Aloha from Hawaii! There is a lot I wish I knew when I started my music career, that I’ve learned over time. I thought I’d share a little bit on here. It’s 2018, so lets chase after our dreams! I’ll be doing more music production, audio engineering, and gear videos/tutorials, but first I want to talk about the music industry, and how to approach making it.
A bit about me: I specialize in Songwriting, Production, and Engineering acoustic, electronic, hip hop, and many other genres. For the last few years, I have been teaching Apple's Logic Pro X music production software full time, at various locations, but its been a great steady gig. I also sing and play a few instruments, have been a gigging musician, made music for film, tv, commercials, and have remixed, produced, and written songs for other artists. Winner of a few awards like the John Lennon Songwriting Contest, ISC, and Kawehi Remix Competition to name a few. I’m semi professional, so the money comes and goes. I have many close friends who are full time professional musicians, and we talk about the music industry often.
Music is a lot like other fields; to find success, it comes down to the relationships you develop. There are two ways to make it:
Develop quality relationships with the right people.
Develop positive relationships with a lot of people.
That’s really it. You either make it by knowing the right people, or getting famous. In the past, you had to develop your talent, become accomplished as a musician, and then gig and hope to reach someone in the music business, who would launch your platform with radio airplay and a huge marketing budget. That really doesn't exist anymore.
These days, you just have to get famous. You don't even have to be a musician, or make music (to me it’s depressing, but true). Once you build a following and attain fame, accomplished music songwriters, producers, engineers, they will all swarm to you. Fame is power, it takes time, and builds money.
The most important skillset is social media, and making content people engage with that allows you to build relationships with a huge audience. There are still those lucky few who make it because of connections, but the industry has really shifted to benefit those who create their own fame.
Personally, for me its sad. Most famous successful musicians of the now and future, they don’t write, produce, engineer, sing, play instruments, or really do much on the music side. They don't have a meaningful, authentic sound or anything valuable to say, and rely on other musicians to create for them. Thats because they have a team of 4-8 songwriters writing their #1 hit song, a team of 2-5 producers and engineers to make the recording etc. And the artists focus is just maintaining their relationship with fans. With EDM a lot of famous DJ’s don't even produce or write their music, ghost production is rampant. And consumers still worship these “Artists” that are really just brands, fully manufactured and fake, created and modified to make money. I wish it was different. I wish people cared about who actually writes and makes the music they love, instead of the pretty face or autotuned voice that sings it. I wish it mattered which studio producer spent 200 hours making an electronic masterpiece, instead of the tool pretending to DJ making millions. I know I'm partially bitter, because I tried to make great music without using social media/marketing, and didn't find success. Though my album "STARK" won a lot of awards, and had a few placements, it didn't make me the next DJ Snake or Calvin Harris. It took me 2 years to make, and featured 14 different singers from Hawaii, but even if the music is there, you need connections to make it. So don't be like me and neglect social media!
But that’s how the game is played. Success follows if you are young, good looking, and strategic on social media. Or if you get lucky and meet the right people, who fall for your music and personality. Or you have to find a niche or whatever is up and coming, like electronic music in the early 2000’s.
My only advice to others, is the road is hard and you have to decide to put your focus on door #1 or #2. Be real with yourself. Are you charming, charismatic, funny, and generally able to make people like you? Then yeah, make great music, move to LA or NYC and network, perform, and hustle. Meet and make the right people fall in love with you. If you are not, then put your time and energy into getting famous. No one can argue with fame. Fame isn't filled with empty promises, or people who cant deliver, or bad contracts that lock you in for years. Once you gain fame, you can create your own destiny, for those who Destify through the long, hard road.
Tip for fame
The best platforms for gaining a following right now are instagram, musically, youtube, and their are also many live stream apps. Also new and upcoming, is our very own Dtube and Dsound!
Tip if being famous doesn't appeal to you
If you just want to make great music, but don't want to network or build a following, write to music publishers and supervisors with your music, just make sure they work with similar styles of music as yours. Or try a company like Taxi who will forward your music to opportunities. I’ve had some success with both methods. Try attending a songwriting festival, my favorite is the Hawaii Songwriters Festival or Taxi Road Rally. The ASCAP I create music was worthwhile as well.
Lastly, any feedback appreciated! I haven't written anything In years (except music), and I know I'm a rusty writer. Thank you for your time,
Mahalo,
Sebastian (aka Destify)
