Affordable Royalty-Free Music in an Expensive World

A dollar here, ten cents there, three dollars on another subscription. Groceries, gas, all the things you buy and all the services you use. It adds up.

But what am I even saying? We know this. We’re living through it together.

When does it stop? Will prices ever go back to what they were?

One frustrating distinction is that lower inflation doesn’t mean prices have gone back down. It means they’re rising more slowly. Some individual prices do fall, but that’s different from the overall cost of living returning to where it was.

I remember having this conversation the other day. It just seems like we’re being systematically squeezed, for lack of a better way to describe it. The pressure is on, and it feels like the gap between the haves and the have-nots keeps growing.

I didn’t mean to go on this rant, but it’s how I feel right now. It’s tough. You see it everywhere and I want to acknowledge it. Acknowledging it is not giving it your power. Acknowledging is tuning into your Awareness.

I think about someone trying to buy their first home, raise a child, graduate from school and land that first job, or transition into retirement and hopefully live off their savings. The list goes on. It feels like every stage of life is being challenged.

How long does it last? When does it go back to normal? It would feel different if average incomes were keeping up with the prices.

Making the Most of Where I Am

Sometimes, I feel trapped in my house because moving could mean paying 50% more for 50% less. Rough numbers. But it just doesn’t feel right, which is why I use the word “trapped.” It's called the lock-in effect.

I’m doing my best not to give that feeling all my energy. I want to make the most of this period in my life. The last thing I want is to look back and say I wasted six years feeling trapped when I could have been creating and focusing on the future.

That brings me back to affordable royalty-free music in an increasingly expensive world. Let's move forward...

What I Want to Build With Jaapi

I remember someone once saying "everybody gets paid before the artist" - it was an eye opening moment, so I had to flip that on it's head...

Enter Jaapi.

My goal with Jaapi is to make my music accessible while also maintaining ownership of it. Not sign it all away to a third party and receive a cut 12 months later.

As artist and creatives, we have to diversify our streams of income. That takes the pressure off of your main thing, allowing you to create freely.

With Jaapi, I hope to continue expanding the catalog and offering affordable music and resources, fully aware of what we’re all going through at the moment.

I can’t control what everything else costs, but I can be mindful of what I offer and what I charge.

You can browse the royalty-free music collections and preview the music on Jaapi. There’s also a growing collection of free downloads that I hope to keep expanding.

If you’re interested in using my music in your own work, my music licensing page is another place to start.

Reach out to me anytime. I love hearing from you.

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• Making a Living From Music Is a Tough Gig

• Supporting the Music Scene While Diversifying My Income

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