For Producers / Digital label owners starting out.

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optX
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Re: For Producers / Digital label owners starting out.

Post by optX »

michaellpenman wrote:
eggnchips wrote:Full respect to you.
A lot of people think it's hard to get up and up sticks but when you do it yourself, you realise don't you how easy it is to adapt into new situations and lifestyles. In the town I am from in the UK, people complain non stop about how sh!t it is but they will never have the courage to leave the place. It's like they are scared.
i see this all the time in my home town... well anywhere seems people always like to complain about "How bad they have it" etc etc but never do anything about it. Sometimes it is a change of scene that breath new prospects, new ideas, new life really into you.
fully agree with your comments. Though I am a bit scared of changes myself too ...

soapz: Thanks for the great thread! You brought some light into my kind of hopelessness. In some months I have to quit my dayjob and maybe I should rethink the situation and approach to earning money then..
All the best to you and have fun!
ray parry
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Re: For Producers / Digital label owners starting out.

Post by ray parry »

there is also this video which relates to this topic: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=377 ... =2&theater

only problem i have with this sort of thing is that money really is needed. its unfortunate for sure, but its not really possible to live without money. most of us need a job, to fund our passions for a start.
N - Jay
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Re: For Producers / Digital label owners starting out.

Post by N - Jay »

Wow what a great initiative! Glad to see it works out for you.

Right now I'm working in IT 4 days one week, 5 days next week, so I have got 1 full day off for music and I'm busy with it every day, every spare minute is spend on a track. I've been doing it (seriously) for 2+ years now. I can't quit the day job though, girlfriend, house, friends, family pffff.
If that was possible, the skills I taught myself would have taken a half year instead of 2 years. But I still believe I can manage it. Sell records, tour and work. It's not the holy grail, but I would love to do it.

Me and my girl are going on a sabbatical leave for 7 months in April. I will be visiting Chiang Mai around July. I'm curious because everyone said to me that Chiang Mai was interesting because off the cultural movement and creative people.
I have just purchased an Ipad for producing on the road. So maybe we could jam, spin some records and have a drink, or 2 ;)
simonb
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Re: For Producers / Digital label owners starting out.

Post by simonb »

Really interesting thread here. I've been producing for a while but always had school/uni/now the "boring office job" contending with my time, and more and more I'm feeling I could benefit from some sort of sabbatical where I can just focus on making music full-time without these other worldly distractions... just work on techniques and tracks all day, read some books, etc, and being surrounded by creative people would be a bonus for sure. Where I am now (not London thankfully but still a UK city...) it would be pretty hard to do that - I've got enough in savings to live for a few months but obviously the smaller the cost of living the better.

I don't have a wife or kids, however I do enjoy the city life, being able to see amazing and inspiring DJs pretty much every weekend and go to fun parties, but I guess that'll always be there (for the reasonable future at least). I'm a bit committed I suppose co-promoting a night just now, and also I can't see my day job just letting me piss off abroad for months then welcoming me back with open arms if it goes to sh!t.

I'm going to Berlin soon and if I like it (which everyone keeps telling me I will) I'm tempted to persue staying there for a while but am I right in thinking even there it's not dirt cheap and I'd need employment of some sort, and there's always the temptation to party all weekend, and is it not hipster central now...

This has given me something to think about anyway, it would be amazing to just take some time out to build my skills then return home or to London or somewhere once I've (hopefully) got some skills and some records out there... I'm at the point now where I'm pretty sure my current career isn't where I want to go, the nagging instinct to get better and better at making music isn't going away, etc...
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soapz
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Re: For Producers / Digital label owners starting out.

Post by soapz »

simonb wrote:I can't see my day job just letting me piss off abroad for months then welcoming me back with open arms if it goes to sh!t.
You'd be surprised. A lot of companies are starting to allow people to take gap years etc. I think their theory is that if they you get the 'travel bug' out of your system young then you'll stay with the company in the long run.

The most interesting thing Ive found about living here is that some of the expats here still kind of work so they can pay there way but they just do it online. One guy just formats people's newly written ebooks from a word document, so they can be read on the kindle. THATS his job. Takes him about 10 minutes to do each book, people pay him $4 per book. He runs the business through fiverr.com. He makes more than enough money to survive for the whole day before he has even had breakfast. The rest of the day he works on his graphic design business that he his trying to get started and basically just chills out the other time.

That is new age business thinking! Such a great way to do things, as opposed to letting things get in the way and then moaning about the situation.
Last edited by soapz on Thu Feb 21, 2013 5:54 am, edited 1 time in total.
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soapz
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Re: For Producers / Digital label owners starting out.

Post by soapz »

PS maybe there are some cheaper towns just outside of Berlin. I'll be in Berlin again for a month in April so I might do some research and see if I can found some cheap accommodation a few miles out. Would be nice to be able to pop in and out of the city when I like and still have the easy life ... i.e without working for somebody.
eggnchips
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Re: For Producers / Digital label owners starting out.

Post by eggnchips »

soapz wrote:PS maybe there are some cheaper towns just outside of Berlin. I'll be in Berlin again for a month in April so I might do some research and see if I can found some cheap accommodation a few miles out. Would be nice to be able to pop in and out of the city when I like and still have the easy life ... i.e without working for somebody.
I lived in Berlin for 6 years. Moved there when I was 25 intending to stay for a few months.
The great thing about the place is that it's surrounded by countryside and trees, so it only takes 30 mins to be out in the sticks. The weather is much better than the UK too.
There are loads of small towns a few miles out offering cheap rent. The only downside to them though is that they're full of white suburb right wing types.
Leipzig is cool too and I have heard it has the same vibe as Berlin had before hipster invasion.
simonb
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Re: For Producers / Digital label owners starting out.

Post by simonb »

soapz wrote:
simonb wrote:I can't see my day job just letting me piss off abroad for months then welcoming me back with open arms if it goes to sh!t.
You'd be surprised. A lot of companies are starting to allow people to take gap years etc. I think their theory is that if they you get the 'travel bug' out of your system young then you'll stay with the company in the long run.

The most interesting thing Ive found about living here is that some of the expats here still kind of work so they can pay there way but they just do it online. One guy just formats people's newly written ebooks from a word document, so they can be read on the kindle. THATS his job. Takes him about 10 minutes to do each book, people pay him $4 per book. He runs the business through fiverr.com. He makes more than enough money to survive for the whole day before he has even had breakfast. The rest of the day he works on his graphic design business that he his trying to get started and basically just chills out the other time.

That is new age business thinking! Such a great way to do things, as opposed to letting things get in the way and then moaning about the situation.
Interesting stuff, I guess there's a lot web/digital media types then? I'd assume if I were to go there it'd just be to have as much music time as possible while being unencumbered by work (presumably living off savings), but something that takes very little time and covers some costs is a nice idea...

EDIT: meant to say re. the career break/gap year thing - I've heard of it, I've got friends who've taken half a year out to travel etc but my situation at work just now isn't great, not gonna go into the details but I could be out of a job soon and I'm not in a position where they'd be clamouring to keep a hold of me, lots of bullshit going down just now and I could've tried to care about the job a lot more when I started.

And yeah I'm going to Berlin in April too, only for 5 nights though so I think I'll mostly just be checking out the city. Surely there's cheaper bits in the city itself with some arty types kicking about - I'm guessing most of the genuine "starving artists" aren't living around Kreuzberg etc anymore if gentrification has kicked in there? Wouldn't be averse to outside of the city (after all I'm talking about spending some months to quietly work on my skills), although I can't say the sound of right-wing suburban types is very appealing, although it'll be cheaper than equivalent places here like Surrey at least ;)
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