special thank you to our sponsors for making these conversations possible.
Amazon Music for Songwriters. Your support means the world to us.
And SONA — Songwriters of North America. If you write songs, join them. They fight for us.
0:00 Intro
1:00 Cardigan, willow, Porch Light — and eight albums in a year
5:26 Why "I Love You, I'm Sorry" was never the single
7:27 Secretly rooting for the weird song
8:17 When a pop star needs a single right now
10:25 Don't fill the space: how he walks into a session
12:12 Long Pond and "you never make a mistake investing in your creativity"
17:24 Twin brothers and their dad's jazz drums
22:48 "We faked it": how The National got signed
26:48 Playing to no one — then 500 strangers in Michigan
30:05 "Did you lose yourself?"
33:14 When one bandmate starts writing hits for other people
35:38 On stage with Taylor: "You're playing a stadium. It's okay."
37:27 "Hey, it's Taylor": the text in 2020
40:34 The Dropbox folder — and cardigan by 3 a.m.
47:45 The thank-you note that became willow
51:49 Meeting Grac…
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Ep. 263: Ziggy Marley on Family Rules for Life, Music, and Success
8 september 2026 · 1 uur 4 min
Today's guest is a Grammy-winning songwriter, bandleader and activist who has spent four decades inside the most famous name in reggae — but whose real story isn't the inheritance. It's the set of rules underneath it, the ones the family actually lives by, which turn out to have almost nothing to do with music. Lees meer
And The Writer Is... Ziggy Marley!
Subscribe to our channel and follow us on socials @andthewriteris Every week we go deep with the most interesting creatives in music.
A special thank you to our sponsors for making these conversations possible.
Our lead sponsor, NMPA — the National Music Publishers' Association. Your support means the world to us.
And @splice — the best sample library on the market. Period.
Chapters:
0:00 He inherited a legacy and built a voice of his own
0:45 Why reggae heals
4:53 What makes the Marley family so consistent
6:43 Seven kids, and the family business that isn't music
8:36 Why the whole album is tuned to 432
12:32 The one song he left at 440
16:06 What makes this album different from the other fifteen
18:11 Finishing the songs before going into the studio
20:37 Why he wrote "Many Mourn For Bob" 45 years later
24:54 Umbrella or shadow: being a Marley
26:39 The funeral, and the drive to Nine Miles
30:54 NMPA + Splice
33:15 Breaking the four-bar on "Racism"
36:03 "It sounds light, but it's heavy underneath"
38:37 What "Beach in Hawaii" is actually about
43:37 How he found out "Tomorrow People" was a hit
46:14 The Melody Makers, and the line you don't cross
49:15 "Create your own space"
53:45 Advice to the next Marleys
55:27 "You can't just ChatGPT life experience"
59:12 "When the fridge was empty, I was happy"
1:00:26 "I know my value"
1:03:07 "It's always new. Still a kid."
Credits:
Hosted by Ross Golan
Produced by Joe London & Jad Saad
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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And The Update Is...The Industry Mourns Dolly, AI Music, $11 BILLION in Ticket Fees & Ella Langley Takes Over the Charts
4 september 2026 · 6 min
And The Update Is…a weekly beat on the industry . Lees meer
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Ep. 262: Ryan Beatty | How to Make It in Music Without Losing Yourself
1 september 2026 · 1 uur 7 min
Today's guest is an artist and songwriter whose career has taken him from teenage YouTube covers to working with Beyoncé, Tyler, The Creator, Brockhampton, Miley Cyrus and Jack Antonoff. Lees meer
But this conversation is really about something bigger: How to build a career in music without losing yourself along the way.
Ryan talks about learning to trust his own taste, being grateful he never had a hit record, protecting what makes an artist special, and refusing to let success, algorithms or other people's expectations define him.
We also get into Boy in Jeans, Brockhampton, Tyler the Creator's unexpected DM, writing four songs on Cowboy Carter, the making of "Bruises Off the Peach," and his new album Sweet Fortune.
And The Writer Is... Ryan Beatty!
Subscribe for more conversations with the artists, songwriters and producers shaping music.
Follow us: @andthewriteris
A special thank you to our sponsors:
NMPA — the National Music Publishers' Association
Splice — the best sample library on the market. Period.
Chapters
0:00 Intro
1:36 The Greek, Hollywood Bowl & Pokémon evolutions
3:08 Being made fun of for singing
4:09 “I refuse to continue just being one thing”
8:32 Why being hard to define is freedom
9:52 How Ryan approaches a songwriting session
11:52 Teach people how to treat you
13:43 “I’m grateful I’ve never had a hit record”
14:12 What success feels like vs. what it looks like
20:08 “I didn’t feel smart enough to be a songwriter”
20:55 Boy in Jeans — finding his voice as a songwriter
26:42 Jack Antonoff and an unexpected Broadway placement
27:30 NMPA + Splice
29:19 His advice for artists going viral
31:55 The moment he decided to do it his way
34:06 Brockhampton, Kevin Abstract & finding confidence
37:05 Why Ryan never pitches songs
40:43 Tyler, The Creator’s unexpected DM
42:35 Dreaming of David, touring & burnout
44:52 Making “Bruises Off the Peach”
48:17 Finding his actual singing voice
50:30 Cowboy Carter — four songs, told nobody
5…
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Ep. 261: Travis Barker | Survival and Building a Legendary Career out of the Ashes
18 augustus 2026 · 1 uur 46 min
Today's guest is the drummer who took punk out of the garage, put it on your radio, then on MTV, then on your body. But his real story isn't the discography. It's what he did with everything that was supposed to end him. Lees meer
From a four-piece kit in Fontana to the center of the album cover, Travis carries three things simultaneously that most musicians never figure out how to hold at once: the craft of writing a drum part as a hook — singing it in his head before his hands ever get there; the conviction that no genre gets to own him, and no one else gets to write his ending; and the contrarian edge to ban Auto-Tune, editing, and drum samples from his own studio at the exact moment the rest of the industry is sprinting toward machine-clean.
And The Writer Is... Travis Barker!
Hit subscribe and turn on notifications. Every week, we go deep with the most interesting creatives in music.
Join us on Patreon: patreon.com/andthewriteris
We're giving away 4 pieces of premium recording gear on zoom on August 25th! Join Patreon for details.
Follow us on socials: @andthewriteris
A special thank you to our sponsors for making these conversations possible. Our lead sponsor, NMPA — the National Music Publishers' Association. Your support means the world to us. And @splice — the best sample library on the market. Period.
CHAPTERS
0:00 Intro
1:51 Why the documentary sat for nine years
3:18 The producers pitch an ending: "Can you just walk onto a plane?"
4:51 Survivor's guilt: "They wouldn't want me to sit here and not fly again"
6:33 "The doc was dead to me" — and living your life like it's a movie
9:41 "I don't make beats." "Now you do. I need it in two days."
12:23 Beastie Boys, Bad Brains, Buck Owens — refusing the box
15:28 The drums are a hook, not a timekeeper
15:54 "That's not music" — the teacher who wouldn't teach him rock
17:25 How he actually writes a part: "I sing it in my head"
18:21 Learning the whole blink-182 set in an hour
21:29 Trash men in Laguna,…
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Ep. 260: Role Model | Being Discovered by Mac Miller & How Getting Signed Changed His Music
11 augustus 2026 · 58 min
Today's guest is an artist most people meet through the bit: the deadpan internet, the cowboy suit, the one-sided war he's been waging with Harry Styles for a year that Harry Styles knows nothing about. Lees meer
So this is the other version of him. A kid in Pittsburgh with a borrowed mic and beats ripped off YouTube, broke and failing out of school, who gets a message that Mac Miller loves a song off his first EP — and uses those three days in LA to convince his parents to let him drop out.
It's also one of the more honest conversations we've had about what the industry's upgrades actually cost you. Not the version where getting signed is the happy ending — the version where the nice studio, the engineer recording your vocals, and the A&R in your ear slowly make music that isn't yours. Chuck Timely & The Hourglass is what's on the other side of that: a record about time, made by someone who spent years trying to get his own back. And the only person who ever told him not to make it was his mother.
And The Writer Is... Role Model!
A special thank you to our sponsors for making these conversations possible.
Our lead sponsor, NMPA — the National Music Publishers' Association. Your support means the world to us.
And @splice — the best sample library on the market. Period.
They are also maybe the only ethical ai-integrated sample library and they pay creators for using their work in the new Variations update and beyond.
Chapters
0:00 Intro
2:00 The year-long war with Harry Styles that Harry Styles knows nothing about
2:41 Mac Miller and Odd Future on Vine are why he finally said yes to TikTok
3:33 The message about "Stolen Car" that came while he was failing out of school
15:01 "Did you scrub the internet?" — "Yes. Because I was embarrassed."
16:13 "I was trying to impress a label. I just made shitty music."
24:16 A 16-year-old in Portland, Maine, and an EP made entirely over email
25:44 The labels start calling: "I was a sitting duck"
27:01 The studio trap — ho…
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And The Update Is...Suno Loses Copyright Case, Spotify Hits 300M & YouTube Music Dominates
7 augustus 2026 · 4 min
And The Update Is…a weekly beat on the industry . Lees meer
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Ep. 259: Jessi Alexander on Writing "The Climb" The Week She Almost Quit... + What It Takes To Last as a Nashville Songwriter
4 augustus 2026 · 1 uur 28 min
Today's guest wrote "The Climb." She also wrote "I Drive Your Truck," "Mine Would Be You," "Don't Think Jesus," and "Ain't No Love in Oklahoma." But her real story isn't the hits. It's the ten years before the first one, the five years after it when the phone stopped ringing, and what she figured out in between about how to actually last in this business. Lees meer
From a dropped record deal and years as what she calls a washed-up artist nobody would write with, to Song of the Year, a Grammy nomination, and a run of hits she wrote while raising three kids under three. She carries three things at once that almost no writer figures out how to hold together: a working method she can actually teach, a conviction that this is a calling and not a job, and a refusal to write the safe version of anything.
And The Writer Is... Jessi Alexander!
Hit subscribe and turn on notifications. Every week, we go deep with the most interesting creatives in music.
Follow us on socials: @andthewriteris
A special thank you to our sponsors for making these conversations possible.
Our lead sponsor, NMPA — the National Music Publishers' Association. Your support means the world to us.
0:00 Intro
0:48 Her favorite non-songwriting songwriter trick
1:54 "How do you make unavailable country men emotional?"
5:33 The five songs on her Hall of Fame plaque
11:07 Pool halls and stick shifts: "that color is what I draw from"
12:42 The artist deal that fizzled — "I wasn't the artist type"
13:31 No man's land: "no one took me seriously, I was a washed-up artist"
14:01 The insane story behind writing The Climb: "just another damn day"
20:11 Bud Light, a guitar pull, and a British director
22:07 Being told The Climb would change her life "Sir, that doesnt happen to people like me"
28:08 Nashville still said No
30:38 Getting men to sing: long notes and the falsetto flip
31:44 "What part of their tool belt have they not used?"
34:32 The professor who told her to quit school
36:18 Her album, the m…
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And The Update Is…Labels Rein In AI, Miley Signs to Atlantic & Deezer Turns a Profit
2 augustus 2026 · 5 min
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Ep. 258: Suki Waterhouse on Loveland, Motherhood, and Finding Her People
28 juli 2026 · 1 uur 44 min
Today's guest is a songwriter four albums deep, with a song that's been picking up new listeners for nine years and Mick Fleetwood playing on her latest record. But her real story isn't any of that. Lees meer
From weekend stage camps in West London to opening Wembley for Taylor Swift five months after giving birth, she spent a decade releasing roughly one song a year into near silence. What kept her going wasn't a plan — it was a pair of collaborators who got nothing back for years and got up and made something every day anyway.
This is an honest conversation about what a long stretch of nobody listening actually feels like, and what happens when the proof finally shows up on a timeline you didn't choose.
And The Writer Is... Suki Waterhouse!
Hit subscribe and turn on notifications. Every week, we go deep with the most interesting creatives in music.
Follow us on socials: @andthewriteris
A special thank you to our sponsors for making these conversations possible.
Our lead sponsor, NMPA — the National Music Publishers' Association. Your support means the world to us.
And @splice — the best sample library on the market. Period.
They've developed a Sounds plugin that allows creators to actually get paid for derivatively generated work from their art, and they have paid out $100M+ to artists already since inception.
Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:46 How's being a parent and doing music?
1:18 "Being a parent is only hard for good parents"
2:49 "The girl with the guitar" — how her daughter describes her job
4:30 Test-driving album demos on a toddler in her "no" phase
12:44 Somewhere Over the Rainbow — and losing to the girl who sang All Saints
14:38 The voice teacher who told her she was too skinny to sing
15:58 "I was angry. I had this huge fire in me."
16:42 The friend group that turned on her: "fuck this school, fuck these people"
26:45 "You walk through open doors" — model, actor, musician
28:56 "Brutally," 2016, and ten years of making things nobody heard
31:01 …
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And The Update Is…Spotify Goes MTV, Triller Gets Sued & AI Floods the Industry
27 juli 2026 · 4 min
And The Update Is…a weekly beat on the industry . Lees meer
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Ep. 257: Adam Lambert on Idol, Fronting Queen, and Opting Out of the Industry Game
21 juli 2026 · 1 uur 38 min
Today's guest is one of the great voices of his generation — the theater kid who auditioned for American Idol with Michael Jackson, watched the judges' faces fall, and demanded a second song because he'd just quit his job and had no health insurance. But his real story isn't the voice. It's the game — the one Freddie Mercury wrote about, the one that picks your singles, writes your headlines, and decides who you are before you do. Lees meer
And The Writer Is... Adam Lambert!
In this episode of And The Writer Is, we go deep on:
The AMA kiss that blew up a $500,000 single launch — "everyone was going, oh shit"
Quitting Wicked — and losing his health insurance — to audition, then refusing the judges' no
Why Kara DioGuardi 'busted his balls all season'
What Brian May says "Play the Game" was really about
Signed before the finale even aired: why losing Idol never mattered
and much more.
Hit subscribe and turn on notifications. Every week, we go deep with the most interesting creatives in music.
Follow us on socials: @andthewriteris
A special thank you to our lead sponsor, NMPA — the National Music Publishers' Association.
0:00 Intro
1:09 The album is out — why self-titled, "first name basis"
2:35 Meeting Pete Nappi through a pandemic song still in the vault
3:39 "Am I Okay" — written one week after the breakup
6:02 Singles made him "crazy" — the label picks that flopped: "I told you so"
7:04 Leaning into what fans expect vs. challenging them
8:16 Proud of the flops, indifferent to some hits
9:34 Theater kids: every album is a character, every record a world
11:28 The dystopian cover — "I want it blasted into the future"
13:55 Adam Lambert or Freddie Mercury? "I feel like it's me"
15:35 Coffee with Freddie — what Brian says "Play the Game" was really about
16:56 "The music industry is a big old game, isn't it?"
17:43 A college-DJ dad, a Sly Stone mom, and a kid screaming through the house
19:46 The Fiddler note where everybody went "oh, wow"
21:03 San Die…
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SUNO Sued, Ai Labels, Resale Ticket Act, Choosin Texas Stays Ontop
19 juli 2026 · 6 min
And The Update Is…a weekly beat on the industry . Lees meer
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Rewind: The Benny Blanco Episode [Patreon Exclusive]
17 juli 2026 · 31 min
Today's episode is a rewind to our conversation with Benny Blanco. Lees meer
To hear the rest of this episode, join our Patreon, where you'll find our full library of archived episodes with legends like Babyface, Shania Twain, Sabrina Carpenter, Benny Blanco, and many more. Members also get access to our monthly Writers Room on Zoom, where we play your demos and answer your biggest industry questions.
We hope to see you there.
Thank you for listening to And The Writer Is.
And The Writer Is...
is presented by the National Music Publishers' Association
Hosted by Ross Golan
Produced by Joe London and Jad Saad
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Ep. 256: Gavin Rossdale (Bush) | "Glycerine" & Surviving the '90s
14 juli 2026 · 1 uur 41 min
Today's guest is the frontman of Bush, one of the defining voices of '90s alternative rock and the "feral," self-flagellating songwriter underneath them, who still claws through every blank page 30 years in and can't tell you how he does it. Lees meer
From a broken home at 12 to painting dentists' offices after he'd already made 16 Stone, Gavin carries three things simultaneously that most rock legends never figure out how to hold at once: the craft of a lifelong student who still writes out scales to get better, the conviction to bet on analog human perspective in the age of AI, and the contrarian refusal to romanticize any of it — "it's a perpetual UFC octagon."
This is one of the more honest conversations about longevity, survival, and what it actually costs to keep creating after the era that made you has moved on — and buried some of the people who defined it. When the confidence and the insecurity are the same engine, who do you become?
And The Writer Is... Gavin Rossdale!
Hit subscribe and turn on notifications. Every week, we go deep with the most interesting creatives in music.
Follow us on socials: @andthewriteris
A special thank you to our sponsors for making these conversations possible.
Our lead sponsor, NMPA — the National Music Publishers' Association. Your support means the world to us.
Hosted by Ross Golan
Produced by Joe London and Jad Saad
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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And The Update Is...Fake Streams, Billion-Dollar Deals & Ed Sheeran's Biggest Career Move Yet
10 juli 2026 · 6 min
And The Update Is…a weekly beat on the industry . Lees meer
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Ep. 255: Brittany Howard | How Alabama Shakes Went From a Garbage Truck to Playing with Prince
7 juli 2026 · 1 uur 11 min
Today's guest is Brittany Howard — four-time Grammy winner, the voice of Alabama Shakes, and one of the most singular artists of her generation. But her real story isn't the accolades or the sold-out rooms. It's a single-wide trailer, a junkyard full of animals, and a garbage truck — and a woman who never once chased any of it. Lees meer
From a Cotton Patch trailer park to Paisley Park, Brittany built a career by refusing to do it the way you're supposed to. She carries three things simultaneously that most artists never figure out how to hold at once: an obsessive craftsman's ear (she'll stab an amp with a screwdriver to find a tone), an unbudging authenticity (she showed up to the deal that changed her life hungover, in her pajamas, in a mail truck), and a total indifference to the machine (0% involvement in her own charts, streams, and licensing).
This is one of the more honest conversations we've had about staying true to yourself in music.
And The Writer Is... Alabama Shakes!
Hit subscribe and turn on notifications. Every week, we go deep with the most interesting creatives in music.
Follow us on socials: @andthewriteris
A special thank you to our sponsor, NMPA — the National Music Publishers Association. Your support means the world to us.
Timestamps
0:00 Intro
2:09 Is hunting for tone a fool's errand?
4:02 "Happy accidents" — taste vs. preference
6:22 Stabbing an amp with a screwdriver for the perfect tone
9:02 Born in a single-wide in Cotton Patch trailer park
10:53 "Are we rich now?" — a junkyard, 96 cats, 26 dogs
12:53 Picking up guitar out of necessity (she wanted to play bass)
17:00 Recording songs at 12 on Audacity, alone in the woods
18:45 The At the Drive-In shirt — meeting Zach
19:33 Mom: "I didn't know you could sing" / "Me either"
20:46 Her first song ever
28:59 The label meeting: hungover, in pajamas, in a mail truck
32:22 Writing "Hold On" in a garbage truck
33:27 Making up the whole song live on stage at The Brick
37:06 How a record…
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And The Update Is...Spotify Deletes 500K Streams ,TIDAL Takes a Stand Against AI,The Charts Have a New Enemy
4 juli 2026 · 6 min
And The Update Is…a weekly beat on the industry . Lees meer
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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And The update Is...AI Lawsuits Are Coming, Clive Davis Remembered & Olivia Rodrigo Makes History
27 juni 2026 · 7 min
And The Update Is…a weekly beat on the industry . Lees meer
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Ep. 254: Zooey Deschanel | Her Secret Identity + The Journey of She & Him
23 juni 2026 · 1 uur 57 min
Today's guest is one of the most recognizable faces of her generation — an actor whose voice you'd know in a single frame. But her real story isn't the one you've watched. It's the one she kept secret: for 20 years she's been a songwriter, and barely anyone — even people who know her — knew it. Lees meer
This is one of the more honest conversations we've had about being underestimated — as an actor who "couldn't" really be a musician, and as a woman the industry assumed didn't write her own songs — and about what it costs to keep making things purely because you love them.
And The Writer Is... Zooey Deschanel of She & Him!
In this episode of And The Writer Is, we go deep on:
Why she erased social media off her own devices
The "industry plant" myth — why the industry "can't make anything happen" anymore
Being told "you'll never make a record, no one will take you seriously" as an actor
Her "secret agent" identity
The misogyny she goes to bat against
Her North Star she chases
And much more...
Hit subscribe and turn on notifications. Every week, we go deep with the most interesting creatives in music.
Join our Patreon for special access, bonus conversations, demo playing opportunities, and guest hangs!
patreon.com/andthewriteris
Follow us on socials: @andthewriteris
A special thank you to our lead sponsor NMPA for making these conversations possible.
NMPA is the National Music Publishers' Association. They fight for songwriters and they fight for this podcast, too.
Chapters
0:00 Intro
1:00 Meet Zooey Deschanel
1:51 Writing alone — and erasing social media to do it
4:49 Why the "industry plant" is a myth
6:37 "You'll never be taken seriously as a musician"
7:25 Her secret identity as a songwriter
11:15 How She & Him released with no name attached
13:01 "I Thought I Saw Your Face Today" — never a single, now #1 on TikTok
15:35 The story behind writing "I Thought I Saw Your Face Today"
17:24 Her dad, the records, and growing up musical
22:44 Brian Wilso…
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And The Update Is...Heartbreak In The Writing Community, Chart Toppers & Goats
19 juni 2026 · 8 min
And The Update Is…a weekly beat on the industry . Lees meer
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Ep. 253: Nessa Barrett on Fame, Music, and Finding Herself in Public
16 juni 2026 · 1 uur 25 min
Today's guest built an audience of millions before she was old enough to sign a record deal, turned a 30-minute crying freestyle into her debut single, and made one of Gen Z's defining breakup anthems out of a phrase that became its own internet language. But her real story isn't the viral fame or the streams. It's the part that plays like a runaway and teaches like a masterclass: how she left home at 17 to chase music, what it costs to become a person in public, and everything about the business nobody explains until you've already survived it. Lees meer
And The Writer Is... Nessa Barrett!
In this episode of And The Writer Is, we go deep on:
• Why she ran away from home at 17 — a 4AM ticket, six school bags, cops on her trail — to make music
• The truth about "i hope ur miserable until ur dead": she didn't write it, it's not her favorite, and why she sang it anyway
• "pain" — the 30-minute freestyle she cried through in the booth that became her first single
• Why she can't record with Auto-Tune — and what she learned the first time someone handed her a finished song to cut
• Signing to Warner Records on Zoom during Covid — and the messy contract she had to escape first
• "All of my confidence comes from my fans" — the performer who still gets embarrassed easily
• The childhood trauma and the generational cycle she says she's trying to break
• Why she closes her eyes every time she records, and writes a song like she's building a movie
• The lowest point of her career — and how prayer, faith, and going back to her core brought her out of it
• "I've never loved my music as much as this — and I didn't know it could feel this way"
And much more...
🔓 Want in the room? We just launched our Patreon — monthly Zoom hangs where we listen to your demos and give feedback, hang with you directly, occasional guest drop-ins, and the full archive of 200+ audio episodes (Sabrina Carpenter, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Shania Twain, Babyface, and more).
https://www.patreon.com/andthew…
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And The Update Is...Taylor & Drake Make History, AI Makes Headlines
14 juni 2026 · 8 min
And The Update Is…a weekly beat on the industry . Lees meer
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Ep. 252: Lizzo | Rock Bottom, #1, and the Game Nobody Explains
9 juni 2026 · 1 uur 29 min
Today's guest is a Grammy winner, a two-time Billboard #1 artist, and one of the defining pop voices of the last decade. But her real story isn't the anthems or the awards. It's the part that plays like a rollercoaster and teaches like a masterclass: how she almost quit, what going #1 actually felt like, and everything about the music business nobody explains until you've survived it. Lees meer
The press version skips the touring deficits, the depression at the top, and the moment in an Echo Park apartment when she nearly took a job at Smoothie King. The question underneath everything she says: once you stop chasing the metric and the moment — who do you become?
And The Writer Is... Lizzo!
In this episode of And The Writer Is, we go deep on:
• Why she wanted to quit music the day "Truth Hurts" went #1 — and the 2017 low point that was actually worse
• The touring economics no one explains: how you gross $1M and still finish the year in the red
• Why the indie grind that built her, in her view, no longer leads to the mainstream
• "She stopped giving a fuck about what we wanted" — Beyoncé's self-titled as a blueprint for artistic autonomy
• Why she only talks to people who buy her music — and what comment sections do to her nervous system
• The bumper-sticker hook theory — why "Truth Hurts" works when it breaks every rule
• Writing "About Damn Time": 83 versions of the chorus, and how the simplest line won
• Robert Glasper's lesson: there's no such thing as a wrong note
• Why good songs don't sound great at first — watching "Good as Hell" go from silly to gospel
• "I make whatever the f*** I want" — and why arriving at that sentence took everything before it
And much more...
🔓 Want in the room? We just launched our Patreon — monthly Zoom hangs where we listen to your demos and give feedback, hang with you directly, occasional guest drop-ins, and the full archive of 200+ audio episodes (Sabrina Carpenter, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Shania Twain, Babyface, and more).
[w…
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The Realest Conversation About Songwriting In 2026 | Gino The Ghost | Patreon Exclusive
8 juni 2026 · 18 min
Today's guest is a multi-Latin-Grammy-winning songwriter and producer with a wall of platinum records — and one of the few people in music willing to say the quiet part out loud. He came up as an actor and a rapper, moved to LA broke, stumbled into songwriting, and turned it into the kind of career most writers spend a lifetime chasing. He's also built one of the sharpest voices in the room as the host of his own show, Good Luck With Gino. Lees meer
This is one of the most honest conversations we've had about how the music business actually works in 2026 — not the clean version, the real one. Why roughly 75% of working writers now survive on K-pop. How the pitch song quietly died and took the professional songwriter down with it. Artists taking songwriting credit on songs they didn't write — and exactly how labels split the writers up to play them against each other and shave points. Gino lays out the one rule every songwriter needs before their next cut, when it's worth standing on business, and when you "roll over like a dog" because the record's too big to lose.
And The Writer Is... Gino The Ghost!
In this episode of And The Writer Is, we go deep on:
• How he came up — actor, rapper, broke in LA, then stumbled into songwriting
• Treating every podcast episode like an album of singles
• Why ~75% of working writers now live off K-pop
• What pitch records used to be — Clive Davis, Barry Manilow & the lost art of outside songs
• The death of the professional songwriter (and why talent-show winners get nothing now)
• Artists taking credit for songs they didn't write — and how to combat it
• The "$15K buy-me-out" story & when to stand on business vs. roll over
• The split shakedown — how labels pit writers against each other, and the rule that beats it
• Why generosity makes you more money than being a prick
And much more...
🔓 This is only part of the conversation. The full extended, exclusive interview is on our Patreon — where Gino goes even further:
• The Brya…
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And The Update Is…Drake, AI, and a $5.4 Billion Question
5 juni 2026 · 5 min
And The Update Is…a weekly beat on the industry . Lees meer
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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And The Update Is...Universal's Big Week: AI, TikTok While Drake Dominates
29 mei 2026 · 7 min
And The Update Is…a weekly beat on the industry . Lees meer
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Ep. 251: Myles Smith | Stargazing, Therapy, and The Secret Cost of Success
26 mei 2026 · 1 uur 45 min
Today's guest is a rising star who's risen so fast he's not really rising anymore — he's just a star. Lees meer
From a bedroom in Luton playing $50 nylon-string covers and open mics playing for 4 people... Three years later: a billion streams, "Stargazing" on President Obama's summer playlist, two singles that took over pop radio before he'd ever made a debut album, and a debut album sourced from the notes he wrote in therapy that saved him.
He's proof that sometimes all you really need is a guitar, a work ethic, and a Taco Bell-poisoned night in Malibu to write a song people argue about in twenty languages.
And the writer is... Myles Smith!
If you've ever wanted something so badly you didn't think to ask what it would cost when it arrived — this is the conversation.
And The Writer Is... Myles Smith!
In this episode of And The Writer Is, we go deep on:
• Why he scrubbed every song he made before 2023 — and what "I didn't exist before 2023" actually means
• His advice for up and coming artists...
• The end-of-Covid breakdown at 18 that almost ended things — and the therapy notes that became My Mess, My Heart, My Life.
• Meeting Peter Fenn on the last day of a six-week US trip — and writing "My Home" in the first hour
• The Taco Bell food-poisoning night in Malibu that produced "Stargazing"
• The hidden cost of success on his relationships
• "Hey mom, I want to retire you" — and what she said back
And much more...
Hit subscribe and turn on notifications. Every week, we go deep with the most interesting creatives in music.
Follow us on socials: @andthewriteris
A special thank you to our sponsors for making these conversations possible.
Our lead sponsor, NMPA — the National Music Publishers' Association. Your support means the world to us.
CHAPTERS
0:00 Intro
2:21 My Mess, My Heart, My Life.
3:16 The pressure of being "right at the start of the journey"
4:35 "If you take away the hits, you could see where I really am"
4:54 "I wake up some days in a catast…
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And The Update Is... AI Covers, Drake’s New Era & Why Michael Jackson Is STILL Charting in 2026
23 mei 2026 · 6 min
And The Update Is…a weekly beat on the industry . Lees meer
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Ep. 250: Niall Horan | Outlasting Pop's Biggest Band, "Dinner Party" & More
19 mei 2026 · 1 uur 31 min
Today's guest came up in the biggest band in the world at seventeen, watched it pause at twenty-two, and built a solo career almost no one in his position has ever managed to sustain. From success, to tragedy, and back... This Irishman makes his triumphant return to the stage and our hearts with 'Dinner Party'. Lees meer
And The Writer Is... Niall Horan!
He talks about Liam not as a tribute beat, but as a presence — what fires you up to walk on stage when somebody you love would still want to be there. After the band, after the loss, after four albums — who do you become?
In this episode of And The Writer Is, we go deep on:
- Coming off the 2024 tour that sold over a million arena tickets "without a big smash hit of the show"
- The twelve-week Southeast Asia backpacking trip that came right before "This Town"
- The story of songs like 'Heaven', 'Slow Hands', 'This Town', and Liam's song...
- Pushing One Direction's sound from "What Makes You Beautiful" toward "Story Of My Life"
- Going solo at twenty-three and being terrified the music was about to end
- Julian Bunetta's intervention on "End Of An Era": "this song is about Liam, we just don't know it yet"
- "Dinner Party," the new album, and the next world tour
Hit subscribe and turn on notifications. Every week, we go deep with the most interesting creatives in music.
Follow us on socials: @andthewriteris
A special thank you to our sponsors for making these conversations possible.
Our lead sponsor, NMPA — the National Music Publishers' Association. Your support means the world to us.
0:00 Intro
1:12 Straight back to the studio after the 2024 arena tour
2:13 Over a million tickets sold in 2024 — "and I just wasn't expecting it"
3:23 Meeting on the One Direction tour years ago — abandoned buildings, makeshift studios, 200 fans outside within the hour
5:46 The post-show ritual: shower, shorts, Netflix, no drinking
9:20 Concerts as events now — the fans build it before he arrives
10:08 "I grew up on Slow Ha…
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And The Update Is...Pop Stars, Lawsuits & Billion-Dollar Moves
15 mei 2026 · 5 min
And The Update Is…a weekly beat on the industry . Lees meer
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Rewind: Jack Antonoff | How to Pick the Artists Who'll Define Your Career
12 mei 2026 · 1 uur 13 min
Today's guest is a Grammy Producer of the Year who's tied with Babyface for the only three-in-a-row run in the award's history — and whose real story isn't the trophies, the radio, or the run of hits. It's the decision he makes once every few years that almost no other producer at his level makes: which artist he'll spend the next decade building. Lees meer
From frontman of touring indie band Steel Train to one of the most decorated producers of his generation, he built his career against almost every modern industry instinct.
This is one of the more honest conversations about what it actually takes to bet a decade of your career on one person. When you're quietly refusing the industry's playbook from inside the room — who do you become?
And The Writer Is... Jack Antonoff!
In this episode of And The Writer Is, we go deep on:
• The importance of finding your people
• Why "Album is God" — and what a single actually is
• The Sabrina Carpenter origin: a random run-in two weeks after a Bleachers show
• "Workaholics aren't disciplined. They're sad." — why he refuses all-nighters
• The "Getaway Car" bridge moment Taylor's documentary caught in real time
• 5 voices that feel like 100 — the "Please Please Please" vocal stack walkthrough
• The artists he's passed on who became stars — and why he doesn't regret it
• Why he writes his best on instruments he doesn't understand
And much more...
Hit subscribe and turn on notifications. Every week, we go deep with the most interesting creatives in music.
Follow us on socials: @andthewriteris
A special thank you to our sponsors for making these conversations possible.
Our lead sponsor, NMPA — the National Music Publishers Association. Your support means the world to us.
And @splice — the best sample library on the market. Period.
CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro
1:10 Ross gave Jack his first co-writing session
2:42 The myth and folklore of the LA writing scene
8:02 "There's no proof more sessions makes you better"
10:08 …
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And The Update Is…May the 4th Be With the Charts: Hits, Headlines & Industry Chaos
8 mei 2026 · 4 min
And The Update Is…a weekly beat on the industry . Lees meer
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Ep. 249: Rick Beato | Songwriters Got Poorer. AI Is Next. So Where Is Music Going?
5 mei 2026 · 1 uur 26 min
Today's guest is a multi-instrumentalist, music educator, interviewer, producer, and songwriter. He is also one of the most influential independent music voices online. His real story isn't the channel he built after a 90-second video of his son's perfect pitch hit 80 million views overnight, it's his incredible value to the music community and the conversations he sparks online about the state of the music industry and his conversations with some of the biggest creators within it's orbit. Lees meer
This is one of the more unflinching conversations we've had about what's actually happening to music. Two musicians from different generations of the same fight, working it out in real time. Where do you stand when the rules of the music industry keep changing under your feet?
And The Writer Is... Rick Beato!
In this episode of And The Writer Is, we go deep on:
How getting dropped in 1999 built a YouTube empire 16 years later
Why Ringo would be a co-writer of every Beatles song in 2026
The Eli Mercer experiment: building a fully fake AI artist with Claude — and what happened when he uploaded it
The NPR EDM stunt: 4 million monthly Spotify listeners, 6,300 followers, and what that math says about AI
The 90-second video of his son's perfect pitch that hit 3 million views by 10pm and 80 million total
"There's no two current artists with the gravity of Bob Dylan and Stevie Wonder" — and Ross's case for their modern counterparts
Who is the Michael Jordan of pop music? Queen at 3 billion streams enters the chat
Why Ross is still bullish on songwriting — and what the Music Modernization Act got right that the No Fakes Act needs to finish
And much more...
Hit subscribe and turn on notifications. Every week, we go deep with the most interesting creatives in music.
Follow us on socials: @andthewriteris
A special thank you to our sponsors for making these conversations possible.
Our lead sponsor, NMPA — the National Music Publishers Association. Your support means the world …
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And The Update Is...No Fakes Act, Trademark Protection, and Today's ChartToppers
2 mei 2026 · 4 min
And The Update Is…a weekly beat on the industry . This week Ross dives into No Fake Act, Justin Bieber's comeback to charts since Coachella, Country & KPOP chart toppers & more. Tune into this weeks episode of ATWI with Roget Chahayed. Lees meer
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Ep. 248: Rogét Chahayed | From Pianist to Sicko Mode, Kiss Me More & APT.
28 april 2026 · 1 uur 38 min
Today's guest is a prolific producer behind Sicko Mode, Broccoli, Bad at Love, Kiss Me More, Laugh Now Cry Later, First Class, and APT. — but whose real story isn't the catalog. It's how most of those songs happened by accident. Lees meer
A classically trained concert pianist who spent his teens grinding through Liszt and Prokofiev knuckle-busters, Rogét quietly became one of the most important producers in modern pop and hip-hop — and almost none of it happened the way he planned.
This is one of the more honest conversations about what mastery is actually for — what happens when a decade of preparation collides with a 9pm pull-up, a stock preset, and a flute sound turned on by accident. When the world keeps rewarding your simplest moves, who do you become?
And The Writer Is... Rogét Chahayed!
In this episode of And The Writer Is, we go deep on:
Years of grinding Liszt and Prokofiev — and a first big check from four major triads on a flute
The three-week run in 2016 that produced Broccoli, Skywalker, Bad at Love, and the seed of Sicko Mode
The Mr. Miyagi era under Doctor Dre's right-hand man — and a pajama meeting at Dre's hidden studio
Sicko Mode — made on a stock preset in a closet-sized vocal booth — and the moment he heard it open Astroworld
Kiss Me More — a 2-5-1 with a walk-down — and what jazz school actually trained him to do
Co-executive producing Jack Harlow's album from 4pm to 4am for a year — and how First Class came together
APT. — the song he forgot about until Bruno Mars mentioned it at a friend's barbecue
And much more...
Hit subscribe and turn on notifications. Every week, we go deep with the most interesting creatives in music.
Follow us on socials: @andthewriteris
A special thank you to our sponsors for making these conversations possible.
Our lead sponsor, NMPA — the National Music Publishers' Association. Your support means the world to us.
Chapters
0:00 Intro
2:12 "How does a classical pianist come up with the chords for Broccoli? By …
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And The Update Is...The Charts Are Country. The Industry Is AI. Now What?
24 april 2026 · 4 min
Every week, And the Writer Is brings you the most important news moving through the music industry — straight, sharp, and no fluff. This week Ross Golan opens the weekly And The Writer Is… news update (week of April 20, 2026) by highlighting major chart wins: Lees meer
Swimf by BTS is #1 on the Global 200 for a fourth week
Choose In Texas by Ella Langley holds #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for a seventh week
Her album Dandelion debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200
He teases an upcoming Stagecoach interview and notes a strong country music moment.
New music + industry highlights:
Olivia Rodrigo dropped a new single Drop Dead, debuting at #1 on Spotify charts, co-written/produced by Dan Nigro
The podcast re-released Dan Nigro’s episode to celebrate
Business + industry news:
Paul Epworth sold his catalog for a massive (undisclosed) amount
Streaming platform Deezer is now receiving 75,000 AI-generated tracks per day (44% of uploads), raising concerns about “AI slop”
Splice introduced a new AI tool that pays sample creators, which Ross praises
Other updates:
Massive Attack signed a new deal banning certain rules (brief mention)
Miranda Lambert signed with MCA Nashville, signaling a major upcoming era
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How Dan Nigro Builds Superstars | Ep. 195 | Rewind
23 april 2026 · 1 uur 16 min
Today's guest is the Grammy Producer of the Year who built the two biggest pop breakthroughs of the last five years back to back — and whose real story isn't about the hits. It's about the three years he spent making nothing and the rule he wants every producer in the game to understand. Lees meer
From indie rock frontman in As Tall As Lions to pop's most trusted collaborator, Dan built his career against almost every industry instinct. He carries three things at once that most producers never figure out how to hold: the commercial ear of someone who's had back-to-back Grammy runs with Olivia Rodrigo, the patience of a craftsman who sat on "Good Luck, Babe" for 18 months before it ever left his hard drive, and the conviction to say no — to every rushed demo, every session hop, every label note that doesn't serve the artist.
This is one of the more honest conversations about what it actually takes to build a superstar.
And The Writer Is... Dan Nigro!
In this episode of And The Writer Is, we go deep on:
• The three years he spent making nothing — and what finally broke it
• Why getting Chappell dropped from Atlantic was "the greatest thing that ever happened"
• "We're building like an icon here" — the real work behind Chappell Roan's rise
• Why Dan refuses to send demos
• 20 days with one artist, not 20 sessions with twenty
• Meeting Dua Lipa in 2014 — "this girl is a superstar"
• Artist development, finding your lane
• Writing good songs sucks — and why that's fine
And much more...
Hit subscribe and turn on notifications. Every week, we go deep with the most interesting creatives in music.
Follow us on socials: @andthewriteris
A special thank you to our sponsors for making these conversations possible.
Our lead sponsor, NMPA — the National Music Publishing Association. Your support means the world to us.
And @splice — the best sample library on the market. Period.
Chapter timestamps:
0:00 Intro
3:01 Why Atlantic dropping Chappell was "the greatest thing t…
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And The Update Is… Live Nation Ruled an Illegal Monopoly, D4VD Arrested for Murder, Udio Pays Up on AI
18 april 2026 · 3 min
Every week, And the Writer Is brings you the most important news moving through the music industry — straight, sharp, and no fluff. This week: a jury ruled Live Nation and Ticketmaster violated antitrust laws and operate as illegal monopolies, with a judge now weighing whether to force a breakup or sale. Max Lousada and Julie Greenwald — the A&R legends behind Warner's modern run — launched a new long-term international label with Sony Music investment and distribution. And Udio signed a licensing deal with Kobalt, becoming one of the first AI companies actually paying creatives for training on their work. Plus: D4vd arrested on murder charges and dropped by Interscope, Foster the People ink a new deal, and Ella Langley's "Choosin' Texas" holds the #1 song. Follow us on socials and don't miss our new episodes every Tuesday — the hottest conversations in music, with the people making it. Lees meer
This week:
Jury finds Live Nation and Ticketmaster violated antitrust laws — a judge will now decide whether to break them up
Max Lousada and Julie Greenwald launch a new international label with Sony Music
Udio signs a licensing deal with Kobalt — the first real AI-pays-creatives move of the cycle
D4vd arrested on murder charges; Interscope removes him from their roster
Foster the People sign a new deal
Ella Langley's "Choosin' Texas" remains #1 song of the week
Ross previews live episodes coming from Stagecoach and the week's Billy Corgan drop
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Ep. 247: Billy Corgan | How He Built Smashing Pumpkins Into a 30-Million Album Empire
14 april 2026 · 2 uur 10 min
Today's guest is the architect of alternative rock who sold 30 million albums and defined the sound of an entire generation — but whose real story begins after the hits stopped mattering to him. Lees meer
From the suburbs of Chicago to the apex of 90s mainstream success, Billy Corgan built an empire. Then he spent the last 20 years quietly dismantling the idea that commercial success is the same thing as real value. He carries three things simultaneously that most artists never figure out how to hold at once: the ambition of someone who was never going to settle for the midwest, the technical genius of a classically-trained musician who produces every layer of his own work, and the philosophical rigor of someone willing to completely reimagine what success actually means.
This is one of the more unflinching conversations about what staying relevant actually costs — not the version that gets posted on socials, the version that gets lived in the real decisions you make about art, money, independence, and how you want to spend your time. When the gatekeepers are gone and nobody's controlling the narrative anymore, who do you become?
And The Writer Is... Billy Corgan!
In this episode of And The Writer Is, we go deep on:
• The trap of being defined by your greatest hits — and why he refuses it
• His father's failed music career, and the moment his dad finally understood
• Chicago's inward-facing indie scene and the cost of communities that don't believe in themselves
• How the value of artists gets assessed in rooms — and why that's broken
• What "influence" actually means vs. commercial success
• The gatekeepers are gone — what that really means for independent artists
• Owning 100% of your publishing and why that changes everything
• Building a new world where direct artist support is how things actually work
• Why legacy thinking is changing, and what comes next
And much more...
Hit subscribe and turn on notifications. Every week, we go deep with the most intere…
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And The Update Is… Rap Lyrics Banned in Court, AI Deals Stalling, and a $64B UMG Bombshell
10 april 2026 · 4 min
Every week, And the Writer Is brings you the most important news moving through the music industry — straight, sharp, and no fluff. This week: Maryland just passed the RAP Act, making it illegal to use rap lyrics as courtroom evidence, potentially setting the stage for federal law. Suno's licensing negotiations with Sony and Universal have stalled, leaving major AI royalty questions unresolved. And Pershing Square submitted a $64 billion bid for Universal Music Group, revealing just how undervalued the music industry is to outside investors. Plus: Ticketmaster's face value integration, HYBE's new Indian girl group audition, and moves at Warner. Follow us on socials and don't miss our new episodes every Tuesday — the hottest conversations in music, with the people making it. Lees meer
This week:
Maryland passes the RAP Act — rap lyrics can no longer be used as courtroom evidence
Pershing Square submits a $64B bid for Universal Music Group
Suno's licensing talks with Sony and Universal stall over AI royalties
Ticketmaster partners with Cash or Trade on face value resale integration
HYBE auditions for a new Indian girl group as Asian streaming dominance grows
Myles Gersh promoted at Warner — the exec who signed Zach Bryan
Taylor Swift resigns with Warner Chappell
Lasso signs to Interscope Records
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.