OD HUNTE MUSIC PRODUCER

OD Hunte | London | Producer Platinum Writer | Mixer | Remixer

The Financial Facts of Beginner Music Production (Guest Blog)

08/08/2012 17:24

One of the things that can be frustrating to a lot of individuals looking to get into producing music is that a lot of the required software and hardware is expensive. It can be frustrating to want to make House, for example, only to find out that even the lower-level entry software is near or into the three digits.

The problem this generates for a lot of companies making the software is high piracy rates. FL Studio is a frequently pirated audio production program, and that's probably a pretty big issue for Image Line to deal with when they're looking to profit from their work, especially given that the demo allows you to export songs created in a single session to mp3. C'mon, pirates!

But the sad fact of the matter is that many of them are not pirating the software with the intention of simply stealing from a company - some of them genuinely want careers, want their music to find its way into clubs, onto television, onto someone's poker.de playlist. But that software barrier, when removed, means some go on to make it, and then buy the software they stole because they can finally make it past the catch 22 of "no money, no software, but no software, no money."

But making money with music is now both easier and harder than ever. The internet means being able to sell music on Beatport, on Bandcamp, and on iTunes, and more platforms in addition to this. It's an exciting time to be a musician, as there's little need for labels if you don't want them, but it means a lot of self-promotion to survive amongst the millions of artists who are doing the same thing as you. So bear all of this in mind, and remember - musicians have it tough, but work hard, pay your dues (or pay in advance, this is also a good thing and the right thing to do) and self-promote like crazy. Good luck.