Understanding the Modern Music Landscape In today’s fast-paced music industry, indie musicians face unique challenges and opportunities. The digest highlights a crucial shift: audience relationships are changing, and artists must adapt. Damian Keyes emphasizes that ignoring feedback—like calls to re-mix a song—can be a missed opportunity. Meanwhile, the story of Lil Wayne nearly being replaced … Read more
If you haven’t seen me before, my name is Damian Keyes. I’ve spent 20+ years working across the music industry as a musician, entrepreneur and growth strategist.
✅ Get my free step-by-step Single Release Plan: https://start.dk-mba.com/singlereleaseplan
⚡ DK-MBA Artist Growth System: https://www.dk-mba.com
📈 Work with DK Artists (strategy, Spotify growth, content & ads): https://www.dk-artists.com
A bit about my journey…
16: Picked up a bass for the first time and fell in love with music.
18: Signed to a major record label (and dropped 6 months later. I always said I’d do anything, but no one told me what to do. That sparked my obsession with understanding how artists actually succeed).
23: Founded BIMM music university, which became one of the largest music universities in the world.
20s: Scaled BIMM to 4,000 students per year across multiple countries, alongside working as a professional bass player performing with Eric Clapton, Alanis Morissette and Billy Cobham among others.
30: Sold BIMM and became financially free.
30s: Realised life is about the journey and building, not retiring. Built multiple music businesses including a management company and live agency.
40s: Sold both businesses and took what I’d learned working with artists offline and applied it online, helping artists grow using digital strategy before it became common.
43: Founded DK-MBA, now one of the largest online music business academies with over 40,000 students across 83+ countries.
45: Founded DK Artists, where we work directly with independent and label artists building careers, audiences and releases.
Today: We work with both independent and label artists and build the systems and infrastructure that help artists grow streams, audiences and long term careers.
You’re just one song away from changing your life.
This channel exists to share the strategies we see working right now.
I hope this brings you value and guides you in an industry that definitely isn’t easy and changes daily.
This week on the New Music Business podcast, Ari sits down with Andreas Schuller, hit songwriter, producer, and co-founder of music publishing company Honua Music. Andreas has written and produced songs for artists including The Weeknd, Jason Derulo, Madison Beer, and many more, accumulating billions of streams and numerous gold and platinum records.
Andreas breaks down how hit songs are actually created, how publishing companies develop songwriters, and why today’s music industry is more relationship-driven than ever. He shares the story behind Jason Derulo’s smash hit "Wiggle," explains how songwriting camps work, discusses the evolution of professional songwriting, and offers practical advice for aspiring songwriters trying to break into the industry.
Follow Andreas Schuller:
03:48 – Meet Andreas Schuller: Hitmaker Turned Publisher
12:19 – Music Publishing Explained: How Songwriters Make Money
18:39 – The Story Behind Jason Derulo’s "Wiggle"
22:02 – Songwriting Splits, Credits, and Industry Politics
30:37 – How Professional Songwriting Has Changed Since 2010
34:46 – Breaking Into the Music Industry as a Songwriter
39:03 – Originality vs. Trend Chasing: What Actually Works?
49:37 – Building Great Writing Rooms and Finding Creative Chemistry
52:39 – AI, the Future of Music, and What’s Next for Songwriters
Edited and mixed by Ruben Zarate
Music by Brassroots District
Produced by the team at Ari’s Take
Order the THIRD EDITION of How to Make It in the New Music Business: https://book.aristake.com
➔➔Artists and Bands! Claim your artist profile at http://echonation.uk
Are you an independent artist looking for a better way to promote your music and build your professional presence online? In this video, I take you on a tour of EchoNation, a platform created specifically for independent musicians and bands.
Discover how EchoNation can help you build a professional artist profile, create a shareable Electronic Press Kit (EPK), track profile and EPK analytics, and use built-in audio tools designed to make your music workflow easier.
I’ll also explain how EchoNation’s one-time $15 Lifetime Membership helps keep the platform running—covering server costs, security, new features, and ongoing development—without charging monthly subscription fees.
In this video you’ll learn:
🎵 How EchoNation helps artists get discovered
🎤 Professional artist profiles
📄 Built-in Electronic Press Kits (EPKs)
📊 Profile & EPK analytics
🎚️ Built-in audio tools for musicians and producers
🌎 Music promotion resources
💎 Benefits of the $15 Lifetime Membership
If you’re serious about growing your music career, EchoNation is built to help you promote yourself more professionally and connect with new opportunities.
