283 Susan Rogers – The Neuroscience Of Music Preferences, Prince, Analyzing The Techniques Of Frank Sinatra, The Progression of Production Approaches, Leaving The Music Business For Academia, Working With Barenaked Ladies

The Unstarving Musician

Susan Rogers teaches Music Production and Engineering at The Berklee College of Music (Berklee Online). She holds a doctorate in psychology from McGill University, where she studied music cognition and psychoacoustics. Her research focuses on auditory memory, the perception of musical signals, and the influence of musical training on auditory development.

For two decades before her science career, Rogers was one of the few women known for her work as a record producer, engineer, mixer, and audio electronics technician. Susan's career highlights include years (1983–1988) as a staff engineer for recording artist Prince, also working with Barenaked Ladies, David Byrne, Tricky, and Tevin Campbell.

My guest relations advisor sent me an NPR interview with Susan in which she talks about her book "This Is What It Sounds Like: What The Music You Love Says About You." After learning about the book and her career, I invited Susan to the podcast, and she graciously accepted.

My research for this interview involved checking out some of Susan's other interviews. I noticed she always gets guestions about Prince. Leading up to the interview, I figured she'd talked about Prince ad nauseam, but then I realized she loves discussing this part of her career. She feels lucky to have worked with Prince and wants to help keep his legacy alive. Even so, I didn't want to focus too much on Prince, but I did plan one Prince-question, so we did talk about him.

We also talk about the neuroscience of music preferences, analyzing the techniques of Frank Sinatra, the progression of production approaches, leaving the music business for academia, working with Barenaked Ladies, how music functions for listeners today, and much more.

Learn more about the book "This Is What It Sounds Like," by Dr Susan Rogers at ThisIsWhatItSoundsLike.com.

Please enjoy my conversation with Susan Rogers.

Support the Unstarving Musician

The Unstarving Musician exists solely through the generosity of its listeners, readers, and viewers.

Learn how you can offer your support.

This episode was powered by Music Marketing Method, a program for independent musicians looking to grow their music career.

Music Marketing Method was created by my good friend Lynz Crichton. I’m in the program and I’m learning tons! I’m growing my fan base and learning about many ways that I’ll be earning money in the new year. It’s also helping me grow this podcast. How cool is that?

To lean more and find out if Music Marketing Method can help your music career, visit UnstarvingMusician.com/MusicMarketing.

This episode of the was powered by Liner Notes.

Learn from the hundreds of musicians and industry pros I’ve spoken with for the Unstarving Musician on topics such as marketing, songwriting, touring, sync licensing and much more. Sign up for Liner Notes.

Liner Notes is an email newsletter from yours truly, in which I share some of the best knowledge gems garnered from the many conversations featured on the Unstarving Musician. You’ll also be privy to the latest podcast episodes and Liner Notes subscriber exclusives.

Sign up at UnstarvingMusician.com. It’s free and you can unsubscribe at anytime.

Mentions and Related Episodes

What draws us to the music we love? A new book breaks it down (WBUR, Here & Now - interview)

This Is What It Sounds Like by Susan Rogers

Prince Engineer Susan Rogers: THE INTERVIEW. Live From Sunset Sound

Musical anhedonia

Sam Phillips

Frank: The Voice, by James Kaplan

Stunt, album by Barenaked Ladies

Tennyson

King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard

Resources

The Unstarving Musician’s Guide to Getting Paid Gigs, by Robonzo

Music Marketing Method – The program that helps musicians find fans, grow an audience and make consistent income

Bandzoogle – The all-in-one platform that makes it easy to build a beautiful website for your music

Dreamhost – See the latest deals from Dreamhost, save money and support the UM in the process.

More Resources for musicians

Pardon the Interruption (Disclosure) Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means I make a small commission, at no extra charge to you, if you purchase using those links. Thanks for your support!

Visit UnstarvingMusician.com to sign up for Liner Notes to learn what I'm learning from the best indie musicians and music industry professionals.

Stay in touch!

@RobonzoDrummer on Twitter and Instagram

@UnstarvingMusician on Facebook and YouTube