#181 - Putting Your Music Into a Vault for Safekeeping

On June 1st, 2008, a fire broke out on the backlot of Universal Studios in Hollywood, CA, destroying nearly 175,000 audio master tapes belonging to some of the most well-known artists worldwide, including Peter Frampton, Beck, Sheryl Crow, Elton John, Les Paul, and thousands of others lost forever.  John Kohl, the CEO, and co-founder of TuneGO, is our guest on this episode to discuss the music industry's biggest challenge: the digitization and secure storage of creative content, preventing such things from happening in the future. TuneGO is pretty much like having a record label in a box. The company offers the first digital end-to-end platform empowering artists to manage their music careers by developing a secure and unified digital ecosystem where independent artists can take control over the management, storage, promotion, and distribution of their music—as well as intellectual property rights. In this episode, we also discuss: The music industry used to be controlled by a handful of powerful gatekeepers, but digital technology upended all of that. Gone are the days where a handful of record labels control which artists are on the radio and are sold in stores. The doors have been open to millions of independent music creators. Even though digitization has transformed the production and distribution of music, artists' back catalogs remain antiquated—and in many cases, are not correctly stored or archived. This leaves artists' intellectual property dangerously vulnerable to destruction—look at the 2008 Universal Studios fire.  Music from independent artists accounts for $6.9 billion in revenue or 39.9% of the recorded music industry's market share (according to Worldwide Independent Network and MIDiA Research). Theft of content and the intellectual property rights to it remain key challenges. About TuneGO TuneGO serves as a secure, fully integrated digital ecosystem where independent artists control the management, storage, promotion, and distribution of their music –and intellectual property rights to their music. The TuneGO Vault is a patented cloud-based platform for securely storing and sharing music in digital form, including audio files and the project and stem files (bass, drums, vocals, and melody of a track) from recording sessions. The TuneGO Vault is not only for individual artists but for record labels as well. Hidden Beach Recordings recently tapped the Vault as a way to digitally secure its entire back catalog of music, videos, and exclusive digital artwork—as well as all future assets. Their patented technology allows artists to securely manage their digital content and metadata on the same platform they distribute their music—ensuring they are paid all of their royalties. TuneGO is a first-of-its-kind solution that gives artists and labels complete control over the entire creative process, providing the ability to establish a chain of custody for a song before the minting of a non-fungible token (NFT). www.tunego.com The Business Side of Music ™ © 2021 Lotta Dogs Productions LLC Showrunner and Executive Producer Emeritus: Tom Sabella Producer and Host (the guy who has a face for podcasting): Bob Bender Co-Producer - Audio/Video Editor (the man behind the curtain): Mark Sabella Director of Video and Continuity (the brains of the entire operation): Deborah Halle Marketing and Social Media (all knowing): Sarah Fleshner for 362 Entertainment All Around Problem Solver (and Mental Health Therapist for us): Connie Ribas Recorded inside an old beat up Airstream Trailer located somewhere on what's left of Music Row in Nashville TN (except during the Covid 19 pandemic, then it's pretty much been accomplished VIA Zoom or over the phone, with the exception for those fearless enough to come to Bob Bender's dining room… and there have been a few that have survived). Mixed and Mastered at Music Dog Studios in Nashville, TN Editing and Post at Midnight Express Studio located in Olian, NY Production Sound Design: Keith Stark Voice Over and Promo: Lisa Fuson Special Thanks to the creator and founder of the podcast, Tom Sabella, along with Traci Snow for producing and hosting over 100 episodes of the original "Business Side of Music" podcast and trusting us to carry on their legacy.  Website: If you would like to be a guest on the show, please submit a request to: [email protected] If you're interested in becoming a sponsor for the show, let us know and we'll send you a media / sponsorship kit to you. Contact us at [email protected]