Josh Ritter – The New Album, The Current Tour and An Interview

The new album.

I asked if Ritter still considered the album as his format of choice.

“I am sort of ambivalent,” Ritter admitted. “The consumer should have the freedom to consume the music, in whatever way. There are lots of rewarding things in having an album, my mind works that way. But more and more I put things out as they are created.”

And what about the idea of a digital tip jar, so that listeners can leave a few dollars directly for the artist while streaming their music?

“It is fantastic if people want to provide the artist a contribution,” enthused Ritter. “I have had to embrace more than one revenue stream over my 20 years in the business. The money to be made off a record can’t be the only thing. I have never been reliant on that as a sole revenue source.”

We don’t know exactly how the economics of streaming will play out, but it is amazing that my music can be available. This is very early days of streaming, and how it should turn out is beyond me.”

Ritter was sage enough to secure from the beginning the rights to all his recordings.

His tour runs through February.


Brad Auerbach has been a journalist and editor covering the media, entertainment, travel and technology scene for many years. He has written for Forbes, Time Out London, SPIN, Village Voice, LA Weekly and early in his career won a New York State College Journalism Award.

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