How do you guys make connections and meet people?

H

helloanne

New member
Hello,

Connections is very important in this industry. But I currently don't know anyone who produces and make music.
I don't think only sitting at home studio and work is a good choice.

Where do you guys make all the connections and meet new people?

Thank you! Have a nice day:)
 
Im in your boat as im pretty much just producing at home when i get the chance! I have no social media other than soundcloud and forums, but once my music is where i want it to be i want to market it as well so im curious to hear responses.
Currently ive just been attending music festivals and local venues meeting people into the same thing as me. I feel thats a good starting point
 
i have only just started producing but hopefully i crack it. I'm very lucky i have a few dj friends i could always pass my music on to I'm from the uk but i struggle to find someone to produce with
 
I also have no one to produce with! I have a lot of friends that like the music but none that make it. Thats why i think forums like this are important! It makes it easy to find someone with like interests to share files and collab
 
i have some ideas but no idea how to turn them into music I'm using garageband atm. I'm buying logic soon tho thats a demo..
 
Just perfect your craft and share it on the internet . Having a catchy and name easy to remember also play a big part . Once your music get good enough people will come back and will start talking about it so you gon have some random cats hitting you up for collab or buying beats . The better you get the most fan you will have and when views start flowing its just gonna keep getting bigger over time if you keep uploading relevent content . In the end just make good and original music and share it online and you will build connection over time . Dont give up also it dosnt happen over night . If you are confident enough you will make it .
 
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Pay money to hang out where the industry people hang out. You will be ignored by most people, but if you have enough courage, charisma, and cash, you can hang with most celebrities. Making connections is vital to making money in the industry. The best deals go to those at the top. The rest trickles down to everyone else. Work hard and go to industry events. You will get to see the stars and possibly hang out with them.
 
Desire Inspires said:
Pay money to hang out where the industry people hang out. You will be ignored by most people, but if you have enough courage, charisma, and cash, you can hang with most celebrities. Making connections is vital to making money in the industry. The best deals go to those at the top. The rest trickles down to everyone else. Work hard and go to industry events. You will get to see the stars and possibly hang out with them.
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Thank you for the suggestion! And which city do you recommend for a female songwriter/producer to make connections? (r&b/pop/funk) :o
 
There are plenty of music conferences, events, things like that that you should be attending for your benefit - no matter where you live! You learn new things by attending. The secondary benefit to being at these events is that you meet like-minded people.

Get some business cards printed, look professional, talk to people... When the conversation gets to the point where "I better get going" crops up, add "But lets exchange business cards and keep in touch."

A con to all this is that it will cost you money... And many musicians don't believe in spending money to increase their chances of success... And that's why musicians attitudes stink.

Hope I've helped,
Jordan
 
Exclusivo said:
There are plenty of music conferences, events, things like that that you should be attending for your benefit - no matter where you live! You learn new things by attending. The secondary benefit to being at these events is that you meet like-minded people.

Get some business cards printed, look professional, talk to people... When the conversation gets to the point where "I better get going" crops up, add "But lets exchange business cards and keep in touch."

A con to all this is that it will cost you money... And many musicians don't believe in spending money to increase their chances of success... And that's why musicians attitudes stink.

Hope I've helped,
Jordan
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You made a good point here but at the same time cats should invest in their equipment and learn how to use it before thinking about making buisness card and try to meet people in event . Money should go in your craft first and when there is no room left for improvement you can start thinking about these other aspect . They should keep in mind the big dog in the industry have 100 k studio + and been making music for years and your the new comer trying to compete with them . Big cats in the undustry will most likely dont give a single **** about you if your music dosnt sound professional and you dont have a fan base so when your starting out invest in your craft ( equipment , software ) You can easily burn 10 k + just here and its only the beginning ..
 
One thing that many dont think about is a brand. I come from a SEO marketing background (besides making beats) so this is just as important if not THE important part of your business. You can be making music all day but if no one knows you or how to get a hold of you you are a goldfish in an ocean. Practice to be a brand as well.....
 
Conferences and events are not THAT expensive. Travelling to them is not THAT expensive - you ever heard of a bus/coach? Also, why on Earth are you talking about "big cats in the industry"? I never mentioned going up to record executives, well known producers, etc etc. I'm talking about the average musician. Sure, you can talk to the "big boys" if they are there.

If they are, that means they may be open to hearing what you have to say. So why not try? But that's not the aim.

Business cards are cheap. If you can't save a little pocket change to dedicate to business cards then you will never get anywhere. Sure, you may not see business cards as something to save for...

Out of all the artists I meet, or business people generally, if they hand me a business card... You can GUARANTEE I remember them when they contact me a day or a week later. It stamps a lasting impression at the end of the conversation because it's quite rare for the average musician to give out a business card.

Also, though I agree you should have a good enough product to pitch to these guys, it's not what you're actually doing. This whole thread is about networking. When you network, you should be laying the foundation of a relationship/friendship where you can say "This is something I put together a month ago, think I'm developing well. Do you see any potential?" at some point down the line. The people you meet aren't going to open doors - but they sure as Hell will tell you if you can - when the opportunity arises.

The idea of any relationship is that you exchange equally. If you meet an artist, you're probably going to both say "OH, I MAKE MUSIC TOO!!!! We should listen to each others stuff some time!"...

Furthermore, just to reiterate the point about saving. If you're spending $1000 a quarter buying equipment, perhaps you should learn to budget. Instead of $1000 being spent on just equipment, how about $400 of the $1000 being spent on business related tools, assets, etc? If you want to get in to the music business, you better start thinking about it AS A BUSINESS.

Additional point: Landing yourself some gigs will be useful. Not necessary, but useful. You'll be able to build your fan base through them as well as networking with people in the industry.

Cheers,
Jordan
 
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Exclusivo said:
Conferences and events are not THAT expensive. Travelling to them is not THAT expensive - you ever heard of a bus/coach? Also, why on Earth are you talking about "big cats in the industry"? I never mentioned going up to record executives, well known producers, etc etc. I'm talking about the average musician. Sure, you can talk to the "big boys" if they are there.

If they are, that means they may be open to hearing what you have to say. So why not try? But that's not the aim.

Business cards are cheap. If you can't save a little pocket change to dedicate to business cards then you will never get anywhere. Sure, you may not see business cards as something to save for...

Out of all the artists I meet, or business people generally, if they hand me a business card... You can GUARANTEE I remember them when they contact me a day or a week later. It stamps a lasting impression at the end of the conversation because it's quite rare for the average musician to give out a business card.

Also, though I agree you should have a good enough product to pitch to these guys, it's not what you're actually doing. This whole thread is about networking. When you network, you should be laying the foundation of a relationship/friendship where you can say "This is something I put together a month ago, think I'm developing well. Do you see any potential?" at some point down the line. The people you meet aren't going to open doors - but they sure as Hell will tell you if you can - when the opportunity arises.

The idea of any relationship is that you exchange equally. If you meet an artist, you're probably going to both say "OH, I MAKE MUSIC TOO!!!! We should listen to each others stuff some time!"...

Furthermore, just to reiterate the point about saving. If you're spending $1000 a quarter buying equipment, perhaps you should learn to budget. Instead of $1000 being spent on just equipment, how about $400 of the $1000 being spent on business related tools, assets, etc? If you want to get in to the music business, you better start thinking about it AS A BUSINESS.

Additional point: Landing yourself some gigs will be useful. Not necessary, but useful. You'll be able to build your fan base through them as well as networking with people in the industry.

Cheers,
Jordan
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This is a question of mentality here but i can agree to some of the point you made but disagree with some . I dont think you should spend 400$ of 1000 $ on buisness related tools . Im speaking from my personal experience here and note that i start making music in late 2012 only . I never spend a single dime in buisness tools or promotion . All the extra money i had been going on software and equipment and only this week i made 5 beats sales for 4 dude from the us and france (this is very unusual for a montreal beat maker btw ) got 2 folks that hit me up for mixing and mastering service and made a collab with 3 rapper from the us . https://soundcloud.com/deadbassrecords/shutterworth-triple-heat-ft-petey-p-uzi-prod-dbr


They all reach to me cause they find my music online and find the quality of my production was good and they though they could benefit from it .
Once again didnt spend a dime . In other word i make connection just by working on my music and share it online and promote it with the tool i have available for free without doing anything else .
Note that music in not my main revenue and that im just doing what i love . The little money i make from it is just extra money in my pocket that help me buying better equipment and improve the quality of my product .
At the end of the day its a matter of personnal decision and you do what you want but this is the mind state i had to produce quality music and share it online and dont worry to much with the rest been working great for me and i build connection with more people then i ever though i would .


Note to that im from montreal here the music scene is very little and artist are broke and they dont take their music seriously so making buisness card and go to events wont give me shyt .
I go to some club sometime though and ask the dj to play on of my remix see how they react to it and if feedback was good he would give me shout out that give me extra promotion and make other connection with the dj in question and other dj - emcee or musician that could be in the spots .
I know you have to think its a buisness but its a bit different from other buisness . Not saying to not invest in promotion and related buisness tool but to me the best way to go is to produce quality music with good equipment and let the music do the work .


What im trying to say is most of the time beatmaker trying to hard to understand why they dont make connection and will lose their time and money buying book telling them to spam emcee in their mail with a mailing list and other bullshit when the real issue is that the music is just not good enough .
Trust me when you make quality music and you keep improving everyone want to work with you . How you make good music ? paractice alot and buy high end equipment that gon help you reach that professional sound quality and be original and you will stand out from the rest .


Can agree or disagree but that just how i feel about it and this way you not losing time with thing that might or might not work .
 
You are correct, it is a question of mentality. You have the mentality of "I have the day job which will keep the roof over my head. I just make music as a hobby. I'm happy where I am." where as I was talking more from the side of "Yeah, I have the day job and music's a hobby right now. I'd love to make it my full time job in the future." - there are people who have those sorts of dreams. I imagine the OP is one of the latter rather than the former...

To make 10 sales a week, you don't have to put much effort in as long as you're networking on some level. But to get serious, the real benefits come from the face to face networking you do.

In regards to my point about spending $400, don't take it literal. It was a figure plucked out of the air for demonstration purposes. The point is... You need to invest to achieve success, and to invest money you need to budget. If you were to invest time, you'd need to schedule, etc etc.

Furthermore, please stop assuming you network at conferences/events to sell to the locals. You network to benefit you. There's not just one possible benefit, there are many. Stop assuming going to conferences aims to increase your sales. Long term it does, but the people you met may not necessarily become your clients. However, the aim is to build.

Also, every business is a business. Business operations are business operations. However, every business is different. Every industry is different. But the principles of business remain the same.

Finally, the point you made on those looking to learn is true. They just believe any old thing because they don't know what is right and what is wrong. However, with a well thought out plan, solid educational information backed up by facts - you automatically increase your chances of success ten fold.

Cheers,
Jordan
 
Exclusivo said:
You are correct, it is a question of mentality. You have the mentality of "I have the day job which will keep the roof over my head. I just make music as a hobby. I'm happy where I am." where as I was talking more from the side of "Yeah, I have the day job and music's a hobby right now. I'd love to make it my full time job in the future." - there are people who have those sorts of dreams. I imagine the OP is one of the latter rather than the former...

To make 10 sales a week, you don't have to put much effort in as long as you're networking on some level. But to get serious, the real benefits come from the face to face networking you do.

In regards to my point about spending $400, don't take it literal. It was a figure plucked out of the air for demonstration purposes. The point is... You need to invest to achieve success, and to invest money you need to budget. If you were to invest time, you'd need to schedule, etc etc.

Furthermore, please stop assuming you network at conferences/events to sell to the locals. You network to benefit you. There's not just one possible benefit, there are many. Stop assuming going to conferences aims to increase your sales. Long term it does, but the people you met may not necessarily become your clients. However, the aim is to build.

Also, every business is a business. Business operations are business operations. However, every business is different. Every industry is different. But the principles of business remain the same.

Finally, the point you made on those looking to learn is true. They just believe any old thing because they don't know what is right and what is wrong. However, with a well thought out plan, solid educational information backed up by facts - you automatically increase your chances of success ten fold.

Cheers,
Jordan
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Thanks for the explanation! It helps a lot. I'll work hard for it:)
 
I can't help but agree with Exclusivo here. Networking is everything in a subjective field like the arts. You don't make connections-you don't eat. The problem is that there are people doing art that come at it from a strictly "hobbyist" mentality that mess it up for everyone else dumb enough to listen to them. I see it with the musicians where I live. There is a major MAJOR difference in mentality between someone who works a 9-5 to supplement their hobby and someone who depends on their craft to live. A 9-5 musician doesn't mind playing lowball-to-free gigs because-its not about the money, its all about the art. This suggests to the venue owners and managers that they don't need to pay an actual professional a professional wage when they can get Dr. I Love Jazz who will do it for cheap between writing medical scripts and seeing hospital patients. Dr. I Love Jazz then goes and further poisons the ecosystem by spreading the notion to younger more impressionable musicians that "art should be free".
Yeah, I work a job that pays for my music lessons and equipment, but I can recognize the hobbyist mentality when I hear/see it.
I see it on here all the time. Simple questions that could be EASILY answered by leaving your house, and going to a club/record store/Guitar Center. And its the same excuse every time, "there aren't any musicians where I live", "I don't know anyone that makes beats where I live", "there are no rappers where I live", "everyone is broke where I live". Same shit.
 
For R&B and Neo-Soul, most of the initial contacts I have made occurred when I was playing the guitar or bass at a church, jazz club or instrument store. Based on my experience, urban music producers are always in need of a few guitarists and bassists that focus on soulful genres of music. Therefore, being a competent musician has really helped me to make contacts, which has led to other opportunities, such as production collaborations, and additional contacts.

For Deep House and Detroit Techno, I meet people via my live video DJ shows, at an online radio station, and iTunes podcast. However, this rarely leads to any face-to-face interactions, but a few meaningful friendships and online collaborations have developed.
 
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