CONNECTING MUSIC INDUSTRY + MUSIC EDUCATION
Knowledge Bank: Create Music
MEET THE MUSIC-MAKERS
Music-makers are all the people involved in the creation, production and/or performance of songs and recordings. Some focus on one aspect of music-making, others are involved in many aspects.
Music-makers might call themselves a composer, lyricist, songwriter, beat-maker, singer, vocalist, rapper, MC, musician, instrumentalist, record producer, featured artist or pop star – or they may use another term – either way, we think of all of these people as music-makers.
MUSIC-MAKER CAREERS
There are three main career pathways for music-makers – three ways of making a living by creating music – although any one music-maker may have a pathway that combines all three.
| Frontline artists (aka featured artists) are upfront on stage, building a brand and audience around their music, and releasing tracks under their name, whether that’s their real name or a performer name. |
| Employed musicians are employed by an orchestra, choir or other organisation. |
| Portfolio musicians work on an assortment of projects for and with other musicians – in the studio and on stage – or for film and TV studios, cultural organisations, gaming companies and brands. |
RESOURCES
There are organisations representing each of the different groups of music-makers in the UK which are a good starting point for navigating each group.
| Artists | Featured Artists Coalition (FAC) |
| Musicians | Musicians’ Union (MU) |
| Musicians | Independent Society Of Musicians (ISM) |
| Songwriters | Ivors Academy |
| Studio Producers | Music Producers Guild (MPG) |
The FAC, MU, Ivors Academy and MPG – alongside the Music Managers Forum – also work together on campaigns through the Council Of Music Makers.
CREATING MUSIC
Teaching young people to create, produce and perform music is obviously at the heart of music education. For those considering a career making music, constant experimentation and collaboration are an important way to hone music-making skills and create career opportunities.
Pathways Into Music asked a team of music industry experts for practical advice on music creation. Here is a selection of their responses…
| “Collaboration is key early on in your music career. Find other music-makers to work with – both within but also beyond your current circle – and also look for people with other creative passions to collaborate with, such as designers, photographers and film-makers”. |
| “Just keep making music! The more music you make the better a music-maker you will become. And music careers with longevity tend to come to prolific and consistent music-makers who build slowly and keep going“. |
| “Make sure you finish and release your songs and tracks. It’s easy to become a perfectionist and never perform or release your music. But it’s important to get some of your songs and tracks out there, so you can see the response and interact with an audience”. |
| “Lots of creative people have many passions and talents – so don’t pigeon-hole collaborators – find out about each person’s full range of interests and work. For example – you are probably talking to more songwriters than you think – many artists and producers are also songwriters”. |
| “Seek out ‘musical playgrounds’ where you can experiment with your music-making. These playgrounds maybe within an educational institution – but if you’re not doing music at school, college or university, you should find other places where you can experiment, jam, cypher bounce off other creators and find collaborators”. |
| “Be comfortable working with whatever you have in terms of technology – a lot can be achieved with simple apps and devices like Garageband and an iPhone. And remember to be creative with what technology – and any other musical tools and instruments – you have access to. Restrictions can often actually boost creativity”. |
RESOURCES
There are a variety of digital applications and platforms that provide tools, advice and other support for and on creating, producing and releasing music. These include…
| DIGITAL AUDIO WORKSTATIONS like Ableton | BandLab | GarageBand | Logic | Soundtrap |
| PRODUCTION AIDS like BandLab Mastering | FaderPro | LANDR | Sound Better | Splitter.ai |
| SONGWRITING TOOLS like BandLab SongStarter | Baton | Chord_files | LyricStudio | MasterWriter |
| BEATS + SAMPLES MARKETPLACES like BeatStars | Loopcloud | Loopmasters | Splice | Tracklib |
These are just a selection of the digital applications and platforms to be aware of. We are compiling a more extensive directory of these platforms which will appear here soon.