Why Make Music… Episode 049 — “Just Me, Today”


Transcript (cleaned)
Come on. Welcome, welcome, welcome to Why Make Music… I’m your host, ThinkTimm, and today we’re taking it back old school—no co-host—just you and me, chatting and chopping it up. Welcome to Episode 049.
Quick recap: last week I didn’t put out a podcast because I was busy doing what I like to call ThinkTimm stuff. For those who are new, that’s T-H-I-N-K-T-I-M-M. I’m an independent producer/artist.
“Independent artist” has a lot of tiers and definitions. In my case, I’m not affiliated with any organization other than BMI—the system that tracks my songs (more on that later)—and I also handle U.S. copyright registration for my material. There’s no record label behind me besides my own: WDMNation MEDIA—a company I set up to umbrella everything: podcast, music, graphic arts, blogging, and merch. We’ve got merch on TeePublic and Threadless—search ThinkTimm. It’s a one-person-driven operation. By “merch,” I mean print-on-demand T-shirts and such. I’m not sitting in a room full of boxes; I just receive a portion of sales. Orders usually arrive quickly—about a 4–5 day turnaround.
A bit of history: until last year I kept music as a hobby. Then I decided to go public and distribute to streaming platforms—Spotify, Apple Music, iHeartRadio, Deezer, Amazon Music, YouTube Music—type ThinkTimm and you’ll find me.
Starting August 2024 I released a 26-track project called Demotional… Caught Feelings (26 instrumentals). Pretty much every month after that, for six months, I dropped another 26 instrumental tracks. Titles included Beatanical… Booming Bouquet, SuplaBass, LoFication… Sonic Soul Nation, ParaHopic… Elemental Fusion, and NomenClefture… Verbal Scales. Six instrumental projects. Minimal vocals—mostly pure instrumentals.
Why so much music? Because I’m new publicly, and I love instrumentals—the kind you’re hearing underneath me now. I figured people would vibe with that too. By December I had dropped 52 more instrumentals (I released two projects close together). Net: 156 instrumental tracks—on streaming and usable in social media backgrounds. And I still feel good about that run.
But here’s the thing: most folks love vocals. Instrumentals don’t convert the same. I was getting streams, but as a hobbyist stepping into the public lane, I realized I needed to shift. I grew up in a musical household—Dad, my uncle, my brother—music everywhere: at home, at my grandmother’s, great-grandmother’s. Shout-outs to Prince, James Brown, George Clinton, John Williams, Hans Zimmer, Quincy Jones… The Sanford & Son theme (Quincy), the Jeffersons theme sung by Ja’net DuBois (and yes, Roxie Roker—Lenny Kravitz’s mother—was on the show), The Facts of Life, Diff’rent Strokes, The Love Boat, Waylon Jennings on The Dukes of Hazzard, The Fall Guy… TV themes shape us more than we realize.
Being older, having lived some life, I decided to really put music out—but not chasing radio/club singles. I aimed at sync licensing—placements in commercials, TV, films, games. Record-sale advances are mostly gone; people stream for $9–$19/month. Vinyl is back as a niche; CDs/cassettes, not so much. And with 100,000+ songs released daily, visibility is a lightning-strike game.
I assumed “put it out and someone will find it.” Rookie mistake. Streams pay roughly fractions of a cent; a million streams might net a few thousand bucks on a good day. I wasn’t in it for revenue. I was learning—and realized background/underscore is powerful. If music supports a scene without clashing—if it just works—that’s a win. And sync pays real fees—from small local spots to six-figure film uses. The key: don’t sign away ownership to the wrong “exclusive” deals.
Fast-forward to now—September—I’m three volumes into a new series: If I Was Your Producer. Vol. 1 (July), Vol. 2 (August), and Vol. 3 drops around September 19. Each volume has 10 finished, radio-ready vocal songs—hooks, mixes, the whole package. It’s a walking, talking résumé of what I can do for artists, brands, and supervisors.
The response? Vol. 1 did close to 3,000 SoundCloud streams the first weekend—more than I got on 156 instrumentals. After a month, the 10 songs were around 12–13K streams on SoundCloud alone, and growing—still small money, but the signal is clear: vocals connect.
Behind the scenes I work with my AI assistant to plan marketing, research libraries, and craft outreach. Don’t sleep on AI—it’s a tool. I’ve spent the last month contacting reputable libraries, following up, trying to get catalog into the right hands. I also started offering custom background music to local businesses with strong social presence—free—just tag ThinkTimm. It’s an awareness play. I wear a lot of hats and can’t spend two full days on campaigns when I also have to create, handle registrations, and be present for my family. School’s back in session, so I’ve reclaimed some hours—but I still missed last week’s episode. Life.
Back to the bigger plan. If I Was Your Producer Vol. 3 is coming this month. Personally I’m already drafting up to Vol. 14—that’s 140 vocal songs in the pipeline. Add the 156 instrumentals across the six A-to-Z projects (each album has 26 alphabetized titles), and you see the scope. I often wrote to dates, but for the instrumental releases I asked AI to generate thematic A-to-Z titles (emotions for Demotional, flowers for Beatanical, elements for ParaHopic, etc.). For the new vocal series, I’m not “sequencing” an album mood—I’m giving you playlists that show what I can do and what you could use for sync.
Truth: these instrumentals you hear under me? They go even harder with vocals. Still, not everyone is here for instrumentals, and that’s fine. As a working creator, I don’t spend much time listening to others—I’m writing daily. I’ve been auditioning songs from Vols. 11–13 lately. Hearing work from even two months ago shows real growth.
Why is this show called Why Make Music…? Because asking “why” opens conversation—with anyone: pilot, Uber driver, healthcare worker, toy designer, tattoo artist, butcher, baker, candlestick maker. The “why” is the story.
I’m intentionally flooding the zone—not recklessly, but relentlessly. If pros tell me, “Slow down; we can’t handle the volume,” I’ll listen. But my philosophy is: don’t fly one kite—fly a thousand. Increase your surface area for lightning to strike. Don’t run one horse; run 140.
I’m out here promoting: business cards with QR codes to UnitedMasters release pages—pick your preferred DSP. I’m not selling much directly except Bandcamp (pay-what-you-want) and the merch. Producers: I also lease beats on BeatStars (stems available for many instrumental projects). If you like what I’m doing and want production, I’m realistic—this is oxygen to me. I create constantly. I’m not chasing millions. Put me on staff, give me a fair salary, and I’ll keep delivering.
I learn a lot by listening and reading (audiobooks). About people, trends, listening habits. If you’re not growing, what’s the point? Open your mind. Check past episodes—deep dives on guitars, bass, influences like Prince, Teddy Riley, Quincy Jones, John Williams. I’m a huge Star Wars fan. We run Lower Level Collections on Instagram—figures, helmets, 3D-printed Mandalorian armor, stormtrooper builds, lightsabers, blasters, props, dioramas—full nerd.
Question to you: what makes you tick? Why do you make music—or listen to it? Why tune into a guy named ThinkTimm once a week for about an hour? Sometimes I ramble; sometimes I’m laser-focused; sometimes I collaborate with AI to shape ideas. It’s all part of learning in public.
Do me a favor: take a day and put ThinkTimm on shuffle on your favorite platform. By September 19, there’ll be 30 vocal songs in the mix alongside instrumentals, so your shuffle will alternate in interesting ways. Listen while you work out, drive, clean, or daydream.
Before vocals, I lived with 156 instrumentals that were really song frameworks—intros, verses, choruses laid out. I wrote rough lyrics in my head for months, then either built new music or rebuilt the original instrumentals and tracked the vocals. Honestly, with a button press, I could release 150+ full songs today. The pipeline is deep—about 30% reworked foundations and 70% new material.
Find me on Instagram: @ThinkTimm, @WDMNation, @WhyMakeMusic, and the WDMNation MEDIA hub. I’m also on Facebook under my government name and ThinkTimm, plus Lower Level Collections for the toy side.
If you’re a returning listener—thank you. Tell a friend: Philly-born, making music, podcasting, releasing across genres—pop, R&B, hip-hop, funk, spoken word—ideas flowing nonstop. And again—these instrumentals under me? That’s me. All me.
Maybe you’ll hear ThinkTimm in a local business one day, or in a commercial, or on a film cue. Maybe a favorite producer brings me in to co-produce while I keep creating from the home studio—emailing files and opening dashboards to see payments roll in. That’s the dream: make music, send music, get paid fairly, keep ownership.
Shout-out to listeners in India—early this year my social views there spiked past 3 million. I don’t know why, can’t recreate it, didn’t translate to big follows or money—but music is universal. I’ll lean into sounds people love, wherever you are.
Thanks for tuning in. If nothing else, ThinkTimm. Check the socials, subscribe to the YouTube channel (some episodes have video cuts), and keep listening. Today’s episode is audio-only. Our newer closing song is rolling under me now.
These 52 minutes flew by. Consider this a relaxed check-in—an update and a thank-you for the support. I guess I’m no longer a hobbyist. This is what I do, and I’ll keep doing it.
ThinkTimm. Peace, be well, and thank you for listening.