How to fund your career

Most artists start off either doing everything themselves or asking for favors from friends. But let’s face it favors only get you so far in any business. We all have bills, it’s unrealistic to expect quality work if you’re not paying for this work to be done.  As an audio engineer I’ve heard all sorts of reasons why I should provide my services for free; “Once I have one finished song I’ll be able to perform and pay you for the next song”, “We can build together”, “I have connections that can take ypu to the next level”, “I’m the best artists around here” etc. Honestly some of those things might be true but in order to run a business It’s impossible for all clients and that’s why I and many other media professionals refuse to work without some form of payment.

As an artist there are many things you can do to take your career to the next level. Lets discuss a few of them. Save up for studio time, It’s very simple; if you save $50 a week for 6 months that gives you $1200. Depending on the studio and engineer 1200 dollars can get you one to two complete songs. These songs can then be used to present to potential investors who believe in you and want to invest in you as an artist.

Another way for you to get in the studio is by taking out a loan. Be careful with this method. The loan will help you get in the studio and record some songs and put together an album, which can later be sold to help you pay back the loan. The key to doing knows how much of a risk you can take and realistically how many albums you could sell.

There are many other ways to fund your career and they are all acceptable. Just understand that it takes money to make money and you’ll be on your way to taking your career to the next level.