💡✍️ADN #133: How to Tell a Better Story

There’s a reason we’re drawn to artists who feel bigger than the music.

It’s not just their sound.

It’s their story.

The artist who came from nothing.
The band that broke up and got back together.
The song that saved a life.
The tour that almost didn’t happen.

What does “narrative” in the music business mean?

It means context.

Momentum.

Meaning.

You are living a story right now.

You might not think so.

To you, it probably feels like spreadsheets and gas receipts and emails and maybe a few shows that don’t sell out.

But zoom out.

Look again.

You might be in Act 2, grinding it out after a big decision.

Or Act 1, figuring out who the hell you are and what kind of artist you want to be.

Or maybe you’re in Act 3, coming back from the fall with something to prove.

Narrative = Leverage

You know what doesn’t get written about?

An artist who releases a single on Friday and hopes someone notices.

You know what does?

An artist who releases a single after:

• 40 shows in 60 days
• Playing to 100,000 people
• Selling 1,000% more merch than last quarter
• Gaining 12,000 new email subscribers
• Having the best-performing pre-save campaign of their career

That’s not just data.
That’s a damn good story.

And who likes stories?

• Press
• DSPs
• Record Labels
• Music Supervisors

And most importantly, fans.

Stories are what move people from “I like the song” to “I’m rooting for this artist.”

Once you have a fan on the hook, your job is to keep telling them more of your story.

How to Find the Story in What You’re Already Doing

1. Track the numbers.
   Your tour isn’t just a tour — it’s a chapter. Keep a tally.

• Cities played
• Merch sold
• Streams gained
• Emails captured
• Miles driven
  When you wrap it up, give it a name! “The 10,000-Mile Tour”. “The Summer We Slept on Floors.”

P.S. — I like the idea of naming or renaming a tour after it’s done. Get your audience involved. What encapsulates the feeling of that run of shows? Call it the “Name This Tour” Tour, sell merchandise, and then at the end, have fans vote on the tour name and print more merchandise to commemorate what you created together.

Notice the patterns.
Are you always writing songs at 2 am?
Are you drawing your biggest crowds in small towns?
Is your fanbase mostly first-gen college students, gym rats, or anime fans?
That’s not nothing. Those are details in your story. Lean into it.

Narrate in public.
Post about what’s really going on.
Share the behind-the-scenes. The flat tires. The 5k merch night. The monitors shutting down in the first song.
Turn your audience into witnesses, not just consumers.

Connect the dots.
“This show in Chicago means more than most. It’s where I saw my first concert at 13. Now I’m playing that same stage.”
That’s three sentences, but it makes people feel something. That can be a tweet, a caption on a video, text overlay on a photo of the first show, a story to your email list, a message you send to every radio station, an email to booking agents and managers, and more.

Remember: You’re the Author, Too

Your story doesn’t have to be polished.
It doesn’t have to be dramatic.
But it does have to be intentional.

Every release, every show, every launch — 
It all builds your world.

Don’t just do the thing.

Capture, narrate, and repurpose it.

If you don’t tell your story, no one will know there’s one to follow.

There’s never been more music being released and less room for attention.

If you want fans, you have to tell a better story than everyone else.

You need a story worth rooting for.

It can be shot on an iPhone, edited in CapCut, and then reshared on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube Shorts, and more.

You don’t need a budget or a big team.

Just pay attention and capture what you’re up to anyway.

See you next Sunday -

Neil