Why Direct-to-Fan SMS Marketing Is Beating the Algorithm
Listen to the Podcast Discussion and Gain More Insight into SMS Marketing!
Your followers are not your audience until you can reach them without asking a platform for permission.
There was a time when building a following on social media felt like building a community. You posted. Your fans saw it. They liked it, shared it, showed up, bought a shirt, streamed the new single, and maybe brought a friend to the next gig. It was never perfect, but it felt like the work and the reward were connected.
Stop Chasing Virality and Start Building a Sustainable Micro-Label Ecosystem Today
Listen to the Podcast Discussion to Gain More Insight into Building your own MicroLable System!
There is a scene happening in bedrooms, garages, basements, back rooms, and half-finished home studios all over America right now. An artist finishes a song, posts a clip, refreshes the numbers, waits for the spike, gets a little bump, and then starts over again. The song is real. The work is real. The hope is real. But the business model is still a slot machine. In 2026, the biggest platforms openly frame discovery as something you can campaign for inside their system, with tools like Spotify Discovery Mode, Marquee, and Showcase. At the same time, Spotify’s current royalty rules say tracks below 1,000 streams in the previous 12 months are not included in the recorded music royalty pool calculation. Streaming is enormous at the industry level, but the structure still rewards scale, leverage, and platform dependency more than artist ownership.
The Living Room Circuit How to Book House Concerts
Listen to the Podcast Discussion to Learn More About House Concerts
Turn House Concerts Into Touring Infrastructure
The van pulls off the highway just after dark. Not into a club alley. Not behind a theater. Not into the sad side lot of a bar that promised “great promotion” and forgot to mention the Tuesday trivia crowd. This time the GPS leads you into a quiet neighborhood. Porch lights glow. A dog barks once. Somebody opens the front door before you even knock.
Why Micro-Sync Licensing Should Be Part of Every Independent Songwriter’s Business Plan
Listen to the Podcast Discussion to gain More Insight into Micro Sync for Songwriters!
There was a time when independent songwriters were told to build a career around a miracle.
Write the great song. Record the great track. Get it in the right room. Hope the right person hears it. Maybe a publisher. Maybe a supervisor. Maybe a label-connected gatekeeper who still pretends the industry runs on taste instead of leverage. Then, if the stars line up, maybe that song lands in a TV show, a commercial, a trailer, a game, or a film, and suddenly everybody acts like the system worked because one person got through the wall.
That story still gets told because it sounds romantic. It also keeps a lot of songwriters broke.
Our Cover - Claire Lugar of the Minnesota Music Resistance
Minnesota Music Resistance is a Minneapolis-area grassroots music activism collective built around a simple idea: local music scenes can do more than entertain, they can organize, raise money, and protect community. Through benefit shows and artist-led action, the group channels the energy of the Minnesota music community into support for people and organizations pushing back against authoritarianism and the harms tied to immigration enforcement. Their public messaging describes the mission as fighting authoritarianism through music and mutual support.
Tired of streaming pennies while gatekeepers cash in?
It’s time to take back control.
🔥 Now Available in Kindle, Paperback, and Hardcover.
⚡ Exclusive Collector’s Run: Only 50 hand-numbered, signed editions exist. When they’re gone, they’re gone forever.
👉 Claim your copy today—and take your place in the future of indie music.
“Breaking Chains” is a timely and insightful exploration of how decentralization is reshaping the music industry. Richard L’Hommedieu draws on deep industry knowledge to examine the shifting balance of power between artists, labels, and digital platforms. The book offers both a critique of the traditional music business and a roadmap for musicians seeking independence in a rapidly evolving landscape. With clear explanations and practical strategies, L’Hommedieu empowers readers to understand blockchain, streaming economics, and new models of ownership. More than just a guide, it’s a call to artists to reclaim control of their work and careers. A must-read for musicians, managers, and anyone curious about the future of music."
A Statement of Commitment to Independent Music Community For 2026
Listen to the Podcast Discussion to see how Making a Scene is going Support the Indie Music Community in 2026
Making a Scene is reaffirming and expanding its commitment to the independent music community with a clear editorial mission: to continue delivering in-depth, practical journali/sm that helps artists take control of their careers instead of asking for permission from systems that were never designed to work in their favor. This commitment is not rooted in trends, hype cycles, or surface-level commentary.
It is grounded in the belief that a healthy music ecosystem depends on a strong, informed, and economically sustainable music industry middle class made up of independent artists who understand both their creative value and their business power.
