The idea is the most important thing. It's hard to describe what the idea is, you can replace every element in a song and it can still be there. But if it gets lost, you'll feel it.

Capture ideas the moment they arrive. They leave as fast as they came if you don't look after them.

Let the song make itself, don't do too much. The song usually knows what it wants before you do. Let randomness help you, plugins with random preset buttons are great.

What you leave out of a song matters as much as what you add. Space is a decision.

The flaws in your song are features. They're the human part, often they're the art itself.

Work as if everyone will notice every detail. They won't, but together they become something people can feel.

Everyone says not to chase perfection. Chase it anyway. If you believe you can get close, it's worth the time to try.

Stepping away is part of the work. Distance shows you the song you actually made. Your ears reset overnight.

You don't need gear, remove as much as you can. Creating should be frictionless, nothing between you and the song.

There are infinite good songs ready to be created. Never hold one back from an artist because it feels too good to give away.

Ignore all sample clearance stuff, it doesn't matter, you can work it out later. Just make great music. Worst case you still have the idea and need to remove the sample.

You don't need to have struggled to make something real. Your story is your story, and what's true to you is true.

Don't take opinions of your music to heart, and be most careful with the positive ones. Listen to everything, then trust yourself.

Certain moments will somehow unlock you getting better. Sometimes big, sometimes small. Notice them and think about why. Often it's when you're not making music that something clicks.

Learn other creative skills, they shape how you interact with music too. Fashion, writing, design, they all follow the same rules.

Be a real friend to the artists you work with, not a networker. The best collaborations come out of genuine friendship. People can always tell when you're offering your skills but really want something in return.

Artists like an idea more when it feels like theirs. Let it be theirs, the song wins either way.

Separate your work from everyone else's as much as possible. Work that exists in a void gets appreciated on its own terms.

You don't need to post content, hustle, or become an influencer. Quality surpasses all the noise.

Chasing money from music never ends anywhere you're happy with. Money follows work made with love, and it never works the other way around.

Your mind works the same way as AI, it just has a smaller dataset. The human behind it is still what matters. Every generation gets new tools and creativity has survived all of them. Don't fear them, use them. There has never been a more accessible time to make music.

Ideas don't come from you. All you can do is put yourself in a position to receive them.

The best ideas feel obvious, almost too simple, like they already existed and you just found them.

Make ideas, not beats. A beat is manufactured, made to a formula and sent off. An idea is alive. It gives an artist something to build around and a reason to build it with you, back and forth until it's a song.

Your demo often has something the finished version loses. Work out what it is before you polish it away.

The goal is the bare minimum version that still carries the full feeling of the idea. Strip everything it doesn't need.

Never show how much work went into what you created. Something that took a thousand hours should feel like it fell out of the air. Effortless is the magic.

Imagine a specific person you know listening to your song, and what they'd think of it. You'll instantly hear it through their ears. You might get more honest feedback than if you actually played it to them.

Limit yourself on purpose. Constraints make you more creative.

You don't need the studio. Being alone is a powerful tool, the most authentic things are made with nobody watching.

A song is valuable and disposable at the same time. If you lose one, don't lose sleep. It wasn't to be, and there are unlimited more waiting.

You can write things that never happened. But they have to connect to a feeling you truly understand, or they'll never translate. Be egoless and authentic, the song is all that matters.

Every rule has exceptions and nobody can tell you when. Only you can feel where they are.

You will never be truly ready for anything but you are always ready enough.

Keep creating and let your path appear on its own. You're not in control, and accepting that is freeing. Chasing won't open it any faster.

What people really want from you is your understanding of music, nobody can copy it. Getting good is figuring out what your philosophy is and how to communicate it. You'll be working on both without realising. When it's figured out enough, opportunities unlock themselves.

Respect every artist, wherever they are in their journey, and respect yourself too. Take your art seriously, even if it's unserious.

Don't play the same game as everyone else, the odds are against you. Create your own game and you can't lose.

Let your work do the talking. If you're happy with your music you have already won. So many artists, even the biggest, haven't figured that out.

Everyone is still learning and there is no shortcut, especially not one you pay for. Never pay to work with people. If they're asking, they've told you exactly what they think your work is worth.

Every audio file is the same and can be filled with anything. There's no reason your next song can't be the best thing ever put in one, even if by accident.