I Have Had Enough

I used to think that playing Pop music on viola with backing tracks was cringe.

I thought it was corny. I thought it was “too easy.” I thought performing that way was “selling out.”

I was wrong, but not in the way that you might think.

You see, I have finally learned that it does not f*cking matter if it is cringe—it is what the people want.

In 2026, I am tripling down, because I HAVE HAD ENOUGH.

In today’s newsletter, I will present my plan to not starve in 2026.

If that interests you, continue reading!

How Did I Get Here?

Shit is f*cked, ya’ll.

I moved to Los Angeles with a singular focus: to play in motion picture sessions, and start collecting royalties. I talk about it more in “4 Simple Steps to Get Your First Motion Picture Call.”

The motion picture session circuit of LA was known to be the highest-paid freelance work available for classically trained strings players.

Was.

The post production industry in LA, in its death throes at the moment (damn you, London), is barely hanging on. I wrote “My Dream Job Is Dying” a year ago, and the situation has continued to decline. I am fighting alongside my colleagues to build a better future for our industry, but it will take time, and there are no guarantees of success.

So, wtf do I do if things do not get better?

The Plan

Has 3 components:

• Double down on my solo events business

• Continue to scale wholesoul

• Start a software company

Solo Events

I have been asked to perform for solo events since I started my social media career, but I did not have the skills or know-how to fulfill this service.

2 years ago, I performed my first solo private event. The client: Cartier. The process: brand new. The stakes: immeasurably high.

In a couple of weeks, I learned how to create backing tracks in Ableton live, learned 2 hours of music by ear, and flew out to Martha’s Vineyard to see what I was made of.

The risk paid off. I checked my Gig Tracker and here is what I found:

In 2024, I performed 3 solo event sets over the course of a couple of days. My total pre-tax revenue for my young solo event service offering was $6500.

Last year, 2025, I performed 3 events as well, but my total pre-tax revenue grew to $13,000.

That’s a 100% YoY increase in revenue and 0% increase in performances. Not bad.

But it could have been better.

In 2025, I lost 3 warm leads that were about to sign a contract and submit a retainer for my services. Because I did not have this one small thing, I essentially lost $8000:

I did not have video proof.

Every single bride-to-be & event planner give me the same response:

“Even though you have lots of videos on your page, we only see videos with a quartet. I am looking for a violinist with solo videos, so we are going to go in a different direction. Thank you for your time.”

The lesson: never assume people can extrapolate your abilities.

Never tell; always show.

Assume that if people have not seen you do it, they will not believe that you are capable. Seeing is believing.

So, I put $2000 where my mouth is. I recorded 4 tracks, booked a rooftop on Peerspace, and hired a cinematographer (Marilyn Cho).

Since the shoot these, she and I have edited and posted both videos, and secured my first booking for 2026—retainer paid & contract signed.

Do you have any private events coming up in 2026 or 2027 that need music?? Book me today by clicking here to submit an inquiry me while I’m still available!

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Check ‘em out

Birds of a Feather by Billie Eillish

Best I Ever Had by Drake

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wholesoul

is growing like a weed right now.

Our partnership with Songs with Strings, run by Vincent Ott, has absolutely exploded our content creation, and the demand for wholesoul is growing.

Our YouTube channel just crossed 1,000 subscribers this past weekend. Our IG page is nearing 3,500 followers, and we already have 13 performances and events for this year.

The past 4 years have been brutal. We got 0 attention in the first 2.5 years. The growth was non-existent, and I saw my players lose interest in real time. I was left to do 90% of all the work, and I was starting to lose hope.

I did not fucking give up. If a strategy did not work, I did not dwell on it. I took the L (lesson), altered my approach, and tried something new.

Now it’s starting to get fun.

Our current focus is training our Performance Coordinator (Veronika Manchur), creating and updating our SOPs, and deploying no-code AI automations to streamline the lead pipeline.

I have not yet spun up a self-hosted N8N instance for the quartet, but I will make it happen before the end of Q1.

DTLA, Inc.

HUGE update for DTLA.

Our marketing website just got a massive upgrade. Check it out: getdtla.com

Linda and I are in the final stages of incorporating. The amount of learning that we have had to undergo since May last year has been STAGGERING.

Our prospective CTO, Vinay, is helping us build the Minimum Viable Product (MVP)., and we are only a week or two from launch.

If you want to join our beta list, fill out this form, and we will be in touch once we get out of incorporation hell <3

For now, check out our marketing website to learn more!

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Thank you for taking the time to read my newsletters when I have time to publish them.

My mission has not changed. I want to help you navigate the music business more gracefully. I would LOVE to hear from you—what kind of topics do you want to learn more about? Are there concept that you have been struggling with? Are there workflows or templates that you want to refine?

Let me know, and I will do my best direct my writing towards solutions that will actually make your life better!

Until next Friday <3

Drew