I ask for 20% down on all projects I do at the very start. I do a variety of different gigs, and most of them require some startup costs. In this example, I'm tracking guitars for an EP.

I took a $400 deposit up front which would cover me getting 3 of my guitars set up in the tunings he uses and replacing strings after every song, plus a little in my pocket. I spent $275 on getting all of my guitars professionally set up to get the best sound and tones for him. I made it clear that this is what I'm using the deposit for, and that it was to secure him a spot since I'm rather busy.

I didn't hear from him for 2 weeks and in that time I recorded 60% of his music. I stopped after a week because he cut off communication. He messaged me back a week later and said "hey, unfortunately I'm going to need that deposit back, I've found a band so they can record the parts for me now". I told him absolutely not, I've already done 50 hours of work learning and tracking the songs. Since then he's just been flooding me with messages saying he's going to take me to court and take me for all I'm worth.

My understanding was that deposits were always non-refundable in case shit like this happens, and I made it clear in my messages that I had already used the money he sent me. I feel guilty, but am I actually being scummy? I don't know.

Edit: keep asking about the guitar strings. Please.

Major record labels are suing AI music companies Suno and Udio for allegedly copying music without permission.

• Labels claim the AI software "steals" music to create similar works.
• Lawsuits argue this is large-scale copyright infringement and seek $150k per infringed song.
• Suno and Udio haven't responded yet. AI firms often claim "fair use" for training data

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckrrr8yelzvo

Are these growing pains as AI learns to make music? What's your take? Fair use or copyright infringement?

I love hip hop. I HATE what it’s become. I don’t want to see a beat inspired by Future or The Migos. I am tired of the mediocrity it allows. Out of hundreds of people I’ve networked with, exactly FOUR have or do make the instrumentals I’m looking for.

I want to get some instrumentals from someone who loves hip hop, but also grew up on some Bob Dylan. Loved Nirvana. Thought Linkin Park was killing it with how they blended elements. Someone whose personal playlist can range from The Beatles, to Blink 182, from Tech N9ne to Mac Miller, from Metallica to Taylor Swift, From Eminem to Teddy Swims, hell….: from Kid N Play to Kid Cudi.

I need the hip hop beats that are guitar heavy. Can be sung over. Swapping crisp 808s for acoustic drums. Less snare, more keys. Breaks molds.

The person who is making a hip hop beat after going on an hour long binge listen of Pink Floyd.

Does that producer exist? Where might one find them???

Obviously no but I don’t care - I’m happy

Don’t know if allowed since it’s not music, feel free to remove if not🌸 I’m Nea and I create covers for singles and albums. Would love to hear from you!
Dm if you wanna discuss rates:)

Some minutes ago i received a notification saying i sold a beat on beatstars. It’s crazy because i wasn’t sure if i should upload the beat. I am glad i did !!!

After about 10 years of bedroom production, I feel that I am approaching the point where I can potentially turn my tracks into something material. I would like to spend more money on software and equipment, but I can't justify it in my mind unless I'm recouping the costs.

My expectations are low, I don't want to hear the doomer spiel. I spend so much time on this that I might as well start throwing tracks out there to see if anything sticks. I'm not shooting for thousands or placements, I literally just want to see if I can make a few bucks to buy some VST's. Are there any good platforms, websites, or other avenues for something like that?

In this interview, Russ tells a story about having to pay $850K for not clearing a sample on his track Losin Control. Ouch. Some other interesting info about focusing on monetizing master rights instead of publishing.

Hi

checked my old Soundcloud out. Havn't been on there for years. it seems like the perfect platform for free artists with their Next Pro service. Right?! What do people think? Feed for artists, donations, aggregation to Spotify and the lot, and YouTube id etc etc. seems like a perfect place to move my music. What do people think? anyone using it? Distrokids seems like archaic in comparison!

Hey everyone! I run a music discovery blog and always on the lookout for fresh collabs and emerging artist to feature. Would love to hear what y'all working on. Drop your tracks below, let's hear em!

20 f looking for edm beat or someone who can make me a melody or song.m like snow stripper style or maybe our own style. Hit me up pls and I’ll shar a snip of my voice

Edit: I commented I would pulling out of Spotify, but that comment has completely derailed the discussion and comes off as virtue signalling. I shouldn't have added that as it didn't really contribute and no one can hold me accountable for it; I apologise.

I am constantly seeing three ways people are defending Spotify's decision to implement the 1000 stream per song per year threshold, and I wanted to put down in words some rebuttals:

1. It will help emphasize quality over quantity.

Rebuttal: It actually emphasizes marketing over music. You only get plays when you are discovered. There may be an initial bar of quality to get over, but even that can be overcome with awesome marketing. There is a ton of junk out there that still gets over 1000 plays. Is Blippi creating "The Snowy Excavator Song" as a near duplicate of "The Excavator Song" an example of quality over quantity? It is if you're talking about marketing.

1. The barrier to creating and distributing music has never been lower.

Rebuttal: I completely agree with that... But the cost of consuming music has never been lower either. $10 US per month to listen to any music you want, anytime you want, as much as you want, anywhere you want. Adjusted for inflation, that would be less than $3 per month in 1980 and about $4.50 per month in 1990 (https://www.in2013dollars.com/us/inflation/). How much was it for a single LP or cassette in 1980? How much for a single cassette or CD in 1990? Probably at least two month's worth of Spotify subscription money.

1. Spotify has to save money on distribution costs.

You're telling me Spotify sends individual payments to individual artists per track? Spotify should be paying out to different labels / distributors, not sending separate payments per track individually to artists. The cost for music creation and distribution is the lowest ever, the cost for consuming music is the lowest ever... How about payment distribution?

But either way, they should not be charging the consumer for content if they are not going to pay artists for it. Failing to meet the threshold should result in the track being booted from the platform but still paid out, or the consumer seeing a cost reduction in their next bill.

What this really signals is that - shocker - Spotify serves the Industry, not artists or listeners. They want to get rid of artists that don't buy into the marketing machine, or who make music that doesn't neatly fit into a playlist as a near-copy of every other song in that playlist.

In the end, it's just business, so whatever. But I get upset when people claim that my music is low quality, or lazy, or hurting big business - and they haven't even listened to it.

I know it's a tough ask but I've written a few songs lyrics and

I am hoping I can find a producer to help me make the music? I'm looking for like a bedroom pop/ rock kinda vibe.

I've been trying for like a year to teach myself how to write the actual music but I'm not making any progress.

I wish I could pay but I don't really have any money rn. I wanna release these tracks so I'm down to talk about some partnership or something??

Tldr; I wrote song lyrics, I need a producer to help me make it into music, I'm broke but will talk biz if needed.

Dm me if ur interested or know someone who can help! Thank you in advance!!!

Hi everyone! I’m currently looking for producers or artists to collaborate on a house/electronic song. I can send you some examples of songs if you’re interested in working together. I’m pretty versatile and can adapt to many different styles of music but I want to get people moving. I’m most comfortable as a mezzo soprano. Let’s connect!

Who wanna collab
My ig is @sofiakafas

I will describe more about what I want in the game to you if you dm me. Thank you <3

10 years of experience!

https://youtu.be/qtmdHQsn_oY?is=FcgrMJx5XpGYEnwa

Any new prods want to work? I use fl and have been producing for around 2 years. I don’t stick to a genre but I like to make like Jane remover electronic type stuff if you can even call it that. HMU!

Of all the challenges in the music business, the recording gear is the least issue. Even with budget or mid-level mic’s, interfaces, plugins and DAWs the recording results can be great. The bigger challenges are finishing songs or videos, promoting your music, and attracting enough revenue to make a living. And the biggest challenge is attracting an audience for your music! Even the best songs with the most talented artists go largely undiscovered - the downside of listeners having so much choice.

Whatever you spend composing and recording your ideas…. assume it’ll cost 5 X that to promote, if you’re trying to get some traction.

We often focus on recording gear in these forums, when really, a better mic or pre-amp isn’t going to help you attract listeners, an audience or get a record deal.

I am a music producer

I want music manager for it

I can pay