What to Do When Music Production Throws These 4 Horrible Situations at You

In your music production career, you might face some challenging moments where you just don’t know what to do.

So, here are a few that I’ve experienced, and how you can overcome them…

4 THOUGHTS FROM ME

1. You’re not able to write music that you’re proud of or can even consider good.

We’ve all been there… Producing music is just not fun anymore because you can’t translate what you hear in your head to your DAW, and that frustrates a lot. Here are a couple of situations that may cause you to feel this way, and what to do about it:

1. Not having the skills to finish your music. If you don’t have the skills to finish a song, your focus should be on developing those skills, and not on writing good music. This will eventually come with time, but first, you need to hone your skills. Make a list of 5 things you need to develop for your next song, and focus on developing at least one of them in your next session.
2. You’re writing music that is worse than before. This can be the most challenging situation for any producer, and overcoming this challenge can be what separates becoming a professional producer vs giving up. You may not know what you’re doing to cause this, or you may not recognize the improvements you’re actually making, so the best way to overcome this is to ask for help and feedback from others.
   Ask a few producers you trust to give you feedback and suggestions. Listen carefully to what they say and work through the issues and suggestions they mention, and you’ll soon overcome this challenge. To work on your mindset and learn how to push through in these moments, read “The Obstacle is the Way”, by Ryan Holiday, and “The Dip”, by Seth Godin);
3. You feel like you’re not making progress anymore. Sometimes, you hit a point where you’ve watched all YouTube videos you can, but you’re still not able to write music so it sounds the way you want it, right? So, listen to your song and listen to a track you love that you think is a masterpiece.
   Now, write down all the things that make this masterpiece better than your song. It could be the feeling, the emotion, the sound design, the vibe, the elements, the mix, etc. Now, you have a list of things to improve in your songs, and that’s what you focus on next. Or, check this post on how you can take your songs to the next level.

2. People say your music is good, but it’s not getting anywhere.

“Your music is really good, but it’s not for us.” Sound familiar? When people say your music is good, but it’s not generating the activity you want with it, like getting signed or landing multiple playlists to promote it, it can start to drive you crazy because you simply don’t know what to do. After all, your music is good, right?

Ehh….maybe. There is so much music being made today that, unfortunately, ‘good’ won’t stand out, and you’ll need to make music that stands out to get what you want. So:

1. Discover why or how you can improve your songs with feedback. Next time you get a comment like the one above, ask why. If you don’t get any response, ask for feedback from a friend while also mentioning what was said to you. This step is to make sure your music doesn’t have any quality gaps to be fixed and, if you find anything, make a list of things to fix and fix them right away.
2. Stop playing it safe. Sometimes, your music is not getting anywhere because you’re playing too safe by either sounding too close to a big artist, or your music is just not different enough to make it memorable. So be bolder with your ideas. Experiment and try to do something you haven’t seen before, or something you’ve seen, but in other genres. In essence, bring something that will make your song more memorable and unique;
3. Reinvent yourself and nurture your inspirations. How do you search for ideas on doing these memorable things? Instead of producing songs, take a step back and go back into research mode, as this is what will fuel you with ideas to be more memorable.
   • Take a trip to an unfamiliar place;
   • Go to a modern art museum, as these tend to be bolder than other museums, and just be inspired;
   • Go to a BIG Festival with friends, which can bring lots of good memories and get you really inspired;
   • Listen to podcasts from your favorite artists, especially the ones that play multiple genres;
   • Listen to other genres that you like, especially genres that are different than your main genre;
   • Try using different VSTs from what everyone is using and try to learn a different technique that may be interesting and unique to you.

3. You just don’t feel like producing anymore.

A big problem happens when you just don’t feel like producing anymore, because music just stops being fun, so what’s the point? It starts to feel like a chore or something you’re forcing yourself to do, right? And this could happen for multiple reasons:

1. You feel stressed when you produce. When music production gets you stressed and anxious, it’s definitely not fun, so you need to learn how to solve this. Figure out what is getting you stressed and why, and just eliminate those things from your mind. For your next session, your goal is not even to make good music, but just to sit down and have fun (and here are ways that you can do that);
2. You feel alone when making music. Music sometimes can be hard because you normally sit to produce and work all by yourself, without anyone, and that can feel alone, which turn it into something less desirable than playing games with friends. Instead, share your work with a friend and get their reaction, or just invite a friend to collaborate with you in real-time.
   Lastly, you can join producer communities, like our Discord, where you can meet and talk to other producers (who you can later collab with);
3. You don’t like the music you’re making anymore. In 2019, I almost quit producing because I wasn’t having fun with what I was making, so I switched genres and started making music in another genre. You won’t believe how refreshing this is. Try producing a genre that you’ve always liked listening to, which is different than your current genre, and just make it for the fun of it. Sometimes, you’re not sick of production, but of your genre, and a change can help you tremendously.

4. You don’t have the time for music or even ways to justify spending that time with it.

Especially since music doesn’t pay your bills, and actually costs a lot to your pocket, how do you justify spending time to do it when you likely also have a social life, need to exercise daily, or could be spend this time investing in other things that will make you more money?

1. Remember why you make music. At times, we forget why we started to make music, and going back to that initial place can not only bring more happiness, but also calm our minds. Making music is an amazing way to express yourself creatively, something you might not be able to find in your life, and that can also make you a better professional by (a) learning to commit to a project and finish it; (b) not being afraid of searching and starting new ideas; (c) developing your ability to learn.
   But, most importantly, remember the fun it used to bring when you started, so bring that back;
2. Turn your hobby into income. If making money is important to you to justify it, find ways to monetize your skills by (a) making content; (b) doing services like mixing and mastering for others; (c) teaching someone; (d) making presets for companies. In fact, making presets and sample packs is something you can do now, and your music doesn’t even need to be perfect for that to happen. If that sounds interesting, send an email to a major sample/preset company and ask them for work;
3. Make it your fun “me” time. Everyone has their ‘fun’ time by themselves, either playing games, practicing sports, etc, so make music your hobby. It doesn’t need to be lucrative, as playing games is not, and it doesn’t need to be easy, as some sports aren’t, so just make it an enjoyable time. Get rid of all your goals, and just make music for yourself, having fun and without any pressure, and you’ll see how this will make you start finding time for it;

3 QUICK TIPS FOR YOU

What other situations can be as horrible for a music producer?

1. You’ve just gotten extremely bad feedback.
First, take a moment to breathe and calm down. Don’t respond emotionally, just say “thank you for your time” and step away. Remember, this feedback does not reflect you, but only that piece of art, so take yourself away from it.
After you’re calmer, come back to this feedback with an objective mind, list everything you can learn from it, or what you need to improve, and work on improving them one by one, or if the feedback is right, move on, not all songs are hits, and THAT’S OK.

2. Another friend starts to get recognized, and it makes you feel bad.
Sometimes it’s not even jealousy, but it just makes it feel bad because you wish you could also achieve this, but they have developed way more than you. Ask yourself why… Likely because they (a) spent more time, or (b) worked smarter than you, right?
So, ask them how they did it, and start doing the same.

3. You can make great music, but you’re music is just not good enough compared to your favorite artists.
Don’t compare yourself to your idols, but compare yourself to your past self. Look at how far you’ve come in the past 6 months or the past year, and that’s what should always be on your mind. The only thing that matters is if you’re making progress, and eventually you’ll get that.
But, if you’re not, read this post about “why are you not developing as a producer”.