Your Weekly Guide to Artist and Business Development

One Songwriting Resource...

Looking for a podcast that dives deep into the art of songwriting? Check out Sodajerker On Songwriting, where they sit down with legends like Brandi Carlile and Graham Nash of Crosby, Stills & Nash to uncover the stories behind their songs. One standout episode features Djo (aka Joe Keery from Stranger Things), who shares how he carves out time to write and offers an inside look at his latest record, The Crux.

One Performance Resource...

Just like you study great songs to master songwriting, you need to watch live performances to master the art of commanding a stage. We’ve put together a YouTube playlist of some of the greatest live performances of all time. Watch closely and notice how the performers guide the audience’s attention while building energy and emotion. Think about how you can bring some of these ideas into your own shows.

One Marketing Idea...

Keeping up with social media can feel overwhelming, but staying consistent doesn’t have to be stressful. Fight burnout by creating a content bank of pre-filmed footage to draw from. This is how full-time creators maintain momentum and keep content flowing.

Try it out: Once a month, film 30-second clips of everything from tuning your guitar to writing lyrics, laughing or playing riffs. Save them in a dedicated folder on your phone and pull from it throughout the month.

Pro-tip: Keep a running doc of content ideas to add to whenever inspiration strikes. When it’s time to film, you’ll already have ideas ready to go. When editing, stay a week ahead so you’re never stressed if life gets busy.

One Business Idea...

One of the biggest mistakes artists make is not seeing their business through the eyes of their audience. Think about how people discover you, how they interact with you, and how you’d like them to support you. Build a clear “funnel” that moves fans from discovery to support. Your online presence should feel like a journey, not just a broadcast of content.

Try it out: Choose one platform where people first discover you. Pretend you are a new fan and go through the experience step by step. Take notes on what excites you, what confuses you, and where you might lose interest. Use these observations to tweak your audience’s journey and explore new platforms or tools, such as email or Discord.

One Music Production Tip...

Struggling to stay on time when recording your instrument is more common than you might think. Practicing with a metronome is one of the best ways to train your brain to not just feel the music, but really listen.

Try it out: Open your DAW and set the project BPM to match your practice song. Practice every day for 15 minutes, gradually speeding up and slowing down the tempo to challenge your timing.

Pro-tip: Once you’re comfortable with a click, up the challenge by improvising over different drum loops or beats. You might just discover the start of your next song!

See you next week!