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?
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I’m curious about the traveler guitar you use? I’m not a professional musician by any means, just play for fun, and other than friends and family, playing guitar is the thing I’ve missed most this past year as a DN.
i dont play, but some fit under front airplane seat… https://ciariguitars.com/
Hey, I am music producer for 12 years now, and DN since 2020. I make electronic/metal music and OST for video games.
I will also be in Thailand for the first few months of 2024, I would love to meet up! Let’s DM :)
20+ yr (former-ish) Music professional here (project management & marketing), but recently had to start letting go of my talent clients so that I didn’t have to be on call across the world at 4am lol. I’m new to DN and just left LA to travel the world. :)
I’m a digital nomad as well working in the music industry but I don’t carry much gear with me cause I’m just working with transcriptions and arrangement. I’d say, if you are pursuing the nomad life, you can try it out for a few months. The advantage of being a digital nomad is you can be anywhere you are, even just back home and not nomading. Btw, if any looking for collab, DM!
Hey! I do the same thing! I have a business in the music production niche.
Send me a chat request I’m happy to chat a bit
I know of one guy who runs a music website (or did back in 2015 onward) who DN’d through SEA. He built an interesting niche EDM site and accepted donations. It was interesting stuff.
I know of another guy who is a music producer and singer and for like 15 years he built a career for himself selling licenses to his corporate music on Audio Jungle, he’s done very well for himself but he’s not a DN and he doesn’t like to travel (even turned down a North American tour).
Yeah that’s what I do, always have a pair of hd600s on me and have been wondering round Costa Rica and Mexico with some genelecs 8330s, a neutron synth and a few other bits and bobs.
What do you do? Are you composing industry stuff, or doing your own material? It’s hard for me to imagine how you could produce other people’s stuff without a proper listening environment.
This thread is dope.
Biggest challenge for me has been learning to mix multitrack recordings using headphones instead of studio monitors. Just a big change in perception required. Definitely recommend software like Sonarworks for helping flatten headphone frequency response.
yeah helps if you start with some pretty flat headphones, hd600 are the flattest. At least you dont have to worry about room interference
Keep on jamming, my friend. The nomadic musician’s life ain’t easy, but the freedom is worth it. Enjoy the journey.
curious anyone’s tips/experiences/thots to share about security of gear/data when traveling (e.g. if/which cloud backups while traveling, which if any items do u never leave at ur hotel/bnb when u go out… even for groceries or beach, or do u re/assess each situation etc…). [while traveling w partner, i’ll be workin on personal music proj on laptop + controller & maybe also mic]
you just have to look like a skint hippie and know how to walk around, not let anyone know what you got with you etc. Im not taking my genelecs with me anymore, a pair of proffesional headphones, decent interface, laptop and a couple of mics is all I really need.
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.