Processing Creativity

For over a decade, Jesse Cannon has been pushing creative ideas in music. You may know him from writing one of the most popular books on the music business, Get More Fans, or from his recording credits on records with the most varied set of bands you’ve ever seen including: The Cure, The Misfits, Animal Collective, Brand New, The Dillinger Escape Plan, The Menzingers, Limp Bizkit, Basement, Leftover Crack, Saves The Day, Senses Fail, Weird Al, Lifetime, Say Anything, NOFX, Man Overboard, Bad Books, Transit, Somos, Conflict and over a thousand others. You may also know his work as the host of the podcast Noise Creators and Off The Record or from writing for outlets like Alternative Press, Tape Op, Hypebot and countless others. He just wrote a book about what he’s learned working on all those records and writing about music’s bleeding edge, taking on the subject he knows the most about; helping musicians fulfill their creative vision. Processing Creativity: The Tools, Practices And Habits Used To Make Music You’re Happy With is the culmination of four years of poring over scientific studies, books and thoughts from top creators as well as his own experience to write a book every musician should read about what goes into making great music versus what bands do when they make a bad album. 

Covering the pitfalls of creating music, the book thoroughly explores the hidden reasons we actually like music, how to get along with your collaborators and patterns that help creativity flourish. While every musician says that being creative is the most important part of their life, they barely explore what’s holding back them back from making music they are happy with. When trying to navigate the ways our creative endeavors fail there’s no YouTube tutorial, listicle or college course that can help navigate the countless creative pitfalls that can ruin your music. If you’ve had trouble getting your music to be as good as the musicians you look up to, then this book can help you understand the practices they use to make their music so great. 

He’s crafted a book that exposes life-changing knowledge that can be read in under a day, that identifies the patterns and essential knowledge he helps bring to musicians each day. Writing a detailed read that will leave even the most advanced creators with a new perspective on how to make music they’re more happy with. There are no rules to being creative, but there's research and considerations that can help you make better decisions, get past the breakdowns in your process and enhance the emotional impact your songs have on others. The essential ideas on creating music are detailed in a simple, fun language that’s littered with quotes and insight from the most innovative creators of our time that discusses subjects like:

How to make highly emotional music that makes listeners compelled to listen again and again.

Effectively dealing with collaborative problems like “too many chefs in the kitchen,” giving helpful criticism or dealing with stubborn collaborators.

Finding inspiration to develop into music that’s uniquely your own.

How to draft your songs while avoiding the common pitfalls of losing perspective and giving up. 

Examining the unexpected reasons we enjoy music. 

Calming your thoughts so they don’t sabotage your music and other helpful tools to help execute your music as best as possible. 


Whether you're a music fan, producer, songwriter or musician, there's no book with more helpful ideas that can help make everything you create in the future better.