The Next Track

A podcast about how people listen to music today.

About the show

Doug Adams and Kirk McElhearn discuss music and musicians, and how we listen to music, whether it be analog or digital, downloaded or streamed, audio, or video.

The Next Track on social media

Episodes

  • Episode #246: Apple's Music App in 2023

    January 4th, 2023  |  34 mins 53 secs

    We discuss the state of Apple's Music app and new or missing features for 2023.

  • Episode #245: Christmas Gift Guide

    December 21st, 2022  |  28 mins 54 secs

    Doug and Kirk look at some Christmas gifts for music lovers.

  • Episode #244: Too Many Songs, Not Enough Hits

    December 7th, 2022  |  30 mins 41 secs

    Record labels no longer have control of which songs become popular, and, as a recent article in Billboard says, there are too many songs and not enough hits. (Yes, we recorded this back in October.)

  • Episode #243: Are Singles Dead?

    November 23rd, 2022  |  27 mins 20 secs

    Do charts of the top singles make sense any more?

  • Episode #242: How to Break the Ice for Podcasts

    November 9th, 2022  |  31 mins 15 secs

    Doug and Kirk discuss some new gear for working with audio, immersive audio, and Zoom.

  • Episode #241: Geoff Edgers on Searching for the Perfect Sound

    October 12th, 2022  |  38 mins 13 secs

    In a long Washington Post article, Geoff Edgers goes in search of perfect sounding vinyl records.

  • Episode #240: There's No Old Music Anymore

    September 28th, 2022  |  27 mins 23 secs

    Music no longer sounds like it comes from a specific time. Old music sounds new these days.

  • Episode #239 - Immersive Music

    September 14th, 2022  |  41 mins 41 secs

    Is it time for a new audio revolution? Immersive music may be the next big thing. Chris Connaker joins us to tell us about his 7.1.4 audio system.

  • The Summer Interregnum

    July 20th, 2022  |  41 secs

    We've decided to take rest of the summer off, and we'll be back in September. Enjoy your summer (or your winter, if you're down under).

  • Episode #238 - The Fade

    July 6th, 2022  |  31 mins 4 secs

    Why do some songs fade out when they end? The brass band in the gazebo in the public park never faded out their songs.

  • Episode #237 - Sid Smith on Robert Fripp's Exposures

    June 20th, 2022  |  41 mins 33 secs

    King Crimson scribe Sid Smith joins us to talk about the new Robert Fripp box set, Exposures, which covers Fripp's years in New York City, from 1977 to 1983, around his Exposure album and his Frippertronics.

  • Episode #236 - Update on Apple's Media Apps

    June 1st, 2022  |  28 mins 26 secs

    We haven't discussed Apple's media apps for some time, so we decided to take a look at what has changed, and what hasn't, and what probably never will. And we discuss audiophile nostalgia.

    "I think we're post digital."

  • Episode #235 - 1973

    May 23rd, 2022  |  31 mins 21 secs

    Doug has a theory: in 1973 there was a schism in popular music.

  • Episode #234 - Musical Nostalgia

    May 4th, 2022  |  28 mins 37 secs

    Doug bought a turntable, and we discuss musical nostalgia.

  • Episode #233 - The End of the Sixties

    April 20th, 2022  |  28 mins 40 secs

    No album better marks the transition from the sixties from the seventies than the Rolling Stones' Let it Bleed.

  • Episode #232 - How People Listen to Music Today

    April 6th, 2022  |  36 mins 46 secs

    Doug and Kirk take a look at how people listen to music today, with lots of statistics.