We recently connected with Kosta Lois and have shared our conversation below.

Kosta, 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?

It’s often very interesting to me when I get asked this question of earning a full time living doing what I love. Because, in reality, I would have always been doing this work whether it was full time or not! For me, that’s how I arrived at where I am today. And in fact, I’ve worked several an extra job to make money and support the work that I love to do. Mainly things in the service industry like waiting or bartending. However, eventually I’ve established a pretty wide client base that continues to return to me for their music recording, writing, producing and performing needs. I don’t know if I would have sped up the process, because again it’s all about building and working at your craft every day. If I had to go back to any other jobs to support my music, I’d do it all over again.

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 am a producer, composer, songwriter, musician (keys), engineer, manager, label owner and music lover/curator. I help people on a daily basis with any music needs big or small. My specialty is in music creation and production. I can hear an artist’s vision and take on their project from inception to completion. I can help with an artists development to become the best they can be. This is what really sets me apart, because I revel in pinpointing the uniqueness of each artist and match that with a sound that’s perfectly suited for them. So I do more then just make you sound great (which I do as well). I got into this industry by just jumping in. If you do this thing or anything every day, you eventually find yourself making it your living. You also get very good at what you do. You just need to put in the hours and you have to love it. I got into music at a very young age playing piano and writing compositions. That evolved into learning a lot about production and sound engineering. I met with others that I admired and learned from them. I took any gig that people offered me. I didn’t give up.
I’ve worked with many clients big and small, but my proudest work is the record label I started in 2020, Onesta Music Group! I take amazing songs and artists and put them out! My catalog of recordings is already approaching 100 songs!

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

This is a great question because there needs to be a change in the ecosystem of music. Society needs to really honor artists more by giving them fair exposure and then fair streaming and download rates for their music. Even with my already rather sizable catalog of songs on my label, I haven’t been able to make hardly anything from it. There is just so much music out there, but I feel like there needs to be some type of system where the best songs rise to the top. Right now, I feel like it’s more about how much popularity or money an artist has that gets them exposure. It’s all based on an algorithm.

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

The most rewarding aspect of being the creative that I am is building a legacy of work that I know will still be here when I leave. I’ve left my mark on peoples hearts and that will always be there.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.kostalois.com
• Instagram: @kostalois
• Facebook: @onestamusicgroup
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kostalois/
• Twitter: @kostalois
• Youtube: @onestamusicgroup

Image Credits
Photo by Ken Pivak