4 Biggest Lies Producers Fall for in Music Production

As music producers, we hear lies from other producers that we start to believe as ‘the reason why we are not making it’ in the industry, but we need to unlearn these as fast as we can. Therefore, here are a few lies that you need to stop believing in right now:

4 THOUGHTS FROM ME

1. There’s a proper way of working on your music and your music will suck if you don’t follow it.

Sometimes, I get some students doing things they can’t explain, which often happens because they saw something on YouTube and blindly copied it to their song. But, this can eventually create problems for your music, and, instead, here’s what you should do when you discover something new for your songs:

1. Understand the concept before trying something. For example, “compressing your kick and bass can tighten your low end”.. yes, but what are you trying to do here? Isn’t it to control the levels and dynamics of your kick and bass? So, what if you learned instead how to control your kick and bass with levels directly (which you can watch in this video)? That is because just compressing it won’t correct whether your kick and bass are quiet or loud in your mix, while learning how to manage their levels properly can;
2. Try what you’ve learned, but only keep it if you hear a difference. Before assuming it’s helpful, make sure to really hear the difference between before and after what you’re doing. If you don’t hear a difference, remove it as it could later cause problems;
3. Level match whatever you add to remove the volume bias. When you, for example, add saturation to something, it tends to make that element louder. However, to evaluate if you really like what you’ve added, compensate for the increased loudness by reducing the volume so you hear the difference in the sound, and not in volume, as this can help you better evaluate the differences that action makes;
4. Lastly, get better sources for information. Listen to advice from people whose work you admire or who can achieve what you’re looking for instead of listening blindly to what you need to do. If they can achieve in their songs what you want to learn, then that’s an indication that they know what they are talking about.

2. Without a big following, you won’t get signed by a major and/or get a major hit.

One of the biggest lies in the music industry is that if you don’t have a following or social media presence, you won’t get signed, but that’s not true. Take Klur for example… Klur’s first release was at one of the biggest labels in melodic house, Colorize, and that happened without any prior following.

Now, Klur’s story has a few hidden lessons that we can learn from:

1. Focus on developing your music to an exceptional level. That’s what we’re all aiming for, right? But, that’s actually what will speak out to A&Rs when you send something to them, so you have to make it the best it can be. Get feedback (send your song to us here), take lessons, and watch tutorials until the point where people have only positive comments about it;
2. Find the best way to send your songs to labels. Sometimes, it’s not just about finding an email to send your songs to, but finding the right email to maximize your chances of being heard. Or even, some labels may take a long time to respond, so your best way is possibly finding an artist within that label to remix or collaborate with, which requires networking. In any case, find the best way to get your music heard by the right person at the label, as this increases your chances of getting signed. (read more about finding your favorite label here);
3. At the same time, without any music released, you shouldn’t be promoting your music. If you don’t have any music released, which is the ‘product of an artist’, how will you build a following that supports your art? You can create content that will help you build a crowd for when you start releasing music, like what Chris Luno did, but that has to be directly related to the music that you’re making or you could be attracting the wrong kind of audience.

3. Promoters will pay close attention to your Spotify stats when hiring you for a gig.

While some promoters do check your Spotify stats when hiring you, it’s not what will get you gigs in the music industry. It definitely helps to have stats, but what will get you gigs is networking or knowing people who can do this networking for you. In any case, if you want to get gigs to play your music, here are a few things you should do:

1. Go to the clubs and events where you want to be booked and become friends with the resident DJ and/or the owner. When I went to live in Chicago, I didn’t know anyone, but I got a gig within 3 months of living there, and if I had to relive it, that’s what I would recommend to you: (a) list all clubs where you’d like to play; (b) list all the resident DJs from these clubs; (c) reach out to these DJs on Instagram or Facebook and become their friends; (d) Attend their gigs regularly and also show them your music and sets; (e) As you become closer, ask how they got their gigs and how they would go about getting gigs; (f) ask for a spot in their gig and, if possible, offer them something in exchange (like making a song together);
2. Attend big events and festivals, but also try to meet the owners and organizers. If you’re planning to go to a festival, try to get involved with someone who can put you backstage so you can meet the important people who can help you later, and also remember to find a way to stay in touch. A good way is to ask friends who have already attended the backstage or are DJing in this event;
3. Make strategic signings to boost your Streaming Stats. Even though it’s not a crucial metric, it’s something that promoters look at, so it doesn’t hurt to sign your songs with labels that have a strong streaming presence, but make sure to do your research on these labels first to confirm what they can do;
4. Lastly, find a manager, or booking agent, who knows a lot of people and give him a part of your earnings to motivate him to book you.

4. I can’t make music because I have Writer’s Block and there’s nothing to do about it.

If there’s one thing I don’t like hearing from producers, it’s about them having Writer’s Block. I truly believe that there are moments in which everything we do sucks, but that doesn’t mean you can use that as an excuse to not work at all, as many do. Instead, here are a few things you can do:

1. Hustle through the block by making 2 new ideas per week. After a long period without practicing creativity and composition, you will get weak at creating new songs, but it doesn’t mean you’re blocked. It means you have to push through this ‘sucking phase’ by just creating garbage, and eventually, things will start to get better with time;
2. Embrace the work, not the result. In this period where nothing works, embrace the act of sitting down and working more than the ideas you create. What you need at this stage is to be proud that you’re trying even if it sounds like trash since this work and hustle is what will make you go through this phase;
3. Ask someone for ideas to collab on. Instead of creating your own ideas, working on someone else’s song can help you by not making you ‘create’ and just developing something that is already ongoing, which can make your creativity flow through a bit more;
4. Go learn new skills or find something else to work on. If nothing above is working, just go learn new skills that will make your music better or speed up your workflow when you’re back on track. You can even just organize your sample library. Why? Sometimes this learning or organization process can spark your creativity again, but, at least, it will help you get ready and faster for when you’re feeling music again (you can read more about how to beat writer’s block over here)

1 QUESTION FOR YOU

What are other lies producers fall for?

1. There’s a major difference between pro & amateur producers.
As said in this post, there are differences between PROs & amateurs, but it’s mainly focused on how they behave and act towards their music. Start treating your music as a business, showing up every day and also building a team around what you’re doing and you’ll already be taking a step towards being more like a PRO;

2. Your musical interests are different than everyone else’s, so your songs won’t be popular.
If you’re within a niche market, it can be harder, but that doesn’t mean you’re doomed. Instead, invest heavily in promoting your song and getting it on playlists, and also focus on making your fans into super fans as this can make you sell your own shows, which is what Mr Bill (200k monthly listeners on Spotify) does in his USA tours (something Mr. Bill mentions in this podcast);

3. Making viral video content will make you a big-time artist.
Making viral content can make it easier to get spots on labels as you’ll already have a crowd and labels definitely welcome these. But, ultimately what will make you a big-time artist is your ability to consistently deliver good music. Therefore, instead of just focusing on content, also focus on songs that can consistently back up the content you put out;

4. Big producers don’t use presets!
Spencer Brown, one of the biggest producers in Melodic House said this when I showed a preset I recreated: “Oh cool, that was actually a preset I used”. Feel free to use presets, but also modify them to make it your own!