In this installment of our Indiy education series. I want to talk about why you need music services.

I say it over and over again so hopefully, you know by now, that 40 thousand songs are uploaded to Spotify every day!

This means that in order for your song to stand out it has to be the very best it can be!

You have to know your strengths and weaknesses...

What have you perfected? And what do you need help with?

Let's talk about why you need to buy music services.

No man is an island

- John Donne

Whilst you may be able to handle the majority of the song creation process...

It is unlikely that you will be a master in everything!

It is a sign of great strength to be able to notice weakness and collaborate with someone who has the needed skill.

If you don't humble yourself and take a holistic approach. You run the risk of looking like Mary Poppins' good friend Bert!

Of course, if reading articles is not your thing, check out the video of this article here:

How many people does it take to make a hit song?

I want to take a look at an example song Labrinth 'Beneath Your Beautiful' featuring Emeli Sandé.

It's an amazing song right!?

It was released in 2012. Wow, I feel old, and also it feels like it was just yesterday!

Labrinth was perceived as a musical wizard. Anything he touched turned to gold. Surely he and Emile Sandé just got together rigged up a microphone then…… BOOM #1 record

However, a quick search over at Jaxta will show you who was involved in the song:

• 1 Main Artist
• 1 Featured Artist
• 7 Songwriters
• 2 Producers
• 1 Production Team
• 3 Engineers
• 4 Performers
• 1 Other Contributor

As you can see 20 roles are mentioned there!

Now, let's throw in that this tack was recorded at Metropolis Studios in London.

This means that during recording they had access to state-of-the-art facilities and awesome support staff.

Because if you need a coffee or sushi at any time of the day or night it helps the creative process!

On the studios' homepage, they proudly proclaim. “63% of 2021 Domestic Brit Nominations were Recorded, Mixed or Mastered at Metropolis”

If you are not familiar, the Brit awards, it is the UK version of the Grammies, with a slightly more Eurovision song contest feel! 

Last but not least the song was released on Sony, by way of SYCO.

That means that good old Simon Cowell is getting that money!

Now also think in addition how many people were involved in the video, artwork and promotion?

So how many people does it take to make a hit song? And what music services do you need?

How to make it as a musician

Do not despair, you can still make it as a musician!

You can make great songs and get people to listen to them.

We just need to be clear about the battle we are preparing for.

In order to make great music and earn money as a musician in this new online era, we need to have a solid action plan.

As Wiz Khalifa says “Can’t be dope without a dope engineer”

Know your weaknesses when looking for music services

Knowing your biggest weakness is a great strength.

You want to make the very best music possible, and make sure it gets heard.

Sometimes you are not the best person to undertake a specific task.

Don’t hold yourself back, find the right people to collaborate with and make the relationship professional.

You can go to a friend for work based on favours. However, if you do this, you are dependent on people.

And will they deliver it in the time frame you need or at the right quality level?

Here is a great parable I will now paraphrase below:

How valuable is your time?

Say you earn $150 per day and you needed to do some DIY work at your home.

Someone would charge $100 to do the DIY task.

Would it be better for you to do a substandard job?

Or would it be better to hire a pro and get it done properly?

Would you rather spend a day off doing something else? Or spend it with friends and family?

There are two main reasons why you need to outsource services as a musician.

1. You need to take your music project to the next level

Nowadays you can do a lot yourself, but if you need some help. You should get some help.

Do you need to improve your sound? Find your go-to mixing or mastering engineer.

Need great artwork, lyric videos, or actual music videos?

Maybe you need help promoting your music?

After all, there is no point in releasing new awesome music if nobody listens to what you already have out there, or if they are not going to listen.

2. You need to streamline your output level

If you need to release music more consistently you can do this by building yourself a team.

Hiring regular freelancers is a great idea.

A lot of work goes into making a song and putting it out to the world.

If you need a helping hand when it comes to time, outsourcing may be just what you need.

We specialize in connecting you with music industry pros at Indiy.

And above all, it is our mission to help musicians make great music and make money.

Music Services Round Up

So to sum up, a lot of people are involved in the creation and promotion of a song.

Don’t add collaborators just for the sake of it.

But if you need specific music industry services, be sure to find someone who can take your release to the next level.