Welcome [back] to another week of your weekly dose 🎶

Every Tuesday, I’ll be sharing tips, updates, and must-know music marketing insights to help you get your music heard!

By Finch Bergling 🎅

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Your Weekly Reel Idea

Your 2025 probably had highs, lows, and a lot of weird in-between moments.

Here's how to share them so you get seen:

📝 Content Summary: A carousel starting with "Things I learned as a 30-year-old small artist this year" featuring short, honest lessons over personal photos from the past year. Being specific about age and status ("30-year-old small artist" vs just "musician") creates an instant connection.

🎦 How to create a similar Reel:

1. Start with a specific hook:
   ​- Things I learned as a [age]-year-old artist in 2025
   - What being a musician in [small town] taught me in 2025
   - 2025 truths from an artist with x monthly listeners
   - 2025 expectations vs reality as a musician​
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2. Choose 5-10 photos from your year
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3. Add one short lesson per slide.
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4. Critical: Add your song as background audio when posting

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🤔 Why does it work so well?

1. Specificity creates connection - "30-year-old small artist" works differently than "musician." People think "that's literally me" and share with friends in the same boat.
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2. Carousels with music get more exposure - They get pushed to Reels/TikTok feeds where video content lives, but they're easier to make than actual videos.
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3. Vulnerability without cringe - Sharing lessons learned feels helpful, not needy. You're providing value while being human
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4. Multiple engagement points - Each slide is a chance for someone to comment "THIS ONE" or share their own experience. More comments or shares = more reach.
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5. Year-end content performs - People are reflective in December. They want to see others' journeys and compare their own growth.

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Your Weekly Tip

As much as I love being practical in my emails, no practical tip will help if you don't have the right systems first.

Here are three essential habit changes that transformed my 2025, and will transform your 2026 too.
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1. Get everything out of your head

I use Notion to organize my life - goals, business, travel, expenses, journal, everything.

As musicians, who are human beings, we juggle 101 things daily (would be easier if we were cats, wouldn't it?). The worst thing you can do is try to keep it all in your head.

There's a great metaphor in Harry Potter - Dumbledore uses his Pensieve to store memories that cloud his mind, pulling them out as silvery wisps.

If your brain sometimes feels full of fog, you can clear it by writing down your thoughts and plans. It makes such a huge difference and leaves more room for creativity.
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2. Share more

Once you have clarity on your goals, here's what changes everything:

Share with your close circle - Tell friends and family about your music goals. Be proud of what you do. Scream your dreams if you need to. Stop keeping everything to yourself.

Connect with other musicians - You'll feel less alone and learn more than you think. Plus, teaching others what you know brings so much fulfillment (trust me!).

Find a mentor or coach - You could waste years on trial and error, or have someone experienced spot your blind spots instantly. Their outside perspective saves you from mistakes that could be avoided.

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​3. Focus on the 20% that matters

The 80/20 rule: 20% of your actions create 80% of your results.

Keep searching for what actually moves the needle. Maybe you need to release less music but make it better. Maybe social media exhausts you, but ads bring real fans.

You need to find YOUR path and ignore what other people say is the only right way.

How? Write down what you do and what results you get. Share it with others. Patterns will emerge. That's your 20%.

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Two small but powerful extras:

1. Stop consuming, start doing - The Instagram tips, YouTube tutorials, TikToks - they create an illusion of progress. You don't need more information. You need personalized help and actual action. Save the content consumption for genuine free time.

2. Stop being so hard on yourself - Look at the stars tonight. Notice the ants on the sidewalk. Your chase for a meaningful life is beautiful, but it shouldn't drain you. Be gentler with yourself - no one else will love you the way you can love yourself.

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My 2025:

→ I went to 4 new countries - Vietnam, Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea

→ I received my Bulgarian residency

→ I reviewed over 15,000 songs and grew my playlists to over 70k followers

→ I grew my Instagram from under 10k to over 20k

→ Created amazing connections with musicians and people in the industry. Most importantly - David Guetta now follows me on Instagram!

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I'm lucky enough that every year for the past 3 years, I think "this is the best year of my life."

I always feel like it can't get better, but it always does.

I'm lucky for what I have. Including you. I'm lucky to have you as my audience. Thank you for all the warm, positive emails, comments and DMs.

Great things are coming next year.

Have an amazing New Year!

Finch

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Let's work together 🤝

• ​Submit your music to my Spotify Playlists.
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• Grow your music career with Your First Hit Song 2026.
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• ​Book a 1-1 consultation.
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• Learn how to become a professional playlist curator.

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Discounts & Links 🔗

• Get 10% off on SubmitHub​
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• Get ​7.5% off your first campaign on Playlist Push - use code finch
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• Get 40% off your first month on PlaylistSupply - use code finch40
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• Get 40% off your first month on Booking-Agent.io - use code finch40
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• Get 40% off your first month on RadioPromo.io - use code finch40​
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• Get 7% off on DistroKid​
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• Get 7-day free pro on Hypeddit​

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That’s it for this week! Hope today’s email gave you something useful to work with.

Until next week, Finch 🎶

P.S. Newsletters aren’t social media - I can’t see what you’re enjoying unless you tell me. Hit reply and let me know what you liked (or didn’t) - I’d love to hear from you! 😊

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