It’s time to redefine what success looks like for independent artists.
First, let’s outline the terms.
We’re not talking about streams.
We’re not talking about likes.
We’re not even talking about followers.
Instead, we’re going to dig into some good, old-fashioned concepts that the current musical zeitgeist seems to have lost.
Things like revenue, income, cash flow, and, most importantly, customers.
Sound boring?
Good.
It should be.
Because that’s how the best businesses are built.
Remove your blinders
Most of the metrics the chatroom gurus will tell you to pursue are either a single piece in an otherwise larger puzzle or, worse yet, a complete distraction from what truly matters.
Primary metrics like streams, followers, and views all play a part, but only within the context of a larger, more complex strategy.
Secondary metrics like streams per listener and post engagement can be helpful tools to understand performance, but they have little impact on your bottom line.
Now I know you might be thinking, “Wrong!” but I promise you, it’s true.
Take it from me—I’ve been running a low-key experiment for the entirety of 2025 where I have simply stopped posting long-form videos to YouTube to see what would happen and my business has only grown.
Wild, I know.
And I personally know people who have thriving businesses with little to no social media presence at all.
Yes, social media can be a massive addition to what you’re building, but don’t get stuck on the vanity number hamster wheel.
It doesn’t go anywhere.
Instead, focus on the metrics that matter.
The single biggest one?
Customers.
The real game
If you want to build a career in music, you have to make money, otherwise it’s just a hobby.
Now, there’s nothing wrong with a hobby, but that’s not what we’re talking about here.
If you want to keep music as a hobby and spend your time at a different job to make money (because we all have to make money to survive, whether we like it or not), more power to you.
This letter just might not be for you.
But if it is for you, and you want to build a career from music, you’re going to have to earn a living.
To earn a living, you have to build a business.
To build a business, you have to sell something that other people want and will pay you for.
It’s that simple.
Within a “traditional” business context, this is a product or service that solves a specific problem in someone’s life.
Within the music business, the primary product is your music, your art.
But your music isn’t the only product.
It’s also not just a product.
It is your biggest marketing channel.
Weird, I know, but follow me here.
Your creative work is both a means of generating revenue and of bringing attention to the additional, related products and services you offer.
“What products and services do I have to offer?” you might ask.
First, merchandise—physical and digital copies of your music, apparel, accessories, and more.
These are your products.
Second, performances—live shows, livestreams, and more.
These are your services.
Both of these categories have the potential to generate significantly more cash flow for your business than streams alone ever could.
Entertainment-as-a-service
At the root of live entertainment, people are paying you to take them on a journey, to pull them out of their day to day and into another world of your choosing.
This is a massive value add for consumers.
Much in the same way someone might subscribe to Netflix or buy a ticket to the movies, people pay for live music as a means of getting lost in a story, expanding their imaginations, and filling their cups with hope and delight.
Your talent in creating and performing are your tools not just for generating revenue for your business, but for positively impacting the world around you in ways you might not have even imagined.
You then earn supplemental revenue by offering products in the form of merchandise that your customers will enjoy, things that can and will take them back to that world, that feeling, again and again.
And finally, you take that revenue and use it to cover your expenses, generate personal income, and reinvest back into your work to grow the pie.
This is, in a nutshell, how you construct a cash flow machine and build a career in music.
So write great songs, release a body of work, and package it into a visual representation that proliferates across artwork, web design, merchandise, and visual media.
Then take that experience on the road, bring it to people in person, and offer them ways to take that feeling home through branded merchandise and more.
Systemize this into a one- to two-year album cycle, then repeat the process.
Do this for a decade and you will have a career.
It’s time to redefine what success looks like for independent artists.
First, let’s outline the terms.
We’re not talking about streams.
We’re not talking about likes.
We’re not even talking about followers.
Instead, we’re going to dig into some good, old-fashioned concepts that the current musical zeitgeist seems to have lost.
Things like revenue, income, cash flow, and, most importantly, customers.
Sound boring?
Good.
It should be.
Because that’s how the best businesses are built.
Remove your blinders
Most of the metrics the chatroom gurus will tell you to pursue are either a single piece in an otherwise larger puzzle or, worse yet, a complete distraction from what truly matters.
Primary metrics like streams, followers, and views all play a part, but only within the context of a larger, more complex strategy.
Secondary metrics like streams per listener and post engagement can be helpful tools to understand performance, but they have little impact on your bottom line.
Now I know you might be thinking, “Wrong!” but I promise you, it’s true.
Take it from me—I’ve been running a low-key experiment for the entirety of 2025 where I have simply stopped posting long-form videos to YouTube to see what would happen and my business has only grown.
Wild, I know.
And I personally know people who have thriving businesses with little to no social media presence at all.
Yes, social media can be a massive addition to what you’re building, but don’t get stuck on the vanity number hamster wheel.
It doesn’t go anywhere.
Instead, focus on the metrics that matter.
The single biggest one?
Customers.
The real game
If you want to build a career in music, you have to make money, otherwise it’s just a hobby.
Now, there’s nothing wrong with a hobby, but that’s not what we’re talking about here.
If you want to keep music as a hobby and spend your time at a different job to make money (because we all have to make money to survive, whether we like it or not), more power to you.
This letter just might not be for you.
But if it is for you, and you want to build a career from music, you’re going to have to earn a living.
To earn a living, you have to build a business.
To build a business, you have to sell something that other people want and will pay you for.
It’s that simple.
Within a “traditional” business context, this is a product or service that solves a specific problem in someone’s life.
Within the music business, the primary product is your music, your art.
But your music isn’t the only product.
It’s also not just a product.
It is your biggest marketing channel.
Weird, I know, but follow me here.
Your creative work is both a means of generating revenue and of bringing attention to the additional, related products and services you offer.
“What products and services do I have to offer?” you might ask.
First, merchandise—physical and digital copies of your music, apparel, accessories, and more.
These are your products.
Second, performances—live shows, livestreams, and more.
These are your services.
Both of these categories have the potential to generate significantly more cash flow for your business than streams alone ever could.
Entertainment-as-a-service
At the root of live entertainment, people are paying you to take them on a journey, to pull them out of their day to day and into another world of your choosing.
This is a massive value add for consumers.
Much in the same way someone might subscribe to Netflix or buy a ticket to the movies, people pay for live music as a means of getting lost in a story, expanding their imaginations, and filling their cups with hope and delight.
Your talent in creating and performing are your tools not just for generating revenue for your business, but for positively impacting the world around you in ways you might not have even imagined.
You then earn supplemental revenue by offering products in the form of merchandise that your customers will enjoy, things that can and will take them back to that world, that feeling, again and again.
And finally, you take that revenue and use it to cover your expenses, generate personal income, and reinvest back into your work to grow the pie.
This is, in a nutshell, how you construct a cash flow machine and build a career in music.
So write great songs, release a body of work, and package it into a visual representation that proliferates across artwork, web design, merchandise, and visual media.
Then take that experience on the road, bring it to people in person, and offer them ways to take that feeling home through branded merchandise and more.
Systemize this into a one- to two-year album cycle, then repeat the process.
Do this for a decade and you will have a career.
It’s time to redefine what success looks like for independent artists.
First, let’s outline the terms.
We’re not talking about streams.
We’re not talking about likes.
We’re not even talking about followers.
Instead, we’re going to dig into some good, old-fashioned concepts that the current musical zeitgeist seems to have lost.
Things like revenue, income, cash flow, and, most importantly, customers.
Sound boring?
Good.
It should be.
Because that’s how the best businesses are built.
Remove your blinders
Most of the metrics the chatroom gurus will tell you to pursue are either a single piece in an otherwise larger puzzle or, worse yet, a complete distraction from what truly matters.
Primary metrics like streams, followers, and views all play a part, but only within the context of a larger, more complex strategy.
Secondary metrics like streams per listener and post engagement can be helpful tools to understand performance, but they have little impact on your bottom line.
Now I know you might be thinking, “Wrong!” but I promise you, it’s true.
Take it from me—I’ve been running a low-key experiment for the entirety of 2025 where I have simply stopped posting long-form videos to YouTube to see what would happen and my business has only grown.
Wild, I know.
And I personally know people who have thriving businesses with little to no social media presence at all.
Yes, social media can be a massive addition to what you’re building, but don’t get stuck on the vanity number hamster wheel.
It doesn’t go anywhere.
Instead, focus on the metrics that matter.
The single biggest one?
Customers.
The real game
If you want to build a career in music, you have to make money, otherwise it’s just a hobby.
Now, there’s nothing wrong with a hobby, but that’s not what we’re talking about here.
If you want to keep music as a hobby and spend your time at a different job to make money (because we all have to make money to survive, whether we like it or not), more power to you.
This letter just might not be for you.
But if it is for you, and you want to build a career from music, you’re going to have to earn a living.
To earn a living, you have to build a business.
To build a business, you have to sell something that other people want and will pay you for.
It’s that simple.
Within a “traditional” business context, this is a product or service that solves a specific problem in someone’s life.
Within the music business, the primary product is your music, your art.
But your music isn’t the only product.
It’s also not just a product.
It is your biggest marketing channel.
Weird, I know, but follow me here.
Your creative work is both a means of generating revenue and of bringing attention to the additional, related products and services you offer.
“What products and services do I have to offer?” you might ask.
First, merchandise—physical and digital copies of your music, apparel, accessories, and more.
These are your products.
Second, performances—live shows, livestreams, and more.
These are your services.
Both of these categories have the potential to generate significantly more cash flow for your business than streams alone ever could.
Entertainment-as-a-service
At the root of live entertainment, people are paying you to take them on a journey, to pull them out of their day to day and into another world of your choosing.
This is a massive value add for consumers.
Much in the same way someone might subscribe to Netflix or buy a ticket to the movies, people pay for live music as a means of getting lost in a story, expanding their imaginations, and filling their cups with hope and delight.
Your talent in creating and performing are your tools not just for generating revenue for your business, but for positively impacting the world around you in ways you might not have even imagined.
You then earn supplemental revenue by offering products in the form of merchandise that your customers will enjoy, things that can and will take them back to that world, that feeling, again and again.
And finally, you take that revenue and use it to cover your expenses, generate personal income, and reinvest back into your work to grow the pie.
This is, in a nutshell, how you construct a cash flow machine and build a career in music.
So write great songs, release a body of work, and package it into a visual representation that proliferates across artwork, web design, merchandise, and visual media.
Then take that experience on the road, bring it to people in person, and offer them ways to take that feeling home through branded merchandise and more.
Systemize this into a one- to two-year album cycle, then repeat the process.
Do this for a decade and you will have a career.
Take the next step
Read the Newsletter: Explore previous issues of The One Thing to learn at your own pace and upgrade your marketing knowledge for free.
Book a Consultation: Schedule a one-on-one call with me to improve your marketing across paid advertising, social media, and more.
Become a Client: Hire our team to manage your marketing across streaming platforms and social media so you can focus on what matters most—making music.
Take a Course: Join the hundreds of artists who have successfully learned to automate their growth on Spotify using paid ads on Instagram.
Take the next step
Read the Newsletter: Explore previous issues of The One Thing to learn at your own pace and upgrade your marketing knowledge for free.
Book a Consultation: Schedule a one-on-one call with me to improve your marketing across paid advertising, social media, and more.
Become a Client: Hire our team to manage your marketing across streaming platforms and social media so you can focus on what matters most—making music.
Take a Course: Join the hundreds of artists who have successfully learned to automate their growth on Spotify using paid ads on Instagram.
Take the next step
Read the Newsletter: Explore previous issues of The One Thing to learn at your own pace and upgrade your marketing knowledge for free.
Book a Consultation: Schedule a one-on-one call with me to improve your marketing across paid advertising, social media, and more.
Become a Client: Hire our team to manage your marketing across streaming platforms and social media so you can focus on what matters most—making music.
Take a Course: Join the hundreds of artists who have successfully learned to automate their growth on Spotify using paid ads on Instagram.