Creative endeavors always demand that you lead with your heart—and rightly so. Practicalities rarely factor in the pursuit of art, which is what makes Michael Shynes’ story so intriguing. The Minnesota-based artist had been making and performing music for years, playing in Twin City dives and around his home state.

It was really only when the soulful singer-songwriter started a family that he got super serious about music, but instead of trading in his passion to work a steady nine to five, Shynes doubled down, determined not only to make music work for him as a creative outlet, but also as a career that he could live off of and support his family on—and this is where SoundBetter comes in.

Thanks for a recommendation from a friend, Shynes signed up to the music platform which connects artists with top music professionals around the world to offer his services as a singer and songwriter. (SoundBetter was acquired by Spotify in 2019.) Thanks to the connectivity, structure, and ease of SoundBetter he was able to stay close to home, watching his family grow, while still waking up every morning and making music in his home studio, sometimes collaborating with artists in places as far-flung as Brazil or Sweden.

In the latest episode of How They Made It we head to Minnesota to find out more about his story, including a life-changing collaboration with Polish dance-pop trio Komodo—who reached out to Shynes through SoundBetter—which led to millions of streams as well as live performances in Europe in front of thousands.

Watch the video above, plus read even more about Michael and Komodo’s story and collaboration here.

For more SoundBetter stories—watch our video with Miami-based artist Daramola and NYC producer ShiShi here.

Check out season one of How They Made It featuring Dreezy, Wiki, and Conner Youngblood.

-Spotify for Artists