Music Career and Film Career

I’ve been occupied with filmmaking lately that I wanted to wait before I write a new post. I wanted my next post to be a reflection of my entertainment career.  So here’s my reflection:

During this past month of writing my script, bringing in others to help write the script, building my crew, and researching on the overall filmmaking process and the business logistics of becoming successful at it, I came to a conclusion that the amount of time I put into 1 film will probably have a bigger impact than if I was to create several albums with a big budget (say $500k) to promote.

Why?

The problem with this music industry is that it is designed in a way where you put in Tons of Time and Money and still get no where. You can put $200 thousand into an Artist and still come empty handed. Or you can put a Million and still fail. In any other business from opening your own law practice, clinic, film studio, restaurants, and so forth, you will find that the investment have a much greater and promising return. The Artist, writers, and producers are up against “Illegal downloads, cd’s becoming obsolete, saturated market, corrupted Radio business, and no budgets”. The only cool thing about being an Artist is that an Artist can expect to perform and can make some money out of it. Well for a producer/writer, we have to rely on a companies budget, legit downloads, and “placements” to films, commercials, and etc. Well getting your music place are one of the HARDEST things any musician can do. Yea sure, you can place 1 or 2 in a year. Will that alone pay your rent, food, and expenses? You have to be consistent in placing records on a monthly basis. Well if you’re a producer that can sell your music on that level, I’d say you’re pretty much successful. I haven’t heard any new producers doing that, just only the producers that got their big break years ago who can use their credibility to get that work.

I love music. I have a passion for it. That is the reason why I’m still in it. I can complain all day about what’s wrong with this industry, but it’s not going to stop me from making music. Unfortunately, making a comfortable living out of it is not easy. Film budgets can be enormous as it is expected. And since music is needed in films and films can create so much exposure for the Actor/Director/Producer, it sounds more tangible to put more time into films than put 20 hrs into a song that may never leave the ground.

 Add Comments  |    |  Share on Facebook | 

What to look for as a Producer? What kind of Artist to Produce?

As a producer, I’ve been through the game of frustration just like many who’s been in this industry for a long time. Why not get out? Well it’s hard when you love something. However, I will advise you on how to choose your battles when working with an Artist.

Here are the top 10 things to look for to not work with someone:

1. No Motivation (What’s the point of working with someone who can’t invest time in themselves)
2. No common sense (People with no common sense are most likely to frustrate you and aren’t so loyal to you as their business principles will be different from yours)
3. Rude (Well that’s obvious, why work with someone if they can’t respect you)
4. Can’t push the time to work more than they were scheduled (If you want it in this business or anything in life, you really have to go over the edge. If they can’t do that, then they won’t be able push hard enough in music to go that far either)
5. Late on their first meeting, late on studio sessions, and overall lateness (What’s more frustrating is putting your time out only for them to be inconsiderate. You own the studio and technically paying for it. Imagine you having to pay $185 an hr for studio and they are 2 or 3 hrs late. Or they have a performance and they are late to that as well)
6. Unorganized in their lives (Their lives need to be in order so their work ethics are together. You can’t work with someone who has a messy life from drugs, to forgetting meetings, to being unreliable)
7. Can’t pay to support themselves (You can’t pay for their well-being. They have to work hard in life to make it work. There are many others who have 3 jobs to support a family and still try to be very successful.)
8. Have nothing to offer besides talent (If they have all that talent, but can’t offer money for studio time, a network of clients, or anything that you might be interested *not sex*, then you have to know that you will be building this Artist from ground up. Is it worth it. They better not have those qualities mentioned above)
9. Last Minute cancellations without a legit excuse (What I hate more than anything and what can be a vibe killer are last minute cancellations. Sick or whatever, drive overcomes a cold in a studio. If you have to cancel studio time to pick up your mother, that’s a problem. It means a lot of things. I’m pretty much 95% on point when it comes to scheduling and sticking with it especially with what is on my priority list)
10. Last but not least, choosing to go out on a party, date, or fun related instead of being in the studio (Almost like beating a dead horse, but again, if you can’t sacrifice fun for a love in your craft as they will claim, then these actions will speak louder than  words. Let them have their life as you can get someone who wants a “real” career in music)

If you see any of these signs in an Artists, you really are wasting your time. Well some are obvious and some you may question. At the end of the day, you have to understand that they have to be just as driven as you or more driven to make it work. Unless you are just making money off them for per song service or album service and you aren’t pushing them, well that’s just making money off them. But if you want to produce an Artist and create a product so your career moves up, then better choose your battle wisely otherwise you’ll just get old tripping over the same rock. Do I need to explain more? Leave me comments if you want or my forum.

 Add Comments  |    |  Share on Facebook | 

Mic Pre-amp Avalon M5

[singlepic id=57 w=320 h=240 float=] This by far one of my favorite equipment I have in my studio. I prefer this over the AD2022. Eventhough they are basically like 2 M5’s put together, it’s really not. The AD2022 uses input and output gains as uppose to the M5 which only uses the input gains. M5 have more control and precision on the +db. For me, it gives me warmth and TONS of headroom. I also use this with acoustic or electric guitars. They sound beautiful with it. It’s the cheapest for the Avalon, but I find it the most effective in my studio arsenal.

This has not broke down on me at all. I’ve had it for 7 years and yet experienced any problems. This will last for 50 + years to come in my opinion. Great job avalon for making quality equipment.

 Add Comments  |    |  Share on Facebook |