Ableton Forum

I had an interesting conversation with a guy asking about music composition, seems everyone I meet is a "beat maker" or "electronic music producer". I asked what he would do if he had the ability to seriously pursue it...


If you had 24 months of bills paid and your basic EDM studio (Laptop, Ableton, MIDI controller of choice and VSTi)

What would be your approach to transitioning to full time music income?

Curious what others think.

I'd probably go slightly insane.

If income is the main objective, I would dump the VSTis, spend that money at Beatport, practice pressing play and sell my soul to any devil that would buy it.

i would write a #1 hit using the manual.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Manual

Bagatell wrote:If income is the main objective, I would dump the VSTis, spend that money at Beatport, practice pressing play and sell my soul to any devil that would buy it.

Income in the sense of making a living, not like a pop star, but 50-100k annually.

Would you mind elaborating on the Beatport comment?

c5 wrote:i would write a #1 hit using the manual.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Manual

Oh I remember reading about that (mostly the controversy it caused within the industry). I don't know if he'd have the money to hire the studio musicians, etc I will definitely direct him there.

geekbeats wrote:

c5 wrote:i would write a #1 hit using the manual.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Manual

Oh I remember reading about that (mostly the controversy it caused within the industry). I don't know if he'd have the money to hire the studio musicians, etc I will definitely direct him there.

I thought this was hypothetical. In 24 months, assuming you're just getting started I think...
First 3-6 months: Get started on basic music theory and begin learning an instrument (and continue practicing the rest of the 24 months)
Next 3-6 months: Produce as much music as possible
Year 2: Hustle, I think nowadays you have two choices to make money, either license or tour. You could either write music for film/games/commercials or download some songs from beatport, find a club and press play as stated above. I don't think it's much different from building any other business, you would have to get out there (either online or in the real world) and have people remember you for something. If this was a real endeavor you could blog about your progress, write up some tutorials, give away some free music, sell lessons, run some contests/giveaways, basically do a lot of marketing and make a name for yourself. I think with the growth of indie games the last few years, writing music for games might be a good niche, you would just have to do a lot of it.

A third option would be produce songs for mainstream artists, in which case you would probably have to do all of the above plus move to LA or NYC, write a catchy gangnam style tune and sell your soul at some point

i think the main thing is that only a small percentage of those 24 months would be spent actually writing music and most of the effort would be on the sales/marketing front.

geekbeats wrote: Income in the sense of making a living, not like a pop star, but 50-100k annually.

That's more than most pop stars.

I had that chance and blew it. I did switch to ableton and almost became an alcoholic because it crashed so much. In then end I submitted alot of tunes to pump audio only to have them accepted then rejected for some reason. Creativity is what makes an artist. It's also what destroys one. Finding your own voice in a cheese filled world ain't easy. Music is a disease. You either have it or you don't. In the end its about discipline. Good luck.

daddytang wrote: I did switch to ableton and almost became an alcoholic because it crashed so much.

Ableton destroyed my life

AA probably has a 12 step program for Ableton users.

Again, you guys are brutal

What is wrong with the OP's question?

Until I got live 8 (which was beta for most of the time I used it, then live 9 which is a bit meh, but it's stable) I wasn't doing squat. It will interesting to see where I'm at in about 18 months. I COULD do music 24/7 if I wanted to, but I never feel things are up to my standards.

Again, my software is for the first time in 100 years pretty damn stable. I'm kinda gun-shy because that has not always been the case.

c5 wrote:i would write a #1 hit using the manual.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Manual

i just read this book, the only thing still relevant (horribly outdated) is to organize the structure of your song. Other than that, the entire book is very outdated, (internet didnt really exist), its mostly them documenting their costs, of distributing, publicising, and booking studio time in 1988. Of course with new technology, internet, youtube, itunes, spotify, etc, all that is no longer relevant. Not worth reading.

The book was definitely written to capitalize on their single, and to make more money, most of the book is just them filling the pages.

CancerRidden wrote: The book was definitely written to capitalize on their single, and to make more money, most of the book is just them filling the pages.

I would say they were more of an art project (rather than a band), and the book is part of that.

Sibanger wrote:

daddytang wrote: I did switch to ableton and almost became an alcoholic because it crashed so much.

Ableton destroyed my life

I still smoke cigarettes solely because of Ableton.