4 Things That Can Kill Your Career as a Music Producer

We often talk about the things we need to do to succeed in music, but we also have to talk about what we need to avoid to prevent us from killing our music career.

Here are a few things you need to make sure you keep away from you and your career…

4 THOUGHTS FROM ME

1. Don’t let EGO take over your mind.

One of the biggest problems producers have is an inflated ego, which often leads you to more harm than good. I’ve heard once that big artists should purposefully make themselves ‘unattainable’ to make them look important, but you can also miss a lot of opportunities with this mentality. Instead, this is what I recommend:

1. Don’t stop talking to anyone because they are ‘smaller’ than you. I’ve seen producers that say they don’t collab with artists smaller than them, or sometimes even don’t even hang with artists smaller than them, but for what reason?
   This will often just make you lose more opportunities than anything, and also make you look snooty, so don’t be this person;
2. Don’t discredit other artists just because they (insert bad reason). Some producers talk down others because they ‘used a ghost producer’ or because they ‘needed help to finish their song’… but who cares?
   How does that make you a better artist? In addition not changing anything in your music, discrediting others makes you look bitter, which is not a good image for yourself as we’ll talk about later;
3. Focus on giving back more than what you receive. I used to think that keeping my secrets was what would keep my music ahead of other producers, but that is super selfish, and I’m glad this is gone from me. Instead, I changed my mentality to be the person who helps everyone, and you won’t believe how much I’ve gained back from that. Collab partners, friends who later hosted me, label emails, and introduction to other artists were all things that I’ve gained from
   • Giving feedback without expecting anything from others and;
   • Answering questions about how I did something, something you can start doing now.
     Remember… It’s by giving that you’ll receive, and not the other way.

2. Stop perfectionism before it stops you.

A friend of mine has been on a break from producing because he couldn’t finish his songs due to perfectionism, mainly because he demanded so much from his songs that this eventually crippled him from starting new songs, finishing his current songs and, eventually, making him lose his motivation. If you don’t want to be this person, here’s what you should do:

1. Understand your triggers. Understand what is triggering you to overthink and be a perfectionist, and the moment you get yourself overthinking something, stop! Zoom out from yourself, and think/research how to avoid that in the future to prevent it from happening again;
2. Learn how to let go. Why do you need to be perfect? What will happen if you aren’t? The main issue of a perfectionist is thinking that if they let anything go, the quality of their work will suffer. Here are a few things that you can do to learn this:
   • Impose deadlines on your projects. When you have a deadline, you set a tangible end for that project, which forces you to let go. If you don’t respect your deadlines, work on remix competitions since they will have deadlines that are not controlled by you;
   • Practice letting go of things. When you’re uncomfortable with letting go, exposing yourself to situations where you let go of things can greatly help you in the future. For example, donate one piece of clothing you don’t use per day, or throw away one old thing you don’t use per day in the trash.
     The goal here is to get yourself used to letting things go, which can help you get comfortable with it;
   • Focus on what will bring the most value to your career. When you get yourself obsessing about little details, ask yourself: Would my fans notice this fix, or would they prefer to hear another song from me? The problem is that a perfectionist will normally say the first, so ask a friend about it.
     When you fix an element, and someone doesn’t see the difference, you’ll realize you wasted time that you could have spent on another song, and over time this will help you focus less on little details.

3. Don’t let fear of failure cripple you and destroy your motivation.

Learning how to deal with fear and failure is crucial for you to succeed in any field. At the same time, not dealing with fear can lead you to anxiety and to lose your motivation, which can ruin your career in the long run. Therefore, here’s how to deal with it:

1. Redefine failure! Most producers think every song they make that is not signed can be considered a failure if they don’t sign it, right? Well, if that’s you, why didn’t you get signed? With every failure, you’ll get an opportunity to learn something new, so make a list of how you can enhance for the next one. Second, did you learn anything from this song?
   Well, at least what to fix for the next one, right? So, it wasn’t a failure, it was a step towards you succeeding in the future, right? Seeing failure as a step towards success is crucial for not letting failure knock your motivation down, so change the way you deal with it;
2. Take the pressure away from succeeding. When we put expectations on succeeding, that expectation can often cripple us from starting anything or crush our motivation when that expectation falls apart.
   However, when you produce something only to learn or have fun (more on having fun producing here), with zero expectations, it often can lead you to experiment more and just enjoy the process, which is what we fell in love with in music production and what could make you gain your flow state back. Therefore, for your next song, clear any expectations and just focus on having fun with it;
3. Join a community of like-minded producers. When you find other producers, you’ll see that you’re not the only one struggling with this fear, which often can make you feel better for not being alone in this ‘game’.
   In addition, you’ll find people that you can talk to that would relate to what you’re doing/feeling, and also who could share ways that they have dealt with that fear in the past that could help you move past your fear. Therefore, if you haven’t found a community like this yet, join our server on Discord.

4. Learn how to talk to other industry members and how to deal with your issues privately.

One thing that can kill your music production career is picking up fights, badmouthing producers and labels, and not learning how to properly connect with other industry members. Within my 15 years of music, I’ve seen and been the target of a few attacks that I would avoid at all costs, and here are some of them:

1. Don’t go public with your issues against anyone, regardless if it’s a label A&R, or a producer. If someone did something to you that you don’t agree with, prevent yourself from going public with it, especially if it’s a personal matter. People normally keep their distance from artists that they have seen attacking others publicly, so avoid being this person;
2. Be careful with how you talk to labels and A&Rs. When you treat labels or A&Rs badly, they are often instructed to ignore you, which could lead you to be blocked by this label or any other label that A&R works with in the future. Instead, when sending emails, be polite without being pretentious or even assuming something that is the A&R job to assume, and you’ll be golden.
3. Develop your network to expand your career. A music career is not only about music, and if you want to succeed in the industry, you will need to make connections with other producers and industry members that will facilitate your life in the music industry.
   Even though it’s still possible to make it on your own, it’s a lot harder, lonelier, and lengthier, which often can take your motivation away. Now, if you want to learn how to properly network, check out this post with actionable recommendations about networking.

1 QUICK TIPS FOR YOU

What else can kill your career as a music producer?

1. Not developing as a producer and as an artist.
With every new song, you need to challenge yourself to something new. That often requires you to let go of the fear of failure and be open to sounding bad from time to time, especially when practicing. Remember, if you’re just playing it safe, you’ll hardly ever stand out from the crowd;

2. Trying to do it all by yourself.
Another reason why music producers fail is that some try to do it all alone, but it’s impossible. The one common thing about PRO artists is that they all have a team of people helping them, sometimes even producers and songwriters (like Avicii did), who helped him make the best in all categories (read more about how PROs are different from Amateur producers here)

3. Not finding a solution for your issues.
When you hit a roadblock, stop everything and try to fix it, or it can otherwise drain your motivation for not being able to fix it. Ask a friend, watch YouTube videos, or hire someone to help you, but don’t let your issue snowball into something bigger.