Music production and recording have been increasingly popular and now it’s something you can do from the comfort of your home. There are a ton of online tools that can help you create your own mixes and show them to the world. We asked experts in the Music Industry to answer the most common questions people might have when starting on this creative journey. Read more to find out everything you need to know to create your own music from home.

Independent artists nowadays must have a lot more control over the many aspects of their careers. There are many ways in which music can be produced, monetized, and promoted and we live in times when indie artists can really reach success while keeping their autonomy. In order to achieve this, however, artists will have to get a deeper understanding not only of making music but of managing it.

“Once an artist or a band has proven to manage its own business, book their own shows, distribute their songs, promote themselves on social media and establish a network within their music market, it’s when doors will start to open. That sounds like the old-fashioned Do It Yourself, but now make it Do It Ourselves and things will make a lot more sense.

Even though it sounds absurd that an artist has to learn how to do a lot of things other than making great music, they don’t have to do it all by themselves. The biggest tip is: to broaden your network. Go meet other artists, designers, marketers, writers, and developers… gather them all together and create your team. Join forces with people who like your work and whose work you like too. Divide the tasks between your band members. You certainly have a very communicative friend who could help you book shows. A friend who loves graphic design and can help you with social media posts. Research the internet, look for useful digital tools and use technology in your favor. Grow together.

There are many people out there who are fighting to live for what they love. Team up with those people and share the pains and gains from a career in the music industry. All that work overload will be lighter that way. Don’t just wait for things to fall on your lap. An independent artist must always put autonomy in the first place.”

-Magroove

First, ask yourself what you want to do with the music. If it is to promote your name and to get streams, I would recommend YouTube or Soundcloud as they are the biggest sites. This is not mentioned in Spotify and Apple Music. However, if your goal is to sell music to other artists to release and for you to earn even more money than most artists on streaming websites, Gemtracks would be the number one choice. Gemtracks allows musicians to sell their music and copyrights away at a higher price. In exchange, the buyer is able to do anything they want with the track without the need to pay royalties. Another alternative would be to simply host your own website and promote your music on it. This is for both getting streams as well as selling. Even though it may seem silly since a personal website will not get enough traffic as an established website, do keep in mind that even if you post your music on a popular website,  there is no guarantee that you will get heard due. At the end of the day, it’s about marketing. You either market your own website or market your profile on an established website.

-Gemtracks

Hi, I am DJ Jorge Gallardo from Barcelona (Spain) & this is how promote my music for myself:

Rule 01: Never buy plays on sites that upper the counter because the next natural step is to view the counter freeze.

Rule 02: Better than Meta (Facebook & Instagram) [Temporally presence] is an always online presence. Sometimes a Meta promo is a solution if your visit counter doesn´t show the numbers you want.

Rule 03: If you have SoundCloud, go to show.co, make a free register & activate 2 campaigns for SoundCloud & insert the HTML widget on your webs. For more widgets, view the prizes. Don´t forget to insert your YouTube, Spotify, and SoundCloud HTML widgets & all the links, and media you have.

 Here are some options, from cheaper to expensive (Own always web presence)

1.- GoDaddy, Blogger & WordPress : Buy domains like yourname.com & redirect the domains to your blogs.

2.- Google Domains: For the Business page, I recommend a Google domain with Google web builder, optimized for Google Maps & Google Web searches.

3.- GoDaddy & Workspace (Google Sites): Buy a cheaper option of Google Workspace subscription & you have the option to infinite web builder of Google Sites, and more options like customized email, more storage, etc… Redirect there your GoDaddy domain. 

4.- GoDaddy WebBuilder: There are various plans for your principal PRO Website. If you have the money to buy it it´s the better choice on you can explain your work.

-DJ Jorge Gallardo

There are many ways to monetize your electronic music online, including Bandcamp, digital sales, streaming, YouTube, live streaming, sales funnels, product bundling, merchandise, eCommerce, SoundCloud, Beatport, sample packs, VST plugin development, internet radio, PayPal donations, and more. The question is, where is your platform? Where is your audience hanging out, and how can you reach them? Finding opportunities to monetize your music is easy once you’ve answered these questions. You can set expectations around when and how often you’re going to be showing up for your audience, which should grow your social media following and email list. Once you’ve got your lists, you can put new offers in front of them monthly, quarterly, and yearly.

David Andrew Wiebe -MusicEntrepreneurHQ

Creating memorable music is all about what the listener experiences, that’s not to say an artist can’t create a memorable song on purpose. In fact, if an artist is self-aware enough, talented enough, and has the experience they can make every song they make a memorable song. So how do you really do this? Provided you have these 3 things, self-awareness, talent, and experience, you also have to really know your fans and what they like and don’t like. The interesting thing about creating memorable music is that the songs will usually slightly push on the boundary of what you’d expect your fans to like. However, you don’t go too far from what they like. Otherwise, it’ll end in disaster.

-ADG Mastering

No need to be a sound engineer or gear hoarder to make music. A few apps can help you release some catchy tunes with little experience.

Be prepared for inspiration by using your Voice Memo (Apple) or  Voice Recorder (Samsung) to record song ideas when they hit you.

No need to mess around with mics, interfaces, and cables. It’s important to capture those ideas when they come to you.

When you’re ready to take your ideas and turn them into a song, Bandlab is the best place to start. The app works on iOS, Android, Mac, and PC. It’s also free.

Bandlab has all the features, including loops and some instruments, to create a track you can sing along to and then share on their network or download for your own use. The quality is great and it’s simple to use. You can even collaborate with other artists.

Once you get going with these apps remember to find a mentor or artist peer to include in your recording journey. More important than the right technology is the feedback and support you can get from others with experience.

-Kevin Alexander, Sound Engineer | Technologist | CEO & Co-founder Singdaptive

There are many ways to produce music online. It all depends on your goals, budget, and available resources. Here are a few basic options to kick off with:

To start with, use a digital audio workstation (DAW) to create and edit music on your computer. Popular DAWs include Ableton Live, FL Studio, Cubase, and Logic Pro. Maybe even consider using a music production app, such as Garageband, Caustic 3, or Reason Compact, on mobile devices.If you have limited product knowledge, you can easily learn about music production techniques on YouTube. There are literally hundreds of tutorials, articles, and video lessons.We would definitely advise experimenting with different virtual instruments and sound effects to find the sounds that really fit your sound Many DAWs and online music production platforms come with a selection of virtual instruments and effects built in, and you can also purchase additional sound libraries or download free ones from the internet.Promote your music online through social media, music streaming platforms, and music blogs to get more people to hear your work. Collaborate with another producer remotely using online collaboration tools, such as Splice, to share and work on music projects together. Remember that producing music online takes time, and practice and can be frustrating at times. Be patient and keep working at it!Ultimately, you will need a good computer, with some basic music production skills, and access to a good selection of virtual instruments and sound effects. You may also want to invest in some music production hardware, such as a midi keyboard, to enhance your setup.-DJ Tech Reviews

We here at idesignsound.com brag about knowing just about anything there is to know about this fascinating and profound artistic field. This is exactly why we will insist that there is no single “most” important thing about sound design, there are three aspects that we must mention when answering this question:

1. Know your tools! They may be synths, samplers, or traditional instruments but you really need to know what they are and how they work. All the simple sounds have already been used and re-used, so to stand out from the crowd you need to get down and dirty with multiple setting combinations while keeping things coherent and interesting.

2. Go far but don’t forget your way home! Complex sound design has a lot of dead ends. Even simple synths like the Moog Minitaur have a very narrow sweet spot, deviating from it has a higher chance of sounding broken than sounding interesting. Always know what you’re going for when doing sound design.

3. Use effects! Most musicians underestimate the importance of effects when doing sound design. The truth is, most of the sounds that you hear in music or in movies rely heavily on effects. The dry sound source usually sounds small, flat, and not that interesting, but slap a reverb or a saturation effect on it and hear it catch life

-IDesignSound

As you navigate the evolving landscape of music production, let the insights and experiences shared here be your guiding light. For a deeper dive into the world of music production gear, explore expert reviews and comparisons at SoundShockAudio.