There are a multitude of get-rich-quick.....how-to-write-a-hit-song....this-is-the-only-way-to do-it.... places and sites and training academy's and Schools of music...so on and so forth.

History tells everyone the actual answer.
A lot of what is needed cannot be bought other than paying someone to tell you what you already know and have not seen its importance.

What I do know works as tools that need to remain no matter how good or bad it gets:
1. Determination, never give up not matter how hard a blow life deals you. Dreams inspire, inspiration and creativity go hand in hand.
2. Do not be a clone of someone else, they already have one why would they want another that copied it?
3. Be influenced by as many people as you wish this is good but avoid copying.
4. Decide whether you want to write for the public or for the sake of the music. If you are writing your songs for the public and they are not selling which is an alarming amount of writers, why have they not been smart enough to say "Why am I not getting paid working for others?". So write for the Art and what is true to you. Read The Beatles story if you have any doubts. If you are working for others without getting paid then you are a slave. Do not be one. This includes writing for others with intent to make money.
5. Find a way you put your personality into your music, something that is uniquely you. You define yourself, not others.
6. Remember that opinions vary. It is hard because musician's rely on their emotions being put into their music to take criticism. Learn to try and become objective and see the difference between constructive criticism and destructive. Not everyone has a pure motiveless agenda. Critics are not always right. While many have credentials, everyone is a critic and 90% of them are unqualified which is most of the world.
7. Love and believe in what you do. If you do not, how can you possibly hope to get anyone else to believe in it.
8. Find your niche demographic persons. They do exist, no matter what your music preference and style is. Still write with heart and soul no matter how many followers you get. Never forget where you came from and why you chose to write music in the first place and if you cannot remember, take a holiday until you do get hungry again for music.

Welcome to the actual Music Industry... the rest is money and corporate and greed which is no different to any other corporation. Just look up Spotify's takings and how horribly the owners of their copyrighted music do not get paid properly.

Cheers

 

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Were living in a post commercial world dude, we won, we are free, let go of the old ideas, free your mind, free the music. Create and enjoy what your granddaddy couldn't have imagined in his wildest dreams... The music industry is dead. What remains is pure excrement. lol.

 

We are the Industry.
If excrement is all a person sees then I suppose that is all they will find...and if letting go of the old is the aim... The term "dude" actually died in the 90's.

 

Dude people fail to see that music is sacred it's not to be sold or exploited like the pure air we breath. So many poor souls instilled with the delusion they need to exist within those old ideologies that were unleashed by the global corporate. We need to let them go. Spotify, Apple and the like cling to the legacy of their fast withering excrement. But their time is almost through. When everyone has the power to create the value of the creative commodity drops like a sack of shit. The industry is dead.

 

Staying true to what a creator believes is the only reason to compose music. That has never been a corporate's ownership.
It is the choice of you, me and everyone that writes and creates music.

 

I can only speak from the perspective of a black hip hop artist in America. It's sad.. but artists willing to exploit themselves, to look and behave in a way that would embarass most people is the shortest route to becoming an icon. And they fall off once they make the "mistake" of thinking it's safe to behave like an intelligent human being. In America they don't support a path to fame for anything representative of strong black man unless it's funded by a wealthy black source. Otherwise it's the usual.. a black man getting rewarded to exploit himself as a feminine clown in order to influence much of the black population to do the same. It's political. It's about establishing a group of people's state of character, and not their musical talent.

 

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I am a hybrid from the Southern Hemisphere raised to appreciate the beauty in all music, art, culture, creativity and all people.
It saddens me to hear anyone tell me that the icon label in a population's mind is self exploitation.
I guess I may never be famous in that sense of the word with what you have shared and I would possibly have chosen another profession 40 years ago if I thought I had to. I did the Pop/Soul/R&B thing a lot until my 30's where I have spent my time in Jazz for the last 20+ years which is what I grew up hearing since I can remember as a tiny tot.
Through playing with a pile of people that wanted the limelight I learned what not to do.
If music is your thing and you love it to the core of your soul, then the only thing I would remotely suggest is to do it no matter what the outcome. There is no price on dignity, freedom and creative expression. If you have the gift, use it
Cheers

 

Just as a simple reinforcement, the people that you know immediately when they sing or play a few notes, have their own immediately identifiable sound.
Anyone that sounds like a copy of someone else generally has a short music life span unless they have a huge marketing machine behind them and even then it's generally only a few years. Yet history will likely not remember them.
Stevie Wonder, Sting, Herbie Hancock, Marcus Miller, Jaco, Bob Marley and I can keep going because it goes back as far as Mozart and further and History will remember them and already does.
A person cannot get more famous or iconic than being remembered by many a Century after they have gone. The Beatles started more than 60 years ago and people still talk about them yet they did not truly last a decade before they would never play together again.
Their own sound did it[and their songs of course].

 

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It's about greed at the top. As long as the wealthy ensure that mainstream music comes in the form of an intellectually degrading circus act, it dumbs down the expectations of the youth and makes it easier for those at the top to stay in charge. They are in control of the music industry in the same way politicians say "We're gonna get Americans back to work!". The people get excited when they hear it because they're too stupid know they should be offended by it. It's a pimp's message to millions of hoes eager to get back on the track and get those heels clickin for daddy.

 

I have no doubt as sure as the FDA and NRA have made no qualms about almost openly admitting they are financially greedy and pay off people, I am sure it is no different in every other area especially music.

The thing is, you still have to forget all that and remember why you became a musician in the first place. It has nothing to do with the art itself, it only means the corrupt for now are exploiting others. This has happened for centuries but they never last. Someone always takes them down.
This world of the 21st Century forgot that success is measured by achieving what a person sets out to do and everything else is a byproduct of that success. Now it is a world of required instant gratification or it is sadly rejected by much of the youth of today.
The thing is, there is always a choice. Always

 

In the eye of the unprincipled person the most abhorrent creature is the one that cannot be corrupted. Rail and rant as much as you like at those whom you regard as assassinators. It makes no difference to them. It is water off a duck's back.

When someone says to you, "Let me give you some free advice", remember it's worth what you paid for it. Should you desire to be among the great and the good, be within yourself a great role model for others to follow otherwise you shall not be successful in your quest to dethrone the mighty.

One must shift a lot of dross in order to get gold. Moreover, muck-raking Davids don't slay Goliaths through strength of argument alone. Rather, it's hours of dreary practice, self-belief and a bloody good aim with a slingshot that does the trick.

 

There is some great logic in there once I deciphered all the metaphors

Basically if a person stays true to their beliefs and creativity nobody can take their dignity away from them.
However there are good people still on this little planet we all live on that genuinely wish to help people. A lot of good people helped me and there is great worth in it. I will always believe that there is goodness in most people. The alternative is not worth considering.

 

Regarding the thread subject, which one do you guys consider as the better way of starting your work in the music industry? which one for evolving your work?

1) releasing Albums
2) releasing Albums for free
3) releasing single tracks
4) releasing single tracks for free
5) Youtube video uploading

 

@BaSsDuDe : I'm not denouncing your wisdom here. I agree with all that you said. Merely adding my perspective as one of those monsters at the top who got into fights with some absolute rotters and beat them down.

 

Identify why you want to do music for a living first. If it is because you love it and feel it in your bones to the core of your soul and you are prepared to sometimes struggle, then it is for you. If it is to make money only then musician's need to speak to financial advisers and that is definitely not me.

Truthfully, make a CD of tunes where you like them all as much as the other whether for similar or different reasons. Do not make "filler tracks" just to make up a CD. If a person is trying to make a killing on sales it rarely if ever happens these days but you can get a great following.
So pick tunes you believe in which if released other than a "demo", needs to be every single release.
You can coincide the CD or EP or single with a youtube release and most sites where you sell online have an :Advance" purchase facility where you can time your release date so it goes like clockwork with youtube, vimeo, tour dates if applicable, online media advertising etc etc...
If that is how far you wish to go i.e.

I hope that is a little helpful


Keep this in mind:
- If you do not believe in your music and do not believe it is honest, then you cannot expect to convince other people of what you do not believe in yourself.

 

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No I did not take it that way
I thought you had a really great left of center sense of approach which means you probably write some cool music too. Most musicians I know that approach from outside the square tend to.
I was actually complimenting you. I probably should have made that clearer when I said decipher

 

@metaller
What @BaSsDuDe said and everything in your list except 2) and 4).

For sure, it's nice to be generous. However, it's okay to accept something in exchange. It may be of little value - say like swapping a paperclip for a pencil sharpener. People love to trade.

Consider the tale of why shit goes tits up when free stuff is dispensed willy-nilly. It's taken from a professional negotiator training course:

Spoiler: A cautionary tale

A city dude decides to go hunting for the first time in his life way up in the snowy wastes. He gets all geared up with gun, sledge and warm clothes for the trip. Leaving nothing to chance, he sets off alone to bag a trophy animal.

Lo and behold, his diligent preparations pay off. He gets a huge moose on his first shot. Lucky bastard!

He loads the prize upon his sledge and sets himself homeward. After a while, he notices a wolf flanking him. "Oh-oh," thinks the man. "This is not good."

He cuts off one of the dead moose's ears and throws it onto the snow behind him. Sure enough, the wolf stops to consume the scrap. "Phew!", thinks the man. "I threw away a free tidbit and the wolf got more interested in that than its hideous intentions for me."

Soon, the man is somewhat dismayed to notice two more wolves closing in on his position. If one wolf were a pest, two are an even bigger nuisance. However, there's lots of dead moose on his sleigh. So, he cuts off a few more chunks and throws them away for the wolves benefit.

This goes on for a while. Wolves appear - they get a tidbit. More wolves, more tidbits. Plenty of moose for everyone and the guy gets all the way back to his cabin unmolested and rather proud of his quick thinking.

Next hunting season, he returns to the place where he bloodied his face as a great hunter. He is met by villagers. They are most angry and beligerent towards him. One of them is furious enough to threaten to shoot him dead, right there on the very spot where he stands.

"WTF?" says the guy. "Last time I was here, you were all nice and friendly. Now you're going to shoot me?"

"F'king right," says the gun-toting villager. "You spoiled everything! Now, all of us are starving to death because of you!"

"Why so?" asks the guy. "Why are you blaming me for the outcomes of lifestyle choices?"

"You don't understand!" shouts the village elder. "You taught the f'king wolves to chase our sledges!!!"

So. The moral:
even though you might think it best to give away something of little value, don't do it. You are merely encouraging the wolves to strip you bare.

 

Last edited: Mar 18, 2018

This might be your best post so far, impressive.

 

I absolutely agree that nobody should work for nothing because otherwise that means they are a slave or at the least barter or in kind. No argument.
Keeping that in mind and sticking to the belief that there are more inherently good people on this planet than bad; If someone whether me, you or someone else does not do something by example, them nothing positive gets out there.
From the way you posted I can see if someone did something for you without asking for anything in return, your karma or whatever you believe in would like to repay in kind at the least. I definitely feel that way inclined.
All of that being said, what goes around comes around and helping others if they feel I have anything of worth to offer in knowledge gained, I choose to give freely. They take it, make it better and pass it on to the next person who continues to improve it.
THAT - is my payment. Some people call it paying it forward or whatever, but a karmically inclined person will do that anyway.