One TikTok and a Frank Ocean song accidentally launched his career

Matt Hansen did not wait for a record label to believe in him. He built his career himself. After posting a single TikTok covering Frank Ocean, Matt suddenly found millions of people listening. What started as a simple video turned into a full time music career built entirely outside the traditional music industry. In this episode of Ourselves, Matt shares the real story behind that moment and what it actually takes to survive as an independent artist today. We talk about the reality of building an audience online, the pressure artists feel to chase algorithms, and why Matt refuses to let AI touch his music.   00:00 Beating the Scroll 02:19 Staying Independent 03:18 DistroKid and Fast Releases 05:11 Timing the Social Media Window 07:44 Do Artists Need Labels? 09:38 TikTok Mini Music Videos 16:28 The Frank Ocean video that changed his life 20:03 Handling Label Attention 30:40 Finding the Right Hooks For Your Videos 42:55 AI Emotion Theft 43:42 Beauty of Imperfection 49:20 Synesthesia and Billie Eilish 01:04:30 Touring Loneliness 01:07:10 How to Win Over a Festival Crowd 01:13:37 Relevance and TikTok Tips   Follow Matt Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Arrad (podcast host)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠    LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠SPOTIFY⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠APPLE MUSIC⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YOUTUBE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠   CONNECT WITH US: ✩ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Ourselves (production team)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠:  ✩ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ✩ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ✩ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ✩ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook