How in the heck do I make music for a living

[untitled]

VG music is prolly right up yer alley actually

yeah, just make sure (anybody who wants to get into VG music) to have a nice and varied portfolio which shows your uncompromising vision... and choose a team with which you would absolutely like to work with for decades on and off... I think VG music can be a very tricky business (literally) and you need some life xp before getting into it. + you WILL have to learn a lot of software and acquire technical skills

btw i think SoundCloud is godsend for getting feedback from people who's music/ambient compositions you actually appreciate... for all the other things (promotion&shit) there is youtube

[mr3]

Ya the game music approach could be a great thing to keep pushing alongside the other things you've got cooking. I actually stream your Bandcamp while playing games after turning their music off in settings. Hey don't laugh at me, I heard that. LOL anyway I've worked with people that came from the music industry to do bfd budget games, sometimes go back to music-making and even production, and then I've seen people do the indie game approach from the ground up. The only difference between the two that I've seen is what you're saying you've been doing--keeping at it. I think you've got 95% of the overall problem solved n times over--the actual music, at least for my ears. I'm sorta naive so I think the rest follows as long as you keep the faith, but...I'm a complete hack at actually making music myself By the way that in-a-beautiful-van remix was block rockin.

[Waterbagel]

I think you've got 95% of the overall problem solved n times over--the actual music, at least for my ears. \

You're not wrong!

Yeah, Cupz, your toonz rule for sure. You definitely have your own style. You just gotta take it to market! The VG route is definitely one to consider. Look for open-source VG projects and ask if they wanted music (even if for free, would help to build a portfolio in the short term).

Don't do the free thing for too long, though. For one, you don't want to sell yourself short. Two, it kinda makes you the guy that makes the whole industry suffer. People accepting shit pay/no pay encourages venues/clients to keep doing that. It's probably a bigger deal in the live music scene than something like this, but so it goes.

[2020k]

Seeing that Forbes just released an article stating NO 2014 RELEASE has sold a million copies in the United States, it's obvious now more than ever that the musical landscape has changed so much and we need each other.

Growing up, I took to technology really quickly. The response to my music being released online has been good and I've networked with a lot of musicians (both on Twoism and outside of it) that I'll cherish for life, but it's amazing how much my online connections have paralleled in the realm of live gigging too. There's an importance live music and presenting your craft in the real world. You get to know people and they get to know you. Local musicians are extremely nice, genuine, and helpful people and so are the local audiences who come out to support their region's musical scene.

Be present. Be present digitally and physically.
Be resilient. Be resourceful.

Expand your network.

Think artistically, but think in the realm of business as well. Business is an art in itself.

The last piece of advice is the most important piece: Don't quit being yourself or try to change your art to suit something.

DO NOT DO THIS. This is suicide in every artistic fashion.

For every person that tells you something sucks, remember that's their ears translating what they're hearing and there's billions of people in this world, and we all hear things and interpret stimulus differently. One person in the industry says your music is unmanageable? The next may say differently. Every pair of ears are different. Every brand is different. Take every thing constructively and build and progress your art for you, your art & the muses that surround it are an extension of you and you need to stay true to yourself, through it all, or you've already lost.

I'm still fumbling my way around, but this is what I've learned so far.

[jcnporter]

Just a general point, I read 'You are not a gadget' by Jaron Lanier following someone mentioning it on here (this has happened a lot recently - why I love this forum) and was totally taken with the idea that the internet should be composed of creative endeavours - writing, music, whatever, that others pay to view (apparently how the internet was originally conceived to work). This would then create a 'middle class' of people able to live off their creative achievements, which is essential to make the whole thing sustainable.
At first this seems a very 'establishment' view, but actually is quite radical, given that we are heading (very much like the real world is heading) towards a corporatocracy, where most of the wealth is captured by a minority and everyone else essentially works for a pittance, if anything.
For some reason, as consumers, we've bought into this idea, in fact a generation has been raised on it. Why not? Free stuff! But we've been fooled - it's a disaster for producers of anything - nothing more than old fashioned rentierism.

[Lens Larque]

The last piece of advice is the most important piece: Don't quit being yourself or try to change your art to suit something.

DO NOT DO THIS. This is suicide in every artistic fashion.

I'd like to clarify my point that a working musician might have to make some sacrifices at first, and that compromises like playing a trombone at a top hat club to make a few bucks might reveal new ideas and insights.