Do You Work Or Have Worked In The Music Industry?

[Girino]

I am looking for some info on how to live on music, i.e. how does this industry works and how to get in contact with potential customers?
The songs are here, and are available to be used as soundtracks of TV series or in movies, as well as for publication.
I don't have any lead and knowledge of the industry, so I'd be glad if you could contribute in any way.

I am not talking about becoming a pop star, rather than making a honest living freelancing in the music industry. It is a market completely inexistent from where I come from, but that actually exist in the US and the UK, so your expat insights are valuable.
The songs are in English, of course.

PMs are also welcome!

 

[sleslie23]

A looong time ago I worked for several years for a friend who is a music director/composer/producer primarily working in video games, but who also does film work. There are actually a lot of jobs in video game music, but that's probably not what you are thinking of. I also know several other people who do freelance work for film/TV music.

The short answer is you need talent and contacts. Talent is the easy part as long as you can compose songs within rigid parameters (a specific theme, a length, etc.). How you'll make money is not by being a great musician, but by being a practical musician who can produce acceptable music, on time and under budget. That's the reality of "freelancing in the music industry."

Finding contacts is the hard part, especially if you want to find work in the US. IMHO the best thing you could do would be to try to make contacts in BsAs (hint: they don't call it Palermo Hollywood for nothing) and try to find gigs composing for any project you can find: student films, radio commercials, whatever. If you have a portfolio and resume, you can use that to try to find gigs in the North. Or if you are lucky, people will find you.

Anyway, that's my take on an industry that I have vague familiarity with. The reason I didn't continue was the pay was not very good. The software industry was much more lucrative. Of the people I mentioned above, only the video game guy makes the big bucks. He ended up as music director for one of those famous wizard, dragoney, types of games.

 

[sleslie23]

Also, a lot of work in the US may require you to be a member of:

https://www.thescl.com/membership

Like the Screen Actor's Guild, it's a chicken and egg situation. You must already have at least 1 credit on a film, tv show, video game, etc.

 

[Ries]

The music industry doesnt exactly "pay" these days.
I know a few people who make a living the way you describe- and, to get there, it required 20 years in the trenches.
Just writing songs is not enough.
I have a friend who does a lot of TV soundtracks, music for commercials, and so on- and he gets the jobs because of his track record- he toured with John McLaughlin in the 70's, he played a thousand casuals and sessions, and he spent 20 years in LA. Now he lives in rural British Columbia, and its all Fed-exed Hard Drives and DropBox- but he had to meet the people in person first.
I know another guy who does this kind of work, He spent decades in recording studios in NYC and Philly. Now, he does movie soundtracks and Macy's commercials, but again, its based on a big resume, and years of meeting people. He, also, often works from home, but also spends months in recording studios.

It is, of course, possible to sell songs without ever recording a CD or playing a live gig, but the number of people who do that is infintesimal- almost the exceptions to prove the rule.
Certainly, you CAN do it- but most likely, you wont ever get anyone to even return your emails.

I would agree- start local. Go meet actual musicians, composers, and singers, who are doing this in Buenos Aires. There are a ton of em- mostly they have day jobs, of course, but there are movies, commercials, and tv shows made here every day, and somebody is doing that work. Most serious musicians here are actually pretty friendly, and often they play on each others projects- people like Gaby Kerpel, who wrote the music for Fuerza Bruta, plays constantly with all kinds of people from all musical worlds.

 

[Girino]

Thank you very much for your contributions. The first album is out. Let's see where the drift takes it to!

 

[Ries]

dont you have it on a location that does not require signing up, like bandcamp or soundcloud?
I refuse to spotfiy.

 

[Girino]

Sure, this is where the album is available as of now:

• ALL on Soundcloud
• ALL on iTunes
• ALL on Spotify

 

[wineguy999]

Upbeat pop with a healthy dose of Beatles influence, and maybe a dash of 10cc(?).

There's a market for it out there, and probably somewhere a filmmaker waiting to put a track into his boy-meets-girl movie.

 

[jantango]

I am looking for some info on how to live on music, i.e. how does this industry works and how to get in contact with potential customers?
The songs are here, and are available to be used as soundtracks of TV series or in movies, as well as for publication.
I don't have any lead and knowledge of the industry, so I'd be glad if you could contribute in any way.

I am not talking about becoming a pop star, rather than making a honest living freelancing in the music industry. It is a market completely inexistent from where I come from, but that actually exist in the US and the UK, so your expat insights are valuable.
The songs are in English, of course.

PMs are also welcome!

I came across this on the city's cultural agenda:


El objetivo de BAFIM es poner en contacto a nuevos artistas con productores, managers, sellos discográficos y agentes de contratación nacionales e internacionales. Además, busca tender puentes con la industria audiovisual, incluyendo en las actividades a productoras de dicho sector.

En el marco de este evento se desarrollará, además, “Las salas te escuchan”; un encuentro entre artistas emergentes y los programadores de los ciclos y salas de música más importantes de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires.

Buenos Aires, Feria Internacional de la Música (BAFIM) forma parte de la grilla de actividades que ofrecerá la Ciudad entre el 10 de agosto y el 25 de septiembre para celebrar a la Creatividad como motor de desarrollo económico y social local, en el marco del 10° Aniversario del reconocimiento a Buenos Aires como primera Ciudad Creativa de Diseño por la UNESCO. Los eventos están destinados a profesionales de las industrias creativas y público general.

Algunas actividades requieren inscripción previa. Para más información www.buenosaires.gob.ar/bafim

 

[scotttswan]

http://incompetech.com/

This guy makes a living making music afaik. He makes money from commissions and gives away a tonne of tunes on "creative commons" copyrights.

You'll hear his music in tonnes of mobile games, youtube videos, podcasts etc.