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2020, what a fucking year! A year marked by the virus, the lack of shows, quarantine, etc. But not everything was bad. More than ever we have seen artists emerge in the midst of adversities, thinking outside the box, doing stuff instead of crying “Why me?”

This is what 2020 taught me: where there is determination, there is always a solution! Next, I will show you 5 ways where you can apply your art and your music project, and make some extra money that will allow you to put food on the table, even without shows. Remember: we are living this pandemic situation but these tips will be useful even when, in the future, you go through a bad moment in your career where shows are scarce. Let’s do it!

1. YOUTUBE CHANNEL

The proof that YouTube is a great source of income is youtubers. Nowadays there are thousands of content creators who live their lifes and pay their bills just by using this platform, and music artists are no exception! In the end, we are also content creators. We make music. I’m not getting into much detail on how to create a successful channel but you can follow the tips I wrote in my post “7 ESSENTIAL WAYS TO GROW YOUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL (FOR MUSIC ARTISTS)”, by clicking the button below.

YOUTUBE TIPS

2. MUSIC RELEASE (SINGLES, EP’S, ALBUMS)

When COVID-19 exploded, the big question DJ’s started asking was: “What can I do right now?”

The answer is: record music at home and put it out.

Don’t underestimate your work, seriously! You can make more money on Spotify, Apple Music and Beatport than you might think. Obviously the numbers need to be big enough so you can have a proper income that allows you to live exclusively from that, but it can be a great help.

There are other factors involved besides the quality of your tracks: the way you release your songs, the labels involved, the promotion & marketing plan, etc. I advise you to study a lot about marketing and promotion, especially in the music industry. 

Because here’s the painful truth: the success of your project depends a lot on the way your work is promoted. 50% music quality. 50% marketing & branding.

If you want to feat your track on my Spotify playlist “Played by Hozho”, send email to contact@hozhomusic.com to discuss further details.

3. MASTERCLASS VIDEOS

Just a fancy name for tutorial videos. But certainly we saw many well-known artists during this pandemic offering their knowledge to anyone who wants to learn more about music production: ANNA, Victor Ruiz, Alex Stein and Khainz, to name a few.

Obviously you need a certain knowledge and technique to create this kind of content but if you feel good about yourself and you have the confidence that your work is really good and your music has quality, here you have a good opportunity to make some extra coin.

3 Simple Ways To Make A Bassline Like Hozho

4. MERCHANDISING

Currently, there are several online platforms where you can sell your products (physical and digital) without any initial investment. How does this work?

At Teespring, for example, if someone buys one of your products, you receive a percentage and the company receives another. The great advantage of using Teespring is that you can associate your products with your YouTube channel and increase your exposure. Take some time to learn more about design and Photoshop, or talk to a friend that knows how to do it so you can create unique designs that people really want to buy.

“But Doc, why would I sell merch if no one cares about me?”

Well, work your ass off, make music, keep learning and make yourself recognized. There is no magic formula for success. In fact, the only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.

playgue collection by hozho

5. CREATE A LABEL

How about a way to make money on other artists? You need a great knowledge about the music industry but creating a label goes beyond that. It involves a great entrepreneurial spirit. This is something I’m still learning, that’s why I haven’t created my label yet, but it’s definitely one of my plans for the near future.

Some things to keep in mind when creating a label:

– Find your niche: what is the musical style? What is the philosophy of your label? What makes it unique?
– Know more about distribution: distribution platforms, royalties, contracts, etc.
– Be trustworthy: pay the artists what was agreed in the contract and in the right time, you don’t want to be famous for being an asshole who only thinks about money. You need 100 positive reviews to give credibility to your project but sometimes a negative review is enough for you to lose everything.

If you are a music producer and your style is Melodark / Melodic Minimal Techno / High Tech Minimal, send your promos (unreleased tracks) to contact@hozhomusic.com

I’m selecting tracks to play in my upcoming sets and maybe release them on my future label, with a release scheduled for 2021.

Remember: you are doing this for the love of music! Income is just a consequence of your good work. Keep grinding 💪

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“If you’re going to try, go all the way. Otherwise don’t even start.”

This was the quote that inspired me to compose my latest single – Full Measures. This track had been in the making process for about 3 years. Back then, the structure of the track was already more or less assembled: the melodic idea, the bassline, the back vocals and the mood in general. But I felt that something was missing and as it often happens to me, I left the project on standby and I started producing other tracks, the same tracks that would later become part of my first album Yin Yang.

It turns out that I was almost to delete the project permanently. In fact, I deleted it but years later when I was organizing my stuff on Google Drive I saw that the project was still there and I decided to restore it again.

Almost every producer knows this cycle:
1. Start a new project
2. Spend some time and effort to build the first loop with the main elements of the track
3. Listen to this loop infinitely because it’s fucking awesome
4. Start developing the track
5. The song no longer makes sense because after all it doesn’t sound so fucking awesome
6. Back to step 1

And one day, maybe weeks, months or years later, we listen to this project again and we say “Hey, this shit is awesome”. And that’s what happened to me in this case.

So I decided to finish this track. I was developing the track very well, having good ideas but still I felt that the “story” of the song was missing. The name of the song was already defined by the time I started the project, three years ago (maybe more).

You probably know that I’m a big fan of Breaking Bad. The name “Full Measures” came from the name of one of the episodes. Basically, Mike tells Walter White (Heisenberg) a story in which the moral of the story is that he chose a half measure when he should have gone all the way. And he concludes the sentence by saying “No more half measures, Walter.”

So that was the story I wanted to tell in my track. We all want something, we have our goals, but for some reason we often don’t get what we really want. We only choose “half measures”. And I was angry because I wanted to change. I was sick and tired that the life and circumstances we are experiencing right now across the planet were dictating the direction of my life.

And when I was researching more about this kind of mindset, I discovered Bukowski. Charles Bukowski. A writer, a poet, an inspiration.

Charles Bukowski

I don’t see myself in his behavior at all: he smoked a lot, drank a lot, he just wanted “putas e vinho verde” as we say in Portugal. In the end, he had self-destructive behaviors…

… but, his philosophy of life is simply fascinating. His poems “Roll The Dice” and “The Laughing Heart” are the most inspiring for me. In a shitty year like this, discovering Bukowski and especially these poems, was a breath of fresh air.

The voice you hear in “Full Measures” are excerpts from the poem “Roll The Dice” (click here to read the full poem).

“If you’re going to try, go all the way”, said Bukowski.

“No more half measures, Walter”, said Mike.

Different quotes but the same philosophy. As you can see, it’s not so much other songs or other producers that inspire me. Moments, quotes, moods, philosophies… These are the kind of things that inspire me. Melodark is simply the way I tell the story.

“Full Measures” is available on all major digital platforms and you can listen here:

stream / buy

Go all the way!

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Once upon a time, I was a guy who always started the tracks with the beat and the bassline, which makes sense because when you start a new song in this way, you already have the feeling of rhythm and dance from the beginning. Is this beat aggressive? Or does it have a chill vibe?

As a Melodark producer (subgenre of melodic minimal techno), for years I used this method but as I learned more about music, improving my technique and making my music more and more complex, my workflow changed.

I felt that I could set the mood of the track if I started with the melody. It makes sense right? If you’re under the mood you are more likely to compose a sad or melancholic melody. And based on the melody you created, you will be able to choose the instruments that you want to associate with that mood more easily. A track is a story and for me it’s in the melody that all the emotion of that story resides. The beat and the drums are what makes the “story” danceable.

For this reason, the melody is the natural place to start your track. In most of the songs you know and love, the melody is what keeps the song playing over and over in your head.

But Doc, can you be more specific when you talk about “melody”?

Well, melody can be the bassline, synths, pads, even vocals. It’s the part that you sing to a friend when you want to know the name of a song that you don’t know.

SO WHICH COMES FIRST: DRUMS OR THE MELODY?

I can only speak from my experience and opinion as a producer of Melodark (melodic minimal techno), and for me it’s better to start with the melody because that way you can set the tone when you start to develop the track. I don’t mean that this is the correct way. In fact, I believe that in music (and art in general) there are no right and wrong ways to create.

There are even those who start with vocals, if it’s the case. If you want to start with FX’s and noises, be my guest. Just keep in mind your mood and the story you want to tell in your music.

Many artists who start producing neglect the knowledge of music theory: notes, scales and shit. I don’t say that this is essential if you want to become a great artist but when it comes to creativity, you can bet that it opens many doors for you. Knowledge is everything!

Btw, stay tuned about my upcoming single Full Measures that comes out on December 25th. A melodark Christmas gift for you guys! Check the preview here:

preview full measures

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