Music Business... What is This?
An academic's archive of live forums and lessons exploring the intersection of jazz with science, technology, and business.
This channel is less a traditional podcast and more a video archive of live, academic events hosted by jazz professor Richard D. Johnson. Recent episodes are typically unedited recordings of symposia exploring the intersection of jazz with fields like biomedical engineering and artificial intelligence. The content also includes standalone piano lessons and lectures on the music business, reflecting the channel's broader scope.
“Instead of polished interviews, the show presents entire academic forums, complete with multiple speakers, live musical demonstrations, and audience interaction. This gives a unique, unedited "you are there" feel to complex, interdisciplinary conversations.”
Who hosts this show
Richard D. Johnson is a jazz pianist, composer, and Associate Professor at the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University. His channel, which shares a name with his podcast, serves as a public archive for interdisciplinary forums, music business lectures, and piano lessons. Johnson is also the founder of the AFARMUSIC record label and has served as a U.S. Musical Ambassador, performing in over 90 countries.
Credentials & credits
- Associate Professor, Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University
- CEO, AFARMUSIC
- Master's Degree in Jazz Pedagogy, Boston Conservatory
- Artist Performance Diploma, Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance
- Former U.S. Musical Ambassador
- Winner, Dean's Excellence Accelerator Award (2023)
Other ventures
- AFARMUSIC (record label)
- ¡Piano Talkin! (performance series)
- Ravinia Jazz Program (piano instructor)
- Reach Afar (youth education program)
What kind of podcast
When new episodes drop
- 01Let's Build Together & Gene MutationJun 8, 2026 · 6 min
- 02Let's Build Together Episode 1May 27, 2026 · 5 min
- 03A.I. role in Latin American Jazz and Afro-diasporic musical tradition 2026May 15, 2026 · 4 min
- 04Jazz Keyboard 1 Ex. 1 FallAug 27, 2025 · 5 min
- 05The Sound of Music through Democracy 2024Dec 19, 2024 · 5 min
- 06The Deans Excellence Accelerator Award Winner 2023 Richard D JohnsonDec 19, 2024 · 3 min
- 07No Voy A PararJun 4, 2024 · 4 min
- 08Copyright LawsMay 6, 2024 · 20 min
Notable episodes
- 01Let's Build Together & Gene Mutation
Exemplifies the channel's unique format by blending a live jazz performance with a scientific lecture on gene mutation, using X-Men as an analogy.
- 02A.I. role in Latin American Jazz...
Highlights the focus on technology's impact on music, featuring a bilingual discussion with experts from MIT and Juilliard about AI's history and future.
- 03Copyright Laws
Represents the more traditional "music business" focus mentioned in the channel's description, offering practical advice for musicians.
What you'll be asked on this show
The format consists mainly of recordings of live academic forums and presentations, not interviews. Hosted by Richard D. Johnson, these events feature multiple expert speakers, musical performances, and audience Q&A. Some episodes are also straightforward piano lessons or topic-specific lectures on the music industry.
Signature segments
- · Let's Build Together (event series)
Topics covered repeatedly
Who gets booked here
Guests are fellow academics, professional musicians, and researchers who co-present or perform at live, interdisciplinary events. Past speakers have included professors and artists from Johns Hopkins, MIT, and Juilliard.
- Jordan J. Green, PhDon Let's Build Together Episode 1
- Fran Vielmaon Let's Build Together & Gene Mutation
- Kevin Johnsonon A.I. role in Latin American Jazz and Afro-diasporic musical tradition 2026
- Henrique Eisenmannon A.I. role in Latin American Jazz and Afro-diasporic musical tradition 2026
- Tedd Bakeron Let's Build Together & Gene Mutation
Where to find this show
Audience & reach
Sponsorship comes directly from academic institutions, such as the Office of the Provost and the Data Science and AI Institute at Johns Hopkins University, which fund the live events documented on the channel.
Subscriber and view counts are pulled live from YouTube and re-verified on a 30-day cycle. Listener estimates for the RSS feed aren't published here unless they're host-verified.
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People also ask
- Who is the host?
- The channel is run by Richard D. Johnson, a jazz pianist and Associate Professor at the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University.
- What is the format of the show?
- Most recent episodes are recordings of live academic forums with multiple speakers, musical performances, and audience participation. It is not a traditional interview show.
- Is the podcast still active?
- Yes, the channel posts new content, primarily recordings of live events, on an occasional basis.
- What is AFARMUSIC?
- AFARMUSIC is a jazz record label founded by host Richard D. Johnson in 2004 to help jazz musicians release their music.
- Where can I listen to the podcast?
- The primary content is on YouTube, but the channel description states it is also available on iTunes, SoundCloud, and Spotify.
Built from the show's public RSS feed, YouTube, the host's own websites, and the cited sources below. Computed and AI-extracted fields are labelled. Facts only — no private info, no fabrication, no transcripts republished.
Sources & how this page was built
This page is AI-assisted, grounded in the public sources cited below, and host-verifiable. We publish facts only; we do not republish transcripts. If anything here is wrong, the host can claim and correct the page above.Model: gemini-2.5-pro · high confidence
- [01]Richard D. Johnson | Yamaha Artistsyamaha.com
- [02]Richard D. Johnson Biography | LYDIALIEBMAN.COMlydialiebman.com
- [03]Richard D. Johnson - Shifting Paradigm Recordsshiftingparadigmrecords.com
- [04]Richard Johnson (pianist) - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
- [05]Recording Label | The Jazz Place - AFAR Music | Chicagoafarmusic.com
- [06]Richard D. Johnson Releases Warm Embrace - Peabody Magazinemagazine.peabody.jhu.edu
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