This month of May we were really pleased we managed to come to grips with some really lofty concepts on paper. Exploring burnout, branding, and pitching made us realise how important reaching inwards (repeatedly) is to building and maintaining your career. It's a very personal journey that asks you to be less harsh on yourself and ultimately, more intuitive.
Every month, countless industry panels and talks happen that most artists never see. You don’t have to be everywhere at once, we do the listening and bring the highlights to you. Here’s what stood out in May 2026.
- Future Independents: Creating Standout Branding for Artists
- PITCH WITHOUT THE ICK
- Managing Stress and Burnout in the Music Industry
Future Independents: Creating Standout Branding for Artists
How do you build a compelling visual world around your music without a big budget? This session explores creative strategies for developing standout campaign assets, defining a cohesive brand, and capturing attention across platforms, tailored for self-releasing artists, managers, and independent labels navigating today’s crowded digital landscape and cultural spaces.
Speakers:
Stewart Baxter, Creative Director – Hinterland Creative
Jade Johnston, Head of Marketing & Label Operations – Chess Club Records & Live
Scott Jones (Art Direction for Arctic Monkeys)
Moderator: Serena Bhardwaj, Founder – Oink Socials
Our notes
Our two cents
- Does your music have a strong voice/identity? Visuals can’t grow without that in place first.
- Think in campaigns rather than overwhelming yourself with your whole artist brand! Visuals can be thought of as movies rather than the entire director.
- Socials are an entry point. They should guide real fans to the community, (your mailing list, WhatsApp group, discord chat).
PITCH WITHOUT THE ICK
I LIKE NETWORKING is an award-winning career platform for women and non-binary people in the creative industries.
Our mission is to help individuals thrive in their creative careers, and connect companies and organisations with diverse talent and resources so that they can better support their workforce.Here are the resources people asked about during the workshop:
Your Guide to Networking Events — templates, scripts etc
LinkedIn Guide x Adobe Express — step-by-step ideas to make LinkedIn work
Our notes
Our two cents
- From our experience, sometimes your USP/Value Proposition doesn’t show up clearly right away. Listening, contributing and being a part of your target community can help you understand exactly what your lane is.
- Listening also helps you collaborate. Knowing how you can offer value to your partner is the bulk of pitching.
- Familiarity wins over your audience. Don’t be shy, show up over and over again with your value proposition.
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Managing Stress and Burnout in the Music Industry
Brought together by the Musicians Union and BAPAM:
This was a free online session for MU members based in Scotland and Northern Ireland with Dramatherapist Heather Turkington.
Our notes
Our two cents
- One thing we didn’t quite fit in the page was that those most at risk to burnout are people who work heavily in interpersonal careers, and are susceptible to people with empathy without boundaries, perfectionism, and people pleasing . Adding those up, you can see how a music career can definitely produce burnout in most. 73% of musicians have been reported to struggle with mental illness. It’s COMMON in this industry.
- Schedule check-in time with yourself and find balance in the best way to can (outlets, regulation exercises, rest).
- Thoughts are not the be all and end all. If you’re feeling it, find time to take yourself out of it.
That’s all for now. We’re still working on how to make this format the most comprehensible so – please bare with us!
If you have any questions, be sure to send us an email at:
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