SARAHVZMUSIC

Greetings to everyone reading this 🙂 I hope you are having a wonderful week. Thank you for bearing with the irregularity of my posts. I am working on a regular writing schedule, I swear.

Today I released a new song that I wrote, performed, and recorded. The song was written years ago (in a different phase of life), but it’s a song that I’ve always liked, and have wanted to record for a while now.

Over the past few months, I set myself a goal to complete the song in my spare time. Throughout this process, I have been reminded just how many steps there are in creating even a simple pop song. There are many pieces of the puzzle that don’t involve music at all. So I thought I would discuss the process a bit, and the small victory of completing a song.

A song from start to finish

There are many steps between writing a song and getting it to people’s ears, including:

• Conception/idea
• Writing, developing and polishing lyrics and music
• Rehearsal
• Booking a studio and musicians (if using)
• Recording of all the instrument parts
• Editing & mixing
• Mastering

Each of these steps can take anything from days, weeks or months. But if you get to this stage, you have a song that exists as a WAV file called the master. The next steps include:

• Create the single/album cover
• Create a music video – simple/fancy (ie. cheap or expensive)
• Upload your master to your distribution site at least 1-4 weeks before release date. I use Distrokid.
• Register the work with APRA (music rights management organisation)
• Pitch song to Spotify playlists (I have yet to be chosen, but I keep trying)
• Create promotional materials – posts, short videos, etc. This alone takes many hours
• Promote on social media in the weeks leading up to release day
• Promote heavily on release day
• Continue to promote following release day

It can be overwhelming when you look at all the steps, and I’ve probably left out many. But if you take it one step at a time, eventually you will have released a song into the world.

The reality of independent music

As a songwriter, I’m always trying to find easier ways to record my songs, which can be a challenge, mostly financially. Recording at a professional studio costs thousands of dollars for even a single song, which is simply unaffordable for most unknown indie musicians. Even the cheaper home-based studios can end up costing thousands of dollars for several songs.

Many people don’t realise that, unless your music is very popular and streamed by the thousands and millions, it is very difficult to make ANY money from original music. Given that it costs so much to produce, you can end up losing a lot of money to create quality music.

For example, Spotify pays on average $0.0039NZD per stream ($0.00238USD), so 1000 streams could earn you $3.90. Let’s say it cost you $1000 to record a song, you would need at least 260,000 streams to simply make back your money, probably more, as the rates fluctuate. That’s not counting the additional costs to distribute or promote the song. With over 100,000 songs being uploaded every day to streaming platforms, it can be difficult to develop a following and build an audience.

Every time I previously spent hard-earned money on recording my music, I told myself that eventually it might pay off, once I build an audience. In my experience, that is proving to be nearly impossible.

I do consider songwriting to be a labour of love, and I remind myself that I’m not doing it for the money. I love being a musician and making music. But practically speaking, I cannot keep losing money to make original music, it simply isn’t sustainable the older I get.

At my lowest points, I often feel as though I have made a terrible mistake by pursuing something where the odds are so stacked. I often feel quite foolish. I am currently at a point where I am deciding whether it is worth continuing at all, or whether to retrain in another field and continue with music as a hobby. I currently make money as a cover musician, but it can be difficult to earn a living, as the cost of everything increases.

I don’t like to have a victim mentality, and I know I am to blame for my failure. I can try to blame the system, or the industry, (both have their issues) but in many ways I suspect I haven’t done enough to succeed. I have made a lot of mistakes, and they led me here.

So, what is next?

While I figure out what I’m doing, I’ll continue to record music the only way I can. Over the past few years, I have set up a modest recording set-up at home, allowing me to record songs without going broke each time. It took me time to acquire all the equipment I needed, some of it secondhand. With research, learning, and technical issues at each stage, I have managed to create a recording set-up that works. Luckily, I still remember the basics from my music production papers at university, from many years ago.

I completed my first song in my home studio (Comin’ Back Around) last year, and while I have a lot to learn, I choose to be satisfied with the result. I just finished Timing’s Never Right, and I am about nearly done with my next song, Easy To Love. It feels good to finally have more songs go from my notebooks/head and into the real world. Small victories.

If you’re still reading…

I felt the need to be honest about my experiences, because I truly think most people assume things are way easier than they actually are. I think this is true for most things in life. Nothing is ever as it appears, and we often need to be reminded of this.

If you’re struggling, swimming upstream in any venture, personal or professional, please know you are not alone. I’d love to hear from you.

And if you wish to support your favourite artists, consider purchasing songs on iTunes/Apple Music, Bandcamp, or similar platforms, as these can yield considerably more revenue for the artist than streams.

CURRENT READING
Here I share a book/audiobook or two that I am currently reading:

BOOK: “Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention” by Johann Hari
BOOK: “Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions” by Johann Hari

IMAGE OF THE WEEK
Here is the cover for my upcoming No Going Back EP. The first single is Timing’s Never Right, and I aim to release the full EP by the end of the year.

Take care, have a wonderful weekend.
Sarah

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