4 Red Flags every producer should avoid and how to move past them

A couple of things can show up in your career, and while we may think they are ok to live with, I’d consider them career red flags and I’d get rid of them right away. Here are a few of these things…

4 THOUGHTS FROM ME

1. Get back to releasing music as soon as you can.

One important part of music is finishing and releasing tracks, and only then will you be able to start and move forward with your music career. However, it happens that sometimes we go through busy moments and can’t produce as much as we wanted, and end up having periods without releases, which could be a problem for you as an artist, so what can you do if that’s what you’re going through?

1. Don’t rush into finishing songs just for the sake of finishing them. The best move if you don’t have a release or songs finished is to understand why you’re in a ‘zero-release period’ to avoid it in the future, and get back to producing without pressuring you to release as this can lead you to frustration, feeling pressured, and end up not making the best music you can;
2. Start collaborating with other artists. Collabing can give you a faster turnout as two people are working on one song rather than just yourself while also, sometimes, delivering a better song due to the combined efforts;
3. Work on multiple tracks at once to avoid depending on just one tune. I love working on 3-4 tracks at the same time because sometimes you might not be feeling one song to the fullest, so having something else to work on keeps you moving toward finishing something. Lastly, it gives you more options to finish at least one good song to get back on releasing.

2. Stop being on auto-pilot and start challenging yourself again.

The biggest problem with having a ‘win’ in music is that it can put you in your comfort zone, and that could lead you to repeat yourself to ‘keep on winning’, which could be a huge problem for you. Why?

Because the comfort zone can put you on auto-pilot to make what ‘works’, but we often forget that what worked today might not work tomorrow. Therefore, how can you take yourself out of it?

1. Make something different for every new song. At the same time, you should keep elements that have worked for one song, and try to push it further with every new song or you risk ending up sounding generic;
2. Do the opposite of what you normally do. If you’re commonly working on collabs, then push yourself to make a solo track, and vice-versa. Essentially, changing up your workflow can often lead you to different challenges and different results, which is a way to get you back to experimenting and testing new ideas;
3. Dive deeper into the skill that you most neglect. If you’re constantly focusing on composition and arrangement, focus now on sound design as the main or additional differentiator for your tracks;
4. Produce without a reference track / change your reference tracks / produce with a reference track. Using different types of reference tracks, or not using it all (or using it if you never use one) can change up the way that you approach your songs, and elevate them into a new state.

3. Stop being defensive and protective about your music.

Some producers are defensive of what they are making, or protective of the labels they sign their songs to, or even afraid of sharing their secrets with other producers. However, to me, that’s a big issue because it shows that this producer either is afraid of getting criticized, (2) afraid of releasing their songs, or (3) insecure about their music.

In addition, the biggest problem is that this producer might not be doing anything to help others, which would lead to nobody helping him/her back, possibly making signing tracks and developing their skills harder for them. Instead, you should be doing the opposite.

1. Get feedback on your tracks, not only in the idea phase but also in the mix and master phase. This is a great way to understand (a) if your raw ideas work as far as composition and arrangement, (b) if you have any issue in your song that you’re not hearing;
2. Share your knowledge with the people you know. Don’t be the person who is protective of their ideas and knowledge. Share it as much as you can as people tend to help those who help them, so the more you help, the more you tend to be helped as well. You might not get knowledge back, but you could get a contact from a label, or a friend;
3. Share your ideas as a way to attract bigger artists collabs. Nobody resists a killer idea, and you might be able to expand your reach and get a bigger release if you share a killer idea with a big artist for a collab.

4. Stay connected to the current trends and merge them with what you like.

A lot of producers define their genre when they start producing and stick with it, but the problem happens when the scene starts to shift and that ‘initial genre’ starts to become left out by labels and big artists, which could cause you to struggle with labels, gigs and even finding tutorials online to help you develop your sound. Instead, you should see your art as something that is always evolving and changing, which partially will happen because of your experimentation, and partially because of the trends of the market.

For that, what you can do is:

1. When experimenting, consider adding something to your music from a trendy genre. For example, add the drums of afro house to a melodic house or deep house song, or the aggressiveness of melodic techno to a prog house song. This can refresh your music while also keeping you attractive for labels to sign you;
2. Make sure to avoid elements that are being overused. For example, the classic “Anyma Shot”… I just can’t even listen to it anymore, so that’s a kind of element that I would stay away from. In other words, if an element is being overused, avoid using it;
3. Listen to mixtapes once in a while to understand what’s current and get new ideas. Once every quarter, I listen to Lane 8’s mixtape because it always inspires me to try new elements in my music, and also fills me with ideas of new things to try on my songs.

1 QUESTION FOR YOU

What are some other red flags that could show up during your music career?

1. Get back to having fun with your music more than with your releases:
If music has become a chore to you, be careful. That is a sign that you’re not having fun with music and if you don’t have fun producing, you’ll likely lose motivation, which can lead you to quit on music.

2. Stop comparing yourself to your producer friends since this could make you lose motivation:
Often producers get jealous of what their producer friends are achieving even though they started producing at the same time. Instead, this should motivate you to get better. Ask this friend for a collab to learn their tricks or even ask them directly and try to understand what they are doing that got them ahead.

3. Don’t think you’re too big for anything:
If you have ever thought “I’m too big to collab with or talk to” someone, get rid of your ego. Literally, stop, and clear your ego. Having a huge ego can destroy relationships, piss off other producers and labels, and it’s never a good mask to wear, so stop it right now!