52 Songs in 2022 Accomplished; My Experience of Releasing a New Song Weekly
To you who are reading this, thank you. First and foremost.
As of December 31, 2022, we officially hit our goal of releasing 52 songs in a year.
Starting on January 21, 2022, we started the journey of releasing a new song weekly. For the next 50 weeks straight, we would then proceed to release a new song a week.
And in the last week of 2022, we would release 4 songs to hit the goal of 52.
On the surface, the support has been phenomenal. The listenership increased, the audience grew, the skillset got honed up, etc. To anyone who does music; if you are willing to take on the challenge of releasing a new song every week for a year, I say go for it. Just don’t miss a week. It actually becomes easier the more you get into it. After around week 6 or 7, the weekly releases became a habit.
Personally, I wrote, mixed, mastered, and edited the artwork of all songs I released last year. The only thing I did not mainly do were my productions (beats). Luckily I collected quite a few beats over the years and decided to use them in last year’s releases. I produced some of my own of course, but it was only 15 out of the 52 in the year 2022.
However, I have to mention a disclaimer. I can’t comfortably say that it was an easy road. Even though I had success on the surface level, there was turmoil underneath.
While pursuing this goal, it seemed all other facets of my life suffered. My finances suffered, my mental health took a hit, my relationships withered, etc.
Halfway through the year, I lost a job I liked due to no fault on my end. So naturally, my finances fell. After this point, I never had a real job during the remainder of 2022. I applied to some places, but I never stuck to anything. They were either too demanding on time, or I just didn’t think it was a good fit. Long story short, I had to learn how to make my own money consistently. Thankfully, things worked out the way they did.
As for my mental health, it took a hit, I won’t lie about it. Early on, dropping a song a week can be both stressful and discouraging. You spend all this time making the beat (or trying to find a good one to use), recording yourself, mixing, mastering, getting the artwork done, getting a lyric video done (or even a music video), sending it to the DSPs, etc. In addition to all this, you’re still learning how to properly mix and master (which is a skill you DEFINITELY need to learn), make engaging content, how to make beats, and plenty more. You release your first 3 songs in 3 weeks, and no one is listening…
You do it for 3 more weeks, and maybe you got a couple of people listening now, but only a couple. You do it for 1 more week, and now you’re thinking of giving this whole “song a week” thing up. So now, your mental space starts to get affected. You start thinking “why is no one listening?” or “My music must be trash”, or “I’m doing all this work but not getting the love I want” or whatever. It doesn’t help that you’re giving up time to do this too. You could be out with friends, playing video games, or even watching your favorite shows. Everyone’s situation is different, but you could also be dealing with negative factors outside of music too. Such as; your struggling financial situation, your failing relationship, your divorce, your negative peers, your addiction, and so much more.
Outside of trying to drop a song a week, you could be dealing with all these things, which does have an impact on your mental health. Dealing with these problems, you may put music on the back burner, and eventually return when you are “ready”, or won’t even return to it at all. I say it could impact your mental health because it could be an added stressor to your already stressful life. Maybe you like recording, but mixing and mastering stresses you out. Maybe the song you recorded didn’t come out the way you wanted it to, so now you’re scrambling to get a new song done within 24 hours to hopefully hit your Friday quota. Whatever it is though, all I can say is this. Be prepared for that rocky journey.
This is what helped me. Over the course of the year, I can confidently say that 2022 has been the worst year for me out of all 5 years doing music. I lost a relationship of 4 years, my finances went under because I couldn’t make payments on time, I lost a car, I lost a job, and I lost contact with some friends. I’m thankful I still have my health, but even that requires daily maintenance. 2022 was not a great year for me. However, despite it all, there still was a job to do. And that’s exactly how I looked at it. It needed to get done.
I decided very early on that I would keep dropping a new song every week on Friday in January 2022, no matter what. NO EXCEPTIONS! Despite what’s happening around me. If I didn’t have a studio available to me, then I had better use my phone or find someone’s laptop to record, point blank period. I even made songs on the day of release days. But no matter what, I had to release every Friday. I thought of it as a do-or-die situation, and it worked for me. However, this type of thinking may not work for you, so I strongly suggest you figure it out for yourself. To those willing to try of course.
But overall, I don’t regret it. Again, it kept my skills sharp, and I did get better at mixing/mastering, and production. The listenership didn’t really start to grow until about 6 months in, to keep it a hunnad. But looking back, I can say it’s worth it. I don’t like to brag, but it is something you can actually brag about. Do what you want, but it’s definitely a feat you should be proud of. Especially if you made your songs as the weeks went by.
I hope this article gives you some insight, and I hope your day is great.
Stay up, always
LeeSon Bryce
Furthermore; we just dropped an EP called “New Beginnings”. If you want to check it out, you can do so here; https://lnk.to/lsbnbep
The people really are liking “Aye, Count Yo Bag” and “Aye, She Workin” off of it.
Hope all is well!
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