Audio Products Podcast

Our guest is Varda Caspi — VP Marketing at Aiode. Aiode is an Abbey Road -backed company building ethical AI tools for music creation👉Learn about Aiode here:https://aiode.com/In this episode, we talk about:✅ What ethical AI actually means in music techVarda breaks down what "ethical AI" should mean in practice: transparent training methods, clear consent from musicians, and business models where artists are not just data sources but participants in the value chain. We also discuss how royalties can work when models are trained on real performances and generate stems based on that material — and why compensation frameworks will be critical if AI music tools want long-term trust from creators.✅ Marketing AI when the product is the controversyAiode sits at the intersection of creative tools and generative AI — a space that artists, labels, and publishers are still actively debating. Varda explains how to build credible positioning and trust in a market that hasn't settled on the rules yet.✅ The Product × Marketing handshakeWhen founders build first and hand off to marketing at launch, they're already late. Varda shares how she structures early-stage collaboration between product and marketing at Aiode and what drives growth in an AI company.If you are a founder, product marketer, growth lead or PM building music tech or AI audio products, this episode will offer plenty of inspiration.➡️ Join our Discord
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Our guest is Amanda Whiting Gerstle — a strategic marketing leader in music tech and pro audio, who worked with iconic brands like Universal Audio, Splice, and Roland Corporation.In this episode, we talk about:✅ How startups should build marketing from scratchWe go deep into what early-stage audio companies should focus on first, how to avoid common mistakes, and when it makes sense to bring in external expertise✅ Marketing funnels, channels and what actually drives salesWe explore how funnels really work in audio, what channels matter in 2026, and why most companies struggle to convert attention into revenue✅ How to build and scale marketing in audio companiesFrom product marketing to branding — Amanda shares how marketing should work with Product and Sales, and where it should sit in the organisationWe also discuss AI, market saturation, and what it really takes to stand out today.If you’re building an audio startup, Amanda can also help you through her work as a Fractional CMO at Synthesize Marketing → https://www.synthesize.marketing/
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Our guest is Ross Totino — Product Developer, Sound Designer, and expert in audio hardware and DSP systems who worked on many iconic products we love.
In this episode, we talk about:
✅ How to build a career in hardware product developmentRoss shares how he moved from technician roles into sound design and product development in Electro-Harmonix and Line 6 and how those helped me to further work with iconic brands Eventide Audio. 
✅ How analog gear is modelled in the digital worldWe explore DSP modeling, perception vs. accuracy, and how developers recreate character — not just circuits.
✅ Why Silicon Valley VC capitalist mentality severely impacted the economy and the music industryCan we get away from the totally software-focused, short-term profit-seeking, fake it ’til you make it” approach?
✅ The state of the industry today“𝘐 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦… 𝘏𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘺’𝘴 𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳.”
➡️ Join our Discord
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Ross's band
 
➡️ Fans of Collision Bandcamp:
https://fansofcollision.bandcamp.com/
 
➡️ Fans of Collision Sounds on Gumroad:
https://rtotino.gumroad.com/
 
 
Products Ross worked on:
 
➡️ EHX Holy Grail:
https://youtu.be/tCXxuyu_N8g?si=6hLGibQaBsvERIsK
 
➡️ Line 6 ToneCore:
https://youtu.be/SKWbT6gbFeM?si=QpB8A7UFd40zMYHm
 
➡️ Umlaut Audio:
https://youtu.be/Vc8nwi5Attk?si=3atLHm7XFCzhBJ28
 
The other mentioned gear
 
➡️ Media Overkill:
https://mok.com/
 
➡️ Twisted-Electrons:
https://www.twistedelectrons.com/megafm
 
➡️ Kawai K5000s:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kawai_K5000
 
➡️ Korg DSS-1:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korg_DSS-1

This time Wojciech in the solo episode.We want to pause to:✅ Reflect on what is actually missing in the audio business education space✅ Discuss why generic content does not translate into real-world audio product skills✅ Explain what Audio Product Academy is and why it exists (besides the podcast)➡️ Check our course platform
https://audioproductacademy.com/
 
➡️ Our audio PM meetups - Audio Product Jams
https://audioproductacademy.com/
 
 
➡️ Support our podcast and get premium content
https://buymeacoffee.com/audiopodcast
 
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🎮 How do you actually start a career in game audio?We talked about it with Krzysiek Kowal — Audio & Motion Department Manager at Anshar Studios and former Sound Designer at CD PROJEKT RED.Game audio is one of the most fascinating intersections of sound design, technology and interactive storytelling — but entering the industry can feel hard, especially today.In this episode, we talk about:✅ How Krzysiek started his career in game audioFrom early sound design work to working on professional game productions and eventually managing audio teams.✅ Process of implementing SFX and music in gamesWhat are the steps, people and teams involved, what are the roles in the game audio team✅ Tools and technology behind game audioGame engines, middleware like Audiokinetic's Wwise or FMOD, custom scripting tools, recording setups and the production pipelines used by professional studios.✅ The current state of the game industryMajor players, current challenges and what innovations are shaping the future of interactive audio.If you're a sound designer, audio student or an audio developer or someone curious about game audio careers, this episode gives a practical introduction to how the field actually works.👉 Don’t forget to subscribe to Audio Products Podcast
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Our guest is Rithik Kundu — Founder of NYU GenAudio & AI, and former Senior Generative AI Researcher at Deep Noise who is also involved in building Joker Deck Ventures.In this episode, we talk about:✅ State of AI education and AI adoption✅ The difference between AI demos and AI-native workflows✅ What Pipeline, guardrails, etc. are in the context of an AI-powered product
➡️ Support our podcast and get premium content
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Our guest is Maciej Bąk — a Senior IT Project & Program Manager with 16+ years of experience, currently at Neural DSP and previously on the Avid Pro Tools team.Maciek has delivered hundreds of audio projects. He is also a very active musician and mix engineer, which gives him a rare perspective on both industry and user sides of audio.In this episode, we talk about:
✅ Why audio delivery is different from SaaS✅ Projects vs Programs — and why audio companies need both✅ How poor delivery can kill a great audio product✅ Managing DSP, hardware, firmware and UX dependencies✅ Agile vs Waterfall in audio development✅ What competencies are missing in audio PMs✅ How AI will change program management in audio✅ What project management do startups need If you are a Founder scaling your company, Head of Product or Product Manager and Program Manager or Scrum Master - this episode is a practical deep dive into what it really means to deliver audio products, not just think about them
➡️ Maciek’s music channel
https://www.youtube.com/@bak_songs
 
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We met Jordan Rudess - legendary keyboardist of Dream Theater, voted the greatest keyboard player of all time, and a deeply involved music technologist.
In this episode, we talk about:✅ how he started building products,✅ the tools and innovations he’s excited about,✅ the future of music education ✅ his perspective on AI in music making
 
➡️ Wizdom Music (apps built by Jordan)
https://www.wizdommusic.com/
➡️ Support our podcast and get premium content
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➡️ Join our Discord
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➡️ Expressive E
https://www.expressivee.com/
 
➡️ Lava Music
https://www.lavamusic.com/
 
➡️ Moises.ai
https://moises.ai/
 
➡️ Rick Beato's interview with Jordan
https://youtu.be/2JA4DqWmHBY?si=rCLomLgAOcI-k40z

Our guest is Diana Monroy-García, founder of MC Media who is an expert in digital asset management and media production. Her expertise encompasses audiovisual collections research and management, copyright clearance, sync licensing, and comprehensive library and metadata management. Her focus is on improving rights information management within the digital ecosystem, particularly through the development of innovative technology.In this episode, we talk with Diana about:✅ why metadata is the foundation of music distribution and licensing✅ the most common (and costly) metadata mistakes artists and producers make✅ how poor data management leads to lost royalties✅ how standards like ISRC, ISWC, ISNI, UPC and DDEX shape the music ecosystem✅ what product teams need to understand before building tools for the music industry
 
➡️ Support our podcast and get premium content
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➡️ NoiseWork DynAssist
https://noiseworksaudio.com/?ref=wojciech
 
Recommended by Diana:
 
➡️ MCs newsletter access where we'll drop the early access to our Embedding Up tool:
https://mcmediadk.gumroad.com/
 
➡️ A compilation of useful general resources about music: the market, rights, and others:
https://www.ifpi.org/resources/
 
➡️ If you're an artist who wants to get an ISRC code for your music without going through a distributor or your country's rights organisation:
https://isrc.ifpi.org/get-isrc/assign-isrc-online
 
➡️ The best practices compilation from DDEX standards:
https://kb.ddex.net/implementing-each-standard/best-practices-for-all-ddex-standards/
 
➡️ A good citizen took the DDEX standards and turned them into a fully readable/workable library for development (strongly recommend going to the examples section):
https://ddex-suite.org/docs/intro
 
#audioproductspodcast #musictech #metadata #musicindustry #datastandards #ISRC #DDEX #productmanagement #audioPM

Most people know Andrew as a three-time Grammy-winning mix engineer who has worked with artists like Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica, Adele, Jay-Z and many others.  
 
But fewer know he’s also spent years designing audio products - both in collaboration with companies like Waves Audio and independently using the SoundFlow platform.
 
In this episode, we talk with Andrew about:
 
 the real challenges and pain points of working as a top-tier mix engineer, how to build meaningful products in a saturated audio tools market, how workflow, automation and UX shape creativity in the mix room, which products and tools Andrew actually uses and recommends today, how he builds his products
 
 Bonus: Bounce Factory Lite is now included in Avid Pro Tools 2025.12 at no extra cost https://www.avid.com/resour.../whats-new-in-pro-tools-202512
 
➡️ Bounce Factory Tutorialhttps://youtu.be/sCJnqaMVyK0?si=1cqng03yehYNZFDI&t=1
 
➡️ Support our podcast and get premium content
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➡️ Join our Discord
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➡️ Sign up to our newsletter for audio job openings, articles and upcoming events
https://tinyurl.com/ywjxwszr
➡️ NoiseWork DynAssist
https://noiseworksaudio.com/?ref=wojciech
 
🎉 Bounce Factory Lite is now included in Pro Tools 2025.12 at no extra cost
👉 https://www.bouncefactory.net/
 
Bounce Factory Tutorialhttps://youtu.be/sCJnqaMVyK0?si=1cqng03yehYNZFDI&t=1
 
 
Recommended by Andrew
 
➡️ Genki instruments ring
https://genkiinstruments.com/wave
 
➡️ How to listen by Fab Dupont
https://www.puremix.com/mentors/fab-dupont
 
➡️ One-on-one, live, interactive mixing lessons/mentoring sessions with John Paterno
https://www.mix-therapy.com/
 
➡️  Scheps Omni Channel 2 (with Waves Audio)
https://www.waves.com/plugins/scheps-omni-channel