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I thought a good way to start 2021 would be to recap the top lessons I learned over the last year as a result of this podcast and my guests.  This will be a quick, but really important episode since it will not only give you some of the overarching themes from the previous year but can also serve as an index for some of the shows you may have missed. 

Top 10 Themes

1. Treat your art like a business (PLP 011 and 012 Wade Sutton, 018 and 019 Mike Allison, 026 Facebook vs. Google Ads)
2. Marketing is key (PLP 033 Reels, 040 Bandsintown, 019 Linkedin, 049 Spotify Growth, 052 Spotify Canvas)
3. Perform live when you can (PLP 051 importance of performing live, 043 Ableton vs. CDJs, 015 DJ file formats, 016 preparing tracks in Ableton)
4. … but livestreaming is a pretty OK substitute (PLP 019 Mike Allison, 020 my setup, 021 and 027 livestreaming ethics, 032 livestreaming update
5. Network for the long term (PLP 003 and 004 Loren Hardy on networking, 050 Julian Gray on multi-year process to Mau5trap release)
6. Diversity your income streams (PLP 010 affiliate marketing, 019 Mike Allison merch, plugins, and Ableton racks, 025 Richard Wang Patreon and teaching, 043 and 044 Cryptochronica on teaching, 047 Zeb Lego Fiverr gigging)
7. DIY doesn’t mean you have to do-it-all (PLP 005 finding acapellas, 007 vocals and Studiopros, 019 hire an attorney first, 052 cover art)
8. How to make better music (PLP 002 building better drops, 007 Spiderhound quantity leads to quality, 017 “multipurpose production” mindset, 028 Splice vs. Loopcloud, 035 Trap Jesus on mixing)
9. Make your music unique (PLP 007 vocal processing, 041 preset thrashing technique, 051 try your own vocals)
10. Use plugins to extend your DAW’s capabilities (022 mixing a track with iZotope, 035 Trap Jesus’ favorite plugins, 038 using RX8 to isolate vocals, 042 Richard Wang’s magic plugins )

Transcript

What’s up Heroes, welcome to 2021 AND episode 53 of the ProducerLifePodcast. I thought a good way to start this year would be to recap the top lessons I learned over the last year as a result of the podcast and my guests.  This will be a quick, but really important episode since it will not only give you some of the overarching themes from the year but can help serve as an index for some of the shows you may have missed. 

But first, cue in the intro music.

Ok, lets jump right into my top ten producer takeaways from the podcast this year.

1. Treat your art like a business. If you want this to be more than a hobby, you’ve got to treat it like more than a hobby. This has come up multiple times,  but perhaps most strongly voiced by Mike Allison who has 20+ years experience in the music industry as a DJ and producer. You can catch those episodes back in 18 and 19 where we emphasized the need for a marketing budget.  I went on to take that advice and invested $115 on Facebook and Google Ads in episode 26 and then compared the results.   Also, in episodes 11 and 12 Wades Sutton from the Six Minute Music Business podcast offered advice on branding, musician bios, and the importance of building your email list…. Which is the one thing every musician should be doing all the time. 

2. Marketing is key, which goes hand-in-hand with treating your music like a business.  I highlighted numerous tools throughout the year.  Instagram has came up several times, from episode 6 where I talked about the benefits of a business account which can give you better metrics than a personal account to episode 33 where I talked about Instagram’s new TikTok competitor, Reels, and why you should be using it. I also tried some new things and talk about the value I’ve found from Bandsintown in Episode 40, and then Mike Allison advised us to develop our Linkedin profile in Episode 19… something I’ve also followed up on.  We’ve also talked multiple times about building your Spotify streams, first with RIP KENNY in episode 49 who offered some terrific, detailed advice on how to use Facebook and Spotify ads and then again last week in episode 52 when I walked you through using Spotify Canvas to boost shares, listens, and playlisting. Spotify growth is going to be a huge push for me in 2021, and I’ll be sharing what I learn over the coming year. 

3. Perform live when you can. Most of us didn’t in 2020, but we can get ready for 2021.  Julian Gray talked about how important performing live is for growing your fan base in episode 51, and Cyrptochronica talked about his live performance setup in 43 which may give you some ideas about when to chose CDJs and when to think about using Ableton.  Finally, I talked about DJ file formats and how I prepare tracks in Ableton in episodes 15 and 16.

4.  In 2020 we learned that livestreaming is a pretty OK substitute for performing live, and the podcast definitely reflected that. I tried it… and probably many of you did too.  With 26 livestreams under my belt, I shared my insights on the podcast from how my ambitious live stream is setup in episode 20 and then provided updates in 21 and 32, with some thoughts on ethics thrown in for good measure in 27.  Mike Allison also weighed in on livestreaming back in episode 19. 

5.  Network for the long term.  Way back in Episodes 3 and 4 Loren Hardy talked about how he grew Bass Night orlando into the amazing weekly mini-fest that draws hundred of people (pre-pandemic of course) on a Monday night, and a large part of his success was his magnetic personality and his years of networking within the music industry. It was also about just showing up, week after week.  More recently, in Episode 50 Julian Gray talked about the multi-year process that led to his releases with Mau5trap, from the time he spent on discussion boards to the multiple in-person meetings with Deadmau5.  

6. Diversify your income as a musician.   If you used to be over-reliant on any one particular source of income, such as touring or music sales, that probably became super apparent in 2020.   It’s critical that you develop multiple sources of income.   For Richard Wang of 6TH STREET music, it’s teaching, dancing, and Patreon… check out episode 25. In 2020, Cryptochronica made most of his income teaching at the Producer Dojo, a producer training group and label run by ill Gates.  Cryptochronica talked about that in episodes 43 and 44.  For Zeb Lego that meant adding a new gig on Fiverr.com, a popular website for freelancing work, and he shared his thoughts and recommendations on episode 47.  For Mike Allison it means selling merch, plugins, and Ableton racks on his website and he talked about specific tools, such as Shopify and Clickfunnels, that he recommends in episode 19.  Finally, in episode 10 I talked about how affiliate marketing can be a good option for some musicians as an additional revenue stream, particularly if you have a well established website with lots of traffic. 

7.  DIY doesn’t mean you have to do it ALL.   Outsource stuff you can’t, or don’t want, to do.  It is totally unrealistic to expect the small DIY musician to compete on equal footing with big artists who have a small army of people helping to mix, master, produce, sing, play instrumentals, handle marketing, develop cover art, etc.  Few DIY musicians have that kind of budget, but you can be selective about what you outsource based on your interests, time constraints, and strengths.   In episode 5 I talked about places to get  acapellas. In Episode 52 we talked about cover art, and in episode 7 Spiderhound talked about his experience purchasing vocals through Studiopros.  Finally, in Episode 19 Mike Allison made a compelling argument that the first thing you should outsource, the first person you should hire, should be a music attorney – even before a manager.

8. How to make better music.  My two big goals for this podcast are to help you make better music and get it heard more, so stepping up your production game is big here. I talked about “multipurpose production” in episode 17 as a way of being a more efficient producer.  Trap Jesus, a Producer Dojo sensei, talked about mixing in episode 35.  In episode 7 Spiderhound shared his production process and his thoughts on why quantity leads to quality. I also talked about my reasons for swapping between Splice to Loopcloud, episode 28… primarily because of their VST plugin that allows you to rapidly audition sounds in your mix before you purchase them. We’ve also talked about taming harshness in your mixes in episode 34 and then building harder-hitting drops in episode 2 – key points were automating your mix to get a few dB quieter and less wide immediately prior to the drop, then opening up again. 

9. Make your music unique.  In Episode 51 Julian Gray advised using your own voice in the mix either as a backing vocal or pad as a way of injecting some of your own musical DNA into your mix, and then back in episode 7 Spiderhound talked about his crazy process for processing vocals by thoroughly mangling a wet version of the vocal then mixing it gradually back into the dry.  Finally, in Episode 41 I shared the “preset thrashing” technique for coming up with interesting melodic variations for your tracks by rapidly filtering through instrument presets, recording them to successive clips, then sorting and filtering your favorites. 

10. Use plugins to extend your DAWs’ capabilities, but be selective about what you purchase and when.   Both my guests and I offered our thoughts about favorite plugins, both free and expensive. Having a running list of plugins you want but don’t need and then waiting for sales is a terrific way to save money, so is looking for student discounts if you’re still in school.   In Episode 42 Richard Wang talked about his favorite plugins for taming harshness, including Soothe 2 which he called his “magic plugin.” I picked up a copy on Black Friday this year and I’ve been using it in every track since then. It’s a huge time saver.  Richard also talked about some of his favorite free plugins like Voxango Span and s(M)exoscope which is really helpful as you’re trying to learn what your signal processing is doing to a waveform.   In episode 35 Trap Jesus talked about the simple, free Gclip plugin and how to use that to get your mixes louder. Finally, I’ve offered a couple of reviews on using Izotope products for isolating and processing vocals in episodes 38 and 22 respectively. 

Thank you all for being here with me in 2020, it has been a crazy but amazing year. This was the first year for the podcast, and I had 10 guests, 52 episodes, and over 2,500 downloads spanning 56 countries!  Thank you all for joining me, this next year will be even bigger and better.  If you’ve enjoyed the podcast this year please spend a moment leaving a rating and review wherever you’re listening. I’d love to start featuring some of your comments on the podcast in 2021.  Also, if you’ve got producer friends that might enjoy this podcast, this is a great episode to share with them since it highlights some of the top lessons and interviews from the past year. 

Until next week, this is the House Ninja reminding you to be somebody’s Hero today.