For my entire adult life, I've been working in and around electronic music culture, starting out as a DJ, then co-founding and running the Butterz label, and later becoming a manager for Flava D, Royal-T, DJ Q & Swindle. Throughout my career, I've always been vocal about my learnings in this industry, but in 2021, after working with Youth Music on a grant programme called the NextGen Fund, which supports young people and their music projects, I began seriously considering ways to pass on my knowledge to emerging creatives. This mission recently hit a stride on Instagram with a project called The Daily, a yellow post-it note style graphic, where I share music industry insights, Monday through Thursday, with a few words or a sketch.

Last May, I wrote two threads on the kinds of articles I would like to see in electronic music press. At the time, as lockdowns were lifted and we began to party again, I thought it would be a good opportunity to question why everything in this industry is the way it is, and if it could be made better, especially for people entering this world for the first time. Shortly after the post went live, Whitney Wei, Editor-in-Chief of this platform, reached out and asked if I would like to come on board and deliver the ideas. I was surprised and grateful for the opportunity and over the last two months, we've worked together to bring the articles to life with amazing writers, an awesome illustrator and a great wider support team that has made this better than I ever thought it could be. It's proof that just sharing your ideas, music and art helps magnetise opportunities that you may not think are possible, which is what has always excited me about independent music.

What's most important to me at the moment is writing that speaks to a broad audience of creators, artists, students, writers and fans alike to offer insight into the real, current landscape of the music industry. I wanted to include hard numbers, data, money, and information on jobs that will give direction on where we, as a community, need to build next to keep this culture alive and growing, far into the future, with space for voices, sounds and perspectives that haven't historically been amplified. Within this global scene, there are also structural issues that are rarely discussed. These are all the topics I wanted to challenge through both curating these articles for March and posting on The Daily for the rest of the year.

Right now, it seems that there are more artists than ever, but in the UK, there are fewer clubs and festivals than there were five years ago. So many young producers and DJs are being trained at schools, universities and monthly free workshops around the world, but where will all this talent go? There are a lot of hopes and dreams being put into this industry and I want to ensure people have access to vital information to make better long term professional decisions. Where should people be placing their efforts in terms of building their careers?

There are thousands of hard-working people behind the scenes. New people entering the industry can learn a lot from their skill sets. One of our feature articles, "Teams: Who Works Behind the Biggest DJs?," by journalist Annabel Ross, highlights the many supporting roles around an artist, so people can understand the variety of professional pathways available.

A handful of companies run the global festival network, and smaller independent promoters have been gradually squeezed out. Clubs are constantly fighting the battle for inner-city space against housing developments. How can some of the most exciting grassroots movements become sustainable outside of working with large corporations? "Balance Sheet" by music writer Michael Lawson explores how much it costs to run events both big and small—like club nights in London, Berlin, and a festival set on the estate of a castle in Medellin, Spain—so ravers and promoters can take a real look into where the money is spent.

Most of us have had to make sacrifices or changes to continue in this industry, and a lot have left altogether. "Grand Closings" by staff news writer Anu Shukla explores what some venue owners have achieved post-electronic music, hopefully to shed light on these drastic career pivots for the rest of us. Other articles to look out for include a comprehensive history of MCs in club culture by contributor Richard Akingbehin and a Review Rewind by Matt McDermott on the fraught music history of garage classic "Gabriel" by Roy Davis Jr., and how the song's featured vocalist, Peven Everett, claims he was robbed of his breakthrough opportunity. For RA's Exchange, I'll be doing a live interview on March 18th at AVA Festival in London, which will be published at the end of the month, where I will explore my personal experiences with these topics, how they've influenced career decisions and why I think it's important for our industry to be more straightforward and transparent.

Thank you to RA once again, and you can catch me posting ideas Monday-Thursday on Instagram, where I will actively reply to questions and feedback.

Elijah