Why you should invest in yourself & not a new watch
Investing in your music career is absolutely crucial to maintaining long-term success within the EDM industry. Sure, you can spend your hard earned dollars on a new Rolex, a fancy car, or a 3-day vacation to Ibiza. Or alternately, you have the option of investing time (and even money) into your music career to improve your chances of success as a producer. For anyone genuinely serious about their career, the preferable option out of those two is extremely simple. Therefore in this article, we’re going to discuss why (and how) you can invest in your music career. After all, learning a skill and becoming a master of production takes a lot of time & effort.
Firstly, setting goals is a great way to realize your true potential as a producer within the music industry. That said, they should remain realistic so you don’t end up burning out mentally. If you know your ambitions, it makes it much easier & efficient to create an effective roadmap that leads you towards success. Also, put a time frame on each one so that they must be accomplished within a certain period. This essentially ensures that you will work towards them instead of procrastinating.
Once you have set goals for yourself as a music producer, following your intuition is incredibly important. You basically have to do what you believe is right for your career. Of course, you will make mistakes along the way. However, that’s just a part of the road to success. Understand & be empathetic towards others so that you can understand their objections or points of view, whilst maintaining a strong vision as to where you want to take your career. If you choose not to follow your intuition, there’s a good chance that you’ll end up simply regretting not doing something.
Investing time in your production talent is something that is incredibly important. The more time you spend on your craft, the more skilled you build. Every single day of the year (where possible), try and ensure that you are spending multiple hours perfecting your music, learning new theories or networking with like-minded producers for collaborations and remix opportunities. Being in the music industry, you should be wanting to use your time as a catalyst to progressing your career to the next level. Instead of watching Netflix or doing something else which is unproductive, use that time to watch FL Studio tutorials on melody, music theory, or anything else that you may struggle with.
It’s also crucial to build confidence in yourself within the music industry. Develop a strong & comprehensive understanding of consumer behaviours, how to read crowds whilst playing a show, and so much more. After all, you should want to accelerate your career by becoming confident and proficient in the majority of aspects within the music industry that you’re involved with.
Although books may not be your thing, podcasts and YouTube tutorials are a great way to learn new skills. After all, there is the ability to search for pretty much anything using the internet in the modern age. A constant thirst & desire for knowledge is what will allow your career to become more fruitful (both personally and financially) due to the recent knowledge acquired. For example, you could spend time learning how to pitch your music to big artists in the hope of an official remix. Granted, you’ll probably get rejected by the majority of people. But all it takes is one remix for your career to drastically change.
Another great way to invest in yourself is simply by taking care of your health & fitness. By making sure that your mental & physical performance is great, it allows you to focus more time on your craft without being distracted by things such as feeling sick or depressed regarding the progress of your career. If you do struggle with anything mentally, try to find the root cause so that you’re able to eliminate the problem and continue being productive. Likewise, if you are physically unwell, take time off from producing so that your body & mind can recover.
Next, simply choosing to be happy instead of depressed can have a massive effect on both your health & music production career. Instead of focusing on the bad things in the world & your personal life, try and focus on the positives. For example, instead of dwelling on your song not doing well in terms of Spotify plays, think about the amazing weekends you have with friends & family. A famous quote says that “the key to being happy is having the power to choose what to accept, and what to let go”. Ultimately, you have to manage your time in a way that allows you to do things you love – instead of things you may not have a passion for. Whether it’s music production, songwriting, or simply jamming in the studio, doing what you love every single day for the rest of your life will allow you to be happier in your music career.
Finally, getting a mentor can be a great way to progress your career, whilst regularly being evaluated by somebody else. As you are held accountable to someone, there is often a constant desire to please them with amazing results. As they are giving you regular guidance on how to accelerate your career to the next level, there is often an emotion of persistence and dedication when people get a mentor as they want to be coached into the best possible person that they can be.
Investing in yourself is a great way to progress your music career. Instead of going out every night, or watching Netflix all day, spend more time on your music career so that you’re able to create a fruitful career in the long-term.