Transcription
On January 13th, 2016, I was around 6 months into working my first proper job in music—live sound engineer and production manager at a small London music venue called the Bedford. It was pretty well known in the industry for supporting emerging talent; artists like Paula ntini, Katie Tun, Sam Smith all performed there in their early years, and Ed Sheeran even recorded an album there to sell whilst he was busking before he got signed. But one moment I'll never forget happened on a random Wednesday afternoon. My boss suddenly pulled me aside and said, "Phil, we've got to squeeze in another act into tonight's lineup. There's an up-and-coming artist who needs a venue for a showcase night." Usually, he was adamant that we book artists weeks in advance, so this seemed very off-brand, and I didn't quite know what to expect.
Well, we opened the doors at 7:30, and within minutes the venue was packed. Honestly, I'd never seen it like this—250 people crammed into this local venue, barely any room to breathe. But something felt completely different. Because what I didn't know until later that night was that the audience was entirely made up of A&R label execs and basically some of the most influential people in the UK music industry. I remember thinking, "Who the hell is this artist?" Well, that artist was Georgia Smith, and this was her first ever London show, a week before dropping her debut single, "Blue Lights," on SoundCloud. And that night was my first experience of truly seeing the power of valuable music.
Cuz the thing is, when your music has real value, people chase you, not the other way around. And that's exactly the position that you need to be in to see real growth in your career. But the thing is, when we dive a little bit deeper into Georgia Smith's story, we start to see that there was actually a synergy of luck, timing, and skill all at play. That initial support gave her the momentum to release a follow-up single, which then caught the attention of Drake, right at the peak of his career. Now, was there luck involved here? Sure. But more importantly, she'd created something undeniably valuable first, proved its value within the marketplace on SoundCloud, and placed herself in the perfect position to be discovered. Then, one by one, the rest of the pieces started falling into place.
So let's get to the question that we actually care about: How can you create similar value today if you're yet to know anyone in the industry, especially when you're balancing music alongside a 9-to-5 job, a social life, and still trying to stay in love with music at the same time? Well, that's exactly why I've created the Artist Development Blueprint. I've taken everything that I've learned working closely with artists over the last 10 years, simplified it down into a clear step-by-step system, and now I'm going to give it to you completely for free. And this is just version one; I'll be constantly updating it with everything I learn by continuing to work one-on-one mentoring and producing artists. And in this video, I'm going to walk you exactly through how you can start implementing this immediately, because building your music career might take time, but it's less complicated than you might think. It's all about knowing clearly what to focus on, turning up, and consistently learning. So if you want to get even more out of this video, download the blueprint now with the link in the description, and you can follow along as we work through each part.
So with all that being said, let's jump straight into it. Most artists today are overwhelmed, trying to do everything and end up achieving nothing. Over the last 10 years, I've worked as a producer and engineer, a songwriter, a tour manager, working with major labels and independent artists, and I've seen hundreds of artists come and go. But the ones who succeed, they simplify everything down and only focus on what actually matters. So in this video, I'm going to show you exactly where you need to focus so you can stop wasting your time and start making real progress and finally build your music career with confidence. By the end, you'll be wondering why nobody ever told you this sooner.
Let me start by explaining exactly what I mean by value in music, because this is what your entire career depends on. Simply put, value just means creating music people genuinely want. But how do you create music that people genuinely want? Well, there are two types of value that we can judge: objective value and subjective value. Objective value means how your music practically fits into people's lives. But let me make this very clear: the music always comes first. Never force yourself to create music just to fill a market or a genre niche. Instead, create music you genuinely love, music that's authentic to you. And once you have a song that you genuinely believe in, understanding where it fits into people's lives becomes easy. Simply play the track for them and ask them directly, "Where would you listen to this? Is this a gym song, a late-night driving track, or something you play at a party?" You'll immediately understand how your music naturally fits into listeners' lives. That clarity creates immediate objective value, making it much easier for people to connect with and seek it out.
And the second type of value is subjective value, which is more about emotional connection. This includes songwriting quality, lyrics, melody, vocal performance, and production choices—all the things that create emotional impact. But the tricky part is these factors are subjective, so they're harder to measure. So how can we actually know if we're getting better? Well, have you ever heard of the vase experiment? A pottery class was split into two groups. One group was instructed to make the single best vase possible, while the other group was simply told to create as many vases as they could. Surprisingly, the group who made the most vases ended up consistently creating the highest quality of work. Why? Because quantity evolved naturally into quality. And music works in exactly the same way. And this is exactly how major labels approach the same problem. So instead of obsessing over perfection on just one or two songs, your focus should be on writing as many songs as possible. Every song you write teaches you something new, and each finished track makes you better. So rather than trying to write the best song you can, focus on writing songs you love and let the best song rise to the top. After the novelty of having a new song wears off, you'll have no trouble at all knowing which songs deserve your time and attention to finish and present to the world. That's the real secret to creating subjective value: just keep writing.
So to put it simply: How do you write better music? Just write more music. And how do you find your audience? Ask people where they would listen to your music and position it there. Then, when your music becomes genuinely undeniable to a specific audience, people will start chasing you for your music, not the other way around.
So now you understand exactly how value works, let's talk about how you can leverage this to attract industry attention. But before we dive into the practical side, it's crucial you clearly understand how the industry actually works today. First off, no one is coming to rescue you. Let me say that again: nobody is coming to rescue you. Labels used to find raw talent and build artists from the ground up, but now they're basically investors; they only step in after you've already created value on your own. And there are really just two things that you need to do in order to prove that your music is valuable. Number one, like we've spoken about already, if your music isn't undeniably great, nothing else matters. The single most important thing you can do today is to write consistently, finish your best ideas, and put them out. Because the more you write, the better you'll become, and the more authentic your songs will feel. And that authenticity will start to attract people.
Now I want to make one thing very clear: if you have money to invest into professional production, absolutely do it. If money is tight, simplify. Don't force yourself into becoming a professional producer overnight; that's just an unrealistic expectation to have for yourself, and it takes focus off songwriting, which is where it really matters right now. Every hour you spend learning how to produce is an hour taking away from writing better songs. So stay aligned with your goals. Once your songs become truly undeniable, trust me, producers and engineers will actively want to work with you, and often they'll invest in you to help you build your career because if you break through, so will they.
Now, before we dive into number two, let me ask you a question: Where do you spend most of your time and attention, or where do you spend most of the time seeking pleasure? I'm pretty sure it'll be on your phone, right? And guess what? Your potential audience is probably doing exactly the same thing. So if you perform at an open mic night, hoping to build an audience today, it's honestly like shouting into a hurricane. But if you constantly create short-form content—videos of you performing your music—you give yourself the best possible chance to be discovered and heard. And just like songwriting, content creation is a skill; it's difficult at the beginning, but the more you do, the better you get, and the more natural it gets, too. This is your entry point, your best first step towards genuine sustainable growth. But here's an important point though: when it comes to visibility, some artists think that paid ads are a shortcut, but trust me, they rarely are. Right now, your most valuable resource probably isn't your money; it's your time. So investing your limited time into trying to master ad campaigns is a distraction; those skills won't even help you later on in your career. Instead, put your time into developing the skills that will last throughout your entire career: performance, storytelling, and authentically connecting with an audience. And for those of you who do have money, invest it in outsourcing the filming and the editing of your content or on producing better music so you can free up even more of your time to put towards writing music and coming up with better content ideas. Remember, it's your job to take the big swings.
So let's recap: How do we build a team? Write songs, release songs. How do we build an audience? Create content around your music and your personality. How do we get the industry to care? Do these two things until your song connects with the right audience, and then they will come to you. So that's the theory; now let's talk practical. I'll walk you through exactly how you can start implementing all of this right now. That's where your 60-day Artist Development Plan comes in. And if you haven't downloaded it yet, just grab it now so you can follow along with us.
Step one: Define your sonic identity and direction. Start by making two playlists, around 10 to 15 songs each—one with music that genuinely shaped your taste and identity, the songs that take you back to specific moments in your life, and another with artists that are currently inspiring you. Look at these playlists and find the patterns; what consistently resonates with you? That clarity, those likes and dislikes, starts to reveal your sonic identity.
Step two: Pick the strongest track you've written over the past couple of months. Don't overthink it; just play your top contenders for a few people and just watch them, then ask, "Where or when would you listen to this?" Their answers and their body language will give you immediate clarity on your best track and how to position it.
Step three: Ideally, invest in professional production, but if you're short on a budget right now, don't stress; simplify your approach. Singers and songwriters, a clear professional acoustic or piano recording is a great starting point. Beat-driven artists, license affordable beats and focus purely on your performance and songwriting so you can start attracting the right people to help you on your journey.
Step four: Once your song is ready, it's time for content creation. Choose three clear brand pillars that reflect your personality and your music, then batch create your short-form content and schedule it in advance to remove the overwhelm of having to post every single day.
Step five: Repeat. Now there's even more to this process, like tracking your progress, setting clear achievable goals, and making powerful mindset shifts that will change the way you approach music forever. And you've got three ways that you can start tackling them right now. Number one: Download the free Artist Development Blueprint if you haven't already and start working through everything yourself. Two: If you want to go deeper with personalized one-to-one support from me, to hold you accountable, help you grow consistently, and guide you through every step on the journey, join the waitlist for my one-to-one Artist Development Program with the second link below, and when spots open up, you'll be the first to know. Or number three: Watch this video next to learn exactly how to set goals that will move your career in the right direction.