ON THINGS THAT HAVEN’T WORKED

I plan on making this an ongoing series, hopefully updating it every few months, because inevitably I’m going to run into a lot more things that will & will not work. Maybe, this will prove useful to someone out there that is planning on trying similar things, but more likely, everyone’s road map and set of tools will look too different, and people will need to find their own path through this is music industry jungle. Perhaps the real utility some aspiring musicians can find is in knowing that I’m also just trying to figure it out, and am constantly running into new ways to get it wrong. Without further ado:

Here are things that have not worked:

Mastering my own music. I can’t do this. I thought I could, I obviously cannot. Wouldn’t be in this list otherwise. It’s worth the $150 to know someone else is doing a really good job of it. 

Being a producer for other people’s music. Too stressful, and inevitably I don’t have the same degree of passion for their music as I would my own. It’s just not as fun, and extraordinarily time consuming. 

Prematurely building a team. If you’re the one reaching out, it means they aren’t as passionate as you are. My team has expanded alongside the needs and scope of the projects I’m doing, and thankfully it’s been filled with people that have reached out to me because they were excited about the projects I was doing.

Getting other people to produce my music. I don’t like it. I find it extremely uncomfortable to not be in the captains chair (this is excluding co-producing with some of my dear friends). 

Cowriting with strangers. Not fun. I know people make entire careers off of it but i hate it. I have never made a song that I like with strangers

Not taking breaks. I had a really bad habit of just working all day with no breaks, and it actually makes me a lot less productive. Work for 30 minutes, take a 5 minute break, work for 30 more, take a 15 minute walk. 

Actually following the last rule. I’m still trying to figure out how to hold myself to the last one. I’m getting better but still could use work.

Following internet trends. What a wild goose chase. If you know about the trend, it’s already over. Don’t try to Harlem Shake your way into popularity, the Harlem Shake has shook its last Harlem. Also, if you blow up because of some trend, who’s going to stick around for your serious music? You end up with an audience that doesn’t care about the things you care about.

Trusting that people will find my music if it’s good. This doesn’t exist. 120k songs are released every day. A lot of them are good. Being good is not enough. It’s a really good start though!