The Marketing Book Podcast · Douglas Burdett

475 Second Skin by Jason Miller

·1 hr 14 min·5 clips

Jason Miller recounts hanging out with Tom Morello after his Porsche broke down in St. Louis, a wild music industry tale.

The opening is all volume knob. Once the bit settles, Burdett brings Jason Miller back on and frames Second Skin as a memoir about changing shape without losing the thread. The episode stays loose, which helps. Miller's best stories come from old work: digital ad strategy, PPC work with Google, and a consulting call that came after he had already moved on. Then Sony enters the chat. Miller remembers building a six-page plan for a Columbia Records blog before blogs were normal, then finding out later that a former colleague did not remember it. That one has a little sting. Burdett pulls the marketing lesson out of it without flattening the story: become the media instead of waiting for Rolling Stone to do the carrying. The disruption talk has some bite. Miller describes the confusion around digital music, Napster, and the falling perceived value of music while an industry tried to argue with the future. Burdett keeps the tone fair. He points out that Miller often sounds like he is observing more than scolding, and that saves the conversation from turning smug. The career keeps changing clothes. Music marketing turns into tech marketing, with LinkedIn, ActiveCampaign, Marketo, and other companies becoming the next skins Miller had to learn. Burdett steers listeners toward the book's ideas about growth and reinvention, but the episode works best when it lets the stories carry that point. The close is tidy in a good way. A teen metalhead dream becomes marketing, then digital marketing, then speaking, publishing, and concert photography, without pretending anybody drew the map ahead of time. Miller's final thought is simple enough: keep shedding old skin while there is still time. Burdett thanks him for coming back, Miller sounds pleased, and a John Lennon audition joke leaves the door open.

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