How many songs should you have in your library before you go out marketing yourself?

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Daunte Sky

New member
Simple question with I'm sure what will be varied anwsers. I just want some opinions because I know it's probably not smart to go make a track, hot or not, hype yourself up on it looking to make a buck or get your name out there, go out marketing yourself to all these labels, locals, and other artists you may work with, show them your one or 2 songs......they like them, then go "Hey man I'm digging this, where can I hear some more of your ish?" Then you stuck standing there with ya tongue hanging out the side of your mouth. *This is your facepalm moment*

So the question is how many tracks do you think you should have? Obviously you'll be continuing to work on creating more, but as a beginner size library. I'd think like anywhere from 8-15. Anything the size of what would be standard for an album/mixtape these days. What do ya'll think would be appropriate?
 
anywhere between 10 and a 100 - the more you have and the more diverse they are the higher the likelihood of being able to sell something
 
Wait.. as a producer or an artist?

As a producer: The more, the better. Each rapper has different tastes, so you can't necessarily expect one rapper to like/buy 5-6 of your 15 beats. Maybe that happens, and that's great. But chances are, the more variety you have, the more likely people will buy multiple beats from you. As for labels, I'm sure they would also prefer you have a lot of material, even just to see that you've been at it for a while, and got your feet wet with a collab here and there.

For artists: I don't think there's anything wrong with having one nice demo album of 8-12 songs to shop around as a rookie. But it might be good to compile more like 12-20 songs, and pick your very best to represent you out there. Then, you can fall back on the others if someone asks to hear a little more.
 
The simple answer is... enough.

Vague, but true. You just need enough to get the point across that your work is top notch. Some people only need to hear 3-4 tracks. Some people keep asking for more.

Actually... i'll change my answer on that note. Have a little bit more than you need lol. That way you don't run out.
 
Joel Noel said:
1 really really good song.
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does not answer the question asked

Daunte Sky said:
Simple question ..... show them your one or 2 songs......they like them, then go "Hey man I'm digging this, where can I hear some more of your ish?" Then you stuck standing there with ya tongue hanging out the side of your mouth. *This is your facepalm moment*
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i.e. he is asking how many more songs than 1 or 2 should he have before he starts to shopping himself around to potential clients.....
 
JAYBEATZOFFICIAL said:
the amount doesnt matter, its about the quality of your tracks, less is more often
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I agree with this ... Everyone wants to be the "guy who found you", if you have 4 or 5 solid songs, which are catchy, make people think "wow this guy has talent" and makes people want to dance or feel emotion, then when people listen they will happily go around telling people they "found" you :)

It will be much more impactfull than having 40 average nothing special songs that just make people think bleh :)
 
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You are making the assumption that delivering quantity means each piece is necessarily of a lesser quality; kind of the inverse of the statements quality over quantity and quality vs quantity, but failing to take into account the difference that a talented professional brings to the table......

In my experience, delivering lower quality tracks at the expense of delivering more tracks is only true if you allow yourself to do so - not bothering to do everything that needs to be done for a track simply because you must move on to the next track - only a hack would compromise themselves in such fashion....
 
Yeah... just to add to the convo, don't be afraid to only have 3-4 tracks.

If they ask for more... and you don't happen to have more yet, be confident that you can create something amazing on the spot. If you can't... then you might not be ready.


You have to prepare for success on all levels. If you get in the studio with Just Blaze... you'd expect him to be able to make some fire music... from scratch. That's the level you need to get to. If you're worried about that.. then you're at the "I can make accidently great music" stage. You want to get past that... we have ALL been there, some longer than others. What gets you past that is your knowledge of music, your workflow, and your mood. Also some music theory knowledge goes a lonnnngggg way.
 
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It all depends on what you plan to do with you career. Say what you will about one-hit-wonders but they aren't hurting for money. Do what you can, there are no rules to making it.
 
Dear Daunte Sky,

If you plan on offering you music to certain music libraries, then yes you are probably going to want about 50. These music libraries have about 500k songs on board. So. How do you get to the top? You walk right up to a music supervisor or executive producer, and say, "Hi, my name is Nathan, I am a music composer from Mondovi, WI and next week I have a few days available for an original piece. What kind of projects do you have down the line. You slide your BEST song over, and then ask another professional that same question...until. One of them says, "You know I have this commercial coming up, what would it cost to compose a 60 second ad?"

Now...what would you answer?

I will tell you how I would approach this after you. What kind of music are you making anyways? 8-12 tracks of what? For what? Film scores? Radio spots? Full blown songs?

I wish you the best of luck and keep asking those questions.


Sincerely,



Nathan Luis Steinke
Owner/Composer/Publisher
www.liftedCREATION.com

P.S. Daunte Sky, I am sure you are doing a great job and have many tracks, please know I write this also for the new musicians that come seeking the same answers.
 
liftedCREATION said:
Dear Daunte Sky,

If you plan on offering you music to certain music libraries, then yes you are probably going to want about 50. These music libraries have about 500k songs on board. So. How do you get to the top? You walk right up to a music supervisor or executive producer, and say, "Hi, my name is Nathan, I am a music composer from Mondovi, WI and next week I have a few days available for an original piece. What kind of projects do you have down the line. You slide your BEST song over, and then ask another professional that same question...until. One of them says, "You know I have this commercial coming up, what would it cost to compose a 60 second ad?"

Now...what would you answer?

I will tell you how I would approach this after you. What kind of music are you making anyways? 8-12 tracks of what? For what? Film scores? Radio spots? Full blown songs?
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Yeah, I generally work on full blown-songs, mostly rap and R&B. I am interested in getting into those side markets eventually (you can't exactly be picky at how you make your money/build a reputation in this industry while you're just trying to get a foot in the door), although I am still yet to venture out on those paths.
 
I have a zillion unfinished tracks, even if i did manage to finish them all it'd still come down to the quality of what you're presenting. IMO less is more throughout life
 
I think the key factor is to keep making music, and keep putting things out there (without too much of a time delay)
I dont think its too important how many tracks you start off with, if your not planning to release an album that is (pretty obvious)
But hey, thats just my opinion.
 
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