Music is Life
Is it worth it?
Apr 29, 2015 08:09 PM Thoughts on Music| Music Business
At my studio I tend to get a lot of the same questions from clients; “Is it worth it?” is one of them.
What they’re really asking is if spending a few dollars to record their own music is worth it. I think it’s best to start with another question: What does worth mean to you? Typically we use the word in regard to the world of finance. In this case ‘worth’ would really mean ROI—return of investment. If I spend a few hundred dollars making my own music is will I make my money back?
To others, including myself, worth means a bit more. In fact it originates from an internal source. It starts from a sense of self-accomplishment, of knowing that I’m good at doing a particular thing. Then it grows into receiving feedback from others who share that they too like my creation, or receiving a warm applause after a live performance.
This isn’t to say that I don’t want to earn a living from my craft, in fact I believe I am worth some discrete dollar amount for my work, time, and services. You too should want the same but the important thing to take into account is that the financial return cannot be the foundation of a motive for creating music. Walt Disney put it best, “We don’t make movies to make money, we make money to make more movies.” The same should go for your music.
What they’re really asking is if spending a few dollars to record their own music is worth it. I think it’s best to start with another question: What does worth mean to you? Typically we use the word in regard to the world of finance. In this case ‘worth’ would really mean ROI—return of investment. If I spend a few hundred dollars making my own music is will I make my money back?
To others, including myself, worth means a bit more. In fact it originates from an internal source. It starts from a sense of self-accomplishment, of knowing that I’m good at doing a particular thing. Then it grows into receiving feedback from others who share that they too like my creation, or receiving a warm applause after a live performance.
This isn’t to say that I don’t want to earn a living from my craft, in fact I believe I am worth some discrete dollar amount for my work, time, and services. You too should want the same but the important thing to take into account is that the financial return cannot be the foundation of a motive for creating music. Walt Disney put it best, “We don’t make movies to make money, we make money to make more movies.” The same should go for your music.
Beethovenboy Productions