We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Janelle De la Rosa a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Janelle, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

Learning how to make music is a different journey for everyone. For me, finding work and financial stability as a producer-musician-artist-songwriter required me to not only master the technicalities of each craft, but also understand my art as a business. This meant getting burned, learning lessons, taking control, and understanding the power of self-advocacy and entrepreneurship in the current music industry.

My technical understanding of music theory was developed from a very early age. I took piano lessons from the age of three, started voice lessons in middle school, and sang in my parent’s church for years. They bought me my first acoustic guitar when I turned 16, and I taught myself how to play. From that point on, I started performing local solo/acoustic cover shows, which became my full-time job for almost ten years – all throughout college, all the way up until the pandemic. Having been surrounded and supported by music my entire life, learning how to write, compose, and arrange songs was something that came to me very naturally. It wasn’t something anyone really had to teach me.

When I graduated college (with a non-music-related, marketing degree), I knew two things: 1) I didn’t want a traditional 9 to 5, and 2) I wanted to make a living with music. But I really didn’t know anything about the music industry other than the local cover gig scene, which was not something I wanted to do forever. Like most people, my understanding of the music biz came from Hollywood – I thought the only way to “make it” was to get “discovered” and signed by a major label and become a mega pop star. I was extremely naive to it all, which put me in a really vulnerable place.

Over the next two years, this vulnerability caused me to blindly work with a “manager” who promised me all sorts of things that never came to be. Through him, I was made to work with a variety of supposed industry movers and shakers – from self-claimed “label reps” to dance instructors to literally any person who said they were a producer. While a handful of these folks were legitimate and helpful, the majority were not. I was repeatedly placed and left alone in so many unsafe spaces. I felt pulled in a million different directions and was constantly told I needed to change my sound, learn to hit higher notes, learn some dance routine, lose weight, inflate my social media numbers, etc. All while making no progress and no money, except from my cover gigs that I secured on my own.

After two of the most stressful, stagnant years of my life, I woke up one day and realized my life and career were not going where I wanted them to go and it was up to me to change it. So I did.

At the beginning of 2019, I decided that I would no longer rely on others to hand me my dream. I would no longer blindly go along with the outdated and unrealistic advice of these so-called “industry experts” who promised so much and delivered so little. I would no longer give my power away to others.

That year, I burned all the bridges that should never have been built. I downloaded GarageBand and started producing my first songs on my laptop. I funded and made my first music videos with a local videographer. I read the life-changing book “How to Make It in the New Music Business” by Ari Herstand and realized the current music business is not like what you see in movies. There aren’t a whole lot gatekeepers and rules. There are artists making hits and full-time salaries by making music from their bedrooms. There are unsigned, independent artists living off of their streaming revenue. Artists with little to no team, self-producing and releasing all of their own music and content.

That’s the current music industry. That’s where I needed to live and operate.

The craziest thing is, I could have been living and operating with this knowledge the whole time. I could have avoided those two years had I done some simple research and reading up front. But, I didn’t. I let myself be ignorant and vulnerable because I thought it was impossible for someone like me to know anything about the business or even begin to produce my own music. My biggest obstacle was myself.

Knowing what I know now – having experienced all that frustration and self-doubt for so long – there are so many things I would have done differently. I probably wouldn’t have even gone to college, had I known I would be working for myself and running my own business. But hindsight is 20/20, and I truly believe that those years were not wasted. They taught me the invaluable skills of self-advocacy and authenticity, as well as the importance of trusting your gut and staying informed. You need all of these things to succeed and “make it” as a creative.

As soon as I took the reins, I was able to accomplish more in a year’s time on my own than I did in the two years of working with dozens and dozens of people. I’ve been signed with a major sync agency since 2020, had my music placed in a reality TV show, accumulated over 50,000 fans on Tiktok, and gotten regular, paid work as a producer, songwriter, and artist. I’ve had to reinvent myself and really look inward in order to figure out exactly who I am and what I want. Like many creative fields, a music career one can live comfortably off of can be years in the making. But you do it because it feeds your soul, not for the money. And like each of us, it’s work in progress.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I’m an independent artist, songwriter, and music producer from Maryland. From taking piano and voice lessons, to singing and performing in church, to teaching myself guitar and scribbling out my first songs, my love of music-making has constantly dominated my life from the very beginning.

I got my guitar for my sixteenth birthday, and up until the pandemic, I was making a full-time living performing cover songs at local restaurants, bars, and clubs as a solo acoustic act. Even though performing at these kinds of shows was better than working a traditional 9 to 5, it wasn’t fulfilling, and I felt capable of so much more. I had been wanting to explore other avenues in the music world, specifically music production, but was held back by self-doubt and uncertainty. When Covid hit and shut everything down, it was the push I needed to just do it.

Over the course of the past four years, I’ve taught myself how to produce, mix, master, and distribute all of my own music from my home studio. As the sole creator behind everything that I do, I love to empower others by exemplifying how self-advocacy, dedication, and hustle can create success for anyone willing to put in the work.

While much of the music I’ve released falls under the pop/R&B category, I’m able to produce and find inspiration in many different genres. Since 2020, I’ve been signed with Whizbang, one of the most reputable sync agencies in the country, and have produced an entire catalogue of music for them ranging from dark, cinematic, orchestral songs to empowered baddie anthems. Through them, I’ve had my music featured in the hit HBO Max series “The Hype,” which was a proud moment for me. I’ve also reached a point where I’ve started to get regular, paid work as a producer making custom music for commercial projects and producing/mixing for other artists. It’s very fulfilling to me when I make something that is authentic and loved.

Authenticity is very important to me, so I never want to pigeonhole myself into one, specific thing. For much of my life, I felt trapped or stifled by the expectations of others, whether it was the strict expectations of being a well-behaved church girl and preacher’s kid or, later on, the outdated and unrealistic expectations of an ignorant music “manager.”

Taking the reins of my career and teaching myself how to make quality music from start to finish, has allowed me to break free of my repression, reclaim my power, and stepped into what I feel is my destiny as a songwriter, producer, creative director, and full-blown female force.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

Around the beginning of 2019, I bought myself the book “How to Make It in the New Music Business” by Ari Herstand. I often refer to this book as my personal Bible because it changed my life in such a big way.

I had been working with a self-claimed “manager” for two years, relying on him and other supposed music industry “experts” and gatekeepers to deliver my dreams to me. But after two years, I was no further ahead in my career than when I started, I was broke, and I was extremely unhappy. I had given all my power away to everyone else. I knew there had to be something I was missing, but I had no idea where to look or who to talk to in order to start building a real music career.

That’s when I literally googled “how to make it in the music business,” and Ari’s book was among the top search results. So, I bought it, read it, and it changed my life. It opened my eyes to the current state of the industry and how there are so many different ways to make a living with music that do not include relying on managers, labels, or anyone else to succeed. I stopped working with my manager that week. I started investing in my home studio. I started producing and distributing my own music. Then, I got signed with a sync agency. I got my music placed. I started getting paid production work.

This book showed me I had the power to do these things myself. I truly didn’t believe that before I reading it.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

I think everyone wants to feel fulfilled and that what they are doing matters. This is true of both creative and non-creative people.

Making music is what feeds my soul. If I abandoned my love of music for a more traditional non-creative 9-5 day job, I might make more money and have more stability, but I would be very unhappy. For every decision I make regarding my life and career, I have to ask myself: Is this fulfilling? Is this allowing me to be authentic? Is this helping me cultivate a life where I can create freely and make art that is meaningful and important? I have to prioritize my creativity and my craft because if I don’t, they will pull at me endlessly.

For non-creative people, while they also desire fulfillment in their life, I think they are simply working with a different set of priorities and questions. What’s the pay? What are the benefits? How much vacation time do I get? What’s the culture like? What are the hours? Is there upward mobility? The need to be creative and authentic may not be as crucial to this person.

Moreover, the paths for non-creatives and creatives will look totally different. Most traditional 9-5 jobs offer comfort, stability, and predictability. Creative paths are often unclear, uncertain, and unpredictable.

Non-creative peers have said things like, “Are you still trying to be an artist?” or “Well, at least if the music thing doesn’t work out, you can always fall back on your marketing degree and get a job doing that.” These innocent and naive questions are usually coming from a place of love, but can feel insulting. But, it does demonstrate some type of disconnect. You’d never ask an accountant, “Are you still trying to be an accountant?” Or a lawyer, or an engineer, or a doctor.

It’s hard for a non-creative to look at a creative and objectively measure their success because their paths are so different. Money is a measure of success. But for creatives, so are freedom and authenticity. I think that’s the biggest misunderstanding between these two types of people.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.officialjanelle.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/officialjanellemusic/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/officialjanellemusic/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCV3Yx_neaXPiW02IqHTa2dA
• Other: Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@officialjanellemusic Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6jWgvB18wHQR89OQH2gr6F?si=bC-YnfkhRPyLnInE6hTgDQ