What We Do: www.darklabelmusic.com Get 1-on-1 business management: rb.gy/alxfwk Join "The Producer Files" for free: rb.gy/wybbxr The Music Pro Daily Business Podcast: rb.gy/veyhay
I'm a music producer/numbers person. Best video on youtube. Thanks DLM. Will be back once I've hit 10K. Currently sitting at 2K. Burnt out and ready to expand. Cheers!
Hey Ginger, thanks for watching! I did a little research and found your website. Was curious to know if a lot of your work is coming from platforms like AirGigs? Haven't spoke much about this on RU-vid yet (and this particular video is about 4 years old) but the trend we've been seeing for the past 12 months or so is that the "producing as a service" market is... Let's just say... "Getting pretty rough" lol. ie. "I can produce, you need a song, hire me." It's pivoting more towards "I'm going to pay Ginger because I feel like that will get me farther along in my career than if I don't pay Ginger". Slight difference, but huge impact on our producer's businesses. Hope that little bit of data helps in regards to how to be thinking about this career moving forward. And as always, feel free to reach out via our website if you have any questions or just want to chat. Have a good one!
@@darklabelmusic most of my work comes from upwork and Fiverr, although AirGigs tends to have higher paying jobs. Just want to make sure I understand what you’re saying. Basically as time’s passed, instead of an artist hiring any producer, they’re hiring producers based on how much they can help the artist?
Correct. The “gig economy” business model for producers is phasing out. It’ll still exist of course but it’ll be a ride to the bottom. It’ll get to a point where the economics just won’t make sense. I’ll be doing videos on this soon.
Also want to add… It’s not necessarily about how much the producer can “help” the artist. I mean, yes that’s important and inferred. What I’m referring to in my original reply is more around “perception” as well as tangible value.
We’re seeing producers lean into working with a smaller core group of artist-clients on a retainer based model and going all of the way with them vs hustling for random one off gigs (that generally aren’t that well paid to begin with) and are at the mercy of these freelance platforms that can change things on a whim. Those sites are totally great for a producer to get some experience and get their feet wet + earn some side cash. Not so great for building an actual career.
Thank you for sharing...i have a question...for someone already selling beats who would like to add your model as his main source of income and still keep his beat selling business, would that require a new brand?(new website logo, RU-vid channel etc) or can both of them co exist under the same brand name umbrella
Thanks for watching! I've never ran any business with the mindset of "money comes later" but I think I understand what you're saying. The fundamentals / skill set has to be there first. Branding is generally one of the first steps, but it grows and morphs over the lifespan of a career. I can do some content about that. Generally when I am working with a producer on branding there are 3 pieces we look at... Brand Identity (what things look and sound like), Brand Messaging (what things say ie - their content, site, how they speak, etc.) and Brand Experience (Community, the actual.process of working with them, etc). If I had to throw in a "quick piece of brand advice" I'd say that a lot of producers on the internet have a very anonymous brand (as in we don't know who the person is... it's just beats and graphics and "stuff"), Some will be able to pull off the "I'm mysterious thing" but most won't.... They'll just be invisible (big difference).
Hey Angel! Thanks for watching. Couple of ways we increase our rates... 1) Demand... More people know we exist and want what we do. 2) Offer... Offering something worth paying $1250 for. It's less about the "who" and more about the "what". The general advice I give is spend less time on trying to "find" clients that pay $1250 / song and create an offer that is worth $1250 / song. This other video dives into that a bit more... ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-pWWeUibb-tM.html
And sorry... Unfortunately I can't help ya with the hiring thing. I don't run a production company anymore. Our entire team went solo and I do business consulting full time now and don't want to compete with my clients.
I'm 18, have been making beats and trying to sell them online since 13-14... I've been looking for a way to sell my producing services and offer more to artists... I'm currently reading a book by Alex Hormozi and was struggling to figure out a way to apply it to producing, but it looks like I've found it... This model is definitely a way better business model for producers instead of selling beats online which is a commodity nowadays that anyone can find... I have an artist that's signed to an indie label that I think will be a good person to pitch this to as my first client.. I'm also lucky to have sort of built a connection with a local studio in my city (Toronto) that has artists that will definitely be interested in this... I also feel like this model will bring back more of my love for producing. Thanks very much for this video!!!
Glad you found the video helpful, Jeff! Feel free to reach out on our website if you want any more guidance on getting set up with this correctly. Thanks for watching!
hey man, I love the idea of this but I have been engineering and producing whole songs for people, mixing, mastering, recording, all of that for my clients in my bedroom for $20 an hour... and I have just recently upped my prices from $10 to $20 an hour. How do I convert my brand to this business model when I've been doing this for alot of the artists, who im now pretty close with, for WAY cheaper than this ^ model? Would really appreciate anyone with business knowledge to give me some feedback!
I'm not at 10K per month, but i started at about $10 an hour. Now I"m at $60 per hour. Over the course of the last year, I gradually upped my prices. I feel this is the best way to raise your prices because your belief in yourself grows as you raise your prices. Hope this makes sense! Feel free to share your stuff. Would like to hear.
🚨Hey friends… We recently created "The Producer Files" to provide producer-songwriters with business strategies from the trenches, in-depth classes (not on RU-vid), and interviews where producers share how they make a living. It's all 100% free. You can learn more here: rb.gy/wybbxr