Eight Things We Learned About Breaking Into the Music Biz From SXSW’s New Docuseries

For musicians, building a following has become more difficult than ever in the past decade, with social media segmenting fanbases and competition from musicians who might not even be real. The organizers of SXSW, the annual Austin music festival where boots-on-the-ground record execs see real musicians perform and sign them to labels each spring, have produced a docuseries called The Music Blueprint in which artists explain how they’ve found their footing in changing times. (Disclosure: Rolling Stone’s parent company, P-MRC, has held a 50 percent stake in SXSW since 2021.)

The Music Blueprint’s first three episodes are on YouTube now and feature R&B/hip-hop artist Kaash Paige, alt-rockers the Sophs, and “live code artist” DJ_Dave, who each disclose the secrets behind their own unique paths to recognition. The next two installments, which will feature Fancy Hagood and Shakey Graves, are set to premiere on March 6. Here are the most interesting lessons we learned from the first three episodes:

Just start recording as much as possible.

Kaash Paige started making music in high school. Her father had a background in the music business already, so she asked him to help record her. “She’d be like, ‘Dad, Dad, record me, record me,’” her father, Denauld Woolen, said in her episode. “And I was like, ‘You’re going to record every day?’ I could see the fire that she had in her eyes.”

Get your music on every possible channel.

Paige had her music on Soundcloud to begin with but then started diversifying her channels, eventually scoring a TikTok hit. In the clip, Kayvan Daragheh, who works at Genius, described TikTok and Instagram as making the biggest impact for artists right now. “It’s kind of crazy, because you just need to be on all of them,” he said. “You could have something pop off on Threads and then you’re in a completely different situation.”

Once the ball starts rolling, assemble the right crew.

Paige manages herself now, but she has already planned the infrastructure of her music empire. “I’m gonna get a killer booking agent, a dope assistant, and I already have an amazing business management team that manages my finances for me; I met them at SXSW, actually,” she said. “And an amazing attorney. When it comes to all those different things, you want to be around people who can teach you what they’re doing.”

Don’t bother with the front door — look for the back door in.

The L.A.-based rock group the Sophs released their first song in May 2025 without having performed much live; luckily, frontman Ethan Ramon found a way to get attention without needing to. He was working as a personal assistant to an executive and had access to a database of label owners. So he emailed a five-song demo reel, a band bio, press photos, and a cover letter to 30 indie label CEOs. Geoff Travis, who founded Rough Trade Records, responded and said the label would have to see them live. The Sophs had practiced together only once or twice, so they hustled and booked a show on the fly. The performance landed them a deal.

Get a good lawyer.

Ramon said in the clip that artists wondering whether or not to sign to a label should take all the money they have and hire a good lawyer. “Find people who know what they’re talking about as far as contracts and music law and have them analyze your situation,” he said. Signing, he added, is something you need to think hard about: “More often than not, I think you should not sign.” His deal, he said, though, was a no-brainer.

Always experiment with your music.

DJ_Dave, an electronic producer and DJ, describes herself as a “live code artist” who has embraced live coding with AI to make music. She originally played more traditional instruments but became interested laptop music. “With live coding, you’re actually performing all the instruments,” she said in her episode. “Triggering all the sounds live, it’s a much more in-depth way of actually performing electronic music.”

Yes, coding AI counts as talent.

Kira Karlstrom, who does marketing for Twitch, says in DJ_Dave’s episode that musicians shouldn’t fear AI. “I think it’s going to come down to how people use it,” she says. “I think the argument in the industry is, ‘Well, it’s taking away from someone that has true talent.’ But then the argument on the AI side for the person who created this AI artist is that there was talent that went into creating that artist. There is creativity in that.”

What matters most is finding what makes you unique.

“For someone who’s thinking about how they can get their name out there, I think it’s really important to genuinely be like, ‘What sets me apart? What makes me different from other people?’” DJ_Dave said in her clip. “Obviously, there always has to be a huge element of authenticity to that.” For DJ_Dave, she realized the thing that set her apart was how she led with her unconventional approach to music and making sure that her music was as good as it could be.