The newsletter "One Song is Enough" aims to bring value back to the music industry.

In this monthly feature, we will introduce you to inspirational insights from the great vastness of the music universe. Books, podcasts, events, people or just special news. Newsletters are experiencing something of a renaissance at the moment. Many artists have recognised that they are a special interface between artists, fans and partners that is even more exclusive and personal than the usual updates on social media.

And so many musicians now have a newsletter again. The GEMA also has one and Fabian Schütze, or Fab for short, even has two newsletters. Today we take a closer look at “One Song is Enough” by Fabian Schütze.

From musician to businessman

Fabian Schütze founded a creative collective in 2008 and toured the world as an artist for years. Over time, however, he became more interested in the business part of the music circus. Today he is music manager and booker for well-known artists such as Martin Kohlstedt, CATT, SALOMEA, Black Sea Dahu and Max Prosa.

At some point, Fab decided he wanted to share his knowledge. He found the music business needed to be rethought. The newsletter “low budget high spirit”, which was launched in October 2018, aims to stand for more ambition, diversity, fairness and critical questioning. “For more good business” as he calls it.

Low budget high spirit newsletter

Since then, his music business newsletter “low budget high spirit” has been among the most-read music business media in the German-speaking part of the industry. It is published every two weeks and already has a loyal fan base of over 3,500 readers per edition. It provides insider knowledge, background and critical considerations of current developments in the music industry.

In addition to the insights, there are always reading tips and tools to make your everyday life as an artist easier.

The newsletter is free, ad-free and independent. However, donations are welcome. Fab has an account with Steady. (A platform where you can support creative people financially or perhaps, as a creator, build a sustainable platform.)

Curtain up for: One Song is Enough!

And since Fab Schütze seems to be a fan of newsletters, he launched a new newsletter in March 2024. It is called “One Song is Enough” and appears daily. And what’s special about it? A new song is introduced every day. The recommendations for the song always come from well-known artists and personalities in the business, who introduce us to their favourite songs. The website lists exactly which artist is doing which day. A great, but enormous task.

Why is Fabian doing this?

Because I love newsletters and think they are the ideal format. By focusing on just one song per day and selecting this format, we want to achieve something specific: we want to introduce great music to an interested audience and bring real and relevant attention and reach to the featured song.

Of course, algorithms, budgets and the favourites of music editors are nowhere to be seen.

Fab and his crew want to strengthen the music scene in their own country, so Fab sets only one condition for “One Song is Enough”. The songs featured must come from musicians who live in Germany. Nationality, origin, genre, date of release and singing language, as well as the level of fame of the artist are not important.

Like “low budget high spirit”, the newsletter is sent via e-mail and is aimed at all listeners interested in non-mainstream music. From indie-pop to electronica, from rap to singer-songwriter, from jazz to R’n’B, from a Deutschlandfunkkultur topic to a TikTok phenomenon.

And the concept is expanding: in the first few weeks, great, talented and interesting personalities such as Dirk von Gehlen (journalist & author), Uche Yara (musician), Kathrin Weßling (author), Albrecht Schrader (musician & producer), Aida Baghernejad (cultural journalist) and many more introduced us to their song.

Why this extra effort?

The aim of this unusual newsletter is to breathe a little life into the narrowing music press landscape. 100,000 songs are uploaded to Spotify every day. It is all loud, fast and not sustainable.

The founders are interested in real views and real reach. They want to put high-quality talent from Germany in the spotlight and give music a certain value.