Why I'm Changing Elevated Frequencies (and Why You Win) | EF EP 169

0:00 Hey everyone. I am going to start today a little differently because I've got some news and I'm really excited to share it. Even though it's a really big change after three years of putting out an episode of Elevated Frequencies, every single week I am changing what the show is now. I'm not ending it, but I am evolving it. And by the end of this episode, I think you're going to be as fired up as I am about it, because the short version is you're about to get a lot more of me, not less. I wonder how top DJs actually built their careers. I had to do 15 years of hard work to get any of the recognition that I wanted. Where I saw a turning point in my career is when I came true to myself from. Marketing and mindset to networking and negotiation. I'm giving you the tools you need to build a lasting career in dance music.

0:45 Give them bits of you and your everyday life. You have to change the way you view the word no. Like me, I'm encouraged by it. Join me, Olivia Mancuso and industry leaders as we reveal what it really takes to turn your passion into profit. This is elevated frequencies. All right, let me back up. Right now, I am feeling that thrill of starting something new. You know that like seductive pull of the launch phase, where possibilities feel endless and the pastures are green and all the hurdles and the curveballs and the disappointments haven't shown up yet. I know that feeling all too well because I felt that exact same way three years ago when I hit record on the very first episode of this podcast, which I believe was with Disco Fries, now 160 something episodes later.

1:34 Through a studio that flooded, that destroyed a lot of my gear. Through a landlord who raised my rent 110%, and through thousands of hours that I'm not going to get back. You know, I'm a little battered and bruised. But I am so grateful for what this show has given me. It has given me professional relationships with some of the biggest artists in the world. It gave me a reason to be in the room, and it gave me you. And I don't take a second of that lightly. So here's what's changing and why. Because you deserve to know the why. Starting October 1st, Elevated Frequencies is becoming a monthly newsletter released on the 1st Thursday of every month, plus a monthly video essay, plus the occasional interview when I have time.

2:19 Now, I'm doing this for two reasons. The first reason is that putting out a show every single week meant that I was all output and no input. I was so busy feeding the machine that I never had time to sit with what these artists and the industry folks were actually teaching me. And I'm going to be real with you, like I love interviewing. I love the hustle of it. And that's the same reason why I worked in the news business years ago when the whole game was, you know, win the day. But that's exactly how the podcast is felt. It's like win the week, book the next guest. Sometimes I would be doing like 5 interviews back-to-back in a day or a weekend. And part of me was, you know, like proud that I could even pull that off, that I could stretch my capabilities to manage that kind of volume.

3:05 But if I'm being candid with you, was the quality always where I wanted it? No, I fought for it every single week, but some weeks it was more just about checking the box than making like the best possible thing. And you deserve my best, not just my box checked. The second reason that I'm making this change is Chicago Music Nexus. If you are newer to the podcast, Nexus is the conference that I Co founded. It's sold out three years running this November. It's a 2 day event in Chicago and I truly believe that it can become the premier dance music conference in North America. But something like that doesn't build itself. And there's a truth I've had to learn the hard way, which is when everything is important, that nothing is important.

3:46 So, you know, I'm making a choice. I'm putting my focus where it can do the most for this community. And that's Nexus and this new, more intentional version of elevated frequencies. All right, let me tell you a little story about me. Back in college from 2010 to 2014, I was the person who loved writing research papers like there was nothing I loved more. And by the way, this was before chat or anything, you know, them pulling data and ideas from a dozen different places and fitting the puzzle pieces together into something that made a statement. For over a decade, I've had that muscle, and I've barely gotten to use it. So this pivot is me finally getting to use my brain the way it wants to be used. It means instead of, you know, racing to the next interview, I now have time to dig into what I'm learning and hand it back to you as specific, useful, do this tomorrow sort of feedback on your career.

4:41 So you're getting the version of me who gets to think again. And, you know, was there a fear around this decision? Well, yeah. Especially meeting so many of you at ARC and hearing how you love my podcast. You know, staying relevant relies on being seen, which is what a weekly podcast gave me. And trying to make a name for yourself in this industry is so hard. It's always going to be hard. So the skill you have to build and what I had to learn was, OK, well, there's these two types of of hard, right? Like is this the regular hard, the kind you just push through? Or is it hard because it's out of alignment with what you're supposed to be doing? You know, weekly podcast started to feel out of alignment for me.

5:22 And it took so long to figure it out because it was the regular kind of hard first before it became the second kind of hard. So if you take one thing from me today, learn to tell those two types of difficult apart. But this newsletter has got me fired up and in flow again, which I'm so excited about. So, you know, zooming out, I've said this a million times, I believe we're standing on the ground floor of something huge for dance music in America. Look at what's happening. Festival lineups are handing more and more of the bill to electronic acts every single year. Labels in the UK and Europe, who for a long time barely looked our way, are starting to pay attention to this market and to pull American artists into the fold.

6:09 And artists here are not waiting for permission anymore. They're becoming entrepreneurs. They're throwing their own events. They're, you know, you know, launching their own party series and building their own festivals from nothing. Now, people always argue with me on this. They'll say that American dance music is too commercial, too safe, and that it'll it'll never be what Europe is. Sure, I hear them. But you know, this doesn't have to be Europe because we get to build our own thing. We can make the music that we love, the music that wins here in the States on our terms. But that only happens if if people actually build. Because it's so easy to let the world pass you by and do nothing and complain from the sidelines. You know, building something is hard. It costs you, but it is worth it. It's the most worth it thing that there is. That's why I built this podcast.

7:01 It's why I'm building Nexus, and it's why I'm building this newsletter, and it's why I'm also sitting here asking you to go build your thing. We can be the change here and I really believe that. So the newsletter, let me tell you exactly what you are signing up for. Once a month, straight to your inbox, you're going to get an issue the Elevated Frequencies newsletter with at least four things in it. 1st is the Frequency Report, where I take 1 current industry trend. I dig into the real data behind it and I breakdown what it means for the state of dance music and for you. Second is the Anatomy of an Artist, which is a very succinct interview with an artist where we take their career apart and pull out the specific moves that got them there. Those are strategies that you're meant to steal. And then third is the lab, which is 1, teaching a branding or business framework you can apply to your career the same day you read it.

7:48 And 4th is the plug. That's a sponsored section, but it's a honest spotlight on a tool I use and I think can help you. Now. On top of that, once a month I will drop an extended video essay on YouTube, going deeper into one of the topics from the newsletter and listen. I will still sit down for interviews with artists because I still love it and I'm not giving it up entirely when I do that. I will link it in the newsletter so you don't have to go hunting for it to find out, you know, if I put out something new. So I don't want you signing up for a mystery. So a little sneak peek of what I've been working on for the first issue, which goes out again October 1st. The Frequency Report is about merch and why it belongs in your artist brand way earlier than you think like you can all, all of you listening can start incorporating merch right now.

8:34 The lab is on networking and how to lead with value at events like Ade and Nexus without coming off salesy and transactional. And then October's featured artist, I'm pretty sure is going to be for sure, which I'm really excited about because I love her. So here's my 1:00 ask. I don't make this lightly. I feel like I don't ask you guys for much this podcast and about 95% of everything I do has always been free. So this is the rare moment I'm going to look you in the eye and ask for something. Please go subscribe to the newsletter. The link is going to be right here in the show notes. Takes 5 seconds. And I promise you are going to get so much out of this. I just, I want you there for it. So I'll leave you with the thing I try to live by. Give everything you do a real college try. Put all of yourself in it and then learn to tell when it's time to push through and when it is time to pivot. Don't give up, but know when to change. I gave this weekly show everything I had for three years and now I'm changing and it feels right. So thank you for three years.

9:37 This isn't goodbye, it is just a different frequency. Go subscribe and I will see you in your e-mail inbox on October 1st.