BLISS sat down and wrote you a few tips to help you succeed in the music industry

Sacrifice

If you refer to music as a hobby, you can stop reading here. But if you wish to direct your life towards a professional music career, you must be ready for tremendous sacrifices.

Music isn’t a 9 to 5 job, it’s with you from the moment you wake up until you go to bed again. Be ready to give up your connection with the outside world. Your parents, partner and friends are going to be seeing much less of you, because you’re going to invest a huge amount of time doing something you love.

Dedication

We all have to find a way to feed ourselves. After all, how long can you live with your parents? I recommend choosing a relatively relaxed workplace so you can come home after a long day’s work but still be filled with ideas and melodies.

Choose a job that won’t drain up your energy and creativity. It’s very difficult to juggle two major commitments, and since you’ve decided to devote yourself to music in the most professional way possible, you’ll need to settle for a job that leaves you fresh and new when you’re in the studio. Another option, and an effective one if you wish to broaden your knowledge of the music world, is working in the business itself. Recording studios, equipment shops, sound companies and labels of all sorts can offer you a variety of jobs with an important added value regarding everything that has to do with the industry itself. In addition, you’ll get to meet other artists who can give you new ideas. There are no rules and you can develop in a number of areas (read a bit about New Zealander artist Freq).

My view is that a musician must devote him/herself completely to music. Let it surround you.

Muse

Despite your incredible drive and overtime hours in front of the screen, sometimes things hit a dead end. Let it go! I know that it seems easy to say and difficult to implement, but the work we’ve chosen to do includes technical elements that don’t always require a creative effort.

Set up libraries of sounds and presets, clean up your studio, play a musical instrument or practice for your upcoming show. Do something that has to do with your musical work but doesn’t require your full creativity. It is possible to move forward even without inspiration, and then when a new idea strikes you you’ll be fully prepared.

Another solution is to simply get out. A little bit of sunshine and exercising may be a great solution – there’s a heap of information about this available online.

Letting go

When I first started I could barely finish a track. At first it was annoying and stressful but I gradually learnt not to be upset by it. If you’re stuck, carry on to a new track. After all, what could be more fun than starting out a new project with a world of possibilities ahead of you? This way you’ll also have plenty of future references that you may one day choose to integrate into your work.

First impression

The internet is a great marketing tool that you can use for free. Its various platforms are easy to manage and are largely effective, but they are also overloaded with information. We invest a great deal of energy trying to stand out, but many before me have said that before you send your release to a label or upload a sample to SoundCloud, don’t forget that the first impression cliché is true and also extremely important. Play your new track to your friends (this will also give you a new listening angle) and ask them to be sincere. Listen to it in your car, your parents’ living room or even with the cashier at the local supermarket. Only then take your next step, because if somebody listens to your music for the first time and doesn’t like it, it’s likely that they won’t listen to your music again.

Plastic

Most of us in the electronic scene are very fond of new toys. A new Synth, keyboard controller, sound card. There is no limit to the amount of plastic we are willing to buy.

However, it is important to remember that buying a lot of equipment won’t necessarily make your sound better. It can cause confusion and excess options. I find that the truly important things are a good pair of monitors and a room that has been acoustically treated (if you can’t afford one, at least get yourself decent headphones). Also, pamper yourself with a good chair and be prepared to work overtime. Take care of your back.

Order

This is a sensitive issue for me that I’m constantly trying to improve. Respect each export, bounce and project library with a title if you wish to find them easily in the future. Maintain an orderly virtual library, but the most important thing is backup, backup, backup. You never know when your cat might jump onto the table and knock down your hard drive.

OCD

Be careful and try to restrain yourself from time to time. Go outside, develop other interests (many musicians specialize in other types of art as well, such as painting or cooking). And, above all, make sure to give your beloved ones a little warmth back. After all, without their patience and encouragement your success isn’t worth a thing.

 

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