Alas! The Holidays are upon us!

Have you thought of a gift to give your loved ones yet?

I personally prefer hand-made, custom gifts. They just seem much more thoughtful and memorable, don't you think so?

Have you heard of Custom Songs?

Songfinch is a business where buyers, looking to gift a top-notch custom-written song to a loved one, submit their request on their website alongside their preferred genre, the mood, and occasion for the song. 

Not only do they cater to their thoughtful customers, but they also provide hundreds of jobs for songwriters, artists, and producers all over the world!

On our latest podcast and YouTube episode, I sat down with Jake Tuton, Director of Artist Talent at Songfinch. 

I asked Jake how Songfinch vet their artists. Is there any golden set of standards that we should know about?

Here are the 3 main key points that Songfinch looks for in an artist:

1. Can you write songs? Are you someone who can write songs based on the information...

You are what you eat,

You sound like what you listen to!

When we first start playing music we do it purely out of passion; we stay up late playing guitar on the edge of our bed or sing that crazy vocal run over and over until we’ve finally nailed it! We have music inside of us that we can’t wait to get out.  

We put in the work to learn our instruments, write freely from the heart, and ideas pour out of us.

But where do the ideas come from? What shapes our sound?

THE ANSWER:
Our influences! 

It’s the albums & songs you played endlessly on your bedroom floor.

That music you heard throughout your life, but especially growing up, that is now embedded in you. It was your input and it became your OUTPUT. I’m sure some of your first songs sounded almost like copies of the artists you listened to growing up, I know mine did...sorry Pantera. And though you’ve (hopefully) grown past copying other people's songs you still sound like what...

Since the evolution of hip hop, producers have been taking pre-recorded music & ‘sampling’ it to make their own new sounds. This can include anything from taking the original sample of the music & adding drums &/or bass, all the way to ‘flipping’ the original sample, completely repurposing it into something completely unrecognizable. But in the midst of this practice lies the question;

“Is it actually better to make your own sounds from scratch so that you can be truly original?”

In short, not necessarily! Most people truly don't care if you make your own sounds & loops, they just care about one thing: does it sound good?

Loops are a tool & you should use them when you believe it sounds right to do so. No one is looking over your shoulder to say "You didn't make this yourself, what a fraud!" because loops are, quite literally, made for YOU to use! No one expects you to be an expert in Latin percussion technique & play your...

Have you ever seen the meme of the iceberg poking out of the ocean and it says something like “what people see” and then you look below the surface where its roots obviously stretch miles & miles into the depths of the ocean and it shows “the years of hard work underneath?” I love that because it really is so true! 

At some point, we have all wished for immediate gratification or a shortcut in life. A quantum leap. The truth is, it never comes. And every moment wishing for it, searching for it, or asking for “that break” is energy wasted that could have been put into doing the work!

Every success you see in somebody else, even if it appears to be overnight, has come as a result of a thousand little steps, not some overnight miracle.

And it’s funny because I’ve been on both sides of the fence.

I have been the inquisitive, young, hungry, energetic, ambitious, and determined student asking the mentor “but c’mon, like...

There’s a reason why I’m so passionate about teaching artists how to produce all on their own stuff. It’s so you can take your musical destiny into your own hands, create opportunities, and dominate the music business!

What I’m talking about is not the traditional music business as you know it. I’m talking about making your music YOUR business. I’m talking about becoming your own unstoppable force who builds their own empire that nobody can take away from you because nobody gave it to you.

I remember when I first moved to Nashville, I really wanted a major publishing deal -- that was my starry, doe-eyed dream -- to write for major artists. After a few years of hustling, writing 2-3 songs a day, doing writers’ rounds, and facing countless rejections from publishers & labels, I decided I was done waiting for someone to give me frickin’ permission to not only release music but to write it and monetize it. I knew I had...

Hey, producers and producers in the making,

Do you ever feel like you’re frustrated with where you’re at? Maybe even a little stuck? Perhaps you’re a busy body (like me), but lately, you feel like you’ve been standing still, even though you’re busier than ever! Even though I know we've all been reassured that feeling stuck is normal, it's more than that: it's part of the process to get from where you are to where you want to be.

Maybe I can reframe things for you? Instead of being stuck, you might just be the rubber band in a slingshot, feeling like you're going nowhere, or maybe even backward, but if you stick with it, BAM!, like a slingshot, you'll shoot forward as a result!

You might be in a place where all you need is a little push or something to set you up to launch. Check out this free resource, and see if it can help you get moving again!

https://www.producelikeaboss.com/freelooptutorial

We wear so many hats in our businesses as independent...

I’m so pumped for this because the blog you’re about to read today is part 1 of 5 in a powerful series I’ve put together for my aspiring producers called “Boss Producer Business”

In this series, I’m going to walk you through the steps it takes to go from being an unpaid amateur to a paid professional producer.  

I’m also going to give you a sneak peek into how I run my six figure production company at a high level of performance and profitability. 

Now, I want you to get the absolute MOST you can out of this series, so I created a handout for you to help you implement everything I’ll be covering. Just head over to www.producelikeabosspodcast.com/business to download!

Also, if you make it to the end of this series I will have an entire workbook chocked full of goodies, recaps, and worksheets for you!

So let’s jump in!

Boss Producer Business:
Part 1:

The Starving Artist Vs. The Boss Producer

Now I’m calling the...

Alright y'all, I’m so pumped for this because the blog you’re about to read today is part two of five in a powerful new series I’ve put together especially for my aspiring producers called “Boss Producer Business.” If you haven’t checked out the 1st blog of this series, “The Starving Artist Vs. The Boss Producer,” I want you to go and read that now! I’ll link it below!

LINK TO BLOG

In this series, I’m going to walk you through the steps it takes to go from being an unpaid amateur to a paid professional. I’m also going to give you a sneak peek into how I run my six-figure production company at a high level of performance & profitability. 

I want you to get the absolute MOST you can out of this series, so I created a handout for you to help you implement everything I’m covering! Also, if you make it to the end of this series I will have an entire workbook chock full of goodies, recaps, and worksheets for...

Alright y'all, I’m so pumped for this because the blog you’re about to read today is part three of five in a powerful series I’ve put together especially for my aspiring producers called “Boss Producer Business.” If you haven’t checked out the first two parts of this series, I want you to go and read them now. It’s the two blogs just before this one and I’ll also link them below:

LINK TO PART ONE

LINK TO PART TWO

In this series, I’m going to walk you through the steps it takes to go from being an unpaid amateur to a paid professional.  

I’m also going to give you a sneak peek into how I run my six-figure production company at a high level of performance & profitability. 

I want you to get the absolute MOST you can out of this series so I created a handout for you to help you implement everything I’m covering. Just head over to www.producelikeabosspodcast.com/business to download! Also, if you make...

https://www.producelikeaboss.com/bootcamp

Alright y'all, I’m so pumped for this because the blog you’re about to read today is part four of five in a powerful series I’ve put together especially for my aspiring producers called “Boss Producer Business.” If you haven’t checked out the first three blogs of this series, I want you to go and read them now. Just head to
www.producelikebosspodcast.com/business

In this series I’m going to walk you through the steps it takes to go from being an (unpaid) amateur to a (paid) professional.  

I’m also going to give you a sneak peek into how I run my six-figure production company at a high level of performance & profitability. 

I want you to get the absolute MOST you can out of this series, so I created a handout for you to help you implement everything I’m covering. Just head over to www.producelikeabosspodcast.com/business to download. Also, if you make it to the end of...