NHT Blog

Being a content creator isn’t for the faint of heart. Whether you’re trying to grow your name as a singer offline, build your brand online, or make content creation your full-time gig, one thing is guaranteed: the journey to get (and keep) an engaged audience is not a straight line.

If you’ve ever felt like you’re fighting against constantly changing algorithms, losing followers every time you post, or wondering if all your effort is even making an impact, know this – you’re not alone.

Five days ago, Episode 600 of my weekly “Now Hear This Entertainment” podcast was released.  And yes, I did stop to pat myself on the back and had someone from the bakery department at the supermarket write 600 on top of a cake to celebrate.

A lot of people get down about Mondays.  Sadly, there is a negative connotation around the first weekday while Friday and Saturday get all the hype and the glory.

I’m not going to make things better by starting off this week with today’s insights, but then again, I don’t want to mislead anyone or sugarcoat things.  At the end of the day, I want to help people, even if that means having to serve up a dose of reality.  After all, there are lots of lessons to be learned out of adversity.

There are listeners who “subscribe to” (or, as the term has been changed to, Follow) my weekly “Now Hear This Entertainment” podcast.  And on that show, I’m often heard (a) acknowledging people who – yes, eleven-and-a-half years into the show – are just finding it for the first time, but then also, (b) recognizing (and thanking) those who’ve been with me for quite some time.

Let’s be real. If you’re dropping music in 2025 and still waiting for “the right person” to randomly hear it, you’re doing it all wrong. These days, it’s not just about putting your track out there, it’s about knowing how to promote your music smartly. Music industry professionals are already using this method to boost their artist performance using Spotify promotion services. There are many services out there, such as Playlist Push or Indie Music Academy, that are offering music promotion services, but the new combo plan at One Submit really takes it to the edge.

By now you might have already seen this news on social media, but how could I not write a blog about it too?

The news that I received just under two weeks ago is so big that I not only posted about it all across the various platforms that Now Hear This is on (social media-wise), but on my personal Facebook and Instagram accounts too, even though it’s business related.  After all, I would say that it’s more a statement on my professional career.

We’re all looking to get ahead.  Everyone wants to have an edge.  Don’t deny that you’re trying to get a leg up on the competition.  Clearly, no one these days wants to just keep up with the Joneses – they want to pass them by on the way up.

You’re pouring your blood, sweat, and tears into your music career, your books, your podcasts, your YouTube shows, or whatever else it is that you’re creating.  Yet, I’m here to challenge you to find one more effort that might give you that leg up.

They say that the third time’s the charm, right?  Although, just like “three strikes and you’re out,” it’s a negative implication (like things haven't gone well up to that point) and my blog this week is anything but that tone.  Quite frankly, for the third week in a row I’m abandoning the usual content so I can instead share a positive review of a really good song that was submitted to me.

I’ve written before in this weekly blog about metrics.  Across a variety of different types of creators, I have shown how/where you can look to see that people are enjoying and engaging with whatever it is that you’re putting out there.

How many times have you been watching something on TV when suddenly there is breaking news and the network or even the local affiliate cuts in?  We hear this happen on terrestrial radio too, where they interrupt the originally scheduled program to tell you about a developing story.