Mixing, artwork, and how a creative team can take you to the next level
- Bigger World
- Aug 4, 2019
- 3 min read
A lot of independent artists I know are very talented, like really dope, I mean it. The thing is though, when an artist struggles to establish their identity and claim their territory in the music game, their songs get drowned out by the echoes of a million others.
As an artist, we often put so much of ourselves into a song and take the response to each individual aspect so seriously. Have you ever sent your song to a friend, gotten a pretty good reaction, but got hung up on one aspect of criticism? Probably. Maybe the mix was too loud, or part of your vocals didn't sound exactly how they should sound, or maybe your artwork just didn't fit the track. It's easy to get hung up on these little criticisms on a small scale, when really, they should be factored mostly into future projects.
If you're an artist, there's already so much to do. First we have to write a song... I mean that is what being an artist is, right? Writing the music? I think so, but when we're measuring our success by streams and likes, we add so much more the artistic process in the hopes of scrounging some online traffic. Now, rather than just making the music, us artists have to create content for every platform; or we're sleeping.
When the goal is to have your songs be heard by others, it's easy to get caught up in the little day to day actions that end up taking a lot of time and returning minimal results. Forget this. Work on music.
When it comes to really earning fans and attention on your music, the best way to do this is to tap into your strengths. Building a team of artists around you who specialize in an area you lack is essential to growing as an artist in 2019. If you're a rapper, don't you think your time should be spent rapping? I'm the first person to recommend people to mix their own music, but if you're an amazing rapper who doesn't understand how to compress your vocal, you should find an engineer to help you. Not only will this take you to the next level by having professional quality tracks, but you'll actually save time where you can focus on your core strengths.
Building a catalog is essential, and bringing other talented artists into your circle will help you build this exponentially quicker than if you tried to learn it all yourself.
There are semi-professional mixing engineers who can mix and master your track for you much better than you could at the time
PRICE: $20-40
Designers who will create visuals and artwork for your songs so you won't have to keep making song covers on that bootleg copy of Photoshop you have-- yeah, you!
PRICE: $10-50
Spotify playlist curators who can connect you with networks of listeners in your relevant genre, taking your streams from 50 to 5,000.
PRICE: $15-75
Producers who will work with you and your sound to develop your artistic vision into something unique and unheard of. Leasing beats from your producers will give you access to such a wide range of instrumentals, otherwise unavailable in the "Youtube Free Beat" category.
PRICE: $20-50**
When it comes to developing your artistic vision, we often bottleneck ourselves by failing to invest in our brands. The best rapper is going to go unheard of in today's age if they're unable to establish a presence and stay active on a release schedule. Connecting with other artists who specialize in these areas will allow for you to take your art to the next level and save time for you, as the artist, to create more.
Thanks for reading, more to come soon
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