It's very complex, difficult, expensive, interesting and fun to be an independent music producer. Volume three covers my attempts to: make acoustic improvements to the studio; cut down my production times; learn the art of mastering in-house ad muc...
(March 1 2022: I just added the video above. Powerful! And now the number of songs on Spotify are climbing over 70 million - that went fast. But I was just cleaning this one up so I can finally publish Volume #2.)
What is it that causes stress in an indie songwriter's life? Just about the same stuff that everyone else struggles with PLUS our music creation stress. We know we have to create awesome music in order to be heard in the noise. And we know that the chances of being heard are slim. But we have this passion driving us to create music anyway
This is the situation in which we indies are creating music today, (taken from Spotify's homepage August 19, 2019):
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There are over 50 million songs out there! BUT, I've heard that only one tenth of the music ever gets played more than a few times, and, if you get 1 million streams that adds up to a mere $1,000.
That means that the meek and hopeful indie creating original music in her/his home studio is a dreamer with almost no chance of a breakthrough, statistically speaking. Lill Nas "made it" from a home studio - so I can too, right? (Sigh)
But, you say, "All I'm shooting for is to get this music off my chest and make a decent living". Easier said than done. Some of us will have to do a day job and do the music as a hobby and that is all right. But for those of us that want to break through, it is going to take everything we have and thens some.
Many Instagram and Facebook coaches within the industry say that all you need is 1000 true fans in order to pay your bills decently. But, what about the long road to get to sustainability? What do you do in the mean time to get by? Live with your parents and mooch off of them? What happens if you are like me, over fifty and just getting started and people think you are insane to start and don't believe that you will ever amount to anything but you still have this desire to do the music and put it out there? Hope to God that you have a partner that understands and pays your way as you help them with the housework too (Like I do).
We have to have a plan how to get our calling in action - a plan that is rooted in reality and doable.
Everyone wants to make money off of you: publicists, mixers, mastering studios, distributors, sessions musicians, feedback gurus, everyone wants to make a buck off of you. It is going to cost money to get the music created and out there. HAVE A BUDGET and stick to it.
How do we cope in a world that is characterised by extreme competition?
The specific stress factors for the indie musician
- Indie musicians are passionate about making original music in a world that is already overflowing with music. We have this press on ourselves that if our music isn't top notch, no one will listen and we will get cut at the knees by critics' bad reviews. Therefore we do everything we can to make our music as professional as we can within the bounds of our budgets and time constraints.
The time, quality and cost triangle: There is always a press for time (need to release a new single once a month, post quality pics on Instagram once a day, etc.) In this fast paced world, where everyone else seems perfect and professional you need to produce high quality regularly in order to keep up. It is very stressful. For the budding indie musician who has no money that means setting aside as much time as possible to create great content
- In order to get the music to be top notch, we need money. Money for the right gear, acoustic treatment, song lessons, mixing and mastering at the best studios..... Money has to come from somewhere, most often through a day job and that gives us less time.
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The list of factors that can cause stress is long: lack of money/time; not realising creative goals within one's time limits; relationships that need oiling; ....
There are many things that can cause stress for us musicians, BUT THEY DON*T NEED TO. I am here to remind you that you are human. It's o.k. to have problems - everyone does. When those problems cause us to worry we need a strategy that helps us get back on the road to making music again.
Here are some of the things that help me stay out of the worry and stress mode:
1. Positive relationships on a regular basis
2. Planning
3. Prayer
4. Feedback
5. Discipline
6. Walking out in nature after lunch each day
7. Celebrating achievements no matter how small - a single release, finished editing vocals....
