Podcast Interview Series: Tim Quirk of Rhapsody

Tim Quirk [r] at FMC's 2007 Policy Summit. Photo by Caroline Deutermann

“The market has spoken: people have said they want their music digitally. It’s a completely mainstream way of accessing music these days — it’s not just hacker college kids.” — Tim Quirk, on modern music distribution.

Have you ever checked out the folks that make up FMC’s advisory board? There are some very diverse and accomplished people in tune with our work, and we’re always thrilled to have them offer their perspectives. In fact, we’ve long wanted to share their views and opinions with you, as our advisory board represents a ton of music-related knowledge and experience.

Recently, we were finally able to do so. Our first victim, er, interviewee, was none other than Tim Quirk, the VP of Music Programming for Rhapsody — a music service with millions of songs available for subscription or purchase.

But Quirk isn’t just a music technologist; he’s also a musician. He spent ten years as the singer and lyricist for Too Much Joy, and currently performs and records as one-half of the electro-pop outfit Wonderlick. In the years between his touring adventures and his duties with Rhapsody, Quirk worked as a music journalist.

Given the recent shifts in how major labels approach doing business in the digital age, we figured Quirk would be a great person to talk to about the “future of music.” And we were right: throughout our interview, Quirk answered questions about emerging technology, consumer confidence in an ailing industry and the impact new models of accessing music could have on your average, independently-oriented musician.

Here’s an MP3 of the full conversation for your listening pleasure.

Stay tuned for more chats with some of the music world’s most intriguing and informed players, who also happen to be FMC supporters.