The following text has been "sampled" from Pyramind Studios' forthcoming book Cash Flow - Planning for Success to be released, Spring 2010 by Alfred Publishing...

Many people have the delusion that the music business runs on great music—it doesn’t. It runs on people. If great music was the sole benchmark of success, then all of your favorite artists would be household names and their records would be dipped in gold. Clearly, this is not the case. So being good is not enough—you’ve got to be smart and you’ve got to know people.

The social side of the music business is one of the most important components for success. The world is full of talented producers and content creators who can’t hold a simple conversation. Being a talented ‘closet’ producer just doesn’t earn any money without a manager. Most of us can’t afford a manager or simply won’t pay for one so you’d better get good at the ‘gab’!

I recently ran across an audio posting from an old client and talented producer, Count. He recently released a CD, called “INU” and it’s just fantastic. Not only is it great music that’s well produced, he’s got a great sense of the business to begin with. Many of the tracks were give-aways but the record is still doing very well. I suggest that EVERYONE go check out the record, but more importantly, check out what he says about how to grow your production credits and business.

http://www.inumusic.com/

...follow the link on the right to hear his interview.

It reminds me of how I came up in this business, both in NYC as a grad student and budding young professional and in SF as a transplant and relative unknown.... (cont'd)

I love my wife dearly, but for the life of her, she can't quite explain what it is I do for a living. "He runs a Music School", "He does Sound", "He's a musician", "No, he's not in a band", "He works on video games" - these are all explanations I've heard her say and I watch as the people she's talking to furrow their brow in confusion and lean in to understand better. "I don't really know - honey what exactly DO you do?"

Its completely understandable - as a Producer, I've so many different things that it's hard to boil it down to one - I usually describe the thing I'm doing now as the best answer. If I tell people I produce records, they always ask me "Wow - have you worked with anyone I might know?" If I tell people I'm a sound engineer, I inevitably get asked "Wow, like with the big board and stuff?" If I tell them I create sounds for video games, I end up in an argument about XBox vs. PS3. If I tell them that I help run a record label, they ask "Wow -can you sign my roommate's/ cousin's/ uncle's/ niece's/ girlfriend's/ boyfriend's band? They're really great!!"... If I tell them that I design and build recording studios, they invariably say "I use Pro Tools/ Logic/ Reason/ LIVE/Cubase/Sonar/Fruity Loops/ - what do you think about [insert their favorite audio gear here]?"

Sometimes, I even get to say "yes."