Before you try producing music | cultur:ed

Welcome to cultur:ed. A segment in which our in house artists write the most important cultural aspects & shifts - this time in music production. Specifically, as beat makers & solo artists/producers.

It’s undeniable that to make the music we want to make has become easier than ever whereas the pay per stream has never been so nuanced.

Before the research on streaming, I thought it would be similar to how YouTube works.

I’ve spent several years kind of craving a start while imagining it much easier. If you’re one of the people who’s felt a pull towards it, has massive inspiration from DJ sets & the culture itself - this one might be good to read.

For me, making allowance while making music I want to make seemed like a dream since I’ve always had a musical outlet. If it wasn’t singing it was dance. If it wasn’t that it was dj-ing. Then naturally production and combining all of that.

That came to a safe ground once a few months of it being a part of my week passed with little to no success.

Now I see I’d need about a hundred thousand returning monthly listeners on Spotify - for example.

I also thought all I needed was a laptop and headphones so let’s start from that before we continue with streaming.

Common misconception:

A laptop & headphones are enough.

In reality, it still is, sure. Unless you actually become a perfectionist & notice not only do you need hardware like speakers, hard drive, solid microphone - you can use some plug ins for sure. Sample packs. A course on Udemy because you’ll get lessons you can follow. A monthly Spotify subscription for any public playlist you’ll curate. A yearly payment for your distribution service.

So, for me, the more I’ve enjoyed my hobby the more I noticed I might as well do something appropriate with it because I really am spending money - why not invest it?

As I started to accept that, I thought it was easier. I realised the marketing services by Spotify aren’t even available where I’m from. Also, who knew I’d have to think about a marketing budget once I’m ready?

Who knew, you know? I really thought I should just make videos and release them on YouTube.

How much does Spotify charge, then?

As for how much Spotify pays per stream, they pay roughly $0.00238 per stream. This is based on the Worldwide Average (all the countries added up, divided by number of countries). So, 1000 streams would be around $2.38, and 100,000 streams would be $238, and 1,000,000 streams would be $2380.

Under Spotify's current model, an artist whose music garners 10,000-50,000 monthly streams earns $100-600 per month from Spotify, according to estimates by Sound Campaign.

100k monthly listeners? Is that crazy tho?

If needed, it needs to be realistic.

Why Spotify?

Along with Spotify & YouTube the most popular streaming service is Apple Music, which out of all of them is most courtial to the artist.

What does a monthly listener mean?

• it doesn’t mean your follower, it means you have a listener who clicked on your track at least twice within a month

What’s the less talked about aspect in music production?

It wouldn’t feel complete not mentioning starting to deal with other artists and producers as well as those who wish to be them.

As my music production reached a point where branching out can be a good thing with the right people - I’ve come to find out that almost Everybody wants it in their mind yet doesn’t actually do it.

Good luck dealing with messy artists, learning how to break their own ice, teach them writing, freestyling - whatever.

It’s not for the weak, if you’re doing it for popularity rather than creative outlet - just buy the damn beats & learn how to do the vocal parts.

Actually releasing your own work is much easier until you’re at a point of doing it. Proper quality is to be rewarded after necessary work towards it. It’s a often isolating process with not much to show for it until you finally start to see your results.

Much love to you all, Ro$aria.