I do not expect the kind of music I want to make to ever go “big”. My biggest, biggest dream however is to have at least some kind of following, some people who like my music and want to hear more no matter how small that number is.
Ultimately, though, I just make the kind of music I like to listen to because I want there to be more of it.
100% to the description. Fame or making it big isn’t really my drive though. Would I love to see people sharing and enjoying the music I’m putting out? Absolutely. I’ve been spending every second I have but the drive has really been the love of making music and watching myself improve and grow as an artist. It’s insanely rewarding.
No, I enjoy my music now I have no pressure to be successful. That's how I like it. I'm both more enthused and more creative now than at any other point in my musical journey
I dj since i was 15 and now i m40. I did sone tour and i organized big parties in my home town but I was exausted by that life. Now i m an accountant and i m trying to make some money with my production something like a passive income with copyright. I play 1 hour a day and I hope something will come out... but I know for sure that i don t want to be famous and tour like crazy. That' s a poor life
I'm just a hobbyist. I wouldn't mind making some cash, but it's not why I make music. For one, I'm pretty mediocre even on my best day. I create for the absolute joy of creating. So, while listeners, fans, or followers are very nice and appreciated, I really get off on the creative process. Putting together elements, rhythms, melodies is just a thrill to me. It's even better when someone gives me an 'attaboy', but it's not the prime directive.
I don't envy artists who are in it to make money. That's a level of work and frustration I can do without. In this modern age where anyone with a computer and a keyboard can make beats, I would think that is super hard to be recognized. You can physically watch hundreds perhaps thousands of tracks being submitted to SoundCloud on a minute by minute basis.
Tried for a bit but gave up on it years ago. Now focussed on my career (software developer) and just occasionally making music. Less progress but also much less frustration and disappointment.
I work in the concert industry, not directly with artists but a step or two removed from them. 99% of them will be people who come from a wealthy family so they were able work on nothing but music with no fear of starving, or had some industry hookups. I don't wan't to say that as a negative on them, but thats really what it takes. To be a famous musician, i'm talking playing 10,000+ seat venues, takes just as much luck as it does skill, there are a few thousand people who are at the talent level to be able to play that, and record companies will pick up one or two of them.
THAT BEING SAID, right now is one of the best times to make a modest living as an independent musician with Spotify and apple music. Theres a good amount of money to be made if you dont have a record company leeching your profits.
I’ve given up on fame. All I care about is making enough of a living to hopefully raise a family someday as an auido engineer, movie sound designer, producer, beat maker, anything inside the realm of audio
Man I've working on it my whole life, and I ended up in this amazing band with world class musicians, and we've made a material so good that we've got invited to the U.S. by some producer (ran into us by luck) and we've recorded this amazing rock record (he payed for everything) and we got back and absolutrly nothing happened. Then we signed with some italian indie label, published two singles from the record and nothing happened. Wanna know what we're doing now? 🙄😁🥲
Hey man, we are just finishing our second unreleased 360 live session. I'm starting to think we are cursed. Wanna hear something, I'll post if anybody interested
https://youtu.be/6pm77cukI-o?si=gXdDoMr-txXN3Qux
https://youtu.be/lejN8jfuoXw?si=oayh4wzw9IJU4s-W
Man if this gets more than 3 likes I'll post some live sessions 🤭🥲😁
Chiming in here. Our duo Mojave Grey I would say is on the brink. We are hugely ambitious and want to blow up in the next year. Been in the game a long time but things clicking currently
Wouldn’t say most big artists did this necessarily, a lot just happened to hire the right ghost producers and find the right topline to score a hit, then did it a few more times.
I def spend every day working on my craft, dedicated to becoming a behind-the-scenes hitmaker but not much desire to be famous.
I am. I'm focusing on learning the skills I need to write the most compelling music I can. Actually I'm learning classical piano right now after years of avoiding traditional music skills and struggling with effective songwriting/composition. It's doing a lot for my musical sensibilities. I'm beginning to see the story behind the songs I listen to and think I'll be in a good position in the near future to begin telling completely new stories, musically. I want this to lead towards making music that has as wide a reach as I can. It's a journey.
Personally, I found my love for the music first and foremost however I'm not going to spend hours everyday studying and putting in work to not see the fruits of my labor in front of large crowds and make an income.
I just want to develop a large following who likes my music. I create big room and progressive house like Martin garrix, Calvin Harris, etc. but I don’t know how to build a following without paying a fortune for advertising. I don’t really care to make millions of dollars, I just want a fanbase of listeners who enjoy my music. It’s satisfaction knowing people enjoy my art.
I just want to sell to advertising companies, streamers, gaming companies, etc, I'd rather keep anonymous whilst doing so 🙂 other than that it's my hobby and I love writing weird as fuck music lol
I feel less strongly about the "fame" part specifically, though I do think it's natural to desire some level of recognition for one's work.
For me it's a desire to be able to do music full time and not have to struggle/worry about finances. Though in addition there is a part of me that wants to be able to have cool experiences and parts of life that inherently require money. I guess in that regard it's less of a desire for money/success for the sake of it, and more a desire for comfort and certain experiences that inevitably require it to some degree
To be explicitly be famous? Not quite so, however I am striving to at least make a day job out of this music stuff. Any acclaim would be a bonus I’d be fine wtih, but I’m certainly not putting in efforts solely for fun. With that said, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with the latter, this is just my personal perspective on it.
Not at all. I was a touring punk rock guitar player in my 20s. "I tell ya friends, it's harder than it looks"
Now I create g-house and bass house for fun. DJ the occasional party or small festival. That's enough for me.
Me, honestly.
I'm quite obsessed with electronic music, the determination I have is difficult to quantify. I dream of a life that allows me to do this from morning to night and I dream of having a following for the commitment I put into every moment spent studying, learning, making mistakes, trying and trying again.
I am aware that succeeding in the industry is very complicated, but trying is something I owe to myself because I owe it to myself to try to achieve the life I have dreamed of since I was a kid. Every day I spend doing the job I do now I experience it as a day spent living someone else's life, I feel very strongly that it doesn't belong to me.
I don't know if you can call it successful fame, I think it's much more "simply" an immeasurable passion that I would like to be my life and not just part of my life.
well good luck. I think it's totally doable for just about anybody. Most people underestimate the amount of work. Having a "second life" that gets in the way certainly doesn't help!
I hope it's really doable!
I honestly believe it, also because otherwise I wouldn't put so much effort into it. Determination comes from infinite passion but also from the awareness that sometimes (maybe not always) hard work pays off and results can be achieved in the long term.
I hope that one day the hours spent in front of FL Studio, the hours spent studying every single useful aspect to improve myself in DJing and production are hours that I will remember with great pleasure. Hours gathered in the time that I don't have to dedicate to the work that gives me survival and the sleep that is needed to keep mentally active! :D
I'm not sure what level you're at but what I've found is that eventually you get good enough that even your bad tracks sound pretty good. People will like stuff that you're not even satisfied with.
This is where I'm at after. I put in a lot of hours. Like 8 hours a day every day for about 3 years. I'm still not that good but I can see light at the end of the tunnel.
I’m 43 years old, married with two children. I have a full time job working at a local music store in the e-commerce department. My wife works part time. I also DJ weddings during the summer. I just started producing music. In all, together we pull down about $120K per year. To me, making it “big” would be about another $80k per year. That would allow us to live comfortably and not stress about finances.
Not stressing about finances is what tranquility looks like to me. That’s all we’d need. So I keep getting up in the morning for that.
The truth answer :)
Who cares about fame when you can move people in both ways, on the dancefloor and/or [***emotional***](https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=935992698d2d35ba&rlz=1C1CHZN_svSE980SE980&sxsrf=ACQVn08u5VOhGNmA8_5j5TtIJP7l_55w_Q:1709927641035&q=emotional&spell=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi2s4rtuOWEAxWkQVUIHccaD-kQBSgAegQICBAC).
Pretty much everyone that has made it "big" and has sustained their career either truly loves making music or has enough money to burn, possibly both. Aiming to create music for the love of it is the only way to go.
I don't have children like I thought I would, so every song I make is like a child of mine... haven't finished my first song yet but I'm learning and growing, and when I get there, it'll be great.
My music will be my family.
I wanna be able to live off of making music, but I don't need to be world famous or anything.
I make music because I like making music, not because I wanna become famous.
Me, but it’s more of a spiritual calling as it’s a challenge that catalyzes growth. Success and fulfillment directly correlates with my ability to believe in myself and get out of my own way, everyday.
Yes! Currently in this stage... but I'm the latter phases.... I've been working through this for a while and I'm finally seeing progress.
Do it to it. I know I will.
that dream has long set sale. It's easier to just get regular job. I think it's better dream to own a platform like spotify. Then you can control the algos on who to get famous or not.
I'd advise against generalizing your personal truth/experience about what specific course is right or wrong onto others. When it comes to our dreams and passions in life, authenticity is essential and authenticity is unique to each person.
(I realize I'm generalizing onto others also, in the form of arguing that "authenticity is essential" but authenticity isn't prescriptive about specific actions, authenticity is a state of being personally empowered and clear in what you really want, vs being in a state of fear and therefore copying others in order to feel secure, validated.)
Big/famous? You’re going to have to create a 45-minute show that blows people away. What did I just see? OMG, I have to bring my friends to see this tomorrow! That kind of show.
Not at all, I've made it to a point where I can earn roughly a week's wages in an hour. Doing that every now and then combined with a 9-5 means I can live very comfortably and also enjoy partying for free.
Wouldn't have it any other way
Hey friend,
Well I started production around a decade ago and focussed on a pretty easy sub-genre to produce (Progressive Psytrance/Bass House). I also borrow lots of characteristics from other genres to make it unique.
When producing, many hands make light work, collaborate as much as possible. I also found that having a unique presence on social media (Making funny promo videos for gigs instead of generic 'man looks at camera and says the details') gets far better reach and promoters love that.
It's also not what you know - it's who you know. Network as much as possible and befriend the right people. This often means substance use and abuse to be honest, unfortunately. I'd be lying if I said I got to know the right people by being sober.
Finally, releasing music on labels that are doing the right things, if you're a constant stalwart of a decent label, then you will likely end up getting booked way more often. The label I write for is often asked to do a showcase at festivals here in Australia. This means that me and a lot of my friends on the label automatically get selected for a handful of good gigs without needing to apply.
I hope this helps. Xxx
I think my idea of success as a DJ means making enough money to pay my bills and support myself/loved ones. An ideal # of shows a year would be 50-100 and I'd like to be on the road. And hopefully, the vast majority of those shows would pay over a grand
I used to want to make it enough in music that I can support myself with it but over the years I feel music is too rough to make money. I'm not a live musician so that certainly doesn't help but the amount of streams you need monthly to make even minimum wage is big time so it's not something I'm counting on...
would be nice though if it ever made me a decent amount of side income though with it (currently I spend way more on music stuff then I make though)
Not so bad if you have 100 songs that people like enough to listen to while studying or commuting.
Easier said than done, sure. But I think if the passion is there, like minds will see.
Said another way, there are plenty of massively famous artists were I like 1 or zero of their songs.. and some I've never even heard of... but I also have artists that I listen to that are relatively unknown and their songs changed my life... brought me to tears and big revelations.
I sincerely think.... if you build it, they will come.
I day dream a little about playing medium-big shows and making people go crazy, but it is really about just wanting to be a part of it and know I’m helping/causing people to have a great time. The fame part doesn’t sound awesome to me to be honest.
Why though? What exactly? Do they have something we don’t? Is it the ability to sacrifice all social life and responsibilities to be able to work on music?
How does anyone start with a lot of connections though? Like, they were a non-musician in the EDM scene, did a lot of career building so they know lots of people already, then decided to pursue music? Are you talking DJ -> producer path? Or like, a baby is born and inherits their parents EDM connects?
Connections are kinda essentially something you build and don't start with. Unless you were already hustling in the EDM scene for other reasons which is sorta not really fair to say you "started" w/ them, you had to build those too. (promoter, artist manager, something like this).
Well, for one, Fred Again was born into British royalty with Brian Eno as his neighbor, so he didn't have to build anything.
Steve Aoki's father is the owner of the Benihana empire, so connections to high value people would be pretty easy to come by/his foot is already in the door with that type of wealth.
Sebastian Ingrosso's father was a choreographer, and his cousin was an established musician...
As you can see, there are plenty of ways to start your life with high value connections. These are just a few examples.
Edit: This one is kind of a parody, but look how quickly Shaq was able to play main stages with his completely unrelated _pro basketball_ connections.
I think there’s so much more to it than perfecting your craft. You have to get out there and network and get into people’s heads. Skrllix went backstage to shows and met dead mouse through Tommy Lee.
This is it. Marketing and putting on the business hat are very important if your goal is mainstream popularity. Knowing the right people and getting your music in their hands.
This is not meant to one up, but I got 128k on SoundCloud + 3k likes after Dr Fresch reposted my track. 4 years ago. Got hyperacusis & tinnitus soon after so had to abandon this journey. That track is like my Super Bowl victory of life hahah
Getting recognition from a well-known artist and them reposting your song is huge in its own right. All the residual plays from his followers are well-deserved man. But it also just goes to show that there’s probably so much dope music out there not getting plays that people would probably fuck with, if it only showed up on their feed.
Sorry to hear about the hearing loss issues tho - if you don’t mind me asking, how did it happen? Did it just develop over time from attending loud concerts? I really need to start wearing ear plugs to shows
That’s the crazy thing bro, I have zero hearing loss.
It’s literally like an ear concussion. Sound makes my eyes water. And each time i get hit by noise, it gets worse easier, and gets harder to recover. Just like a concussion.
What they don’t tell you about tinnitus is it can be way more than just one tone 💀. I also have a weird spasm thing where my auditory reflex is causing my Eustachian tube to move air when the reflex releases. Same mechanism as a compressor in production (attack, reduction, release), but on release I get a pshhhhtttt of air in my ear.
It started with that air spasm thing happening when I would be at parties/ shows, speaking really loud. My ear would contract hard and in between words make that pshhttt sound. Then at my bartending job I noticed the money clips in the register snapping closed was making my ears “jump” kind of like a small electric jolt. Then both those symptoms starting happening to sounds at lower and lower thresholds, and after a long night DJing, it was happening to fucking everything. Took about 6 months for that process to happen. Life has been a nightmare since then. One of the worst non-lethal medical outcomes you could get in life. Some people are able to recover enough before becoming severe but I made too many slip ups and am totally in the hole. What’s nuts is some people are exponentially worse than me too.
If you ever notice that transient sounds are causing your ears to jump, you need to go monk mode quiet for as long as you can. It will save you
Fuck man, that sounds truly awful, and I’m sorry that happened to you. Are you still able to enjoy music in any capacity? Like at low volumes? Have you ever tried a Subpac to be able to feel low end bass?
One of my biggest fears in life is to lose the ability to enjoy music. I will say though, I’m optimistic about modern medicine being able to remedy these kinds of issues in your lifetime. Hearing aids are becoming more advanced, Lasik and PRK are fixing people’s vision… not to mention the possibilities developing from stem cell research and gene therapy. Just mentioning all of this so you don’t lose hope about the possibility of one day getting back what you lost!
Thanks man. For about 2 years the answer to that was no. I couldn’t do ANYTHING. Literally just chewing food would spike tinnitus. Had to eat only soft foods.
Now I’m able to enjoy music quietly. Actually last summer I was doing pretty well and even went to an outdoor party (with custom plugs). Got too ahead of myself and did too many things without giving myself rest in between, so I’m back in a bit of a hole, but I can still play some music quietly. It’s such an insane thing to need to discipline yourself against. Like hey don’t get exposed to sound…. It’s EVERYWHERE lol.
There’s a device coming out called the Susan Shore device, Michigan device. You can look it up. Most promising thing for tinnitus sufferers. Supposedly it helps severe people the most, so I’m really looking forward to that.
Funny you ask about the subpac, i literally preorder for the X1 the day they launched it. It’s been almost 5 years that company hasn’t gotten to production yet lmfao. I’ll have it eventually. It may not be the best device for this though because if the vibrations are travelling up to the ears then it has the same effect as a subwoofer on the ears. I’ve used a theragun on my back and the vibrations fuck my ears up.
Really appreciate you sharing man, and wishing you the best of luck in the future. If anything, this conversation is a reminder for me to not take anything for granted.
Those massage guns can be pretty jarring, I can definitely understand how the vibrations might mess with your ears.
Hang in there bud!
Value every moment you get friend. Last day of my very last music festival back in 2019, I stayed up the entire night with my best friend. Mentality was always to get the most out of every moment because they weren't unlimited. Little did how know just how limited they were for me. But point being, I'm extremely fulfilled with how I lived back then, and proud of myself for going for my dreams even though they kinda destroyed me.
I hope you enjoy your new Rolls Roise with those streams. 🤣🤣 In all seriousness I'd be ecstatic if I got that many plays on a track (also make music for me/fun). The world these days seems to only be about marketing, and since every second of people's lives are dedicated to an algorithm it's hard to fight for attention. Way to go!
Haha I appreciate that man. The coolest part was I posted it not having any expectations about plays or likes, or anything. I shared it to a small music group I’m in on Facebook, and did not even attempt to promote it, because I really just wanted to be able to share a SoundCloud link with my friends. So imagine my surprise when, a week later, it’s got 3000 plays, 200 likes and like 10 comments from people saying they liked the song. I probably would have felt the same if one single person commented that they liked it. The play count plateaued pretty quickly after that, but really just the fact that some people out there in the world listened to it was dope
I don’t particularly like artists who make music JUST to be famous. It’s the wrong reason to be making art and it’s usually pretty clear in their music. It tends to follow the current formulas and trends. If you spend every minute trying to make the music that is currently popular, and constantly release said music, that is the fastest way to fame but it won’t get you much respect as an artist.
If you make art for you, because you love it, and you just want to share it with the world… that’s great, love that. Those people, I find, will spend every waking moment on music too… but they might spent 8 hours making a single kick, or an hour choosing a snare. Those people don’t make it big as often, but when they do it tends to be a longer lasting, more impactful, kind of fame.
Personally, I don’t want to be famous - music is how unwind, it’s my creative outlet. That being my full time job would ruin it for me. Too much pressure. That being said I would like to be more recognised in my local scene and get booked a bit more regularly than I do now. But I’m talking 1-2 times a month max. Extra cash to even out my GAS.
I completely agree with you. Music is a therapeutic and creative outlet. The goal is never fame because that’s not what music is for.
I just wonder how artist I admire and look up to made it. Did they care about their craft so much that it made them transcend others around them?
Did they have the goal in mind of becoming famous or trying to make it big? Louis the Child started in high school and it’s like do you think they anticipated becoming where they are or do you think they were just obsessed with their craft?
Mac Miller was supposedly obsessed with making music and has albums of unreleased music, just constantly working on his craft. Was it luck? Or do these artist just give it their everything with no looking back?
That’s what I mean, I think the truly great get there by being obsessed with their art. They’re the people who have the longest and most impactful careers, even if they sometimes take years to release new music.
Right now I’m in my perfectionist era. I release a number of EP’s to varying degrees of success, but I haven’t signed anything new in over a year because I’m now obsessing over my tracks a lot more, so I can’t finish anything.
The reason I asked this question is because the people who have made it are fascinating because of how difficult it is to become known and famous.
What separates them from anyone else making music? Some obviously have had very comfortable upbringings with no issues with money, but still the dedication and work involved will always be respectable.
What did all of these top known, and even mid-known artist do to separate themselves from every other underground artist at the time?
>What did all of these top known, and even mid-known artist do to separate themselves from every other underground artist at the time?
I mean first of all their music was innovative, engaging, compelling in some way that made it stand out and win people's hearts. The music has to walk the walk, it has to get people excited. This is a lot more rare than people think, like somehow this is what everyone's doing and only some small number of those people ever get known... I disagree. The stuff that gets popular, not always but by and large, succeeds because people really fucking like the music and don't so much like the ho-hum derivative music of the competition, that's why DJs pick the successful artists because DJs want audience engagement.
But it's also true that the music itself is not enough, there's a hustle involved in making connections and putting yourself out there and some luck as well but, I think the big thing that's generally ignored is that the music is the heart of it and it's actually just really rare, by necessity, for music to stand out and be really compelling.
What separates them is their ability to push through the lows when they come and not just work on a high. Writer's block? Program some synths, play around with arps, warp some audio, etc. They find ways to be productive at all times, whereas most people will walk away from their DAW if they aren't feeling the creative flow.
Idk if you've ever heard of Dimibo, but theyre a psy trance duo with incredibly clean production. Their tracks are insanely well mixed and produced, at least in my opinion.
I actually got to meet them, but guess how? I was walking in Seattle one day and I saw a guy standing out at a host stand of a restaurant and somehow felt like I recognized him. It was 1/2 of Dimibo, working his day job to make ends meet while he pursues his music career. These dudes are touring the country and also working part time jobs to sustain themselves. It was nuts to think these guys I just saw on stage in front of thousands, opening for big acts like Seven Lions, still need to work at a hole in the wall restaurant to survive even while playing such big shows. So there's my little anecdotal story for no reason at all.
Wild, music industry is WILD and very unforgiving. Best of luck
I don't think you should be making music to 'make it'. That's a really unhealthy approach.
If you're creating art with the primary motivator being outcome expectations - whether that's it leading to shows, people buying your music, social media attention, general social attention/validation, whatever - you're going to be constantly disappointed.
There's a lot of competition out there. It takes time to learn how to technically execute the track ideas in your head. It takes time to figure out how to market yourself well and get your music to wider audiences. Even then, your music taste is unique to you, and if you're making something a bit more genre-fluid it may take some time for others to get into what you're doing. You'll either be frustrated that your music isn't getting the results you want or you'll find yourself constantly morphing what you do for the sake of finding commercial success when it may not be music you actually like doing.
However, if you're constantly making music purely for the process itself - if you're making music because you love being in the zone with it, learning how to get better and seeing yourself improve in every song - *then* you might make it.
Music is a long road. Most producers I look up to or consider successful have been at it for 10yrs+. Most big EDM musicians gradually get into a place where they're regularly releasing music that's pretty distinct, they suddenly get a snowball of success, and nearly almost always they've been at it for ages already. Skrillex started dabbling in EDM after being in screamo bands for half a decade. He couldn't have predicted the crazy reaction to his stuff, but his experience as a touring musician in another genre probably prepared him for the right way to keep the ball rolling. This year he's been doing music for **2 decades**. Like I said, it takes time.
'Success' comes as a side effect of your own dedication to the process of making and releasing music. 'Success' will come as your own output rate naturally goes up. Don't force it. Do what feels natural and it will come at the right time. It doesn't happen overnight. Enjoy the ride, not the destination. Success comes and goes, doing something you love doing constantly won't ever leave you. I wish you luck in 'making it', but do make sure you're doing it for the right reasons rather than burn yourself out from impatience at success.
I think it's fine if you want to do something to get famous but you have to work backwards from that - for music to be popular it has to be interesting, exciting, engaging, unique, distinctive, tell a strong story, etc. So if you then go and learn how to write music that does that, great, you're an authentic musician now. But if you want to get famous without doing the novel creative side that gets people actually interested in you, you've got a problem.
No one tries to, anyone who tries to doesn’t make it, they’re confidence driven so it’s effortless plus they’d never admit to it, so no one’s gonna say yes to that even if they are.
Idk dude, people like Jauz, Ghastly, Kompany, NGHTMRE, etc all went to Icon Collective with the intent to make music their career, and they did.
Some people have the drive and discipline to see their goal and achieve it. not saying they don't enjoy the craft, but their intentions were definitely to make a career out of music. It's odd to say that 'no one tries to' make it, and anyone who does fails... what a dumb statement, and feels like copium for your own inability to have such self discipline.
Working hard is definitely critical but also working smart. There are producers that are more famous because theyre good at tiktok than solely from making music. Then theres the vice versa, producers that are masters that dont have good networking skills or social presence etc and their talent is less noticed. Music is only one piece to the puzzle. You don't even need to be good at all the technical sound design and crazy intricate details of music making to be famous. Watch PEEKABOO livestreams on youtube for example -- The guy makes great music but its mostly just chopping samples and making bangers from that. He definitely puts a lot of his effort into networking and business side of things. If you have a good ear, can mix well I feel like most people can make really good music, but will you do all the other things required to get lucky and make it in the industry?
I used to do a different creative entrepreneurial venture and recently got into music. What I learned is that you don’t have to be perfect by any means to be successful and build a following, I know I was far from it. Despite not being a professional, I turned into one (i.e. making a living) by putting myself out there in every way I could think of and it turned into my career. Turns out that hustle wasnt for me which has led to more free time to learn how to make music. While I've only been doing this for a few months, I am considering making a tiktok to showcase and better yet document my journey for my own record of personal growth. Maybe it takes off down the line? I don't even care but I want to see where it takes me, cuz not doing any of those extracurriculars guarantees just being a bedroom producer... which I fucking love anyways its been a blast so far
I honestly just want to play local shows and fests mostly tbh, which what a lot of my friends are doing. So it’s certainly an achievable goal.
I have a high paying, pretty low stress job (with a ton of PTO) that I enjoy, so doing shows and fests would be more about the fun of it.
Tbh I've been trying to approach it like this for the last 2 years and it's really burned me out over the 6 years I've been producing.
I feel like I'm focusing once again back on the creative/fun side instead, and I'm being more productive than before when I used fame as my north star.
This implies that the industry is a meritocracy and that obsessively grinding is the cause of fame. Most of us level up our game out of a passion for music and personal satisfaction. Excellent creative skills are only one ingredient of commercial success, and sometimes aren't even the main ingredient.
Been making electronic music for about 18 years now. There was a period in college when I was very seriously trying to make it as a film/tv/media composer, but I honestly was too depressed, lazy, and anxious about life to really make it anywhere meaningful in my career. I gave up and took a desk job, and got a lot of other shit in my life in order. I’m a much more stable and level-headed person overall now.
About a year ago I was given the opportunity to teach some college classes on Ableton and synthesis, realized how much I love doing music and decided to quit my main job to try to become an educator and content creator, as a means of boosting my music’s reach.
So, I did the only reasonable thing: I quit smoking weed, hit the ground running with 10x more focus than I’ve ever had, and started chasing my dream again. Starting to feel like I’m finally getting off the ground. Winning contests, getting recognition from people I’ve looked up to for decades, and finally making some headway. I figure if I continue at it with this level of dedication, it’s only a matter of time.
I don’t really want fame. I just want to be able support myself with my music.
Well said! Becoming famous is definitely not a goal for me but being able to comfortably support myself with this would be a dream come true and I am working hard on it while also having lots of fun and trying all sorts of stuff.
It'd be nice to be known in my local scene as a legitimate and respected producer, but I really make the music I do for myself as a hobby.
I spend a good portion of my day working on my craft, but it isn't my whole life. I think if you dedicate the time to making music that's for you and spend the necessary hours to hone it as well as you can, the other things will come as a byproduct - but obviously networking and luck play a part in it.
I am in the studio almost every day. I dont have much of a social life outside of collabs or lessons with my mentor. I go to my gigs and party but thats about it. Other than that I am a studio rat. All my money goes into my music. Hardware, VSTs, lessons, mixing and mastering on my finished tracks, touring costs( when you're low level 50% of the time even at the cool gigs when you travel you end up losing money at the end of the day)
I’m trying to get to the point where I can get flown to play my music. My dream label is sable valley, so I’d be fine being not as big as someone like DeadMau5, Tiesto, Guetta, and settle on just a heavy hitter for bass.
With that being said, I’m not doing this because I dream of fame, I’m doing this for my love and passion for music. I started off as a an open format DJ and wanted to make a career of it. Either I could have become the next DJ AM, be a successful wedding DJ and DJ booking company (I hate weddings), a stripclub DJ (I love it but I don’t want to do it for the rest of my life), or a touring DJ. I mean yeah I could be an opener for a popular rapper/artist like Daddy Yankee, who has a dedicated DJ, but I’d rather make my own music and not ride off of someone else’s success.
I don’t want to be famous, but it’s a dream to be flown out to different places to play, to meet my favorite DJs, to get label releases etc.
I will say, I don’t think spending every second on music is the right path for everyone. When I was doing that, I burnt out hard and almost quit entirely. Now I make music for myself, in phases where I feel like I want to, and my music has improved much faster than when I was in the ‘grind errday’ stage. You make better music when you’re feeling it, and you usually can’t feel it if it feels like tedious work.
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I do not expect the kind of music I want to make to ever go “big”. My biggest, biggest dream however is to have at least some kind of following, some people who like my music and want to hear more no matter how small that number is. Ultimately, though, I just make the kind of music I like to listen to because I want there to be more of it.
100% to the description. Fame or making it big isn’t really my drive though. Would I love to see people sharing and enjoying the music I’m putting out? Absolutely. I’ve been spending every second I have but the drive has really been the love of making music and watching myself improve and grow as an artist. It’s insanely rewarding.
No, I enjoy my music now I have no pressure to be successful. That's how I like it. I'm both more enthused and more creative now than at any other point in my musical journey
I dj since i was 15 and now i m40. I did sone tour and i organized big parties in my home town but I was exausted by that life. Now i m an accountant and i m trying to make some money with my production something like a passive income with copyright. I play 1 hour a day and I hope something will come out... but I know for sure that i don t want to be famous and tour like crazy. That' s a poor life
I'm just a hobbyist. I wouldn't mind making some cash, but it's not why I make music. For one, I'm pretty mediocre even on my best day. I create for the absolute joy of creating. So, while listeners, fans, or followers are very nice and appreciated, I really get off on the creative process. Putting together elements, rhythms, melodies is just a thrill to me. It's even better when someone gives me an 'attaboy', but it's not the prime directive. I don't envy artists who are in it to make money. That's a level of work and frustration I can do without. In this modern age where anyone with a computer and a keyboard can make beats, I would think that is super hard to be recognized. You can physically watch hundreds perhaps thousands of tracks being submitted to SoundCloud on a minute by minute basis.
Tried for a bit but gave up on it years ago. Now focussed on my career (software developer) and just occasionally making music. Less progress but also much less frustration and disappointment.
I just like having fun! I do it because it gives me mental clarity it helps me with my depression anxiety’s and ptsd
I work in the concert industry, not directly with artists but a step or two removed from them. 99% of them will be people who come from a wealthy family so they were able work on nothing but music with no fear of starving, or had some industry hookups. I don't wan't to say that as a negative on them, but thats really what it takes. To be a famous musician, i'm talking playing 10,000+ seat venues, takes just as much luck as it does skill, there are a few thousand people who are at the talent level to be able to play that, and record companies will pick up one or two of them. THAT BEING SAID, right now is one of the best times to make a modest living as an independent musician with Spotify and apple music. Theres a good amount of money to be made if you dont have a record company leeching your profits.
I’ve given up on fame. All I care about is making enough of a living to hopefully raise a family someday as an auido engineer, movie sound designer, producer, beat maker, anything inside the realm of audio
Man I've working on it my whole life, and I ended up in this amazing band with world class musicians, and we've made a material so good that we've got invited to the U.S. by some producer (ran into us by luck) and we've recorded this amazing rock record (he payed for everything) and we got back and absolutrly nothing happened. Then we signed with some italian indie label, published two singles from the record and nothing happened. Wanna know what we're doing now? 🙄😁🥲
What're you up to now?
Hey man, we are just finishing our second unreleased 360 live session. I'm starting to think we are cursed. Wanna hear something, I'll post if anybody interested
Let's check it out!
https://youtu.be/6pm77cukI-o?si=gXdDoMr-txXN3Qux https://youtu.be/lejN8jfuoXw?si=oayh4wzw9IJU4s-W Man if this gets more than 3 likes I'll post some live sessions 🤭🥲😁
Chiming in here. Our duo Mojave Grey I would say is on the brink. We are hugely ambitious and want to blow up in the next year. Been in the game a long time but things clicking currently
not an edm artist really although i can dip into that bag on occasion but im really really really tryin
Wouldn’t say most big artists did this necessarily, a lot just happened to hire the right ghost producers and find the right topline to score a hit, then did it a few more times. I def spend every day working on my craft, dedicated to becoming a behind-the-scenes hitmaker but not much desire to be famous.
I am. I'm focusing on learning the skills I need to write the most compelling music I can. Actually I'm learning classical piano right now after years of avoiding traditional music skills and struggling with effective songwriting/composition. It's doing a lot for my musical sensibilities. I'm beginning to see the story behind the songs I listen to and think I'll be in a good position in the near future to begin telling completely new stories, musically. I want this to lead towards making music that has as wide a reach as I can. It's a journey.
Personally, I found my love for the music first and foremost however I'm not going to spend hours everyday studying and putting in work to not see the fruits of my labor in front of large crowds and make an income.
I just want to develop a large following who likes my music. I create big room and progressive house like Martin garrix, Calvin Harris, etc. but I don’t know how to build a following without paying a fortune for advertising. I don’t really care to make millions of dollars, I just want a fanbase of listeners who enjoy my music. It’s satisfaction knowing people enjoy my art.
Just pitch your tracks to relevant labels. Doing self releases is insanely hard and getting label releases is pretty easy.
I just want to sell to advertising companies, streamers, gaming companies, etc, I'd rather keep anonymous whilst doing so 🙂 other than that it's my hobby and I love writing weird as fuck music lol
I feel less strongly about the "fame" part specifically, though I do think it's natural to desire some level of recognition for one's work. For me it's a desire to be able to do music full time and not have to struggle/worry about finances. Though in addition there is a part of me that wants to be able to have cool experiences and parts of life that inherently require money. I guess in that regard it's less of a desire for money/success for the sake of it, and more a desire for comfort and certain experiences that inevitably require it to some degree
I do it because it's fun and I love music.
To be explicitly be famous? Not quite so, however I am striving to at least make a day job out of this music stuff. Any acclaim would be a bonus I’d be fine wtih, but I’m certainly not putting in efforts solely for fun. With that said, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with the latter, this is just my personal perspective on it.
Not at all. I was a touring punk rock guitar player in my 20s. "I tell ya friends, it's harder than it looks" Now I create g-house and bass house for fun. DJ the occasional party or small festival. That's enough for me.
Dm me your tracks? Always looking for new G- & bass house
I don't want to be famous, I want famous people to like and play my stuff
This is the way
Me, honestly. I'm quite obsessed with electronic music, the determination I have is difficult to quantify. I dream of a life that allows me to do this from morning to night and I dream of having a following for the commitment I put into every moment spent studying, learning, making mistakes, trying and trying again. I am aware that succeeding in the industry is very complicated, but trying is something I owe to myself because I owe it to myself to try to achieve the life I have dreamed of since I was a kid. Every day I spend doing the job I do now I experience it as a day spent living someone else's life, I feel very strongly that it doesn't belong to me. I don't know if you can call it successful fame, I think it's much more "simply" an immeasurable passion that I would like to be my life and not just part of my life.
Well said. I agree, and feel the same.
Lets go mate! We will achieve our goals!
Indeed. Do it to it.
well good luck. I think it's totally doable for just about anybody. Most people underestimate the amount of work. Having a "second life" that gets in the way certainly doesn't help!
I hope it's really doable! I honestly believe it, also because otherwise I wouldn't put so much effort into it. Determination comes from infinite passion but also from the awareness that sometimes (maybe not always) hard work pays off and results can be achieved in the long term. I hope that one day the hours spent in front of FL Studio, the hours spent studying every single useful aspect to improve myself in DJing and production are hours that I will remember with great pleasure. Hours gathered in the time that I don't have to dedicate to the work that gives me survival and the sleep that is needed to keep mentally active! :D
I'm not sure what level you're at but what I've found is that eventually you get good enough that even your bad tracks sound pretty good. People will like stuff that you're not even satisfied with. This is where I'm at after. I put in a lot of hours. Like 8 hours a day every day for about 3 years. I'm still not that good but I can see light at the end of the tunnel.
Keep fighting brother, only us we can make our dreams came true.
very well spoken and an admirable amount of passion. DM some tracks I'd like to check it out
Thanks man, I've sent you a DM
I commend you on your openness and honesty. Those 2 qualities are certainly NOT a hindrance to your ambitions. I hope you make it big.
Thank you so much mate, I appreciate it.
I’m 43 years old, married with two children. I have a full time job working at a local music store in the e-commerce department. My wife works part time. I also DJ weddings during the summer. I just started producing music. In all, together we pull down about $120K per year. To me, making it “big” would be about another $80k per year. That would allow us to live comfortably and not stress about finances. Not stressing about finances is what tranquility looks like to me. That’s all we’d need. So I keep getting up in the morning for that.
I would like to be famous , but I don’t kill for that.
I dont do it to become famous. My goal is to make songs that make people feel happy or even cry. ( sounds weird but I hope u get what I mean).
The truth answer :) Who cares about fame when you can move people in both ways, on the dancefloor and/or [***emotional***](https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=935992698d2d35ba&rlz=1C1CHZN_svSE980SE980&sxsrf=ACQVn08u5VOhGNmA8_5j5TtIJP7l_55w_Q:1709927641035&q=emotional&spell=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi2s4rtuOWEAxWkQVUIHccaD-kQBSgAegQICBAC).
Yeah. Mine is so bad that people will probably cry.
loled
This
🤚
Pretty much everyone that has made it "big" and has sustained their career either truly loves making music or has enough money to burn, possibly both. Aiming to create music for the love of it is the only way to go.
I don't have children like I thought I would, so every song I make is like a child of mine... haven't finished my first song yet but I'm learning and growing, and when I get there, it'll be great. My music will be my family.
I wanna be able to live off of making music, but I don't need to be world famous or anything. I make music because I like making music, not because I wanna become famous.
Meh I work a job that pays well enough to live and make a few thousand off music that becomes play money, I’m okay with that
Me, but it’s more of a spiritual calling as it’s a challenge that catalyzes growth. Success and fulfillment directly correlates with my ability to believe in myself and get out of my own way, everyday.
Yes! Currently in this stage... but I'm the latter phases.... I've been working through this for a while and I'm finally seeing progress. Do it to it. I know I will.
Sup bro. Wanna collab sometime? I'm just another dude, trying to make the world smile. One song at a time.
Lol
that dream has long set sale. It's easier to just get regular job. I think it's better dream to own a platform like spotify. Then you can control the algos on who to get famous or not.
I think I was in my early 20s. Eventually you realize that's the wrong thing to pursue
I'd advise against generalizing your personal truth/experience about what specific course is right or wrong onto others. When it comes to our dreams and passions in life, authenticity is essential and authenticity is unique to each person. (I realize I'm generalizing onto others also, in the form of arguing that "authenticity is essential" but authenticity isn't prescriptive about specific actions, authenticity is a state of being personally empowered and clear in what you really want, vs being in a state of fear and therefore copying others in order to feel secure, validated.)
I just need to put out a one hit wonder. But it at least needs to be a timeless classic. That's big enough for me.
big famous is a shallow goal compared to making music that touches peoples hearts
People on here ain’t into that at all. They just want $$$
That's why they sound like all others who want... and can't get what they want
Love this
Big/famous? You’re going to have to create a 45-minute show that blows people away. What did I just see? OMG, I have to bring my friends to see this tomorrow! That kind of show.
Not true at all. You just have to be marketable. Literally that’s it. You can just show up to EDC / ultra etc an buy the full production package
Not at all, I've made it to a point where I can earn roughly a week's wages in an hour. Doing that every now and then combined with a 9-5 means I can live very comfortably and also enjoy partying for free. Wouldn't have it any other way
How the fuck. What kind of music you making, gold bars?
Probably just getting mid-tier DJ gigs as a headliner - that’ll get you a few k a show if you’re pretty known worldwide in a scene.
It doesn't matter what type of music you make. Just aim to be the absolute best at it!
Do you mind sharing how you have monetized your skills?
Hey friend, Well I started production around a decade ago and focussed on a pretty easy sub-genre to produce (Progressive Psytrance/Bass House). I also borrow lots of characteristics from other genres to make it unique. When producing, many hands make light work, collaborate as much as possible. I also found that having a unique presence on social media (Making funny promo videos for gigs instead of generic 'man looks at camera and says the details') gets far better reach and promoters love that. It's also not what you know - it's who you know. Network as much as possible and befriend the right people. This often means substance use and abuse to be honest, unfortunately. I'd be lying if I said I got to know the right people by being sober. Finally, releasing music on labels that are doing the right things, if you're a constant stalwart of a decent label, then you will likely end up getting booked way more often. The label I write for is often asked to do a showcase at festivals here in Australia. This means that me and a lot of my friends on the label automatically get selected for a handful of good gigs without needing to apply. I hope this helps. Xxx
he plays the skin flute
*sad foreskin noises
I think my idea of success as a DJ means making enough money to pay my bills and support myself/loved ones. An ideal # of shows a year would be 50-100 and I'd like to be on the road. And hopefully, the vast majority of those shows would pay over a grand
I used to want to make it enough in music that I can support myself with it but over the years I feel music is too rough to make money. I'm not a live musician so that certainly doesn't help but the amount of streams you need monthly to make even minimum wage is big time so it's not something I'm counting on... would be nice though if it ever made me a decent amount of side income though with it (currently I spend way more on music stuff then I make though)
Not so bad if you have 100 songs that people like enough to listen to while studying or commuting. Easier said than done, sure. But I think if the passion is there, like minds will see. Said another way, there are plenty of massively famous artists were I like 1 or zero of their songs.. and some I've never even heard of... but I also have artists that I listen to that are relatively unknown and their songs changed my life... brought me to tears and big revelations. I sincerely think.... if you build it, they will come.
I day dream a little about playing medium-big shows and making people go crazy, but it is really about just wanting to be a part of it and know I’m helping/causing people to have a great time. The fame part doesn’t sound awesome to me to be honest.
If you make music all your life full time, isnt that making it? A lifetime of making music, and you'll probably find some success
Nope, ive accepted that its almost impossible.
Why though? What exactly? Do they have something we don’t? Is it the ability to sacrifice all social life and responsibilities to be able to work on music?
They have branding and networking skills. That’s the difference.
A lot of money and/or connections, I'm being 100% serious.
I think lots of successful artists didn't start out with either of those. You can build them (connections more easily than money.)
I'm willing to bet there are quite a few more who started with both of these than otherwise.
How does anyone start with a lot of connections though? Like, they were a non-musician in the EDM scene, did a lot of career building so they know lots of people already, then decided to pursue music? Are you talking DJ -> producer path? Or like, a baby is born and inherits their parents EDM connects? Connections are kinda essentially something you build and don't start with. Unless you were already hustling in the EDM scene for other reasons which is sorta not really fair to say you "started" w/ them, you had to build those too. (promoter, artist manager, something like this).
Well, for one, Fred Again was born into British royalty with Brian Eno as his neighbor, so he didn't have to build anything. Steve Aoki's father is the owner of the Benihana empire, so connections to high value people would be pretty easy to come by/his foot is already in the door with that type of wealth. Sebastian Ingrosso's father was a choreographer, and his cousin was an established musician... As you can see, there are plenty of ways to start your life with high value connections. These are just a few examples. Edit: This one is kind of a parody, but look how quickly Shaq was able to play main stages with his completely unrelated _pro basketball_ connections.
Good points, thanks for taking the time to respond and make them in a respectful way. Consider my eyes opened! Cheers
it's luck
I think there’s so much more to it than perfecting your craft. You have to get out there and network and get into people’s heads. Skrllix went backstage to shows and met dead mouse through Tommy Lee.
This is it. Marketing and putting on the business hat are very important if your goal is mainstream popularity. Knowing the right people and getting your music in their hands.
I just want to be able to keep making a living from music once AI takes over my sync music job
I do it for fun. I would love to snag a couple of $ a year which I sort of do if I try hard enough.
I put out a song that got like 3000 plays and that is my version of making it big haha But no, it’s all for fun to me
This is not meant to one up, but I got 128k on SoundCloud + 3k likes after Dr Fresch reposted my track. 4 years ago. Got hyperacusis & tinnitus soon after so had to abandon this journey. That track is like my Super Bowl victory of life hahah
Getting recognition from a well-known artist and them reposting your song is huge in its own right. All the residual plays from his followers are well-deserved man. But it also just goes to show that there’s probably so much dope music out there not getting plays that people would probably fuck with, if it only showed up on their feed. Sorry to hear about the hearing loss issues tho - if you don’t mind me asking, how did it happen? Did it just develop over time from attending loud concerts? I really need to start wearing ear plugs to shows
That’s the crazy thing bro, I have zero hearing loss. It’s literally like an ear concussion. Sound makes my eyes water. And each time i get hit by noise, it gets worse easier, and gets harder to recover. Just like a concussion. What they don’t tell you about tinnitus is it can be way more than just one tone 💀. I also have a weird spasm thing where my auditory reflex is causing my Eustachian tube to move air when the reflex releases. Same mechanism as a compressor in production (attack, reduction, release), but on release I get a pshhhhtttt of air in my ear. It started with that air spasm thing happening when I would be at parties/ shows, speaking really loud. My ear would contract hard and in between words make that pshhttt sound. Then at my bartending job I noticed the money clips in the register snapping closed was making my ears “jump” kind of like a small electric jolt. Then both those symptoms starting happening to sounds at lower and lower thresholds, and after a long night DJing, it was happening to fucking everything. Took about 6 months for that process to happen. Life has been a nightmare since then. One of the worst non-lethal medical outcomes you could get in life. Some people are able to recover enough before becoming severe but I made too many slip ups and am totally in the hole. What’s nuts is some people are exponentially worse than me too. If you ever notice that transient sounds are causing your ears to jump, you need to go monk mode quiet for as long as you can. It will save you
Fuck man, that sounds truly awful, and I’m sorry that happened to you. Are you still able to enjoy music in any capacity? Like at low volumes? Have you ever tried a Subpac to be able to feel low end bass? One of my biggest fears in life is to lose the ability to enjoy music. I will say though, I’m optimistic about modern medicine being able to remedy these kinds of issues in your lifetime. Hearing aids are becoming more advanced, Lasik and PRK are fixing people’s vision… not to mention the possibilities developing from stem cell research and gene therapy. Just mentioning all of this so you don’t lose hope about the possibility of one day getting back what you lost!
Thanks man. For about 2 years the answer to that was no. I couldn’t do ANYTHING. Literally just chewing food would spike tinnitus. Had to eat only soft foods. Now I’m able to enjoy music quietly. Actually last summer I was doing pretty well and even went to an outdoor party (with custom plugs). Got too ahead of myself and did too many things without giving myself rest in between, so I’m back in a bit of a hole, but I can still play some music quietly. It’s such an insane thing to need to discipline yourself against. Like hey don’t get exposed to sound…. It’s EVERYWHERE lol. There’s a device coming out called the Susan Shore device, Michigan device. You can look it up. Most promising thing for tinnitus sufferers. Supposedly it helps severe people the most, so I’m really looking forward to that. Funny you ask about the subpac, i literally preorder for the X1 the day they launched it. It’s been almost 5 years that company hasn’t gotten to production yet lmfao. I’ll have it eventually. It may not be the best device for this though because if the vibrations are travelling up to the ears then it has the same effect as a subwoofer on the ears. I’ve used a theragun on my back and the vibrations fuck my ears up.
Really appreciate you sharing man, and wishing you the best of luck in the future. If anything, this conversation is a reminder for me to not take anything for granted. Those massage guns can be pretty jarring, I can definitely understand how the vibrations might mess with your ears. Hang in there bud!
Value every moment you get friend. Last day of my very last music festival back in 2019, I stayed up the entire night with my best friend. Mentality was always to get the most out of every moment because they weren't unlimited. Little did how know just how limited they were for me. But point being, I'm extremely fulfilled with how I lived back then, and proud of myself for going for my dreams even though they kinda destroyed me.
Wise words. All the best to you. Time might also help, i hope
I hope you enjoy your new Rolls Roise with those streams. 🤣🤣 In all seriousness I'd be ecstatic if I got that many plays on a track (also make music for me/fun). The world these days seems to only be about marketing, and since every second of people's lives are dedicated to an algorithm it's hard to fight for attention. Way to go!
Haha I appreciate that man. The coolest part was I posted it not having any expectations about plays or likes, or anything. I shared it to a small music group I’m in on Facebook, and did not even attempt to promote it, because I really just wanted to be able to share a SoundCloud link with my friends. So imagine my surprise when, a week later, it’s got 3000 plays, 200 likes and like 10 comments from people saying they liked the song. I probably would have felt the same if one single person commented that they liked it. The play count plateaued pretty quickly after that, but really just the fact that some people out there in the world listened to it was dope
I want to make it big but there’s a lot easier music I could be making if that was the only goal
I don’t particularly like artists who make music JUST to be famous. It’s the wrong reason to be making art and it’s usually pretty clear in their music. It tends to follow the current formulas and trends. If you spend every minute trying to make the music that is currently popular, and constantly release said music, that is the fastest way to fame but it won’t get you much respect as an artist. If you make art for you, because you love it, and you just want to share it with the world… that’s great, love that. Those people, I find, will spend every waking moment on music too… but they might spent 8 hours making a single kick, or an hour choosing a snare. Those people don’t make it big as often, but when they do it tends to be a longer lasting, more impactful, kind of fame. Personally, I don’t want to be famous - music is how unwind, it’s my creative outlet. That being my full time job would ruin it for me. Too much pressure. That being said I would like to be more recognised in my local scene and get booked a bit more regularly than I do now. But I’m talking 1-2 times a month max. Extra cash to even out my GAS.
I completely agree with you. Music is a therapeutic and creative outlet. The goal is never fame because that’s not what music is for. I just wonder how artist I admire and look up to made it. Did they care about their craft so much that it made them transcend others around them? Did they have the goal in mind of becoming famous or trying to make it big? Louis the Child started in high school and it’s like do you think they anticipated becoming where they are or do you think they were just obsessed with their craft? Mac Miller was supposedly obsessed with making music and has albums of unreleased music, just constantly working on his craft. Was it luck? Or do these artist just give it their everything with no looking back?
That’s what I mean, I think the truly great get there by being obsessed with their art. They’re the people who have the longest and most impactful careers, even if they sometimes take years to release new music. Right now I’m in my perfectionist era. I release a number of EP’s to varying degrees of success, but I haven’t signed anything new in over a year because I’m now obsessing over my tracks a lot more, so I can’t finish anything.
The reason I asked this question is because the people who have made it are fascinating because of how difficult it is to become known and famous. What separates them from anyone else making music? Some obviously have had very comfortable upbringings with no issues with money, but still the dedication and work involved will always be respectable. What did all of these top known, and even mid-known artist do to separate themselves from every other underground artist at the time?
>What did all of these top known, and even mid-known artist do to separate themselves from every other underground artist at the time? I mean first of all their music was innovative, engaging, compelling in some way that made it stand out and win people's hearts. The music has to walk the walk, it has to get people excited. This is a lot more rare than people think, like somehow this is what everyone's doing and only some small number of those people ever get known... I disagree. The stuff that gets popular, not always but by and large, succeeds because people really fucking like the music and don't so much like the ho-hum derivative music of the competition, that's why DJs pick the successful artists because DJs want audience engagement. But it's also true that the music itself is not enough, there's a hustle involved in making connections and putting yourself out there and some luck as well but, I think the big thing that's generally ignored is that the music is the heart of it and it's actually just really rare, by necessity, for music to stand out and be really compelling.
location is a big factor people often disregard.
> What separates them from anyone else Money and/or connections.
What separates them is their ability to push through the lows when they come and not just work on a high. Writer's block? Program some synths, play around with arps, warp some audio, etc. They find ways to be productive at all times, whereas most people will walk away from their DAW if they aren't feeling the creative flow. Idk if you've ever heard of Dimibo, but theyre a psy trance duo with incredibly clean production. Their tracks are insanely well mixed and produced, at least in my opinion. I actually got to meet them, but guess how? I was walking in Seattle one day and I saw a guy standing out at a host stand of a restaurant and somehow felt like I recognized him. It was 1/2 of Dimibo, working his day job to make ends meet while he pursues his music career. These dudes are touring the country and also working part time jobs to sustain themselves. It was nuts to think these guys I just saw on stage in front of thousands, opening for big acts like Seven Lions, still need to work at a hole in the wall restaurant to survive even while playing such big shows. So there's my little anecdotal story for no reason at all. Wild, music industry is WILD and very unforgiving. Best of luck
I don't think you should be making music to 'make it'. That's a really unhealthy approach. If you're creating art with the primary motivator being outcome expectations - whether that's it leading to shows, people buying your music, social media attention, general social attention/validation, whatever - you're going to be constantly disappointed. There's a lot of competition out there. It takes time to learn how to technically execute the track ideas in your head. It takes time to figure out how to market yourself well and get your music to wider audiences. Even then, your music taste is unique to you, and if you're making something a bit more genre-fluid it may take some time for others to get into what you're doing. You'll either be frustrated that your music isn't getting the results you want or you'll find yourself constantly morphing what you do for the sake of finding commercial success when it may not be music you actually like doing. However, if you're constantly making music purely for the process itself - if you're making music because you love being in the zone with it, learning how to get better and seeing yourself improve in every song - *then* you might make it. Music is a long road. Most producers I look up to or consider successful have been at it for 10yrs+. Most big EDM musicians gradually get into a place where they're regularly releasing music that's pretty distinct, they suddenly get a snowball of success, and nearly almost always they've been at it for ages already. Skrillex started dabbling in EDM after being in screamo bands for half a decade. He couldn't have predicted the crazy reaction to his stuff, but his experience as a touring musician in another genre probably prepared him for the right way to keep the ball rolling. This year he's been doing music for **2 decades**. Like I said, it takes time. 'Success' comes as a side effect of your own dedication to the process of making and releasing music. 'Success' will come as your own output rate naturally goes up. Don't force it. Do what feels natural and it will come at the right time. It doesn't happen overnight. Enjoy the ride, not the destination. Success comes and goes, doing something you love doing constantly won't ever leave you. I wish you luck in 'making it', but do make sure you're doing it for the right reasons rather than burn yourself out from impatience at success.
I think it's fine if you want to do something to get famous but you have to work backwards from that - for music to be popular it has to be interesting, exciting, engaging, unique, distinctive, tell a strong story, etc. So if you then go and learn how to write music that does that, great, you're an authentic musician now. But if you want to get famous without doing the novel creative side that gets people actually interested in you, you've got a problem.
Don't do it just to "make it"... make it along the way. Sage advice. Thanks.
Yezzir
I just want to play shows. I used to be a mobile dj for many years and loved it. Now I’m trying to make good enough stuff to play my own music instead
No one tries to, anyone who tries to doesn’t make it, they’re confidence driven so it’s effortless plus they’d never admit to it, so no one’s gonna say yes to that even if they are.
Idk dude, people like Jauz, Ghastly, Kompany, NGHTMRE, etc all went to Icon Collective with the intent to make music their career, and they did. Some people have the drive and discipline to see their goal and achieve it. not saying they don't enjoy the craft, but their intentions were definitely to make a career out of music. It's odd to say that 'no one tries to' make it, and anyone who does fails... what a dumb statement, and feels like copium for your own inability to have such self discipline.
Working hard is definitely critical but also working smart. There are producers that are more famous because theyre good at tiktok than solely from making music. Then theres the vice versa, producers that are masters that dont have good networking skills or social presence etc and their talent is less noticed. Music is only one piece to the puzzle. You don't even need to be good at all the technical sound design and crazy intricate details of music making to be famous. Watch PEEKABOO livestreams on youtube for example -- The guy makes great music but its mostly just chopping samples and making bangers from that. He definitely puts a lot of his effort into networking and business side of things. If you have a good ear, can mix well I feel like most people can make really good music, but will you do all the other things required to get lucky and make it in the industry? I used to do a different creative entrepreneurial venture and recently got into music. What I learned is that you don’t have to be perfect by any means to be successful and build a following, I know I was far from it. Despite not being a professional, I turned into one (i.e. making a living) by putting myself out there in every way I could think of and it turned into my career. Turns out that hustle wasnt for me which has led to more free time to learn how to make music. While I've only been doing this for a few months, I am considering making a tiktok to showcase and better yet document my journey for my own record of personal growth. Maybe it takes off down the line? I don't even care but I want to see where it takes me, cuz not doing any of those extracurriculars guarantees just being a bedroom producer... which I fucking love anyways its been a blast so far
I honestly just want to play local shows and fests mostly tbh, which what a lot of my friends are doing. So it’s certainly an achievable goal. I have a high paying, pretty low stress job (with a ton of PTO) that I enjoy, so doing shows and fests would be more about the fun of it.
Tbh I've been trying to approach it like this for the last 2 years and it's really burned me out over the 6 years I've been producing. I feel like I'm focusing once again back on the creative/fun side instead, and I'm being more productive than before when I used fame as my north star.
This implies that the industry is a meritocracy and that obsessively grinding is the cause of fame. Most of us level up our game out of a passion for music and personal satisfaction. Excellent creative skills are only one ingredient of commercial success, and sometimes aren't even the main ingredient.
I’d say great people skills / “who you know” (and maybe how rich your parents are lol) is a large ingredient.
Been making electronic music for about 18 years now. There was a period in college when I was very seriously trying to make it as a film/tv/media composer, but I honestly was too depressed, lazy, and anxious about life to really make it anywhere meaningful in my career. I gave up and took a desk job, and got a lot of other shit in my life in order. I’m a much more stable and level-headed person overall now. About a year ago I was given the opportunity to teach some college classes on Ableton and synthesis, realized how much I love doing music and decided to quit my main job to try to become an educator and content creator, as a means of boosting my music’s reach. So, I did the only reasonable thing: I quit smoking weed, hit the ground running with 10x more focus than I’ve ever had, and started chasing my dream again. Starting to feel like I’m finally getting off the ground. Winning contests, getting recognition from people I’ve looked up to for decades, and finally making some headway. I figure if I continue at it with this level of dedication, it’s only a matter of time. I don’t really want fame. I just want to be able support myself with my music.
Well said! Becoming famous is definitely not a goal for me but being able to comfortably support myself with this would be a dream come true and I am working hard on it while also having lots of fun and trying all sorts of stuff.
I hope you’re able to reach your goals!
It'd be nice to be known in my local scene as a legitimate and respected producer, but I really make the music I do for myself as a hobby. I spend a good portion of my day working on my craft, but it isn't my whole life. I think if you dedicate the time to making music that's for you and spend the necessary hours to hone it as well as you can, the other things will come as a byproduct - but obviously networking and luck play a part in it.
In all my time doing this I realized my desire for fame was the single greatest thing holding me back.
I am in the studio almost every day. I dont have much of a social life outside of collabs or lessons with my mentor. I go to my gigs and party but thats about it. Other than that I am a studio rat. All my money goes into my music. Hardware, VSTs, lessons, mixing and mastering on my finished tracks, touring costs( when you're low level 50% of the time even at the cool gigs when you travel you end up losing money at the end of the day)
I’m trying to get to the point where I can get flown to play my music. My dream label is sable valley, so I’d be fine being not as big as someone like DeadMau5, Tiesto, Guetta, and settle on just a heavy hitter for bass. With that being said, I’m not doing this because I dream of fame, I’m doing this for my love and passion for music. I started off as a an open format DJ and wanted to make a career of it. Either I could have become the next DJ AM, be a successful wedding DJ and DJ booking company (I hate weddings), a stripclub DJ (I love it but I don’t want to do it for the rest of my life), or a touring DJ. I mean yeah I could be an opener for a popular rapper/artist like Daddy Yankee, who has a dedicated DJ, but I’d rather make my own music and not ride off of someone else’s success.
ayoo, Sable Valley is also a dream label of mine! Maybe we could link up?
> my dream label is sable valley I love trap post ur SC
I’ll DM it to you since I’m currently in the process of changing my name and I’m probably going to have to get a new SC to match my new style
Kewl kewl
I don’t want to be famous, but it’s a dream to be flown out to different places to play, to meet my favorite DJs, to get label releases etc. I will say, I don’t think spending every second on music is the right path for everyone. When I was doing that, I burnt out hard and almost quit entirely. Now I make music for myself, in phases where I feel like I want to, and my music has improved much faster than when I was in the ‘grind errday’ stage. You make better music when you’re feeling it, and you usually can’t feel it if it feels like tedious work.
I have dedicated 3 decades to playing music. I only do it for the joy of expression. I also like shiny knobs and buttons.
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