🎛️ Music Production Talk: Lose the Ego

This is whole philosophy isn't even really exclusive to music production, but boy is it relevant. As I'm constantly running into these situations time and time again, I thought it would be a great subject to touch on and discuss.

Rather than speaking in more of a linear fashion, I'm just going to give you guys a bunch of sort of free-write experiences/scenarios individually that I experience with folks in the music industry, and then maybe try to sum up a closing statement at the end. I'm hoping not to take a chunk out of anyone's self-confidence, as much as I'm trying to offer some honesty about how diluted we can get against how things work in the real world. Sometimes harsh truths are hard to swallow, but doing so results in a much more practical approach to success and happiness.

Over-confidence is built right into some genres by default. Rap, hiphop, pop, rock - all of these sort of 'rockstar status' genres - they breed a frontman (or woman) who is just expected to exude this massive ego. This kind of works when the individual (or band) is very famous and successful with their music, but on a local level it just really doesn't translate. Even more so, in a professional environment. Yet somehow, local artists seem to have no problem wearing this badge of entitlement, just for being an artist.

Trust me, it's not charming.

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I see this a lot at the studio. Artists that come in unprepared/unpracticed, come in with booze/drugs, food/drink, their entourage, ask for free services/content, etc. All of this extra baggage that really has nothing to do with the service they are about to pay for or the music they are making.

Even when it comes to releasing music, you see musicians/bands who release full-length, 20 song albums on a local level. Full album art booklets, photography, box sets, autographed (that one always makes me laugh a little). C'mon. Look, I have no right to judge, but you're shooting yourself in both of your feet to release something like that at an amateur level. There's really no reason to do this if you are serious about your music other than just self-serving your own ego. I always advise artists to start with a few EPs. They're faster/cheaper to produce, less assets overall graphically and musically to worry about, allow the artist to grow with their music without losing coherency, and the frequent releases (instead of one big one) will keep people's attention.

We get so lost in the title that we sometimes forget why we make music in the first place. If your image is more important than what you're doing musically, you should reevaluate your priorities.

I'm not even just ragging on artists here, because some producers are the same way. I've seen producers try to sell their amateur-level beats made on a pirated copy of FL Studio for thousands of dollars. I've seen producers refuse working in this genre or that genre because it's 'not something they do'. I've seen producers that charge hundreds of dollars per hour to record in their mom's basement on their 5-year old laptop. Point here is that just because you see something done in the higher tiers of the industry you're in, it doesn't mean this model should, or would, apply to you.

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Even as a whole, musicians inherently chase this idea of 'making it'. So often we are completely blind to opportunity presenting itself right in front of us because we are too busy with the unattainable goal off in the distance. I can confidently say that letting go of becoming 'famous' or 'making it' was one of the best things I could've done for my career.

Over time, I listened to my music, and came to the conclusion that my music (Elpi5) isn't really marketable to the masses. It's a niche genre. It would be silly for me to chase fame off of what I do as Elpi5. Is it bad music? I'd like to think it's not horrible by any means, but giving up on trying to make it into the next Deadmau5 allows me to focus on actually finding some folks who might really appreciate it. It might be a couple hundred people, not thousands or hundreds of thousands, but those people actually matter, as opposed to just casting this horribly wide net that grabs no one. That allows me to build connections and relationships that are actually lucrative.

So what do we do?

I'm not really here to tell you the 'right' way to carry yourself, because I'd be kidding us all if I said I had it all figured out. But my bottom line here is if you're going to do nothing else, humble yourself.

For some reason, when it comes to music we have this completely unrealistic view of how things should work. I watched a great vlog entry by @meno the other day talking about how comparison is a joy killer, or as I've heard it more familiarly, envy is the thief of joy. But these philosophies tend to focus upwards. I think it's equally important not to compare downwards either, or put yourself on a level of entitlement.

We can become delusional in thinking that these pop stars and hot shots are what we should build our model of success after. In my opinion, base your model of success off of any other job or career. Just starting out recording with minimal equipment? Charge enough for you to make minimum wage. Who cares what the big producers in the industry are charging. You're not them. Get the experience first, buy better equipment, and go from there.

We are so afraid of facing these overarching existential truths that make us feel small. On an absolutely grand scale, we are small, no one is special or above anyone else, our weaknesses are abundant, our minds are never full, and our education is never complete. Now, I'm sure some of you are going to chime in about how we all do matter, yada yada, and I would totally agree with you if we're talking on a small, personal scale. If you put human kind under a microscope, you see the cause and effect happening constantly. One person can have a huge impact on another persons' day; life is very fragile and impactful in this way. But on the grand scale, if we were to remove ourselves from the equation in any given scenario, life would find a way to fill that void and move forward.

In my case, if someone didn't find Elpi5 (or any of the other artists I produce) and enjoy what I did, they would've found someone else to like. If @rockchickjen's album and @beardedegghead's EP wasn't getting mixed and mastered by me, they would've hired another producer. If I didn't happen to be conveniently present while @aggroed and @isaria were in need of an in-house producer/sound engineer for Steem Monsters, someone else would've come along to take the job. If Torches Academy didn't exist, all these kids would find another way to learn. Someone else probably would've outlined the same thoughts in another post on Steemit somewhere down the line, if it hasn't happened already. Life halts for no one.

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Does this take away from what I do? No, of course not. I'm proud of what I do and what I'm capable of. But it makes me grateful to have the opportunities that I have, and to live a life of humility knowing that if it wasn't me, that opportunity would've presented itself to the next producer in line. I come prepared to my jobs, I don't screw around with unnecessary baggage, and above all, my ego will never come before my work.

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@harrisonmir