Find Your Frequency

nnabel Stop It went from DJing on Twitch in her bedroom to playing Tomorrowland, and she's one of the most honest guests we've had about what that journey costs. In this short episode she explains why getting your finances steady comes first, and how a cycle of busy summers and quiet winters kept undoing her progress. She talks through going full-time the first time with no strategy and no cash runway, and why her Twitch audience didn't turn into live bookings. Answering a question from Paint Official, she explains why a career that isn't sustaining you yet doesn't mean you've failed. If you're weighing up leaving your day job, listen to this first.

Your task: before you leave your safety net, have a plan and a cash runway.

Try un:hurd music: https://go.unhurd.co.uk/spotifypod

Eden J Howells spent years chasing goals they couldn’t control: a manager, a booking agent, an editorial playlist, a follower count. In this episode they explain why they now set goals around only what they can do, and why the song you’re most scared to write is usually the one that connects. As someone who runs a social media agency, they’re frank about why they wouldn’t recommend a small artist pays a grand a month for a social media manager. Eden also talks about turning a 30-person group chat into Queer Creatives London, why vulnerability sits behind most of their viral moments, and why rest alone doesn’t fix autistic burnout. If you’ve been measuring your progress by numbers you can’t move, this one’s for you.

Try un:hurd music to power your marketing: https://go.unhurd.co.uk/spotifypod

Vinyl is the biggest income False Idah makes from music right now, and she’s blunt about what streaming pays. Jay has been a rock band singer in Northampton, a signed pop artist and Amaroun, and the fans she built along the way followed her over to her latest project. She explains how TikTok lives where viewers help write the songs built that loyalty, why her mailing list matters more to her than her follower count, and why she put around £2k of her own money into her last vinyl batch to help fund the next album. She also talks about juggling day jobs alongside music, her PRS Power Up funding and why she’d rather build the right team than chase a million streams. If you’ve got a small, real audience and you’re wondering whether it can pay for anything yet, this one’s for you.

Try un:hurd music now: https://go.unhurd.co.uk/spotifypod

Katie Debrah spent years in creative strategy at Google and YouTube, including two years with YouTube Music in LA, and now runs the creative tech company Halo and Echo. In this short episode she takes on the question labels bring to her more than any other, which is how content actually drives streams. She explains how an artist can have a million followers and 10,000 monthly streams, and why chopping up your music video rarely closes that gap. Using Flyana Boss as a case study, she shows how phone-shot content built around who you are can outperform a big-budget video, and why handing part of the process to someone else is how you keep up. If you've got the followers but the streams aren't following, this one's for you.

Your task: hand one part of your content process to someone else.

Try un:hurd music out today: https://go.unhurd.co.uk/spotifypod

Matt Spetzler has spent the last decade investing in music, with around $5bn of deals behind him. In this short episode, taken from our full conversation, he does the maths on what a loyal fanbase is actually worth and explains why 10,000 to 100,000 fans who stick around can give you a real career. He talks through why owning your work is the closest thing an artist has to a retirement plan, and why splitting your rights for the first offer that comes along makes everything harder later. Answering a question from CJ Snail, he also points to the money that goes uncollected, starting with publishing. If you're independent and building for the long run, start here.

Your task: check you're collecting everything you're owed, from publishing to neighbouring rights and YouTube Content ID.

DJ Semtex has been the voice of hip-hop in this country for 30 years. He gave Drake his first UK interview in Hyde Park before anyone knew the name, he's been credited by Kanye and a long line of UK artists, and he's spent two decades spotting talent before the rest of the world catches up. In this episode he cuts through the noise with the bluntest, most useful advice you'll hear on this show: make a banger, and everything else falls into place. He explains why this is the best time in history for UK rap, why the "AI in music" debate isn't as simple as anyone claims, and why your first 50 fans matter more than any algorithm. If you're an artist trying to cut through, this one's a masterclass in keeping it simple.

https://go.unhurd.co.uk/spotifypod

EKENE grew up in Lagos on gospel music and choir, moved through rap groups and poetry, and started sharing songs on Instagram because they needed somewhere to go. His debut EP Little Us is seven songs of genuinely honest writing, and this conversation catches him right at the start, which is the most interesting place to have it. He gets specific on why he measures progress by knowing his fans' names rather than his stream count, why honesty is the only growth strategy he trusts, and how he stays stubborn about his vision without shutting out good advice. He's also open about the vulnerable songs he hasn't released yet and why. If you're early in your own journey and building something real from nothing, this one's for you.

Try un:hurd music here: https://go.unhurd.co.uk/spotifypod

Rob Sealy spent 30 years in insurance and financial services before he noticed something the music industry does that no other industry would tolerate: artists barely know who their fans are. So he co-founded Openstage to fix it, and now runs fan campaigns for some of the biggest artists alive. In this episode he gets specific on why your social reach has collapsed below 2%, why 10% of your fans drive 80% of your income, and why the tactics that work for a stadium act are exactly the same ones that work when you've got five fans. He's blunt about the mistake most artists make, leading with the ask instead of the relationship, and generous with what to do instead. If you're building a fanbase from scratch, this one hands you the playbook. Independent artists, this is the one to save.

Try un:hurd music here: https://go.unhurd.co.uk/spotifypod

Sissy Ford moved to London on her own at seventeen and has spent six years turning bedroom recordings into a catalogue with millions of streams. She's breaking right now, and this conversation catches her mid-climb, which is exactly the most honest place to have it. She gets specific on why nothing in music happens quickly, why comparing your streams to everyone else's is a trap, why picking a single genre is a mistake, and why the aloof mysterious-artist act is finished. She also talks about building real connection with fans through weekly livestreams and treating supporters like friends rather than a follower count. If you're early in your own journey and wondering why it's taking so long, this one's for you.

Try un:hurd music here: https://go.unhurd.co.uk/spotifypod

Nicola Gunby is a two-time founder who built and sold a beauty marketplace before she turned thirty, then set out to fix a problem she couldn't shake... how hard it is to actually meet people and build real community in a city full of strangers. That became Cliq. In this episode she gets specific on why your fifty thousand followers aren't a community, why most people quit building one right before it works, and why the smaller and more niche you go, the stronger the connection. She also breaks down the difference between an audience that scrolls past you and a community that actually turns up. If you're an artist trying to turn passive listeners into a fanbase that sticks, this one's for you.

Try un:hurd at www.unhurdmusic.com

Katie Debrah started exactly where a lot of you are now. Making music, uploading it, hoping someone on the other side of a screen would care. She ended up on the inside, spending years at Google and YouTube shaping creative strategy for some of the biggest artists in the world, before walking away to build tools for independent artists instead. In this episode she gets specific on why a million followers can still mean ten thousand streams, why chopping up your music video won't save you, and why your social audience is rented rather than owned. She also breaks down the thing most platforms won't tell you... that their "best practice" is built for their business, not yours. If you've ever felt like you're doing everything right and still not converting, this one's for you.

Keith Jopling has spent 25 years inside the music industry: IFPI, Sony, EMI, Spotify, MIDiA Research, sitting in the boardrooms and reading the data. He's the host of The Art of Longevity (80 episodes and counting) and the author of a new book, Riding the Rollercoaster, built from those conversations. His argument is blunt: the business is built on artists' work but run largely for everyone else's benefit, and the artists who last are the ones who worked that out early.

In this episode he breaks down why the metrics you're chasing were designed for someone else's success, why getting dropped is often the making of an artist, why you build your fanbase from day one now that a streaming hit only buys you six to twelve months, and what success actually looks like when you're not in the charts.

He's been inside the industry for 25 years, and he's on the artist's side, not theirs. If that's you, this one matters.

Try un:hurd music for 7 days at www.unhurdmusic.com

David Ronan is the founder of RoEx, which builds tools that give artists the confidence to release their music: corrective mixing, mastering and audio cleanup that clears the technical hurdles so you can focus on the creative part. He's got a PhD in music tech, was head of research at AI Music (the company Apple later acquired), and RoEx has now processed over 6 million tracks.

In this episode he breaks down the loudness mistake almost every independent artist makes, how to use AI on your music without crossing into the creative, and why an AI artist will never really have fans. Alex and David also get into the budget trap that leaves great music stuck at 100 listeners, why people still seek out authenticity, and the milestone that changed everything for RoEx (hitting break-even).

If you're an independent artist trying to get your music sounding right and actually heard, this one's for you.

You can try un:hurd music here: https://go.unhurd.co.uk/spotifypod

Lump by James Holden - https://open.spotify.com/track/7udc4e7om5HGUT8Cguto31?si=bad55a017deb4c2c

Max Busin is the founder of GoToBeat, the live music company on track for half a million tickets this year across 16 European countries. His pitch to artists is a simple one: tour with us and earn around 40% more than you would with a traditional promoter.

In this episode he breaks down how that number works (lower costs, smarter data, the right rooms), why most artists quietly lose money on tour, and why owning your audience matters more than raw scale, a lesson he learned the hard way after a media business he'd built to the 45th biggest website in the world vanished overnight when one platform changed its algorithm. Alex and Max also get into AI as a tool rather than a threat, why one clear metric beats chasing followers, and the case for just putting the work out instead of overthinking it.

If you're an independent artist trying to build something that lasts, this one's for you.

Try un:hurd music with a 7 day trial at app.unhurdmusic.com

Maria Stavrou has been an optical engineer, a circus aerialist on three world tours, a therapist, and a festival producer. She's visited 52 countries and built everything from cabaret shows to 15,000-person events. The thread through all of it? Creating spaces where people feel safe enough to be themselves.

In this episode, Maria talks about how growing up in foster care pushed her to map out a 20-year life plan at 16, why the people you work with at 22 will still be around at 32 (so treat them accordingly), a 70-year Harvard study that proves feeling understood is the single biggest factor in living a long, healthy life, and why building community to tick boxes will always fall apart.

She also shares the simplest advice for managing pressure that nobody follows: check the facts, don't check the feelings.

New episodes every Monday.

un:hurd music gives every independent artist a fair chance of success. Start now: https://unhurdmusic.com

Lizzie Esau has gone from open mics in the Northeast to Radio One's Big Weekend and Glastonbury. No label. No viral moment. No shortcut. Just great music, relentless live shows, and zero-hour jobs to keep it all going.

In this episode, Lizzie talks about why she built her career on stage rather than on a screen (and why most of her community found her through live, not social), the preparation ritual that keeps her nerves in check before every show, what she learned from playing to two people and a dog in Middlesbrough, and why she stands at the merch table after every single gig.

She also shares the mindset shift every artist chasing numbers needs to hear: stop treating your music like a product. It should be a feeling you give someone. Then it becomes something people experience, not just buy.

New episodes every Monday.

un:hurd music gives every independent artist a fair chance of success. Start now: https://unhurdmusic.com

Ibrahim Kamara gave Nines, Brent Faiyaz, and J Hus their first ever magazine covers. He built Guap, one of the UK's most influential creative platforms, from a camera and a student overdraft. It took six years before the business made any money. Now, 11 years in, he's going back to his first love: making music independently.

In this episode, Ibrahim breaks down the independent artist model he thinks actually works (drop music, build products and experiences around it, tour, repeat), why community depth matters more than community size, what entrepreneurship actually costs that nobody talks about, and why you can't call yourself an artist in 2026 if you don't understand publishing, PRS, and the business side of your own craft.

He also shares the line that every artist needs to hear: if you're not treating music like a business, you just want an expensive hobby.

New episodes every Monday.

un:hurd music gives every independent artist a fair chance of success. Start here: https://unhurdmusic.com

Chris Herbert put together the Spice Girls when everyone around him was telling him to make another boy band. He looked at the market, saw it was saturated, and went the other direction. He cast them like a TV show (Friends, specifically), giving each member an individual identity so the audience had someone to identify with. It became one of the biggest bets in music history.

In this episode, Chris talks about how he spotted the gap nobody else could see, what he looks for in an artist now versus the 90s (and why "I can sing, what are you going to do for me?" is the wrong question), why the UK has stopped developing artists while America still does it brilliantly, and why authenticity isn't optional anymore because the public sees through everything in a nanosecond.

If you're an independent artist trying to figure out what makes you different, Chris has one answer: find your identity first. Everything else follows.

New episodes every Monday.

un:hurd music gives every independent artist a fair chance of success. Start free for 7 days: https://unhurdmusic.com

Alex Brees has watched 200,000 artists sign up to un:hurd. He's seen what the ones who grow do differently from the ones who stay invisible. In this episode, he gets out of the interviewer's chair and answers questions directly from the community.

Alex breaks down why playlisting is only part of the strategy and what artists should be doing alongside it, the three things that separate artists who grow from artists who stay invisible (creativity, consistency, resilience), why most artists are chasing the wrong goal and the difference between optimising for a million streams versus £30,000, why where you're based doesn't matter as much as you think and how artists in developing markets actually have a hidden advantage, and why the journey taking 5 to 10 years is a feature, not a bug.

Questions from Oisin Murphy (17 years old), BECKO, Luke (In Pools), Hway (Adrian), TheEnough, and The K.I.J Experience.

If you've ever wondered what the founder of a music platform would tell you if he had nothing to sell, this is the episode.

Find Antzlive here: https://www.instagram.com/antslive/?hl=en

New episodes every Monday.

un:hurd music gives every independent artist a fair chance of success. Start now: https://unhurdmusic.com

Matt Spetzler has closed over $5bn of music deals including Kobalt and Native Instruments. He now runs his own fund backing independent music companies. He's seen how the money flows from every angle, and he says most artists are missing it.

In this episode, Matt breaks down exactly where independent artists are losing money they don't know about (publishing alone is an extra 20%), why chasing a million streams is the wrong goal when 100,000 loyal fans spending $100 each is worth $10 million, why you should never split your rights even when someone offers you a deal, what investors actually look for before they back a music business, and why he thinks AI is making it both easier and scarier to be an independent artist in 2026.

He also answers community questions from CJ Snaii on building a career investors would believe in and Max Skalla on the biggest AI red flag in music right now.

If you're an independent artist who's never understood how the money side of music actually works, this episode will change that.

New episodes every Monday.