One full year of Self-Signed Artist! In this episode, we talk about picking and choosing from all of the information we've covered on this podcast, and refocusing your energy on one to three needle-movers.

Education is a hot topic. Some people will pressure you to go to college, other people will pressure you to NOT go to college. Some people are successful in educating themselves, and others are successful just by figuring things out through trial and error.

In this episode, we talk about the three different paths you can take in your music education. You'll hear our personal (and very different) experiences with education, how to choose what is right for you, how to make the most of whatever you choose, and how to continue with education through your career.

We're switching things up for episode 50. In this unplanned, unscripted episode, we talk about burnout and mental health. You'll hear about our own personal experiences and some maybe surprising, maybe not-so-surprising statistics about mental health and independent musicians.

Do you sell merch for your band or artist brand? Do merch sales make up a significant part of your income? In this episode, we talk about strategies you can use to maximize the power of your merch sales.

You'll hear what most people get wrong with their merch table, why high-school-Jake bought a shirt that was two sizes too small, why anybody buys merch in the first place, how merch can connect to your music/lyrics/videos/performances, the psychology of a tiered price structure, and how to drive up demand with limited supply.

If you're listening to a podcast like this one, you are probably obsessed with the question HOW. HOW do I reach more fans? HOW do I get more streams? HOW do I build a successful career with my music? But HOW is the wrong question.

In this episode, we talk about why WHO is a better question than HOW. We cover specific examples of when asking WHO leads to a better solution to a problem. You'll hear the two types of WHO to consider, the traps that HOW can lead you into, and why the question WHO is the reason this podcast exists at all.

We all like to think that we have perfect judgment and we know what the best option is in every situation. But the truth is, there's a lot going on behind the scenes in our minds that can trip us up. These are our cognitive biases.

In this episode, we talk about 6 common forms of cognitive bias and how they make the process of creating music and running your brand more difficult. You'll hear why it's so easy to make excuses for your failures, why some artists write the same thing over and over, why Jake forgets how to walk in public, and why you should listen to your songs as few times as possible while making them. 

Have you been hearing about artists and bands making millions of dollars selling NFTs, but aren't really sure what it's all about? Well, we were (are) right there with you. Buckle up, because this is a confusing topic.

In this episode, we discuss what all the hype is about. What are NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens)? Why they are so confusing? How are artists and bands are using them? What does it mean for the music industry? How might it affect you and your music career (or not)? And will NFTs change the way we and our audiences consume music?

Have you ever felt like the things that normally come easily and naturally to you, are suddenly really difficult? Then maybe you've experienced the dreaded creative slump.

In this episode, we talk about three things that can cause a slump or a plateau in your music career, a three-step process for getting out of one, Steve Martin's secret for creative success, a strategy musicians can steal from aspiring chess-masters, and finally we work on a slump-smashing plan for Jake as an example.

As an artist, it can be scary to make a big change in your sound or your branding. How will your current fans react? However, evolution and growth over the course of your career are things you should embrace.

In this episode, we talk to Jack Riley (Niamh, formerly Pleasuremad, Art School Girls, The Nimble and Quick) about evolving their sound, and by extension, artist/band name over time. We cover what artist/band names represent, when a name change makes sense, whether or not you should worry about how your audience will react, using creative boundaries in your writing, how to evolve by pushing those boundaries, and the role side projects can play in evolution.

Nobody likes spending money, but is an aversion to spending actually slowing down your career and making you miserable at the same time?

In this episode, we talk about investing in your artist career. Topics covered include: two ways you could be hurting yourself by avoiding spending money, investments we have made that paid off, how to assess whether an investment is worth it, a "pyramid test" to make assessing investments easy, why time is also an investment worth considering, and how to balance time investments vs. money investments.