Welcome to Paul K Saunders Academy
The music business, artist first. Learn it, then practise it.
Courses
Short lessons, each one ending in practice.
Advancing a Show Like a Pro
By the end, you can advance a show with the promoter and venue, confirm logistics, tech, hospitality and money in writing, and turn it into a day sheet so there are no surprises on the day.
Your Email List Is Your Label
By the end, you can grow an email list of real fans with their permission, write emails they open, and use the list to sell tickets, music and merch without wearing people out.
From Followers to Superfans
By the end, you can find the 100 or so people most likely to buy everything you make, give each kind of fan a clear next step, and look after your closest fans in a way that feels good to both of you.
Metadata That Gets You Paid
By the end, you can fill in credits, ISRCs, UPCs and writer details for a release correctly first time, and check them before anything is delivered.
Pitching to Playlists, Press and Radio
By the end, you can plan your pitching window, write a pitch with a clear hook, send it to the right people at the right time, and follow up without being a nuisance.
Reading a Royalty Statement
By the end, you can tell which kind of royalty statement you are holding, read what every common column means, spot the things worth questioning, and ask the right person a clear question about it.
Registering With Your PRO, Step by Step
By the end, you can join a performing rights organisation, register your songs correctly, report your live performances and check that performance royalties are reaching you.
Release Week, Run Right
By the end, you'll have delivered your release at least four weeks before release day, with complete metadata, a pitch sent, registrations done, and a release-day plan you can explain to anyone on your team.
Saying No to the Wrong Opportunities
By the end, you can test any offer against a simple filter, recognise exposure gigs, pay-to-play schemes and risky deals, and say no, or make a counter-offer, in a way that keeps good relationships open.
Splits Before You Leave the Room
By the end, you can agree songwriting splits in the session, write them on a split sheet, and get it signed by everyone the same day.
Building a Tour Budget That Survives the Tour
By the end, you can build a tour budget, work out your break-even before you commit, and track the numbers on the road so the tour ends without a debt you did not plan for.
Working With a Manager (and Being One)
By the end, you can explain what a manager does, judge when you need one, understand the main terms of a management deal well enough to ask good questions, and set up a working rhythm that keeps artist and manager on the same page.
Your First Sync Brief
By the end, you can read a sync brief, choose the right track, confirm it is fully cleared, send it in the format asked for, and respond to a quote request with confidence.