Advice on getting signed.

[Sonika]

Isn't most of the money in live shows nowadays anyways?

[ehbes]

Isn't most of the money in live shows nowadays anyways?

Yeah

[Huts]

I tried to word this so I didn't sound like a twat, so if that's how it comes off sorry in advanced lol.
It would seem logical to me (since im not signed, have no followers etc) that just focusing on making quality tunes and getting them to the right hands would benefit you more than having 10 different social media outlets where you methodically watch your follower count. However a lot of the time I log on facebook I see producers like compa, koan sound, chestplate, sleeper w/e, giving away tracks at x amount of followers. Or I think about how mt eden (lol) grew to stardom off a horrible track on youtube. Are the number of views and followers really that irrelevant? I'd like to think so because I'd hope one day the quality of my tracks alone would be able to get me somewhere not the number of plays my track has, but I can't help but think in this day in age they're both maybe not equally important, but you get my point.

[deadly_habit]

see these are already established producers just padding out their followers and mailing lists

[deadly_habit]

Isn't most of the money in live shows nowadays anyways?

it's nothing new, it's not nowadays
money is in performance, merchandise, and licensing your work not the actual releases
the releases open the window for that
it's why you have long established acts able to release studio grade albums for free or pay what you want and still make money based off of say special limited number collector pressings of the albums, merchandising, and touring based off that material
ie: bassnectar's latest release and merchandising packages
http://www.bassnectar.net/vava-voom/
those physical merchandise options are the real money makers, add that up with having sell out shows and a booth say selling that merch at shows...

also when you have all those followers you can use them to sway who gets booked locally with a simple tweet or fb status update, it saves them time and work as the fans will do the work for them by putting pressure on local promoters
it's an ingenious business strategy

[Sonika]

So Burial probably doesn't make very much money at all, seeing as he doesn't play out.

[deadly_habit]

compared to what he potentially could be making if touring and merch etc
yes
though i'm sure he makes a nice chunk on royalties as there are multiple types and they don't depend on physical sales

[lloydy]

So Burial probably doesn't make very much money at all, seeing as he doesn't play out.

Why has it got to be about money?Yeah lets be honest and say most of us would like to get rich through making tunes but isn't it more important to get our music heard.I would much rather people were actively listening to my music whilst i was juggling my job and the music thing at the same time then make a shit ton of money then become lazy with it.

[Sonika]

So Burial probably doesn't make very much money at all, seeing as he doesn't play out.

Why has it got to be about money?Yeah lets be honest and say most of us would like to get rich through making tunes but isn't it more important to get our music heard.I would much rather people were actively listening to my music whilst i was juggling my job and the music thing at the same time then make a shit ton of money then become lazy with it.

Ah no it's not about money for me! My life goal is to be able to support myself through my music, but I'll be perfectly content if I can just do it a lot as a hobby and have to support myself through some other job. Getting "rich" or "big" through music isn't really a goal of mine.

[garethom]

So Burial probably doesn't make very much money at all, seeing as he doesn't play out.

Didn't Kode9 say that Untrue sold 400,000 copies (mostly CD's)? Or was it 40,000 haha?

Hear his ambient stuff in the background of programs fairly often, plus Untrue & Burial always seem to get a repress, he's probably doing alright for himself.

[deadly_habit]

So Burial probably doesn't make very much money at all, seeing as he doesn't play out.

Why has it got to be about money?Yeah lets be honest and say most of us would like to get rich through making tunes but isn't it more important to get our music heard.I would much rather people were actively listening to my music whilst i was juggling my job and the music thing at the same time then make a shit ton of money then become lazy with it.

Ah no it's not about money for me! My life goal is to be able to support myself through my music, but I'll be perfectly content if I can just do it a lot as a hobby and have to support myself through some other job. Getting "rich" or "big" through music isn't really a goal of mine.

then you're much better off making music for commercials/film/tv or stock type stuff than any edm genre

[lloydy]

then you're much better off making music for commercials/film/tv or stock type stuff than any edm genre

In all fairness though deadly there must be at least one edm producer out there making dough from just putting out tunes isn't there?It can't be a complete myth that theres no money in this what so ever.

[deadly_habit]

it's far and in between
like i said the money isn't in the actual releases, that's a one time paycheck
you see continued royalties from writers royalties, also club and radio play royalties
it's all about how you do business
also keep in mind most companies pay quarterly, so you're only receiving 4 checks a year per release

[didi]

So Burial probably doesn't make very much money at all, seeing as he doesn't play out.

Why has it got to be about money?Yeah lets be honest and say most of us would like to get rich through making tunes but isn't it more important to get our music heard.I would much rather people were actively listening to my music whilst i was juggling my job and the music thing at the same time then make a shit ton of money then become lazy with it.

This x10.

I don't reckon I'd have the balls to do this music thing full time. I'd be over the moon with a couple of vinyl releases every few years, and djing local.

[deadly_habit]

http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/ ... alties.htm

here this should explain the basics on how you earn money via releases, the different types of royalties etc

[Earjax]

My best tip would be: Make good, original music

[Mad_EP]

I think it should also be cleared up that being a professional musician RARELY is from a single stream of income.

Of course there are going to be exceptions to the rule if you look hard enough, but in general a professional musician makes their money from several different sources, as well as changing those sources over time.

I make some money from club gigs, some from advances and royalties from records...but I also am a classical cellist, a cello teacher, get compositional commissions from time to time, and I also do freelance audio editing. However, 15 years ago I was making my money from classical quartet gigs and producing the Chicago Symphony. As a musician it is always changing. I know I can't play clubs forever (or more importantly, I will start to feel like an idiot playing clubs past a certain age)... so I am doing the very overdue task of getting my publishing in order, as well as starting a new performance & educational venture, and trying to make contacts in film scoring, etc.

[Sonika]

So Burial probably doesn't make very much money at all, seeing as he doesn't play out.

Didn't Kode9 say that Untrue sold 400,000 copies (mostly CD's)? Or was it 40,000 haha?

Hear his ambient stuff in the background of programs fairly often, plus Untrue & Burial always seem to get a repress, he's probably doing alright for himself.

Oh yeah I'd love to get Burial on vinyl now that I finally got me a turntable!

So Burial probably doesn't make very much money at all, seeing as he doesn't play out.

Why has it got to be about money?Yeah lets be honest and say most of us would like to get rich through making tunes but isn't it more important to get our music heard.I would much rather people were actively listening to my music whilst i was juggling my job and the music thing at the same time then make a shit ton of money then become lazy with it.

Ah no it's not about money for me! My life goal is to be able to support myself through my music, but I'll be perfectly content if I can just do it a lot as a hobby and have to support myself through some other job. Getting "rich" or "big" through music isn't really a goal of mine.

then you're much better off making music for commercials/film/tv or stock type stuff than any edm genre

Why? I said I DON'T make music for money - it wouldn't be that interesting to write film score or w/e

[Huts]

Ah no it's not about money for me! My life goal is to be able to support myself through my music, but I'll be perfectly content if I can just do it a lot as a hobby and have to support myself through some other job. Getting "rich" or "big" through music isn't really a goal of mine.

Why? I said I DON'T make music for money - it wouldn't be that interesting to write film score or w/e

little misleading

[Sharmaji]

Why has it got to be about money?

Rent. Plus beer doesn't buy itself.