the TrueFans AMP— Magazine Issue 136

Helping Music Artists build real careers 
— without selling their soul. 

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“All of the successful people that you see now in music in some form or fashion,  they have an area of mastery in communication. That's the mastery that will allow  you to ride the playlisting wave, the damn TikTok wave, all of those waves.”
— Ariel Hyatt

In This Issue... 21 pages (about 31ish minutes to read) You'll Get...  ____________________ 

• Recommends—The Creative Act: A Way of Being. A book by Rick Rubin 

• Your BIZ—After the Grammys… A Question That’s Been Bothering Me by John  Fogg 

• Greatest Music Artist of All Time— Kenny Loggins: From Loggins & Messina to  the Soundtrack King 

• in partnership with Terence Fisher and MusikSpace

• TrueFans Feature— Emotional Connection Is the Real Music Business 

• P.S. from PS— What Made Me Pause in This Issue

Here’s the playlist

Before the awards, the platinum records, and the legendary artists he’s worked with,  Rick Rubin was known for something unusual in the studio: he listened. Deeply. Quietly. Without trying to control the music. 

In The Creative Act: A Way of Being, Rubin opens the door to the philosophy behind  that listening—and offers artists one of the most thoughtful guides to creativity ever  written. 

• Recommends— The Creative Act: A Way of Being. A book by Rick Rubin
Before he was a legend, Rick Rubin was a kid in a dorm room with a four-track recorder and an instinct for sound that didn’t follow the rules. 

Decades later, that instinct helped shape the sound of artists as different as Johnny Cash, Beastie Boys, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Adele, Jay-Z, and Tom Petty. 

Rubin became one of the most successful music producers in history. 

Barefoot. Bearded. Often sitting quietly on a couch while the artists do the work. Which tells you something about his philosophy. 

Now he’s put that philosophy into a remarkable book: The Creative Act: A Way of  Being. 

And for any music artist trying to build a life in music, it’s one of the most unusual— and valuable— books you can read. 

A Book About Creativity… Not Music 
If you’re expecting a traditional music-business book— how to write hits, produce  records, or build a career— this isn’t it. 

Rubin almost never talks about the music industry. 
Instead, he writes about creativity itself. 

Where ideas come from. 
How artists recognize them. 
And how to stay open to them. 

In Rubin’s worldview, creativity isn’t something you “do.” 
It’s something you participate in. 

He sees the artist less as a creator and more as a receiver of signals—someone tuned to notice ideas, emotions, sounds, and possibilities that are already moving through the  world. 

Your job isn’t to force inspiration. 
Your job is to notice it. 

The Power of Listening 
One of Rubin’s most powerful ideas is about listening. 
Real listening. Not just hearing sounds—but being completely present to what’s  happening in the moment. 

For musicians, this has enormous implications. 

Listening: 
• to the music 
• to the silence 
• to the band 
• to the room 
• to the audience 
• and to your own intuition 

Rubin believes the best artists develop a kind of creative awareness. They’re open enough to notice what wants to happen next. 

That’s often why Rubin’s productions feel so natural. 

He doesn’t force the music. 
He creates the conditions where the music can appear. 

Great Art Comes From Attention 
One theme runs through the entire book: 

Attention is the artist’s greatest tool. 

Not gear. 
Not marketing. 
Not algorithms. 
Attention. 

Rubin argues that artists who cultivate attention—paying close, curious notice to life,  sound, and emotion—naturally create more interesting work. 
Because they’re observing things other people miss. 

He writes that creativity isn’t rare. But attention is. And artists who protect their  attention—against noise, distraction, and the endless scroll—have a huge advantage. 

Permission to Be an Artist 
Perhaps the most refreshing part of the book is its tone. Rubin never lectures. He  encourages. 

He reminds artists that: 
• there is no single path 
• there are no universal rules 
• and the process is always personal 

You don’t have to sound like anyone else. 
You don’t have to follow trends. 
You don’t have to fit the industry. 
You just have to make the work that feels true to you. 

Coming from someone whose productions have sold hundreds of millions of records,  that message carries real weight. 

A Different Kind of Music Book 
Structurally, The Creative Act is also unusual. It isn’t a linear narrative. It’s a collection  of short reflections— almost like creative meditations. Each chapter is only a page or  two. 

Which means you can open the book anywhere and immediately find something worth  thinking about. Like the I Ching without the yarrow stalks or coins..  

Many artists read it a few pages at a time. 
Then go back to the studio. 

The TrueFans Takeaway 
Rubin’s book quietly reinforces something independent artists sometimes forget: Great music doesn’t start with marketing. It starts with attention, curiosity, and honesty. 

The deeper you go into the creative process… 
The more likely you are to create work that truly connects. 
And connection—the real emotional kind—is exactly what builds True Fans. In a world obsessed with metrics, Rubin’s message is almost radical: 

Make something real. 
And the right people will feel it. 

Recommended for: 
Songwriters, producers, musicians, and any artist who wants to reconnect with the  deeper reasons they create. 

If you read only one creativity book this year, make it this one. 
Not because it teaches formulas. 
But because it reminds you what art is actually about. 
And that reminder alone can change the way you make music. 

Most of the headlines after the Grammys focus on the winners and the snubs. But sitting  with it for a while, a different question started bothering me. 

What if the Grammys aren’t really measuring what the world’s listeners love at all? 

• Your BIZ— After the Grammys… A Question That’s Been Bothering Me by John  Fogg 

It’s been a bit now since the Grammys. 
Long enough for the headlines to fade. 
Long enough for the outrage cycles to move on. 
Long enough to notice what lingers. 

And what’s been lingering for me isn’t who won or who didn’t. 

It’s a quieter, more unsettling question: 

How aligned are industry awards—like the Grammys—with the actual music listeners of the world? 

This question was triggered by a recent Substack piece by Glenn Peoples, “Why Didn’t  ‘Golden’ Win Song of the Year Grammy? Voters Favor American and Traditional Songwriting.” It’s thoughtful, well-researched, and refreshingly free of conspiracy thinking. Peoples isn’t accusing anyone of bad faith. He’s simply describing patterns— longstanding ones. 

And once you see those patterns, you can’t unsee them. 

What the Article Makes Clear (Without Saying It Out Loud) 
The piece walks through decades of Song of the Year winners and nominees and reveals something striking: 

As best as anyone can tell, no song written primarily by songwriters outside the U.S., U.K., Australia, or New Zealand has ever won Song of the Year. 

Not from continental Europe. 
Not from Asia. 
Not from Latin America. 
Not from Africa. 

Nominations? Occasionally. 
Wins? No. 
That includes Canada, by the way. 

This isn’t a scandal. 
It’s not a plot. 
It’s structural. 

The Grammys are voted on by members of the Recording Academy— a predominantly  American organization, rooted in American industry culture, traditions, relationships, and aesthetic values. 

People tend to vote for what they know. 
For what feels familiar. 
For what reflects their own definitions of “good,” “important,” and “serious.” 

That’s human. 
But here’s the thing… 

The Listener Has Already Voted 
In the case Peoples examines, the song Golden— a global K-pop hit tied to an animated film— was widely favored by listeners and even by betting markets to win Song of the Year. 

Listeners, globally, had already made their choice. 

And yet the outcome was, as Peoples put it, “predictable and unsurprising.”

Why? Because...  

the Grammys are not designed to measure global listener alignment. 

They are designed to measure peer recognition within a specific cultural framework. That’s an important distinction—especially for independent artists. 

Awards Are Inward-Facing. Fans Are Outward-Facing. 
This is the part worth sitting with. 

Awards are conversations among insiders. 
Fans are conversations among humans. 

Awards ask: 
“What do we, as an institution, value?” 

Listeners ask: 
“How does this make me feel?” 
“Does this belong to me?” 
“Will I come back to this again and again?” 

Those questions used to overlap more than they do now. 
Streaming. 
Global fandom. 
Algorithmic discovery. 
Direct-to-fan relationships. 
All of that has shifted the center of gravity. 

Institutions move slowly. 
People don’t. 

The Real Risk for Independent Artists 
The problem isn’t that the Grammys have biases. 
The real danger is artists internalizing the wrong scoreboard. 

If you’re subconsciously optimizing your work for: 
• Institutional approval 
• Genre legitimacy 
• Critical seriousness 
• “Traditional” songwriting norms 
…you may be playing a game that has very little to do with whether your music actually lands. 

Worse, you may be optimizing for a table you’re not invited to sit at. 

Meanwhile, the listeners—the ones who might become your Fans and TrueFans—are  responding to something far more basic and far more powerful: 

Connection. 
Emotion. 
Identity. 
Belonging. 
Repeat listening. 

No awards committee can measure that. 
But your audience can. 
And does. 
Every day. 

What This Means in a TrueFans World 
This is where the TrueFans perspective clarifies everything. 

Awards reward alignment with institutions. 
TrueFans reward alignment with people. 

Awards are retrospective. 
TrueFans are lived, ongoing, relational. 

Awards confer status. 
TrueFans confer sustainability. 

No Grammy has ever paid a musician’s rent. 
A thousand TrueFans can—every month. 

That doesn’t mean awards are meaningless. 
It means they are misunderstood. 
They are signals within a system—not verdicts on your value, your future, or your  worth. 

A Final Thought Worth Carrying Forward 
If the Grammys feel increasingly out of touch, it’s not because music is broken. It’s because the center has shifted. 

The future of music does not belong to voters. 
It belongs to listeners. 

And for independent artists especially, that’s not bad news. 
That’s freedom. 

Build for the people who listen. 
Build for the ones who come back. 
Build for the ones who care enough to support you directly. 

Let the trophies take care of themselves—or not. 
Your career doesn’t depend on them.

in partnership with Terence Fisher and MusikSpace

Before Hollywood had blockbuster soundtracks…Before Footloose and Top Gun turned songs into cultural moments… there was a young songwriter learning the craft beside  producer-musician Jim Messina. 

Kenny Loggins didn’t just write hits. Over five decades he helped shape the sound of  popular music—from the Singer Songwriter era of the 1970s to the film soundtracks that defined the 1980s. And along the way he became known for something no one could  have predicted. 

• Greatest Music Artist of All Time— Kenny Loggins: From Loggins & Messina to  the Soundtrack King 

The Accidental Duo That Became a Hit Machine 
In the early 1970s Kenny Loggins was a gifted young songwriter looking for direction.  Jim Messina, already respected as a producer and musician who had worked with  Buffalo Springfield and Poco, was brought in to produce Loggins’ first album. 

The plan was simple: Jim Messina would produce Kenny Loggins’ debut album. But… 

As they worked together in the studio, something unexpected happened. The musical  chemistry between them was undeniable. Messina began playing on the sessions,  shaping arrangements, and contributing ideas. Before long the project had evolved into  something neither man originally planned. 

What began as “Kenny Loggins with Jim Messina” became the duo Loggins & Messina.

The partnership turned into one of the defining acts of the 1970s Singer Songwriter era. Their blend of folk, country-rock, and melodic pop produced a run of memorable songs  including: 

• Danny’s Song 
• Your Mama Don’t Dance 
• House at Pooh Corner 
• Angry Eyes 

Their records sold millions, but the duo became especially beloved for their live performances. Loggins & Messina concerts were energetic, joyful events, built strong musicianship and an easy rapport with audiences. 

Between 1971 and 1976 the duo released six successful albums and toured relentlessly,  becoming one of the most reliable concert draws of the decade. 

“Kenny has a gift for writing melodies that feel instantly familiar— like they’ve been  part of your life forever.” 
— Michael McDonald 

For Kenny Loggins, the experience was more than success—it was a training ground.  Working alongside Messina sharpened his songwriting, performance, and studio  instincts. 

But eventually Loggins felt the pull to explore his own musical direction.

Stepping Out Alone 
When Loggins launched his solo career in the late 1970s, some wondered whether he could step out from the shadow of such a successful partnership. 

The answer came quickly. 

His solo work showed an artist expanding both emotionally and musically. Songs like  This Is It, written with Michael McDonald, carried a message of personal strength and resilience that connected deeply with listeners. 

The song became a major hit and earned a Grammy. 

“One of the most underrated great songwriters of our time.” 
— Richard Marx  

Around the same time Loggins and McDonald collaborated on What a Fool Believes, a  song that became a massive hit for the Doobie Brothers and won the Grammy for Song  of the Year. 

Few artists ever write a Song of the Year winner. 

Even fewer go on to redefine an entirely different corner of the music industry. 

The Rise of the Soundtrack King 
In the early 1980s Hollywood discovered something that radio audiences already knew:  Kenny Loggins had a rare ability to write songs that captured the emotional heartbeat of  a story. 

One film placement changed everything. 

The comedy Caddyshack featured Loggins’ rebellious anthem I’m Alright. The song  became inseparable from the film’s carefree spirit and quickly climbed the charts. It  opened a door no one could have predicted. 

Over the next decade Loggins delivered a string of soundtrack hits that became cultural  landmarks: 

• Footloose 
• Danger Zone (Top Gun) 
• Meet Me Halfway (Over the Top) 

These songs didn’t merely accompany the movies. 
They defined them. 

“Those songs were everywhere. Kenny Loggins helped define the sound of an era.”
— Garth Brooks  

Suddenly Kenny Loggins became the artist filmmakers turned to when they needed a  song capable of carrying the emotional punch of a film all the way to the closing credits. Before long the nickname stuck: 

The Soundtrack King. 

The Man Behind the Songs 
Behind the hits and film anthems is a thoughtful and reflective human being whose life  has included both success and personal challenge. 

Loggins has been married twice and is the father of five children. Over the years family  life increasingly shaped his writing, inspiring songs about love, relationships and personal growth. 

He has spoken candidly about the pressures of fame and the importance of finding balance beyond the music industry. 

In later years Loggins also explored themes of spirituality and personal transformation,  interests that influenced both his songwriting and his public conversations about creativity and life. 

At the heart of it all is a simple belief about music itself. As Loggins once said:

“Songs are really conversations with people you may never meet.” 

That philosophy helps explain why his music continues to resonate with audiences decades after it was written. 

What Music Artists Can Learn from Kenny Loggins 
Kenny Loggins’ career offers several powerful lessons for musicians building lasting  careers. 

• Partnership can accelerate growth. 
The Loggins & Messina years were a masterclass in collaboration. Working alongside  an experienced producer and musician allowed Loggins to refine his craft quickly and confidently. 

• Reinvention is a strength. 
Rather than remain tied to one musical identity, Loggins moved from folk-rock duo to solo pop artist and then into film soundtracks. Each transition opened new doors. 

• Opportunities often appear sideways. 
What began as a single movie placement became a defining chapter of his career. For  artists today, music can live in films, television, games, social media and live experiences— not just albums. 

Impact and Legacy 
Few artists have succeeded across so many different chapters of popular music. Kenny Loggins helped define the Singer Songwriter movement of the 1970s. 

“Kenny Loggins writes songs that are both musically rich and emotionally direct.  That combination is rare.” 
— Christopher Cross  

He co-wrote one of the greatest pop songs ever recorded. 

He reinvented himself as the dominant voice of movie soundtracks during the 1980s. 

And through it all he remained what he started out to be: 
A Songwriter. 

The kind who writes melodies people carry with them for decades.
The kind who turns moments of life into music. 

And that is why Kenny Loggins remains one of the most influential—and enduring— Music Artists of his generation. 

Most artists think they need more streams. Or more followers. What they actually need  is something far more powerful: real emotional connection with their fans. 

Music marketing pioneer Ariel Hyatt, founder of CyberPR, recently laid out a clear  blueprint for building those connections. Her article is a powerful reminder that  sustainable music careers aren’t built on numbers—they’re built on relationships. 

• TrueFans Feature— Emotional Connection Is the Real Music Business
Based on Ariel Hyatt’s article “Making Emotional Connections With Fans Is Your Job  — 5 Ways to Create Emotional Connections With Your Fans.” 

__________  

In her recent article Ms. Hyatt addresses one of the biggest problems facing artists today: many musicians are trying to build careers without first building real fan relationships. 

Instead, they chase streaming numbers, playlist placements, and social media growth,  hoping those metrics will somehow translate into a career. But as Ariel points out, those numbers rarely create loyalty. 

And loyalty is what sustains artists. 

What artists truly need are TrueFans— people who feel emotionally connected to the  music and the artist behind it. Those are the listeners who come to shows, share songs with friends, buy merchandise, and stay engaged for years. 

Below are several key insights from Ariel’s piece, condensed for AMP readers. 

The Shortcut Trap 
Ariel begins with a blunt observation:  

Too many Music Artists want to skip the hard part.  

They jump straight to streaming platforms hoping for big numbers, or they hire publicists believing press coverage will somehow create a fanbase. 

But the harsh reality is simple. 

You don’t have a music business unless you have TrueFans. 

Not streams. 
Not followers. 
Fans. 
True Fans 

Real people who care about the music and the person making it. And... That connection takes time to build. 

Start With the People Who Already Care 
Many Music Artists feel discouraged when their earliest audiences consist mostly of friends and family. Some even dismiss these supporters as if they somehow don’t “count.” 

Ariel argues the opposite. 

Those early supporters are the foundation of every successful fanbase. They are the people who believed first, and they often become the ones who introduce new listeners to the music. 

She recalls attending a Billy Joel concert at Madison Square Garden and noticing something revealing: even though Joel could sell out the arena effortlessly, the people closest to him— family, friends, longtime supporters— were still there cheering him on  from the front rows. 

Every career expands outward from relationships like these. 

Not All Fans Are the Same 
Another insight Ariel highlights is that fans exist on a spectrum. 

Some people casually follow an artist online. Others listen occasionally when a new release appears. And then there are the TrueFans—the listeners who become deeply invested. 
They buy tickets. 
They bring friends to shows. 
They share the music everywhere. 

These fans don’t simply enjoy the music—they actively support the artist. 

Because of that, Ariel encourages musicians to focus less on sheer audience size and more on deepening connections with the fans who already care most. Even a relatively small group of passionate supporters can drive an artist’s career forward. 

Plan Your Fan Journey 
Discovery today often begins with a simple moment. 

A listener hears a song on a playlist. 
They click the artist’s profile. 
They start exploring. 

What happens next matters more than most Music Artists realize.

Ariel encourages musicians to think carefully about the fan journey—the path a listener  takes from first discovery to deeper engagement. Profiles, websites, and social channels  should all work together to guide curious listeners into the artist’s world. 

Because curiosity is fragile. 

If the path forward isn’t clear, many listeners simply move on. 

Build Your Email List 
One of Ariel’s strongest recommendations is surprisingly simple: build an email list. 

She frequently encounters artists who rely entirely on social media to communicate with fans. That’s risky, because algorithms and platform policies can change overnight. Email remains one of the few channels artists truly control. 

And research consistently shows that email drives far more purchases than social media posts. Fans who subscribe are signaling real interest— and that direct connection often leads to ticket sales, merchandise purchases, and long-term engagement. 

In other words: 

Email turns attention into action. 

Invite Fans Behind the Curtain 
Fans love feeling like insiders. Sharing moments from the studio, rehearsals and life on the road allows listeners to experience the journey alongside the artist. Behind-the-scenes content offers something unique: a glimpse into the creative process. 

Studio clips. 
Songwriting sessions. 
Life on tour. 

These moments transform music from something fans simply hear into something they feel part of. 

Share More Than Your Music 
Ariel also reminds artists that fans connect with people, not just songs. 

While music will always remain central, sharing other passions and interests allows fans to relate to the artist on a deeper level. Whether it’s causes, hobbies, or everyday life, those glimpses reveal the human being behind the music. 

And that deeper identity strengthens the relationship between artist and audience. 

Create a Tribe 
Finally, Ariel suggests a tactic that has proven powerful across many genres: give your fans a name. 

From Deadheads to Little Monsters to the BeyHive— yeah, okay, Swifties— fan  communities with shared identities often develop extraordinary loyalty. A name creates belonging, and belonging encourages fans to support one another as well as the artist. 

Fans who feel part of a tribe become more engaged, more supportive, and more invested in the artist’s success. 

The TrueFans Connection 
For AMP readers, Ariel Hyatt’s message will sound very familiar. 

What she is describing aligns closely with the philosophy behind TrueFans: sustainable music careers are built on relationships with real people. 

Streaming numbers may fluctuate. 
Algorithms may change. 
But fans who feel emotionally connected to an artist remain engaged for years. 
Numbers rise and fall. 

Connection endures.  

Read Ariel Hyatt’s full article: Making Emotional Connections With Fans Is Your Job 

About Ariel Hyatt and CyberPR
Ms. Hyatt is a seasoned digital marketer, author, and educator dedicated to empowering independent musicians. As the founder of Cyber PR, a New York-based artist development and marketing strategy firm, she has been instrumental in guiding artists through the evolving music industry landscape. Cyber PR specializes in crafting comprehensive marketing plans, executing effective publicity campaigns, and providing strategic guidance to musicians and music-related brands.

With over two decades of experience, Ariel has authored several influential books including Music Success in 9 Weeks, Cyber PR for Musicians, and Crowdstart, offering valuable insights into social media, marketing, and crowdfunding for artists.

Her commitment to education is evident through her speaking engagements across 12 countries, where she has shared her expertise with over 100,000 creative entrepreneurs.

Under Ariel's leadership, Cyber PR continues to innovate in the realms of digital PR, social media strategy, and artist development, providing musicians with the tools and knowledge necessary to build sustainable and impactful careers in the music industry.

Join over 20,000 musicians and industry pros— subscribe for solid advice, tips on navigating the music business and a host of free resources including a free Music Marketing Toolkit.

Tap this link: CyberPR Music

John asked me to review the latest AMP and send a few notes. As I went through it, a  few moments made me pause—the kind that make you lean back for a second and think. Here are a few of them. 

• P.S. from PS—What Made Me Pause in This Issue 

Rick Rubin 

Creativity isn’t something you force—it’s something you receive.  

After 40 years in music, I’ve watched too many artists burn out trying to manufacture  inspiration instead of staying open to it. Rubin’s idea of attention over algorithms felt  like validation of something I’ve believed for a long time but never quite put into words. 

The Grammys Question 
John’s piece unsettled me... in the best way. I spent years inside institutional music — A&R, the BBC, industry boardrooms— and I know exactly how those insider tables work. The real revelation isn’t that the Grammys have biases. 

It’s that we still let them define the scoreboard. 

Kenny Loggins 
What struck me wasn’t the hits. It was the sideways door. Caddyshack wasn’t a strategy — it was readiness meeting opportunity. I’ve built much of my life on sideways doors like that, and I sometimes wonder how many artists miss them because they’re too busy trying to get through the front door. 

Ariel Hyatt 
The Billy Joel detail stopped me cold. Even after selling out Madison Square Garden, the front row was still his first believers. 

That’s not sentimentality. 
That’s the whole philosophy. 

TrueFans isn’t a product. It’s a truth we keep rediscovering. 

Stepping back from the whole issue, something else became clear. Every piece in this issue— Rubin, Fogg, Loggins, Hyatt— is saying the same thing in a  different voice: 

Connection before commerce. 
Attention before algorithms. 
People before platforms. 

After my years in this business, I still catch myself looking at the wrong scoreboard  sometimes. 

Reading this issue reminded me why I started TrueFans in the first place. 

Not to disrupt the music industry. 
But to repair what was broken long before the algorithms arrived.

Until we speak again...

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