Introducing the Co.Lab Sessions Podcast

Since launching Co.Lab in the fall of 2018, we’ve made it our mission to bring together top industry experts with up-and-coming artists to discuss some of the ever-evolving topics affecting working artists today.

In its first incarnation Co.Lab was an in-person event series held in New York, Nashville, Atlanta, and Los Angeles. It was a place to hear what a given expert or established artist had to say about everything from sync placements, to prepping for your next release, to understanding and protecting your financial assets, to using your identity to stay fresh. At these events you were welcome to workshop your career with the speakers in 1:1 office hours, as well as meet your peers and engage with your community.

And then, once the events concluded, we created videos of our expert presentations so that all their valuable advice was available to everyone at any time.

Of course, when COVID hit, we had to rethink everything. Now Co.Lab has gone virtual as a digital event series where our hand-picked experts speak to thousands of artists via Zoom. Although we really miss the in-person aspect, the great thing about this new format is artists from all over the world can tune in from anywhere, and instead of videos, we’ve turned the expert’s tips into short, snackable podcasts, distilling 40-minute conversations into the most critical takeaways.

For our first Co.Lab Sessions podcast — which you can listen to below — we focus on live streaming, which everyone has been delving into to varying degrees over the past 12 months.

Grammy winner H.E.R. discusses her approach to performing and communicating her authentic self in a virtual space; Fadia Kader, who’s behind Instagram’s most viral livestreams (D-Nice's Club Quarantine sets, the Verzuz series), offers insight into getting your listeners to log-on and stay engaged.

Elsewhere Lauren Baker, a Creative Producer at Beyoncé’s Parkwood Entertainment, pulls back the curtain on staging a splashy, cyber display, while Bulldog Media’s John Petrocelli considers the best hosting services, software to download, mics to buy, and just about every logistic you can think of for playing live from the living room.

We have plenty more virtual Co.Lab events coming in the next few months, so keep checking back for details. But in the meantime, there’s tons more to Co.Lab to dive into right here.

— Spotify for Artists