Kevin Breuner on Thriving as an Artist in the Streaming Era

Many of our guests move on a nonlinear line between jobs and ideas. Kevin in one of our few guests who has been with a single company -- CD Baby -- for a long period of time. He shares his journey with both CD Baby and as an artist with Small Town Poets. We talk about challenges exploring new technologies that don't yet have revenue models, educating creators on how to better engage and focus, and producing the long-time CD Baby Podcast with more than 300 episodes.  Guest: Kevin Breuner, CD Baby’s SVP of Engagement & EducationCD Baby’s SVP of Engagement & Education, Kevin Breuner, has spent over 25 years working in the music business, both as a recording artist and an industry professional. A San Diego native, Kevin went east to attend Belmont University in Nashville, TN where he studied Music and Music Business. After college he joined the Atlanta-based band Smalltown Poets who later signed a recording contract with a major label under the EMI umbrella. Their self-titled debut album received critical acclaim, selling over 200,000 copies and landing the guys with a Grammy nomination, plus multiple Dove Award nominations. Over their career, Smalltown Poets has amassed ten Top 10 songs on radio, with two reaching the coveted #1 spot.Now residing in Portland, Oregon, Kevin heads up CD Baby’s content marketing efforts and hosts their popular DIY Musician Podcast, with the goal of helping artist understand the vast opportunities they have in this new music economy.“I’m very passionate about helping artists understand that they can have a career on their own terms,” says Kevin. “I’ve been on a label and I've released music independently; I know what it feels like for an artist to pour their heart into a project and then send it out to the world.”Smalltown Poets (smalltownpoets.tv) recently celebrated the release of their 10th album titled NWxSE. Kevin has also had songs used by the NFL, Peacock, ABC, Rock N Roll Hall of Fame, and countless indie film productions.What are you most passionate about with your current work? : Helping artist understand how they can build a career on their own terms.Mentioned Links:Twitter: https://twitter.com/kbreunerInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/kbreunerDIY Musician Podcast: https://podcast.cdbaby.com/DIY Musician Blog: https://diymusician.cdbaby.com/CD Baby: https://cdbaby.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-breuner-a512938EDM article: The Changing Role of a Music Distributor in 2022: https://edm.com/industry/the-changing-role-of-a-music-distributor-in-2022Small Town Poets: https://smalltown-poets.lnk.to/LITO and https://smalltownpoets.tv/Visit our website: https://innovatingmusic.comFollow us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@innovatingmusicpodcastSubscribe and leave a review! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.