💡✍️ADN #149: 20 things I wrote down this week

I jot down thoughts every week based on the conversations I am having.

It’s an ongoing conversation with myself about what matters and what doesn’t.

Here are 20:

1. Viral clips spark attention. Songs grow audience, and albums build legacy.

2. If your only input is the music industry, your output will sound like everyone else’s.

3. Your quirks are your superpower. Smooth them out and you disappear. Fit out, not in.

4. Reputation beats résumé. Nobody cares what you say more than what you deliver.

5. Fans don’t want perfection. They want a story they can live inside.

6. Music moves people, but alone it won’t pay the bills. Merch, shows, partnerships, and licensing turn your art into your profession.

7. Growth without ownership is a hamster wheel. Own something (masters, audience, publishing, etc).

8. One song can be more than a song. It can be a trend, a tour, a movement, a brand.

9. Frustration isn’t failure. It’s a step toward the answer you haven’t found yet.

10. The best music does the heavy lifting. A great song works forever, and nothing saves a bad one.

11. Chasing trends guarantees you’ll always be late.

12. Careers die from inaction, more than a lack of talent. Better is a verb, do it daily.

13. If your songs don’t work stripped down to voice and guitar, they probably don’t work at all.

14. Playing it safe is the riskiest move you can make.

15. If you sound like your heroes, you’ll forever open for theirs.

16. A small cult of die-hards beats a stadium of tourists.

17. Your reputation will travel faster than your music.

18. If you don’t know what you stand for, your fans won’t either.

19. Don’t obsess over marketing your music more than making music worth marketing.

20. Artist development never ends.

See you next Sunday,

Neil