This is a page where I transparently share a bunch of information about how I work on my projects, the values that guide them, and how things are going financially with them.
Last updated: 2025-07-28

Jump to: finances

guiding principles

My primary goals as a creative person are creative freedom and sustainability above all else. I am not motivated by rapid growth, and where I can, assuming my projects are self-sustaining, I try to support causes that I care about. Here are some examples:

• THREADS ON MY ART volumes 1 & 2, which raised money to support the Trevor Project, World Central Kitchen and the ACLU
  
• hive mind(s) and REMIXED CASTLE, each of which raised money for a struggling trans creator in the Music Threads community

I try to stick to the following principles with all my creative work in service of the above:

1. Minimize money given to services/platforms misaligned with my values
   
2. Minimize service lock-in
   
3. Keep costs & maintenance time as low as possible
   
4. Wide upper funnel (distribution) to maximize reach, narrow lower funnel (purchase) to maximize profit & fan connection
   
5. Strength in numbers: support & collaborate with similarly-minded artists & service providers
   
6. Hold myself accountable by building & sharing in public

stance on music streaming

I generally consider the streaming business model hostile to the ability for the average music artist to sustain a living, given the marketplace dynamics it enables. I aim to minimize the presence of my music on streaming to only:

• single releases, aimed to promote Kid Lightbulbs and tease my other releases as offered on my website, Bandcamp and other more artist-friendly platforms
  
• a singular album, ideally never my most recent one, to tease the fact that I make albums without commoditizing them entirely

As of July 2025, two of my albums (RUINED CASTLE and REMIXED CASTLE) are available on streaming services, and roughly 3-4 singles each promoting my other albums. I will not release full albums on streaming platforms moving forward.

I take significant issue with Spotify’s dominance over the habits of casual listeners, exploitation of artists, and use of its profits, which is why I neither pay for any of Spotify’s services nor promote it as a destination for my music. However, at this time I have not withdrawn my catalog from it. My primary reason is to not restrict access for potential listeners (see principle 4 above). However, if over time Spotify’s market share decreases, I will likely remove my music from Spotify’s platform fully.

stance on generative AI

Like many artists today, I grapple with what to do about “generative AI”. This is where I’ve landed:

• There is absolutely no use of generative AI in any of my creative output. This includes: all music I write & release, any writing you read on this site, and any content you see on my social & marketing channels.
  
• Given the above statement, I do not tend to collaborate with artists who rely on generative AI to “create” music or visual art.
  
• I do not pay for any generative AI tool, except for Anthropic’s Claude ($20/month) which is covered by my employer’s AI tools stipend benefit.
  • I very occasionally use generative AI (Claude) as a “sparring partner” — that is, I use it to bounce ideas related to product strategy and very occasionally my strategy for releasing and promoting music.
    
• I do sometimes use predictive & machine learning-based tools in the production of music. I specifically use the following tools, all available in the stock Logic Pro offering:
  • Session Drummer (to stage drum patterns, which I usually then manipulate by hand in MIDI format)
    
  • Flex Pitch (to correct odd inflections in my voice)

finances

I aim to my hobbies and creative endeavors to be self-funding. That is, my goal is for every dollar spent on the tools & services here to be paid for by the stuff I make with the tools & services.

income

Outside of my Buffer salary, I make money via my side projects in the following ways:

• Bandcamp subscriptions (7 subscribers, $19.66 MRR)
  
• Bandcamp sales (Lifetime gross $2,103; net $1,899)
  
• Occasional streaming payouts
  • Last one: LANDR, 12.20.2024, $8.00
    
• Occasional small royalty checks from ASCAP
  • Last one: 11.18.2024, $1.10

expenses

Here is a table of everything I’ve spent money on since establishing this goal in mid-2023 (excluding taxes):

product/service	category	cost
blot	website	$55/year
carrd pro	website	$19/year
simple analytics	analytics	$0/year
backblaze	storage	$99/year1
iCloud drive	storage	~$30/year 2
landr	distribution	$45/year
bandcamp	distribution	$0/year + 15% of sales
ampwall	distribution	$10/year + 5% of sales
buttondown	marketing	$90/year
buffer	marketing	$0/year3
zapier	marketing	$0/year
cal.com	marketing	$0/year
IA writer	software	$49.99
JBL reference monitors	hardware	$149.99
AirPods Pro 2	hardware	$2494
Lauten Audio LA-220 mic	hardware	$359.995

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1. I share a Backblaze account with my wife, so I guess I’m technically on the hook for half this amount. That said, this service has proven to be far more useful than a giant cloud storage solution like Dropbox, which is constantly trying to upsell me.↩︎

2. My family pays for Apple One bundle, and 2TB of iCloud Drive storage is included; this is pro-rated to roughly the portion of the plan cost that my use of our drive storage takes up.↩︎

3. I am an employee of Buffer.↩︎

4. This expense was reimbursed by Buffer Inc (my employer) as part of its remote working stipend benefit.↩︎

5. This was partly paid for with holiday gift cards.↩︎