Good morning PTN family! I hope everyone is doing well and your Friday is off to a great start! With the holidays around the corner, it’s a time to connect with friends and family, relax, reset, and take a much needed break. But as you all know, soon as the holidays are over everything starts all over again and it gets busy, fast! Sometimes I feel if I don’t prepare a game plan for the next year I feel behind immediately. My advice and whats been successful for me, is to have things ready to go before the new year. Wether that’s emails to network, finishing up an album to pitch, or just tiding up my workspace, that way I can get straight to it and be in the right mindset right away. What are y’all doing to prepare for a successful 2026? Share some pointers, tips, and tricks! Love to know what y’all do! TLDR: Don’t get overwhelmed, get prepared. Whats are you doing to be successful in 26?

Hey producers - I've primarily been doing instrumental cues and have a couple of structures that work well in terms of the publishers I work with. (Thanks @Gilde Flores!) I'm starting to do more songs (vocals/raps) and wondering if there are structures you all try and follow from a sync perspective. Obviously we're trying to hit the hook right off the bat, but I'm wondering how you structure your verses and additional choruses. I tend to work well from templates for my cues so would love hearing from you guys what seems to work best for the songs you've gotten placed. Thanks in advance!

Can someone just let me know if it’s worth it for sports/NFL type cues?

Quick note for everyone interested. We’ve had solid "interest" in the idea, but actual submissions are low. For this session to work the way it is meant to, we need enough material to make it valuable for the room. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN THIS EVENT, please send over your works via EMAIL listenlive@paintthenoise.com Please send it in by -THE END OF THE DAY. - so we can see if the session moves forward this week or if we should push it to give people more time and prep. AS of now, we are scheduled to go LIVE at 7:00PM THIS Wednesday, December 10th.. Either way is fine. We just want the session to serve you well.

Great research report (attached) from Landr about how musicians are using AI. A few highlights: - 87% of artists now use AI somewhere in their workflow. - 29% of respondents are using song generators at some stage in their workflow, especially to create song parts like vocals and instruments. - 40% are interested in trying them 
 out, particularly for song parts or ideas rather than complete tracks. AI as a collaborator is the avenue to watch and learn IMO...