Welcome to 2026. In the last episode, I shared what I'm grateful for and the personal questions I'm sitting with. Today, I'm sharing the strategic side: what I learned in 2025 that changed how I work.

Six concrete lessons from running this podcast and newsletter, plus 300+ conversations with independent musicians and creative professionals. Some of these lessons were uncomfortable. Some contradicted what I thought I knew. A few are still unresolved—I'm learning in real-time.

If you're trying to build something sustainable as a musician or creative professional, there's value in seeing what worked, what didn't, and what I'm still figuring out.

Topics Covered:

• Newsletter-first architecture: Why the newsletter became the business and the podcast became newsletter growth infrastructure
• How better questions in guest submission forms filter for quality and save time
• Why systems don't kill creativity—they enable it by removing decision fatigue
• Content gating creates better value through a clear hierarchy (free vs. premium)
• Guest quality compounds; guest quantity doesn't—one excellent guest beats three mediocre ones
• The tension between strategic thinking and creative joy, and the warning signs to watch for
• The shift from SEO optimization to conversion optimization in episode descriptions
• What "sustainable" actually means when building a creative business

This is the first episode of 2026. If you're balancing creative work with business thinking, wondering how to structure systems without losing spontaneity, or defining what success looks like on your own terms, this episode is for you.

Scheduling Note: Next episode will be in three weeks (buffer break for content creation). After that, we resume the normal every-two-weeks schedule.

Show notes at UnstarvingMusician.com.

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Resources

The Unstarving Musician's Guide to Getting Paid Gigs, by Robonzo

Dreamhost – See the latest deals from Dreamhost, save money and support the UM in the process.

More Resources for musicians

Pardon the Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means I make a small commission, at no extra charge to you, if you purchase using those links. Thanks for your support!

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