Music Creator Roadmap - Part 4 - The Writer Producer

Welcome to part 4 of the Music Creator Roadmap breakdown. If you have not read parts 1-3 be sure to check them out here. 

The third and final path that you can choose on the roadmap is the Writer Producer path. Here’s the flow chart again for reference:

If you absolutely love writing new songs, then I strongly suggest that you start out on the Writer Producer path.

The main reason is that it’s a shorter, more approachable path for most artists. I have coached hundreds of creators, and most (I’d estimate 70-80%) struggle with the same things:

• They don’t like feeling that they have to be on social media all the time.

• They don’t like marketing their music and promoting themselves.

• They don’t like having to keep up with constantly releasing singles.

• They don’t have a big marketing or touring budget.

• They tend to get burnt out and spread themselves too thin trying to play lots of live shows without building much momentum.

If you start on the Writer Producer path, you don’t have to do any of those things. Your number one priority is always clear:

Then do it again, and again, and again.

Your goal is to write and/or record on as many amazing records as possible. And yes, some of those records can be your records. But because you are on the Writer Producer path, you don’t have to play by the same rules. If you are really good at making music, and you can learn to network effectively, then you can find success as a Writer Producer.

Here’s another useful distinction to help you understand the paths on the roadmap:

• Your growth and trajectory as a Touring Performer is limited by how many people want to see you perform.

• Your growth and trajectory as a Creative Artist is limited by how well you create content, release music, and market yourself.

• Your growth and trajectory as a Writer Producer is limited by how well you build a network of talented collaborators.

Can you travel all three paths simultaneously? With a team, yes. But even then, it is extremely demanding. I have only seen a handful of independent artists who are able to tackle all three paths simultaneously.

The question is, would they actually find more success if they focused all of their energy on one path? Probably so.

There is power in priorities.

If your recorded music is your primary product, then doesn’t it make sense to focus on making that product as good as it can possibly be by learning the tools and tricks of the production world?

Being a Writer Producer doesn’t mean that you have to produce all of your own music. It does mean that you can at least bring in ideas to a writing session that already have some basic production tracks laid down. But even more importantly, it means you are responsible for the finished product.

You MAKE SURE that the records get finished.

Maybe not 100% of them, but the vast majority of writing sessions you go to should end up with a finished recording. If not, then you are writing with the wrong people. If your production chops aren’t ready yet, then keep showing up at the sessions as a writer or an artist. But still make sure the records get finished. Make sure there is a finished product that can be monetized.

Another reason why this is a more viable path for most creators is that there are many more writers and producers with good sustainable careers than there are major breakout artists.

Look at the credits of most major releases, and you will see that there are often 5-10 collaborators on each song. So, for every big artist, there are dozens of writers and producers that are growing their careers behind the scenes by being linked back to that artist.

You collab with lots of other artists and writers, and as they grow, you grow!

A useful term to introduce here is ‘network effects’. That is what you are going after. If you are unfamiliar with the term:

For the above definition, the ‘product’ is your ‘brand’ or ‘reputation’ as a Writer Producer. Your brand and reputation will open doors for you to write and collaborate with new people. The more talented people that you are collaborating with, the more likelihood that your brand goes up in value.

In the same way that labels make money by betting on a large number of highly talented artists, you can make your money by betting on a large number of talented collaborators. To understand this concept on a deeper level, check out my post ‘Why Music Producers Need to Think Like Record Labels’.

The bottom line is that you are investing in the people around you. Look for ambitious and talented collaborators who won’t give up. Play the long game and enjoy the ride as everyone comes up together.

Your entire network will be working to find various opportunities, and because you are a collaborator with those people, those opportunities often find their way back to you. They end up raising the value of your brand.

Another useful term from the startup world is ‘land and expand’:

If you can land some success as a Writer Producer, it becomes infinitely easier to expand into the role of the Creative Artist or Touring Performer.

You can think of starting out as a Writer Producer as a kind of back door that will help you get your chops up, grow your network, and build your reputation as a real player in the industry.

Assuming you are already a great musician and songwriter, here are your next steps to getting started as a Writer Producer:

1. Learn to build tracks using Logic, Ableton or a similar Digital Audio Workstation. The internet is full of free tutorials for building tracks, and HOME Members get access to music production workshops with some of the world’s top producers. You can get started with just a laptop and some headphones. Use the platform Splice to start building tracks with loops and cool sounds. As you get more comfortable with production, get an audio interface and start recording your own tracks.

2. Learn about sync. Sync is short for synchronization licensing, and it means that you get paid when people place your music in tv, film or advertising. This is a great way to make extra income, and for many Writer Producers, it becomes their primary source of income. HOME is a great place to learn about sync and connect with people who are actively in that world. We even set up monthly pitch meetings where our members get a chance to play music for high level sync executives!

3. Learn to network and articulate your specialty. If you have trouble networking be sure to read my post ‘Music Industry Networking Made Simple’. And when you are networking, make sure that you have a clear and compelling way to introduce yourself that makes you stand out… that differentiates you from everyone else. Your reputation as a Writer Producer will mostly grow ‘word of mouth’, so learn to tell your story in a way that is easy for people to share. Your story and your unique specialties are the keys to finding your best collaborators.

Another plus of honing your production chops is that you can get opportunities to make money from music as a ‘work for hire’. For instance, you can help others make demos or you can make custom songs or create jingles for advertising. It opens your career up to near term revenue streams that the other paths don’t offer.

Tune in for the next post in the Music Creator Roadmap series where we will start to look at all of the various music industry roles listed on the roadmap.

We’ll dive into how several key music industry roles function and the most important team members for each path on the roadmap.

P.S. If you find content like this helpful, be sure to subscribe to the HOMIE Podcast at homie.show as we release exclusive interviews with the most forward thinking minds in the music industry!