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Published On: Mon, Jun 22nd, 2015
Features | By MusicTech.net

14 Music Composition Tips – Make Money From

Music
It’s time for MusicTech’s mammoth tips collection on making money from your music. Over the
next few weeks we’ll gather top advice on composing, demoing, marketing and creating an online
strategy for your music. In short, everything you need to make notes from your notes…

Part 1: Compose Your Music

Our top tips to making the music that will hopefully make you the money!
1: Get Good Sonic Weaponry – Be comfortable producing using a number of different synths and
instruments, and familiarise yourself with classical strings, pianos and guitars – either real or virtual – all
essential sounds in film and library music.

2: But Not Too Much – Too many instruments can turn you into a preset hunter, never quite familiar
enough with one instrument to get the best from it. Sometimes limiting yourself can boost creativity, so
get to know two or three instruments really well.

3: Know your DAW – Getting to know your sequencer’s shortcuts and power routes will reap dividends
and speed up your workflow. Check out MusicTech’s Power User series for every major DAW – Ableton,
Cubase, Reason, Logic, Pro Tools and FL Studio

4:  Use Sample Libraries – and the samples free with MusicTech! Some people scorn their use, but
samples are there to be used in commercial recordings, sync and library music. They are cheaper than ever
so use them!

5: But Not Too Many! – As above, don’t overdo it and become too reliant on samples. In fact, don’t
become too reliant on any one aspect of music technology as fashions can quickly change…

6: Lose Your Emotions – Don’t get too attached to your music. If you become successful as a film, game
or TV composer, your name might not necessarily become as big. Once your music is being used, it’s no
longer your own. You’re not releasing a track under your own name; it’s going out under the name of a
production company.

7: Lose your Perfection (Sometimes) – If you’re a perfectionist, you might find yourself getting very
frustrated very quickly when dealing with clients. Not only might you have differing creative directions,
but sometimes the client will care more about meeting the deadline than producing the best music
possible. This is something you’re just going to have to roll with, and you need to be aware that at some
point a piece of music you’re far from happy with might be deemed good enough. Take a deep breath,
take the money, and move on to the next one.
8: The Need for Speed – Speed needs to be your watchword. If a client calls you at 6pm wanting two or
three workable ideas by 9am the next day, you need to be sure that you can step up to the challenge. Work
on getting to know your DAW back to front, so that you can leap in and start composing the moment a job
comes through without having to fiddle around with settings and Preferences. If you can demonstrate that
you can pull off the job on a tight deadline, clients will come back to you again and again.

9:  Focus – Get in the composing zone. Eat, poo, turn the internet off, relax and start. Stop making
excuses.

10:  Remix – You might look down on the art of remixing but do make sure you consider it. Remix other
tunes, or – even better – get other people to remix yours. Someone else might see your music in a new
light, or twist the genre into something else entirely. And when people hear the remix, they’ll go looking
for the original…

11: Bin It… – If an idea isn’t working, bin it and move on. Don’t waste time going down a dark and
endless alley with your music. But…

12: Don’t Bin It – never get rid of anything! You never know what’s going to happen and something that
sounds a bit dodgy now might be absolutely perfect for a job you get later on. So keep those naff ideas in
carefully marked folders relating to genre type, tempo or other descriptive names.

13: Stand and Deliver – When delivering the final music, make sure you’re clear about what your library
expects. Most expect WAV files, delivered at 24-bit and 48kHz. With library companies, you should be
delivering both a full-length version of your track as well as 30- and ten-second versions.

14:  Tag it – Tag your music as much as you can. If you’re a Mac user, the latest version of OSX,
Mavericks, enables you to add tags to files. Consider tagging audio by tempo, style, mood, genre and even
specific instruments.
2: 12 Tips on Making your Demos

3: 11 Tips on Getting a Name for Yourself

More coming soon…

Comments
10 comments
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Add a comment...

Dustin Chevalier · General Manager at Marquez Auto Sales

Where do I post the track?
Like · Reply · 2 · Jun 22, 2015 9:32pm

Cameron Bashaw · Owner-Operator at Neologic Studios

anywhere and everywhere you can. Network and rub shoulders with anyone at every
librarian company or synch publishing administrator (heck, even CD Baby Pro offers
publishing administration now too). Attend as many ASCAP and BMI seminars and
functions as you can just so you can put your face in front of other people who'm you
might end up doing business with later.
Like · Reply · 1 · Jul 5, 2015 4:32am

Victor Castillo
If only I would've known this back in the 80's.
Like · Reply · 2 · Jun 23, 2015 7:46am

Bernie Burnalot · VanArts - Broadcasting For Web, Radio & TV

Why isn't Digital Performer listed as one of the major DAW's? Are you NUTS?!
Like · Reply · Jun 24, 2015 6:56pm

Vic Angelo · Boston, Massachusetts

I remember dp back when I started in 98-2000's, It def was a major player back then. It's
usage dropped significantly
Like · Reply · Jul 4, 2015 6:24pm

Hiy Morad
nice article
Like · Reply · Jul 4, 2015 9:44pm

Fiaz Aka-Dj Mast · New York, New York

Digital Performer is not a major daw. I wasted years on that shit. Bouncing file kills the quality of
sound. Workflow horrible and for ppl who work with loops stay away tempo matching is a
nightmare. its good for guitarist and thats all they focused on like there recent update r u f. Kidding
me. Immoving on to either abelton or cubase
Like · Reply · 2 · Jul 11, 2015 12:19am

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