im really curious

[Sincock]

Maybe you can just learn how to communicate effectively. If people can't understand what you're trying to say maybe you could clarify cause if the best you've got is some smart arsed comment about my name, don't bother. That's my birth name fuck face.

 

[djswivel]

Music is my only job. Engineering pay's my bills, and I'm able to live in my own apartment with no roommate in Manhattan, which ain't cheap. Production is an additional outlet. The great thing about music is you can have multiple income streams. You essentially work for yourself so there's no limit to what u can do. If you're a good businessman, the sky's the limit.

 

[The Arkitekt]

yo dj swivel, im just curious how you got into the game if yo dont mind me asking

 

[Beatz 101]

If i had no full-time job, i'd definitely make a living off music. When ur back is against the wall, you have no choice.

The bills WILL be paid.


And please believe most of them beats will be sample-free and commercial as fuck. I'd be on some Fergie/Pussycat Dolls shit.


101

 

[Griffin Avid]

@Sincock; If you don't understand something, ask about it. Simple as that.
I don't know about 'people' misinterpreting...maybe YOU didn't catch something.

So as simple as that is, what did I say that YOU are unclear about?

 

[Greg Savage]

I've been living off music for 4 years now. Not just hip hop music but all styles of music
I do a lot of Jingle work and sound designing for companies such as Native instruments and Ik multimedia

From time to time i do work with artist signed and unsigned but for the most part it's all jingle work

 

[Sincock]

@Sincock; If you don't understand something, ask about it. Simple as that.
I don't know about 'people' misinterpreting...maybe YOU didn't catch something.

So as simple as that is, what did I say that YOU are unclear about?

Well I read a whole a lot of back and forth between you and other "people" where YOU didn't make a whole lot of sense. You're right; I didn't catch anything but garbled nonsense and bad attitude.

Seeing that the rap/hip hop analogy thing has been done to death..

Rap game = drug game/sports/ colors/chicks/movies/clothing etc

At least keep it parts to a whole.

Labels = restaurants and rappers = food

Labels = car manuf. and rappers = car models.

Huh?

So maybe it was you that didn't understand.
How many people here ENJOY selling beats?

Maybe that was too obtuse?
How many people ENJOY MAKING BEATS and hope to sell them....
At 20 to 30 USD dollars a track, you're not fooling anyone. With the passion of doing folk music (hip hop is folk music) you're not cashing in anytime soon.

You spend 40 hrs a week working somewhere and consider music production your real fantasy job. Doing beats all day.... and making enough bread....to make beats all day. maybe you want to run a business that gives you the time to be home all day making beats without worrying about your bills. But that would be thinking outside the box.

How is doing what you love for a living thinking outside the box? That's probably what most people on this site dream of in some form or other. What's your point?

I like that. In a somewhat related note, lots of cats can't see anyone else unlike themselves being involved in music for honest reasons. And to be honest I don't know what honest reasons are. Some producers actually enjoy rap-club music. Just because I make something 'bangin' doesn't mean I'm a corrupt SOB. Just because I make premier type beats...

Somewhere Someone is doing something purely for money...
Signing with a sports team...
Getting married...
religion....
politics....
Having a kid...
Switching jobs...
Killing...


With all thses other motivations I don't understand, whoops, let me not say I don't understand. Someone might get hung up on that phrase. um.. It doesn't make sense...no, let me not say that either. Hold on....



I don't agree with artists/musicians that have a single 'okay' reason to make a piece of music.
The moment you decide to sell it, you're in business.
The fact that you like what you sell and every product is some kind of work of art to you doesn't change that.

WTF???? "Honest Reasons"? "I don't agree with artists that have a single okay reason"????? Seriously mate, you're all over the place like a mad woman's shit. I don't get any of this. People do things for money? Aah... okay then, Is that supposed to be a revelation? So selling beats means that someone's in business? Um... did someone not know that?

I was commenting on the fact that you're getting your nose all bent out of shape about what others are saying but not making any sense yourself. Personally I couldn't give a fuck about your inane observations.

 

[Griffin Avid]

I was commenting on the fact that you're getting your nose all bent out of shape...

"I didn't catch anything but garbled nonsense and bad attitude."
"Seriously mate, you're all over the place like a mad woman's shit."
"Personally I couldn't give a fuck about your inane observations. "

And I'm the one bent out of shape?

maybe we need 1 more quote from you...

WTF????

 

[Kontents]

Back on topic please. Keep the clutter down

 

[Relic]

i had to examine this question for myself and this is the answer i came up with for me.

i had to basically look at why i was making music. if you're making music as a business to earn money, then you have to conduct yourself in that way. you make beats that people will want to pay money for. and make a lot of them. not necessarily the most artistic, but the most profitable. it would be great if those two things fell in line, but a lot of times they don't. take little drama boi for example. its no secret he wants to make it in the industry. he does what he has to do to get his beats to sound like they belong there. he's not worried about pushing the limits of what hip hop can be, or bringing a message to the world. he makes hot tracks that are going to sell.

i personally made the choice to give up trying to earn a living making music. the music i want to make isn't suited for that. it doesn't fit into the mold of what sells millions of units. i either had to change what i was making or change my goal. so i changed my goal. i've made a lot better music since making that choice and feel like i'm going in the right direction.

so i guess my point is, if you want to make a living doing this, then act like it. get on the bandwagon. make a product that will sell and sell that bitch to anyone that will buy. all those producers who make big money (just blaze, neptunes, timbo, dre) have found their formula and they stick to it. just like mcdonalds, toyota, and microsoft do.

hell I need to print this and put it on one of those"Inspirational" posters..lol..
You know the kind with a mountain in the background and shit..

This is well put , makes sense and about where I find myself too.This just puts into words what Ive been thinking /feeling about music.

 

[LDB]

i had to examine this question for myself and this is the answer i came up with for me.

i had to basically look at why i was making music. if you're making music as a business to earn money, then you have to conduct yourself in that way. you make beats that people will want to pay money for. and make a lot of them. not necessarily the most artistic, but the most profitable. it would be great if those two things fell in line, but a lot of times they don't. take little drama boi for example. its no secret he wants to make it in the industry. he does what he has to do to get his beats to sound like they belong there. he's not worried about pushing the limits of what hip hop can be, or bringing a message to the world. he makes hot tracks that are going to sell.

i personally made the choice to give up trying to earn a living making music. the music i want to make isn't suited for that. it doesn't fit into the mold of what sells millions of units. i either had to change what i was making or change my goal. so i changed my goal. i've made a lot better music since making that choice and feel like i'm going in the right direction.

so i guess my point is, if you want to make a living doing this, then act like it. get on the bandwagon. make a product that will sell and sell that bitch to anyone that will buy. all those producers who make big money (just blaze, neptunes, timbo, dre) have found their formula and they stick to it. just like mcdonalds, toyota, and microsoft do.

^^^^ABSOLUTELY THE MOST INTELLIGENT RESPONSE I'VE READ^^^^^

It's not about "selling out" to mainstream if you prefer to do "underground" music. It's about knowing what is selling right now, today. Especially if you're contemplating quitting your day job! For those that may not know "U CAN DO BOTH"!

Just make your money on the commercial side but keep producing your underground music just in case the market changes or you find a way in anyway. You just have to understand that the industry was here waaaaay before us and will be here waaaaay after us no matter how you feel about it. The people on the inside control it so there's no way in hell you can put a dent in it "on the outside looking in".

Make a commercial album and throw a couple underground joints on it. As long as you have the necessary amount of "commercial singles" on your album the other songs are viewed as "fillers" and a couple of those "fillers" can be your underground or experimental music.

In the right DJ's hands those fillers can "pop".

In summary, do what you have to do to get in the game. You can never change it from the outside looking in. And if you want to make money in the industry you have to produce what sells. THERE'S NO OTHER WAY!

 

[Krazyfingaz]

It's not about "selling out" to mainstream if you prefer to do "underground" music. It's about knowing what is selling right now, today. Especially if you're contemplating quitting your day job! For those that may not know "U CAN DO BOTH"!

True Indeed, mofo's have to be like a chameleon and learn to use a camaflauge in certain aspects of the music business and adapt. its not selling out if your still true to yourself at the end of the day. its about knowin what people want. SUPPLY AND DEMAND. If i could quit my day job I would and soon I will be able to. i'm building with the knowledge, contacts, and tools I need to use so when I get to that point I will be able to live off of music. Its only a pipe dream if you let it be IMO.

 

[djswivel]

yo dj swivel, im just curious how you got into the game if yo dont mind me asking

The amended version is, I've been making music since high school. Loved it. Decided this is what I want to do with my life. Went to Full Sail. Graduated top of my class. Moved to NYC. Landed an internship with Duro. Worked insane hours, hustled my ass off, never knew the word no. 3 years later I'm still here, working with Duro as well as with many of my own clients.

 

[Greg Savage]

I do it for a living

 

[5th Sequence]

I do it for a living

Nnxt, I'm stoked to hear that actually. I've been trying to get into sound design for the longest time and I've had no idea where to start, or if it was something even feasible to do.

Would you mind sharing how you came into sound designing (any resources i should look into?) and even how you came about designing for Native and IK? What types of sounds do you make for them?

Honestly i've been looking into this for the longest time

 

[AFfriKkAaa]

Whats gud people...

Like was said before (I'm gna be lazy on the quotes this time...) you don't necessarily have to "sell out" to make money from beatmaking/producing if you can make both commercial & underground/experimental stuff.

I want to add that just because a track sounds experimental that doesn't automatically mean it wouldn't sell...but record companies won't take chances on beat that sounds too far left of the mainstream from a no-name producer...saying that a sick beat is a sick beat right? It almost sounds from the above posts that you all think being different is a BAD thing!! I think you can still be both artistic and successful - i.e you don't have to make pop music to be popular...

Also, for those that don't want to f*ck with the commercial side of hip hop, there are many other ways to make money from music. Mixing, engineering and even music for film & TV or post production. If you take your production seriously, chances are you had (if you haven't yet then you NEED...) to learn how to mix to get your beats sounding as good as they can and you may have learned (at least basic) engineering skills recording local MCs. There's usually a lot of up and coming or amateur musicians in other genres that need their ish recorded or mixed, don't have recording studio money & can't mix/record themselves...so these skills shouldn't be overlooked. It's not big money by any stretch of the imagination, but its something - plus you get to expand your music knowledge & develop your mixing skills which all helps your production improve...