Nine Years of Unheard Gems: On Slow Burns, Second Acts, and the People Who Make a Small Site Matter
Nine years ago, Unheard Gems launched with an interview with Mathew V. It was a modest beginning, the kind every independent project has, built on enthusiasm and not much else. Since then we've published more than 2,000 articles, introduced hundreds of artists, and covered countless concerts. Writing those numbers down, I'm struck by how little they capture of what the site has actually been.
An honest word about the quiet
If you've been reading closely, you've noticed that this past year looked different. Fewer posts, longer gaps. I want to say plainly that this isn't a sign of decline. It's a sign of growth, just not the kind that shows up in a publishing calendar.
The Unheard Gems team is scattered across their own paths in music, building careers and following opportunities that this site helped make possible. Our artists are in the studio and the writing room, working steadily on what they'll release next. And the discovery side of what we do, finding the artists worth your attention, has become a slow burn. We're still listening and still searching, but with more patience and a higher bar.
Thank you for bearing with us, whoever you are and however you found your way here. It means more than I can easily say.
How a passion project grew up
Unheard Gems began when I was 17. I had a simple, slightly stubborn desire to share the stories and music of artists I loved. They had been my comfort and my inspiration, and I wanted to give something back, even if all I could offer was a platform and a few hundred words.
I never imagined it would open the doors to a career in music. (I'll spare you the details. We all know how LinkedIn works.) But the thing I least expected was the impact it could have on other people.
Somewhere along the way, I realized that I couldn't run this site and everything else I was doing alone. I needed help. That realization turned out to be the best thing that happened to UG. Over the years, an incredible community of writers joined us. We were all college-aged, and I had the chance to open the door and teach what I knew to a new wave of writers, some a few years younger than me and some older. Mentorship in this industry rarely comes with a job title. Here it happened one edited draft at a time.
Now I get to watch those writers go on to bigger and better things. They're working at PR firms, at sync and licensing companies, and at labels. They're pursuing further degrees in music and entertainment marketing and business and running the new wave of trending music discovery pages on socials. I never thought a small website could have that kind of reach, and it remains the thing I'm proudest of.
The artists, and the many ways to win
The same pattern has played out with the artists we've covered. Some arrived as names no one had heard. Some went on to land placements in TV shows and films, climb the charts, and become household names. Others stayed our favorite little secrets, beloved by the people who found them and never needing to be anything more.
I've come to believe that both outcomes are success stories. A career in music doesn't have a single shape, and an unheard gem doesn't have to become widely heard to be worth hearing.
Advice for artists, nine years in
I've watched a lot of artists build, stall, pivot, and break through. If I had to boil down what I've seen, it would come to this:
Be yourself. The market has plenty of imitations. It has very few originals.
Be honest. In your music, in your communication, and about where you are in your career.
Don't ignore the data. Streams, saves, audience location, and engagement are your audience telling you something. You don't have to obey the numbers, but you should listen to them.
Experiment, but give yourself enough time to learn from the experiments. Trying five things for a week each teaches you less than trying one thing properly.
Build self-sufficiency, and never stop learning. The artists who last understand their own business, even when they have a team.
Ask for help. No one in this industry got where they are alone, and asking is a strength, not a weakness.
Ten finds from the past year you shouldn't miss
Even in a quiet year, the music kept coming, and these are the ten releases I couldn't stop returning to. If you only have time for a few, start anywhere. There's no wrong door.
DONT YOU SEE ME TRYING, Erin LeCount
Under the Cover of Light, Ken Yates
Shoes, angel princess
Mr. Optimist, Hudson Ingram
Come Back To Earth, Dempsey Bolton
Not Close Never Far, Troy Ogletree
America In Your 20s, Winnetka Bowling League
thrutheweekend, informal
hyperfix!, JT FOLEY
Do You Think About Me?, Hayley Warner
Toward a decade
Nine years in, Unheard Gems looks different from the site I started as a teenager, and I think that's exactly right. The mission hasn't changed: find the artists who deserve to be heard, tell their stories well, and bring along the people who want to learn how. The pace may be slower, but the commitment is the same.
There's more music and more stories on the way. We're almost at a decade, after all.
Happy 9 years, Unheard Gems. Cheers. 🥂
xo, Hannah Schneider
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