1. Be unique. Be that your sound, your style even your look.
2. Stand out from the crowd. With thousands of producers saturating the market, standing out from the crowd is harder than ever. Releasing quality music using good mixing techniques and high quality mastering sets you apart from others.
3. If you’re looking to get your music played out in clubs. Make sure Djs have the highest quality masters. Often a dj will listen to a track and if the master isn’t up to standard it won’t get played. Due to it not complimenting the tracks it will be mixed with. No dj wants to look bad dropping a weak lifeless master that doesn’t support the energy of professional releases.
4. If your track has an obscure bar structure not ideal for mixing. Produce a dj edit which can be given to Djs to play exclusively. Most decent mastering houses will not charge for additional mixes to be mastered so long as the mix doesn’t change and it’s only a case of a different bar structure. A radio edit is also worth creating for radio play on commercial radio.
5. Be professional at all times. Ranting and raving online about how your mum has taken your Xbox away because you haven’t tided your room is not going to win you any fans.
6. Surround yourself with other like minded musicians within your scene. Socialise and learn from each other. Progress together and help each other.
7. Never feel you are bigger and better than anyone else. This never goes down well and there’s always someone who is more established than you are.
8. Branding. Brand yourself so people take notice. I’m talking artwork that is in keeping with your brand. Artwork that is recognisable. People will see this artwork throughout the Internet and become associated with it. By image you want people to recognise it’s you.
9. Remember when you were getting into music and that guy was rude to you because you were a noob. Don’t turn into that guy. Chances are he’s got nowhere in this game.
10. The higher up you go in the music industry you’ll find the majority of people you meet are humble and accepting. There’s a reason they are where they are. Stay humble it goes a long way.
11. Don’t release rubbish. Some may argue that every track should be released. I don’t feel this is the case. You could produce 50 tracks and release only 10 of the best. Don’t over saturate your own market with rubbish. Put out your best work. Why not create an alias for your weaker tracks.
12. Reference your tracks before release. Make sure they are of the best possible standard.
13. Never post a wip (work in progress). How many times do you see a major producer post a wip. Hardly ever if ever. This is because first impressions are important. A track will sound very different for the 1st edit in comparison to the 20th edit.
14. Don’t be scared to push boundaries. Following the trend is all well and good but why not be the innovator who sets the trends. A moto audio animals lives by is setting the trends not following them.
15. Don’t be scared to think outside the box. Approach things in an unconventional way. You never know you may just find something no one else is doing.
16. Have fun. Think back to why you first entered the music game. You loved what you were doing. Never lose sight of that.
17. Think of yourself as a business. Even as a producer you are a business and a brand that you want people to buy into.
18. Know your fans and what they want. Do your fans want post after post about your new track. Probably not. Be tactile don’t spam.
19. You can be whoever you want to be online. Even if you are most miserable person in the world and you’ve had the worst day. You don’t need to show this to your fans.
20. Refrain from swearing in posts. We all swear well the majority of us do. But this doesn’t mean people want to hear it. Some fans may take offence and unfollow or unlike your page.
21. Sit on the fence some times. Often you will totally agree with someone but must sit on the fence and side with both parties. Remember not everyone shares your views.
22. Social media is one of the most powerful tools you will ever use. Learn how to use it and how it works.
23. Aim high. Don’t settle for the first offer you have. Instead use this as leverage to get a better deal.
24. Sell yourself. Without being arrogant big yourself up and make it known that you will be an asset to the team.
25. Believe in yourself. If you don’t nobody else will. Never doubt yourself.
26. You are selling a product not just a track.
27. Produce music specifically for a label. For instance if a label releases deep house. Don’t send them drum and bass. Listen to the labels previous releases and try to produce something of a similar style in keeping with the labels sound.
28. Keep quality high. If you have your track professional mixed and mastered one week and you get an amazing reception from it keep investing into this quality sound. Last thing you want to do is reduce the quality of your music.
29. Invest into new audio gear others don’t have in order to create a unique sound. We live in an age where everyone is using the same vst synths and creating similar sound. A unique style and sound is hard to achieve. Skrillex had a unique sound. Now everyone has massive patches with his sound.
