NFX posted on July 05, 2007 09:45
This message is from the brain inside of the mastermind himself, JHill, who is currently living life with an audio production career down in Texas. Additions to this article were also made by Taylor Barclay. You won't find this info in any audio production colleges. DISCLAIMER: The legal advice in this article is NOT a substitute for advice from a lawyer and/or other law professional.
[Edit: Taylor Barclay refreshed this article on July 13, 2010]
I can almost type a book up about this stuff, but I'm not going to bore you with the gritty details. You know, there is a lot of DOs & DON'Ts about the music business. If this is something you want to do for a living then listen up.
First: Save your money and go register your name in the music business; this is known as a trademark. Trademarking your name goes hand in hand with making sure your music is copy written. Building yourself a website is also an important first step. There are many artists that begin with a simple MySpace or other social networking equivalent, but at the very least register for a domain name to forward to your website. For example, I registered
www.taylorbarclay.com for my website, and it re-directs directly to the template I have built for it. There are many domain registration services, search around for the one that might help you the most. Along with your website, your design a logo are important also. Without a cohesive website design and/or logo, how will consumers be able to recognize your image? Bands like Ratatat and Linkin Park have identifiable logos with initials of their names, other bands have complex designs for their logos. It's all a matter of preference of how you want your business to be identified. Lastly, you need to get a Federal Tax ID Number. This is a necessity for your business if you are offering services that can be federally taxed. Details of that can be researched.
That will run you about 2-3 thousand dollars (rough estimate.) Please guys listen up, because all this stuff is a must.
Second: Learn the music industry and which genre you are going to partake in making music in. So many music producers try and step foot into the game face first and stall immediately because they don't understand the history of the genre they are pursuing and the direction it is now heading.
Third: When pursuing a client/artist for beat purchases, listen to a few of their songs before you approach them. This is very important! Get a good feel for them first, before you have a listening party, or send a .zip file of beats to their manager. Build your music around them. This will allow you to bring product they want and will allow you to up your price in the end.
This is something we do all the time. When we are being pursued from a major artist, we will listen to their whole album first before we go anywhere. Then we will make about 25-30 beats just based off of what we heard and learned from the artists taste. Contact the artists management and arrange a listening party with the artist and producer for listening purposes. Artist love this, because you and the artist can really get a good vibe for each other, then money will be no option!
Fourth: One word, PROMOTION! I can not stress this enough. So many music artists in general, do not promote themselves enough. You have to attend music conventions, artist parties, promotion events, etc. etc. You will find other musicians at events like these also, and that opens up whole entire new avenues for you and your music. Get out to these events and your name will start to catch a buzz. Don't make excuses for yourself just because you live in a small city either. I (Taylor) had done that for years until I really started to dig around and find events to go to in my small area. There are always art conventions, ways to showcase your talent, and even perform your instrumentals live if that is your thing. Getting yourself heard is the main goal, so get out and do it!
My first convention I went to, people came to me asking me what I had to offer like I was a car salesman.... it was crazy! Once they heard the heat me and Henry had, people really started calling and requesting services. Now the name Diversified Beats is really stirring up a buzz, especially in the Texas area.
Fifth and Foremost: Live for your music. Eat, breath, and sleep your music. If you dont believe in your own self, you wont make any progress, let alone make any sales. If you go to an artist listening party and you are sitting there playing your beats without any confidence, you won't make any type of good impression. You have to really bob your head, or stand up and move. Make the artist feel that you really think that your stuff is the best out there! Bring the energy!
When playing a beat for the artist, most times he will ask you, what were you thinking when you made this beat. This is where you step in and say something like: "Well on this piano ballad I was thinking about a girl I really love and how I felt about her." The artist will bleed off that and write a song about it. This is the step that move you from being the beat maker to being the music producer. A beat maker makes the beat, but a music producer directs the entire process of a song. Choosing which you want to be is critical.
Remember guys, this is something people do for the passion and love for music. People write these songs to express themselves. We write the scales and melodies to express ourselves. Get up and take charge of your money and your life, if you're serious about audio production.
JHill
Diversified Beats
myspace.com/diversifiedbeats