In a recent Creator Convo with Spotify for Creators, Joel and Benji Madden — twin brothers, Good Charlotte co-founders, and the team behind the "Artist Friendly" podcast — reflected on their evolution from pop-punk icons to podcast hosts to champions of the next generation of artists. Beyond the podcast, the brothers run MDDN, their artist management, publishing, and production company, and co-founded Veeps, the live-streaming platform for artists that was acquired by Live Nation in 2021.
The conversation covered a lot of ground: a 70x spike in Spotify audience growth, why Joel reads every comment, and what they're really building when they show up for work now.
Why "Artist Friendly" Exists
The premise of "Artist Friendly" is simple — and, according to Joel, conspicuously missing from the media landscape.
"If you have a #1 record or a #1 song or a Top 40 song, you can get on platforms and talk about your music. But for all of the artists out there that are trying to get there — trying to build a big music show where artists can come promote their music without having to have the #1 all the time or having to be the biggest artist in the world — that was where it started." — Joel Madden
As Benji puts it, the name says it all:
"If an artist ran a record label, if an artist ran a management company, if an artist ran a magazine — would it be subtly different? Would it be... a little more friendly?"
70x Audience Growth on Spotify — and Why Fan Comments Are Everything
Since adding video to "Artist Friendly" on Spotify, the show's audience has grown by 70 times. Joel's reaction when Benji shared the stat on camera: "Holy [bleep]."
But the number that means more to Joel than the growth metric is what's happening in the comments.
"I've been experimenting with being even a little more honest in the comments. If I don't agree with someone… but I love it because I get to connect and be human." — Joel Madden
Benji notes that for most of their career as musicians, they've stayed out of the comments. The podcast has unlocked something different — a genuine back-and-forth specific to long-form audio.
"What I like about the comments on Spotify is that person is going out of their way to write something — they're committed. They're committed to the show." — Joel Madden
On who really drives a podcast's reach:
"Artists and fans — that's the relationship that creates that. The fans are the real distributors. The fans are the ones sharing it. The fans are the ones that are, really, bringing it to life." — Joel Madden
On Nostalgia: "Something Nice That Happens When You Create With Love"
Spotify is turning 20 this year — which means 2006 is in the frame. We asked Joel and Benji to reflect on that moment: where they were, how far they've come, and what this new era means for them. Good Charlotte's tours are bigger now than they were at the height of their early 2000s run, and both brothers have thoughts on why nostalgia is more nuanced than it looks from the outside.
"I feel like nostalgia is this really nice thing that happens when you create something with love, without really knowing what you're doing. When we were kids, we were just creating."— Benji Madden
"Nostalgia — the definition is something like a longing for the past. Which sounds nice, but I want to be where I'm at." — Joel Madden
The Second Half: From Running Away to Giving Back
The most revealing thread in the conversation is how both brothers frame what drives them now versus what drove them in their early career.
"When we were in our first half of the book, we needed success. We were running away from poverty, we were running away from all these things, from trauma, and from low self-esteem. But then you develop, you grow up. The second half now of our career is actually us trying to help artists get the first half right." — Joel Madden
The mission is specific: be the people they wish they'd had when they were starting out.
"Make decisions that they can be proud of — make decisions that when they're our age, they go, 'Man, I'm glad I made that decision.' If we can be the guys we wish we would have met when we were 18, coming into this, then we can sleep at night." — Joel Madden
Benji's response: "Mission accomplished."
What's Coming: The Avenged Sevenfold Tour and the Lost Madden Brothers Record
On the music side, 2026 is bringing two things that have been a long time coming.
First, a North American co-headlining tour with Avenged Sevenfold — a collaboration twenty years in the making:
"Summer tour with Avenged Sevenfold has been in the works for 20 years. And so to finally be touring together, which is something we've always wanted to do — we are so excited. To be on the road with our friends, after knowing each other for over 20 years, it's really special and sweet." — Joel Madden
And the re-release of the Madden Brothers record from 2014 that was quietly taken offline:
"It's a record that we love. We were emotional about it. We've gotten a little bit older. We're going to put it back in the world." — Benji Madden
Watch on Spotify
Watch our full conversation with Joel and Benji on Spotify.
And "Artist Friendly with Joel Madden" is available now on Spotify — watch new episodes as they drop. Joel's in the comments. Come find him.