I recently reached a milestone on the European music website, Jamendo. My music has been streamed over 100,000 times. In addition, I have over 26,000 downloads. I know in the big scheme of things, when compared with major recording acts, these numbers are small and inconsequential. For me, however, someone who writes and records their own songs in a modest basement studio, it’s a big deal.

As a reminder of my background – I am an “older” musician who started writing songs long ago. It was only in the last dozen years or so that I decided that I wanted my music out in the world. When I started this process, my desire was to get my music heard. I set modest goals and tried to reach different milestones – one hundred streams, a thousand streams. Reaching a number like 100,000, never entered my mind. Because I am not social media savvy. I decided long ago to let my music speak for itself. Luckily, there are platforms like Jamendo, which allow musicians to post their work under a Creative Commons license. With the abundance of music that is available online, more and more musicians need to look at different ways to get their music heard. Sadly, too many musicians don’t take advantage of Creative Commons licenses.