Piano season is back!

I’m beyond happy to share that the Prequel series of solo piano recordings will continue by the end of November. This time, I’ll be releasing my music independently (yay!). More about that in my little novel below. Well, the topic is pretty close to my heart after all.

In other news: a new song with Vienna’s very own Jōshy just dropped, along with a street rap/pop album I produced for Universal Production Music. It even includes a single by one of Berlin’s most hyped underground rappers on one of my favorite beats I’ve made this year.

Buckle up – autumn is here, and we’re diving right in!

___________________________

Yes, that’s the face I make when sharing with you that I’m continuing the Prequel series — independently. After working with labels from Belgium (Prequel 1–3), Denmark (Silent Fjords), and Germany (Nocturne), I decided it’s time to finally go my own way with the upcoming releases.

Some perspective

Don’t get me wrong. All those labels are run by great, passionate people. But finally setting up my own Bandcamp and releasing music I’ve fully created myself — from composition to recording, mixing, mastering, artwork, press release texts — just feels right. Especially now that more listeners are moving away from evil Spotify. No judgment if you stay for the algorithm or interface. Still, Bandcamp truly supports artists. Even with their cut, one sale there equals an insane amount of streams.

Just to give you some perspective: my Bandcamp page went online, I posted about it in my Instagram story, and someone bought Prequel 1 right away, even deciding to pay €15 instead of the €5 minimum. Big up. That’s how it’s done.

Some math

To be fair, I don’t get the full €15. Bandcamp takes 15%, PayPal a small fee, so I end up with €11.94. Still great, because under a typical label deal (60/40 with the label, which has its own 80/20 split with the distributor), I’d only see about 32% of what Spotify pays after taxes. To earn the same €11.94, I’d need around 10,000–19,000 streams and since payouts usually start at €100, that’s roughly 100,000–140,000 streams.

Add months for the money to reach the distributor, another year for it to trickle down to the label, and yet another before it reaches me — and you see why Bandcamp, paying me instantly, feels so much better.

Some conclusion

So, I’d rather have one dedicated person spend whatever they can or want, actually enjoy my music, and own it forever — instead of chasing empty playlist clicks, streaming bots, and meaningless numbers. No shame at all if you listen on your favorite streaming platform — it still helps a lot and all of us stream music, no need to pretend. I just felt like taking the opportunity to show the reality behind it, and why I’ll be focusing on Bandcamp for my upcoming independent releases.

With that being said, Prequel 1 is already online and the other two EPs are going to follow each week up until a new single drops on the 21st of November. Possibly a little earlier on Bandcamp hehe

___________________________

Earlier this year, I got a call on a Monday at noon, just after returning to Berlin. I was asked if I’d be free to produce an entire album — within the next 13 days. Loving a good challenge, I was totally down. I teamed up with Cologne-based producer Wombats, and we started reaching out to artists. After all, the challenging part isn’t the production — it’s getting writers and artists into the studio on super short notice, sitting together, and creating not just music, but a vibe where everyone feels safe and seen.

I ended up producing 7 out of 12 songs, including the single with Johno37 and NALI — with Johno being one of the most talked-about underground artists of the season.

The album request came from Universal Production Music, who were pitching “street rap” for a big TV show and realized they didn’t have enough authentic material. So, we made some for them. They didn’t want to share any details about what show they were working on, but time will tell. One way or another, the songs will stay in their catalogue forever — to be used in TV, ads, YouTube clips, or movies. So keep your eyes and ears open — they might pop up somewhere unexpected on your screen soon.

Also, the songs themselves turned out really great — some serious bangers in there. I’m very proud to have worked on this project and grateful for the fantastic artists I got to collaborate with. Enough talking — pick your favorite:

___________________________

Jōshy – Schrödingers Konto

It must have been July when Vienna’s very own Jōshy visited me at mine, and we quickly cooked up this banger that he recently dropped. “Schrödingers Konto” is basically a song about how he’s terrible at handling money — playing with the image of Schrödinger’s cat in the form of his bank account. If you speak German, there are some hilarious bars in there, and I’m super curious to see where the tune might end up. Check it out:

___________________________

…one more thing

As usual you’ll find all of the other releases that I don’t get to discuss in here on my “kalla & friends” playlist: 
 

___________________________

So far for this month, thanks for tuning in!

Cheers,
Samuel