Is there really any point making music to sell anymore ?

Advice on everything from getting your music heard to setting up a label and royalties.

Moderator: Moderators

Is there really any point making music to sell anymore ?

Post by Marbury »

Well, I don't know about anyone else here but I am at a loss at what to do regarding music for use in libraries etc. Fortunately I make most of my earnings with sound effects but as companies have fallen, sales have been reduced from a decent licence to the price of a cup of coffee I am pretty depressed with the whole business. Even libraries that have showed interest, one in particular who was keen on my work was about to send me the contract and I didn't hear diddly squat, no response of my emails. The company is still going but people are weird, in some cases downright ignorant. I get a few hundred every quarter for my PRS, but that is now shrinking. Recently I invested in a lot of vst software (mainly Spitfire audio) to broaden palate but I feel I have waisted hundreds on something that I now can't really justify on my next tax return. It seems you have to be a name, know people in the business to succeed now. Fortunately my mortgage is paid in 18 months but it is still sad to see something I was once enthusiastic about die on the vine.

My real passion is making more experimental Arty music, the kind that would never sell for use in the mainstream media, so I am thinking sod it, just do that. Having said that, Bandcamp also seems to favour the more successful artist in their algorithms, rather than giving others a chance. Ditto has happened to photography, once lucrative licenses for up to a few hundred to mere pence, yes pence!

It's just a race to the bottom as more and more young kids sell their tracks cheap for the sake of bragging rights.
Marbury
Frequent Poster
Posts: 1089 Joined: Thu Aug 28, 2003 12:00 am Location: Cheshire, UK
 

Re: Is there really any point making music to sell anymore ?

Post by Drew Stephenson »

Marbury wrote:It's just a race to the bottom as more and more young kids sell their tracks cheap for the sake of bragging rights.

I'm not sure that's the entire reason. Fundamentally the barriers to entry have dropped massively over the last ten years; more people creating content shifts the supply and demand equation.
This is amplified by a lowering of standards in some of the big commercial players who are focused on speed and cost.

None of which helps, but I don't think it's fair just to blame it on 'kids these days'.
User avatar
Drew Stephenson
Jedi Poster
Posts: 24445 Joined: Sun Jul 05, 2015 12:00 am Location: York
(The forumuser formerly known as Blinddrew)
Ignore the post count, I still have no idea what I'm doing...
https://drewstephenson.bandcamp.com/

Re: Is there really any point making music to sell anymore ?

Post by Marbury »

blinddrew wrote:
Marbury wrote:It's just a race to the bottom as more and more young kids sell their tracks cheap for the sake of bragging rights.

I'm not sure that's the entire reason. Fundamentally the barriers to entry have dropped massively over the last ten years; more people creating content shifts the supply and demand equation.
This is amplified by a lowering of standards in some of the big commercial players who are focused on speed and cost.

None of which helps, but I don't think it's fair just to blame it on 'kids these days'.

Fair point, and totally valid. Add it to the list. Not so much blaming kids, but they tend to slot pre made loops, samples, beats, and chords together and think they are composers.
Marbury
Frequent Poster
Posts: 1089 Joined: Thu Aug 28, 2003 12:00 am Location: Cheshire, UK
 

Re: Is there really any point making music to sell anymore ?

Post by Drew Stephenson »

Marbury wrote:
blinddrew wrote:
Marbury wrote:It's just a race to the bottom as more and more young kids sell their tracks cheap for the sake of bragging rights.

I'm not sure that's the entire reason. Fundamentally the barriers to entry have dropped massively over the last ten years; more people creating content shifts the supply and demand equation.
This is amplified by a lowering of standards in some of the big commercial players who are focused on speed and cost.

None of which helps, but I don't think it's fair just to blame it on 'kids these days'.

Fair point, and totally valid. Add it to the list. Not so much blaming kids, but they tend to slot pre made loops, samples, beats, and chords together and think they are composers.

True enough.

::: looks nervously at extensive use of drum loops and automated piano in recent recordings :::
;)
User avatar
Drew Stephenson
Jedi Poster
Posts: 24445 Joined: Sun Jul 05, 2015 12:00 am Location: York
(The forumuser formerly known as Blinddrew)
Ignore the post count, I still have no idea what I'm doing...
https://drewstephenson.bandcamp.com/

Re: Is there really any point making music to sell anymore ?

Post by James Perrett »

If you want to find a new audience then get your music used as a soundtrack to a Scratch game. There are thousands of budding game programmers on there who need soundtracks to their games. You won't earn any money from Scratch but you are putting your music in front of an audience who may well be in a position to to pay handsomely in 10 years time.
User avatar
James Perrett
Moderator
Posts: 14250 Joined: Mon Sep 10, 2001 12:00 am Location: The wilds of Hampshire
JRP Music - Audio Mastering and Restoration. JRP Music Facebook Page

Re: Is there really any point making music to sell anymore ?

Post by The Elf »

Start thinking about 'selling' before a project and you'll never begin.

The same democratising systems that carry all this mediocrity can also work in your favour; that's been proved many times. The trick is to make something that finds an audience and rises above the mediocre. That's always been the requirement of a career in music - nothing has changed.

This was said by W H Auden, and I believe it holds as true for music: “Some books are undeservedly forgotten; none are undeservedly remembered.”
User avatar
The Elf
Jedi Poster
Posts: 19938 Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2001 12:00 am Location: Sheffield, UK
An Eagle for an Emperor, A Kestrel for a Knave.

Re: Is there really any point making music to sell anymore ?

Post by BJG145 »

The Elf wrote:This was said by W H Auden, and I believe it holds as true for music: “Some books are undeservedly forgotten; none are undeservedly remembered.”

I only wish that was true. But some things I can't get out of my head.

She's so lovely
She's so lovely
She's so lovely
She's so lovely
She's so lovely
She's so lovely
She's so lovely
She's so lovely


(I suffer from a rare form of audio PTSD.)
User avatar
BJG145
Jedi Poster
Posts: 7125 Joined: Sat Aug 06, 2005 12:00 am

Re: Is there really any point making music to sell anymore ?

Post by shufflebeat »

BJG145 wrote:...I can't get out of my head.


Na na na
Na na na-na na
Na na na
Na na na-na na...

Have a good evening.
shufflebeat
Jedi Poster
Posts: 9091 Joined: Sun Dec 09, 2007 12:00 am Location: Manchester, UK
“…I can tell you I don't have money, but what I do have are a very particular set of skills. Skills I have acquired over a very long career” - (folk musician, Manchester).

Re: Is there really any point making music to sell anymore ?

Post by The Elf »

:lol:

Proving my point, though!
User avatar
The Elf
Jedi Poster
Posts: 19938 Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2001 12:00 am Location: Sheffield, UK
An Eagle for an Emperor, A Kestrel for a Knave.

Re: Is there really any point making music to sell anymore ?

Post by MOF »

Or 25 ‘sending out an SOS’ at the end of Message in a bottle.
MOF
Frequent Poster (Level2)
Posts: 2259 Joined: Thu Mar 06, 2003 12:00 am Location: United Kingdom

Re: Is there really any point making music to sell anymore ?

Post by gyates329 »

If you are in this for the money, you are not going to be here long.
User avatar
gyates329
Poster
Posts: 12 Joined: Tue Jun 01, 2021 11:40 am Location: Virginia Beach
George Yates III
Soundcloud | Youtube

Re: Is there really any point making music to sell anymore ?

Post by Arpangel »

Yes, and no!
I make music because it’s something I love doing, I also make money from it, not much, just a bit, but it's the icing on the cake, not the primary reason for doing it.
One of the problems of being hugely successful financially with your music, is that the tail starts wagging the dog, you start to identify what sells, and make your music accordingly, you play to the gallery, so much utter shite has been made under that particular pressure.
I have a friend who "almost" fell into that trap, but his integrity got the better of him, he started to earn silly amounts of money, pop star figures, he eventually left the band, because he didn’t agree with the rest of them writing just for the cash, I would have left too, it’s really bad, especially if you start off with no shackles, just writing what you think is good music.
Of course, if you’re really good, geniusville, you’ll make loads of money anyway, whether you like it or not!

:)
User avatar
Arpangel
Jedi Poster
Posts: 16330 Joined: Sat Jul 12, 2003 12:00 am
Post Reply