6 Steps to Making It in the Music Business

 

The music business is a challenging one. There are many factors that affect your success in the industry, and it’s not always easy to figure out which direction to take first. However, with perseverance and patience, anyone can succeed. In this article, Canadian musician Andrew Huggett will outline the exact steps you need to take in order to achieve success as a musician. Whether you’re just starting out or you’ve been playing for years and are ready for a change, we have a solution for you! Our guide will help you identify your niche, secure gigs, build up your digital presence, market yourself effectively, target potential fans and much more. Keep reading to discover everything you need to know about making it in the music business.

 

Overcoming Composer's Block

 

Writing music can be a challenging process for any composer. Especially when you consider the amount of time and effort that is required to create a piece of music.

Musicians, songwriters, arrangers, producers, or anything in between, have undoubtedly experienced times when they were stuck, unable to produce, and hated everything they did. In many cases, these periods of stagnation are referred to as "writer's block"; however, writer's block doesn't exist in reality. The real problem is procrastination and fear.

If you are having trouble creating, these are the areas you can focus on that will get you back into the groove.

In this article, Canadian music composer Andrew Huggett is going to discuss how you can get back into the groove so that you can finish your composition before deadline.

 

How to Promote Your Music Independently

 

The internet has opened up countless opportunities for music promotion. Today, independent artists have more possibilities than ever before of starting their own careers without the backing of big companies.

Despite the increasing number of unsigned artists who are breaking through on their own, many promising new bands and artists simply do not know where to start or how to implement a successful marketing campaign and make money from their music. Below, Canadian music composer Andrew Huggett takes a look at some basic strategies you could be using to promote your music right now.

 

Tips for Getting Started as a Freelance Musician

Becoming a freelance musician means taking control of your career. It means having the freedom to set your own schedule and make money exactly the way you want to make it. It also means having to unplug from social media and spend time networking with other musicians to find clients.

Besides the obvious — learning music theory, learning to play an instrument, and learning how to market yourself as a musician — there are other aspects to becoming a freelance musician that you’ll need to be aware of. Below are some tips offered by professional musician Andrew Huggett for getting started as a freelance musician.

 

5 Tips to Get Yourself in the Music Business

 The music industry is a notoriously difficult one to break into. Even with the digital music revolution making it easier than ever to share your music with the world, it’s still a long and difficult process with no guarantees of success. However, that doesn’t mean you should give up hope. If you love music and have a talent for writing and playing tunes, there are plenty of ways you can get yourself in the music business without going the traditional route. Below, professional musician Andrew Huggett gives you five tips to get you started on the path to getting yourself in the music business.

 

Cartoon Underscoring Creative Ways to Add Music to Your Cartoons

 

Characters are much more interesting when they're animated and brought to life with sound. This is the reason why most cartoons today use music to bring the story alive. Below, Canadian music composer Andrew Huggett, shares some creative ways you can add music to your cartoons.

How to Create a Theme Song: The Art of Sound Design

 

Whether you're a composer, musician, producer or sound designer, creating themes for movies and TV shows can be a tricky business. You have to create a song that will fit perfectly with the scene as well as tell the audience what is about to happen. Creating an original theme song can be challenging but with these tips and tricks offered by professional musician and composer Andrew Huggett, you'll find it easier than you think.

 

What is a theme song?

A theme song is a piece of music that plays before the opening credits or main titles of a TV show or movie. It's often instrumental, but some themes have lyrics.

The theme song is used to set the tone for the show and tell viewers what's about to happen. For example, if you're watching Game of Thrones, the theme song will play as snow falls during winter. This can be an important element in setting up your audience for what they are about to see.

 

The art of sound design

Creating a song that fits the tone of the film or show perfectly is difficult. In order to do so, you must first understand what the song is going to be used for. Is it going to be a full-fledged musical number? Is it going to be a calm and soothing theme song that plays at the beginning of an episode? Once you've figured out what your song will be used for, you can start planning how you'll write and create it, explains Canadian jingle master, Andrew Huggett.

A wide range of instruments are available for use in sound design: drums, piano, woodwinds, strings, brass, and percussion. You also have different types of sounds like noise loops and voice samples that can help you create your sound design. With these initial tools at your disposal, often all you need is just one note to make your sound design sing!

 

How to create an original theme song

First, you should decide what genre of music you want your original theme song to be in. If the movie is a comedy, then you might want to use an upbeat and bubbly pop song. If the movie is a drama, then it would make sense to use a more somber and serious orchestral song. Next, figure out how long your theme will be: 15 seconds? 30 seconds? A minute?

Next, think about how many instruments you want to include in your theme song. This can range from one instrument all the way up to three or four. You might even want to string multiple instruments together such as a piano and drums playing simultaneously.

Finally, think about how you want your themes sounds like and what emotions you're trying to convey with it. Will it be dark and brooding or light and whimsical? Will the lyrics be sad or happy? How fast or slow should your tempo go? Andrew Huggett advises to think about these aspects of your new theme song before moving on to compose it.

 

The process of creating an original theme song

The process of creating an original theme song is actually quite simple. You just need to start with a short idea and build upon it. As long as you have an idea and some small portion of the song, you can create a full theme, states music composer Andrew Huggett. This can be done on your own or with the help of someone else who will help you put the song together.

Once you have your idea in place, you'll need to find a genre or style that will compliment it well. Once that's done, you'll find yourself writing lyrics for the music. The lyrics should tell the story of what's about to happen in the scene so that when people hear the music, they know exactly what is happening in terms of what those around them are feeling and thinking.

After your lyric ideas are all set, you'll need to find someone who knows how to sing, so that they can give it life by singing it out loud.

At this point, everything is in place but one last step: editing! Editing will make sure everything sounds perfect and there are no mistakes left for anyone listening it.

Conclusion

Your theme song will be an important part of your brand. It's a song that will be heard everywhere, so make sure it's powerful enough to stand the test of time.