Jannik Brunke on Taking Charge of His Music Career

For singer, songwriter, and producer Jannik Brunke, “music has always been in me,” he says. “I love to create.” Jannik, who releases music under the moniker BRUNKE, began his career making cover videos in the early days of YouTube. He quickly attracted a dedicated audience.

Since releasing his first EPs, “Insel,” “Stadt,” and “Welt”” in 2018, the fanbase for his distinct musical style has only grown. “I know myself how beautiful it is to be moved and touched by music and would like to trigger that in the people out there,” he says. 

With his third tour ahead this year, Jannik is reflecting on what he’s learned from being an early adopter of social media, building his music career, and how he makes his supporters part of the journey. 

On being an early social content creator

Being early to the scene gave Jannik the ability to build an audience organically, a path that’s even harder for new artists today. But the early days had their challenges too.

“I realized early on that it takes discipline to keep at it. If you take too many offline breaks, you have to start all over again,” he says. “There were only limited opportunities for me to implement what I wanted so early on,” he adds. “This meant that I had to broaden my horizons and cover all areas. Suddenly I was not only the singer, but also producer, videographer, editor, social media manager, and, and, and,...”

Jannik’s ability to learn all of these skills have paid off in giving him creative control over the music and visuals he shares. That control is especially important, as it not only allows him to experiment with the sound he wants, but to keep his listeners close to his process.

“I love the versatility of music and early on I felt the need to share that with the public” he says. “I do it for the listeners. I try to stay as close as possible and let people participate in my musical process.”

Lessons from turning a passion into a career

The internet has changed a lot since Jannik uploaded his first cover song video in 2012. And he’s learned plenty from more than a decade of pursuing a music career. “It's important for me to build my career on solid ground in order to gain a long-term foothold in this industry,” he says.

When asked about the most important lessons he’s learned so far, he highlighted two things.

1. “That I am not a machine. Creativity sometimes takes time. Sometimes more, sometimes less. I still stress myself out with it when I don't have a good idea or it just doesn't happen. But that's totally OK.”

2. “Just start. It's learning by doing. The next video/song will definitely be better than the one before. Stay critical, always try to get the best out of everything. Connect with people to learn from them. The main thing is to have fun!”

Redesigning a website to match his career growth

After releasing a new single, “Lösch meine Nummer,” in early 2022, Jannik set out to update his website to match his new sound.

“With “Lösch meine Nummer,” a new chapter started for me,” he says. “My music became more poppy and so I needed a facelift for my website, which presents all the important information in a simple and straightforward way.”

That redesign will become even more important as he prepares to head out on tour in October. “The integration of my socials, but also exclusive information about my music and my online store are especially important to me,” Jannik says. “Above all, I use my website in relation to touring as a blog and source of information. I write little anecdotes about the concert and post ALL the pictures from the evening or tour day. I also like to use Bio Sites and Unfold from Squarespace in order to create creative content fast.”

Inspired by Jannik’s story? Start your own brand on Squarespace.