Give yourself a chance

Diversify your artistic portfolio by doing as much as you can. It's shocking how many people consult me and tell me they have this one song and they believe in it so much. They believe in it so much that they put all their time, effort and money into it. The belief is that if they can get that song into the right hands then they will be set. If this sounds like you, then read on...

I get that the song you're pushing sounds like a smash hit and you've convinced yourself and your fanbase that this song is the one, but it takes so much more than just getting your song in the hands of the right people. The person actually has to like you and your music to dedicate their resources to you. The market also dictates what rises to the top so if you have a crappy product then you can't expect much. Also, don't believe the hype that getting a feature on a major artist's song is the way to go either. Nowadays it's easy to see when relationships are forced and social media users will gladly let you know. Remember what happened to Nasty C (a young urban youth) and Mercedes Benz.

If I was an artist I would spend all my money on ensuring I have a way of putting out the best product quickly and efficiently. Instead of always paying for studio time and beats I would do what Russ does and make everything myself. It would take me a few years to get really good, but in the long run I wouldn't be spending half as much on creating music as some artists do. I'd be able to release so much music and put out so much more work and if I am good enough, I will undoubtedly rise to the top. I've suggested this to many artists and some tell me there is no time or that they aren't interested in those technical things they just want to write songs. If you check what you spend your time on you're probably wasting a lot of it on silly crap like binge watching series or spending a lot of money on new clothes. That's none of my business but if people really want success as much and as fast as they say they do then why do they shoot themselves in the foot with such excuses?

Still with me? Great!

Now that you have a constant stream of good music coming out and you aren't paying an arm and a leg for studio time for your 4 albums, you have eggs in different baskets and you've given yourself more of a chance to succeed through the different songs. It's not easy at all, but the best things are always going to be very tough to achieve. Shout out to the people that use my studio services. I'm not trying to kill my own business, I'm just trying to let artists know that there are alternatives if they're interested.

The reason I like this method is that not only does it save you money, but it allows you to not feel so hard done by when one song doesn't go big. You can either reevaluate how you marketed that song or you can just move onto the next track no questions asked, no need to pay to re-record work. This method also gets you into the habit of putting out more work.

People often ask me how they get paying gigs and get in touch with people who will pay the artist for being an artist. I want to flip it ask what makes you think that artist has put in enough time and energy into creating great music? A lot of people want paying gigs and all they have is one project. You can't build a business on 10 songs that you released 2 years back. Let's get real. Get back in studio, drop a crap load of music and IF you're good enough you MAY get what you deserve. There's nothing as certain and controllable as hard work.

The last thing I wanted to address is whether putting out "too much" music exists. One project a year especially as an upcoming artist (in hip hop especially) is not enough. The idea is that of all your fans, 40 to 50% hear each song. This number would rise if you put more effort into marketing the track more. If you have more songs in circulation, you have more potential to collect more fans and reach a wider audience. It's simple. More music, more ears. Nowadays even famous artist's songs don't last longer than a month before all the noise from everyone else's music overshadows it.

In closing, music is an investment and we all know about the importance of diversifying our investments. Delve into different sounds and explore different ideas before you say that something isn't for you. I don't really enjoy sitting in recording sessions much, but doing that allows me to build up my client list which is what I need to grow my business. You might not be able to afford studio time, but if you can do the studio's taxes, graphic design, website design or business registration you might be able to score yourself some services for free. My point is sometimes you might need to do something you don't want to do to get the results you want to see.

SB