I’ve been building a music production business for the past couple of years and am finally living the DN life after years of lurking around here. Currently in Lisbon and heading to Thailand for the first few months of 2024.
Being a DNing music producer definitely has its struggles - especially having to work out of AirBnBs instead of studios, and having to carry around gear and instruments (I currently pack a traveler guitar, a MIDI keyboard, decent headphones, and an interface). At the same time it’s an extremely flexible profession and I get to work whenever for the most part. I do most of my work from my accommodation as co-working spots aren’t fond of guitars lol.
I meet a lot of software engineers, design folk, video editors etc but am yet to find a DN’ing music professional.
What’s your experience been like?
Social Media/Digital Marketing, 15 years in that although like /u/girliegirl80 I’ve started taking onboard clients/projects outside of music - mostly because they pay better; sadly in a lot of cases musicians are relatively poor and it’s tough living off them alone.
Still do music-related stuff, but mostly on an equity basis, so I invest my time and skills in return for share of the profits generated, once they start bringing the money in.
What I can tell anyone, is money in the music biz (or really in most of entertainment) is in micropayments, royalties, residuals etc. Even with a lot of movies, directors or actors ended up much better off taking risks and agreeing to a percentage of gross profits as opposed to a flat fee.