We recently connected with Jenny Payne & Lucy Hiku and have shared our conversation below.

Jenny Payne , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?

Our reasons for creating our first children’s album weren’t monetary.
At the time it was something we both wanted to do not just for ourselves, but for our families.

As trained musicians we wanted to create something that was musically interesting for both adults and children.

What started with one album soon snowballed into something far bigger than we ever imagined. Our creative momentum was fuelled by nominations and wins in the New Zealand Children’s music awards. In the early days, we produced multiple albums and performed around the country. We also had a book published through Scholastic with Suzy Cato (called Christmas In Summer).

Lucy was diagnosed with FND (Functional Neurological Disorder) and therefore performing as Itty Bitty Beats hasn’t been possible. Due to Covid, we had already leaned into growing our streaming on digital platforms, which is where most of our income now comes from. Coming from the small country of Aotearoa New Zealand it’s been amazing to reach over 25 million streams on Spotify and have the majority of our listeners based in the US.

When we first started making music, CDs and performing live shows were where revenue came from. Digital platforms have really changed the game and allowed for us to reach audiences that would otherwise never have known us.

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.

We met whilst studying music at Jazz School, in Christchurch New Zealand when we were both 18 years old. Fun fact… we also both met our husbands there too!

Once our children came along, combining our love of music and our families felt very natural. The Itty Bitty Beats journey began by us writing our Bath Time album, followed by our Lullaby album (Lay You Head Down). Themed albums made a lot of sense to us as parents and since then we have branched out to include collaborations with artists across the world.

One of the best things about being an independent artist, is you’re not boxed in in any way to writing for a specific age group, style, genre, topic…our creativity is unlimited!

In the early days of Itty Bitty Beats, we were both teaching singing and performing as our main income and over time our streaming revenue has grown into a regular sustainable income. Although a lot of artists aren’t fond of streaming royalties being as low as they are, digital platforms have given us a way to extend our reach beyond what we could have imagined.

We have a mixture of educational songs, bilingual songs, songs that encourage and inspire. Our main ‘why’ behind our work is to encourage music for children and parents alike and to spread connection and joy.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

As performers, when covid struck we had to refocus our energy into our profiles on digital platforms. Luckily we both had recording studios set up at our homes which enabled us to continue to write and record at a distance (thank goodness for google drives, messenger and zoom!)

So when Lucy was diagnosed with FND a few years ago, we were already practiced and set up to continue recording and produce music on her good days, between flare ups. Our independence and flexibility has helped us become more prolific with our musical output and content creation since her diagnosis.

Lucy’s experience with disability and being in a wheelchair now has opened up conversations from this renewed inclusive and resilient outlook. It has been empowering to be able to create through the challenges we’ve faced together.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

When Itty Bitty Beats started, the children’s music scene was less open with regards to sharing resources and we’ve been really lucky to be a part of the blossoming and growing of our industry, which is now a beautiful inclusive, supportive children’s music network that is freely sharing resources, knowledge, opportunity and encouragement.

As we’ve now had a decade in the children’s music scene, we love to provide aspiring kids artists support and enrichment that can help sustain and grow their art.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ittybittybeats.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ittybittybeats
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ittybittybeats
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMB8l5D_aB7Ryhd21-N8VGg
• Other: Spotify

  https://open.spotify.com/artist/1mfp4yLNgjAdhr5soYvNqo?si=3CKJWJLxQiqtKKdhsC8DLQ

Image Credits

Charlie Rose Creative