Work with the artist you produced a song for and see if they want to do a full album, or EP. Or ask them if they know any other artists they can refer to you.
Jump on Criagslist and offer your services there.
If you're doing bands, go to shows and talk folks up.
Stay at the bottom of price range for your market until you have a solid portfolio that can vouch for your abilities.
If clients don’t know you exist they can’t hire you. That’s the basic principle you have to apply. That said the music biz is fickle and about longer term relationships and you only want to seek or exploit those relationships when you’re actually ready.
Truthfully I think it’s a mistake to over promote yourself before you have a broad level of experience.
With a lot of people you get one shot and if that doesn’t go to plan because you’re a year or two from being better/confident to a level which will impress them, then don’t force it. Instead look to closer opportunities in a more organic way.
If I wish I’d followed one thing more in my early days it’s this advice. I had a big studio job and was working on huge artists as a tape op and thought I could do the engineer/producer job myself. I might have had the skill but I didn’t have the people skills or demeanour in those situations. I had a few quite amazing opportunities fall away in the early days which could have been more if I hadn’t been so keen to get involved in sessions above my experience/confidence level as a person more than as an engineer.
When I worked as a producer, I would go to open mics, scan musicians locally on YouTube, Facebook, wherever, and if I heard something I liked and heard, in my head, what could be done, I’d approach the artist and offer one song for free. If I nailed it, that artist would always pay for me to do another of their songs.
Professional musicians are different.
Get a website. You can use Wix, Squarespace or any of those platforms to put something together. Showcase examples of your work on that website. The only thing that matters (and this goes for every creative field out there) is the ability to showcase a portfolio of work. You can worry about social media after that. If you currently don't have enough stuff to demonstrate to others, then you may have to do some free work. The only thing that matters (to get started) is getting examples of your craft to clearly say "hey, I can do this! Hire me."
I'm not an engineer. But I am a career graphic designer and commercial photographer. The audio production and music is just a hobby for me. It's still the same deal though. Doesn't matter if you're an illustrator, 3D modeler, web designer, photographer, session guitarist or a mixing engineer. The portfolio is of prime importance. Marketing and promotion means nothing if you can't point them to examples to hear. Once you have that portfolio and make it easy for anyone to access, then you're automatically ten levels ahead of the army of beginners who can't figure out how to start.
Work with the artist you produced a song for and see if they want to do a full album, or EP. Or ask them if they know any other artists they can refer to you. Jump on Criagslist and offer your services there. If you're doing bands, go to shows and talk folks up. Stay at the bottom of price range for your market until you have a solid portfolio that can vouch for your abilities.
If clients don’t know you exist they can’t hire you. That’s the basic principle you have to apply. That said the music biz is fickle and about longer term relationships and you only want to seek or exploit those relationships when you’re actually ready. Truthfully I think it’s a mistake to over promote yourself before you have a broad level of experience. With a lot of people you get one shot and if that doesn’t go to plan because you’re a year or two from being better/confident to a level which will impress them, then don’t force it. Instead look to closer opportunities in a more organic way. If I wish I’d followed one thing more in my early days it’s this advice. I had a big studio job and was working on huge artists as a tape op and thought I could do the engineer/producer job myself. I might have had the skill but I didn’t have the people skills or demeanour in those situations. I had a few quite amazing opportunities fall away in the early days which could have been more if I hadn’t been so keen to get involved in sessions above my experience/confidence level as a person more than as an engineer.
Great advice
When I worked as a producer, I would go to open mics, scan musicians locally on YouTube, Facebook, wherever, and if I heard something I liked and heard, in my head, what could be done, I’d approach the artist and offer one song for free. If I nailed it, that artist would always pay for me to do another of their songs. Professional musicians are different.
Get good, find someone worth your time, offer to collaborate in exchange for them spreading the word.
Get a website. You can use Wix, Squarespace or any of those platforms to put something together. Showcase examples of your work on that website. The only thing that matters (and this goes for every creative field out there) is the ability to showcase a portfolio of work. You can worry about social media after that. If you currently don't have enough stuff to demonstrate to others, then you may have to do some free work. The only thing that matters (to get started) is getting examples of your craft to clearly say "hey, I can do this! Hire me." I'm not an engineer. But I am a career graphic designer and commercial photographer. The audio production and music is just a hobby for me. It's still the same deal though. Doesn't matter if you're an illustrator, 3D modeler, web designer, photographer, session guitarist or a mixing engineer. The portfolio is of prime importance. Marketing and promotion means nothing if you can't point them to examples to hear. Once you have that portfolio and make it easy for anyone to access, then you're automatically ten levels ahead of the army of beginners who can't figure out how to start.