This episode, Mark Adams talks to Dr Jo Twist - recognised in the Computer Weekly Hall of Fame, Billboard's Women in Music Power List, and the Top 1000 Most Influential People, with over 25 years across the BBC, Channel 4, and now the BPI.

Jo shares her journey from a 1970s Hong Kong childhood and a PhD in online communities, through pioneering digital roles at BBC Newsround and Channel 4, to leading the trade body behind the BRIT Awards and the Mercury Prize.

They dig into why British artists like Sam Fender, Olivia Dean, RAYE and YUNGBLUD are breaking globally, what makes an artist genuinely exportable, the real purpose of industry showcases like South by Southwest, moving the BRITs to Manchester and the Mercury Prize to Newcastle, and an unflinching conversation about generative AI - the threat it poses to creators, the industry's Make It Fair campaign, and why human creativity can't be replaced.

The Blinding Talent Music Industry Podcast is hosted by Mark Adams - a 28-year music industry veteran, former Director of Music Programming across Channel 4 and Bauer Media, and founder of Blinding Talent, a UK artist management and marketing consultancy. Mark has helped break and amplify A-list artists including Taylor Swift, Dua Lipa, Beyoncé and Ed Sheeran.

Company

Website: www.blindingtalent.com

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/blindingtalent

YouTube: youtube.com/@BlindingTalent

TikTok: tiktok.com/@blindingtalent

Instagram: instagram.com/blindingtalentinsta

Podcast

TikTok: tiktok.com/@blindingtalentpod

Instagram: instagram.com/blindingtalentpod

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Before it was the world's busiest music venue, it was Britain's biggest public embarrassment. In this episode, Blinding Talent sits down with Paul Samuels, President of AEG Global Partnerships, for the untold story of how the Millennium Dome, a government-funded flop written off by the press, became The O2, now the highest-grossing arena on the planet.

Paul takes us inside the boardroom battles, the naming rights negotiation that almost never happened, and the moment a rejected pitch turned into a 25-year partnership that redefined live entertainment in the UK. From Beyoncé requesting O2's ad footage for her own stage show, to the data strategy behind priority ticketing, to AEG's next frontier, new arenas in Tokyo, Bangkok, and beyond, this conversation goes deep into the brand partnerships, live experience economics, and career risk-taking that built one of the most powerful companies in global live music.

Hosted by Mark Adams, Founder and CEO of Blinding Talent, with 28 years of music industry experience including a former role as Director of Music Programming at Channel 4, where he launched the Official YouTube Chart (2015) and Spotify's first Streaming Chart (2016). Mark brings an insider's perspective to every conversation on the podcast.

Whether you're an artist, manager, promoter, or brand strategist, this episode reveals what actually happens behind the biggest stages in the world, and why the live music boom isn't slowing down.

Topics covered: naming rights strategy, brand sponsorship in live music, The O2's origin story, AEG's global venue expansion (Tokyo, Bangkok, LA), priority ticketing and fan data, festival economics, and career lessons from 30 years in entertainment.

Blinding Talent Music Industry Podcast is produced by Blinding Talent, a UK-based artist development and digital marketing consultancy working with artists across the UK, North America, Europe, and Australia.

Website: https://www.blindingtalent.com

LinkedIn (Company): https://www.linkedin.com/company/blindingtalent/

LinkedIn (Mark Adams): https://uk.linkedin.com/in/markadamsai

Email: industry@blindingtalent.com

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Atlanta Cobb - Music Industry Mentor on Artist Development, Social Media & Whether Artists Still Need Record Labels

Atlanta Cobb has spent 15 years in the music industry - from street teaming for Columbia Records as a student to managing artists at major label level. When she left the major label world she found something nobody was talking about: a massive gap between what major label artists have access to and what independent artists are left to figure out alone. She built her coaching practice to fix it.

Today she works with independent artists on everything from audience building and social media strategy to the mindset and emotional work of sustaining a long-term music career. She has also built her own substantial social media following from scratch - practicing exactly what she preaches.

In this episode, Mark Adams and Atlanta get into the things most music industry conversations avoid: why talent is almost never the deciding factor, why most artists post on social media for completely the wrong reasons, and whether record labels will even exist in the form we know them in ten years' time.

They cover:

• The CEO mindset - why every artist needs to lead their own career
• What separates the artists who sustain success from those who don't
• How the industry has changed since Atlanta started - and what labels actually want now
• Do artists still need record labels? The honest, nuanced answer
• Social media as the single biggest free opportunity for any artist
• The real friction points stopping artists from posting - and how to remove them
• Organic content vs paid ads: when each makes sense and why you need a specialist
• Turning fans into family - and why your link in bio matters more than your follower count
• The future of the music industry: one button, one platform, collect everything

The Blinding Talent Music Industry Podcast is hosted by Mark Adams - founder of Blinding Talent and former Director of Music Programming at Channel 4, where he launched the Official YouTube Chart (2015) and Spotify's first ever Streaming Chart (2016). With 28 years of experience across Channel 4, Bauer Media, radio and television, Mark created this podcast to give independent artists honest, experienced perspectives from the people who have shaped the music industry.

Blinding Talent works with independent artists across the UK, North America, Europe and Australia - offering artist development, Spotify growth campaigns, social media management, digital advertising, content creation and artist websites.

Full episode and show notes: https://www.blindingtalent.com/podcast/atlanta-cobb

Book a free strategy call: https://www.blindingtalent.com/book

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.