Career advice for EDM industry

[Oneyejoe]

Just a little background to set the scene of my life so you know my current limitations at least. Lol nothing special by any means..

- I am 21, started this whole edm journey when I was nearing 20, have been going at it with a burning passion since.
- I live in the US, Virginia to be more specific, VA beach, the edm scene is not too large. There is a club that famous artists (Bear grillz, Eptic, etc..) come to and a concert hall that larger artists (Excision, Datsik, etc..)
Thats about it.
- I have 1 friend in the area I met recently who produces as well, he knows other people who produce as well.
- I work an office job full time that kills my soul, I pretty much do my job and daydream. I also go to an online college.

Now..

What I am aspiring to do is eventually bring my mixes and songs to where I can release on a label for marketing reasons and get myself out there, id like to be able to make a living DJing my music and similar music. I do not aspire to become a millionaire, just make enough to leave this soul killing job and travel around DJing making enough to live comfortably, not starving or anything haha.

Another problem I seem to be having is I love so many different genres in edm, I was progressing a lot at the time when I was doing minimal tech house (Mau5trap type music) I was getting pretty good at it, lots of ideas. But I keep finding interest in lots of genres like heavy dubstep, liquid drum and bass (currently).

Would anyone in the industry or knowledgeable in the industry today have any kind of helpful advice or some direction?...

I understand this seems kind of like a cry for help, lol its late, and whats mainly got me writing this is me jumping pure interest from genre to genre... Should I focus on a genre simply because there is a higher market/popularity for it today?... Or is it even possible to make a living djing/touring with drum and bass, even in the liquid sub genre? Or is that super unlikely to where its not really worth perusing?..

This is a lot to ask I know, and it may be confusing, so if anyone has made it this far into the post I appreciate your time.

Any words of wisdom is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[Vortifex]

..

[Oneyejoe]

Being able to produce multiple genres is definitely a bonus. It's very easy to fall into the trap of "What do I want to be?" as a producer and feel paralysed because you can't decide what 'your sound' is. My advice, don't fret it. You can release different genres under different names. Just get into the habit of finishing songs, no matter what they are. The difference between a pro and amateur is consistence of quality, and that only comes through constant practice and learning.

Ultimately you should do what you love and be thankful for any rewards you get. Keep your head out of the clouds.

Anyway, hope some of this long ramble was useful.

Thank you for the long detailed reply, seriously thank you! I appreciate all your input and you're right aobut a lot of things. I have been suddenly struggling to finish tracks. and I feel a big part of that is me getting more into sound designing. Which I am about to try making a change in my workflow, setting time aside for sound designing and time aside for arranging and mixing etc..

You are certainly right in the fact that I need to not sweat it so much and just take my time. Im only 21, I need to be patient.

A question I still have though, about making money for it. At least enough money to live off of this kind of thing. Producing music and such, what do other artists generally do for money?.. Like if an artist is not constantly touring making thousands of dollars what do they do? Do they end up just getting a job anyways and nobody just really hears or knows of it or?.. Im curious..

[BertKoor]

A question I still have though, about making money for it. At least enough money to live off of this kind of thing. Producing music and such, what do other artists generally do for money?.. Like if an artist is not constantly touring making thousands of dollars what do they do? Do they end up just getting a job anyways and nobody just really hears or knows of it or?.. Im curious..

Most of us have a job outside of the crazy music industry which pays for this fantastic hobby slash money pit called "being a musician". It's often hard enough to break even, let alone make enough to pay for living. Realistically, that's a luxury for only The Lucky Few that breaked through.

There's too many really good musicians / producers and only room for a hand full of lucky bastards at the top.

[sqigls]

Unless you're referring to Spinnin records releases and the type - lose the term "EDM" completely. For a start.
It's never been a valid smear unless you're a 'band' guy who thinks it all sounds the same, or a middle aged stockbroker who doesn't care for the difference between deep house and techno because you're only here for the drugs and pussy and just want to quote - "throw your f**king hands in the air". Forget what you think you know. There are NO genres in EDM. EDM IS a genre. It's mainstream stuff, has NOTHING TO DO WITH any other genre, except for the fact that it borrowed any class it has from other genres.

Don't give up your day job. Practice and research every day. Design and stick to your own time management routine and goals. Get to know everybody even slightly connected to where you want to go, be as friendly as f**k, remember their names, buy them beers. Make yourself known, never bag anyone out, jump at every opportunity, beg borrow steal... i mean, it really depends you know... If you like many genres, well, either suck it up, play one particular genre, or express yourself in all and be known for that. Like Vortifex said, there're pros and cons no matter what you choose. but if you wanna be marketable, well THAT is the whole nuther thing really, that means, you need to fit in somewhere. In which case, i don't even want to waste any more time typing cos you can find plenty of advice from people whose bag it is to do just that.

Where's your music at anyway? Got links?
You're 21, jeebus, just keep enjoying what you do, f**k what people like me think. If you're true to yourself - if you wanna be marketable... it's all loaded with conflicting ideas, so either do it like everyone else, or carve your own path, either way you're gonna need to work hard writing and performing some enjoyable music, OR work on becoming a manipulative genius and/or sword swallower. Just stop using "EDM" as a blanket term, it's unbecoming.