The Next Track
A podcast about how people listen to music today.
Episodes
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Episode #307: AI Is Everywhere
May 7th, 2025 | 30 mins 24 secs
AI is everywhere. It hasn't really affected music yet, or has it?
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Episode #306: Displacement and the Long Tail
April 23rd, 2025 | 30 mins 51 secs
Wired editor Chris Anderson came up with the idea of "the long tail" in 2004, suggesting that older books, music, and other creative works would continue to sell in small amounts, making enough money over time for these creators to survive. He was wrong. Very wrong.
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Episode #305: Timo Andres on Steve Reich's Collected Works
April 9th, 2025 | 37 mins 19 secs
Composer and pianist Timo Andres wrote extensive listening notes for the new box set of Steve Reich's Collected Works. We talk with him about this composer whose work over the past five decades has been incredibly influential.
"I went everyone to listen to music in a more abstract way."
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Episode #304: Box Sets
March 26th, 2025 | 29 mins 18 secs
The Grateful Dead released a big box set that Kirk will not buy, leading Doug and Kirk to discuss box sets of CDs.
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Episode #303: What Is Our Dream Home Audio Setup?
March 12th, 2025 | 29 mins 20 secs
We muse on our dream home audio setups, the enshittification of streaming TV, and Doug explains how he has music in his bathroom.
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Episode #302: Rant about Apple's Music App
February 26th, 2025 | 29 mins 3 secs
We rant about compilations in Apple's music app, and some other annoyances.
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Episode #301: The Freddy Mercurization of Dylan
February 12th, 2025 | 23 mins 11 secs
The recent movie about Bob Dylan, A Complete Unknown, has led many people to "discover" Bob Dylan's music.
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Episode #300: Billions and Obscura
January 29th, 2025 | 28 mins 42 secs
We look at Spotify's Billions Club, and discuss how some people are trying to discover the most unplayed music.
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Episode #299: The Normalization of Apple's Media App; Songs in Movies
January 15th, 2025 | 31 mins 47 secs
With the release of Kirk's new book, Take Control of Apple Media Apps, we discuss how Apple has normalized their media apps and, perhaps, finally made them easier to use. We also discus the use of songs in movies.
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Episode #298: Fake Music
December 31st, 2024 | 30 mins 13 secs
Streaming services - mostly, but not only, Spotify - are filling their playlists with fake music.
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Episode #296: Nostalgia Concerts, 74 Albums from 1974, Interstellar Soundtrack
December 4th, 2024 | 28 mins 52 secs
Apparently "nostalgia concerts," where bands play full albums, have become common; not everyone likes this idea. Rolling Stone made a list of the "best" 74 albums of 1974. And we discuss movie soundtracks, with specific reference to Hans Zimmer's music for Interstellar.
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Episode #295: Selling Records with Pete Morgan of Burning Shed
November 20th, 2024 | 32 mins 11 secs
We talk about selling records with the unique Burning Shed, the British online record store that offers a curated selected of progressive rock, new wave, ambient, and electronic music.
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Episode #294: Desert Island Bass Players
November 6th, 2024 | 33 mins 15 secs
With the passing of Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh, we talk about the bass players we would take to a desert island.
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Episode #293: Desert Island Discs Redux
October 23rd, 2024 | 30 mins 9 secs
We discuss desert island discs as a thought experiment, though we didn't agree on the ground rules.
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Episode #292: Music as Product
October 9th, 2024 | 32 mins
Music is a product. We discuss how music is sold and promoted.