The Music Business I Started In Doesn't Exist Anymore

Access Got Easier. Attention Got Harder.

I've been in the music business for 35 years, and one thing has become increasingly clear to me:

The music business I started in doesn't exist anymore.

That's not necessarily a bad thing. In many ways, artists today have opportunities we couldn't have imagined when I started.

But easier access hasn't made building a career in music easier.

It has simply changed where the difficulty is.

How We Built a Record in 2004

In 2004, I was part of a group called MYNT.

We had a song called “How Did You Know?” featuring Kim Sozzi.

That record didn't start on the radio.

It started in the clubs.

DJs began playing it. From there, it built at the mixshow level, where DJs could test records, generate buzz and expose songs to larger audiences.

Only after building that foundation did “How Did You Know?” reach major radio stations like Z100 and KTU in New York.

The record eventually reached #3 on Billboard's Hot Dance Airplay chart and crossed over to the Billboard Hot 100.

It also became one of KTU's most-played records that year.

That was how you built a record.

Clubs.

DJs.

Mixshows.

Radio.

And between the artist and the listener were a lot of people who could determine whether your music ever reached a larger audience.

Then Everything Changed

Fast-forward to 2026.

I recently released a new record, “I Surrender,” featuring Madalina Cretu.

The process of getting that music to an audience couldn't be more different.

Today, I can finish a record, upload it through a distributor and make it available to listeners around the world almost immediately.

No radio programmer has to approve it.

No record store has to stock it.

No DJ has to play it first.

The barrier to distributing music has almost disappeared.

That's incredible.

But removing one barrier created another problem.

Anyone Can Release Music. Getting Attention Is the Hard Part.

Putting a song on Spotify doesn't mean people are going to find it.

Uploading a video to TikTok doesn't mean people are going to watch it.

And getting streams doesn't necessarily mean you've built an audience.

That's one of the biggest things I'm learning as I return my focus to my own artist project.

Twenty years ago, much of the challenge was getting through the gatekeepers who controlled distribution and exposure.

Today, artists have direct access to the audience—but so does practically everyone else.

We're all competing for attention.

That means being an independent artist in 2026 requires understanding things that weren't part of releasing records when I started.

Content.

Digital advertising.

Social media.

Analytics.

Audience behavior.

And increasingly, artificial intelligence.

I've been running Meta ads for “I Surrender,” studying my Spotify data, testing different creative ideas, looking at which countries and audiences respond, and learning how people move from discovering a piece of content to actually listening to the music.

I'm learning things at 56 that simply weren't part of the music business I entered 35 years ago.

A Stream Isn't Necessarily a Fan

This may be the biggest distinction I'm beginning to understand.

It's very easy to look at streams, views, likes and followers as the scoreboard.

But those numbers aren't necessarily the end goal.

A person seeing one of my videos is an introduction.

If that person listens to “I Surrender,” that's another step.

If they follow me, visit my website, join my email list, listen to another record, come to a show or tell somebody else about the music, something more meaningful is beginning to happen.

They're becoming part of an audience.

Ultimately, I'd rather have someone who genuinely cares about the music and wants to hear what I do next than hundreds of anonymous views that disappear tomorrow.

Social media can introduce us.

Spotify can let someone hear the music.

But the real objective is building a relationship with the people on the other side of those numbers.

At 56, I'm a Veteran and a Student

There's something humbling—and exciting—about having 35 years of experience in an industry and realizing you still have a tremendous amount to learn.

I know what it's like to watch a record build from clubs to radio.

I've worked in radio.

I've worked at a record label.

I've watched the internet transform the music industry.

I've watched physical music give way to downloads, downloads give way to streaming, and social media become one of the most powerful discovery engines we've ever had.

Now I'm watching algorithms and AI reshape it again.

The experience I accumulated over those 35 years still matters.

But experience doesn't mean much if you're unwilling to adapt when the environment changes.

So I'm experimenting.

I'm looking at the data.

I'm trying new technology.

I'm making mistakes.

And I'm documenting what I learn along the way.

Because after 35 years in the music business, I've realized something:

The tools are different.

The path to the listener is different.

But the objective hasn't really changed.

Make something worth hearing.

Find the people who might care about it.

And turn listeners into fans.

Access got easier.

Attention got harder.

And that's the music business I'm learning to navigate today.