The 4 Steps to Making an Income from Recording, Mixing or Producing Hi, my name is Graham Cochrane and I m a freelance recording and mix engineer based out of Tampa Florida. I ve been recording and mixing music for over 20 years now, and this simple love and passion of mine has taken me from my bedroom studio, to multi-million dollar studios, Fortune 500 software companies, all while creating a career that supports me and my family. (Founder, RecordingRevolution.com) In this short guide, I m going to give you the 4 steps you need to take to go from having decent recording, mixing or producing skills, to making a regular side income from them. You might think it s impossible, you might think you re not good enough, but if you ve watched my content for a while, or have recorded and produced music in your home studio or for other people - there s literally nothing stopping you from making $500-1000 every month on the side, just 4-6 weeks from now. This isn t hype, this is fact. I ve personally helped over a thousand people achieve such an income from offering music services, and most of them didn t even go to music school, or have any formal accreditation in this skill. That s because in the real world, people want results delivered on time, and not just a paper qualification.
Dr Dre didn t go to Berklee College of Music. George Martin (producer of The Beatles) started his working career as a clerk in an office. They didn t have credentials or expert status. But what made them successful was that they were great at recording and mixing, and made catchy, powerful tracks with their skills. Now, don t panic - you don t have to be anywhere near that level to make an income from recording, mixing or producing, and here s why: The New Opportunity of The Internet There s been a huge change in music making and the music industry in general. While it used to cost thousands of dollars for mixing boards, expensive condenser microphones, tape recorders these days, anyone with a second hand laptop and a cheap USB mic can make decent music. But something s missing - the ability to create songs that sound professional. And that s where you can come in. Remember - In the land of the blind men, the one-eyed man is king." That has never been more relevant to recording and mixing today. If you can record and mix music decently, you can make a side income doing it for other musicians who want to spend their time writing songs, performing live, or just don t want to mix or produce their own tracks themselves. It really is that simple. The barrier to getting started? Chances are, you ve already got all you need. You ve got a computer, a Digital Audio Workstation, and an Internet connection. Pro tools, Logic Pro, it really doesn t matter as long as you know how to use it well. So how do you get there? How do you go from taking your hobby/passion into something that pays your bills? There are just 4 simple steps, and I m going to break them down for you now
STEP 1: Do tons of quality free work, and build your portfolio Without proof and results, no one will trust you with their music. No one asks where Sia went to music school when she walks into a studio, because they know what her music sounds like. Neither do they ask Mark Ronson or Dr Dre. Here s the big idea - have something you can present that showcases your skills and ability to help your client. In the freelance space, we call this your portfolio. I started building my portfolio when I was in college. I put out flyers around campus offering free recording and mixing for singer/songwriters and bands. I also told all of my musician friends that I was willing to record and mix their music for free to gain both experience (and most importantly - build my portfolio). So how should you find people to do free work for? I always say: start with your musician friends. Look for singers, musicians that have great skills but not the best recording and mixing on their tracks. Offer to come alongside them and lend your talents, skill, and equipment to help them produce a better recording or mix - for free! After you ve exhausted that network of people - it s time to turn to the Internet. Soundcloud and YouTube are great places to look. Don t aim for big channels. Instead seek out people with smaller followings can be reached easily. Remember - these artists are busy. They re scrambling to write new songs, record them, shoot videos, grow their fan base, book gigs, tour, etc. Just the idea of having someone offer to help improve their recordings - for free! - is incredible. Aim for a specific genre of music (whatever your strong suite is), but don t be afraid to go for something out of your comfort zone if you re confident you can improve the person s sound FYI - When you start reaching out/advertising for paid work, the best examples to have to show are ones that are in the same/similar genre to the portfolio you have.
For example, you wouldn t approach Bruno Mars to offer help on writing a 11 minute neoclassical heavy metal epic. Just something to keep in mind. When you find artists you re interested in working with, message them, leave a comment, or send them an email telling them how much of a fan of their music you are and how you would love to help free up their time and give them a better result by mixing their music for them - for free! Give them a time constraint on the offer (i.e. I can only offer this free mix for the next 2 weeks) and then end the message with an offer to jump on a phone or Skype call. Super simple and to the point. Most people will not say no to this offer if you re reaching out to the right audience. Within 3-4 weeks, you can easily have a small portfolio of proof. And that leads us to step 2
STEP 2: Start reaching out to people with your proof and results, and build a website advertising your services Once you have a small portfolio of high quality work, there s not that much left to start getting income from your recording and mixing. At this point the easiest way to begin earning money is to begin converting your free clients into paying clients if they re happy with your work and want to continue working with you. For example, simply contact one of your satisfied free clients, thank them again for the opportunity to work with them on their music, and then tell them you are now taking paid work only but you d love to continue working with them at a discounted rate, since they were one of your first clients. Offer to do another song, or even a bigger project like an EP or album. The point here is that you are training them to see that you are worth money, you ve proven to them that you can deliver, but you also want to give them a special offer because you already have a working relationship. Many of your free clients will appreciate the gesture and take you up on this. Now, in order to get NEW clients you ll need a portfolio website that clearly explains what you offer, and how you benefit your clients. Here s why a simple portfolio site works so well. Potential clients will be able to get the gist of what you do instantly. They can simply listen to your final results and know what you are capable of. You can post your pricing packages on the site so after hearing your portfolio, potential clients can immediately know if they can afford you or not. This saves SO much time emailing back and forth with a client who simply is not a good fit because he can t afford your prices. And finally, having a portfolio site gives you instant authority and credibility (results don t lie).
Here are a few classic mistakes with portfolio sites that I see engineers making: Not focusing on what you do for your clients. Your website copy (i.e. the words on your site) can t be vague or all about you and your studio. They need to be about the CLIENT and what THEY are in need of. Too many services offered. Don t try to be the mega-store of audio services. Just focus on the one main thing you offer and clearly communicate that. Hard to navigate (too many pages). A great portfolio site need not be complex. Less is more. The simpler your site is, the easier it will be for a potential client to hear your portfolio, check your prices, and contact you to learn more. Remember, the purpose of a portfolio site is two fold: 1. Establish your credibility (i.e. can this person deliver a good product) 2. Clearly articulate what you offer and you are for And that s it!
STEP 3: Raise your rates to where you want to be If you spend 20 hours a week mixing tracks for artists and have barely any time outside your main job to be with your family and friends, that s not good! I ve known friends in the past who are busting their butts to get as many freelance gigs as they can and spending most nights and all weekend mixing bands. While they are making good money, they are losing out on the point of all that money to begin with - living! This is especially true when your freelance work takes you away from your family and friends more than it should. This is not what I want for you. Imagine you have two levers you can pull to make more money as an engineer. Lever 1 = take more gigs/clients (i.e. work more hours) Lever 2 = raise your rates While Lever 1 (working more hours) is an OK place to start, what I really want you to do is pull Lever 2. It s time to raise your rates! Here s how to do it. Figure out how fast you can finish a mixing job, and how many you can do a week while not getting burnt out in a month or two. Remember - you want to make this an income that lasts for years (and it can), and not frazzled and exhausted after 3 months. Let s say you can mix a track in 4-6 hours. By mixing 2-3 of them a month at $250-$400 each depending on how much work is involved, you re easily making $500-1000 a month! If you stay at a super low rate (like $75 a song) the only way to get to $1000 a month is by mixing 14 songs a month! Not a great plan if you already work a full time job and want to have a life as well!
STEP 4: Keep delivering good quality work and enjoy your income! If you ve followed the past few steps properly, you should be able to get a few paying clients to give you a decent side income from recording and mixing. It s not rocket science - anyone who puts in the time into this can do it. I landed my first paying clients while still in college - as a 19 year old! Was I the best engineer out there? Not by a long shot! But could I offer immense value to the artist and bands around me? Could I help them improve their recordings? Absolutely! You can do the same my friend. Here s the formula: Do free work + build a portfolio + begin charging + raise your rates + update your portfolio = rinse and repeat!
Some final tips for you: Have a clear process on how to handle work and juggle projects, and not get overwhelmed when things get busy. This will involve creating some email templates for reaching out to new clients (I use Gmail canned responses), a calendar to keep you organized (I use Google Calendars), and a payment system to invoice clients and collect money (I use PayPal). Focus on delivering high quality work so clients keep coming back. Remember your best advertising is your portfolio. It s your credibility marker - so make it good and do good work! Finally, keep reaching out for more work to make sure you don t run out of projects. This is a never ending process, so bake it into your weekly schedule and routine. Oh - and one last thing: enjoy your side income. You deserve it!
Conclusion RecordingRevolution.com Look, you already have the gear and the skills to create a side income out of your home studio. And with so many new artists coming out of the woodwork every day (thanks to plummeting prices of gear and free distribution tools like YouTube) there is an ever growing population of talented musicians who will need help taking their recordings to the next level. They won t have the time or desire to learn how to record and mix well (like you have) so you have more opportunity than ever before to deliver massive value to the next generation of artists! If you begin freelancing and earning a good side income from it, consider taking things a step further and transitioning into a full time recording and mix engineer or producer! There s no magic to this. If you can get enough clients and raise your rates higher, either the math works for you or it doesn t. Simple as that. On the flip side, if you feel you don t have the skills yet to make an income from your recording and mixing, check out RecordingRevolution.com for tons of articles, video tutorials and valuable information to improve your skills. That s why I m here! Thanks so much for reading this guide! My hope is that it encouraged you, motivated you to take action, and showed you the well worn path of turning your recording, mixing and producing skills into a steady stream of income. I ve done it. My friends have done it. And my students have done it. Why not you? Good question :-) Graham Cochrane RecordingRevolution.com