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

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Superology
Posts: 215
Joined: 24 Nov 2022

26 Feb 2023

Hello to everyone. I realise that not knowing people who already make money with music production blocks me in continuing making music, because I feel like it's a stupid time spending. I am trying this and that in music since 2005 when I was 16. Back then making music was fun but now it is not. Need your advice and/ or story of your success if you are earning money with music production. I want to understand where am I moving. How looks your regular day? Please, respond. Thank you.

PhillipOrdonez
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Joined: 20 Oct 2017
Location: Norway
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26 Feb 2023

This i cannot understand. What you wrote sounds to me like a contradiction. If it isn't fun to you now, then why do it?

I make a living from music production and audio related stuff. I love it and it is fun. If it isn't your job, and it isn't fun to do, then why do you want to make it your job and have to do it more, when you do not enjoy it? 🤷‍♂️

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Superology
Posts: 215
Joined: 24 Nov 2022

26 Feb 2023

PhillipOrdonez wrote:
26 Feb 2023
This i cannot understand. What you wrote sounds to me like a contradiction. If it isn't fun to you now, then why do it?

I make a living from music production and audio related stuff. I love it and it is fun. If it isn't your job, and it isn't fun to do, then why do you want to make it your job and have to do it more, when you do not enjoy it? 🤷‍♂️
I mean I lost some connection. But I hope to find it.

What are you doing? How many free time do you have? Is it hard to you or is it ok?

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guitfnky
Posts: 4408
Joined: 19 Jan 2015

26 Feb 2023

if your primary goal in making art is to get paid, you’re doing it wrong. if you want to enjoy it again, you might start by trying to let go of the weird cultural preconceptions that success has to be defined by a paycheck.
I write good music for good people

https://slowrobot.bandcamp.com/

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Superology
Posts: 215
Joined: 24 Nov 2022

26 Feb 2023

guitfnky wrote:
26 Feb 2023
if your primary goal in making art is to get paid, you’re doing it wrong. if you want to enjoy it again, you might start by trying to let go of the weird cultural preconceptions that success has to be defined by a paycheck.
Who told you this is my primary goal? Ikigai, ok?

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guitfnky
Posts: 4408
Joined: 19 Jan 2015

26 Feb 2023

I don’t know what that last part means, but the reason $ seems like your main concern is…everything you said. there’s nothing wrong with making money, but if you want to be happy, thinking you need to get paid for it in order for it to be worth your time isn’t going to help.

you’ve got two options (three, if you’re extremely lucky).

pick money
or pick happy

(or be extremely lucky and you can have both)
I write good music for good people

https://slowrobot.bandcamp.com/

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TritoneAddiction
Competition Winner
Posts: 4219
Joined: 29 Aug 2015
Location: Sweden

26 Feb 2023

Superology wrote:
26 Feb 2023
guitfnky wrote:
26 Feb 2023
if your primary goal in making art is to get paid, you’re doing it wrong. if you want to enjoy it again, you might start by trying to let go of the weird cultural preconceptions that success has to be defined by a paycheck.
Who told you this is my primary goal? Ikigai, ok?
To be fair, it's not totally clear what you're looking for after reading your initial post. I thought like guitfnky, that you wanted to make money of of music and that doing so would somehow make creating music more fun.
Maybe a youtube channel like Pensados Place is what you're looking for? They have interviews with professional producers, mixing engineers, songwriters all the time.
https://www.youtube.com/@PensadosplaceTvShow

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Superology
Posts: 215
Joined: 24 Nov 2022

26 Feb 2023

guitfnky wrote:
26 Feb 2023
I don’t know what that last part means, but the reason $ seems like your main concern is…everything you said. there’s nothing wrong with making money, but if you want to be happy, thinking you need to get paid for it in order for it to be worth your time isn’t going to help.

you’ve got two options (three, if you’re extremely lucky).

pick money
or pick happy

(or be extremely lucky and you can have both)
I totaly disagree. And this is my choice. You made yours.

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Superology
Posts: 215
Joined: 24 Nov 2022

26 Feb 2023

TritoneAddiction wrote:
26 Feb 2023
Superology wrote:
26 Feb 2023


Who told you this is my primary goal? Ikigai, ok?
To be fair, it's not totally clear what you're looking for after reading your initial post. I thought like guitfnky, that you wanted to make money of of music and that doing so would somehow make creating music more fun.
Maybe a youtube channel like Pensados Place is what you're looking for? They have interviews with professional producers, mixing engineers, songwriters all the time.
https://www.youtube.com/@PensadosplaceTvShow
Ok, no problem.

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QVprod
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26 Feb 2023

I make money off of music production. Granted it’s not my primary income. There’s no set day schedule or routine unless you have a situation that requires it. Assuming you mean producing for artists, people have to know you exist and are good at what you do. From there you work your way into more clients.

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Superology
Posts: 215
Joined: 24 Nov 2022

26 Feb 2023

QVprod wrote:
26 Feb 2023
I make money off of music production. Granted it’s not my primary income. There’s no set day schedule or routine unless you have a situation that requires it. Assuming you mean producing for artists, people have to know you exist and are good at what you do. From there you work your way into more clients.
Thank you.

PhillipOrdonez
Posts: 3732
Joined: 20 Oct 2017
Location: Norway
Contact:

26 Feb 2023

Superology wrote:
26 Feb 2023
PhillipOrdonez wrote:
26 Feb 2023
This i cannot understand. What you wrote sounds to me like a contradiction. If it isn't fun to you now, then why do it?

I make a living from music production and audio related stuff. I love it and it is fun. If it isn't your job, and it isn't fun to do, then why do you want to make it your job and have to do it more, when you do not enjoy it? 🤷‍♂️
I mean I lost some connection. But I hope to find it.

What are you doing? How many free time do you have? Is it hard to you or is it ok?
I do lots of stuff. There's no one basket with all the eggs.
Free time depends on a lot of factors. Some seasons I'm more busy than others. I get to work from home which is good. Hard? What do you mean, like difficult to achieve? Fuck yeah.

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Superology
Posts: 215
Joined: 24 Nov 2022

26 Feb 2023

PhillipOrdonez wrote:
26 Feb 2023
Superology wrote:
26 Feb 2023


I mean I lost some connection. But I hope to find it.

What are you doing? How many free time do you have? Is it hard to you or is it ok?
I do lots of stuff. There's no one basket with all the eggs.
Free time depends on a lot of factors. Some seasons I'm more busy than others. I get to work from home which is good. Hard? What do you mean, like difficult to achieve? Fuck yeah.
No, I mean, is it hard to live like this? Because when you have regular job it may be more stable (the only advantage).

What kind of stuff you are doing?

PhillipOrdonez
Posts: 3732
Joined: 20 Oct 2017
Location: Norway
Contact:

26 Feb 2023

Superology wrote:
26 Feb 2023
PhillipOrdonez wrote:
26 Feb 2023


I do lots of stuff. There's no one basket with all the eggs.
Free time depends on a lot of factors. Some seasons I'm more busy than others. I get to work from home which is good. Hard? What do you mean, like difficult to achieve? Fuck yeah.
No, I mean, is it hard to live like this? Because when you have regular job it may be more stable (the only con).
It depends on where you are (in the world, career stage, etc). I'm doing fine. Thanks to having various avenues, there's always work to do.

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Superology
Posts: 215
Joined: 24 Nov 2022

26 Feb 2023

PhillipOrdonez wrote:
26 Feb 2023
Superology wrote:
26 Feb 2023


No, I mean, is it hard to live like this? Because when you have regular job it may be more stable (the only con).
It depends on where you are (in the world, career stage, etc). I'm doing fine. Thanks to having various avenues, there's always work to do.
Ok. Got it. Thanks a lot.

avasopht
Competition Winner
Posts: 3931
Joined: 16 Jan 2015

27 Feb 2023

Superology wrote:
26 Feb 2023
Hello to everyone. I realise that not knowing people who already make money with music production blocks me in continuing making music, because I feel like it's a stupid time spending. I am trying this and that in music since 2005 when I was 16. Back then making music was fun but now it is not. Need your advice and/ or story of your success if you are earning money with music production. I want to understand where am I moving. How looks your regular day? Please, respond. Thank you.
I can understand your problem.

It's basic psychology.

Creative cognitive tasks are typically intrinsically motivated. Extrinsic motivations (e.g. being successful) can impair creative problem-solving with intrinsically motivated tasks.

This will affect everyone differently and may be what makes commercial music production so difficult today where the creative work may be more directly interacting with the market.

Motown ran its operation like a factory but was able to do so in a way that gave a sense of separation between the commercial and creative sides. Their approach involved using listening groups to decide what was good and had the expectation that you would create dozens of tracks for every song released on an album.

As a music maker today it can be difficult to balance the two. On one hand you want to have fun, but on the other you also may want your music to connect with others.

I, and many others, have found that focusing on making what you like gives you the best chance of connecting with others. Some are quicker to do this.

I don't know what sort of music you make, but I like the way Timbaland explained it. You just have to make what you feel is good. There are times he doubted himself. But he understands that the best judge is the audience, but when making the music the best judge of what is good is what you feel about it at the moment.

And you can turn it into a process. Start some by making music you like, and then in another session (or afterwards) make commercial edits or additions. Sometimes do it the other way around. Sometimes collaborate. Sometimes assist. Sometimes compose simple structures (e.g. on guitar, or with a chord maker). Sometimes sample. Sometimes sample your own work. And sometimes interpolate what you have sampled (that means recreating your sampled track with instruments).

User avatar
Superology
Posts: 215
Joined: 24 Nov 2022

27 Feb 2023

avasopht wrote:
27 Feb 2023
Superology wrote:
26 Feb 2023
Hello to everyone. I realise that not knowing people who already make money with music production blocks me in continuing making music, because I feel like it's a stupid time spending. I am trying this and that in music since 2005 when I was 16. Back then making music was fun but now it is not. Need your advice and/ or story of your success if you are earning money with music production. I want to understand where am I moving. How looks your regular day? Please, respond. Thank you.
I can understand your problem.

It's basic psychology.

Creative cognitive tasks are typically intrinsically motivated. Extrinsic motivations (e.g. being successful) can impair creative problem-solving with intrinsically motivated tasks.

This will affect everyone differently and may be what makes commercial music production so difficult today where the creative work may be more directly interacting with the market.

Motown ran its operation like a factory but was able to do so in a way that gave a sense of separation between the commercial and creative sides. Their approach involved using listening groups to decide what was good and had the expectation that you would create dozens of tracks for every song released on an album.

As a music maker today it can be difficult to balance the two. On one hand you want to have fun, but on the other you also may want your music to connect with others.

I, and many others, have found that focusing on making what you like gives you the best chance of connecting with others. Some are quicker to do this.

I don't know what sort of music you make, but I like the way Timbaland explained it. You just have to make what you feel is good. There are times he doubted himself. But he understands that the best judge is the audience, but when making the music the best judge of what is good is what you feel about it at the moment.

And you can turn it into a process. Start some by making music you like, and then in another session (or afterwards) make commercial edits or additions. Sometimes do it the other way around. Sometimes collaborate. Sometimes assist. Sometimes compose simple structures (e.g. on guitar, or with a chord maker). Sometimes sample. Sometimes sample your own work. And sometimes interpolate what you have sampled (that means recreating your sampled track with instruments).
No, I know what you are talking about. That is not the reason. Thankfuly to you guys I found the solution. The Problem was with people around me and the lack of support. Because everyone around me told me for years that I am losing my time with music and telling me reasons, like it's a big luck to breakthrough and whatever or you can't make a living with it. So I decided to break this myth inside my head with consulting with you on this forum.

And my solution is to develop skills, try different things, the more the better. And try to earn money in different areas. Because before that misunderstanding of what to do next I was aiming to make a living with audiojungle. And you may know what changed with audiojungle so I was disappointed a bit. I was expecting passionate rich life doing music I adore the same way stupid it sounds especially with my bad english. But now I am ok with it. I will not try to hold all the eggs in one basket as people say.

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Superology
Posts: 215
Joined: 24 Nov 2022

27 Feb 2023

I will try make sample packs, beats, royalties, syncs, tutorials, albums, and so on... I wish me luck and thank you all. This forum is a good place for people like us.

PhillipOrdonez
Posts: 3732
Joined: 20 Oct 2017
Location: Norway
Contact:

27 Feb 2023

Where are you from?

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Superology
Posts: 215
Joined: 24 Nov 2022

27 Feb 2023

PhillipOrdonez wrote:
27 Feb 2023
Where are you from?
I am from Ukraine. But now I am in Canada.

PhillipOrdonez
Posts: 3732
Joined: 20 Oct 2017
Location: Norway
Contact:

27 Feb 2023

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

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dvdrtldg
Posts: 2386
Joined: 17 Jan 2015

27 Feb 2023

Superology wrote:
27 Feb 2023
I am from Ukraine. But now I am in Canada.
Wishing you all the best for any friends & family you have in Ukraine. Hard times

User avatar
Superology
Posts: 215
Joined: 24 Nov 2022

27 Feb 2023

PhillipOrdonez wrote:
27 Feb 2023
That's a very expensive country, which makes it harder to survive off music. Good luck to you.
What do you mean expensive?

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Superology
Posts: 215
Joined: 24 Nov 2022

27 Feb 2023

dvdrtldg wrote:
27 Feb 2023
Superology wrote:
27 Feb 2023
I am from Ukraine. But now I am in Canada.
Wishing you all the best for any friends & family you have in Ukraine. Hard times
Thank you.

User avatar
Superology
Posts: 215
Joined: 24 Nov 2022

27 Feb 2023

PhillipOrdonez wrote:
27 Feb 2023
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.)

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