Quick Tip: Cast Your Net Wide
As you get your music career started it's hard to know what direction to go in. Do I use Fiverr? Do I go to Facebook groups for the fields I'm interested in? Do I try to get my music in licensing libraries? Should I release an album? What skills should I focus on?
The answer is yes.
When I started treating music as my career I tried all kinds of things to figure out what was working, what skills I should focus on, what skills I needed to build, and what in directions I really wanted to go.
I signed up for Upwork, Fiverr, Freelancer, joined Facebook groups for media production, released albums and singles, applied to calls for submission in the contemporary classical world, started a Patreon, created music for licensing, and began diving into the world of music software creation. Among many other things!
The beginning of a freelance career is absolutely a process of throwing things at the wall and seeing what sticks. These are some tips I have for figuring out where to cast your net.
1. What side of the music industry do you want to be in? There are tons of genres, lots of jobs that need to be done, clients with different needs, fans with different tastes, etc. My initial decision was to head in the direction of music for film, TV, and eventually video games (once I get over the software learning curve), to try to break in to the contemporary classical music scene, and compose music for piano students. Over time this has changed to wanting to continue writing for media, but with a focus more in trying to get into the video game world, teaching music production, and creating music software. But maybe you want to focus in being an audio engineer, starting an ensemble, becoming a recording artist, or a session musician. The choice is totally up to you!
2. Assess your skills as a musician. What are you good at? What are you passionate about? What do you want to learn? Start your career in the areas you're already skilled and know that you can pivot your business model at any time. I also will tell you that it is OK TO LEARN ON THE JOB!
3. On that note, don't wait to start your career until this or that thing has happened. Many musicians fall into the trap of "I just need to learn this thing to start." Or "I really need this piece of equipment to be a professional." This Patreon is, in part, dedicated to helping you learn on the job and teaching you to work with what you already have so you don't need to feel like you need this and that to really get started. Your business will grow and so will you. You just have to get started!
3. Engage with the platforms you're testing out. If you're on Upwork apply to jobs, if you're in Facebook job boards engage with other users, if you're a teacher market yourself and actively work on building your studio through teaching platforms and your own social media and website, if you want to license your music research the best places to do that and how to get accepted to different licensing companies*. Be active. Just being there doesn't bring people to you. They have to know you're there!
4. Even if you don't have a commission or gig at the moment, keep creating work for your portfolio. Even personal projects and music you create for yourself can be a great addition to your portfolio and draw people in!
5. You don't need to waste money on distribution. Yes, I have a couple albums that I distributed using CD Baby, but I've found that for me, as a composer for media, that just using SoundCloud has been sufficient and gotten me more traction than having my music on Spotify, Apple music, etc, which pay artists less than pennies per stream.
6. Keep building your skills! That's why you're here right? Building your skillset will help you broaden the number of opportunities open to you.
7. Regularly assess your business. What is working? What is wasting your time? What do you want to add to your business? What do you want to take away? What platforms are you finding success on? Don't be afraid to leave behind the things that aren't working and add in new things to your portfolio and services.
*A note on licensing companies: During COVID shutdowns licensing companies were FLOODED with musicians who were all at home creating music and many companies have since stopped accepting submissions (at least at the moment). Don't let this discourage you. You can still license your music on your own and it's possible you may have more luck that way than if you're buried in the depths of a seemingly endless assortment of tracks. Next week I'll be sharing the contract template I use for licensing my music.
So what are you waiting for? Go get started!!