# data[].attributes.body
Description -

So far I have done seven weeks of this mentoring process, I have three more weeks left but with the upcoming essay deadline I wanted to check in on my development using Gibb's cycle.

These past seven weeks have been career changing for me. At the beginning of this skill development and mentoring process I felt I had a good handle on what I wanted from my career and a good work ethic on how to get there, but now looking back I realise how far I have come. Before this process I know what I wanted but had no one specific plan of how to get there - now I have a clear fanbase growth cycle that I myself developed and follow daily, I feel more organised in my process than ever and have learnt countless skills from Stacey. At this current time I am in the process of planning out my release schedule for this year, with singles that will lead to an EP over the summer. Previously I would never had made a release schedule, relying more on instinct and inspiration driven spontaneity to determine my releases. This combination of skills, industry knowledge and self organisation has been the true triumph of this process, and rather than taking away the creative beauty of spontaneity, it has meant that I am able to make quicker headway with my creative output and be in turn more creative and spontaneous more often, due to the fact that I have the skill-set and clarity needed to be able to pull this off professionally. I now have a clear idea about the exact process needed in order to grow my fanbase and become a financially sustainable musician, with or without a record deal, this is another true success of this process.

Feelings -

At the end of the first seven weeks of this process the overwhelming feeling that I have is empowerment. Over this time I have felt more like a professional musician than ever before and more clear than I have ever been on the process needed to reach these goals. I feel clear minded and empowered because I have realised that I have the power to control the direction my music career goes in, something that in the past had always been something I had been told and believed was down to luck alone. This is another feeling I intend to hold onto and keep on pushing. Now is my time to take hold of my own future.

Evaluation -

The good thing about this mentoring and development process has been the way in which it has shifted my music career focus from hope driven and spontaneous workflow, into plan based empowered workflow. The skills and knowledge I now have at my disposal and the way in which I now know that by implementing them I can decide the direction that my career goes in.

The bad thing about this process has been more nuanced. There have been times during this process that I have been aware of the fact that I have not thought as far ahead in future as I could have when considering conversation points with Stacey. I have also been aware of certain mentoring sessions in which I feel I have learnt many skills but not added to my long term knowledge or work routine.

Analysis -

What I can see is that overall this process has been a total success. I have completely shifted the way in which I think about and enact my career. I have built on already existing skills and directions as well as adding knowledge and processes that I may have taken years to learn on my own. I do however also see that there is still much room for growth and implementation of these skills, as in fact there always will be.

Conclusion -

If I was going to do this process again I believe I could have thought more deeply about where exactly I wanted my career to go in and been more methodical with my planning or what skills I will need in order to get there. However another thing I must acknowledge that this ability to plan and see into the future has been a product of this process itself and so it is possibly unhelpful to hold my earlier self to account for things that I have specifically learnt in this process.

Action Plan -

For the next three weeks of my mentoring sessions I intend to hone in deeply on my future plans and methodically move through problems, obstacles and potential solutions in order to get the more out of these next three weeks with Stacey as possible. I have a feeling that if I put in the right steps found from this reflection itself, these last few weeks may be the most beneficial yet, I must make sure that this is so.

# data[].attributes.body
Description -

The focus of this last week has most certainly had to shift a bit. Direct practical development that I saw in the early weeks of this process has moved into a more conceptual development. This is due to two things. Firstly, I am writing two essays at the same time as working on my career skills development, which as I have been showing is very much practical and present, this means that as the essay become more and more urgent the actual practical application of these skills has less time to be focused on. The second more positive reason for this is that as I am writing these essays, I am thinking about the concepts and justifications behind why certain skills are important to me, this in turn is making these skills deeper rooted in my core beliefs and means that skills can be transferable within categories rather than only being relevant to specific and concentrated tasks. This is to say that this process, whilst being a time of technical slowing of active skill implementation, the actual future knowledge I will carry with me is becoming much more deep rooted.

Feelings -

My feelings at the end of this week are mixed. Whilst on one hand I feel empowered by the aforementioned hopeful long term knowledge that is beginning to set in, I on the other hand feel stretched and frustrated that I am not able to spend more time on implementing these skills in the present time. I think it is important to acknowledge however, that it is possible the reason I feel this frustration is that I was moving so fast with practical application over the first few weeks of this process, so any, no matter how natural, slowing of this application is going to feel like a step back, but it doesn't necessarily mean that it is.

Evaluation -

The good thing about this last week is that I have begun deepening my conceptual justifications for the skills and knowledge that I am developing, and in turn building much more long term skills and knowledge reserves that will now change the way in which my career progresses forever.

The bad thing about this week is that I have not been able to practically apply these skills as much as I have been in previous weeks, slowing down my actual practical career development.

Analysis -

What I think this shows is that I am in fact going in the right direction, I have a hunger to be able to put my skills into action in a more committed way which is good, but the actual skills that I have at my disposal are ever growing.

Conclusion -

I could have been better at looking further into the future at skills I feel I need to get my career to its next step, and the step after that. I could have also put less pressure on myself to keep seeing exponential growth in my career as the inner growth will feed into this practical growth in due course, this is something I feel strongly now.

Action Plan -

Next week I going to be full steam ahead essay writing, so what I must do is use this time to really fine tune my inner knowledge and skill growth from as many angles as I can, so that when I have more time again to keep progressing my career I will quickly make steps forward.

# data[].attributes.body
Description -

In this session I caught Stacey up on my week and what I had been doing. I described how I had got a support slot booked for November and told Stacey I would like to see if I could get more dates supporting this band on their tour. She gave the advice that I should make contact with the bands agent with information like my bio and stage plan, and then add in that I would be interested in more dates on the tour if available. She stressed to keep the conversation going. This is something I intend to do.

I also told Stacey I have been compiling contact of A and R people from labels I am interested in. I asked for advice in approaching these people. She said the most important thing is to show you understand their role, what they offer and what they expect, why I am similar to artists they already have and why I am also different. These are vital pieces of advice that I will carry with me in any attempt to gain a record deal. Stacey finally stressed 'it's all about the personal relationship.' I must build relationships with these A and R people and anyone I make contact with.

I finally got Stacey to go into detail on a couple of concepts of which she has stressed their importance in conversation before. These will be transcribed and used in my essays. These where;

- Story; how to make people understand you
- Engagement; how to make people connect with you and your story
- Platform; your voice
- Algorithm; the way in which technology can be used in our favour.

Feelings -

After this session I feel good, I have a handful of more indispensable practical information from stacey as well as conceptual justification on these subjects that I can use going forward. I continue to be aware of wanting to get the most out of these sessions but on the whole I feel things are progressing nicely and looking back I realise how far I have already come.

Evaluation -

The good thing about this session is that I was given more good advice by Stacey that I shall be using before the next session.

The bad thing about this session is a slight feeling of not getting as much growth as I might feel I need. Potentially to not have thought enough about the types of situations that might arise in future rather than what I am doing right now.

Analysis -

This shows something clear to me, before next session I need to think of a mixture between questions I have on my current direction, as well as questions about situations I envisage happening in future.

Conclusion -

I could have looked further into future, at what I WANT to happen rather than just what is currently happening.

Action Plan -

Before next session I will delve deep into what I hope and expect from my upcoming future and ask questions based on that. Through this I believe true growth can be found.

# data[].attributes.body
Description -

This week has been a mixed bag as far as my development goes. I have been working hard on essay planning and research for this module which has solidified some of my ethos on this area. I have in particular been learning about the power of branding, platforming and engagement from a theoretical perspective, which has in turn been giving me confidence in the practical side of this process. What this new drive in theoretical work load means however is that my fast paced and driven development that I have been feeling these last weeks has had to slow down and balancing work load is becoming important.

I have however made some good headway -

- I have been putting much thought into what my non-text logo will be

- I have been editing my cover video so it  can be released soon.

- Continuing my social media presence. My Instagram story engagement has gone up to nearly 200 views on each story, which is a considerable move up from the highs of 120-40 before. I intend to post an 'engaging' post this week, in the form of a question of some kind.

- I have continued contacting agents with more leads/contacts being made and a gig now set up supporting Hanya in November.

- A new addition to my process has been compiling contacts of record label a&r people. I have not made contact with any yet as need to plan this properly.

Feelings -

I have felt slightly less good about my development this week, and as always happens writing this journal I realise this is more in my own mind than based in reality. It has had to slow because of balancing music work and MA work and this has made me feel less empowered by the fast pace of things. I have also had a feeling of being on the edge of burning out, this is something I need to work out how to address and take a step back on in some way. Overall, today I feel good about the week that has passed, and feel more than anything that it's important to stay positive and not get too overwhelmed by the pressure I put on myself.

Evaluation -

The good thing about this last week is that I have made good progress on the theoretical and research side of this summative assignment and feel I know what mu purpose and direction is practically. I have also actually still made good headway practically.

The bad thing about this last week rather than a lack of headway has actually been the pressure I have been putting on myself and the unhelpful and untrue feeling that I am falling behind or not doing enough.

Analysis -

The sense that can be made of this is that I need to just keep going, continue to organise my time and find ways to do this more efficiently. It is important at this stage to continue growing but to also give myself some love and realise that, as Stacey commented, I am doing more than enough. Sustainability and not burning out is just as important as exponential growth.

Conclusion -

As the narrative of this entry is suggesting, what I could have done better is to put less negative mental pressure on myself and allow myself to breath. I also could have organised my time better, particularly in breaking up the day, this would have helped me feel less overwhelmed by the workload.

Action Plan -

Next week I intend two things above all; to be kind to myself and acknowledge the amazing development I have been making, and to find ways of breaking up my days and organising my time even better than I am already. Possibly a daily timetable.

# data[].attributes.body
Description -

In this session me and Stacey covered some good ground on topics. I told her about my email to Herbal Tea and the fact I had got no response yet. Stacey stressed the fact that I must send a follow up email and suggested that I could make myself a one sheet and send that with the intention of giving Herbal Tea more info about me. We spoke about my getting onto good playlists and Stacey told me that I must promote these playlists and make friends with them, in the hopes that they may want to use any new music I release.

Branding - Storytelling

We spoke about the importance of storytelling and in particular the importance of consistency within this storytelling for a strong brand. Stacey noted that this storytelling can be verbal but also visual, with colour and image being just as important. Stacey said 'your music is like a hug.'

We also spoke about Keaton Henson and the fact that he is very nervous on stage and hardly looks up from his guitar. Stacey acknowledged that in doing that, being true to his vulnerabilities, he has created his own very individual brand.

Logo

I asked for advice on creating a non-written logo. Stacey said that it can not be random and must represent me. She said a good place to start could be to think of three words that I feel represent my music, search them into google and then use symbology to get some idea. That also these words can then be used as hashtags that I can always use.

Engagement - Call to action

I asked Stacey about any advice she had on how to make an engaging post on my Instagram story. She said 'ask for help' and used the example of asking for help rhyming, saying that what this does is shows your audience you are actually interested in them, and value their opinion and input, which is vital for engagement. She called this in marketing terms, a call to action.

Feelings -

This felt like a good session and good step forward for our process of working together. I gave Stacey some obstacles that I had come across this week and she offered useful advice on how to get past these obstacles. I came away feeling empowered.

Evaluation -

The good thing about this session was that I came away with even more useful information than last week, I was given information on how to overcome obstacles as well as useful philosophical information on key areas of my development.

The bad thing about this session is that it still feels not quite as well structured as it could be. Although on reflection we did touch on key areas that I have defined as being important for my development, it could be more clearly defined during the session. I must truly consider wether this is actually important or wether post analysis is actually better as will be less restrictive to the flow of the sessions.

Analysis -

Sense that can be made of this situation is that I have much to put into action and add to process of development, I have been given good guidance on communicating with 'clients', branding and logo making, and engaging my fans. All things that I can put into action NOW. This for now is more than enough to be getting on with and will greatly add to my skill development.

Conclusion -

I could have made sure before the session to split my questions clearly into the different sections that I need to develop, so that I know I am adding to those skills fairly, rather than only focusing on the ones that feel important at the time.

Action Plan -

Next week I am going to write a list of questions, but this time I am going to split them between the sections of; Branding, marketing/platforming, and engagement. As well as any extra vital pieces of info that I find I need during the week. This will mean that my skill development will hopefully be more relevant to my career in the long run rather than just at this current time.

# data[].attributes.body
An extremely useful couple of developments that I have added to my weekly routine are prompts and to do lists. Both of these ideas have come from my own thinking about how I can be more efficient and remember the direction I am taking myself in.

I have been using to do lists now for a few weeks and it has made a huge impact on both my self esteem and my productivity. It has helped my self esteem as I am able to see exactly how much I have actually done each week, and it has helped my productivity as at the beginning of each week I review my to do list, carrying over unfinished tasks from the weeks before and adding any new tasks. As someone who is prone to getting an over crowded mind, these to do lists are something I intend to be a permanent feature of my working process.

More recently I have added what I call prompts to my routine. Prompts, in the way that I am intending to use them are short questions or reminders to aid in the creation of new to do lists, and to aid thought processes on what my goal is and how I might get closer to it. This has also already been useful for my distraction prone mind, as if I am feeling directionless or overwhelmed I can look down at my prompt and be reminded of what I am aiming towards, and better still start thinking about what I can do next to get there.

Examples of each below.

# data[].attributes.headline
Update before fourth session with Stacey

# data[].attributes.subject
Update before fourth session with Stacey

# data[].attributes.body
Description -

This last week I have again been full steam ahead putting Stacey's advice from last session into action. It has, as with any week, given a mixture of results; some successes and some 'failures'.

Successes

In terms of successes I must say there have been a few. I have continued contacting Spotify playlist curators and have been put on one with over 8,000 followers, and another with over 30,000 followers. This has already payed off in terms of an exponential hike in daily plays and saves of my song.

I filmed a live session at the weekend in which I recorded a cover of Home To You by Cate Le Bon, as well as a stripped back version of my last single. I am now in the process of mixing the audio and editing the video.

I applied to play at Brainchild Festival. I have had no response yet, so how far this success goes is still to be seen, but I feel happy with the way in which I applied, I used Stacey's advice and told the festival why them, why me, what stages and explained what I believe the strong crossover in our values is.

'Failures'

I emailed a bigger artist than myself this week, Herbal Tea. I used Stacey's advice and introduced myself and my values and told her why I love her music and think we would be a good fit. I have however had no response in nearly a week now, she looked at the email twice and not again. This may be down to the fact she is just not interested in which case the failure was inevitable, but I intend to discuss this with Stacey today.

Feelings -

I am feelings in general good at the end of this week, things are still moving forward and I have managed to platform myself on some very influential playlists. I do feel disappointed to have not gotten a response from Herbal Tea and I love her music, but I have a strong feeling of drive from this failure, to find other artists to collaborate with, and to make enough of an impact on the Bristol music scene that she may even want to collaborate in future. As usual I feel I am making steps but that there are many steps ahead of me as well, which has to be a positive thing.

Evaluation -

The good thing about this week is that I have managed to get myself on some playlists that will bring a sizeable influx of new listeners in. I have applied to a festival that I have a chance of playing at. Also that I have finalised the recording of my live session and will be releasing this soon.

The bad thing about this week is to have not gotten a reply from Herbal Tea. I could have contacted more agents/promoters than I did this week. I also could have put a bit more work into getting my next single finished.

Analysis -

I am pleased that I have been put on these big playlists, it shows I am starting to find the right people. I feel my work process is getting more and more fine tuned and I am casting a wider net with which to gain more true fans. I of course have had some campaigns that haven't gone how I wanted, but what I must acknowledge is that every single week I have a multitude of emails that get no response, and I feel I am more disappointed with Herbal Tea's lack of response because her music actually means something personal to me. What I need to do however is remember to think about it as a business transaction, at least at the start, and also remember that she does not know me. - How could I make sure the next person DOES know me better?

Conclusion -

To conclude, this was a productive week, but could have been more productive. I could have been more organised and methodical with my campaigns and reached more influential platforms. I must also give myself some compassion though as I am working very hard, with time constraints, and am making a great deal of progress.

Action Plan -

This week I am going to continue putting in the work to platform myself. I want to reach more people, with a higher success rate and in a more organised way. Breaking up my day into specific sections of focus may help this.

I am going to start designing a no text logo for my brand, something that will be instantly recognisable and can either go with my text logo or be instantly recognisable on its own.

I intend to post something on Instagram that directly engages my fans. A question of some kind..?

I am also chatting to the head of 100 Percent Records today to ask him a few questions about what exactly his DIY leaning record label looks for in artists. This will be greatly illuminating.

Until next time.

# data[].attributes.body
Description -

In this most recent session I filled Stacey in on how things have been going and what I had been putting into action the week prior. I told her I was planning to film a cover of Cate Le Bon - Home To You as well as planning the release of my next single. In response to this she suggested I film a music video in which fans film themselves dancing or pretending to be a crowd, something that would be amazing for engagement as fans want to share what they are a part of and see themselves in the film.

I also asked Stacey for advice on contacting other bigger artists to pitch collaborations. Her advice was simple; tell the artist why them, why now, who am I, and what are my intentions. She stressed the importance of clarity and of being clear on why we BOTH would be good for each other. Stacey told me to send this email and tell her if I got a response.

I asked Stacey for advice on getting into festivals. Again the advice was relatively simple, they want to know; why them, what stage, what can I offer. She stressed to be personal and match your pitch to each festival and their values.

We had more talk about algorithms and Spotify playlists. Stacey advised pitching towards and making my own overnight playlists, as it matches my sound and is listened to for many hours.

Final advice was to put logo brand on emails, and as many things I do as possible.

Feelings -

After this most recent session I feel more positive about the sessions and their direction that I have in previous weeks. I felt more comfortable talking to Stacey and being vulnerable with the gaps in my knowledge. It feels like these sessions are starting become more streamlined, me and Stacey have got to know each other a bit better, and the feeling of growth is starting to become noticeable. Stacey seems impressed with my direction.

Evaluation -

The good part of the session is that I could feel myself having already grown and greatly improved my skill-set and that the scope for more growth and change is only getting bigger the more we become in tune with one another.

I did however have a worry afterwards that this comfortability shows that growth is slowing down. This may be irrational but I must put in steps to make sure this is not the case. Another thing is that I feel there is still room for more constructiveness in these sessions and for there to be more of a linear growth pattern, if that exists.

Analysis -

The sense I can make of this last session is that my growth is most certainly going in the direction that it should be, but there is more work to be done on really getting the most out of these sessions that I can. I need to continue being hungry for more growth at all times.

Conclusion -

If I was to do this sessions again I would have racked my brain for a couple more questions, no matter how insignificant they might seem. I am beginning to feel that the more I learn in these sessions the more scope for learning arises, so I must feed this.

Action Plan -

Next session I will think hard on how I can more constructively gain knowledge in these sessions, to try and think about my questions along the line of branding, engagement, social media and campaign strategies, but to not close off potential extra growth in the aid of academic clarity.

# data[].attributes.body
Description -

I have spent the past week putting in a lot of work into getting my music out there. I have been using a new online application call HubSpot which helps build email templates and analyses the results of email campaigns, telling you each time someone views an email you have sent them. I have been finding and emailing playlist curators and Youtube bloggers whose content I feel is in line with my own and asking if they will upload my music to their pages. This has had some success with my music already being added to a handful of playlists as well as uploaded onto a couple of Youtube channels with a over 5000 followers. I have also begun to find that there is a rippling effect on this with my music being added to playlists and pages that have clearly discovered me second hand at one of these sources, I will attach an example of this below.
I have been emailing promoters, artist managers and agents of artists that I admire in order to get support slots. I have had quite a few of replies from artist agents saying they will keep me in mind, as well as many leads of agents who have gone back and viewed my email more than 10 times over the course of days, these leads I shall be following up on when the time is right. I have also had a reply from an influential Bristol promoter who I have had prior contact with. I gave him a nudge this and he replied saying that he will find me something soon.
I have begun putting in the work to collaborate with other artists in my scene, making contact with one who wants to lend some vocals to a song of mine, and planning to contact one who I would like to collaborate with, but is a bigger artist who I do not personally know so must plan it well. This will all again aid in expanding my net of people who can discover my music.

I have also started writing weekly to do lists which is a game changer, helps so much with productivity and self esteem.

Feelings -

After this week I have an overwhelming feeling that I am really starting to get myself organised. As well as being a continuation of my own trajectory, I know that Stacey has helped with this, her pieces of advice clearing my mind and giving me confidence in the direction I am going. An interesting observation is that my feelings about the mentoring itself have been quite unsure and conflicted, whereas my working weeks are more clear and driven than ever before. Through tension and battling comes growth and success, maybe this is exactly what is happening. I feel for the first time in a long time that music in ALL its forms really is my day job.

Evaluation -

The good thing about this week is that I am making a lot of headway towards platforming myself online and making steps towards being able to get fanbase growing gigs in future. I have felt clear headed and had a strong direction of what I have to do in order to reach more people and getting some good results.
The bad thing about this week has come in the form of not getting replies from certain people that I would have liked to reply. I also can be more productive I believe and find ways of more effectively grabbing the attention of email recipients.

Analysis -

From these good and bad points I can see that what is happening is growth. I have made a huge amount of headway already, but I can learn to be more effective. This is something I must actively pursue but also have an acceptance that it is happening. With emails that don't get a response I can do two things, follow up on those that are clearly thinking about it, send more emails as this is something I constantly have the power to do, accept that we can not always get a response no matter what stage of the industry we are at.

Conclusion -

I could have send a few more emails in a slightly more organised fashion. I could have also been more organised making some headway on my new music as well as covers I am planning to record and film.

Action Plan -

My next steps this coming week are going to be -

- Have session with Stacey and work on building on the knowledge I am growing (Advice on getting festival slots and approaching bigger artists are going to be my main priorities.)
- Keep this trajectory as it is working. Send more emails, make more connections, don't stop.
- Keep on working out ways to efficiently organise my time, whilst still giving space for inspiration and spontaneity.
- Make EPK / One Sheet template for future releases.
- Make Action Plan template for future releases.

Until next time.

# data[].attributes.body
I am from this moment forward going to be implementing Gibbs' Reflective Cycle as a more systemic way of reflecting on the outcome of these mentoring sessions. I have hopes that this will help clear my mind and give me more direction as I am currently feeling a lack of both these things with regards to my development and the mentoring sessions in general.

# data[].attributes.body
Description -

In this most recent session I was able to again dip into Stacey's vast knowledge. I wanted to focus in particular on campaign strategies as I have come to realise that for my success in expanding my fanbase, campaign strategies are one of, if not the most important way of doing this. She said -

- 6-8 weeks is about how long a campaign should last.
- Spotify likes 4 weeks between releases but fans like 6 weeks.
- Having a story is the most important thing.
- You must have either an EPK or One Sheet. I will attach the example she sent me above.
- It's a good idea to have a release action plan, I will attach the example she sent above.
- Collaborating with bigger artists will raise your profile and help algorithms.
- Put your logo on everything that you do.

We also discussed getting gigs as things start to open up, to which she gave the advice to only play once a month per city. I told her I wanted to release an EP in summer and we agreed that my last single should be at the end of July and the EP should come out in August.

Feelings -

After this second session I notice a duality of feelings; at one side I feel that I am already getting so much out of these sessions and am already putting these into action daily or working towards putting them into action, but on the other hand I worry that these skills I am collating are too chaotic and hard to put into linear boxes. I must consider this, however what I do think is most important is that I gain knowledge that helps my career, and this is something that is happening in abundance. Maybe I should worry less about my ability to specifically analyse academically, and more on the actual benefits I am gaining from this process.. To be continued.

Evaluation -

The good thing about the last mentoring session is that I have gained more useful information that is helping my outreach process immensely. The bad thing about the experience is that the sessions are a little chaotic and can end up being an activity in which Stacey lists off useful pieces of knowledge.

Analysis -

The good things about these sessions massively outweigh the bad, this is very clear to me. However what I notice is that there needs to be more structure either in my analysis of these sessions or within the sessions themselves. This could be already be addressed by for example using Gibbs' Reflective Cycle, but it is something I must continue to check in on.

Conclusion -

What I feel I could have done more effectively in the last session is be more clear about my final intentions coming out of these sessions, and to then move on to asking questions of Stacey accordingly.

Action Plan -

Next session I intend to go into the session firstly reminding Stacey of the skills I wish to develop, tell her what I have done to add to them in the week, and see what she has to say, I will then finally ask her my questions that will be around the themes of branding, campaigns, or social media. The questions I ask and the advice I am given must help me expand my fanbase as a DIY artist.
As far as skill development is concerned I must work through putting her advice into action. I will specifically begin planning for a campaign action plan as this will be a useful organisational tool for me.

# data[].attributes.body
Having finished my first mentoring session with Stacey Haber. I described to her what it is that I do and who I am, and explained what I want to get out of these sessions - broadly to learn how to successfully reach a wider audience. I have a few ideas to ruminate on and next steps to begin planning. Stacey has already given me many pieces of useful advice, there are a few that I find particularly relevant to me, which I will now list -

1. Release different versions of songs in order to reach fans with wider taste.

2. Get TikTok - it is the fastest growing app with many features for creators - I must however work out how or if I can use it in line with my brand.

3. Put my music on Sync - this can get your music on TV, something that boosts income and reach.

4. Perform and release covers -

- of bands I want to support, but do lesser known songs so that their fans see that I am also a true fan.
- of songs completely outside my genre, like pop, but in my style. Shows creative skill and boosts profile.

The reasoning Stacey gave for doing covers is that it helps in particular the Spotify algorithms make connections and get one step closer to related artists. This is a big one I intend to pursue with priority.

5. Approach playlists that feature my favourite artists and ask to be in them - again helps towards related artists.

6. Get PRS, partly due to income, but also as it shows labels etc that you are legit - money making.

7. When approaching labels make sure to tell them why they would be perfect for me as well as the other way round.

Lots to unpack here. I notice that much of this centres around reaching new fans and working with algorithms. She also made note that you must always move forward, something to be aware of. Now I must start working towards putting these theories into action.

For my next mentoring session I will deeper connect Stacey with exactly what my journey is and continue discussing how I can improve my methods of reaching new fans.

# data[].attributes.headline
My intentions going into these mentoring sessions

# data[].attributes.subject
My intentions going into these mentoring sessions

# data[].attributes.body
The first thing I need to acknowledge as I begin this mentoring process is what it is that I am looking to gain from these sessions. The intention that prevails when I think about any skills that I intend to gain, is that these skills must help me to reach wider audiences, or more specifically to reach future true fans who may not have discovered my music yet. The skills that will help me be able to do this fall into four sections -

1. Branding - my ability to be instantly recognisable, either by existing or early stage fans or by new potential fans with whom my music and ethos may resonate. Good branding means that potential future fans will recognise my ethos and musical intentions from just a glance at my online content. This is something I am already putting into action but intend to improve with my mentors help.

2. Campaigns - my ability to successfully reach new fans when releasing music. To do this by engaging in successful campaigns. This includes knowing which platforms to use, connections to make and ways in which the industry operates in order to pull off campaigns that reach fans as well as useful industry figures.

3. Social Media - social media skills will be vital in order to reach new fanbases. Learning clever ways in which to use social media, work with algorithms, and any new social media sites useful for emerging artists, will all be needed for my success.  Branding and campaigns will both play a vital role in my use of social media.

4. Industry Blind Spots - the last thing I intend to use these mentoring sessions for is to fill in my industry blind spots. What this means is using my mentors accumulated knowledge in order to speed up the acquisition of my own. This includes filling in the blanks in my knowledge of established music industry practices so that I am not at a disadvantage when I take part in all of the above processes.