I’ve been producing music professionally for most of my adult life, and it’s been my only source of income for a long time. It hasn’t all been lavish and high profile, but I consider myself very fortunate to be able to make a living doing something I love to do. I’ve placed music in films, produced for many artists, TV programs and made a lot of commercial jingles for big companies.
I get occasional emails from producers asking me “how can I be a successful producer in the industry?” Truth is, success is only defined by your individual goals. You can aspire to be a Timbaland, Dr. Dre or some little known music production manager for a TV show, who makes a very comfortable living. The better you are at your craft and producing different styles of music, the more opportunities will be available to you.
Sometimes you have to create your own opportunity if there doesn’t seem to be any. For example, I started Quickbeats.net because, in my travels, I was meeting a lot of hip hop artists who were gifted but couldn’t afford to pay the cost for professional studio production. So, I decided I’d make quality hip hop beats available, on the internet, to independent hip hop artists at an affordable price.
The first thing i did was look to see if anyone else was providing the same service and if there was a sizable demand for it. I discovered that there were a few others providing the same service but most of the music I heard, in my opinion, wasn’t quality enough to truly help independent artists compete on a major level. After more researching for about 3 months, I started putting together a plan. I think it is very important to plan out how you’re going to promote and deliver your product even before you create it. I’ve heard a lot of great music from artists who had no idea what to do with it once it was done.
I knew nothing about internet marketing when I started, but I decided I would learn everything I could about it so I’d have the knowledge I needed to spread awareness about the site. I didn’t expect the site to grow as fast as it did nor create the many opportunities to produce for hip hop artists internationally. Quick Beats eventually became not only a great service for artists, but also a huge business card for my production service.
Making a living as a producer is unpredictable and has it’s highs and lows just like any small business. It takes hard work and grind but, anything worth obtaining in life is not without difficulties. If it were easy then everyone would be doing it, right? Keep perfecting your craft and equally important, go out and meet new people that can take you to that next level. Most of the time, the only thing that separates you from someone who becomes successful is the difference in how you spend your time.
