2019 is almost behind us.  I’m not sure about you, but I’m really excited for 2020.  I’m more excited for next year than I have been for the start of a New Year in a really long time.  It’s hard to put my finger exactly on why, I just have a general sense that 2020 is going to be a great year for many of us, especially if 2019 is any indication.

2019 was a great year for me personally, both in terms of music and business endeavors.  These two parts of my life have become so tightly intertwined that at this point it’s hard to tell sometimes where my musical life ends and where my business life begins.  It’s all part of the same over-arching mission, which is to move independent music forward and help foster an environment where passionate artists, myself and others, can comfortably sustain ourselves from our art and live our dreams.

It turns out that’s easier said than done, but 2019 has left me feeling more inspired than I’ve felt in a very long time.  Personally, I’ve been making music that I feel is the best I’ve ever made in my life. I’ve signed several really exciting licensing/publishing deals this year that are starting to pay off with a variety of new placements and new potential placements.  I also made my first foray into session work this year and played guitar on several tracks for a huge recording project commissioned by Disney/20^th Century Fox (I should be able to share some of these tracks in the near future, the project is still in development).  I finished a new EP of original music and started a new Album of spiritually themed Indie Folk music that I’ll be releasing next year.

A variety of members of HTLYM Premium have also done some amazing things as well, including securing new placements on Netflix’s The Charmed, The Amazon series Jack Ryan, a variety of placements on The Young & The Restless, Showtime, Netflix, A & E and many more.  One of our members has racked up 30K to date from just one song we helped her pitch several years ago.  Another has seen their music used on multiple new shows as a result of pitching to the leads she found in our daily leads section.  Another has scored multiple film projects.   Our members’ music has been heard around the world in countries including The USA, Germany, England, France, Canada, Turkey, Greece and Italy.

And many more.  We’ve heard from many of you this year who are doing great things as a result of our coaching and resources.  Thanks to all of you who have taken the time to reach out and share your success stories. Please keep them coming! (If you’ve scored new placements as a result of our service, please reach out and let us know, we’d be happy to brag about your accomplishments and help you promote your music.)

So, maybe it’s the momentum of all the good news that’s been coming in lately, or perhaps it has something to do with the fact that we’re moving into not just a New Year, but an entirely new decade, or maybe it’s just where I am in life at the moment, I’m not really sure.  Maybe it’s a combination of all these things.  But for whatever reason I’m really stoked for 2020 and I’m going to be making some pretty substantial changes next year that symbolize just how stoked I am. 

What changes you ask?  Well for starters, in addition to everything I’m doing here at HTLYM Premium, I’m going to be really getting back to my roots in terms of the music I make and making that the focal point of my life and my teaching.  After all, that’s where my real passion has been all along and what inspired me to start How To License Your Music dot com over a decade ago.

Fortunately, I’ve never stopped making and licensing music for the last ten plus years I’ve been running How To License Your Music.  But at times, especially in the beginning, the demands of running and growing my own business have consumed much more time than I anticipated and I ended up unintentionally putting my own music on the back-burner, in terms of my day to day priorities.  It turns out that launching your own internet business is pretty challenging.  A lot harder than it looks from a distance.  But over the past couple years I’ve been shifting back to making my own music be, if not front and center, at least share an equal amount of focus as my day to day business endeavors. 

My ultimate goal all along has been to lead by example and share my successes, setbacks, frustrations and breakthroughs with you all, so that you can learn from my own trials and errors. I feel like I’ve finally struck a very healthy balance in terms of educating others, keeping my own musical career progressing and sharing my own journey in a way that’s hopefully both inspiring and informative.

In 2020 I’m going to bring things into even greater alignment. I plan on dramatically upping my own game in terms of the music I make, pushing my tracks even more, making new connections and so on in 2020.  I’ve always done my best to lead by example, but next year I plan on making this even more so the case.  In fact, I’m so motivated and excited to move things forward in 2020, that I’m going to be moving to an entirely new City and making some pretty major changes in my personal life in order to facilitate my growth and progress.  All entirely positive and exciting changes, but to be honest, a little bit scary too. 

I consider myself a highly adventurous and open minded person and as a self-employed musician/ entrepreneur, not exactly risk averse.  But I’m also a fairly routine oriented person and sometimes, like all of us, I get stuck in ruts. And although I wouldn’t exactly characterize 2019 as a rut per se, (it was a very prosperous year) I know deep down I could be doing more in terms of pushing my own music forward and being an even better example for my subscribers and readers.  The last thing I want to be is a “do as I say, not as I do” sort of person.  

So, next year, I’m going to be starting a new chapter and taking my blog, videos and podcasts in a slightly different direction. In terms of what to expect, I can’t say exactly yet, I’ll be sharing more details soon.  But to give you a hint, I plan to share more of my musical journey with you all, what projects I’m working on, my own networking strategies, what’s working, what’s not working and so on.  Basically, the same kind of content I’ve been sharing, but with more of an emphasis on really making an impact in the music industry and really hustling and going for it and sharing the entire process, as opposed to just the successes.  (I’ll be sharing some big news related to this on January 1)

In terms of music licensing, all the training and resources we’re offering related to music licensing are now under one roof at HTLYM Premium.  My team and I will be continuing to release new courses, webinars and training related to music licensing throughout 2020 at HTLYM Premium, which is where when I’m not busy creating new music, I’ll be spending most of my time and energy.

If licensing your music is your goal and you want to get access to everything we’re doing in terms of premium content and in -depth, cutting edge training, that’s where you’ll find it.  You’ll get access to hundreds of hours of premium content as a premium member, including one on one coaching, daily leads, live webinars, weekly mastermind and much more. Remember, you’ll save over 50% off the full cost of a premium membership between now and December 31. 

Join today here:

https://www.htlympremium.com/

Happy New Year!

Aaron Davison