Indie Music Marketer .com

Doing studio work is a great way to make some money for your talents. You as a professional musician can perform a much needed service for many sources. I will show you the beginning steps to take to get studio gigs. There are many people making a great living doing studio work, maybe you are the next!

There are many businesses and people that need studio musicians to help record music that will be used in a multitude of of applications. Recording studios need players to help out their clients, advertisement agencies need music for radio and TV commercials. Songwriters use studio musicians to play the instruments they cannot play, video companies need music for their footage, radio stations also produce commercials which needs music. Video game companies need original music so their games are interesting and fresh. I will talk a little about each of these markets and show you how to begin breaking into them. Lets first talk about the gear you are going to need.

You must have good professional equipment and the proper gear to cover the musical styles you will be producing. If you plan on covering rock and country for instance and you are a guitar player, you should have a rock guitar (Les Paul) and a county guitar (Telecaster). Listen to the radio stations that play the music styles you will cover and try to match the instrument tones with what you have. Start a notebook and take detailed notes on exactly how to get certain types of tones. You may want to research some of the big time players in the styles of music you plan on covering and find out what gear they are using. Magazines are an excellent resource for this. A modeling amp is good to have to create the tones that you need but I have found that there still is nothing like the original old school vintage equipment to get the true tones you need.

If you can read music you will get the better pro gigs. I will say you donot have to read to get some local type of work however, you had better have an excellent ear and be able to pick up parts very quickly. I do recommend learning how to read if you are serious about pursuing pro studio gigs.

You will need a press kit and a good sounding three song demo. An equipment list is a good idea and make sure to include the type of music that you can cover in your bio. Here is an example : Steve Veloudos is a proficient guitarist in: rock, blues, country, reggae and jazz styles of music.

Here is a primer on how to break in to each of the markets I mentioned earlier. Keep in mind this is only a starting point and not a step by step detailed description on these markets (maybe in a future Special Report!).

Many times studios need a certain type of instrument for a particular session. Call all the studios in your area and ask if you can send your kit and demo. Follow up with a call about once a month to keep in touch with them.

Call the ad agencies in your hometown and ask if they do radio and TV (some just do print ads). If they do, ask to talk to their creative department, they are responsible for the creation of ads and have a need for music. Ask to send in your demo and kit. You may want to network with other bands and musicians in your area so you will have a pool of musicians to choose from. They may be strong in an area you are weak or have an instrument you act doesnt. The ad agency may hire you to come up with a tune for a campaign they are working on. You would then write a tune, assembly a few musicians and go into the studio and cut the tune. There is allot of money in this type of gig!

Call radio stations and ask if they use original music. Again ask if you can send in your promo and keep in touch with the station to see if they have any work for you.

Seek out the video companies in your city (the yellow pages are a great resource for this). Again ask if they use original music and send in you demo and kit.

Here is a big market for studio musicians. Find songwriter associations in your city and offer your services. Many association put out a monthly newsletter, advertise in the newsletter and get to know the people in the association. Ask if they rent their mailing list and do some direct marketing to the songwriters.

Find video game companies by going to toy stores and jotting down who manufactured the games. Look them up on the net to get their phone or mailing address. Pitch your talent to them although I will say that keyboard players have an advantage here.

How much to charge for you services is difficult to say. Depending on how pro the gig is directly proportional to how much you can charge per hour. You need to get a feel for what the market will pay. If you are on a local scale you may want to start at $15 per hour. Original compositions for ad agencies start at about $400 per minute of music. It all depends on what is involved, who you need to hire and the costs you will encounter to record the project (for ad agency type of gigs).

If you are anywhere near the west coast put an ad in the Music Connections Pro Players section. It is a great place to get hooked up with some pro studio gigs.

Studio gigs can be allot of fun while you are making some good money. Persistence is the key here and if you keep plugging away you will get studio gigs and ultimately you can make a good living or supplement your income by doing pro studio sits. Good Luck!