Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kelly Reed. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Kelly, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Do you think your parents have had a meaningful impact on you and your journey?

My parents always supported my passion for the arts. Whenever I explored something new — painting, violin, piano, even a fleeting ice skating phase — they made sure I had the tools to succeed. In college, when I chose screenwriting and film, they didn’t question it. They simply urged me to work hard and follow the path that felt right.

Kelly, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I started playing violin and piano when I was five, diving headfirst into the structured world of classical music. But as I got older, the formalities began to feel suffocating. I wanted to go off-book, to mess around and explore. Looking back, I’m so grateful I had the chance to learn music the “right way”—it taught me the rules so I could break them. In 2012, I started writing and performing in Chicago under the pseudonym “i.e. kokoro.” Between 2014 and 2018, I released three albums under that name, each one an experiment in finding my voice.

In 2019, I decided to begin releasing music under my given name (Kelly Reed) and began working on the songs that would eventually become my album, Stupid Idiot, which was released in early 2023. This album feels like the most honest thing I’ve put out in the world to date; it delves into the experience of mental health through various lenses: imagined characters and their stories, my own struggles, and the perspectives of others observing me. The title, drawn from my self-critical inner monologue, was initially inspired by an article about a Chicago woman who tragically and publicly took her own life in 2016, near where I was living at the time. Her struggles with unrecognized and untreated mental health issues, and her inability to find a way forward despite her efforts, deeply resonated with me.

What began as reflections on this heartbreaking event transformed into a personal exploration of the complexities of mental health in my own life. It became a way to articulate how people seek to be seen, heard, and understood in the face of these challenges.

The album addresses the tendency to soft-pedal or hide what’s really going on with mental health, avoiding the vulnerability that comes with honesty. Even in a time when mental health is more widely discussed, we often present polished, curated versions of ourselves. This project was my way of expressing the raw truth of living with depression and anxiety, without euphemisms or performance. It was an effort to confront these experiences head-on and create an opportunity for healing—not just for myself, but for others who might connect with it.

In the time since I released Stupid Idiot, I’ve been working on a bunch of new songs. I’m planning to go into the studio early 2025 — so stay tuned for that.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

In the same way that the television and film industries rely on writers and talent to survive, streaming music platforms (like Spotify, Apple Music, etc) rely on the participation of artists to survive.

And yet, most independent musicians cannot survive on the abysmal amounts that these platforms pay musicians per stream.

As they exist now, streaming platforms disproportionately favor major musicians / labels (Big labels like Sony, Warner Music & Universal have a combined 18% stake in Spotify), putting more money and exposure into the hands of those who already have access — and creating barriers for those who don’t.

As an example of how bad the compensation is: Spotify pays 1/3rd of a cent for each stream. That is a mere $0.0034 for a single stream or $3 for 1000 streams. If you compare that with other streaming sites, Spotify actually has one of the lowest payouts per stream values. So, even if an artist can get millions of streams, the success rarely gets translated into actual dollars. According to congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, it would take more than 800,000 streams a month to equal a wage of $15 an hour.

Of over 8M total artists on Spotify only 2% of users make more than $1k per year. So majorly, the top 1% of Spotify artists are the only ones making any revenue from the platform.

If we truly value the art that shapes our culture, we need to demand a more just and equitable compensation structure — one that recognizes the contributions of all artists. Consumers and artists alike have the power (as a collective) to demand better, more equal compensation from streaming platforms — listeners can refuse to consume music on poor-paying platforms, and musicians can refuse to put their music on these platforms. But it requires all of us to take action; a single independent musician choosing not to put their music on Spotify won’t change a a thing.

This is not just about survival; it’s about ensuring that creativity and innovation can flourish for everyone, not just those with deep industry connections or financial backing. Apart from stopping to steam music on Spotify and the like, as music lovers, the best thing you can do is to buy our music (on Bandcamp, especially). You can also choose to steam our music on more equitable platforms (like Apple Music). We need to create an equitable, more diverse cultural landscape—one where artists can afford to keep making the music we all love.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding part of my music career is hearing from fans about how a song has impacted them or how an album has made them feel. Knowing that my music resonates with others gives it purpose — there’d be no point in putting it out if no one was listening. But knowing that some people are, and that it touches them in meaningful ways, makes everything worthwhile.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://kellyreed.bandcamp.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kelly_reed_music/
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3k6qO3pK30xvNRKBUwdkTQ

Image Credits

Brandon Dorn, Bob Davidson