5 BORING THINGS THAT WILL CHANGE THE WAY YOU MAKE MUSIC

Music makes us and our listeners feel big, sexy, and profound things, so it can be tempting to think embracing extremes all the time will help us make our best work. But, as it turns out, this really isn't the case. So often, unsexy things like planning, consistency, and discipline are the things that will help you be your best and most productive musical self as a songwriter. Here are five boring things to import into your musical life to help you create your best music:

Scheduling Time To Write As Often As Possible

Let's kick this off with the most important boring thing to embrace. If you want to make great music, you're going to have to write tons of it. And to be your most productive and prolific, you'll need to schedule time to write as often as possible. Writing when you feel like it won't give you nearly as much time and practice as you need to create your best stuff, unless you don't have to work for a living and feel motivated to write and record during every waking moment. Create a writing schedule and stick to it. You'll be shocked at how productive and engaged you'll be if you aren't already doing this.

Keeping Your Instrument(s) And Recording Devices Accessible In Your Home

This is an easy lifestyle change that will help you create and record spontaneous ideas, and this is important because the ideas we don't plan for are often our best ones. Instead of keeping your main instrument stored at an outside studio or tucked away in the basement or closet, keep it as accessible as possible wherever you live. This applies whether you live in a dorm room or a big house, though you'll have to get creative if you're limited on space. Also, have a recording device ready to roll in your home. This could be your DAW, but it doesn't have to be. Even the recording capabilities that most likely exist on your smartphone should be able to do the trick.

Creating Productivity Goals

Productivity goals sound like office banter or something you'd hear uttered by a personal trainer, but they can very much apply to your life as a songwriter. These goals can be as simple as trying to write or record a certain number of demos in a month, or something more detailed like the stuff you need to do to wrap up an album and get it ready for release. Making music and promoting it is incredibly complicated, which is why you need boring benchmarks to get stuff done. If you're serious about writing music you want the world to hear, goals are a crucial method for getting things done. Without them, you run the risk of never getting anything done. This is something boring that will transform your songwriting practice if you're not already doing it.

Working With A Looping Device

Looping a chord progression or beat over and over again might not sound like the most exciting songwriting exercise, but it's one of the best ways to create interesting music. We need to hear things more than once or twice before we can access ideas with potential. In the normal context of running through a song, you'll only go through sections a few times. But with a looping device or settings on your DAW, you'll be able to run through specific chord progressions as many times as you need to to experiment in a low-pressure setting.

Sticking To A Minimalist Writing Strategy

Big and busy is not better when it comes to songwriting and music production. In fact, just the opposite is usually true. You'll find your best ideas if you start writing with a bare-bones minimalist approach. This could be singing over a rhythm with no chord progression or a simple bass line. It might seem boring at first, but you'll quickly feel a burst of undeniable energy when an exciting idea starts to present itself when you work this way.

No matter how hard we try, we can't fully control what sort of music we end up writing, which is why it's tempting to lean into extremes and busyness to make things happen how we want. But embracing these seemingly boring tips will end up making you more productive and successful as a songwriter.

THINGS TO SAY NO TO AS A MUSICIAN

Getting Paid With Exposure

The "We can't afford to pay you to play, but there will be lots of people at the show" line is one musicians of all experience levels get from time to time. The idea is that the show you're being asked to play is sure to be filled with so many people that you'll miss out on a huge opportunity to make new fans if you say no. But here's the thing: playing for exposure is almost always a bad idea. If there really are lots of people expected to show up, why can't the venue organizers or promoters afford to pay the performing artists? Someone is going to make money, and it won't be you. This issue is less about money and more about fairness. Music is constantly being devalued by situations like this one, so your refusal to play for free will help retain your dignity by demanding compensation and expressing the importance of what you do.

Collaborations You're Not Passionate About

Your time is your most valuable asset as a musician. Wasting it by working on projects that don't challenge your creativity or get you closer to your goals means squandering your most important resource. Whether it's performing on an album or joining a new band, collaborations take up tons of energy and time away from the projects you actually care about. So while it might feel uncomfortable to say no in the short term, you'll end up saving yourself a world of frustration and wasted time in the long run. Your talent is too important to waste on things your heart just isn't into, so focus on doing what you love and politely say no to everything else.

Touring Without Benefits

It's a constant temptation for some bands to want to hit the road for however long it takes to find success. Unfortunately, this idea is as romantic as it is unrealistic for most bands. If you're not an established artist, the shows you'll land outside of your hometown will probably be bad–– performing at a strip mall bar at 1AM on a Sunday night to an empty room or playing a couple of songs before a comedy open mic, for example. Don't get me wrong. These sorts of tours build experience and character for musicians. But there comes a point where you're far better off staying home and making the best music you can instead of spending night after night playing to empty rooms. Touring not only keeps you away from the studio, but also from relationships, paying jobs, and stability. If you're not earning new fans, money, or experience, it's time to be more discerning when it comes to touring.

Getting Into Debt

A countless number of talented artists have gotten into debt over their music. Many of these artists have had to put their musical ambitions on hold or quit making music altogether because their financial problems are so bad. To avoid the same problems, you'll need to avoid financial debt. Sure, it sounds nice in the short-term to fund your next album with a high-interest credit card, hop in your van and tour for the next year, but is it realistic? Can you pay your bills with streaming revenue, merchandise sales, and the money you make at shows every night? Even if you're experiencing some success with your music, the answer is probably going to be no. We're living in a special time where it's never been more affordable to make and share music. You don't need to get into debt to be a serious musician, but it's still easy to do. Be careful, be discerning, and say no when you have to.

Letting views, streams, and follows determine your worth as a musician

Whether you're a famous pop star or an ambitious artist just starting out, making music today means having access to a constant stream of information associated with how well your songs perform online. Streams, views, downloads, playlist adds––these are just a few of the metrics offered by streaming platforms and music distributors. It's tempting to obsess over these numbers, but you shouldn't. Your most popular song isn't necessarily your best song. And if your music hasn't found an audience yet, it doesn't mean your songs aren't good. As an artist, you alone get to decide your worth. Letting algorithms define your value is over simplistic, superficial, and inaccurate. While these metrics can be helpful for things like deciding where to tour or focus radio campaign efforts, the numbers can't tell you anything about your potential or creative merit. So say no the next time you're tempted to let the numbers shape your worth as an artist.

If you're inexperienced in music, you might want to say yes to every opportunity that comes your way. But learning to turn down the things that don't get you closer to your creative and professional goals is an important skill for an artist.