Dear friend,

I hope you’re doing well.

Lately, I’ve been spending a lot of time creating content: for the Minimal Improvements community, YouTube, and Instagram. Apart from the community, where members pay for exclusive content, the rest could be called marketing.

I have to admit, I like marketing. I enjoy studying ways to make my message more effective. And that message is this: study so that your message can reach others, whether through music, content, or your actions.

My goal is to help producers find their own sound. But it goes beyond just music production: it’s about being yourself.

And here’s the point. 

How can I teach you to be yourself if my video is titled “Sound like Chris Stussy”? Maybe it’s better to call it “Learn from Chris Stussy.” Nobody wants to sound like Chris, because there’s only one Chris. 

But we can learn from his sound to get closer to our own.

And here’s where the issue with marketing comes in. Or rather, how it’s done. 

They sell us dreams and make them seem easy. The other day I saw a post promoting a masterclass titled “Become a streamer.” Another one said, “Turn music into a career.”

Dear friend, I don’t want to be part of that type of marketing, and I hope you steer clear of it too.

Success depends on having the right guides, but mostly on hard work and exploration. Just learning the techniques isn’t enough.

Sometimes I hear music that’s technically perfect but doesn’t move me at all. 

This is the problem with many coaching programs: they don’t push people to take risks.

In my private lessons and tutorials, I always encourage students to take risks, to go beyond what’s already been done. Maybe I do it out of selfishness because I’m tired of hearing mediocre music, but it’s now become my mission: to stand out as a coach so that my students can stand out as producers.

I know this email doesn’t have a clear structure. It’s just a reflection on what I see around me and how I want to change it.

If this message resonates with you, let me know.

Talk soon,

Francesco