Beyond Our Control
Reflections after releasing On Solitude
Hello friends,
It’s been a little while since my last update.
Over the past two months, I’ve been busy taking care of my daughter full-time while on paternity leave, as well as working on my new album. I don’t have much free time these days, but it’s been a deeply fulfilling season of life.
Today, I wanted to reflect on the experience of releasing my latest album, On Solitude, back in February—and on how much of an artist’s career is outside their control.
Years ago, the path felt much simpler. You locked yourself away in the studio, spent months making the best record you possibly could, sent it off for mastering, and your label handled the rest. If you made a great album, people would eventually discover it. It wasn’t easy, but the path forward felt relatively straightforward.
Today, the landscape is very different.
Much of the music industry is now shaped by algorithms. A track can be beautifully written and produced, but if platforms like Spotify don’t surface it to listeners, it may never find the audience it deserves. The qualities that make music resonate with an algorithm aren’t always the same qualities that make it meaningful to people.
Editorial playlists are curated by real people, of course, but they often have very specific needs. I was once told that if I wanted a better chance of landing on an ambient playlist, I should make the track shorter than three minutes. I imagine many of you would agree that some of the greatest ambient pieces take their time to unfold. When your artistic vision doesn’t align with those expectations, you’re often faced with a difficult choice: adapt, or accept that certain opportunities may simply not be available.
That said, streaming has also opened incredible doors.
Making music available online means that, in theory, anyone can share their work with listeners around the world. You no longer need a record deal just to get your music into stores. The barriers to releasing music have become much lower.
The challenge is that discoverability has become much harder.
The landscape changes constantly, and what works today may not work six months from now.
During the pandemic, I sold a surprising number of cassettes, and Instagram was also a much more effective place for me to connect with listeners. Over the past few years, as life has returned to normal, people naturally spend less time online discovering new music. At the same time, social media platforms continue to change, making it increasingly difficult for independent artists and labels to reach audiences organically.
Then there are the larger forces that no one can predict. Earlier this year, for example, new U.S. tariffs affected international shipping, and my label temporarily stopped shipping Bandcamp orders directly to the United States. Since many of my listeners are based there, it had a noticeable impact on sales. Thankfully, people could still order my CDs and vinyl through Darla Records, and direct shipping has since resumed. Still, it was another reminder that many things affecting our work happen far beyond our control.
Despite all of this, I’m more motivated than ever.
I’m currently working on what I hope will become my best album yet. I still believe that carefully crafted records can find their audience, even in today’s constantly changing environment. At the same time, I’m thinking more strategically than ever—trying to understand how people discover music today without losing sight of what I actually want to create.
Releasing On Solitude taught me a great deal, and I hope the next record reflects everything I learned from that experience.
If you’re also making and releasing music, I’d love to hear about your own experiences. How has the changing landscape affected the way you think about your work?
Thank you for reading,
Hiroshi