I've been thinking a lot lately about how many of us got into music production. For most bedroom producers I know, it started with just messing around a pirated copy of FL Studio, maybe GarageBand, just making weird sounds at 2 AM because it felt good. Somewhere along the way, though, we started thinking every project file needs to become a finished track, every loop needs to hit streaming platforms. But what if we just... didn't? What if we went back to making music like we did in the beginning—just for the hell of it?

There's something that happens to your brain when you're deep in a session with zero intention of sharing it. You know that feeling when you accidentally make something cool while just experimenting? That's your brain on pure creativity, without the part that's constantly asking "is this good enough?" or "what genre is this supposed to be?" The science backs this up too, creating without pressure lights up different neural pathways than when you're trying to finish something "properly." It's like the difference between jamming with friends in a garage versus recording takes in a studio.

When you take away the endgame of releasing music, you also take away a lot of bullshit that kills creativity. No more A/B testing your mix against reference tracks for hours. No more worrying if your sub bass will translate on phone speakers. And honestly? No more dealing with the absolute dumpster fire that is releasing music in 2025: the playlist politics, the algorithm games, getting 0.003 cents per stream while some AI-generated "chill beats to study to" rack up millions. The industry is more fucked than ever, and sometimes the healthiest response is to just opt out entirely.

The mental health angle is real too. Sometimes after a rough day, I'll just open Ableton and make the ugliest, most dissonant thing possible. Other times I'll loop the same four chords for an hour, just tweaking filters and reverb tails. It's like journaling but with sound. You're processing stuff, but through faders and automation lanes instead of words. And unlike therapy, it's free and available 24/7. The music becomes a snapshot of your headspace, and honestly, most of those snapshots don't need to be public.

Look, I'm not saying stop releasing music or that sharing your work is bad. That will be ridiculous. Just trying to ease the pressure if someone are stressing themselves about the output like I've done so many times. Having a folder called "Just Because" or "Nobody Will Ever Hear This" on our hard drives is ok, be at peace with it and you'll feel good about it instead of guilty. Make garbage. Make masterpieces that only you'll ever know about. Make that weird fusion of genres that would get roasted in the feedback thread. And here's the thing: let them stay unfinished. I've got about 2.5 hours of unreleased rendered material across dozens of project files, and I'm completely at peace with it. They served their purpose the moment I made them. Not every musical idea needs to become a finished comercial ready product, sometimes they're just sketches, therapy sessions, or experiments that helped you figure out something else. The point is, your DAW is your playground first, don't let convert it into your auto-explotation factory.

TL;DR: Making music just for yourself, without the pressure to release it, is liberating and good for your mental health. The music industry is a mess right now, so having a folder of unfinished tracks you'll never share is actually healthy.

 

^^^^
Post of the Year for sure and imho ,
it is moments like this that I am glad I joined this community long time ago

 

Thank you!!!

 

Couldn't agree more. At the end of the day music is expression, not just another task to be completed or made to please others.

 

THIS, THIS is the path to mental happiness (in world of AI),

only remaining question is, how can "bedroom producers" perform fully immersive "jamming with friends" (without technical obstacles),
in order to reach the mental state of flow, jamming must be spontaneous and realtime

 

I'd rephrase it a litte:
Enjoying music just for yourself (doesn't matter if making, or playing along covers etc..), without the pressure of recording it, is liberating and good for your physical and mental health.

 

I too began on a warez'd FL Studio 7 to help a tutor student work on his big 10th grade project on the documenting his writing of a Dubstep song in or about 2007. That kick started my return to music production and I am so grateful his choice to go with music or I might not be where I am today.

That said, I just do what I do at in my room for the great joy that it gives me. The only deadline that I've allowed myself is regarding the Non-Contest thing on this forum which has been a very productive exercise for me. Other than that the only ones that hear my singer/songwriter tunes are my neighbors and passersby on the quiet street below our garden, a few folks here on these pages and the birds as they eat seeds and nuts at the feeder. My baseline blood pressure is 110/70 with a pulse rate of around 62 beats a minute...no worries about music here.

 

I think the process is the same whether you release it or not. The experience is very therapeutic though, and reason enough to do it.

 

There was once a book called "Life Without a Boss and the State." If you think about it or remember it often, it quickly becomes clear what the music industry actually does: I make free sound banks for synthesizers, no work pressure, no pressure to succeed, no competitive spirit; you could say I'm artistically free.

Unfortunately, some users think that can't be good, because otherwise it would cost money. As you can see, the Cruel Money Music System is very advanced and sophisticated; only we at the bottom can change it by changing our purchasing behavior.

We have a mobile sound system that throws parties, an emergency power generator, where you can dance by the water, and someone sets up a drinks stand at reasonable prices. It takes a bit of intelligence or courage to join forces with others or promote such projects.

We're not breaking the music industry...!

 

Last edited: Sep 17, 2025 at 5:11 PM

Now please listen to my most recent song on soundcloud. Hahaha great post, yah make music to make music, its reason enough!

 

OH I love this post too.

That's why I am sitting on estimated 30 unreleased albums on top of the around 160 released ones on bandcamp which hardly anyone notices when I release them. But hey they are there for the archive, for my own peace of mind of releasing them... without any further care.
When I wish to go back in time and hear what I did 3 years ago , it's there.

A handful of people on Soundcloud who listen and sometimes we also do a collaboration, it's lovely. No pressure, no rules.

I love finishing tracks, putting them into albums too, so I can listen to them in my playlist. 90% I listen to my own music, the rest 10% is carefully selected music from others as inspiration. In my youth I consumed so much music, different styles.. anything, soaked up as much as I could and dreamed about doing it myself. I made this dream come true. Music dominates my life. Not for profit, exactly for the sake of my own enjoyment.

I also love 'not' finishing, playing around for the sake of it.
Also love collecting. You CAN indeed find a balance between collecting and creating. You just need to define borders where the collecting ends and your creative time starts.

Not being online, not being distracted and scrolling youtube helps too. If I need a technique or a tuturial on something, I'll find it. But I won't waste my precious time with 'Compressors are scam' or *You suck at...* videos. Noo way!

Cheers to my fellow music makers, who live the dream!

 

This... This... I love you boy. Really nice words, And all said as it should be. I send you a hug, take care, and thank you for reminding us of what we lose along the way, just because of "pressure" and desires.

 

Thanks to you and the rest of the team for keeping this little corner of the internet up and running!

You're right about the one person. It's just doing it for nobody... else XD

Oh, that lovely wankerism. I do that too a lot, and I think everybody else here as well.

 

there are many different types of people around here.
those who do business with music, mixing, mastering
those who are hobbyists
those who follow the sister site religiously
etc.

i make music mainly because it's fun to me. i'm an artistic person and i like to create and above all share what i do. if one single person likes something i do, that fills my heart with joy. if i do something and i don't share it, it's no problem: i'm still listening to my own trax from time ago and i still love them. i do not care much for newer music, as every day i discover new hidden gems from the 90s that i never knew. not saying that today's music sucks; i believe that art can't really "suck" per se; but it's no surprise that we do not have time to sift through the sheer amount, find the right channels, etc. today i get much more excited when i hear or make a new track in the contest thread :D

the topic gets insanely complex the more we talk about it. what about people that need to meet a deadline? what about those that get commissioned a piece? etc etc i don't think that making music as a "job" could never give you the same feeling, or that you'd get pressured etc. there was a period when i was doing commissions on fiverr and i was thoroughly enjoying it, talking with the customers, sharing ideas, etc. it was as fun as when im inspired and i make music. but that didn't last long! i got bored.

there are periods where i barely open the daw, and other periods where i *feel* i want to do something, and i *feel* i am inspired to do something. 80% of the time this something ends up being music. i believe a lot of people should learn or at least try to understand how their own method of ideas work. i believe ideas are everywhere in the aether or the universe or whatever, they are around us. our brain or conscience can be considered "antennaes", the more inspired we are, the better ideas we will "receive".

the author of "the creative act: a way of being" says exactly something like this. i was surprised to see how many of my own conceptions and ideas and thoughts were explained clearly in a digestible way in this book. i would suggest it to any creative person honestly.

we had some similar discussions with articstorm in the thread "how do you start a song" or something similar.

in any case nice post and nice reminder for many people that might forget it