Today’s guest is a man who built up a company that I happened to read about in The New Yorker about 10 years ago.

Malcolm Gladwell, one of my favorite writers, wrote a piece that included a that can predict what song is going to be a hit. It was so intriguing, especially since figuring out what music is going to work is really tough, if not impossible and this guy and this company actually made it work.

Well, joining me today is the person who was written about in that New Yorker piece. Mike McCready is the founder of Music Xray, a company that uses data and analytics to identify high potential songs and talent at the earliest possible stage–the kind of stuff you never thought was possible his business is doing on a regular basis.