NHT Blog

More than 15 years ago, when I was working in the Olympic Movement, I attended an International Sports Press Association conference in Turkey.  One of the speakers was the head of media for the International Olympic Committee.  He implored the attendees, “Let’s stop saying ‘new media.’  There’s nothing new about the Internet anymore.”

Do I really have to explain the benefits of collaborations?  It has become such a regular part of music business lexicon and a common practice that I have to stop to wonder if it’s just being acknowledged but not actually activated.

Make no mistake, we all certainly see plenty of examples, but my challenge to you today is (here’s that expression I so love to use) to do a self-audit to assess whether you’re taking part and, if not, why you haven’t jumped in with both feet.

One can go to Barstow, California, for as long as they want. It’s just too bad that you can only spend 3 minutes and 47 seconds with “Barstow” the song, though.  Well, until you put it on Repeat, that is.  ((wink))

I was thrilled to take a detour this week from the usual blog content when I heard this new track, grounds for a review post instead of what readers here have grown accustomed to.  And the artist is quite noteworthy as well due to the high profile she has already achieved in the arts.

I have made no secret that I am a big fan of using the Shazam app for music discovery.  Often times I will find myself out eating somewhere and a song catches my attention for all the right reasons.  These are instances where I want to hear the song again – in an environment where there’s no competition from conversations as well as dishes and glasses and silverware clanging.  Thank you very much.  I just added another entry to my personal Spotify playlist.

Six days ago was the 12-year anniversary of the “Now Hear This Entertainment” (NHTE) podcast.  Some might call it stubbornness, but quite frankly I am extremely proud to have never missed a week once since the first episode of the show was released on February 17, 2014.

You have news to share, and you have treated it like it matters. You have spent hours writing, rewriting, and fine-tuning every line of your press release. You have debated the headline, polished the quotes, and checked the details one more time than necessary, just to be sure everything is perfect. This is the announcement you are excited about. The one you believe people will care about.

Last night millions of people watched as the Seattle Seahawks won Super Bowl LX over the New England Patriots.  I’m always amazed at how fast a parade happens to celebrate a World Series or Stanley Cup or NBA championship title.  I have no reason to doubt that that will be the case in the Pacific Northwest for the newest NFL champions.

Last summer I became a Member of the Recording Academy, which brought with it some questions.  But last night in Los Angeles I attended the GRAMMYs for the first time and then braced myself for the one common inquiry that I know so many will have for me.

“So, how was the GRAMMYs?!”

This morning finds me in Los Angeles, having driven over here yesterday from Anaheim after the NAMM Show wrapped up.  I’d flown to southern California last Wednesday morning, less than 72 hours after having returned from Podfest Multimedia Expo in Orlando.

I promise that this wasn’t planned.  But just one week after the Top Ten Blogs of 2025 post went up on this site and noted that some were song reviews, there is, indeed, such an entry here in only the third week of 2026.

And why shouldn’t there be?  Good work deserves to be rewarded, or, in this case, good music should be heard.