ALEX DEW
Chapters
Why? Skill Set Platform Bio-Demos Zero to Hero Detach Let Go Vocal Samples Self mgmt +Attitude Patience Side Hustle?
Why?
Being an online musician offers a unique blend of creative freedom and entrepreneurial opportunity. the financial rewards may be modest, the real joy comes from sharing your passion and artistry with a global audience. By embracing a business mindset and focusing on the necessary details like metadata and branding, you can effectively market your skills as a freelancer. Ultimately, it’s about finding the balance between your love for music and the practical steps needed to thrive in the digital landscape.
Why? In this modern age where Spotify pays you literally micro peanuts for streaming your self-produced track you bled sweat and tears on to make, mix, and master, it can seem deflating! Equally 'live' music seems to be an exhausting pursuit for a pitiful payback, strive to play your original songs at gigs in venues and or bars/pubs and you'll be lucky to get a free beer!
The other route is of course Covers gigs, but trust me as a "Vetaran" musician there are only so many times you can smash out Summer of 69 to a pub, club, or wedding of drunk people who showed no interest in your first set before you start to suffer from a dark brooding existential crisis! I used to drive away from a wedding in the early hours exhausted, hungry, and wishing I had just worked for the postal service or stacked shelves in a supermarket, the high became "Thank fuck this is the last song, what a relief... please don't cry out for an encore!" I literally perfected turning my back on the audience and quickly putting my guitar down and pressing play on my iPhone Spotify playlist !
If you are like me (You may LOVE live music as a jobbing session musician, all power to you!... being an online musician is still an excellent side hustle to engage in for an extra income stream)... you love creating in an introverted way, tracking out original tracks and sketches on your DAW of choice, headphones on, in the zone, and creating art, becoming an online musician, even as just a side hustle is a great idea for you, it gives your creativity a purpose, also you are collaborating with many different music producers globally and getting paid... I mean how awesome is that!
I return to my initial question: Why? You have to get honest with yourself, is it for the Love of music and creation or to make a quick buck? The latter is a red flag as to your drive to do this, there are so many other easier ways to make $ online so you have to let go of this, yes you can make money as an online musician "For hire" which is fantastic but at your core you have to be driven by a desire to create which then is "Monetiozed".
Branching off from "Why?", are you any good, be honest are you? Now I'm not talking about perfection, this comes back to your UNIQUE SELLING POINT/S. Identify what that is, for example in my case, I am a strong, belting tenor rock vocalist at the core but I am passionate about big harmony layering for that as the kids say EPIC rock sound, I am also very creative and prolific in regards to lyric and melody writing, my lyrics and lyrical imagery can be quite quirky and twisted, possibly something to do with my dyslexia and being on the spectrum to an extent!
So here I have identified my strong skills, I have imperfections of course! LOL: My tuning needs to be focused on before I send finished vocal WAVS, it's not the tightest but I account for this by being disciplined in checking the lead vocal in detail and the harmonies and dropping in any lines or words I feel need dropping in for a RAW file delivery! The point I am making here is I believe in my skills but also admit my weak points so address these with a well-managed discipline.
I digress.... Lets return to my USP, from my list of qualities "How do I sell myself?" :.... I am an epic rock singer who creates big multi-layered harmony Chorus's, perfect for big melodic rock songs with captivating and unique lyric and melody writing from scratch...... to extend this USP I would add another element that niches me down without alienating pure rock tracks: I love EDM and have appeared on many EDM/ROCK vocal crossovers... I capitalized on this in the pitching of my topline writing on the "Platforms" I sell from.
So, on the one hand, it's about finding a niche, based on your specific skills/talent but also broadening out a little to garner more gigs: I am a Rock singer but I offer up a crossover into EDM. I also tested this 'Crossover' concept and found it to be quite popular so obtained gigs recording for EDM-ROCK as well as your standard ROCK gigs.
With all of the above in mind, it is vitally important to put thought into your USP. Let me get all bullet pointy here, in Summary, the key points to consider within the question WHY? are :
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Are you looking to JUST MAKE MONEY, or do you see an opportunity to record music and be creative as a side hustle (At the start!) for THE LOVE...... * The latter makes most sense!
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Are you GOOD on your chosen musical instrument
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Do you have DAW recording TECH skills ? *I'll go into this in the next chapter.
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Are you clear, having put thought into it, on your USP? * This is key to start to navigate your "Setting up Online" journey.