Caleb J. Murphy is a singer-songwriter and music producer based in Austin, Tx., and the founder of Musician With A Day Job, a blog that helps part-time musicians succeed.
The way you approach a music production session can drastically change the end result of the song. Depending on what kind of sound you want, you can approach it with one of two mindsets. You can produce a track like a songwriter. Or you can produce a track like a producer. Let me talk about...
If you’re pursuing music just to make lots of money, quit now. I’m not saying you can’t make a good living as a musician. You can. But money cannot be the driver of your music career. You will burn out because building a career in music is work. You’re building something. Ever see a building...
We’re not in our parents’ music industry anymore. So we can’t just plan to “hit it big.” You have to get creative. That means pursuing multiple streams of revenue. Try including income sources that aren’t directly from making music but adjacent to making music. This is where writing music advice content comes in. Music Writing...
“Do what you love,” they say. Yeah, it’s easy to say that. But how do you actually do what you love more often? You love making music, but can you actually do it for a living? How To Balance Your Day Job With Music If you’re like me, it’s so hard to do something when...
If anyone knows about procrastination, it’s me. I can be the biggest procrastinator of them all. Whether it’s noodling on my guitar, watching YouTube videos for “research,” or just scrolling social media. There’s always something to distract me. But after more than 12 years as an active musician, I’ve finally figured out how to get...
I’m an indie musician, and at times I’ve struggled to get stuff done for my music career. So if you need some simple ways to be a more productive musician, read on. Here are four things I highly recommend you do to boost your productivity… Use a Calendar Switching from a to-do list to a...
Clarity. That’s one of the hardest things to find as a musician. And not having clarity means it’s easy to lose focus on what matters to you. And that leads to feeling overwhelmed. I’ve faced this problem myself. So I want to share with you three ways to overcome overwhelm as a musician. Do One...
One of the biggest questions you probably have is…how do musicians make money? In other words, how can you make money? Like, for real. Not theoretically. You don’t just want “ideas.” You want some concrete evidence and a clear path forward. That’s what I’ll cover in this blog post… How Musicians Make Money Today I’ll...
I never thought I’d be watching a grown man in underwear and a robe making dope music live on YouTube. But that’s what you get with Marc Rebillet. Rebillet is a DJ and music producer who has exploded online, mainly through YouTube, Reddit, and Twitch. He uses a loop station, keyboard, and a mic to...
Mastering is the final step in making your song sound professional. It increases the loudness, widens the sonic properties of the track, and highlights the beautiful sounds in your mix. Basically, it’s a very important stage. So can you trust automated mastering? Will it give you pro-level results? In this post, I’m going to compare...