Whether you’re making music as a hobby, or trying to make a career out of it, getting to know other producers and people in the same line of work is essential.
Not only will you learn faster and have more opportunity for collaboration, but it’s also more fun doing things with other likeminded artists.
In this article, I share 5 tips to help you build connections, friendships, and partnerships with other producers and artists.
- Change Your Mindset
- Don’t Aim for Quantity
- Work on Your Brand & Story
- Offer Value & Help First
- Don’t Rely on Internet Connections Only
1. Change Your Mindset
The main reason that most people get rejected, ignored, or moved aside when trying to either converse or build a connection with someone is that they have the wrong mindset.
If your mentality is that you should be the one benefiting from this straight away then you’re already in a bad place. Rather, the better mindset to have is one of giving rather than receiving:
“How can I help them?”
Don’t start talking to someone as if you’re entitled to something, but rather, show interest in what they’re doing. This is especially important if you’re talking to someone of higher skill or profile than you.
“You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.” – Dale Carnegie
2. Don’t aim for Quantity
It’s not hard to go out and add every single producer on your friend’s friends list on Facebook, but what’s the point? Are you adding them in hopes that they’ll flick you a message? Or hoping that they’ll share your track when you post a link on Facebook?
It doesn’t work like that.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with adding producers you don’t know on Facebook, but try to make an effort to actually talk to them. Make small talk, have a laugh.
You’re better off building a good relationship with 3 producers rather than a non-existent relationship with 20 producers.
3. Work on Your Brand, Story, and Aim for Uniqueness
If you’re trying to connect with more well-known producers in your scene, then it’s important to keep in mind that they probably have a lot of people trying to do the same thing.
What’s different about you? Do you make a great initial impression? Are you passionate? What do you represent?
Act excited, but not arrogant. Be original, but not hipster.
4. Offer Value: Help First
This ties into the first tip quite nicely.
The best way to build a good relationship with someone is to offer them value. They’re more likely to give a damn about you if you actually help them in one way or another. There’s no denying that humans are somewhat selfish beings at the depth of it all, so why not take advantage of that?
What does help look like?
It could be anything from voting for their track in a remix contest, sharing a link on Facebook, buying their track on Beatport – you know the drill.
Pro-tip: Let them know how much you appreciate their work. A simple message such as, “Love your latest release! Went ahead and purchased it as well as shared the link on my page.”
More often than not, you’ll get a simple thank you message back. It’s a great way to leave a good impression and really hit the ‘appreciation’ side of said person.
5. Don’t rely on Internet Connections Only
AKA leave the house and embrace the art of human conversation.
Talking to someone IRL is more powerful than exchanging text via bits of data over the internet. There’s no denying that.
While internet connections are vital, it’s good to get out and actually meet people. Make an effort, even if it involves a bit of travel.
Obviously if you’re meeting someone in person, apply the above tips. It’s more difficult to spam soundcloud links when talking face-to-face with someone. That’s not a challenge by the way, don’t try it!
Wrapping it All Up
We all know building relationships are important not only in the music production scene, but also life in general.
Following these tips will provide benefit in one way or another, it’s inevitable. So, work on your mindset, focus on building quality friendships, be unique, offer value, and meet people!
