About

Most music business advice skips the hardest question: who are you as an artist?

We start there.

I’m Renee. Producer, engineer, drummer turned strategist, founder of Sono Hikari Creative Studio. I’ve seen this industry from a lot of angles as a musician, recording engineer, producer, manager, and A&R working with labels, and I bring those conversations here. The ones that get lost in boardrooms and industry noise.

What I’ve learned is simple: the artists who last aren’t the ones who hacked the algorithm. They’re the ones who know who they are. Everything else gets built on top of that.

That’s what this Substack is about. An open space to discuss the inner game and the business side, for artists surviving in this industry on their own terms.

Subscribe for free, and every week you’ll get:

📰 Monday Music Briefing — What independent artists need to know this week.

🔥 The Inner Studios — Identity exercises, creative process, and the emotional reality of the path. The inner work nobody else is talking about.

🧠 Business Brain — Royalties, contracts, release strategy, data. The practical infrastructure that keeps your career running.

🎙️The Inner Studios podcast is coming soon. Solo deep dives and real conversations with working artists about the decisions, the doubts, and the moments that shaped who they became.

If you’re an artist who’s talented, knows it, and is looking for someone who understands both the strategy and the spiral, you’re in the right place.

Let’s Connect

Instagram: @sono.hikari

Want to go deeper? Reply to any email. I’m here.