“The audience comes last. The first thing is that you have to be excited. If you’re not excited, how can anyone else be?”
— Rick Rubin
Here are the posts that have appeared in the New Music Lives™ Group on Facebook this week...
• Why No One's Hearing Your Music on Spotify (and How to Fix It) from joelgouveia.substack .com— Only recently got turned on to Joel Gouveia on Substack. He writes about "Where music, money & technology collide— and how to win the next decade." and he's very good!
• What Song Promotion REALLY Is (And What It Is Not) from Chris Greenwood Manafest .com— Promotion is not 5 minutes posting and 55 minutes scrolling. • Promotion is not hoping. • Promotion is not "dropping a song and praying.” • Music promotion is turning attention into fans.
• Paul Simon, Carlos Santana, Cher, & the Late Whitney Houston Among the Recording Academy’s 2026 Lifetime Achievement Award Honorees from americansongwriter .com— The Recording Academy has announced the honorees who will be saluted during its 2026 Special Merit Awards Ceremony. The event is scheduled for January 31 in Los Angeles, a day before the 2026 Grammys takes place.
• the TrueFans AMP™ Issue 126…
• in partnership with American Songwriter
For more than four decades, American Songwriter has played a vital role in preserving, honoring, and advancing the craft of songwriting— at a time when that craft is too often overshadowed by metrics, momentum, and marketing.
Long before “content” became the dominant currency of the music business, American Songwriter was focused on something more enduring: songs that last, and the people who write them.
Their work consistently goes deeper than surface-level success stories. Through interviews, features, and essays, they explore how songs are actually made— where ideas come from, how writers struggle through doubt, how lyrics evolve, and why certain songs resonate across generations. This is coverage rooted in curiosity, respect, and a genuine love for the art form.
What makes American Songwriter especially valuable for working Music Artists is that they honor both sides of the creative life:
• the discipline required to write well
• the vulnerability required to write honestly
• the patience required to build a body of work over time
They recognize that songwriting is not a hack, a shortcut, or a trend—but a lifelong practice.
We also strongly encourage TrueFans AMP™ readers to subscribe (tap the hyperlink) to the American Songwriter newsletter. It’s one of the rare industry emails that feels less like promotion and more like perspective— delivering thoughtful stories, songwriter insights, and reminders of why the work matters in the first place.
At the TrueFans AMP™, we know that real careers are built by artists who stay connected to their craft while learning how the business actually works. American Songwriter helps keep that balance intact— by keeping the song at the center of the conversation.
We’re proud to feature them here and to share their work with Music Artists who care about writing something real— and building something that lasts.
... and here's the more...
• Best Songs of 2025 a Gift Article from nytimes .com— TEARING IT ALL APART. On the one hand, living in an environment in which sounds whiz by at an almost incomprehensible speed means that few things stick around as long, or as powerfully, as they once did. But on the other hand, that’s necessitated new forms of listening, and also of musicmaking.
• 3 Lyrics That Say More in One Line Than Entire Songs from americansongwriter .com— A look at a few classic songs from way back when that feature absolutely amazing, rich lines. If you’re a Songwriter yourself, these lines might just inspire you. • Blowin’ In The Wind by Bob Dylan (1963) • The Sound Of Silence by Simon & Garfunkel (1964) • Imagine by John Lennon.
• You are not Rick Rubin from hottakes .space— a Great Blast From the Past by Adam Singer. You are not Rick Rubin… Unless you think heating frozen dinners makes you Gordon Ramsay, prompting music doesn't make you Rubin (but it's great to celebrate him for other reasons)
• The dystopian spectacle of streamers from Adam Singer’s archives... There's a cottage industry of creators and audiences watching others torch their potential on empty, solipsistic games (or sleeping with 1,000 people) As Christopher Lasch said, "In a dying culture, narcissism embodies the highest attainment of spiritual enlightenment.”
Thanks for reading. Give us your feedback.
And PLEASE, if you've got any Singer Songwriter friends, pass the AMP on, because... It’s Time... for a Change. Big Time. Past Time...
