Podcasts can be educational or entertaining, but the best ones manage to do both. Muse has compiled a list of music-oriented podcasts that should definitely be on your radar if you want to keep up with emerging talent, learn about the industry, and go in-depth with music artistry and the industry at large.

1. Song Exploder: Artist’s breakdown their songs and explain how they were made, including sounds and ideas, writing and recording. This podcast is a great look at the mind of successful musicians and the process they use. Perfect for both artists and music aficionados alike.

2. Ongoing History of New Music: Hosted by Alan Cross, this podcast is a music documentary out of Canada in Podcast form. Giving you the background and history of all things music, you’ll come away from each episode with more knowledge on the subject of music than you when you arrived. Definitely more educational than the rest of this list but totally worth it. 

3. One More Time Podcast: Featuring guest artists, producers, DJs, and music industry professionals; this is a discussion style podcast breaking down the nitty gritty of music and the industry. Probably the most “podcast-like” in terms of delivery and what most people think of when they think of podcasts these days. But it is full of a lot of interesting conversations.

4. A Soulful Storm: Hosted by Tasha Sampa, this podcast looks at pop culture and K-pop from the black perspective. Given the rise of K-pop, including the pervasiveness of Producers from around the world contributing to K-Pop music these days, this podcast is one that should be in rotation to stay up to date without the fandom element, while listening to a different perspective than the mainstream.

5. Alt.Latino: The only NPR podcast on the list because who doesn’t know NPR. But with the rise of LATAM music, anyone in the industry needs to be focused on what’s coming out of Latin music. If you’re in the industry, you need to be listening.

And I’m going to name drop myself as an honorable mention. If you’re looking for interviews and industry chats about music and culture from around the world, Moon Culture Cafe is here for you.

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