Making money with music production advice and/or story of success

[PhillipOrdonez]

That's a very expensive country, which makes it harder to survive off music. Good luck to you.

What do you mean expensive?

It means the cost of living is high. Meaning, rent, food cost more money than in other countries. The same income between two countries afford very different lifestyles.

[Quarmat]

Find someone who is a wannabe artist agent/manager. Start a collaboration. You produce music you like, he/she/they/whateva has content to test their promotion skills on. You do not have to pay your agent, your agent feels no pressure. Both of you grow in each trade. If your music is "good" (read: it is appreciated by a critical number of listeners) you'll eventually make it. If your agent is "good" (read: they know how to appeal to ppl's attention) you'll make it. Consistency, self improvement and staying true to oneself's creativity is what you need to have a career and having fun while doing your stuff. Music industry is hard. Everyone wants to be a rockstar. one out of a million achieves it. Keep it real, work hard, love yourself. Feel free to create, never create with a goal that is outside music itself. This is what I can say.

[PhillipOrdonez]

One in a million is too high a number, i think. Way too high.

[selig]

Where are you from?

I am from Ukraine. But now I am in Canada.

I started with two goals - to work in the music industry and to NOT deliver pizza. I DID dip ice cream for the first 3-4 years, but since then all music industry.
To achieve this I moved to a city with a strong music industry and school (Nashville/Belmont University). I found a working engineer and pleaded to let me sit in the studio and observe while helping out. I was lucky, but I was also making moves to be able to take advantage of any luck that came my way. Got a part time studio job after about 2 years (1 yr school, 1 yr doing everything I could to make music with friends). Got a full time job about 4 years into my Nashville experience, working around some of the most high tech gear around. My willingness to do ANY job as long as it was music based has been the #1 reason I’ve stayed employed over 40+ years. My paid jobs have included (not including ice cream dipper):
Assistant Engineer
Staff Engineer
Staff arranger/producer/programmer
Recording artist
Musician for hire (studio and live)
Song writer (staff)
Freelance engineer/musician/programmer (still to this day)
Studio Manager
Studio designer/installer
Sound Designer
Technical writer
Gear reviewer/writer
System setup/manager for Pro Tools systems rentals (the first in Nashville)
Sound Designer (For Reason)
Software developer for Rack Extensions

The point isn’t to brag here - one could argue by spreading myself so thin I’ve never really totally excelled at any one task. One could also argue I’ve made a decent living doing what I loved and have NEVER been bored while doing it. This lifestyle fit my needs, being interested in so many aspects of the music industry. I also never saw myself as a ‘rock-star’, so that wasn’t necessarily ever a goal. Again the main goal was to never work outside of the music industry and to that end I’ve succeeded.

All this to say, there are MANY ways to make a living in the music business and only ONE of these is Recording Artist (probably the one with the least ‘openings’ to boot). Make sure you’re open to all your options, and in a location to take advantage of as many of these as interests you. This can only increase the odds in your favor. Plus, being around others doing the same thing as you is extremely motivating and helpful. I still work with many of the same folks I originally met back in the 1980s in Nashville, so you’re also building a life long career this way!

[visheshl]

Man you're such an inspiration.
Back in my teens my father moved to Bollywood city(mumbai), from small town india where my family had a Bollywood cover band, my mum used to sing and my dad used to anchor the show, and i had started playing drums and percussion with the band.
Then someone told my father that your child is talented, he must go to mumbai...and so we moved to mumbai.
And i assembled my bedroom studio, where i did a lot of recording mosty for college bands, and then i found reason, or rather rebirth....then i found myself more attracted towards sound engineering rather than being a musician...so i started my studio...did a lot of work for tv, radio spots, jingles etc...joined a rock band as a drummer, but i was a shitty drummer and someone told my dad you kid needs to become a composer and he won't become a composer if he became more interested in drums and percussion. And so i started of as a music programmer...back then programming music was done on midi sequencer keyboards like korg roland etc...i even did a gig using a computer on stage with a rock band...fun times...but eventually things got worse, got married, shut down my studio...got divorced, caught a stream of bad luck...but god took me out of it...im done with big Bollywood dreams, but still not done with everything...still have a positive attitude towards life...and very thankful to god for the journey...i got to meet and work with so many talented musicians and singers etc... although i feel i could not do so well financially, but the ride was amazing...

[Superology]

What do you mean expensive?

It means the cost of living is high. Meaning, rent, food cost more money than in other countries. The same income between two countries afford very different lifestyles.

Ukraine is not expensive country. And I'll be back to Ukraine soon.

[Superology]

Find someone who is a wannabe artist agent/manager. Start a collaboration. You produce music you like, he/she/they/whateva has content to test their promotion skills on. You do not have to pay your agent, your agent feels no pressure. Both of you grow in each trade. If your music is "good" (read: it is appreciated by a critical number of listeners) you'll eventually make it. If your agent is "good" (read: they know how to appeal to ppl's attention) you'll make it. Consistency, self improvement and staying true to oneself's creativity is what you need to have a career and having fun while doing your stuff. Music industry is hard. Everyone wants to be a rockstar. one out of a million achieves it. Keep it real, work hard, love yourself. Feel free to create, never create with a goal that is outside music itself. This is what I can say.

I don't wanna be a "rockstar" in that sense that I will be famous and my photos will be on the covers of magazines. Being in music industry is totally enough. But thank you. I feel like I have birthday since I posted this thread.

[Superology]

One in a million is too high a number, i think. Way too high.

Be honest: you don't know how easy or how hard it is unless you achieved this yourself.

[Superology]

I am from Ukraine. But now I am in Canada.

I started with two goals - to work in the music industry and to NOT deliver pizza. I DID dip ice cream for the first 3-4 years, but since then all music industry.
To achieve this I moved to a city with a strong music industry and school (Nashville/Belmont University). I found a working engineer and pleaded to let me sit in the studio and observe while helping out. I was lucky, but I was also making moves to be able to take advantage of any luck that came my way. Got a part time studio job after about 2 years (1 yr school, 1 yr doing everything I could to make music with friends). Got a full time job about 4 years into my Nashville experience, working around some of the most high tech gear around. My willingness to do ANY job as long as it was music based has been the #1 reason I’ve stayed employed over 40+ years. My paid jobs have included (not including ice cream dipper):
Assistant Engineer
Staff Engineer
Staff arranger/producer/programmer
Recording artist
Musician for hire (studio and live)
Song writer (staff)
Freelance engineer/musician/programmer (still to this day)
Studio Manager
Studio designer/installer
Sound Designer
Technical writer
Gear reviewer/writer
System setup/manager for Pro Tools systems rentals (the first in Nashville)
Sound Designer (For Reason)
Software developer for Rack Extensions

The point isn’t to brag here - one could argue by spreading myself so thin I’ve never really totally excelled at any one task. One could also argue I’ve made a decent living doing what I loved and have NEVER been bored while doing it. This lifestyle fit my needs, being interested in so many aspects of the music industry. I also never saw myself as a ‘rock-star’, so that wasn’t necessarily ever a goal. Again the main goal was to never work outside of the music industry and to that end I’ve succeeded.

All this to say, there are MANY ways to make a living in the music business and only ONE of these is Recording Artist (probably the one with the least ‘openings’ to boot). Make sure you’re open to all your options, and in a location to take advantage of as many of these as interests you. This can only increase the odds in your favor. Plus, being around others doing the same thing as you is extremely motivating and helpful. I still work with many of the same folks I originally met back in the 1980s in Nashville, so you’re also building a life long career this way!

Thank you. Respect.

Me I don't want it that hard way. I feel inspired and that is the point.

[Superology]

Rereading this topic's name I want to say that people want to survive in the first place even if they don't think this way yet. And in the second place they want to have fun. This is first what I think. Second is if you are making music that people won't listen and/ or buy you are lying to yourself that you are that good to give advices. For example I like The Prodigy first three albums and if I can't put my tracks near the Prodigy I am not good enough I think. Just brutal truth.

[PhillipOrdonez]

It means the cost of living is high. Meaning, rent, food cost more money than in other countries. The same income between two countries afford very different lifestyles.

Ukraine is not expensive country. And I'll be back to Ukraine soon.

I hope you can do that very soon.

[SuperStellartones]

That's a very expensive country, which makes it harder to survive off music. Good luck to you.

I googled what that means. So you are wrong.)

I live in Canada and have lived in South America. Comparatively, Canada is VERY expensive (i.e. it has a high cost of living).

[Quarmat]

One in a million is too high a number, i think. Way too high.

I didn't want to sound pessimistic, but when I bought my first electric guitar when I was 13 yo, i wanted to be a rockstar, just like any other kid I knew that bought a guitar at the same age. I changed (grew up?)so much since then, but if I am true to myself, i know I still want some form of recognition for my music. The balance I found is that music is more important thant its outcome. When I write something I really like, when I am in the zone and notes play themselves like a supernatural hand guides my keyboard or my mouse the serendipity is so powerful and that's what I thrive for. I now reached a critical age where I do not feel the urge to "get rich & famous" like I did in my teens or 20s and I somehow found peace. A inner peace that makes me produce music better than back in the time, a peace that gives me the will to learn and improve without the pressure to be in a race against my peers. A sort of peace that makes me accept failure and that people do not like a song I think it's great instead. If anything good comes with my music, all good, but I learned that my worst enemy was expectation. Get rid of that feeling and you'll be much lighter and a better musician, composer, engineer. This is what I think, even though I am not sure it answer your question, OP.

Making some math, we're 8 billion on the planet and if one in amillion succeeds in being a rockstar this means ther are 8K rockstars. I do not know if it's too much or not, my analoigy was only to say it is pretty rare.