Dan Servantes

Having a radio channel is great, but giving the airwaves to great curators is even better. Excited for our first Curator Spotlight show featuring @jefito.com's impeccable taste, airing today at 2pm EDT. Will be re-airing it at the same time every day, so tune in!

"Anyone who funds music publications—or indie labels, or any endeavor in the arts space that’s unlikely to scale massively—must be doing it for the love and the belief that it needs to exist."

We’re debuting a new show tonight at 7pm ET on Harmonic Radio - Crate Digging! @danservantes.com and @jefito.com will be spinning independent releases that deserve more attention. Re-airs every day at 7pm ET/4pm PT! Tune in at app.harmonic.fm.

Logged into Tunecore for the first time in a while and am so disappointed to see them prominently promoting using AI tools to generate music. What a slap in the face to the actual artists whose music has kept Tunecore in business for 20 years.

Lots of new Harmonic updates coming out soon (we've also quietly updated our website and marketplace)! Building Harmonic has been a long cycle of build ➡️ share with artists/curators ➡️ get feedback ➡️ repeat. Very excited to be where we are today and start properly promoting this. Join us!

Just discovered Tiny Panther TV (recording studio in Brooklyn). All live indie artist performances by an independent music studio. Heartbreaking to see that some of these videos have less than 100 views. Give them some love: youtu.be/va66qVnSQpQ?...

Fantastic having Lucie Watson of goodtwin label services on our latest installment of Coefficient. Lucie talks about how she's helping artists build sustainable careers by identifying their true fans and not optimizing for vanity metrics. www.harmonic.fm/blog/buildin...

The rise of AI slop and the increasing difficulty for artists to make a living from their work are prime examples of what happens when most art consumption takes place on platforms built by massive technology companies.

Man, this comic of Danny Fenster's 6 months in Burmese prison is crushing. Really powerful use of comic illustration and a fun UX by The Verge www.theverge.com/cs/features/...

Liner Notes is back with a new interview with Eric "Roscoe" Ambel (Joan Jett, the Del-Lords, Steve Earle) to celebrate the re-issue of the Yayhoos' records! @jefito.com talks with Ambel about the roots-rock supergroup and the making of both records. Read it here: www.harmonic.fm/blog/liner-n...

There are a lot of great music writers out there, and reading their work has been a much needed break from the rest of the news that comes across my feed. Going to start sharing more of this through Harmonic. The great @jefito.com has a more extensive list here www.jefitoblog.com/link-digest-...

Spinning ‘Dog Years’ by The Night Game during my lunch break. Good for Martin Johnson getting to ride the nostalgia train with BLG right now, but his releases as The Night Game are leagues above.

I will die on the hill that Davy Knowles is the most under appreciated modern blues guitar player.

Harmonic is ramping up this year. We put together a marketing budget but felt like the traditional gameplan of Instagram ads and TikTok campaigns were antithetical to what we’re trying to build. Instead, we’re putting that money back into the communities we want to support. Details below!

Great article about Walz's call for citizens to film ICE in Minnesota. Even though accountability won't be immediate - and may never come in a satisfactory way - these videos are the only form of transparency we have at the moment. www.theverge.com/policy/86363...

'Tis the season for year-end lists. Here's my round up of new records I loved in 2025, featuring an eclectic array of genres and a near-total absence of albums that have popped up on a bunch of other year-end lists: www.jefitoblog.com/new-albums-i...

Who are your favorite music critics, and where do you read their work? I'm particularly interested in finding more young/emerging voices.

New on Harmonic! The Society of Rockets (@societyofrockets.bandcamp.com) deliver the definitive version of Tough Trip Through Paradise! Featuring original vinyl masters, instrumental mixes, original artwork from the band.

Heyo! Look at this digital reissue for the invested listeners! Mega-thanks to the gang at Harmonic for including us in this unique take! #newmusic #harmonic #thesocietyofrockets #vinyl #digitalvinyl #nospotify #musicmarketing #janglepop #americana #indiemusic #psychedelic #sanfrancisco #musicsky

Cayle is the kind of madman we need more of in 2025 — running a mission-driven indie label dedicated to supporting social causes important to its artists. Check out my interview with him for @harmonic.fm:

My latest Liner Notes interview at @harmonic.fm digs into the story and creative philosophy behind Social Cinema's debut LP. A clip from our conversation and the link to the full interview below:

More than anything else, I object to this president stealing our time and attention. We can’t even have a Sunday morning without hearing about some insane thing he said and wondering if that insane thing will become real because he’s insane.

Our next virtual roundtable will be on Monday, September 22 at 8pm ET / 5pm PT! After weeks of speaking with indie artists to hear what they want out of a music marketplace, we're offering a sneak peek at some of those features. RSVP here: luma.com/hznm8h27 (1/5)

Talked about one of my favorite recent discoveries on Harmonic, “Whiskey & Wine” by Kirsten Kirk. Been a long time since I was at Berklee, and this song made me miss the feeling of being surrounded by so many incredible musicians everyday. Constant collaboration.

I’m biased, but I feel so strongly about this. With the mass amount of independent music being created, we (music fans) don’t need criticism, we need recommendations to turn us on to new music.

Restoring my childhood bass and this (ridiculous) 300 watt behringer amp that must weigh 75lbs. Got good use out of it as a teenager! Had no idea DI was an option back then.

A super insightful conversation on how business and culture of music journalism has changed over the years. Like many things in music, it feels like it’s been hollowed out by large corporations and has left music fans disconnected as a result.

From this week's Liner Notes, Americana/folk artist Rae Isla @raeisla.bsky.social shares her three indie artist picks. Here's what Rae had to say about Irish artist Katie Phelan and her phenomenal song "Nothing Stays the Same."

Another pick from our beta artists - “I Worry” by Summer Winter. Harmonic co-founder George Howard (@gah650.bsky.social) describes how Summer beautifully captures the juxtaposition of hope and shame, both in the song’s lyrics as well as its arrangement.

Jeff Giles (@jefito.com) shares one of his top picks from our beta testers - Society of Rockets (@societyofrockets.bandcamp.com)! Full of tight performances recorded on vintage gear and mixed by hand, we've been thoroughly enjoying "Tough Trip Through Paradise."

My favorite musical discovery last week was "Tough Trip Through Paradise" by @societyofrockets.bandcamp.com. (Many thanks to @nedraggett.bsky.social for the indirect h/t!) Check it out on @harmonicfm.bsky.social here: app.harmonic.fm/recommendati...

We’ve been having fun discovering new artists in the Harmonic beta! Here’s one of cofounder George Howard’s picks of the week. Artists, our waitlist is now open! Join us here: www.harmonic.fm

New from one of the best interviewers in the game @jefito.com! So excited for this new interview series and equally excited to read SLOPPY by @raxkingisdead.bsky.social

People talk a lot about how streaming has hurt artists, but it’s also hurt fans’ relationship with music. People used to sit down and actively, intentionally listen to music. Now we’ve been conditioned to consume it passively. Excellent article by @jefito.com

Not trying to flex toooo hard but… third row for Nine Days was every bit as nostalgic as I hoped it would be. They sound fantastic.

Following many months of behind-the-scenes work, the @harmonicfm.bsky.social private artist beta is now open! We're actively seeking indie artists to help us test out a new kind music marketplace by uploading their work and offering feedback: www.harmonic.fm/blog/announc...

Jazz not war.

For the vast majority of musicians, streaming is a financial non-starter — and yet they're encouraged to make it a major part of any release cycle. @drservantes.bsky.social outlines one of the numerous industry ruptures that @harmonicfm.bsky.social is working to heal:

“The facade of fairness in streaming and social media is crumbling.” Harmonic co-founder Dan Servantes breaks down why Spotify now withholds royalties from 87% of its catalog—and what it reveals about the true nature of today’s content platforms. www.harmonic.fm/blog/a-middl...

On streaming and social platforms, artists and fans are no longer seen—they’re used. We’re treated as data, mined for clicks and content, disconnected from genuine discovery.

NEW: Minnesota’s graduation rate just reached the highest level on record. Two years ago, we made the single-largest investment in public schools in state history.   Today, we’re seeing the results.

Now Spinning: ‘Red, White and Bruised’ by The Midnight. Incredible live album that adds a healthy dosage of 80s hair metal to the usual synthwave-ness of The Midnight. Royce Whittaker is one of my favorite guitar players and gets plenty of spotlight on this record. #nowspinning

I've been listening to "Penelope" by Nii for what feels like months now. Just discovered this live version that is everything I hoped it would be - raw, cool, confident. Based on the comments, a lot of people are feeling similarly. www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAT2...

This is my favorite thing about the Bluesky music community. Open your feed and you're bound to stumble upon a writer surfacing killer indie music. The last 20 seconds of "Daydreams" by Orbital Ensemble is so metal. I keep on looping it. Great share @ravensingstheblues.bsky.social

Excited to launch the Harmonic blog with an article from artist and Harmonic advisor @raeisla.bsky.social! Rae talks about taking the road less traveled as an independent artist. Read it here: www.harmonic.fm/blog/notes-f...

Incredibly moving piece from @jillmapes.bsky.social about music and family. https://www.hearingthings.co/i-learned-to-listen-from-my-dad/

Transmissions :: Jeff Bridges aquariumdrunkard.com/2025/04/16/transmissions-jeff-bridges “No matter how wise you think your ass is, life will have its way with you.” The Dude hisself joins us on Transmissions to discuss his new archival record, Slow Magic, 1977-1978.