In the last few weeks, the music industry has scrambled to figure out livestreaming. Whether it’s major artists starving off their boredom on Instagram Live or artists trying to replace touring income, everyone is trying new things and learning as they go.
The questions I hear most artists asking is where to put their energy, what to expect from it, and how to do it. If you’re wondering the same, these nine questions will help you find answers.
When things are going well in our music careers and personal lives, it’s easy to think we’d be able to stay just as productive and creative during times of crisis. But when life gets tough, our ability to write songs, practice, or even think about music is challenged. Creativity can help us cope through times of stress, anxiety, and loss, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to embrace. No matter what you’re going through, the following tips can help you approach musical creativity in a positive way through rough periods:
Even under the best of conditions, musical collaboration can be hard to pull off. During times when musicians can’t meet in person, it’s even tougher. Aspects like body language and in-room chemistry are difficult to translate during remote collaboration sessions, not to mention the hurdles of technology. But despite its challenges, remote music collaboration has resulted in creative work that’s gone on to change the world. With patience and planning, you’ll be able to make your long-distance musical collaborations productive and exciting. Here are five tips to help:
Whether it was normal for you or not, writing and recording from home have become an unexpected necessity due to the COVID-19 crisis. As musicians, creating from home presents many challenges that we may not be used to. Distractions like roommates, family members, pets, and other things can make creating music from home especially hard. It’s not easy, but by managing our time we can make room for music in our lives at home.
In the age of streaming, more singles and EPs are being released than albums for various reasons. The first reason is that albums are costlier to make and production takes a longer time. Singles and EPs, on the other hand, are quicker and cheaper to make and are a great way to test new styles. The release process is no different than the production process on this front. With singles and EPs, it is easier to customize the release process and make it as engaging as possible. Here are five steps to prepare your single or EP for a release:
Starting a music career with big, irrepressible ideas and goals can be a great thing for an unestablished musician. On the other hand, sustaining a serious career in music is a massive challenge for many. It’s important for musicians to understand their dreams in a healthy and positive way when things get tough. As you progress in your music career, it’s crucial to break down big hopes and dreams into small, actionable goals. A dream of yours might be to get signed by your favorite label, but what exactly does that mean? Are you looking for a partner to help you promote and sell your music? Or are you more interested in teaming up with a producer to help your work stand out?
Creating short-term goals will help give you attainable targets to shoot for and clarity on where you are in your career and where you want to go. If you’re unsure which short-term goals to shoot for in music, here are a few realistic ones to consider:
Music takes on two very different identities. The first is what a song or album means to the person who created it. The second is how the world interacts with musical work. When a musician throws money, energy, time, and love into a project, it makes sense why getting negative feedback can be hard. Allowing criticism to impact who you are as a person can lead to negative consequences for you and your music. Learning to navigate and accept criticism with grace is a crucial survival skill for all serious musicians.
With the availability of streaming data for artists, the first week after releasing your music can provide important indicators. Your number of listeners, how they listened, and how your music may fit into larger playlists are all examples of important streaming data. Moreover, the insight from the data can also help you visualize potential projects for the future. Your first week of data is an essential indicator of whether you will get placed on major playlists or not. For these reasons, it is useful to have a strategy for your release in order to maximize your streams. In this article, we will look at four strategies to craft a successful first week:
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