Ep. 262: Ryan Beatty | How to Make It in Music Without Losing Yourself

Today's guest is an artist and songwriter whose career has taken him from teenage YouTube covers to working with Beyoncé, Tyler, The Creator, Brockhampton, Miley Cyrus and Jack Antonoff.

But this conversation is really about something bigger: How to build a career in music without losing yourself along the way.

Ryan talks about learning to trust his own taste, being grateful he never had a hit record, protecting what makes an artist special, and refusing to let success, algorithms or other people's expectations define him.

We also get into Boy in Jeans, Brockhampton, Tyler the Creator's unexpected DM, writing four songs on Cowboy Carter, the making of "Bruises Off the Peach," and his new album Sweet Fortune.

And The Writer Is... Ryan Beatty!

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A special thank you to our sponsors:

NMPA — the National Music Publishers' Association
Splice — the best sample library on the market. Period.

Chapters

0:00 Intro
1:36 The Greek, Hollywood Bowl & Pokémon evolutions
3:08 Being made fun of for singing
4:09 “I refuse to continue just being one thing”
8:32 Why being hard to define is freedom
9:52 How Ryan approaches a songwriting session
11:52 Teach people how to treat you
13:43 “I’m grateful I’ve never had a hit record”
14:12 What success feels like vs. what it looks like
20:08 “I didn’t feel smart enough to be a songwriter”
20:55 Boy in Jeans — finding his voice as a songwriter
26:42 Jack Antonoff and an unexpected Broadway placement
27:30 NMPA + Splice
29:19 His advice for artists going viral
31:55 The moment he decided to do it his way
34:06 Brockhampton, Kevin Abstract & finding confidence
37:05 Why Ryan never pitches songs
40:43 Tyler, The Creator’s unexpected DM
42:35 Dreaming of David, touring & burnout
44:52 Making “Bruises Off the Peach”
48:17 Finding his actual singing voice
50:30 Cowboy Carter — four songs, told nobody
54:30 Making Sweet Fortune & chasing timelessness
57:32 How he wants listeners to see themselves in his songs
59:36 Amy Allen, Clairo & making the studio a place of joy
1:04:25 “Doing this is scary for me”

Credits
Hosted by Ross Golan
Produced by Joe London & Jad Saad
Edited by Jad Saad
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.