1. Finishing music is the #1 most important goal

Put Finishing Music above everything. Set deadlines. Make bets with friends. Do whatever it takes to make sure that you are finishing at least one song every week or two. If you are slower than that, the reality is that you are not ready to do this full-time.

2. Get comfortable with stealing

Every song you will ever listen to from this moment forward is an opportunity to steal. Think about that. Learn to listen to music with an unquenchable desire to sample sounds.

Learn 10 ways for music producers to actually steal like an artist.

3. Learn & progress at your own pace

Everything…literally everything in life happens at your own pace. Don’t worry about the artist who has been producing only a fraction of the time as long as you, and are seeing better results.

This is going to keep happening. Keep your head down and get to work. Don’t pay attention to that energy. The grind is real, and no one needs to be comparing themselves to other people time and time again.

Bonus tip: for everyone caught up in what other people think, consider this – the average person only has 10 people cry at their funeral. Yep, only 10. Are any of those people that you are stressing about going to be one of those 10? I bet not. So move on and direct that energy elsewhere.

4. Persistence beats talent in the long term

No one was born great. Talent isn’t given, it’s earned. So work hard, but make sure to accept that the race is super long. Don’t burn yourself out by working until your eyes bleed every night.

5. Be open to constructive criticism & feedback

Getting consistent, trustworthy feedback on your music is going to be one of the most important factors in polishing your sound. Without that magic combination of feedback + actual implementation, progress is extremely hard to come by. It’s hard at first, but learn to not take constructive criticism personally. On the other hand, if someone says ‘this sucks’ on your Soundcloud, you have every right to troll them (but I would recommend ignoring them).

6. Writer’s block isn’t real

Sorry. Writer’s block just isn’t a thing. The real problem is getting started. Creating consistent, daily habits. Too tired to go for a run? Just start, you’ll get into it. Don’t think you’ll have fun at some social event? Just start getting ready. Don’t want to make music? Just open your DAW and cycle through a few samples…

7. Listen to a ton of different music

When it comes to longevity and fueling musical ideas over and over again, I truly believe that listening to music outside of your electronic niche is not only important but 100% necessary. Without inspiration from widely different genres, electronic music can become very repetitive. Potentially even dull. Take your favorite elements from different genres and blend and mold them into something completely your own.

8. Spend on knowledge, not equipment.

When it comes to equipment, an article over at Pro Audio Files said it best…

There are four tiers of audio equipment:

1. Cheap

2. Solid enough for professional use, Consumer level pricing.

3. “Pro” which is marginally better than number 2.

4. Expensive.



Tier two is good enough. Ignore the rest. When you make a living off of music you can splurge.

Instead, spend on education. For example, if you spent $100 to learn how to truly use compression, that will be more valuable than any actual compressor plugin you ever purchase. I can say with the benefit of hindsight and absolute clarity, the thousands of dollars I spent at an audio school was more valuable than any equipment I ever bought.

9. Be yourself / stay who you are

It’s a cliche at this point to tell someone to ‘be yourself’ but hey, in music, this is equally as important. It’s easy to get caught in the bubble of trying to suck up to an A&R or trying to impress your fans or trying to sign with a label. At the end of the day, if you make music for other people, you will burn out. It has to come from a place inside of you. So there it is…stay true to yourself and don’t hop on every bandwagon.

10. Get used to rejection (or worse, getting ignored)

There are millions, literally millions of producers, all trying to carve out their own space in an extremely over-saturated market. You will get rejected. You will get ignored. It’s completely cool.

11. Explore multiple revenue streams

If you haven’t noticed yet, this article is going way beyond your average music production tips. You see, the average millionaire has 7 different revenue streams. If you’re successfully making a living off of music, you most likely are generating an income from varying fields. Most artists aren’t making enough solely off sales of their music, so they: play shows, offer engineering services, place music in TV or film, put together courses, take on ghost production, etc.

12. Be prepared to work your ass off

I’m not going to lie, there are significantly easier ways to make money. Music is a tough industry and if you want to make a splash in it, be prepared to work hard. Just don’t fall into the trap that working more is always the answer.

13. Collaboration is everything

Allowing another mind to come in and help you make music is extremely important. Not only does this help you grow your skill set, but it also is extremely fulfilling and even fun.

14. Friends in the industry go a long way

Be super open to creating a community. Making friends in the music industry has too many benefits to list. Not only can you get great feedback, but you can work with each other to maximize exposure and attack the difficult and tricky aspects of the music industry together. For me, starting the Hyperbits Masterclass has created hundreds and hundreds of new connections and friends — both in the industry and by connecting with students.

15. You have already “made it”

There will always be a next level, a new challenge, and there is no threshold that you need to cross in order to be “legit”. Just by starting and doing your best, you have accomplished your goal of being a real music producer.

16. Every day doesn’t have to be your best day ever

There will be some great days, and some not-so-great days, some great weeks, and some not-so-great weeks. If things aren’t clicking on a given day, don’t stress about it and try it again tomorrow. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the race is long…

17. Equipment isn’t everything

Sure, sometimes the expensive stuff sounds great, but you can make incredible sounding music, with a tiny budget and cheap-gear, in an untreated room. Stop creating problems for yourself by thinking that some new toy will fix your music – the truth is, even if it does help, it will be minimal.