duets album and some news! (Patreon)

hello beloved patrons!

i wanted to loop you in on some news.

first, a small but fun thing: tomorrow, (after way too long,) jesse and i are putting out a compilation album of our duets! it’s called I Found You. there will be vinyl (eventually), and actually, on that note—i’m finally in the process of getting It’s Hard To Be Human vinyls going too! (but it’s a very slow process so don’t get too excited haha)

second, if you were to scroll down to the bottom of this album tomorrow on spotify or apple or wherever you listen to music (or any of my past albums for that matter), you might notice the name “Endurance Music Group” down where a label name usually goes. this is what i want to talk to you about. it feels important for me to speak transparently to you all (kg records!) specifically about this and explain what it means, even though big picture it means very little, and you most likely would have never noticed this little detail. 

the short version: a company called Endurance Music Group (EMG) has purchased my past releases (aka back catalogue). this means everything those past albums make now goes to them, and in exchange they’ve paid me that lump sum up front.

without knowing too much about catalogue deals, i can see how this might sound counter to everything i have stood for in my career (go independent! down with labels! etc etc), so i would like to explain to you how very different it is, and how i came to this decision.

first, i want to clarify what this is NOT: this is not a record label deal (if you know me, you know i am not the biggest fan of labels). EMG does not have anything to do with the music i make now or in the future. they have no say over what music i create, how i make it, or when i release it. they can’t tie up or shelve my releases, push me in a direction that isn’t authentic to me, or decide something i make isn’t good enough. hallelujah to that.

what this IS: they make the money i would have made off of my past work and try to get that music into more ears.

why this is kind of amazing to me:

1. suddenly someone else in the world other than me is incentivized to get this music heard by more people. i’ll be the first to admit that i’ve done a pretty weak job of promoting my releases in recent years, not to mention failing to give them any love at all once they are out in the world. my songs and albums mean the world to me. they are the product of so much struggle and growth and pain and love and life, and my biggest hope for them is to be out in the world helping as many people as possible. that said, when you’re independent, running your own business, NOT a professional marketer, the one writing/recording/producing/etc, and now being a mom, it doesn’t leave a lot of time for promoting! hence why so many of my past releases have come out with a simple “new song!” post on Instagram and me hoping somehow the people who need it will find it someday. so anyway—the fact that someone else will be focused on this past work and trying to get it heard = awesome.

2. they are actually wonderful and kind people that really love the work and are excited to represent it. a rarity in this industry.

3. the music industry is an incredibly mysterious, shifting, kind of scary and not-super-reliable industry. if you follow other artists, you’ve probably heard something about how stressful it can be as an artist to navigate where and how you support yourself. looking back at my past 15 years in this industry, i am still amazed that i have survived it at all. from having to pay to play gigs, to posting daily videos on youtube for essentially nothing at all, to funding my own world tours, to label deals and then not label deals, to spotify exploding onto the scene, and now spotify declining, from social media being such a gift to becoming such a confusing crazy algorithm-based word where you can’t reach anyone—it’s been a wild ride. (this of course is where i must shout out patreon (and the patrons that make it go round), the only two things that i feel any artist can truly rely on these days—thank you thank you thank you!!!) with this sort of landscape, when you have no idea how long one source of income will continue or when it will disappear, or if you’ll be young and hip or hungry enough to chase the next social media fad in order to stay engaged with your listeners (answer: absolutely not), to have your future income set in stone is a type of security that is pretty unheard of in this industry and will give me a sense of stability that i am incredibly grateful for.

4. perhaps most importantly, this will allow me to continue to put the most important things first: time with my mom and my family, giving as much love and focus as i can to aya, tending to my mental and physical health, and creating music in the organic way i love to, without the pressure of feeling the need to crank out release after release just for the sake of putting something out.

you, my inner circle of supporters, have made my career possible from day one. from coming out to random gigs in LA, to voting for me in Crash The Super Bowl and winning me a major label record deal, to creating a street team to help spread my music, to giving me the confidence to leave my major label deal and go independent, to literally becoming my label, kg records, the engine that has fueled all of my creative endeavors for the past 6 years, and all the music i’ve yet to make in the future. none of this changes, and this is part of why it feels so extremely important for you all to be looped in on this. while Endurance is now helping to represent my past work, KG records is still my present and my future, and nothing can touch that!

a quick aside which i have mentioned before and will mention again and again—if supporting me on patreon is at all a financial stressor for you, please please by all means put you and your life first. i will always adore and tend to this community, but i want to make sure it feels positive to everyone involved, too! selling my back catalog will ease the stress of where and how income comes in, which makes me feel even more adamantly about this. if being a patron is a joyful thing for you—if you enjoy the community or supporting independent music or it just makes you feel good, then absolutely i want you here, kg records for life!!! if it’s a stressor at all—i love you all the same and am grateful for everything you’ve done for me, and you can switch your account to the free setting and still follow along :) also, it’s not beyond me that i haven’t been the greatest at keeping this a fun and happening community this past year. things with my mom have taken a front seat, but i hope to start tending to our little family a bit better again soon—sharing more exclusive content, getting back into monthly hangouts, doing some live chats on the updated app, etc.

ok. well. i’ve written next great american novel it seems? if you’ve made it this far, my goodness. i really appreciate you listening.

infinite thanks to all of you. sending love and gratitude and many many hugs!

xo