NHT Blog

There are listeners who “subscribe to” (or, as the term has been changed to, Follow) my weekly “Now Hear This Entertainment” podcast.  And on that show, I’m often heard (a) acknowledging people who – yes, eleven-and-a-half years into the show – are just finding it for the first time, but then also, (b) recognizing (and thanking) those who’ve been with me for quite some time.

Let’s be real. If you’re dropping music in 2025 and still waiting for “the right person” to randomly hear it, you’re doing it all wrong. These days, it’s not just about putting your track out there, it’s about knowing how to promote your music smartly. Music industry professionals are already using this method to boost their artist performance using Spotify promotion services. There are many services out there, such as Playlist Push or Indie Music Academy, that are offering music promotion services, but the new combo plan at One Submit really takes it to the edge.

By now you might have already seen this news on social media, but how could I not write a blog about it too?

The news that I received just under two weeks ago is so big that I not only posted about it all across the various platforms that Now Hear This is on (social media-wise), but on my personal Facebook and Instagram accounts too, even though it’s business related.  After all, I would say that it’s more a statement on my professional career.

We’re all looking to get ahead.  Everyone wants to have an edge.  Don’t deny that you’re trying to get a leg up on the competition.  Clearly, no one these days wants to just keep up with the Joneses – they want to pass them by on the way up.

You’re pouring your blood, sweat, and tears into your music career, your books, your podcasts, your YouTube shows, or whatever else it is that you’re creating.  Yet, I’m here to challenge you to find one more effort that might give you that leg up.

They say that the third time’s the charm, right?  Although, just like “three strikes and you’re out,” it’s a negative implication (like things haven't gone well up to that point) and my blog this week is anything but that tone.  Quite frankly, for the third week in a row I’m abandoning the usual content so I can instead share a positive review of a really good song that was submitted to me.

I’ve written before in this weekly blog about metrics.  Across a variety of different types of creators, I have shown how/where you can look to see that people are enjoying and engaging with whatever it is that you’re putting out there.

How many times have you been watching something on TV when suddenly there is breaking news and the network or even the local affiliate cuts in?  We hear this happen on terrestrial radio too, where they interrupt the originally scheduled program to tell you about a developing story.

I remember many moons ago when I walked away from the full-time job I was in so that I could go all-in with my PR agency, Now Hear This.  My mother expressed concern that I would be all alone, going forward as a solopreneur.  As any mom would, she worried that I would get lonely.

“Bathing is a lonely business,” Sir John Gielgud’s character, Hobson, says in the 1981 movie, “Arthur” (for which he won Best Supporting Actor).  And the main character, played by Dudley Moore, responds with, “Except for fish.”

Over the weekend I was a speaker at an authors retreat in Quincy, Illinois put on by Indies United Publishing House.  It was a great event, and I remain truly grateful for the opportunity to have been a part of it.

“How many downloads do you get?”  It’s a question often asked of podcasters.  “What’s their social media following like?”  That’s a regular inquiry that people will ask when considering whether or not to extend a potential opportunity to a performer.  “How many books have you sold?”  That gets posed to so many authors.