 The system is set up to work against you when you don't have money. I was probably spending more on all kinds of like hidden things. And when I didn't have good credit, you know, I couldn't get a loan for a house. I couldn't get a mortgage. So I told myself that once I started making money, I would learn about how these systems work so that I can have it work in my favor. So first thing I would do if I'm making like $15,000 a year off of just music income, whether you're an artist, a producer, engineer, whatever. First thing I would do is I would open a business account at a bank. Just go in there, like see what kind of business accounts they have and create a separate bank entity and also license your LLC with your state wherever you live. So create an LLC and create a separate checking account for that LLC. So you have basically what you're trying to do is you're trying to separate your personal income from your business income. So everything is separate. So that's step one. And then step two really after that is I would find a good accountant or a CPA and a lot of times they'll be able to give you tips on like what type of LLC you should set up, you know, the tax designation and all of that kind of stuff and how to write off expenses for your business. So is there a certain time period that you feel like you have to wait before you start this or do you do it day one? I would say if you're making a certain, there's like a monetary threshold, right? Because if you're not making any money from music whatsoever or if you're making a small amount, it's probably not worth it for you just yet because you're going to have to pay to renew your LLC and your licenses and that kind of stuff. So yeah, I would say like once you're making 12 to $15,000 a year got it off with music. Got it. Yeah, that makes sense because of expenses and yeah, and then how you funnel the income. Well, and I need to read this title tips on managing finances as a musician or artist courtesy of Kato the track. Let's get to the second one. Okay. Use credit cards with good rewards. Yes. Mx Capital One, etc. And pay off every two weeks. Yeah. Um, so the idea behind that is like most of these credit card companies now have like a rewards program, right? So they give you back things or money in exchange for you using their services, their products. So yeah, one of the first things I did was I opened up an Mx credit card because to me they had the best rewards for what I needed. I was traveling a lot at the time. So I wanted to get a credit card that had like good travel rewards. So I got an Mx credit card and just started charging all my business expenses to that. And I was making sure that I put it on auto pay and was paying off the balance every single month so that I wasn't incurring bad debt. Bad debt is like if they're charging you interest every month on the balance that you have on that card, you don't want to pay that interest, right? Cause it's going to fuck up your credit and it's just going to look bad and you're going to spend more money. So I was paying off the balance every month and just keeping an eye on my finances and using that card just for my business expenses and getting travel rewards back. So, you know, things like getting a getting like TSA pre-check and, um, you know, certain cash back for when you spend at hotels or on flights and stuff like that. Yeah, man, it's a beautiful thing. The first time like we had a schedule chip and I realized we had points that cover all of it. Yeah. It's like, oh man, this is great. You have to really do the math and, you know, use the system. Yeah. That's what I learned about once I started making money is that the system is set up to work against you when you don't have money. Everything from late fees to overdraft fees. When you look at how many things are set up to work against you when you don't have money, it's insane. Like when I was broke, I was probably spending more on late fees and all kinds of like hidden things. And when I didn't have good credit, you know, I couldn't get a loan for a house. I couldn't get a mortgage. I would pay higher interest when I took out a car loan. Like those systems are set up against you when you don't have money. So I told myself that once I started making money, I would learn about how these systems work so that I can have it work in my favor. And those are things that you're not taught in school. You should have been broke today, man. Joe Biden trying to help these folks out. I know you saw the thing about the mortgage. I mean the credit score, people with lower credit score are getting charged less than higher credit scores. Every time I figure something out, man, they work against me, man. Yeah. Yeah. But generally speaking, like there's so many little things set up to work against you when you're poor for sure. It's literally inertia in each direction. Like I build momentum being broken, then everything cascades in that direction or I'm starting to get some money and if you keep making those right decisions, you know, that grows and grows. And that's why we always, you know, hear about the gap growing between the rich and the poor. Right. Little details like that is part of why it happens outside of policies and all these other things. Just some small decisions. I mean, the small ways systems are set up. So some artists and managers are just waiting for lucky moments when the ones who are killing it have systems to consistently take artists to another level over and over again. And if you want to see what that looks like, we just did a collab where we not only show the system that we use. That's resulted in Billboard hits. Some of the biggest viral moments on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube. But also we got JR McKee to break down how he took artists from zero to one of the biggest hit songs of 2022 and getting a Grammy in January of 2023. This is recent stuff. Not old tactics. If you want to check it out, go to www.brandmannetwork.com slash Grammy. Don't forget the www or it won't work because JR gets into the details of looking at the data, decisions that got made, how much content got created and how they adjusted the content over time for different parts of the campaign. This is real behind the curtains type of stuff. So again, go to www.brandmannetwork.com slash Grammy. If you want to check this out and apply it to yourself. Back to the video. I first start not when I first started business because I remember doing LLCs a couple of times. Like when I was younger, but it wasn't when I like did taxes seriously and you just start hearing how these things are set up certain advantages, etc. And I was like, you know what? I can see how basically the country is set up for people to be business owners. And you're not a business owner. Yeah. Hey, I don't want to say you're fully getting screwed, but you know, there's a lot of advantages to have a business and continue to spend more money and not just sit on that money too. Right. So they want you to be a business that continues to reinvest in the marketplace. That's basically what they want you to be. Exactly. I also pay taxes every month instead of just once at the end of the year. Not there yet. Not there yet. Yeah. I mean, that's something that I had to learn is because for the first couple of years when I set up my LLC and you know, I was starting to make a little bit of money through music. I'd talked to my accountant and it was always like at the end of the year, he'd hit me with this huge number that I had to pay in taxes. And if you're not prepared for that, if you don't have money set aside just for that, that's one of the things about owning your own business. Like you are the one that has to keep an eye on all the cash flow, all the revenue that you have and where your money is going, right? So if you spend everything that you make as a business owner, you're not prepared for when you got to pay $20, $30,000 in taxes at the end of the year. So to kind of to kind of make that blow a little easier, I started paying quarterly and then once I really started making money, I started paying monthly. So now I pay taxes every single month and then I pay at the end of the year too. Got you. But it's less. And I'm sure a lot less stress. Yeah, exactly. Well, having clean books is a blessing. That's for sure. Yeah, yeah. And finding the people that can help you do that. That's why I say like having a good accountant, having a good CPA, you know, having a money manager or an advisor, you know, once you get to that point, I think is important because it's hard to manage all that stuff yourself and be in the business. Now, last tip you put on here, set aside 30% of all income for taxes and pay quarterly or even monthly if possible. So there it is. Yes, there it is. 30% at least. I would say to be on the safe side, set aside 40% of all the checks that you get, all the revenue. Once you get royalties, if you sell beats online or if you're, you know, getting checks, set aside 30% to 40% of everything that you make. And if I were, if I were a new artist, right, I would even set up a high yield savings account, right? I have a high yield savings account that earns me 4.7% interest. So I make 4.7% on the money that on the balance that I have in my savings account. So every month I'm making thousands because if you just have money sitting in your checking account, you're not making any, you're actually losing money due to inflation, right? So that money is going to be worth less and less every single day due to inflation. So if you put it in a high yield savings account, which there are tons of them, you're at least fighting, you're fighting inflation, but you're probably also making a little bit of money on top of that just by having it sit there. Yeah, depending on what era of inflation we're at the very least, you're dying slower. Yes. And I'll take that, you know, I'll take that over a quick bill, a quick death.