The True Tunes Podcast

John J. Thompson / True Tunes

We make no apologies here: Our goal is to help artists as they work to make the world a more beautiful and musical place, and to help grow audiences for those artists, both in scale and in depth. You might notice that our conversations with artists, producers, authors, and industry leaders are usually focused on those two main themes: artist and audience development. I experienced this first-hand for decades at the Cornerstone Festival – and I have dedicated my life to it for over forty years. And now, as an artist and author myself – and as a professor and director of music industry studies – helping the next generation of songwriters and artists find their way in this algorithmically addled environment is very close to my heart. I’m still here – working to make sense of it all right alongside everyone else. This is what we believe: We believe music is spiritually significant, not merely entertaining. All music participates in something larger than itself. We believe human curation is more valuable than algorithmic convenience. Trusted guides with great taste and earned judgment matter more than a machine that gives you more of what you already like. We believe gathering matters more than commerce, though commerce makes gathering possible. The transaction is credible because the curation is trustworthy. We believe countercultural conviction can be held without apology and without aggression. We know who we are. We are not interested in being popular in the wrong rooms. We believe the artist and the audience are equally sacred. The line between them nearly disappears when music is doing what it is supposed to do. The faith underneath all of it shows up in the questions we bring, not in the answers we insist on. We are a virtual – and occasionally real-life venue, not a feed, with lots of rooms to explore. A gathering place with human voices at the center -- asking what the work is doing to us, where it comes from, and why it matters. We still believe. So do you. Come join us.