No BS music marketing for independent artists. Short episodes with steps you can use right away.
For independent musicians who are tired of empty numbers and want strategies that move the needle 🧩
🧩 Free tools, guides and courses: https://morethanstreams.com (https://morethanstreams.com)
What to Know Before You Hire a Music Producer w/ Matt Mayz
I once hired a producer to finish my song and told him to make it good enough for editorial playlists.
I'm back after two months off, and I recorded this one at Matt Mayz's studio. Matt is a producer and mixer who has worked with dozens of musicians, he's a SubmitHub curator like me, and he's the only person I ever taught Ableton to (he switched to Logic).
We talked about what to have ready before you hire a producer, whether to spend your feedback money on SubmitHub curators or a pro on SoundBetter, what a producer is there for, why your DAW doesn't matter, and if music school is worth it.
⏱ In this episode
00:00 I'm back, live from Matt's studio
01:11 What Matt would tell himself in year one
03:07 How to learn production on your own
04:51 Feedback from friends vs professionals
08:52 $100 for feedback: SubmitHub or SoundBetter?
11:59 When you're ready to work with a producer
14:02 What a producer is for, from Rick Rubin to Jack Antonoff
16:53 What to bring when you hire a producer
19:58 My mistake with Have You Changed
22:26 What makes a song sound professional
24:44 The most common mistake in demos
25:35 Ableton, Logic and which tool to use
27:45 Is music school worth it?
30:30 Matt's last tip
🎁 Free for you
🧩 Free Playlist Guide: https://morethanstreams.com/go/ewwbh (https://morethanstreams.com/go/ewwbh)
Mentioned in this episode
🧩 SubmitHub, with my coupon: https://www.submithub.com/coupon/finchbergling (https://www.submithub.com/coupon/finchbergling)
Connect with Matt Mayz
🧩 Matt's website: https://mattmayzproduction.base44.app/ (https://mattmayzproduction.base44.app/)
🧩 Hire Matt on SoundBetter: https://soundbetter.com/profiles/451635-matt-mayzner (https://soundbetter.com/profiles/451635-matt-mayzner)
🧩 Matt on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/matanma12/ (https://www.instagram.com/matanma12/)
More from me
🧩 Get your song reviewed for $5: https://morethanstreams.com/go/s7cus (https://morethanstreams.com/go/s7cus)
🧩 My courses: https://morethanstreams.com/go/6djbg (https://morethanstreams.com/go/6djbg)
🧩 Work with me: https://morethanstreams.com/go/trpmd (https://morethanstreams.com/go/trpmd)
🧩 My weekly newsletter: https://morethanstreams.com/go/4a5ac (https://morethanstreams.com/go/4a5ac)
🧩 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/finchbergling/ (https://www.instagram.com/finchbergling/)
🧩 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@finchbergling (https://www.youtube.com/@finchbergling)
Thanks for listening 🙏 Follow More Than Streams so you never miss an episode.
22 Jul 2026
From First TikTok View to First Ticket Sold
A video with 100,000 views can leave you with zero new fans, and the reason has nothing to do with your music. In this episode I break down the funnel, the journey people take from seeing your content for the first time to buying a ticket to your show, and I explain what social media, Spotify, and your email list are each supposed to do along the way.
Resources and links:
🧩 Hire me to run ads for you (https://www.morethanstreams.com/services/ads)
🧩 More Than Streams Website (https://www.morethanstreams.com/)
🧩 Free 100k Challenge (https://www.morethanstreams.com/challenge)
🧩 Free Tools for Musicians (https://www.morethanstreams.com/free-tools)
🧩 Your First Hit Song Program (https://www.finchbergling.com/yourfirsthitsong?utm_source=podcast)
Connect with Finch:
🧩 Finch on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/finchbergling/)
🧩 Subscribe to my Weekly Newsletter (https://finch.kit.com/7ba2f8efc0)
🧩 Also on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@finchbergling)
14 Jul 2026
How a Dancing Elmo Got 112,000 Streams
I believe the ads I made for this campaign are the best of my career, and the idea came from a meme of Elmo dancing on the moon. In this episode I reverse engineer how $683 in ads turned into 112,000 streams for Karner H's track Extra Bite, with more than half coming from Spotify's algorithmic playlists. You will hear the exact targeting settings and creative approach I used, so you can copy them whether you run ads yourself or hire someone.
Resources and links:
🧩 Hire me to run ads for you (https://www.morethanstreams.com/services/ads)
🧩 More Than Streams Website (https://www.morethanstreams.com/)
🧩 Free 100-page marketing guide (https://www.morethanstreams.com/challenge)
🧩 Free Tools for Musicians (https://www.morethanstreams.com/free-tools)
🧩 Your First Hit Song Program (https://www.finchbergling.com/yourfirsthitsong?utm_source=podcast)
Connect with Finch:
🧩 Finch on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/finchbergling/)
🧩 Subscribe to my Weekly Newsletter (https://finch.kit.com/7ba2f8efc0)
🧩 Also on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@finchbergling)
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
1 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
6 ratings
Contact More Than Streams w/ Finch Bergling
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