Building a music business

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Songwriting might feel like a mystery, but in today’s world of YouTube education, online communities, and musical entrepreneurship, the craft is changing fast.

In this episode, I sit down with two of my favorite people in the world, Keppie and Benny, the duo behind the massive YouTube channel How to Write Songs. We discuss how they built a global songwriting education platform, why songwriting is a learnable craft, and what the future of online music education looks like.

We dig into everything from the early days of their channel to the business models behind creative education to why community, feedback, and accountability matter far more than course content alone.

Learn more about Keppie and Benny, and check out their channel, How to Write Songs, by clicking here, and their website by clicking here.

00:00 – 00:03 • Intro + introducing Benny & Keppie00:03 – 00:11 • Their backgrounds in songwriting + teaching00:11 – 00:22 • How the YouTube channel started00:22 – 00:34 • Early challenges + first viral moment00:34 – 00:46 • Learning YouTube strategy + shifting to community building00:46 – 00:53 • Evolving from courses → community → feedback system00:53 – 01:05 • “Where do songs come from?” + inspiration + noticing01:05 – 01:20 • Human creativity vs AI + physicality of music01:20 – 01:32 • Art as product plus story + why process matters01:32 – 01:46 • Why AI can’t replace human creation or connection01:46 – 01:58 • The future: human-made art becomes more valued01:58 – 01:25:55 • Closing thoughts + where to find them + outro

(Podcast intro music created by Luke Despain, Thomas Muer, and Rob Schustack.)

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