The Songwriter Gospel Podcast

S1E16 - Behind The Scenes Of Becoming An Independent Gospel Artist w/ Candice Eason

On today’s episode I speak with upcoming Gospel artist Candice Eason about struggles of becoming a independent gospel artist. We talk about the behind the scenes side of being an independent gospel artist, from music business, social media, and all the other hats that come with being an independent artist.  Candice Eason, a native of Long Island, New York, who has a deep passion for doing God’s work. She uses her soulstress voice as a language to express herself, while spreading the message of hope, love & joy to the masses. Growing up, Candice was inspired, and influenced by many great vocalists such as The Clark Sisters, Faith Evans, Kim Burrell, and Darryl Coley (just to name a few). Having the ability to hear musical arrangements and write songs, Candice landed many opportunities to write for other artists, as well as assist with vocal production & arranging. In today’s episode we talk about * Her journey from starting in R&B to becoming a Gospel artist * How to manage all the responsibilities as an independent artist * The power of vulnerability and authenticity on social media  * How to deal with failures * And She talks about her latest single “He’s Been Good” and her upcoming EP. Connect With Candice: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/officialcandiceeason/ [https://www.instagram.com/itsstephandrews] Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/candice-eason/1602390290 [https://music.apple.com/us/artist/candice-eason/1602390290] Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/41VbRVisdMuItcqRqPWm4Q?si=RvJYvqRlQmiazsv5JB-Dgg [https://open.spotify.com/artist/41VbRVisdMuItcqRqPWm4Q?si=RvJYvqRlQmiazsv5JB-Dgg] Connect With Us: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesongwritergospel/ [https://www.instagram.com/thesongwritergospel/] Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/thesongwritergospel [https://www.facebook.com/thesongwritergospel] Website: https://thesongwritergospel.com [https://thesongwritergospel.com/]

S1E15 - Overcoming A Major Setback In Your Music Career w/ Steph Andrews

What would you do if you lost all your song ideas for an entire year? Imagine you lost a year’s worth of  voice memos,  song ideas, project ideas, and even promo content for your soon upcoming release. What would you do, would you give up, would you be able to bounce back? Well in today’s episode I had a real honest conversation with upcoming Christian pop artist, Steph Andrews, about just that. Steph is a faith-based pop artist, songwriter, worship leader, wife, and mom. She’s a music theory nerd, and recently released her debut album and hit a huge milestone if hitting over 100k all time streams for it.  In today’s episode we talk about: * Her journey into music and becoming a Christian artist * How God lead her to find her unique & honest, message through her music * We talk about the crazy, wild story behind how she dealt with a major setback, losing all her voice memos and song ideas, what she learned from it, and how God led her to a finding a deeper purpose and relationship from it. * She shares some productivity tips to on how to organize her songwriting ideas and handle the admin side of songwriting and music * She talks about her debut project How Long/How Lovely and the beauty of creativity in music Connect With Steph: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itsstephandrews [https://www.instagram.com/itsstephandrews] Website: https://www.stephandrews.com [https://www.stephandrews.com] Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4FnTMVmIxn0KHS5IplpaLD?si=3ThuT6l_S6qxsN-xy8fQqg [https://open.spotify.com/artist/4FnTMVmIxn0KHS5IplpaLD?si=3ThuT6l_S6qxsN-xy8fQqg] Connect With Us: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesongwritergospel/ [https://www.instagram.com/thesongwritergospel/] Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/thesongwritergospel [https://www.facebook.com/thesongwritergospel] Website: https://thesongwritergospel.com [https://thesongwritergospel.com/]

S1E14 - How To Create A Complete Marketing Plan As An Independent Christian Artist w/ Wisdom Moon

Do you struggle with consistency when it comes to marketing your music as an independent Christian artist? Do you find yourself constantly falling into a cycle of being burnt out after every new release?  In today’s episode, I speak with Christian music marketing expert, Wisdom Moon, about a topic I absolutely love and that’s marketing. I know marketing is a big hurdle for many artists and songwriters, in general. There’s many facets to it and it can feel a bit complicated, and leave you feeling burnt out at times. You may even be wondering what exactly is marketing, what does it look like for my music, or where do I even start? So today I wanted to provide some answers to those questions that you may have, as I speak with Wisdom about how to build an overall marketing campaign for your music, and what does a marketing campaign look like for you as an independent Christian artist. So on this episode we talk about: * Wisdom’s journey into the music industry * The #1 struggle and mistakes he sees Christian artists make when it comes to marketing their music * How to build an overall marketing plan to help you stay consistent and avoid the burnout that comes with promoting your music * How to scale your marketing plan and some advanced marketing strategies and examples * And we talk about his agency Christian Music Marketing and their mission to serve independent Christian artists. About Our Guest: Wisdom is the Founder and CEO of Marketing with Wisdom [https://marketingwithwisdom.com/], Christian Music Marketing [https://christianmusicmarketing.com/] and Lula Street Records [https://lulastreetrecords.com/]. He is also the founder and former owner of All About Worship and Kingdom Songs, and a pioneer in creating resources for Christian artists, songwriters and worship leaders. He has over 20 years of ministry experience and over 15 years of marketing & business experience. His background includes marketing and branding for Christian record labels, churches, nonprofits, businesses, artists, and podcasts. Wisdom has served in various marketing roles for Centricity Music and Integrity Music, as well as for artists like Lauren Daigle, All Sons & Daughters, Chris McClarney, Darlene Zschech, New Life Worship, Paul Baloche, Corey Voss, Aaron Shust, David & Nicole Binion, Lincoln Brewster, Covenant Worship, Gateway Worship, Christine D'Clario, Israel Houghton, Joshua Aaron, David Leonard, Krissy Nordhoff, NCC Worship, Sovereign Grace Music, Dustin Smith, Seth & Nirva, WorshipMob, Soul Survivor, Mike Real, FLAME, and others. Connect With Wisdom Moon: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wisdommoon/ [https://www.instagram.com/wisdommoon/] Website: https://www.wisdommoon.com [https://www.dianemalloymusic.com/] Music Marketing Agency: https://christianmusicmarketing.com [https://christianmusicmarketing.com] Connect With Us: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesongwritergospel/ [https://www.instagram.com/thesongwritergospel/] Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/thesongwritergospel [https://www.facebook.com/thesongwritergospel] Website: https://thesongwritergospel.com [https://thesongwritergospel.com/]

Secrets To Spotify Playlist Pitching: 4 Playlist Curators Share Their #1 Tip For Successfully Getting Your Songs On Independent Playlists

Have you ever been frustrated with pitching your songs to hundreds of Spotify playlists only to get very little to no results? Have you wondered what's the best way to pitch your music in order to successfully land on a Spotify playlist?  In today’s episode, I wanted to do something a little different and get an “insider’s” perspective on playlist pitching. I spoke with 4 independent Spotify Playlist Curators, and asked them, "What is your #1 tip/advice to help Christian artists successfully pitch their music to Spotify Playlist Curators? and "What's 1 thing you say artists should avoid when pitching their music to you?"  Each of these curators shared some great and unique tips & tricks, insights, and perspectives on the process of pitching your music and some great overall tips regarding marketing your music.  You'll hear answers from: * Dana Miller - Lead Producer at Hillside Recording * Wisdom Moon - Founder & CEO of Lula Street Records, Marketing with Wisdom, & Christian Music Marketing * Bradden Ford - Head Playlist Curator at Lightfire 134 Playlists * Sherwyn Williams - CMO at Gospel Music Buzz As a special thank you for listening here's a FREE GIFT:  Get your FREE Christian Spotify Playlist Spreadsheet & Contact list included with over 100+ Christian/Gospel Spotify Playlists with contact info. Get it HERE: https://thesongwritergospel.gumroad.com/l/playlistspreadsheet [https://thesongwritergospel.gumroad.com/l/playlistspreadsheet] If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a rating & review below! And please SHARE this episode with your friends and other fellow artists & songwriters. Connect With Us: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesongwritergospel/ [https://www.instagram.com/thesongwritergospel/] Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/thesongwritergospel [https://www.facebook.com/thesongwritergospel] Website: https://thesongwritergospel.com [https://thesongwritergospel.com/] Connect With Dana Miller (Hillside Recording): Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hillsiderecordingstudio/ [https://www.instagram.com/hillsiderecordingstudio/] Website: https://beacons.page/hillsiderecording [https://beacons.page/hillsiderecording] Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/user/nsosz32w7004r00cx9rilkscq [https://open.spotify.com/user/nsosz32w7004r00cx9rilkscq] Connect With Wisdom Moon (Marketing With Wisdom): Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wisdommoon/ [https://www.instagram.com/wisdommoon/] Website: https://www.wisdommoon.com [https://www.dianemalloymusic.com/] Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/user/wisdommoonmusic [https://open.spotify.com/user/wisdommoonmusic] Connect With Bradden Ford (Light134 Playlists): Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lightfire134playlist/ [https://www.instagram.com/dianemalloymusic] Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/user/b0dbrnnc3lvjkd1wlu7mp3egi [https://open.spotify.com/user/b0dbrnnc3lvjkd1wlu7mp3egi] Connect With Sherwyn Williams (Gospel Music Buzz): Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gospelmusicbuzzz/ [https://www.instagram.com/dianemalloymusic] Website: https://gospelmusicbuzz.com [https://gospelmusicbuzz.com] Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/user/31gs3onimbuewz7vn6latkpfktbq [https://open.spotify.com/user/31gs3onimbuewz7vn6latkpfktbq]

S1E12 - Building A Village Around Your Music w/ Diane Malloy

In today’s episode, I speak with indie Gospel artist, and NY native, Diane Malloy about building a village around your music and how God can open doors when you take time to invest in people.  Diane Malloy is an artist who merges the beauty of R&B notes with the spirituality of Gospel messages to advocate for personal freedom through a relationship with God. She is also a wife and mom of 1 and has released 2 singles within in the past year.  In this episode we talk about: * Diane’s journey into music and becoming a gospel artist *  How she built a village to help release her music * Ways God has opened up doors for her from investing in people * She shares some lessons she’s been learning being in the indie gospel music industry * She also shares a powerful story of how God has used a moment of tremendous grief to help propel her message of hope through her music Connect With Us: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesongwritergospel/ [https://www.instagram.com/thesongwritergospel/] Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/thesongwritergospel [https://www.facebook.com/thesongwritergospel] Website: https://thesongwritergospel.com [https://thesongwritergospel.com/] Connect With Diane: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dianemalloymusic [https://www.instagram.com/dianemalloymusic] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dianemalloymusic [https://www.facebook.com/dianemalloymusic] Website: https://www.dianemalloymusic.com/ [https://www.dianemalloymusic.com/] Listen to Her Music: Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/diane-malloy/1556551748 [https://music.apple.com/us/artist/diane-malloy/1556551748] Spotify:   [https://open.spotify.com/artist/1xVJbLzjmb2cidpt7jZvmR?si=i9PbkvLESJGdlxdrBhDyPw]https://open.spotify.com/artist/6wQSuQKj52uBiA6MBlv0Am?si=X4-TyUbrQVC4KIozOVwGVw [https://open.spotify.com/artist/6wQSuQKj52uBiA6MBlv0Am?si=X4-TyUbrQVC4KIozOVwGVw] YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCn8Rww1M-kSaXM-9Cb6lSUw [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCn8Rww1M-kSaXM-9Cb6lSUw]