Before royalties, before streams, there is the asset. Great songwriting is the genesis of all music-related income. Discussions about artist revenue often begin in the middle of the story. They focus on royalty splits and streaming rates, bypassing the origin of all value. That origin is the song. The composition is the foundational asset, the bedrock upon which any sustainable career is built. Without a well-crafted song, there is nothing to publish, nothing to release, and nothing for an audience to connect with. Think of your songwriting practice not as a purely artistic pursuit, but as the research and development phase of your business. Every melody crafted, every lyric refined, is an investment in the core product you will eventually monetize. https://eyewillhq.com/talk/the-song-as-your-first-revenue-stream