Money, that's what i want

[Dunwho]

I hate it when things come to this but recently i have had no other option.

This is a request for info on how to capitalise on a lot of hard work that has been everything from a hobby to a passion for me for the last 5 years.

The only thing that is not been for me is a money-maker, and i was happy with that - money just gets in a way and can drive a person to ignore a natural progression in order to pursue more profitable things...

However in recent times it has been a lot tougher to say the least. I returned from a year in Paris to an Ireland that did not have much to offer in terms of work and no real prospects of any kind. As a student I have a security from the reality of unemployment at least for another year and a half if not more... my problem is that i have some growing money issues and no ways of putting it right...

Yet i do have 5 years of music that has some commercial potential and i am unsure as to how i can get the most out of it without being super famous...

Does anyone out there know of any good ways of getting music sold, good sites, free publicity, official/unofficial web based music and radio stations, .... any good methods/techniques in getting merchendise sold at gigs, cheap merch ideas.....


Im looking for anything with a profit right now, that i can, as an unsigned artist, capitalise on....

Everyday i am slowley but surely moving towards 0euro in my bank account and the slow stream of DJ gigs and live performance gigs do not keep me afloat in any way......

I honestly wouldnt be asking this if i wasnt running out of options... Id like to keep to my romantic ethos so far that i make "music for the music" but the reality is that the country is in the shit at the moment and ive got to get creative if i want to get by.

Any help? please?

Thanks

[BrotherLovesDub]

1. Get a real job pronto
2. Don't count on making money making music
3. Make something you love then do something viral like use your tracks to back some video or commentary and post it to youtube etc.
4. Put your pride aside and sell-out. Make cheesy remixes of Lady Gaga and Johnny Cash, put current events to music, etc. Be creative and try to hit on something current to get some pageviews. Maybe someone will go on to check out your other stuff.
5. Seriously, stop trying to get paid making music. You either have to commit to making the stuff you love for the love of music or you have to sell-out and go commercial, then worry about the stuff you really love.
6. Schmooze, kiss ass, blowjobs etc. This is how most people get ahead in life. If you're not out networking, shaking hands, etc, you're not doing enough. Nobody gives a shit about the millions of home producers, you need to get out and network. Sell yourself but first let others sell themselves to you. Make them think they're amazing then hit them with your own stuff. Repeat. This is a tried and true method. It's not what you know, it's who you know.

[Dunwho]

1. Get a real job pronto
Exactly why im in this... we dont have real jobs here anymore, i got laid off from mine and am having trouble getting a real job that will allow me to be a student and give me the time to do my assignments. Things are pretty shit here at the moment, were pretty much only afloat because were in the EU, we would be Iceland if it wasnt for Europe.

2. Don't count on making money making music
I never did... exactly why i pursued it as a passion up until now..

3. Make something you love then do something viral like use your tracks to back some video or commentary and post it to youtube etc.
That is a good idea... and i accept that i will need to sell out to an extent in order to drive traffic to my sites...

4. Put your pride aside and sell-out. Make cheesy remixes of Lady Gaga and Johnny Cash, put current events to music, etc. Be creative and try to hit on something current to get some pageviews. Maybe someone will go on to check out your other stuff.
Good call, some grunt work like that may get me moving a bit.

5. Seriously, stop trying to get paid making music. You either have to commit to making the stuff you love for the love of music or you have to sell-out and go commercial, then worry about the stuff you really love.
The thing is that i do perform live and love it, however i dont seem to capitalise on the merchendise side of things... getting people to buy CDs or something like that...

6. Schmooze, kiss ass, blowjobs etc. This is how most people get ahead in life. If you're not out networking, shaking hands, etc, you're not doing enough. Nobody gives a shit about the millions of home producers, you need to get out and network. Sell yourself but first let others sell themselves to you. Make them think they're amazing then hit them with your own stuff. Repeat. This is a tried and true method. It's not what you know, it's who you know.

The harsh reality... i know only too well


Id be the first to admit that i am too proud to lower myself to that level..



I should perhaps underline the fact that i am not looking to make a living out of this, but it is more just me looking to make something if even just a few bucks a month.... but something... and then grow from that...

[/QUOTE]

[bas_I_am]

Ask yourself - "Do I want to make a living making music, or do I want to make a living being the center of attention?"

You need to be honest with yourself, as 99.9999999999% of people making a living making music are not doing it being superstars, but as commercial artists or teachers.

Here's what I would do - search out videographers of all types: weddings, adverts, business training films. Get your foot in the door anyway possible. Get your mitts on their proofs and build a portfolio putting your music to their images. Operate on the premise that you look good only when they look good and your music is not the center of attention.

Ever since my sister was working the estee lauder counter at a local department store, she wanted to be a makeup artist. Heres what she did:

She started working weddings - doing the brides and bridesmaids.
She parlayed that into doing makeup for adverts produced by the local cable tv vendor for spots they sell to neighborhood businesses.
From that she started working with advertsing firms working on commercials for large regional enterpises: banks, grocery stores chains. Thats where the money really began to roll in.

Currently, she makes a very good, steady living as a makeup artist in corporate training films. At the same time, she does big studio films at least 3x a year when there is a need here in the washington DC area. Furthermore, she is a free lance makeup artist who regularly contracts with MTV. She doesn't make stupid money but she does very well (alot more than my father ever thought she would) and has met some very interesting people (Sting, Bono, Springsteen, Gorbachev, Speilberg, just to namedrop a few)

Lastly, I am probably the only guy in the world who can honestly say, with pride:
"My sister did both Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich in the same day"

[bas_I_am]

oh yeah - learn to program a computer

[Dunwho]

Originally Posted by bas_I_am

Ask yourself - "Do I want to make a living making music, or do I want to make a living being the center of attention?"

You need to be honest with yourself, as 99.9999999999% of people making a living making music are not doing it being superstars, but as commercial artists or teachers.

Here's what I would do - search out videographers of all types: weddings, adverts, business training films. Get your foot in the door anyway possible. Get your mitts on their proofs and build a portfolio putting your music to their images. Operate on the premise that you look good only when they look good and your music is not the center of attention.

Ever since my sister was working the estee lauder counter at a local department store, she wanted to be a makeup artist. Heres what she did:

She started working weddings - doing the brides and bridesmaids.
She parlayed that into doing makeup for adverts produced by the local cable tv vendor for spots they sell to neighborhood businesses.
From that she started working with advertsing firms working on commercials for large regional enterpises: banks, grocery stores chains. Thats where the money really began to roll in.

Currently, she makes a very good, steady living as a makeup artist in corporate training films. At the same time, she does big studio films at least 3x a year when there is a need here in the washington DC area. Furthermore, she is a free lance makeup artist who regularly contracts with MTV. She doesn't make stupid money but she does very well (alot more than my father ever thought she would) and has met some very interesting people (Sting, Bono, Springsteen, Gorbachev, Speilberg, just to namedrop a few)

Lastly, I am probably the only guy in the world who can honestly say, with pride:
"My sister did both Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich in the same day"

Hahaha brilliant!

Yea i know.. I am involved in a lot of media related enterprises... i do dabble in things other than music and so i get to know people outside of the music scene and have found that they are more willing and interested to co-op and experiment than those within the music scene... its like they feel less threatened or something - and as a result i find myself more emphasised as the only music guy in a room of film or photography guys and gals... thus i stand out... thus people are more interested... and things grow from there.


If i may hijac my own thread for a moment...

I guess the big question that is being hilighted here is that of commitment.

It has been pointed out that 99% of the time a career in music is fairly impossible... and i am in agreement with that. Though that is not to say that, as Bas-i-am pointed out, a career in music means world stardom and hot chicks backstage after a 3hr marathon set to 80,000 screaming fans... I would happilly live my life as an artist who manages to sell his work so as to get by in life.

But is that possible in music? A photographer or painter can spend their time creating work and then selling it at a high price to a willing buyer - wheras a musician must sell himself or herself to an audience as much as possible in many different places for a fraction of the price a painter/photographer would get for one piece of work. It isnt really an option is it?

What is the non-famous side of being an electronic musician or producer?? Sound engineering? production and recording of other bands? soundtracks etc?


And if we come back to the start of this thread - how can i apply this to me profiting in any way right now? or at least in the near future?

I have already pointed this out but it has to be said that first and foremost right now i am a student of French and Art History at University.... once i qualify with my degree i can then figure out what i want to do with the years i have left in my life... but what i have right now is 5 years of work that i feel can be made available at a price to a willing market and there is no reason why i cannot try and get as much out of that as i can without devoting my life to it and giving up my student life. ... what i do in "life" will happen - i dont really plan this or that, most stuff just happens and i go with it.. though i have always gone with what i am passionate about (hense why i study art history and french, not exactly falling into a high paying salary with that qualification) and i am deeply passionate about the music i create and the photos i take.

The time will probably come when i will decide to give it a whack, take a couple of years and devote myself as much as possible to the art - see if i can get a foothold and guarentee a couple more years after that...


And i dont think it would be rediculous to think that there are many more people here who would either consider such a thing or have done in the past - who have taken that chance and learned something from it.

maybe there are those that didnt take the chance and regret it?

I may not have much else to choose from if things keep getting worse here so i think it is worth at least considering my options..