The most important lessons I learned from ADE that all producers should be doing

Two weeks ago, I attended my first ADE, and I learned a lot!

Here are the biggest lessons that I’ve learned from the experience, the parties, and the panels that I’ve attended…

4 THOUGHTS FROM ME

1. Open as many doors as you can.

Most of the things you’ll achieve in your career will happen because of the music you make and the relationships you build, since they will be the ones bringing you opportunities. To do this:

1. Meet as many people as you can. The more people you meet, the more opportunities you’ll be exposed to;
2. Talk to everyone as a friend. Connect with people on a personal level before asking for anything, as this can often open doors;
3. Don’t act like a fan, act like an equal. If you meet someone in a setting like this, you’re there as a professional. No matter how big a producer someone is, they’re just that, a professional. It will open more doors that way;
4. Attend big conferences like ADE and Miami Music Week. I’ve said it multiple times already after going to Miami once, but after attending ADE, it feels even more important. These events can be catalysts in your growth;
5. Plan your trips to maximize your outcomes. When attending these events, it’s important to plan ahead to maximize what you take out of them. For example:
   • Email labels you want to meet and connect with beforehand, and attend their events or ask for a meeting;
   • Meet people in person. Nothing substitutes meeting someone in person, and it will make your online life easier.

2. Build your community of followers.

To make your music into a career, it’s important to find your community, regardless of whether they are producers or fans. To do this:

1. Start local and build your community around the people in your city. Be the person bringing people together for a specific genre or for parties in general, and they will gladly support you when you start playing shows in your town;
2. If your town doesn’t have any presence, build your community online. Go to Discord and forums and be the guy that everyone likes because you (a) help everyone; (b) make content online; (c) do something no one is doing. Instead of building a community around fans, build a community around producers;
3. Be THE artist in your city/field. If you live in a small city, you can try to be THE artist that supports everyone when bigger acts come to town;
4. Expand your range. Connect with artists and people in bigger nearby towns and build your community around them.

3. Build a sound that evolves with you.

Finding your sound is easy. Keeping it while you grow is your real fight.

1. Stop thinking about your signature sound as a particular sound. Your signature sound isn’t necessarily just a sound… It’s much more than that. Make your signature a vibe, a feeling, or an experience, and it will be easier to connect fans with it.
2. Discover the best ways to initiate your projects. You don’t have to start your songs the same way, and there isn’t a right or wrong way of doing it. Don’t always focus on the “fastest way” as well, as sometimes this will be the comfortable way, which may not be the best music you can do;
3. Keep a consistent outlook for your music. Your music will often be skimmed on Spotify by labels, promoters, and fans, and having something too different from what they are expecting from you can be a no-go and scare them away;
4. Revisit past ideas years later. Songs that were not accepted or were left out may be perfect for your current moment. In addition, dig through them for their gems, and you’ll often find some gold.

4. Choose the path you want instead of copying someone else’s.

We often want to mimic what other producers did to achieve success, but that doesn’t always work and doesn’t always make you the happiest. Instead:

1. Define what success looks like for you. What are you trying to achieve as a producer? Discover what you want to avoid ending up in the wrong career path, and the best way to do this is to experiment with a bit of everything;
2. Embrace a non-linear growth. Take on different opportunities that eventually take you to different paths, and this will help you build a versatile skillset. Focus on finding a path that makes you happier than the one you imagined is the right one;
3. Start building your team. Find people who often give you feedback, who can help you with marketing, or different aspects of music. The more you grow, the less time you’ll have, so prepare yourself to avoid letting opportunities slip by;
4. “Finish your tracks before you fuck them up”. Long projects can often feel ‘forced’, so finish what your tracks, or other projects, as soon as possible to avoid overthinking it, or eventually dropping the song.

1 QUESTION FOR YOU

Thinking about your career, what can you do next to help you achieve bigger things?

1. Focus on the fundamentals.
Focus on making the quality of your music the best it can be. Remember though… It’s not only about technical fundamentals, but also songwriting and arrangement, which often are more important than the technical.

2. Don’t neglect hype boosters.
There are a lot of tools to help you boost your career and your desired path. Use and abuse them if they are going to help you, but don’t forget that they build hype around your music, and there’s no hype to build if there’s no music there.

3. Come in hot, keep the momentum.
Once you have a winner, push as much as you can to keep the momentum, as achieving what you want is more about continuous wins than a single win.