Pause/Play

This episode is all about our listeners. We asked what they thought we should do to support the Austin Music Scene, and they answered! Plus, you’ll learn about one listener who started a business to employ Austin musicians — the Handyband Collective.

SXSW brings in millions each year, but Black and brown Austinites don’t always benefit from the influx of money. DAWA, a local nonprofit, has put together a series of music shows and panels to elevate and direct resources to Austin’s BIPOC community. Find more information about everything happening during Vision:8291 here.

Musicians talk about what it’s like to tour on this side of the pandemic.  You’ll hear from Jane Ellen Bryant and Daniel Leopold of Jane Leo,  Eimaral Sol, Blakchyl, Matt the Electrician, Ali Holder, Sean Michael Giddings,  Scott Collins + Janet Weiss and Sam Coomes of the band Quasi.    

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.  

In the latest episode, Peter Schwarz from Sound Music Cities about some of the results of the Greater Austin Music Census. You’ll also hear from Jonathan “Chaka” Mahone about why some Black community leaders didn’t feel included in the census.

Learn all about the Austin Federation of Musicians ––  how it works, what benefits it provides for freelance musicians, and why you may not know it exists. Read more about the Musicians Union Check out Tell Tchaikovsky The News      

In the latest episode of Pause/Play we spoke with Brett Orrison, Samara Simpson, and Jonathan Horstman about the non-profit record label Spaceflight Records.

Sonic Guild and DAWA are two Austin based that actually give musicians money. In this episode you’ll learn what they do, how they work, and why they were founded. You’ll hear from Matt Ott, co-founder of Sonic Guild, formerly known as Black Fret, and Jonathan “Chaka” Mahone, founder of DAWA.

Miles and Elizabeth explore different forms of corporate support for music, and look at one company that’s making a big investment in Austin music.

Hosts Miles Bloxson and Elizabeth McQueen explore the Canadian system of support for the arts in general, and for commercial music specifically. They explain what they know to Pause/Play audio engineer Jake Perlman, with help from Jessica Deljouravesh from the Ontario Arts Council,  Marina Adam from Ontario Creates, Eric Owen from Black Pistol Fire , and KUT transportation reporter Nathan Bernier.  

Austin is home to a thriving music scene, but that scene hasn’t received much financial support outside of fans buying music and going to shows. That’s not uncommon in the U.S. While some art forms like the opera and the symphony get regular public and private investments, commercial music typically gets left to fend for itself. Why is that? In the first episode of Season 4 of Pause/Play, Hosts Miles Bloxson and Elizabeth McQueen Hosts Miles Bloxson and Elizabeth McQueen try to answer that question with the help of UT Professor Charles Carson.  They also examine the idea that the best music comes from struggle. And they explore what the city of Austin owes the music scene, and how the city might better support the for-profit music sector. Charles Carson, an associate professor of music at the University of Texas at Austin, is pictured on campus on Oct. 18, 2022, in Austin. Michael Minasi / KUT News

Hear what Jackie Venson, Deezie Brown, David Shabani, and Erin Ivey have to say about NFTs and Music. You can check out the NFT for our song “What is an NFT?” It’s not for sale, but it is on the Solana blockchain! https://solsea.io/n/AaYykx8tvL4yzrmwwqwuB3H3NFaiV3kF7uEeAM9bfwHJ/ And you can listen to the song any time on our podcast feed by clicking this link. If you missed the first two episodes of our mini-season about NFTs, you can listen here and here.

Here’s your very own, very fungible copy of the soon-to-be hit song, “What is an NFT?”

Miles and Elizabeth go on a journey to mint an NFT. But in order to do that they have to write and record a song, buy cryptocurrency, set up a wallet, and list an NFT for sale. But things don’t quite go as they planned.

In this first episode of our mini-season about NFTs you’ll learn all the things you need to know in order to understand what music NFTs are and how they work. You’ll hear from musician, DJ, composer, and founder of the web 3 community Mashibeats Mark de Clive-Lowe, and President of Blockchain Creative Labs, Melody Hildebrandt.  

We’re taking a look at the first in-person SXSW in 3 years. You’ll hear from rapper and event curator J Soulja, bartender and co-founder of the Amplified Sound Coalition Jeanette Gregor, artist manager Andi Narvaez, Cheer-Up Charlie’s owners Maggie Lea and Tamara Hoover, musician and composer Graham Reynolds, freelance writer Brianna Caleri, artist, instrumentalist, bandleader and soundman Thomas Cook, and musician Jackie Venson.    

The City of Austin’s Economic Development Department just raised their rate of pay for musicians to $200 per hour per musician. Hear why that happened, and how they hope this change will inspire other departments.  

Hear what Austin Mayor Steve Adler has to say about the history of the Live Music Fund, why he raised concerns about the Live Music Fund Event Program, and what he thinks should guide the conversation moving forward.

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.

Austin musicians are making the same amount of money per gig as they did in 1979. In the latest episode, we look at gig pay through the years and talk to musicians Greg Clifford and Beto Martinez about how they’ve found ways to make money from music that don’t involve playing live. Drummer Greg Clifford is pictured in his home where he produces lo-fi music on Feb. 8, 2022, in Austin. Michael Minasi/KUTX Musician and producer Beto Martinez is pictured in his home studio on Feb. 9, 2022, in Austin. Michael Minasi/KUTX