always the artist, never the muse

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about the song

always the artist, never the muse is a musical composition by teresa, an independent singer-songwriter from the Philippines. The song expresses a feeling of yearning for love that is more often given than received, and that is more often unreciprocated than returned. To all the hopeless romantics, the brokenhearted, the never-had-a-lover, always the artist, never the muse offers a space for comfort and understanding amidst complex emotions surrounding love. Through this song, teresa hopes to make her listeners feel loved and less alone—turning them into her muse.

The release date is November 28, 2025

a message from teresa

Hi, I’m teresa and I’m an independent artist from the Philippines.

I started writing songs in 2021, but I wasn’t always a singer. I wanted to become an actress growing up. So, I joined my school’s theater organization and I learned about musicals. That’s how I became a singer.

During the pandemic in 2021, I started to write my own songs, not out of just leisure, but out of an expression of what I was feeling, as during the pandemic, I went through a lot of turmoil in my mind and I needed something to release that. So that’s when I figured that maybe I could write songs.

Singing This To You
After my diagnosis of persistent depressive disorder in the same year, I wrote Singing This To You. This was a cry for help. It was a very vulnerable song for me. I joined a school event and I presented it there. When the students heard my song, some of them said, “This should be on Spotify. We want this on Spotify.” In November 2021, I finally released my debut single, Singing This to You.

Four years later, here we are with Always the Artist, Never The Muse. I hope that through this song, people would feel loved and appreciated, and, at least for 3 minutes, feel that they are the muse.

lilipas din ang ulan
My latest single (the single before this) is called lilipas din ang ulan (the rain too shall pass). It has around 580,000 streams on Spotify, and it’s increasing and increasing.

With that song, I got a lot of comments actually that it really helped them go through whatever they were going through. It really helped them with their sleep. That’s one of the most common comments that I get. Listening to the song really helped them calm their minds, relax, and finally get that sleep. And some of them would also say,

Your music saved me tonight. Thank you very much. You’d have no idea how much this means to me.

and

This song continues to be a reminder for me that whatever I’m going through, I’m going to get past that.

And it’s an encouragement for me. I also see lyrics of the song getting posted on school pages as an encouragement, especially cause in the Philippines, it’s typhoon season again, and it continues to be an encouragement for people that even if they go through the rain, they’re going to get past that, and things are going to get better.

my purpose

My purpose as an artist is not just to express what I’m feeling, but it’s also to touch the lives of people, to minister to them, one soul at a time.

If I don’t get the amount of streams that I’m hoping, the amount of audience that I’m hoping, if it does touch a person’s life, and if it makes a difference in one person’s life, then it’s all worth it because people’s lives matter to me. And as an artist, it really gives me encouragement and it makes my heart really happy when people verbalize that to me, how my music has helped them through their lives. And it really helps me to as an artist get motivated to do what I’m doing. It reminds me of my purpose. It reminds me of why art exists.

4 years as an indie artist
In my four years in the music industry, I’ve seen massive growth. Although I’m an independent artist with no marketing team, with no management, I was able to grow my Spotify to more than 13,000 monthly listeners. Last year in 2024, I had a total of 85,000 listeners for that year, and I’m really grateful for that.

spotify playlist strategy
One of my most notable strategies is creating a playlist in 2023. I created a playlist with a catchy title (a funny title that Filipinos could relate to), and I added my songs to that playlist as well as songs from other artists with a low stream count. Through that playlist, I think my streams increased by a lot, from daily streams of 20 to 2,000+, and from 3,000 monthly listeners, it grew to around 17,000. A lot of other artists also saw that growth in their own profiles, and some that I included in the playlist are actually quite big now already. (I wouldn’t credit it specifically for the playlist, but I would say that it played a part in them getting recognized by other listeners too.)

tiktok strategy
Another one of my strategies was to post on TikTok. So now my TikTok has more than 4,000 followers and around 175,000 likes. I’ve been posting on TikTok consistently for the past days to introduce this new song.

From just one verse that they heard, they’re already saying,

Wow, that’s that’s so painful. Like I could totally relate to that. I’m an artist and this is something that resonates with me.

I know that a lot of people could relate to this. Probably not only artists, but also people in general who feel they are not getting the love that they think they deserve and who think that they are always the giver and they barely receive anything in return.

3-part marketing strategy

Aside from those things, we’re going to have a three-part marketing strategy which will be posted across social media platforms (Instagram, TikTok, Facebook) over a span of three (3) months:

i. the art of noticing creation

“The Art of Noticing Creation” is a photography series featuring women visual artists from the Philippines, and turning them into muses, asking them questions such as:

1. Tell me more about your work
2. When and how did you start making art?
3. What is your purpose in making art?
4. What keeps you going?
5. What does being an artist mean to you?

ii. the art of noticing humans

This will happen on the release day, before the launch event. My team and I are going to give out mini bouquets of flowers with a personal note of encouragement and a bookmark featuring lyrics of “always the artist never the muse”.

I used to have a flower business, so I’ll be doing the mini bouquets, too. And we’re going to give them out to strangers and ask to take photos of them to turn them into my muses, to see their beauty through photographs.

• The goal is to give at least 20 flowers
• Recipients will be photographed with their consent, to be posted on social media

Sample mini bouquets:

iii. the art of noticing stories

Inspired by @ramenonthestreet on TikTok, several people were interviewed to share their take on certain questions related to the theme of the song.

The premiere of the interview series will be in December 2025.

Questions:

1. Have you ever been an artist for someone?
2. Have you ever been someone’s muse
3. Have you ever felt like an option?
4. Have you ever tried to earn someone’s love?
5. When was the last time you felt loved?
6. How do you want to be loved?
7. What’s something you wish someone would say to you?

It’s a way to better immerse into the purpose or into the essence of the song.

A Google form will be opened in the style of a freedom wall to encourage listeners and followers to also share their stories and have a chance to be featured on social media posts

estimated expenses

So I really hope that you could help us. There’s a lot of expected expenses in this project. There’s been a lot of people who’s been helping, but we still need some assistance.

	PHP Pesos	USD (approx.)
Music Production & Distribution	₱21,000.00	$356.58
Visualizer & Video Content: Production, Crew, Travels	₱20,000.00	$339.60
Promotions and marketing	₱19,000.00	$322.62
Launch Day: Venue rental, photobooth, flowers, chocolates, notes and bookmarks, notepad, stickers, print-outs, stands, crew	₱15,000.00	$254.70
Other running costs: Administration, campaign, accounting, coordination, communications, scheduling, web design, web hosting, contigency, and other costs	₱17,000.00	$288.66
total estimate	₱92,000.00	$1,562.16

We hope you could view our packages/benefits below and help us through this project.

And I hope that you could be a sponsor or be a producer. I hope that this song will also touch your life, touch your heart, and be an inspiration, be a motivation, and allow you to feel your feelings while also giving you hope.

For brand sponsorship and partnership requests/proposals, please contact us through email: project.atantm@gmail.com cc: inquiry.teresamusic@gmail.com

We believe that this whole project, not just the song, will be able to reach thousands of lives and we want you to be a part of it. So, we are hoping that you’d be able to lend us your support.

a word of thanks
And for the listeners, for the supporters, for my family, my friends, and everyone who’s been a part of this, I really appreciate it. Thank you so much for lending me your time, your effort, your energy. your talent, your artistry for this project. Thank you very much for the creative team. Thank you so much also for the artists that were we featured and the people that we’ve interviewed. Thank you so much for being a part of this. Thank you for the music production team, the content and videos team, the marketing team.

And I know that whatever you contributed will affect a person’s life in a positive manner and not just a person’s life but their soul, their heart and I believe it’s not going to be just one person. I believe that this will touch thousands of lives. So thank you very much for being a part of this. I pray that you would be blessed even more.

Through this project, I hope that you would feel that you are the muse. And for the listeners who feel the same way, who share the same sentiments as the persona in the song, I hope that in this life you will finally feel that you are the muse through this song. I just want to know that you are loved. You are wanted. You are special in your own way. You are a muse, and you are not just a muse, but a great work of art. I hope that this song brings you comfort and gives you hope.

Thank you very much and please continue supporting teresa music. Please continue to spread this and share this to other people. Thank you!

lyric visualizer

A highlight of this project’s marketing plan is to release a lyric visualizer to attract new followers. Below is its look-and-feel board.

in a nutshell

The song always the artist, never the muse started from a simple concept that has been shared multiple times online. A lot of people, specifically from this generation, do not feel loved in the way they want to be loved. This is especially true for those who give out love through artistic means like painting, drawing, photography, poetry. Inspiration sparked—to create a song dedicated to those who share the same sentiments. As an artist herself, teresa felt a personal connection to the phrase. Drawing from her thoughts and experience, she was able to come up with the lyrics of always the artist, never the muse.

Throughout the creative process, teresa realized that there’s more people who go through the feeling of being unwanted and unloved. It’s not a unique case. Being an artist, in this sense, is not limited to the physical—it more deeply relates to the abstract, to love itself.

For some people, they feel like they are always the giver, but they don’t get the same love in return. They wish they could receive the love they give too—not that they are demanding to be loved that way—but a part of them yearns to experience being the loved, not just the lover.

For others, they’ve been conditioned to think that love is something that has to be earned. So they try everything. They do everything. They give everything. They pour themselves too much, they run dry. A movie quote explains love simply yet powerfully, “You like because, and you love despite.” A person may earn adoration. But love—love is freely given.

For a lot more, they don’t think they’re worthy of love at all. They see their flaws. Their imperfections. Social media has amplified that. This often leads to insecurities, isolation, loneliness.

always the artist, never the muse aims to bring comfort to those who feel this way.

In a world that often loses hope,

art becomes a medium to bring light to the hearts of the discouraged.

To the artist, the yearner, the giver, the hopeless romantic, the unloved and unwanted, the brokenhearted, the never-had-a-lover

through this song, teresa wishes for her listeners to feel like her muse—even for just 3 minutes.

The release date is November 28, 2025

the artists behind

music production team

teresa

Writer, Composer, Producer

Although independent, teresa has gained a following over the years. Her Spotify profile has seen massive growth over the past four years. She now has 4.3k followers on Spotify, with 13.4k monthly listeners. Her most recent release, lilipas din ang ulan, has reached 590k streams on the platform and has been added to thousands of playlists. Aside from this, two of her songs had also been added to editorial playlists. She has more than 4k followers on TikTok, with more than 175k likes.

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Jomer Dula

Arranger

Jomer Dula is a songwriter and composer based in Quezon City, Philippines. He loves to express his feelings through playing musical instruments specifically, the bass guitar. He writes music because this is his best way to share his complex thoughts and emotions to people.

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Henry de Castro

Recording Sound Engineer

Blending creativity with a thoughtful approach, Henry de Castro is a creative that just loves working behind the scenes.

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Gloson

Mixing & Mastering Engineer, Co-Producer

Gloson has worked with teresa previously on lilipas din ang ulan and Basta’t Kapiling Ka, doing the mixing, mastering, and assisted with the musical arrangements and with direction of live musicians. A poet, film composer, and musical theatre lover, he left the corporate world to pursue his artistic roots.

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marketing team

teresa

Creative Direction

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Bryle Mikkoel Ilagan

Director of Photography (Interviews)

From Bacoor, Cavite, Bryle Mikkoel Ilagan is a film student at the UP Film Institute. As an enthusiastic learner of film production and scholarship about cinema outside the mainstream, his interests include film sound, editing, documentary, experimental cinema, and anything that can merge all four.

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Marie Angeli Paras

Production Assistant (Visualizer)

Keeping a balanced school life, Marie Angeli Paras makes time for new experiences in line with her passion for photography and love for indie music.

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Sedwin Asilo

director of photography (visualizer)

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Agatha Pajenado

editing and layout, publication

launch team

coming soon!

For brand sponsorship and partnership requests/proposals, please contact us through email: project.atantm@gmail.com cc: inquiry.teresamusic@gmail.com