The Magic Number
Many experts say that in order to make a living off of music - or any creative pursuit, for that matter, you will need one thousand true fans who will spend one hundred dollars to support you per year. Remember that “fan” is short for fanatic - you want people who are completely, absolutely in love with what you do and who you are. Whether you were to start making clay pots or YouTube videos or music, they would consume it and buy it from you because you made it. These people are incredibly rare to come by - perhaps one in a thousand (there’s that number again) or one in a hundred, depending on your luck - but they will empathize with you and identify with you and sing your praises, regardless of what situation you find yourself in.
For recording artists, the best way to appeal to these true, diehard fans is to make music that is high quality, unique, and authentic. In order to do this we deep dive into you as an artist: who you are and aspire to be, what your goals are, and why you’re doing it. From there we then figure out the same information about your audience: who they are, what they look for in music, and why they empathize with you. Then we make the connection through sound, between artist and audience.
The goal is to bind together the artist and the art, the art and the audience, and the artist and audience so we create a thriving ecosystem - a world to all to your own.
The Production Process
The production phase itself is an intense and exciting back and forth process between us. I keep all my clients fully involved, asking for reference tracks and brainstorming ideas as to production so the music that we make reflects who you are. We believe that authentic connections are only possible when the music is a genuine reflection of the artist. Authenticity to an artist is like water to a plant - although both can go without it for a small period of time, it is an absolute necessity. You’ll have full control over the end result of every part of the song, from intro to outro.
After the instrumental is finished, you’ll track and send your vocal parts back to me. I’ll handle vocal processing and mixing the whole track, and I’ll let you know if we need better takes. The music we make will outlive us, and we owe it to ourselves to put forth the best effort and product possible.
Finally, after you’re happy with the production and the mix, you’ll receive all the files and send it to a mastering engineer of your choice. I can refer you, if you want. I don’t have a $40,000 mastering room at my disposal and it’s not my primary talent. I’d much rather you receive the benefit of a second set of fresh ears.
The Follow Up
I may not know if a tree makes a sound if it falls in the forest, but I do know that none of this works if you don’t market and promote your art. After our project is over, I’m here to help you gather the resources you need in marketing and promotion. Feel free to reach out to me to help solve problems, consult, talk about next steps and brainstorm, even after the project is finished and released. Remember how I said authentic relationships are important? I practice what I preach.
Additional Services
I apply this same process to co-production and finishing projects. If you are a producer who wants to make a deeper impact with your self-produced art, we’ll go through this process together, adapting it to your workflow.
