Anthony Fantano

About

Anthony Nicholas Fantano ( fan-TAN-oh; born October 28, 1985) is an American music critic and internet personality who runs The Needle Drop, a YouTube channel with a tie-in website and Twitch streaming channel. Self-billed as “the internet’s busiest music nerd”, as a social media influencer Fantano discusses and reviews music from a variety of genres online. He also runs the channel Fantano where he talks about events in the music industry solo or with guests and conducts interviews.

Fantano was born and raised in Wolcott, Connecticut. As a teenager, he became interested in politics through the work of the musician Jello Biafra, former lead singer of the punk band Dead Kennedys, calling him “pretty much [his] political idol”. Fantano graduated from Southern Connecticut State University in 2008, earning a liberal arts degree concentrated in journalism, communications, and political science.

Fantano started his career in the mid-2000s as a music director for the Southern Connecticut State University college radio station.

In 2007, Fantano started working at Connecticut Public Radio (WNPR), where he hosted The Needle Drop. That same…