SEAN ADAMS

Music is upstream from politics.

Founder, Drowned in Sound · Podcast Host · Artist Manager · Consultant

“For any rock misfit searching for an alternative to the mainstream music press, immersion in Drowned in Sound is a must.”

The Times

Sean Adams

Sean Adams founded Drowned in Sound in October 2000

DiS is that hopeful vision in your mind’s eye the Monday morning after Glastonbury.

It’s the goosebumps you got when you first heard Björk, Billie Eilish, Aurora, ANOHNI or Brian Eno speak about the environment in ways that felt far too close to home and made global change feel urgent.

It’s that realisation that your speakers were distorting when you turned Rage Against The Machine beyond eleven.

It’s that moment you truly understood what Dead Prez, Kathleen Hanna or Kendrick Lamar meant about injustice.

It’s not just believing that a new world is possible, it’s working together to make it real.

Read

Predictably, the right-wing culture war is wrong about the BRITs Read →
Nine Inch Nails still sound like the future Read →
The internet is furious at Spotify, and not because of royalties this time Read →
Decoding Hayley Williams' 17-song masterpiece Read →

Why Music Matters

Sean Adams in his home studio, pointing at his t-shirt which reads 'Another World Is Possible'
Not a slogan. A t-shirt from Music Declares Emergency’s shop, and the whole argument in four words.

I used to think DiS was a music site that occasionally got political. I don’t think that anymore.

Andrew Breitbart built a media empire on the idea that politics is downstream from culture, and the far right spent two decades proving him right while most of the media treated culture as the entertainment pages. I want to flip that around: culture, and the millions of working people who make and love it, are upstream of the 3000 billionaires now trying to own it.

Corporate power has consolidated across the music industry in ways most fans never see. The same private equity funds buying up festivals are invested in fossil fuel. Spotify’s Daniel Ek has poured money into the military AI company Helsing. Deezer’s Len Blavatnik, who also holds a large stake in Warner Music, is under Ukrainian sanctions while backing Netanyahu.

Music fans have more collective power than they realise, they just don’t have anywhere to point it yet. Everything I’ve built, the records, the grassroots shows, the tactical voting campaigns, has been an attempt to build that somewhere. The newsletter, podcast, and forthcoming magazine is the current version of that vision.

Watch

Video production is its own skill set, separate from the podcast itself, and I edit and produce nearly all of these myself.

Kelly Lee Owens: Record Shops to Depeche Mode Stadium Shows

My current music obsession: Sofia Isella

A food bank for tickets: how Tickets for Good is changing live music

Our guide to ethical alternatives to Spotify

Gazelle Twin on when boycotts work

Produced for Studio Richter Mahr

Produced for the BBC

More on YouTube →

More on YouTube →

Music is upstream from politics.

I've spent just under three decades building, posting, releasing and experimenting in music - usually a few steps ahead of the zeitgeist.

Back in 1998, I started out reviewing demos by Muse and Coldplay, then launched one of the UK's first music blogs, Drowned in Sound, ran its record label that released debut singles by Kaiser Chiefs and Bat for Lashes (the full discography's further down the page), and promoted hundreds of grassroots shows.

I've worked with artists from Ed Harcourt to Max Richter, written a fortnightly column for The Sunday Times, and created viral content reaching millions at BBC Radio 6 Music (more on all of that here), and ran the strategic comms for a tactical voting campaign that reached 1.75 million people. The Times once named me one of its Top 30 Power Players Under 30, which still feels like it happened to someone else.

Today, I host the Drowned in Sound podcast and am developing a podcast network, you can hear how I think about all this in recent interviews for CounterPunch, Music Week and The Drum. I also co-run The Sounding - the media production company behind DiS and a growing network of shows - and founded the Association of Music Editors.

I currently manage The Anchoress (Catherine Anne Davies), one of the most compelling self-producing artists working in music today.

25 Years of DiS
300K Podcast impressions/month
2–3M Forum pageviews/month
200K Social followers

Current Projects

Podcast

Drowned in Sound Podcast

Conversations about music, power, and what comes next. Recent guests include Enter Shikari, Faithless, Kelly Lee Owens, Gazelle Twin, and Lord Kevin Brennan. 300,000 impressions/month. 50,000 downloads/year. +100% growth in the last 6 months. Sponsored by Qobuz.

Art School Girlfriend - DiS Podcast Kwes - DiS Podcast Girli - DiS Podcast

Who We Platform

A male-hosted podcast where 63% of our 93 guests are female or non-binary, more than double the industry average.

Drowned in Sound female & non-binary guests
63.4%
Industry average DiS is 2.3× this
27.2%

88% of our episodes feature at least one female or non-binary guest

Industry average: 37.4%. Growing year on year - 70% in 2025, 77% in early 2026.

DiS guest data (internal audit, 93 guests, 2015–2026) · USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, Nov 2025

Drowned in Sound newsletter homepage

Newsletter

The DiS Newsletter

A weekly newsletter recommending music and investigating the systems behind it - to 8,000+ subscribers, with a 48% open rate (industry average: ~20%). Streaming economics, venue closures, gender equity, AI, and climate, alongside the music DiS was built on.

Learn More →
DiS community forums

Community

The DiS Community

The forums launched alongside the website in 2000, survived the hiatus, and still rack up 2–3 million pageviews a month. A quarter of a century old and still going.

Learn More →
The Sounding social sharing card

Media & Consultancy

The Sounding (co-founded with Tom Venvell, 2025)

The independent media production company behind DiS, the DiS Podcast, and a growing network of shows. What started as a growth consultancy is now the house that makes the network run.

Learn More →

Founded 2025

Association of Music Editors

A collective voice for editors of music publications, podcasts and zines. Because the attention economy is eating music journalism alive, and someone has to say so.

Learn More →

Coming This Autumn

A Print Magazine For Live Music Fans

A quarterly print magazine made possible by funding support from Music Venue Trust, distributed free in grassroots venues across the UK. Working title still to be locked, more to come.

'Spotify Is Over! (If You Want It)' t-shirt from the #DisarmSpotify campaign

Campaign · 2025

Spotify Exodus Series

DiS’s investigative coverage of the #DisarmSpotify movement sparked a movement among artists and fans, generating 10 million+ campaign impressions.

Quote card: Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, backing the Music Fans Voice survey

Campaign

Music Fans Voice

A survey engaging 8,000 participants that helped drive the UK government to launch a fan-led review of live music.

Learn More →

Currently Managing

Catherine Anne Davies (The Anchoress)

Catherine Anne Davies

The Anchoress

theanchoress.co.uk →
2 Studio Albums
20K+ Physical Sales
UK #31 The Art of Losing
83/100 Metacritic Score

Critical Acclaim

  • PROG Magazine Album of the Year
  • Sunday Times Best Albums of 2021
  • HMV Welsh Album of the Year
  • MPG Self-Producing Artist Nominee (2022, 2023)

Collaborated With

Bernard Butler Simple Minds Manic Street Preachers James Dean Bradfield Band Spectre Riz MC

Notable Admirers

“One of the best albums of the year.”

— Elton John, Rocket Hour

“Wales’s much more explicitly feminist answer to Lana Del Rey.”

— Ann Powers, NPR

A long-time fan who personally invited her to headline his Meltdown Festival.

— Robert Smith, The Cure

Managing campaign strategy, release coordination, and industry positioning for The Anchoress’ forthcoming third album.

A Quarter Century

25 years. 5 eras. From email fanzine to podcast network, via record label, festival stages, artist management, BBC Radio 6 Music, and a tactical voting campaign that reached 1.75 million people.

Press & Interviews

Beyond Music

Recognition

Work With Me

Book a Talk Partnership Enquiry

Speaking & masterclasses

I speak about music, power, platform ethics, and the future of independent culture. Past talks at SXSW, Iceland Airwaves, Primavera Pro, Tallinn Music Week, and Tony Wilson’s In The City. I also run masterclasses at BIMM, EEMA, and ICMP, available to book for music industry education programmes.

Book a talk or masterclass

Podcast guest

I’ve been hosting and making podcasts since 2005. I can talk about music journalism, streaming & creator economics, climate justice, independent culture, platform ethics, broligarchy, tactical voting, and the politics of music fandom.

Get in touch

Media & Consultancy (The Sounding)

Content strategy, campaigns, and media production for purpose-driven organisations in music and beyond. Co-run with Tom Venvell.

Visit The Sounding

DiS partnership

8,000+ newsletter subscribers. 48% open rate (industry average: ~20%). 300K podcast impressions/month. An audience that actually cares - about music, ethics, and what comes next.

Talk to us

Releases

DiS Recordings (2003–present), CCCLX Music, and The Anchoress’ imprint Hiraeth Records. Debut releases by Kaiser Chiefs, Bat for Lashes, Martha Wainwright, Metric, Brett Anderson, Ed Harcourt, and The Anchoress.

As seen in & worked with

BBC Radio 6 Music The Sunday Times The Observer Huck Magazine Qobuz Music Venue Trust StopTheTories UN Human Rights

“Better a spectacular failure than a benign success.”

Malcolm McLaren