episode 2: Deborah Newman

When no one else at Columbia Records believed that MTV or the music video format would be anything more than a passing fad, Deborah Newman embraced them both, becoming responsible for executive producing music videos and live television performances for the label.  She soon found herself spearheading a new division of CBS Records, creating long-form music programming for television and home video.

Listen to the latest interview on Between the Liner Notes as Deborah tells stories about touring the USSR with Billy Joel while producing his “Live From Leningrad” HBO special and home video and working on the Peabody award winning documentary “John Hammond: From Bessie Smith to Bruce Springsteen,” an American Masters PBS special.  Always the trailblazer, Deborah began working with music internet companies like N2K’s Music BoulevardPressPlay and Muze.  Also a licensed attorney, she talks in depth about how outdated copyright law and new methods of digital music distribution have created hurdles for music technology startup companies.  She founded her consulting company MusicStrat to help startups like turntable.fm navigate the treacherous waters of music licensing in the digital age.  Listen to these tales from a music pioneer exclusively on Between the Liner Notes.