During the pandemic I created, recorded and released 25.000 pieces of music. I did it all by myself, as a solo music creator in my own home studio, and I did it to prove that it’s possible to make a lot of money as a music creator, without any big hits, without any labels, without any social media, without any ads, without having to depend on external playlist placements, and without any pre-built audience. Today I want to share WHY I did it, HOW I did it and what YOU can learn from this.

I’m hoping my story will give you some food for thought and new ideas on how you can improve your strategy when creating and releasing music as a creator. My music catalog has generated more than $1M so far, currently it's generating around $40K a month. It has evolved into a valuable asset, worth a considerable amount, and I can sell it or hand it over to my kids when I'm gone. This is a big part of my WHY, but it's not all.

25.000 songs might sound overwhelming and scare you off, but don’t freak out just yet. I’m not expecting you to do the same. I've done this as an experiment, and to search for alternatives to building wealth as a music creator. Most music creators tend to chase the big single hit song that will give them financial freedom. There is an alternative to that strategy, and this is what I will share with you today.

But first, let me introduce myself: 

Hi fellow music creator! I'm Lars. 

I'm a Norwegian songwriter/producer, manager, publisher, and label owner. I'm married to my Swedish wife, Emelie, and I have five amazing children, ranging in age from 2 to 24.

I've had the privilege of collaborating with incredible artists and music industry people, learning invaluable lessons from various facets of the industry. But, after 25 years I found myself exhausted and drained from the relentless pursuit of the next gig, hit, or income-generating project.

I grew increasingly frustrated as it became more challenging to gain traction with my releases, even if the standard phrase in the industry was “It has never been easier to release music for independent artist”, - it felt like most of my songs would get mediocre results on the streaming platforms. Though the logistics of releasing music is simple and accessible to anyone with a laptop, it got harder and harder to break through the noise and create songs that would leave a significant mark on history, or on my bank account. 

The music industry felt overcrowded and saturated with copycat-releases. And because we all had the same tools, plugins, drum sounds, quantize options and music references, the sound of music started to sound more and more alike and homogeneous. This was of course amplified by the pandemic and the lack of human interaction in the studios. 

Also, the sheer number of releases was becoming a challenge. Consider this: 100,000 tracks are released every single day—that's an overwhelming amount of noise and saturation. How are you going to make money when that number is 1 million new tracks released every day? In my earlier years I would say "well, quality is always going to work and create results", but that's not really the case anymore. There is so much high quality music being released that is not getting any traction these days.

For a few years I had my share of success, but 9 out of 10 songs remained trapped on my hard drive, and would never see the light of day. 10% - that is the average cut rate for most professional music creators. After many years of engaging in this dance, I felt a growing need to rediscover myself and reconnect with my creative authenticity. 

All I could think of was to press pause and connect with my 16-year-old self, the once-creative young boy whose sole goal was to create amazing music—to the clean, untouched music creator in me before the industry took over and adjusted my thinking to its limited rules and frameworks.

I had enjoyed so much of my 25-year-long journey through the music industry, but I was starting to realize that the old systems, contracts, roles, royalty percentages, and setups felt more like constraints than a helping hand for me as a music creator. 

It was time for a genuine and much needed reset. 

THE BIG RESET - the experiment

After much contemplation, I gradually withdrew from the music industry, or at least the industry as I had known it until that point. As a family, we made a huge decision and bought an old farm house in Provence in the south of France. We packed all of our belongings and moved just before the pandemic swept across the world and the borders got shut a second time. 

The property required a bit of renovation, and yes, the very first thing I did after moving here was to construct a recording studio in the old wine hall... of course. Once a music creator, always a music creator. 

I have built many studios before. In fact, ever since building my first "studio" back home on my parent’s farm as a teenager, I've spent most of my life in recording studios around the world. But this time was different. The strategy was different. I was not going to focus on writing the next radio hit, neither was I aiming for the Spotify Top 50 playlist. I was simply going to create music that I liked, and that would deliver value to an audience. 

I decided to take the opposite approach from what I had been doing for the last 25 years. No social media, no promotions, and no seeking attention from industry professionals and the media. No gatekeepers—just music and a potential audience of a billion people across the internet.

The remarkable thing is this: I knew, without a doubt, that I was going to make more money than I had ever made before. 

This time, I had meticulously planned it all based on years of research and test projects. No guesswork. I had a clear strategy, and now, you're about to learn how to use this strategy to build the life you desire.

From my own experience, I can tell you that in just 12 months from now, your entire life could be utterly transformed if you start implementing what you'll learn from this book. You'll need to put in the effort, but the potential payoff is nothing short of phenomenal.

I transitioned from being a burnt-out and frustrated music professional to a content and relaxed music creator, feeling like I was closer to being a real truthful artist and music creator than ever before. And now, with more than a billion streams under my belt, I wake up with my kids, enjoy breakfast, have a glass of fresh orange juice, take a leisurely walk through the garden to my studio, and genuinely cherish my life. It sounds like a dream, doesn't it?

Of course, there are still good days and bad days, much like before. However, I'm now in the fortunate position of knowing that a steady stream of income arrives every month, and it works for me around the clock. And most importantly: It has provided stability and peace of mind, which also makes me a better, and smarter, music creator.

See you in the next one. 

PS: If you'd like to know more, and potentially learn how to do the same thing that I have done, then check out the free workshop below.