Everyone that I've talked to in the small business community (tattoo artists, record store owners, studio owners) seems to be hurting at the moment. I'm in really bad shape at the moment and I'm looking for some ideas to drum up some work.

Most of my business comes from word of mouth, and so far I've had nothing but positive feedback. But I've got a volume problem. I'm just not getting enough exposure to generate enough business at the moment. I've tried advertising, but that didn't do anything to speak of.

Are any of you having trouble finding work, and, if so, what are you doing to get business in? Is it worth spending time on MySpace, actively searching out bands to work with, posting bulletins and comments, etc.? Should I be fliering local shows, venues, and bars? What are some things that you've done to get your name out there?

I can tell you that few of my buddies that still are in business get the majority of their income from radio or TV show related stuff. Just music wouldn't keep them going.
Not much help, I know, but maybe a direction to think about.

guess I'm lucky at the moment, a decent amount of business, but I do all kinds of things besides just studio.

Do you have a small quality rig that could grab a live recording at a club? In the past I've done a few, with a no money due arrangement up front, and once they've heard the results most want to finish the mixes. If not, yea, you've put in a fair effort but if you were going to sit there at home anyways.. The nice thing about a live recording is all the parts are down, just mixing usually. That means you can offer something that might only cost the band $300-500 and yet takes only the initial "session" and a post follow up or two. You can offer the ability to fix some things for an additional fee. Also try you local vocal studios and offer karaoke style demo deals where the singer sings to tracks at $50/song or something. that's an easy way to rack up $150-250 day without hardly any effort. Not very glamorous..but you gotta do what you gotta do..

Yeah, it's how it is. I've had steady studio projects but not enough of them, so gaps in between. I still make more $ doing live sound at smaller area clubs even though studio gigs make me more cash, but my location isn't exactly a music hotbed LOL. Gotta wear as many hats as you can. When not in the studio I do live sound and I've started experimenting with broadcast audio production techniques which I studied in college and may want to apply professionally. If I get desperate I can go to TV. I have some good enough credentials for radio; just a shame radio is dead. I'd rather sell used cars than ad space. It seems like other studio guys around here do audio consulting and/or live production stuff and/or gear sales on the side or have day gigs in other media.

If I were making a living as a musician, I'd be starving. Bad enough I make a living drawing caricatures at parties. Business is starting to pick up after a rotten winter slump.

I've been going through something similar. I think the key here is get out more and talk to lots of people and be positive.
A trick I often use with success is calling everyone I know and let them know I need work, basically letting people know you're available. Surprising how many people have a friend who is a musician in a band.
Also have a look at: is there a new service you can offer, perhaps something you can implement now but will pay off longterm. Call all your previous clients, let them know you do a special offer (maybe they have friends in bands too).
Start being the business man with the big cigar!

I stay busy but it is because I do A LOT of different things.
You do have to go out and find and/or create work.

I have also found that it can pay to do things on 'spec' to create bigger back end paydays.
Be on the lookout for artists that you can help to develop.

jmp

Wow, interesting. I have found it to be seasonal/ Alot of bands want to track over the first quarter to get their "ground breaking - not really) cd done to promote at Summer shows. I have found a few things to help.

1. Rates are important. You can easily put yourself out of the market for roo high of rates, etc. I find to make certain to put my best material up for promotion that I can. It shows off your work as well as free marketing for the band. With too high of rates, the bands that you once had can easily go the "Studio B" down the road and get better results. So keep it competitive even if it means that you will have to revamp your spending habits, etc.

2. Cut your CABLE bill (just saying) Soprano's are no longer on HBO, so who the hell cares right. :-)

3. Back to serious notes: Myspace is a huge market for bands. Now that everyone has the CAPTCHA thing on it means that you have to request and WANT to request a friend. I look for local bands that are GOOD and possibly someone that I want to work with. I then send a message saying "Hey I would love to do a song with you guys and make it sound right." See if they like that, without being too pushy to the point of being annoying. Seems to work. Alot of my work is from Myspace bands who send me hard drives for mixing.

4. Keep it simple. Set a flat rate that makes sense. I charge (now at least) $300.00 per song for MIXING with a 3 recall per song clause. That way it is a safeguard for you to NOT get too into it at a larger cost to your time. It also makes the band to have to decide on a final product or it will start to cost them.

5. Focus on what you like to mix. I always tell potential new clients "Hey I like Rock, Pop Rock, Heavier Rock, but do not really care for Country or Rap. That being said, I would probably NOT be the one that you want to mix a record for." Being honest with them and truthful makes the respect level go up and allows you to focus on material that you really want to work with. It is your business, your studio. If I knew that you did not like RAP and I was a RAP artist I would be concerned on the focus and product result.

6. Back to the Myspace thing. I usually market out to bands and put an occasional BLOG out that I know will be hit. If you find a band you like, send a message. It gets your name out. Hit up a band on there page and send a message.

7. META DATA: Great stuff for getting you searchable on the web. Go to GOOGLE and put your name in there, put your studio name in so it is searchable. If you Google "Freelance Mixing Engineer" I for some reason come up first on the list. Not quite sure how that happened, but I am not complaining. 10th for "Mix Engineer" Now when I say put metadata in your Index page on your site, I mean PUT IT IN THERE. I have everything I can think of. Studio names, bands, pron stars (it is all searchable) with a chance that your name will appear. Good, easy, free stuff to do.

8. Go to local shows as much as you can (wear ear plugs - it is your job at stake.) Go there and drop cards off. Go to music stores and drop cards off. Network with other studios. Never hurts to have names to go to if things are needed, favors, etc. Besides, ya never know when they may be too busy and need some help.

9. If you have $$$ to advertise, do a small thing in the paper. Never hurts and it is a write off for taxes.

Hope this helps some? Just a few things that I tend to do. Word of Mouth is a good thing though too.

Best,

Chris Andrews
Mix Engineer/Producer
www.monumentsound.com
Studio: 719-375-5658
Monument, Colorado

See, like that... ;-) easy

Ever heard of a book called Guerrilla Marketing? http://www.gmarketing.com/


There are a lot of shade tree bluegrass and old timey bands in middle TN, and a lot of rich music in my way of thinking. I've thought about putting together a portable recording setup and recording bands in their living room with dynamic mics, then mixing the results down. May be a cheap way for them to get a nicely mixed collection of their music. I would really enjoy it. It would be cheaper for them than going into the studio. I figure it wouldn't be as great a sound, but good pickers with no studio experience can really freeze up in a commercial studio. It might be sort of a form verses content trade off.

quote:

2. Cut your CABLE bill (just saying) Soprano's are no longer on HBO, so who the hell cares right. :-)

Good stuff about meta tags man! I'm getting very surprised when I check my stats after I got meta tags updated.

Recording is such a strange business. As a good that has been doing it as my main income for about 18 years, I can say that it just goes up and down and there does not seem to be much rhyme or reason to it at times. I remember 10 years ago running into an old buddy on a plane, I was so busy I could not think straight and he had not worked in months and he had platinum records under his belt, a year later I was not working at all. I have been booked almost non-stop for the last couple of years, but I have been in the biz long enough to know that it might stop at any point.

The really important thing to remember is that unless you have current big hit records or are one of the legends, this really is a business about people. Very very very few people book a studio because of your gear. Most jobs come from referral and meeting you face to face. So what ever you can do to make direct connections with people the better.