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Working on my debut album (EDM)
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Author:  Phracker [ Tue Jan 08, 2019 6:30 pm ]
Post subject:  Working on my debut album (EDM)

I am currently in the process of launching my career as an electronic music artist. My first album will have 12 songs, all produced by me on my computer using Anvil Studio (credit for program suggestion goes to Yomu). I plan to use the freemium model: Half of the songs will be available for free on my new YouTube channel (to be created in the future) and the other half will be premium content available on the album itself through either SoundCloud or my Patreon. (Keep in mind, I've never used either of the latter two platforms before, so forgive me if I display a complete misunderstanding of how they work.)

My electronic music combines elements from several disparate genres, including IDM, drumstep, dubstep, psychedelic trance, alternative rock, electronic trap, as well as retro console game soundtracks. I am hesitant to place it in any particular genre. I think it's in a category of its own TBH. I will use this thread to document my progress on the album.

I am withholding my artist name and the title of my album until the album's release date (to prevent people from stealing them). I don't have an official release date established just yet (probably don't need one anyway, seeing as no one gives a shit about me at this point), but I'm projecting for sometime late in February. It's too early to make any promises though.

Author:  Pantsman [ Tue Jan 08, 2019 6:57 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Working on my debut album (EDM)

Lemme know if you need any help with learning how patreon and soundcloud work. Good luck in your projects!

Author:  Phracker [ Tue Jan 08, 2019 9:09 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Working on my debut album (EDM)

Thanks. I'll let you know if I have any questions. I'll probably just post them to this thread in fact. I'm really excited about this, because I've never made an entire album and released it to the public and actually used it to establish passive income. On the other hand, it's also really hard work and can be exhausting at times. Hopefully it will be worth all the time and effort I'm putting into it. There are some very novel concepts and approaches I'm trying right now, and I feel like my days as a drifter are coming to an end and my life is finally taking off.

Author:  Pantsman [ Tue Jan 08, 2019 9:32 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Working on my debut album (EDM)

May your dreams come true. Also, I drew a quick sketch of you.

Author:  YiRANiGAMBiT [ Wed Jan 16, 2019 10:38 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Working on my debut album (EDM)

how long have you been doing music tho?

Author:  Phracker [ Sat Jan 19, 2019 8:17 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Working on my debut album (EDM)

YABUJIN wrote:
how long have you been doing music tho?

Depends what you mean by "doing music". I started taking piano lessons at the age of six and started composing piano music shortly afterward (mostly really simple pieces that a reasonably talented six-year-old could come up with). I started composing more complex and structured piano music (though still not that complex) at the age of 10 and continued doing this through the age of 14, when I made a brief attempt to actually learn to read music before shifting my focus to writing compositions on a computer. I've been playing and writing music from a very early age and I don't mean to toot my own horn but I was a literal child prodigy like Mozart. This is, however, my first attempt at writing a full studio album and doing music composition as a career.

Author:  Phracker [ Sun Jan 20, 2019 3:36 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Working on my debut album (EDM)

YomToxic wrote:
May your dreams come true. Also, I drew a quick sketch of you.

Oh, and I'd like to see that sketch, just to see if you captured my likeness accurately.

Author:  Phracker [ Sun Jan 20, 2019 10:23 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Working on my debut album (EDM)

Update (January 20):

I have now been working on the album on-and-off for just over three weeks. There was a fairly significant period of time in which I wasn't working on it at all, because I realized I had gotten to the point where I was forcing myself to write music (which is toxic for any kind of creative endeavor) and I needed to take a break and come back to it when it would be fresh. I have now resumed work, and written another 2 minutes of audio since I came back.

I have made an executive decision to change the direction of the album somewhat. Rather than writing 12 songs all at once and then constructing and producing an album from those songs, I will turn what I've written so far into a prototype album and release that first at a smaller scale. Currently I have six MIDI tracks either finished or in the works. Rather than finishing the rest of the album, at this point I'm going to finish the tracks I'm working on (which would be half the album) and put them on an album of their own. This 6-track album will be my demo album, my test album, the prototype that I will use to answer vital marketing questions early in the game. This album will only be available locally, not publicly - meaning I will burn some CDs and distribute them to family and friends to see what they think. By varying different aspects of the packaging, arrangement, etc. and distributing each variation to a different person, then asking them objective questions about their experience, I will determine such vital questions as:

    - What album art is most likely to draw people in?
    - Which demographics are most likely to actually listen to the album?
    - Which demographics are most likely to listen to the album in its entirety?
    - What titles should I give the songs?
    - What approximate order should the songs appear in?
    - What are the songs that most immediately appeal to people? In other words, which are the songs I should put on YouTube and which are the songs I should provide as premium content, to be listened to when the listener has already decided they like my music and are ready to listen to something that maybe isn't what they're used to?
    - Are there any factors that will contribute to the music going viral? (I will determine this by asking if they shared it with anyone.)

I emphasize the word "objective" here. I'm not going to bother with "Did you like it?" because no one's going to answer that question honestly or informatively. I'm going to prefer questions like "Did you listen to Track 5?", etc. because those are questions that I can actually use to answer the vital marketing questions listed above.

I fundamentally believe that the reason most artists fail to make a living off their work has nothing to do with anything inherent to the creative fields and everything to do with the fact that these artists suck at marketing. In fact, not only are artists notoriously bad at marketing, but they're bad at it on purpose - they intentionally avoid learning business and marketing skills out of the fear that it will compromise their artistic vision. I'm taking the opposite approach, because I think this is a worthwhile compromise. After all, what good is an artistic vision if only a tiny handful of people ever views your paintings, listens to your music, or reads your poetry? You're not going to touch many lives or touch many people's hearts unless you have it where it counts, and that's marketing. Business and marketing skills are just as important to the creative process, if not more so, than either creativity or technical skill.

Also, I'm buying the second extension multipack for Anvil Studio. I've decided it's a worthwhile investment asset. It costs a lot (a lot for me considering my budget anyway), but it will allow me to make better music, which will bring in more money in the long run. I had to convince my mom, who manages my finances, to let me have the money to spend on the upgrade, because she doesn't think I'm going to get much of a return on my investment, again, because of the problem I described above, where most artists fail to make a basic living wage from their work because they suck at marketing.

Author:  Pantsman [ Sun Jan 20, 2019 8:20 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Working on my debut album (EDM)

Phracker wrote:
YomToxic wrote:
May your dreams come true. Also, I drew a quick sketch of you.

Oh, and I'd like to see that sketch, just to see if you captured my likeness accurately.


Here ya go.
Image

Author:  Phracker [ Mon Jan 21, 2019 6:00 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Working on my debut album (EDM)

YomToxic wrote:
Phracker wrote:
YomToxic wrote:
May your dreams come true. Also, I drew a quick sketch of you.

Oh, and I'd like to see that sketch, just to see if you captured my likeness accurately.


Here ya go.
Image

Oh, I was expecting to see a drawing of that photo I posted of myself with the C64. I guess this is more in the conceptualism realm.

Author:  YiRANiGAMBiT [ Sat Jan 26, 2019 3:14 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Working on my debut album (EDM)

Here ya go.
Image[/quote]

haha this is great !!

Author:  Pantsman [ Fri Feb 01, 2019 2:38 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Working on my debut album (EDM)

YABUJIN wrote:
haha this is great !!


Lemme know if you want one. Mention any specifics you need?

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