Here are 10 important things to keep in mind if you're someone who makes music:
1. Know what you want
Define your expectations and know what you want. As every one of us has different expectations and goals, it is important to decide what we really want to achieve, so we can make a roadmap to get there. For some it may be getting on top of the charts and playing shows at arenas and stadiums while for others it may simply be to be able to earn a living from making music. Write down whatever your goals and expectations are, so you are always reminded of them and start thinking and planning on how to achieve them. Many people stop at this stage, but success is possible only if you take action!
2. Make High Quality Music
You have to make high quality music. There is no place for poorly recorded amateur music unless you make music as a hobby and don't intend to make a career out of your music. On the other hand this doesn't mean that you need to invest thousands of dollars on your songs to make them sound great! With the technology available today, making high quality music has become much more affordable than before. Getting your music recorded in a studio is not that expensive anymore; just book a session at a recording studio and get your songs recorded. If you're going to be recording music very often, it makes sense to invest in your own home studio. Check out our post on how to setup a budget home recording studio for more details about this.
3. Be Nice!
Be a likeable person so people connect with you. No one owes you anything. People like good music, but they'd also like to connect with you as a person. If you come across as a genuine friendly person and share more of your thoughts and life with your fans they begin to feel like they know you and begin to connect with your ideology and personality along with your music. This makes the bond between you and your fans much stronger and this is what really counts in the long run because these are the fans that will come to your shows and support you.
4. Express Yourself
Express yourself and your unique personality through your music. Making music that comes from within you will always be much richer than trying to follow a trending style of songwriting or music prevalent at that time. This creates a unique angle and image to your brand which makes fans connect with you even more.
5. Appreciate Your Audience
Appreciate your audience for supporting you. Remind them about how much they mean to you and that without them your music career wouldn't be where it is right now. Little things add up. Reply to comments on social media. If you're at a point where this takes you too much time, hire a manager to manage your social media, but make sure to always support your fans and nurture them. Even if you have 10 fans that really care about your music, let them know that they are the first ones to believe in your talent and you have bigger things coming up. Make your fans feel like it was a great decision to follow and connect with you. Eventually this will lead to an extremely loyal fanbase.
6. Focus on 'Your' Music
Be true to yourself and keep your focus on "your music “ instead of getting obsessed about what other musicians are doing. Looking at other musicians for inspiration is great but when you look at them as competitors it creates a toxic attitude along with jealousy that leads nowhere. It's great to take ideas and inspired by other musicians but feeling jealous looking at their results just hinders your own self esteem and growth. Don’t do that, just be the best version of yourself that you can be. That's what will really take you places.
7. Let the music write itself
If you're having to think too hard and you constantly reject your ideas before they blossom into proper ideas, you will take a long time to write your songs. Instead, once you start writing the music, don’t interfere with the natural process of creativity. Don’t write the music, let the music write itself. Once you have a draft that sounds pretty good you can always go back and make further tweaks to make it sound the way you want.
8. Stay open to inspiration
Always keep listening to various kinds of music, you need to listen to a lot of music because nothing is 100% original when you look at they elements or layers involved in the production or within music theory. You don't have to reinvent the wheel. Making new music is all about creating something fresh, but usually contains a combination of a lot of generic ideas and patterns borrowed from various different styles of music. Sounds used in pop music are very rich but once you have access to them you are able to use them in your own productions. Ace Serum presets can help you achieve this modern pop sound in a matter of minutes. Even when you look at chord progressions used in popular music we notice how so many songs have the exact same chord progression and even rhythmic patterns but sound entirely different when you listen to the overall production. Even with song structures we find that there are only a few popular song structures which are used repeatedly in so many songs and that is because they are proven to work well. So keep listening to new music and you will automatically develop your signature sound based on the way you make your music. Templates are a great starting point if you're looking to expand your repertoire and understand how to layer various elements together. Click here to check out some music production templates.
9. Learn from failure
Failure is important, sometimes more important than success and success is the thing that can sometimes make you fail. In fact failure and success are two sides of the same coin. Analysing and learning new things from every failure can improve your skills very quickly and make you reach great heights. It's easy to give up after a few failures but the thing to really note is that your not going round and round in circles; you are going in an upward spiral getting better and better at your craft. So stay motivated and keep making great music along with having a strong marketing plan.
10. Believe in yourself
Believe in your ideas but don't ignore the music your peers are releasing. Don’t have deaf ears towards reason and reality. You might have a brilliant idea, the best ideas, but you need to market it and make it reach people. You also can’t think that your idea can happen only in the way think it should happen. Be smart enough to know that there are so many ways to make things happen. Don't wait for the stars to align. You've got to take music promotion and marketing into your own hands. Also be flexible and have the willingness to adapt to the scenario and changing trends. After all we are making music for our audience so it is very important to stay updated with what kind of music is being consumed. We can't just be sitting in our own shell ignoring what's happening out there in the world. So what are you waiting for? Get busy and start releasing some great music!
Hope you found the post useful. Check out mysticalankar.com for more info and music production resources like sample packs, sound banks and templates to take your productions to the next level!