Post by Audiozoo on Aug 3, 2017 21:00:52 GMT
Confessions
I need to write this article because I do not know if I’ll even have another opportunity to do anything else. I don’t know if and when it will or not be taken away from me.
While I am aware that the ideal business foundation would be one free of unsecured foundations, that is not the situation I am in.
You are seeing a person who is just trying to make the best of an okay situation.
Okay right now, possibly not so okay tomorrow. Or the next day. I don’t know if or when it will fall apart but I’m doing what I can with the opportunities I have around me, right now while I can.
I’m 34 years old.
I live with my parents.
Those two lines alone are enough for anyone to write me off as a failure.
Should I stop writing there?
Well, no, because.. I’m still breathing.
I’m alive, and while I am, I have two options.
Either I can think about what I can’t do, or I can think about what I can do.
I’ve been trying to become a successful music producer for 17 years. It was a childhood dream, aged 15 I wanted to be a music producer. I didn’t give up since.
Here I am, unemployed, not even special enough at music production to have a record deal or song released on a record label. I didn’t achieve my goal.
Having said that, the best decision I’ve ever made in my life was to change my mind about my goal. I didn’t necessarily quit music production, but I quit hoping to be successful at it.
At least, not ‘successful’ in other people’s eyes.
I DID become good at the things I wanted to become good at.
I did learn to make music in multiple genres.
I did learn to play a melodic instrument, when I was about 10 years old I felt drums was not enough because I wanted to learn about melody because songs I was hearing on the radio didn't only contain percussion elements. I’m fortunate enough to have a drummer as a father, so I got into drumming from age 3.
Anyway, this article is supposed to be about my flaws, not my successes. I want to point out some of my flaws, because I came to the conclusion today that I am not in an ideal situation for business success, but I am just doing the best I can with what options I have.
I want people to understand that Audiozoo isn’t based on a foundation of perfection.
I think this is why I have been uploading recordings with mistakes in.
Mistakes can be looked at in two ways. Either you can focus on the negative outcomes of a mistake, or you can identify the positive outcomes of a mistake, and if anything at least learn from it. If you’ve ever touched a flame then you probably had more reluctance to do it a second time.
I call myself a ‘mentor’ of some kind. This is not because I am a ‘qualified’ mentor, it is not even because I am giving myself that title in a competitive form, I call myself a mentor because I’m willing to help others where i can. If someone else can help them more than I can, I will point them in that direction.
You don’t have to be the best at being a friend, to be a good friend!
Anyway, again I want to stay on topic. Before I started Audiozoo I was wasting my life playing Skyrim.
I had technically ‘wasted’ 17 years of my life by trying to become a music producer. If my ‘progress’ on SoundCloud was the best I had to show for my life’s work, that is a horrendously embarrassing fail. That’s my confession.
Here’s the deal, I wanted to do something more with my experience. Even if it wasn’t necessarily what I had been aiming for in the past. I was willing to try something new.
Something based on my experience, and put it all to good use, instead of playing Skyrim & Prototype and thinking about trying to get a 9-5 job in a field that doesn’t even make use of my past efforts. In England we don’t use the word ‘resume’, it’s Curriculum Vitae. CV. This is the document you hand to a potential future employer.
I couldn’t put SoundCloud on there.
So I was ****ed. Proper ****ed (quoting ‘Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels).
So yeah, if you’re looking for a really cool person who is young, rich and famous, I’m not the guy.
But.. if you want to learn how to produce music, yes, I’m not the only person who can help with that, but I’m willing and I don’t charge money for it.
If you want to be a successful music artist, there are two things you need right now. Either you need to get better at presenting your music, or you need to have some help in getting it discovered by listeners.
I am NOT the BEST at presenting music, but some people who aren’t as good as me at it, could benefit from my help. So I’m here for them. It’s not for everyone. Many people are better at it than me. But you’ll probably have to pay them to get some help in improving your music’s presentation. I call it ‘Artist Development’ and I do it for free, simply because I can relate to the struggle that artists go through.
The hard part is, not everyone is used to having constructive criticism, so while I’m willing to give it, I need to confirm that someone is willing to hear it and take it positively, or it won’t help achieve anything.
Why me though? What gives ME the right to give anyone constructive criticism? It’s not like I’m a successful artist....
It’s simple as this - like I said before, my advice isn’t FOR everyone. It’s for those who think I’m worthy enough to give it to them. You can decide that for yourself. At the end of the day, I only consider my advice to be an opinion, not an objective fact that you need to turn up that synth or turn down that kick drum.
I just thought I’d watch Usher’s song ‘Confessions Part 2' to help me figure out how I’m gonna even write this article.
The main thing you need to read is:
I’m a fuckup. (<- highlight to reveal. WARNING: explicit language.)
Sorry for the bad language, but you need to know it.
Audiozoo is me trying to fix that.
That’s basically it.
It’s up to you if you want to be part of it or not, but in my honest opinion I think there’s something seriously wrong with this music industry, and I want to do what I can to change it.
I know it seems like a crazy thing to dream about, what, an unemployed washed-up producer wanting to ‘change the music industry’? That’s crazy talk.
Except... it’s happening. It’s been happening for the past 2 months now.
And as long as my father doesn’t ruin it (he basically thinks that "just talking to people on the internet" is a threat to my mental health), it will keep happening, and this industry WILL change.
What change am I even talking about?
The type of change where we don’t have to even use the word ‘unsigned’ anymore.
Why do you need to be signed to a record label, when you really only need a fan base to get your music heard by?
I mean no disrespect to an awesome label i have recently become associated with since starting Audiozoo (6tetra4 - who DO actually care about their artists and don't only offer single song release deals), but this is a realisation I came to before I started Audiozoo.
I said to myself - I have wanted for about 3 years, to be signed to a record label.
But I have seen friends get songs signed to record labels, and months later, the artist uploads a song to Soundcloud and has to use cloudkillers to get comments and listens. THAT IS WRONG.
If an artist is skilled enough to get a song signed and released officially, they should not need to go back to the ‘unsigned artist’ stage.
THAT is specifically what I want to change.
So what I’m trying to do is, give artists what I call ‘orbital’ promotion, instead of ‘firework’ promotion.
Fireworks go off, they shoot up, they explode, they look nice, they disappear and the only way entertainment is maintained is to launch another one.
But we are talking about PEOPLE. Human beings, who have spent their lives learning to make music, finally got good enough and then they are replaced by the next artist and forgotten about. That’s not acceptable.
So I’ve put my own music career on hold to ensure that I am able to remember these artists once they have reached a certain standard. This is why I do ‘roster tours’. I return to the artists I’m supporting’s pages on a monthly basis.
I don’t WANT to talk about what I’m doing well, I want to keep going on about my flaws, because I believe that it is in overcoming flaws that we become strong.
I didn’t spend much time in the gym. I spent much time in front of the radio, listening and trying to figure out how I could get my music to sound more like that. No matter what genre.
I’ve gotten it wrong so many times, but I've always seen improvement. That is why I do not fear mistakes, I embrace them. I have an interest in creative risk. I learned chords by closing my eyes and hitting keys (not hard, just random note selection) on the piano to hear what the combinations sounded like. So I will use the exact same method in everything else I do. Some things work, some things will fall flat on their face. This is a warning: Expect me to fail sometimes. Do not expect Audiozoo to always get it right as a company, but there is one thing that will remain consistent- just like I sometimes lost my way, I always came back to what is most important in this game;
Music.
I need to write this article because I do not know if I’ll even have another opportunity to do anything else. I don’t know if and when it will or not be taken away from me.
While I am aware that the ideal business foundation would be one free of unsecured foundations, that is not the situation I am in.
You are seeing a person who is just trying to make the best of an okay situation.
Okay right now, possibly not so okay tomorrow. Or the next day. I don’t know if or when it will fall apart but I’m doing what I can with the opportunities I have around me, right now while I can.
I’m 34 years old.
I live with my parents.
Those two lines alone are enough for anyone to write me off as a failure.
Should I stop writing there?
Well, no, because.. I’m still breathing.
I’m alive, and while I am, I have two options.
Either I can think about what I can’t do, or I can think about what I can do.
I’ve been trying to become a successful music producer for 17 years. It was a childhood dream, aged 15 I wanted to be a music producer. I didn’t give up since.
Here I am, unemployed, not even special enough at music production to have a record deal or song released on a record label. I didn’t achieve my goal.
Having said that, the best decision I’ve ever made in my life was to change my mind about my goal. I didn’t necessarily quit music production, but I quit hoping to be successful at it.
At least, not ‘successful’ in other people’s eyes.
I DID become good at the things I wanted to become good at.
I did learn to make music in multiple genres.
I did learn to play a melodic instrument, when I was about 10 years old I felt drums was not enough because I wanted to learn about melody because songs I was hearing on the radio didn't only contain percussion elements. I’m fortunate enough to have a drummer as a father, so I got into drumming from age 3.
Anyway, this article is supposed to be about my flaws, not my successes. I want to point out some of my flaws, because I came to the conclusion today that I am not in an ideal situation for business success, but I am just doing the best I can with what options I have.
I want people to understand that Audiozoo isn’t based on a foundation of perfection.
I think this is why I have been uploading recordings with mistakes in.
Mistakes can be looked at in two ways. Either you can focus on the negative outcomes of a mistake, or you can identify the positive outcomes of a mistake, and if anything at least learn from it. If you’ve ever touched a flame then you probably had more reluctance to do it a second time.
I call myself a ‘mentor’ of some kind. This is not because I am a ‘qualified’ mentor, it is not even because I am giving myself that title in a competitive form, I call myself a mentor because I’m willing to help others where i can. If someone else can help them more than I can, I will point them in that direction.
You don’t have to be the best at being a friend, to be a good friend!
Anyway, again I want to stay on topic. Before I started Audiozoo I was wasting my life playing Skyrim.
I had technically ‘wasted’ 17 years of my life by trying to become a music producer. If my ‘progress’ on SoundCloud was the best I had to show for my life’s work, that is a horrendously embarrassing fail. That’s my confession.
Here’s the deal, I wanted to do something more with my experience. Even if it wasn’t necessarily what I had been aiming for in the past. I was willing to try something new.
Something based on my experience, and put it all to good use, instead of playing Skyrim & Prototype and thinking about trying to get a 9-5 job in a field that doesn’t even make use of my past efforts. In England we don’t use the word ‘resume’, it’s Curriculum Vitae. CV. This is the document you hand to a potential future employer.
I couldn’t put SoundCloud on there.
So I was ****ed. Proper ****ed (quoting ‘Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels).
So yeah, if you’re looking for a really cool person who is young, rich and famous, I’m not the guy.
But.. if you want to learn how to produce music, yes, I’m not the only person who can help with that, but I’m willing and I don’t charge money for it.
If you want to be a successful music artist, there are two things you need right now. Either you need to get better at presenting your music, or you need to have some help in getting it discovered by listeners.
I am NOT the BEST at presenting music, but some people who aren’t as good as me at it, could benefit from my help. So I’m here for them. It’s not for everyone. Many people are better at it than me. But you’ll probably have to pay them to get some help in improving your music’s presentation. I call it ‘Artist Development’ and I do it for free, simply because I can relate to the struggle that artists go through.
The hard part is, not everyone is used to having constructive criticism, so while I’m willing to give it, I need to confirm that someone is willing to hear it and take it positively, or it won’t help achieve anything.
Why me though? What gives ME the right to give anyone constructive criticism? It’s not like I’m a successful artist....
It’s simple as this - like I said before, my advice isn’t FOR everyone. It’s for those who think I’m worthy enough to give it to them. You can decide that for yourself. At the end of the day, I only consider my advice to be an opinion, not an objective fact that you need to turn up that synth or turn down that kick drum.
I just thought I’d watch Usher’s song ‘Confessions Part 2' to help me figure out how I’m gonna even write this article.
The main thing you need to read is:
I’m a fuckup. (<- highlight to reveal. WARNING: explicit language.)
Sorry for the bad language, but you need to know it.
Audiozoo is me trying to fix that.
That’s basically it.
It’s up to you if you want to be part of it or not, but in my honest opinion I think there’s something seriously wrong with this music industry, and I want to do what I can to change it.
I know it seems like a crazy thing to dream about, what, an unemployed washed-up producer wanting to ‘change the music industry’? That’s crazy talk.
Except... it’s happening. It’s been happening for the past 2 months now.
And as long as my father doesn’t ruin it (he basically thinks that "just talking to people on the internet" is a threat to my mental health), it will keep happening, and this industry WILL change.
What change am I even talking about?
The type of change where we don’t have to even use the word ‘unsigned’ anymore.
Why do you need to be signed to a record label, when you really only need a fan base to get your music heard by?
I mean no disrespect to an awesome label i have recently become associated with since starting Audiozoo (6tetra4 - who DO actually care about their artists and don't only offer single song release deals), but this is a realisation I came to before I started Audiozoo.
I said to myself - I have wanted for about 3 years, to be signed to a record label.
But I have seen friends get songs signed to record labels, and months later, the artist uploads a song to Soundcloud and has to use cloudkillers to get comments and listens. THAT IS WRONG.
If an artist is skilled enough to get a song signed and released officially, they should not need to go back to the ‘unsigned artist’ stage.
THAT is specifically what I want to change.
So what I’m trying to do is, give artists what I call ‘orbital’ promotion, instead of ‘firework’ promotion.
Fireworks go off, they shoot up, they explode, they look nice, they disappear and the only way entertainment is maintained is to launch another one.
But we are talking about PEOPLE. Human beings, who have spent their lives learning to make music, finally got good enough and then they are replaced by the next artist and forgotten about. That’s not acceptable.
So I’ve put my own music career on hold to ensure that I am able to remember these artists once they have reached a certain standard. This is why I do ‘roster tours’. I return to the artists I’m supporting’s pages on a monthly basis.
I don’t WANT to talk about what I’m doing well, I want to keep going on about my flaws, because I believe that it is in overcoming flaws that we become strong.
I didn’t spend much time in the gym. I spent much time in front of the radio, listening and trying to figure out how I could get my music to sound more like that. No matter what genre.
I’ve gotten it wrong so many times, but I've always seen improvement. That is why I do not fear mistakes, I embrace them. I have an interest in creative risk. I learned chords by closing my eyes and hitting keys (not hard, just random note selection) on the piano to hear what the combinations sounded like. So I will use the exact same method in everything else I do. Some things work, some things will fall flat on their face. This is a warning: Expect me to fail sometimes. Do not expect Audiozoo to always get it right as a company, but there is one thing that will remain consistent- just like I sometimes lost my way, I always came back to what is most important in this game;
Music.
