You feel like an imposter because you indeed are one.

Playlist: A 72-track time capsule featuring Lorde, Taylor Swift, Bleachers, alt-J, Harry Styles, Kendrick Lamar, St. Vincent and more.

I was invited to speak at Secret Sessions’ Artist Meet Up at The Hospital Club in London about building an audience as an independent musician, and why artists need to build their online infrastructure before they have something to sell.

I worked with Talent Unlimited on the launch of its Music Futures Festival in London, developing the digital marketing and audience strategy and leading a social media workshop for participating students. All seven shows sold out.

Fans were already taking and sharing thousands of photos from live shows, but hashtags were messy and inconsistent, and many didn't tag their photos at all.

So we built another way to find them.

Who but Taylor Swift would promote a blockbuster pop album with an op-ed in Wall Street Journal, the person who seems completely unaffected by the music crises. She has sold more albums than Britney Spears, Eminem and Prince; all of whom had the advantage of selling records while people were still buying records.

While some content “goes viral” randomly, it is unlikely to leave a lasting impact unless it has an established online presence it can continue to build on.

At 17, I was asked to market a school theatre production. We printed 5,000+ posters, got the press, sold out six shows — and accidentally started my career.