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BusyWorksBeats.com

MAY 2015

The Music Producer Exclusive

Premium Monthly

May 2015 Edition

BusyWorksBeats.com

Now that everyone has a DAW. It’s important to really master your role as a music producer. Lots of artists can do your work if they chose to do so. That’s why becoming the best music producer you can be will pay off in the long run. It’s time to not only be a beat maker, but a producer

1. Produce on a Bigger Scale

As a producer, your job is to produce things of value. Bring things from a simple idea, into a larger reality. That’s your job. Not just, make a beat. Your job is to maximize value and quality.

This means, you will need to see the bigger picture in most cases. Have an idea or hook ready for a song before you send it off to an artist.

Be sure you have the ability to add or omit things from the music if the artist needs you to make tweaks.

Produce quality, not just quantity. As producers, we tend to get caught up in the fact that we can make songs from thin air. Just because we can do this doesn’t mean the song will have any high value in the market. There are reasons certain songs are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Most value comes from a solid melody for a song. The rest of the value comes with the brand of the artist and the sonic mix quality.

Written by Game

Our Message to You

“You must try your hardest to bring the most value to the situation. Always remember, your business is about them, not you. Your ego will lead you into loving your own music. This means, others may not like the music. From your selfish production, you will earn nothing.”

-Game, BusyWorksBeats.com

3 Roles of the Modern Music Producer

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2. Expert Collaborator

In the world of music, we have albums coming out every other day. It’s vital you know how to keep up with the market, while maintaining your quality.

Collaborations are a way you can keep up with the demand of the market. By working with other producers and artists, you half the work load and complete twice as much in the same amount of time. By compiling as many people in the songwriting process as possible, you can shortcut time and work more efficiently.

That’s why we created the New Producer Community on Facebook here: http://facebook.com/groups/busyworksbeats

Leveraging the audience of another producer or artist will amplify your brand by multiples because now it’s a compounded effect on your recognition to the market. People will hear about you double the time instead of just once.

This was a key factor in the beginning of Busy Works Beats. We used to partner with Gotinstrumentals, Hipstrumentals, and other mixtape hosting platforms to get our name out there and it paid off.

To get on their tapes now, you have to know the owners which we were fortunate enough to do at the time. Now we are offering a similar opportunity to give back and help you get your name out

there. Our next producer compilation mixtape will be called “Virus” and will be available in the summer. More about this later.

3. Master Translator

If you are not acting on the great melodic thoughts in your mind, you are wasting your time in the studio. Half of the producers I know open FL Studio with no idea as to what they want to accomplish. That’s like taking off in the ocean on a ship and not knowing where your destination will be. Not only will you get lost, but you may suffer your own survival (quality control).

Always try to record your melodies, beat boxes, and riffs in your head as soon as possible. Then, make it your job to translate that recording into an actual song that makes sense.

This should be your job anyway if you work with artists because they have the vision most the time, and your job is to make that idea a reality. And producers who don’t work directly with artists don’t understand this aspect and they rely on what they want to hear, which is not what sells your beats. It’s not about what you love to hear, it’s about what your audience loves to hear.

I may love my dog and love playing with him, while my cousin may be scared of dogs and flinch with the single idea of playing with him. It’s important to keep in mind, not everything relates to everyone.

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Your Mix is Not Its Best

Let’s put this in perspective. How long do you take to mix your songs? Chris Lord Alge a pro engineer mixing his song within a 3 hour time limit. Do you spend at least 3 hours on your mix?

Now, you don’t have to always mix everything for three hours. There are some instances where you could mix a lot faster. But, the point in the question is that if you don’t really spend time perfecting each sound in the mix and just mix until it sounds “okay,” are you really mixing it to perfection?

Some of the leading and most lasting songs take days and weeks to write and record. Producers tend to think one session is enough on a beat. Here’s the issue. Not only will you fall in love with your own song, but the mix will sound different the day after because of ear fatigue and room conditions.

We are built to become less sensitive to sound, the more we are exposed to loud sound for a long time. That means, your beat may sound great today, but tomorrow it may sound too loud and different. Certain musical parts will jump out at you like a sore thumb. It’s half impossible to remove ourselves from the song emotionally because we’ve heard the song the most. How many times do you think you’ve listened to the same beat in on session? Do you think any other

Written by Game

Our Message to You

“The most common mistake a lot of producers make is they think their beat is well mixed. I used to think my beats were mixed well back in the day, but without knowing how much better it could sound, I would have stayed complacent.”

-Game, BusyWorksBeats.com

You Think You Can Mix

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human being would even spend that much time listening to the song in that amount of time? Most likely NO!

We all fall in love with our work so to remove this emotion from a track, we must either give the track to a more objective listener or another mixer, or we space the production over a certain amount of days.

Sometimes, the song sounds the same days later, but this is not always the case for the most part.

Lots of producers think they have mixed their songs to the best accuracy but it can always be better. It’s like lifting weights. You know you can bench 180 lbs with ease but technically if you were going hard for the last month, you could bench 250 lbs. It’s the realization of the effort you put in versus the quality you get out which makes this issue even more significant.

If you want your songs to be more appealing, the mix must be more accurate. It must have people feel the groove, it must not be too loud, it must engage the listener dynamically throughout the song, it must grab and hold their attention.

Mixing may be more prominent in live recording sessions but taking that approach will help you understand why the mix is so vital to your end product.

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What is Buzz Building and Why is it so Important for My Business?

Building a buzz is a combination of things and that’s what makes this term so confusing to many producers. We can break the buzz building process into 5 easy parts: Audience Building, Word of Mouth, Brand Recognition, Increased Demand, and Collaboration.

1. Audience Building

Audience building is the art of finding people who find value in your work and delivering that value with integrity and consistency.

To build an audience, you must first understand the industry you are in. Just because you aren’t in a million dollar studio recording the next Jay-Z album doesn’t mean you aren’t in the music industry. The music industry is simply the industry in which the audience finds value in the music and all its uses. This means, if you sell beats online to artists, businesses, or film companies you are in the music industry. You don’t need a stamp of approval from Dre to be in the industry so get that falsehood out your mind.

Building an audience is similar to throwing parties. Nobody wants to go to a lame party where there are definitely no hot chicks coming or no alcoholic beverages

Written by Game

Our Message to You

“The most frustrating part of running a business is the translation of concepts and words. Lots of concepts and words seem complicated simply because they are used in weird contexts.”

-Game, BusyWorksBeats.com

What is Buzz Building?

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(21+ years old of course). They won’t even pay any attention to a lame party. It’s hard enough to get one person to come to a lame party.

Your audience wants to know you throw great parties. They love partying and want to have fun too. It’s your job to make them have fun and love partying with you (metaphorically of course).

If you have no interesting things to offer your party guests, why expect them to show?

2. Word of Mouth

I’ve run many businesses and I can tell you one of the biggest phenomenons is word of mouth. To put this in perspective, we would speak to a room of about 50, then that 50 would tell their friends and now we had 150 in attendance the next week. The 150 people then led to others wondering what’s so good about this business. That led to 150 more and so on.

It’s weir how word of mouth is the most effective marketing strategy. That’s why Kanye West does things that people love and things which piss people off. He wants them talking about him all the time. The more people talk about him in conversation, the more people look him up and his work. That means, he will increase his chances of selling more music.

Word of mouth is a function of Buzz Building because saying someone is buzzing, means that his name is buzzing in the

“streets.” People are talking about his work. Word of Mouth will only develop if you offer tremendous value.

3. Brand Recognition

Brand recognition is critical when building a buzz because brand recognition is what starts the conversation in the first place.

Let’s use a real world example. I upload a video on WorldstarHipHop and everyone rushes to see what it’s about. That’s because they recognize my name and that others have spoken well of the company, so they recognize the image and name and its qualities.

This doesn’t mean go get a logo and you’ll have brand recognition. This means when people hear or see you, they will know you have value to offer. Not only will they know you have value to offer, but they will KNOW it’s even you.

4. Increased Demand

As you build buzz, you will increase your demand. That’s obvious but the way you respond to the demand is essential in maintaining your buzz.

If you respond to EVERY single opportunity that passes your way, you may miss out on the bigger opportunities that offer more and create more value in the long run. Lots of producers don’t realize their brand hinges on the way they progress.

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I know you’ve thought to yourself, why is so and so artist working with this artist? Are they falling off? Those are the assumptions the market will make if you work with artists on a lower level of the ladder in the public eye.

This doesn’t mean don’t work with up and coming artists, it just means your brand will be judged by who you work with. If Jay-Z started recording songs with ILOVEMAKONNEN or Lil B, the hip hop world would laugh because it doesn’t fit the swagger of Jay-Z.

There are certain combinations which are deadly in this case so keep in mind your perception to the public hinges on who you work with and what level of success they’ve achieved as well.

5. Collaboration

This ties into the 4th aspect of Buzz Building. Collaborations (Combinations) of artists and producers will determine your sub-market dominance.

If MF Doom started working with Katy Perry, she would destroy his respect of quality in the underground hip hop scene, but he would amplify her reach to the urban listeners and that one song won’t do much damage to her brand. It’s a lopsided see saw. If you don’t balance the weight of consequence, you may risk your brand and longevity.

Collaboration is not only a tool to catapult you into higher levels, but also a tool which can knick you if used incorrectly.

In the beginning, you can’t really screw much up because you are establishing your name and reach. But, when you reach a certain consistency in quality, anything less just seems to be a disservice to your audience.

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Never before have we been able to stream, download, and blast music all at the same time. Music consumption is ridiculous now in days. With the ability to play music non-stop for hours on end and on multiple devices at once, we have increased the demand of music. With all this listening we tend to get bored with music even faster. That means, you must keep producing new hits. There’s no time to stop.

High Demand has changed the way the world consumes music thanks to mobile devices, streaming networks and tons of new innovations. Albums are popping up every other day and listeners are shifting constantly but still increasing the value of the music industry market. Some debate if albums are worth the effort, while others will never JUST sell a single. There are many factors to consider but the fact is demand is higher than ever before.

Since demand is high, supply has increased and you must be able to distinguish your music from the next guy and be able to keep up with him. Now, is competition that cut throat? No, not if you are using different approaches to get your music out there. There are more ways than JUST iTunes or JUST soundcloud or soundclick. Producers aren’t trying hard enough. That’s the problem. Producers now in days are following what they see in the videos of music producers who just make beats all day and don’t realize they have a superstar management team behind them who finds them deals, helps them get placements, and arranges

Written by Game

Our Message to You

“This has to be the most music consumption we have seen as a society. If you aren’t keeping up with the rising demand, you are not only missing opportunity but falling backwards.”

-Game, BusyWorksBeats.com

High Demand, Low Time

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most of the costs and profits of the producer. Without that, you will need to know how to fend for yourself. It’s not hard once you get started in the right direction. Don’t follow the leader, they will only win even more.

You must have a system to your music production. Blind production is no longer worth your time unless you are testing new things out for the research side of music production. You must have an idea a concept something to guide you to the finish line when producing.

The quicker you can finish ideas and move onto another idea, the more lucrative your business will become because of high demand. High demand means the market need higher supply, when you provide the supply, they will reward you monetarily.

The faster and more consistent you are with producing high quality music, the better your brand and company. As a one man team, you have to realize that you must take control of the management side of things as well as the efficiency side of things. You can become more efficient by using pre-made sounds and project templates with all the correct sounds and motions of a given style of beat. You can cut time by narrowing your choices to a defined drum kit or a defined beat template. Make a few changes here and there and keep it pumping. If the template is shaped in what the modern day consumers want, why change the formula? That would only take you backwards.

I don’t mean just make the same beat over and over again, but what happened was that our music consumption went up so we bore of songs quickly, but our culture moves slower.

To understand what I just wrote lets look back at the 90s. The 90s had a defined sound in hip hop. A Boom bap drum style, a swing drum pattern, a defined rapper flow, a defined sampling style, a defined RnB style. It took a decade for people to say, “You know what? I want something different.” A Decade!

We’re trying to change our sound in the next week. That’s why DJ Mustard had so much success. If the culture wants the Bay area sound, why take that privilege away from the culture to enjoy that style? Just because you got tired of producing those types of songs. This is where producers get full of themselves and lose a sense of why they are even valuable in the first place.

You are valuable because you cater to the music listeners and give them exciting things to hear in the realm of what they like. If you all the sudden introduce a heavy metal track to a Soul RnB fan, they will be turned off. And this is what lots of producers are doing. Just because you like it this way, doesn’t mean the PAYING listeners will like it that way. Get over yourself and serve them and give them what they want.

You must be able to do this faster and faster to keep up with demands.

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Emotion is the number one element which has banished from music today. Listening back to 90’s R&B and Hip Hop, I can tell immediately that the energy and mood behind the music was lost. How do we get this feeling back into the music?

Here’s what happened. Hip Hop become less musical. That’s the reason we lost over 80% of the feeling in Hip Hop. The new word for feeling in hip hop today is called “turned up.” If you get turned up to a song, you are elevating your emotion to the song. You are getting hyped, which is an emotion. But, sadly, this is the only emotion we have focused on in this era of hip hop.

What about feeling motivated, calm, angry, and feeling like you could take over the world? Where did those feelings go? I believe we lost the musical backing to our songs. We neglected to structure our songs and provide proper chords to guide the emotion of the listener. From this shift in music, we delineated our attachment to the music which made it so good. The emotion is what brings people together on a given song and want to party all night, not just turning up.

The turn up movement came from the South and sadly the whole industry copied the emotion. So, now we’re stuck with a turn up approach to beats and leave out the millions of people who want other emotions, like feeling calm or happy.

Chords are like the captain of the ship. The ship set off to travel to foreign lands but without proper guidance, the ship ends up in the wrong country and is

Written by Game

Our Message to You

“We have become so computerized and quantized that we lost a sense of creative emotion.”

-Game, BusyWorksBeats.com

The Difference Between Then and Now

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disappointed because they can’t speak the native tongue of the land. Your listeners want to reach the right country, so get a good captain on that ship!

Chords are so powerful because they work off of harmonies. The universe is harmonious within itself. People act harmoniously in that they don’t want violence or conflict. That’s how we want to work, in harmony. Since chords are the audible expression of harmony which is in many things you love, we naturally are guided in emotion by chords.

Some chords give us a bad feeling because the notes may not be harmonious. That can be good, if used in contrast. We all want to succeed but the fun of the success is the journey. Chords are the same way. We want them to lead us along a journey and take us through the valleys and up the mountains.

Chord progressions are special movements of emotion because they can be so unique. One note added or omitted can make a huge emotional change in the way we perceive the music. Slight tension may create an uneasiness in us which needs to be resolved, and once resolved we feel ten times better than if the chord progression had no tension. We can amplify emotion movements with different flows of chords.

Chords are THAT powerful and when used correctly, we can create an environment for a song which makes everything mesh together to deliver multiples of powerful emotion to the listener.

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