From the Inside

First-person perspectives from musicians and creative professionals on the challenges, choices, relationships, and rewards of making a life in music. From artistic identity and creative independence to collaboration, recognition, and financial survival, these stories explore the experiences behind the music. All About Jazz also welcomes stories about artistic breakthroughs, mentorship, unexpected collaborations, professional reinvention, the satisfaction of teaching, and the simple joy of making music.

The Quiet Cruelty of the Music Business

by Markus Reuter
October 16, 2026

For a long time, I, and many colleagues, operated under a singular, sustaining delusion: that music was the most powerful force in the world. As an artist, you build your entire life around this belief. You trust that the art will speak for itself, that the resonance of a musical work will be enough. But eventually, a different reality sets in. The true engine of the music business isn't melody, harmony, or rhythm. It is the cult of ...

Grit. Discipline. Guts: A 25-Year Blueprint for the Modern Music Career

by Lindsey Boullt
March 18, 2026

I didn't start playing guitar until I was 21. No prodigy pipeline, no major-label safety net. Just a long runway of trial, failure, and forced problem-solving. Over 25 years in San Francisco, I built a career combining performance, composition, education, and production--not as separate identities, but as a single ecosystem. The model is brutally hard to execute. In the AI/streaming era, it might be one of the only models that works. The Death of the Traditional ...