 Really quick, I forgot to mention when I first recorded this video that this was inspired by a question from Hard K. And I'll do a few more videos based on that question as well. Bah, what's up everybody? Once again, it's Brand Man Shawna. Today, we're going over the one way that's really important to get a record deal. And what's that one thing? Leverage. What exactly does that mean? We'll get into it as we break it down into two separate versions of it that works to get that record deal. The first one's pretty old school, which is finding that person, that kind of connection. You network, you find that person who already has relationships established. And then they become an advocate for you, almost like that old school and our nurturing relationship. They give you connection and put you in front of the people, the right people. And they also kind of nurture and start to give you that fan base or at least that experience that you need until they think you are ready to be put out. Yes, that's still happening in some places, people. Me, I don't really like that, Rob, because you're putting your fate into someone's hands and that's just not my thing. And plus, even with that first relationship, you're still going to have to do a little bit of number two, which is way more important. Build a fan base. Build leverage by getting directly to the people. You create a buzz. If you look at somebody like XXX, Tintacion, he has a lot of buzz going around in knees and gel, which kind of amplified the fan base he already had because people went even more crazy. You can think about 50 cent early on in his career. When he started beefing with Jarl Rull, he created a lot of extra buzz around him. You can think about G-Eazy. He created a lot of buzz and a fanatical fan base before he got signed or started working with labels for distribution and things like that. There is nothing more powerful than actually having a fan base. Why? Back to that leverage. Having connections, powerful connections, that's the form of leverage. But having a fan base and using that fan base to generate buzz is the most effective form of leverage that you can use to get a deal. Not only a deal, but a deal that's best for you. Because what's leverage, you really at that point are saying, I don't necessarily need you, but I want you to help accelerate what I already have going on. In the other first example, when you are using these connections to really create everything for you, you're basically asking me to do it for you. You say I have this talent, but I need you. Number two is saying, I don't need you, but I want you to help me because what I already have going on, I know you pour that fuel, things get burning. And at the end of the day, once again, you're going to have to build a fan base. No matter what, so why not just start now? Consider the independent route and as you are independent, you can decide if you want to get with the label. But start learning those things early on because ask yourself a genuine question. And most artists don't really think this through enough. What is your goal? Is it to get signed or is it to be a successful artist? Those two things are not necessarily the same thing. Think about all the people who've gotten signed and well as a matter of fact, you might not even know about them because that's the point. Getting signed is not a bad goal, but don't let it distract from the ultimate goal of becoming a successful long-term artist in the game. Build a fan base, generate buzz, or you could just have a hot song and generate buzz that way. But create leverage how you can. It's that simple. That's it. Hit that subscribe button. Bam.