Michelle Santosuosso

In celebration of NATIONAL RADIO DAY and the official release of of my book RADIO PHOENIX , here’s a glimpse of many of the radio professionals (and music artists) that made it the funnest job in the world…. 1. The Zapoleon Protégés: (L-R) Kevin Weatherly, Todd Fisher, @darcyfulmer , myself, and Gene “Bean” Baxter @bean9 2. @thekevinryder , me and @cheaptrickrick 3. The famous “Air Competition” threepeat (details on what this ‘contest’ was= in the book) 4. Radio OG Michael Newman & myself at the top of the World Trade Center on 1st trip to NYC 5. The late, great record company executive Polly Anthony presenting me with a Music Director of the Year award 6. With KZZP morning man Bruce Kelly, co-host Maggie Brock, and rock legend @alicecooper 7. Mouthing off about professional advancement in the record vs radio business for women 8. Hanging with Q talking music 9. Personal note from Clive Davis where he correctly guessed I was, in fact, dreading this letter 10. With the awesome @fabmorvan and Rob Pilatus, rest in peace (Fab I forgot about this show haha) 11. Y’all I don’t need to ID the 👑 12. Guy Zapoleon, and his morning show: Bruce Kelly & Maggie Brock 13. The Gavin Convention hospitality suites— if ya know you know 14. My father, Michael Ralph Santosuosso aka “Mike Sands” 15. The architects/owners of Sgt Pepper’s Video Dance Club : Cheryl and Glen Cipriano “Radio Phoenix” AVAILABLE NOW on Amazon

The @goldmansachs #musicintheair report is 91 PAGES LONG, know this data geek is diving right in 🤿🗂️ and will have more but : here’s the big top line projection: live performances makes artists money, streaming doesn’t make artists money. Ya don’t say 🧐

Another #flashbackfriday from the vaults #fbf #letsgo ❤️ w @outkast , @therealmaryjblige , @missymisdemeanorelliott , @methodmanofficial & @redmangilla , @therealkidfrost , @teacha_krsone and insane pic with me and @damizza , a gang of OGs & Diddydoit 😳 also; @juliog1580 and @eazyeog plus R&B’s best @keithsweat

Looking at Q1 revenue numbers, the acceleration of change in the music industry is 👀 as it is collapsing from top-down to grassroots-up, and QUICKLY. Q1 2026 (by label ownership): the independent sector commanded 44.15% of the U.S. recorded music market, making it by far the largest single portion of the business, (far bigger than any major, even huge ones like Republic, Columbia or RCA). These are Billboard estimates based on Luminate data. #musicbusiness #musicindustry #artist #trend #economy

What I’m doing this summer is learning & leveling up, so my student’s experience in the Fall can be on pace with all the change + find some legit, organic partners to support real-world album rollout efforts for our student team projects in “Business of Record Labels and Music Publishers” class. #goals #musicbusiness #education #letswork

To the Ackman-UMG acquisition; when your industry is popular culture, there is an acceptance of the mediocre for mass appeal, esp when it comes to art. We’ve seen this pattern for 80 years in music, not arguing that. I’m just worried how much more pronounced the standardization & homogenization will get in the hyper-financialization era. Now throw (licensed by majors!) AI slop into that dynamic— yikes. The catalog labels currently have is valuable because they developed cultural goods that have lasting meaning. If you strip mine your future being totally risk averse to maximize profits off of data vs instinct, and create a bunch of meaningless slop in the process, that is permanent landscape destruction of your whole business, isn’t it? #musicindustry #future #question #musicbusiness #tuesday

Collective bargaining is power of the people; a union can help push back from a position of strength in numbers. Funny how all creative lanes of the entertainment business have successfully organized— except for music artists and performers. (*yes, AFM- that’s session musician coverage not artists and performers). With all the systematic change, is it time to start thinking differently about this? #musicindustry #musicbusiness #union #collectiveconsciousness #workworkwork

think I’ve figured out why Irving Azoff of all people is in the middle of this merger “talk” between @siriusxm and @iHeartRadio and while business is business and follow the money, (2025 was not a profitable year for radio) we all know what Azoff’s meddling did with live music. Bit of a 🚩for me as a advocate of a sustainable future for broadcast radio in this ai digital nightmare landscape #musicindustry #musicbusiness #behindthemusic #royalties

4 key learning objectives from the “final exam” for my Business of Live Music course that I hope to impart onto students— and anyone else learning how to be best in class for the music industry. #livemusic #musicbusiness #nextgenleaders #creatoreconomy #eventproduction

For the last three years in my “Business of Live Music” class at @syracuseu ’s @bandierprogram , the class of sophomores (and this year, our inaugural group of grad students) are aligned into five teams: grassroots promo, digital marketing, content creation, branding & sponsorships, and production & settlement. They are then responsible for scouting talent (a process that begins the previous semester), negotiating fees/booking talent, marketing, branding, selling, and producing a show called @springmadhouse . It happens at downtown music venue @thesongsyr - we could not do this without their support. The stakes are real— we do NOT have big, fat university talent budgets. (That’s a whole other student association on campus). The budget for this comes from profit (if any) from the previous year’s show. It’s real pressure— but so far every year has left a thin margin. AND WE ALL KNOW MARGINS ARE THIN IN LIVE MUSIC. Therein lies one of the lessons. This is meant to give students real world, hands-on experience so when they graduate, can hit the ground running in the music biz and be instantly competitive. An industry that, as I am always telling them—does not come with a “to do” list. It’s figureitout.com. 2026 Spring Madhouse starting @govanni____ , @soundlikegwill and @dwanyyyy was a success. We’ll review the final P&L tomorrow in class. Job well done by all! —Professor S.

Ugh y’all gonna make me talk about a record executive on a Friday lol. Who is a weird bird but with an undeniable track record and knowledge y’all *need to listen to* whether you hate this dude or not because it’s legit ass game? Point blank Period. #musicbusiness #musicindustry #info #smart

Not all advice is equal. In a business that changes this fast, proximity to what happens *now* matters. Pay attention to who’s still in it…and not just who was. #musicindustry #learning #change