TikTok has been tough - things seem to cap on there around 300 for me way more often than YouTube shorts, where a few thousand views could be pretty normal. I haven't found posting multiple times a day vs. once a day to have a big difference on where it caps though.

AI music won't be distinct from traditionally produced music, IMO. It'll just be integrated into artist workflows - kinda like painting from on-site vs. painting from a photograph. Having generative AI get that last 20% will be way harder than having it get the first 80% that would be a starting point. At that point it'll make more sense to hand it off to a human artist to finish.

So in my mind, yes, it does - and it's funded just like before, essentially from the artist. Think about it this way. In the old model, you'd get signed early on, before a proof of concept was established (or even an audience). The label paid for mature A&R from their payroll, but that payroll was funded by future expectations from your revenues (or a fraction of it, across a portfolio of artists). You can still get feedback and guidance, but not from the label anymore. You're still paying for it, just more directly. Rather than the label fronting the cash from your future earnings, you pay for consultative calls directly - you pick who you want to pay to give feedback on your music and reach out to them and establish the relationship directly. Whether it's a music exec, a producer, a fellow artist, whatever - that's all up to you. The only difference is that now there's transparency - it can be harder, since everything was bundled before it was easier to implicitly say "yeah, that's worth it, let's do it". But consider that in the old model, everything ultimately still gets paid for by the artist, it's just obfuscated - whether that's release parties, marketing dollars, or artist development. I'm not saying one model or the other is better, just that it's the reality of where we are now, and that it does have advantages (and disadvantages) for the artist. Given current margin and capital structures, it's not changing - so we better get used to it. Just my two cents - take it if it's useful, ignore it if it's not.

Legit question, but I think it's very helpful to think of it in terms of payback period rather than just ROI - it should help you frame up your plan better.

WIP manangement IMO. There's always 40 hours of work to be done every 24 hours - whether it's creative side or business (marketing, sales, etc.) side. Need to be rigorous to make sure the right area is being prioritized at any given time.