What do Tower Records, Colony Records and Footlight Records all have in common?

They were all some of my favorite places to shop for cast albums in the 90s.

And now they’re all gone.

The past 20 years have wreaked havoc on the music industry, and cast albums have become an endangered species as a result.  Luckily, one guy saw this change coming.  And back in the early part of the millennium, Kurt Deutsch struck out on his own, and with Broadway actress Sherie Rene Scott he founded the independent label Sh-K-Boom Records.  Its mission?  Save Broadway music, one cast album at a time.

Since then, Sh-K-Boom and its upstart sister label Ghostlight Records have grabbed the lion’s share of the cast album biz away from the big “studio” companies, recording big hits like The Book of Mormon, In the Heights, Next to Normal and many more.

And Kurt sat down with me for this week’s episode to talk about . . .

• The state of the cast album and why every show needs one.
• Why albums should be part of a show’s capitalization, not an afterthought (he changed my mind on this one).
• What we will sell at the merch stands when CDs are no longer made.
• How to get an album for sale by opening night.
• Why if you’re writing a show, you have to have a demo.

One of the greatest tools a musical has in its marketing toolbox is its music.  If it can’t get recorded, it can’t get spread.

That’s what makes this podcast a must listen.

Listen to it on iTunes here.  (And give me a rating, while you’re there!)

Download it here.

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