Forget the Mass Market

If you make music for everybody, you make music for nobody.

Make music for the specific. Not the generic.

The artists that win today are on the fringe. They are outsiders. They don't fit the mold. Chris Stapleton did not come out of the Nashville system completely. He doesn't look like a male country star should. He doesn't sound like them either.

That's not how it all used to be. There used to be a cooker cutter way to fame. You needed to pick a side and stay on it. You could win a TV show and be at the top. But now, it's about standing out. Doing something that is uniquely you.

People see through the fake now. They don't like it. They know when it is not genuine.

So you can sing good? Nobody cares anymore. That's table stakes. We need you to have a point of view. An opinion. A sound.

So take a stand for something. Find the smallest audience you can and build upon those fans.

You don't need a lot of fans. You need good fans. Fans that care.