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FROM ANNI'S DESK

The New Creative Era: Where Music, Visuals & Storytelling Meet

The New Creative Era: Where Music, Visuals & Storytelling Meet There was a time when listening to music meant, quite simply, listening to music. You turned on the radio. You listened to a record. Maybe you bought an album and spent some time staring at the cover while the music played. Those album covers became more than packaging. Some became pieces of art in their own right, and decades later, people still talk about the experience of collecting and displaying physical albums. Then music began to move. Not all at once, and certainly not in one straight line. But over time, music became increasingly connected to images, stories, movement, technology and eventually entire digital worlds. Looking back over my own lifetime, I've watched that progression happen. Album artwork gave music a visual identity. Then came music television, where artists weren't just heard — they were seen. MTV launched in 1981 and helped make the music video a major part of popular music culture, tur...
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Before You Say Yes: Understanding the Deal in Front of You

Before You Say Yes: Understanding the Deal in Front of You This is an area of the music business that really concerns me because I hate seeing people get taken advantage of. Especially artists. When you've spent years creating music, building an audience, and trying to get somewhere, having someone suddenly come along and say, "We can help take you to the next level" can be incredibly exciting. And sometimes that opportunity may actually be what you've been waiting for. But before you say yes, stop for a minute. Read it. Ask questions. And understand what you're actually agreeing to. Don't Take the First Thing Put in Front of You Unfortunately, if you want bigger money backing you, sometimes you may feel like you have to take a deal to get to the next step. That's a reality artists may have to consider. But that doesn't mean you should automatically take the first thing somebody offers you. An opportunity can be exciting without automatically being the...
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How Much Control Do You Really Want

How Much Control Do You Really Want I'm not really interested in telling an artist what they should do unless they ask me for my advice. And even when they do ask, I don't expect them to take everything I say. I know how artists are. 😂 Artists are creative people, and many of us like to do things our own way. There's nothing wrong with that. But sometimes, instead of telling an artist what to do, I think it's more useful to give them some things to think about. Are you satisfied with where you are right now? Are you thinking about protecting what you've already built? Do you know what that protection actually looks like? Do you already know someone who can help you with it? And perhaps the biggest question of all: What's the plan now? What Happens When You Want to Go Bigger? I've seen artists say, "I want to go big with this." And there's nothing wrong with wanting that. But eventually, an artist can reach a point where doing everything themse...
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You Can Take It or Leave It

You Can Take It or Leave It Sometimes I still have to put a visual back. I'll find something that looks really cool. I'll work with it. I'll put it together with the music. I'll make adjustments and add layers, filters, transparency, movement, whatever I think it needs. And then, after watching it again, I'll realize... Nope. It doesn't actually convey the feeling of the music after all. That's part of the process. But when everything finally clicks, I usually have a pretty simple reaction: "Yeah, that's cool." Because it is. At least to me. And honestly, that's one of the things I've learned about creating art. If I like watching something I've created, I have to assume there's probably someone else out there who would enjoy it too. Is that a guessing game? Absolutely. Do I know that someone else is going to see exactly what I see? Nope. Are my visuals niche? Yes. But I don't necessarily see that as a problem. I think about...
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The Visualizer Isn't Just a Background

  The Visualizer Isn't Just a Background When I create a visualizer, there are really two crucial things I look for first: the aesthetics and the length of the video. Everything else can usually be adjusted. The speed, colors, overlays, transparency, filters, and other visual additions can all be changed as I build the piece. But if the overall aesthetic doesn't catch my attention, or the length of the visual doesn't work with the music, I'm probably going to move on. For me, creating a visualizer usually starts with the music. I'll pick out a song that has that space vibe or simply sounds interesting to me. Once something catches my ear, I start thinking about what kind of place that music could live in. Then I head into Canva and start looking. I'm usually looking for a background or video that has the right blue aesthetics, space ambience, or atmosphere that catches my eye. It doesn't necessarily have to be perfect when I find it. I'm looking for some...
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The Music Has to Open the Door

The Music Has to Open the Door This is completely personal preference, but there are certain things I look for in music when I'm thinking about creating visuals for it. One of the biggest is how the song begins. If a song doesn't eventually lead into the meat of the music, it's usually a no-go for me—unless it's exceptionally good right from the beginning. I want that feeling of "roll back the curtain." I want to feel like I'm entering a scene. Imagine you're climbing a giant hill in the early morning. The sun is just beginning to come up. You're walking toward the top, and as you get closer, you notice a group of trees forming an arch near the crest of the hill. Forest stretches out on both sides. You keep walking. You reach the top and pass underneath those overhanging branches. The leaves are bright green, illuminated by the morning light. And then you start to see what's beyond them. You peer over the top of the hill. Suddenly, there's ...
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When I Hear Music, I See Places

When I Hear Music, I See Places I've always imagined spaces when I listen to music. It's actually one of the reasons I love creating visuals. When I hear a new song, I'm not only listening to the melody or the lyrics. I'm listening to the instruments and the way the sounds move. The instruments being used can immediately create a picture in my mind. For example, if I hear a lot of synthesizers and the music has an open-space feeling to it, my mind might immediately go somewhere completely different. Maybe I'm standing in a huge open world. Maybe I'm somewhere in space. Maybe I'm looking across a landscape that doesn't even exist. And then the way the sounds move starts creating movement in the vision too. Am I standing still and taking in the scenery? Am I watching somebody dance through the space? Does the music feel like it's carrying me upward into the sky? Does it feel otherworldly enough that I'm suddenly somewhere completely different? That...
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Creating a Visual Identity Without a Huge Budget

Creating a Visual Identity Without a Huge Budget This is probably one of the areas where I can be the most useful to other creators. I've always had to find inexpensive ways to create online. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to do what I do. As an artist, you learn pretty quickly that having a creative skill doesn't necessarily mean people are lining up to pay you for it. I've been doing art all my life, but I still wouldn't describe myself as some extraordinary creator. What I am is functional . I have enough knowledge and skills to create and maintain a strong brand presence, even as a one-person operation. And over the years, I've also developed enough business knowledge to understand how to take the things I do know and eventually leverage them into something much bigger. That combination has been extremely useful. You don't necessarily need a huge budget to start creating a recognizable presence online. You need to start. There are more free and inexpensi...
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