vamos scorcho Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 ok. so you're a musician. you make techno tracks. you write hits. your label presses the records and promotes your music. so how do you get the fucking money? you've got boomkat, itunes, physical pressings, and all kinds of ridiculous bullcrap going on all over the place. how is this to be dealt with? other than the label working out the technical side, it seems there should just be a split between the label and their troubles and the artist. when a record deal is going down how do you deal with it!?!?!?!?!!?!?!??! what do you do? what must you know to be prepared for the hard calls!?!!??!!?!?!?!? my plan come the time: go with the flow. and get screwed over and not maximize my income AKA budget like i planned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest hahathhat Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 ive heard stories of labels cheating artists, holding back funds. dude i know had to hire a lawyer, an auditor. sounded horrible the fact that many of them are falling on hard times (and falling out!) probably does not help the temptation to fudge the numbers..... go with the flow is about right. it's like, how do you not get into trouble walking 'round the city at night? there's no golden set of rules, just reacting appropriately to given situations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hardcode Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 i would worry first about making music you want to and have fun doing that, and if you happen to end up making money then consider it an added bonus. if you go into making music with the intention of making money, youll probably end up just making stuff that you dont end up liking because the only things these days that sell are things that arent that good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcbpete Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 I'd worry about it when/if the time comes, not before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vamos scorcho Posted February 28, 2011 Author Share Posted February 28, 2011 i've decided rather seriously to pursue making money with the music. i'm confident with the right plan i can support my entire lifestyle [cheap apartment/food/gas/cigarettes] so i can then dedicate my entire waking life to making music. i think it would be good. but yeah, that's why i've made this thread. i know to an artist it sounds like suicide but if you think about it it would enable the artist to spend more time on his actual work - guilt free and so on. edit: for the record what i'm talking about trying to sell is the antithesis in every way to the music in my sig... fully produced techno singles and so on. i'm having a shit ton of fun working on them even though they're not my main passion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vamos scorcho Posted February 28, 2011 Author Share Posted February 28, 2011 it just dawned on me... is the "mosca" from the free plugin list the same dude as this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest futuregirlfriend Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 do you have a sampler of the music you're going to make money with? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vamos scorcho Posted February 28, 2011 Author Share Posted February 28, 2011 i don't really have anything i want to present yet. negative criticism could largely mess with my confidence level at this point in time. basically i'm working on a 5-8 song EP of modern styled dubstep. the tracks i've got in the works are all in the early stages... bare and quite messy. but i'm sure that i'm capable of shaping them into killers. i want to keep getting the ideas out before i shape them all into finished product or put them here for criticism. i'd be very happy maybe by tonight to post a song for criticism. i'm up for the ass whooping if it's necessary... but scared, of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kcinsu Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 Beyond my general distaste for this idea, consider this: a lot of the people who get big making more mainstream stuff.... They actually Like that kind of music. They find success because they are actually passionate about that type of music and all that goes into it. If you are doing it for money, you are disrespecting their hardwork and passion for it. People will be able to hear your lack of actual passion, and you wont succeed. Also, you have written record online of admitting to only doing it for the money. That might not go down well if you ever do develop a following. Just my 2 cents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luke viia Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 ^ yeah... also, by turning a passion (creating music) into a way to make money (creating music you don't like), you will have successfully replaced one shitty day job with another, and you'll be left with the same general amount of time to actually focus on what you want to make... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vamos scorcho Posted February 28, 2011 Author Share Posted February 28, 2011 don't get me wrong i'm enjoying writing this kind of music probably even more than i was the past month working on my other thing. it's fun as fuck just getting creative and working within the confines of a certain genre/sound. it gives you a kind of ideal rule. and i don't feel like i have to innovate or anything... just make something banging that sounds cool. so i'm not really doing it for the money. i just think it would be extremely nice to get paid for my tracks and have people playing them. you only live once. it could be fun! sorry if i'm coming off as a dickhead in this thread. i've probably already said that. anyway, i don't intend for there to be any connection between this conversation and whatever i choose to do. personally i see 0% reason people like us working and not trying to get heard.. should go on not being heard! when we put our minds to it we can make music that fits perfectly alongside the groups that get hyped daily on those websites. no point punishing yourself or anything. it's just fun. but fun is evil. no really, it is, i'm pretty sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hardcode Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 well to me it's only fun if i can step back and listen to my own track, recognize and enjoy it as my own, i can see this not happening if i were attempting to make something with the main intent of someone else liking it and using standardized, accepted sounds and techniques. then again i dont really like anything thats popular unless it's really good. in fact, if something is popular, that kind of signals that it sucks to me, not due to the fact that it is popular, but that it lends credence to it sucking because most ppl have terrible taste. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kcinsu Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 My main point, is that if you stick to what you love, you have a far greater chance of success. And the success will feel real. I study music composition and music synthesis in college. 5 years of my life. Not to mention the 4 years leading up to that. Some would say that it would be wise of me to get some sort of return on that type of investment. My family for damned sure hounded me for some time to get a music related job. They suggested working at studios, or even just writing more mainstream music. But, you know what? I fucking hate working on things I don't believe in. The last thing I want to do is spend all day working in the studio for anyone else but myself. And if you think that you'll somehow have extra time and energy to work in your own stuff AFTER working on something else all day (most jobs do indeed take many hours a day, even writing music .) then I would suggest that you really question that idea. I wrote so very little personal music on school, which was basically a full time job, because after working on music all day, my ears, eyes, hands, and brain were quite exhausted. The last thing I wanted was to fire up my own sessions and repeat the same processes I'd just done for hours. I really want you to consider that. Now if you are just talking writing more mainstream stream music, and not so much work for hire stuff... and hoping that it will just take off... Allow me to introduce to you the majority of the students I went to school with, and take a look at their musical careers. It's fucking hard to make money off of your music. Even if you are insanely talented. So the conclusion I've made for my self, is to not make that an end goal. I'd take money if somehow people started throwin it at me, but honestly I'd be shocked if I ever made a living off of my music. And that acceptance has allowed me to really focus just on writing music for myself, without compromise. I've extremely proud of my work, and I put my heart into everything I do. I feel like that kid back in highschool again, that is creatin out of love for the music... The only difference is that its much better now, haha. Now, if you still want to do this... Go for it. Just dont expect ANY money. Expect that you'll make a few people dance and hum along, and be content with that idea. If you are lucky enough, people will spread the word, and you'll get a nice following . Even then , don't expect to live off of it. I don't want to be a downer, but I don't think what i said is bad... I actually think it's relieving, and that you should be extremely grateful that you have some sort of creative outlet that brings you joy. So many people in this world don't have that at all. Anyways, best of luck... I just want you to have a realistic expectation of what it means to make music for a living. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kcinsu Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 Also, I'm a huge fan of Phillip Glass. His approach has inspired me. Did you know he didn't start making a living off of his music until about age 41? He was a plumber and taxi driver and mover as day jobs. In the meantime, he made music he believed in, and his commitment to his true voice is what led to his success. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cryptowen Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 1. Find an 80-something year old billionaire with a heart condition who, instead of being sexually attracted to statuesque women 1/4th his age, is sexually attracted to the sound of pop songs & John Williams music being slowed down 800%. 2. Download Paulstretch & a torrent of top 40. 3. Creepy wealth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcbpete Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 1. Find an 80-something year old billionaire with a heart condition who, instead of being sexually attracted to statuesque women 1/4th his age, is sexually attracted to the sound of pop songs & John Williams music being slowed down 800%. 2. Download Paulstretch & a torrent of top 40. 3. Creepy wealth. .torrent's idea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest hahathhat Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 i absolutely loved computer programming until i went to college and got a job with it. it's not that i got bored of it, so much as after that, i was only doing stuff that other people wanted me to do. it went from self-expression to paycheck. when i was 14 or 15, i'd run home to go code every day. now i don't do much leisure coding anymore... i write music instead. bigfatlol is entirely right. if my music makes me money, that's lovely. but it certainly won't be because i set out to make money. i'm not going to make that mistake again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vamos scorcho Posted February 28, 2011 Author Share Posted February 28, 2011 wow Kcinsu, thanks for the responses. that information is really good. I've always wanted to know what some of my favorite musicians do for day jobs... that info isn't always easy to come by. So I'm going to gave to get a job then. that sucks somewhat, but not that much. I wonder how much money someone like Skream or Girl Unit etc makes from records and DJing. I'm sure the DJing is where the money comes in. maybe if i get a deal i can start to tour with other acts and use that as my take off point. I'm not going to give up my dream AT ALL... but I'm totally with your points about music as a passion vs. music as a business. i have my own theory though that the two can be mixed perfectly [depending on the person's goals musically] without sacrificing either the art or the soul. edit: thanks to you other guys too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chassis Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 Ive you make music that the rest of here will like, you're not going to make much money. Jus'sayin, not hatin' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kcinsu Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 And just to be clear... I'm not trying to tell you don't go for it... I'm just telling you to have real expectations. Certainly there ARE people who get successful, quickly... it's just not common. Far be it from me to tell any one not to do anything. Just do it in an informed way! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest esstevancarlos Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 It doesn't sound like you're really ready but first of all, you may only need a label in the beginning to build a name and use their resources. Secondly, your music isn't the product. Don't plan on making money from the music directly unless you want to go into music licensing. What you want to do is create merchandise, scarce goods and services related to you, the artist. This is where the money is. T-shirts, posters, limited edition products. If you deal with a label, this is where you could get screwed. You'll want to maintain as much control over merchandise as possible. Other than that, if you want to make money, make pop music. Case closed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hardcode Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 unfortunately even if you decide to make pop music as an avenue for generating profit, chances are you wont have much more success than making obscure idm, this is because there is already a huge, established industry and network of ppl around this, everyone in it gives jobs/contracts to their friends and kids, and tons of kids enroll in music schools every year just to hopefully one day make money off music, pop or not. you might as well just study to become a lawyer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rbrmyofr Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 The easiest way to make money by selling music nowadays is to go back in time to the 90s when people still paid for music. All the people I know making money in the techno scene nowadays are making most of it from DJing, live gigs or even doing teaching events where they teach a once off class on some aspect of production. They still get a certain amount of money from sales and publishing, but that's getting smaller and smaller by the day. Getting a track licenced to a big mix CD (Fabric, Ministry of Sound or the likes) can be quite a money maker apparently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest A/D Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 quit smoking, buy a new piece of gear every month or 2 . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest hahathhat Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 upload it all to the internet and sort out the details later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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