Songwriter Has Too Many Options, Seeks Advice!!
Hi. I've been a songwriter/keyboardist for over 10 years, and I'm looking for advice. I have several different ideas for how I can go about freelancing, and I wanted your opinion on which business model would likely have the most potential.
Here's one idea. I've been thinking about offering to add keyboard tracks to other musicians recordings. If they have a song which features a track they're not happy with, I could replace that track with my own sounds, such as synths, piano, organ, etc. The disadvantage with this is that I probably couldn't charge much for doing that. Most of us musicians don't have much money.
Another idea I've been thinking of is that I could compose custom made music for people/companies on a per-order basis. This would be intended for use in things like videos, flash games, company presentations, on-hold music, indie-films, etc. They would specify the type of track they want, and then I would go and create it. The disadvantage with this is that I might have to charge more than most people might be willing to pay, since creating a song from scratch can be time consuming. The big advantage (for them) is that they would hold exclusive rights to the music. Larger companies might be interested, but it would be hard for me to network with them in order to sell them on that service in the first place.
Then there's the concept of just pre-recording everything as royalty-free music and selling non-exclusive rights to use it. The disadvantage here is that everyone who bought those tracks would know there's other people using the exact same tracks.
I've also been thinking of yet another business model, one which revolves around the idea of ghostwriting music. The market here would be DJs who produce electronica. Since I do some of that as well, I could just network with a bunch of other electronic musicians and offer to write music for them. Honestly, I don't know what kind of profit I could make from that, though.
Well, as you can tell, I have way too many options on the table. While I may want to eventually pursue all of these ideas, I'd like to start by focusing on the most promising one, and then branch out from there.
What I'd love is to just get a real music related job, but we all know how rare those are. As a songwriter, my ultimate goal is to get my music published, and my songs performed by artists so I can collect royalties. I'm looking at freelancing as a road to the place I want to be.
Anyways, if any of you (especially those in the music industry) have any advice, please let me know. As always, thanks for reading.
Here's one idea. I've been thinking about offering to add keyboard tracks to other musicians recordings. If they have a song which features a track they're not happy with, I could replace that track with my own sounds, such as synths, piano, organ, etc. The disadvantage with this is that I probably couldn't charge much for doing that. Most of us musicians don't have much money.
Another idea I've been thinking of is that I could compose custom made music for people/companies on a per-order basis. This would be intended for use in things like videos, flash games, company presentations, on-hold music, indie-films, etc. They would specify the type of track they want, and then I would go and create it. The disadvantage with this is that I might have to charge more than most people might be willing to pay, since creating a song from scratch can be time consuming. The big advantage (for them) is that they would hold exclusive rights to the music. Larger companies might be interested, but it would be hard for me to network with them in order to sell them on that service in the first place.
Then there's the concept of just pre-recording everything as royalty-free music and selling non-exclusive rights to use it. The disadvantage here is that everyone who bought those tracks would know there's other people using the exact same tracks.
I've also been thinking of yet another business model, one which revolves around the idea of ghostwriting music. The market here would be DJs who produce electronica. Since I do some of that as well, I could just network with a bunch of other electronic musicians and offer to write music for them. Honestly, I don't know what kind of profit I could make from that, though.
Well, as you can tell, I have way too many options on the table. While I may want to eventually pursue all of these ideas, I'd like to start by focusing on the most promising one, and then branch out from there.
What I'd love is to just get a real music related job, but we all know how rare those are. As a songwriter, my ultimate goal is to get my music published, and my songs performed by artists so I can collect royalties. I'm looking at freelancing as a road to the place I want to be.
Anyways, if any of you (especially those in the music industry) have any advice, please let me know. As always, thanks for reading.
Just when you think you've got it all figured out, someone changes the rules.