New Music Fridays

Abstract

Abstract This chapter examines the role music podcasts play in the current distribution ecosystem for digital music. It begins by briefly reviewing the historical relationship between music and radio and the central role radio played in the dissemination of popular music in the mid-twentieth century. It then explores a potential typology for the wide range of music podcasts available before focusing on particular cases of artists or companies using podcasts to distribute or promote new music. The chapter considers how music podcasts offer a different relationship between artists and their fans and between artists and their music than either radio or streaming music and argues that the podcast format blends concepts from music radio and streaming services to create a novel opportunity for artists to connect with their work and their listeners. It also raises larger conceptual issues for media studies scholars about the limits and boundaries of various formats.