The Ultimate Guide for Self-Isolating Musicians and Producers

It’s a challenging time for everyone right now. If you’re a self-isolating musician, you might be feeling a little lost at the moment. This guide gives you some great tips on how to keep moving in the right direction, while still keeping your social distance!

This post should have something for just about everyone. Feel free to jump to the section that is most relevant to you:

1. Collaborating With Other Musicians Online

The current crisis makes it almost impossible for many people around the world to meet up in person. Music collaboration websites are surging with popularity at the moment as a result.

Check out our post on 10 Great Music Collaboration Websites and Apps to get started right away.

Use collaboration services online to:

• Create new music and arrangements with others.
• Get your music mixed and mastered.
• Get your music remixed.
• Work with others to promote your tracks.
• Hire other musicians and produce demos of your music.
• Connect with vocalists.
• And maybe most importantly, simply interact with other musicians!

2. Online Lessons, Tuition Apps and Resources

Self-isolation gives us a lot more time to work on improving our craft. We’ve written some handy guides on a bunch of topics in this area. Any of these posts could be a great starting point for you.

• 8 Great Music Theory Apps
• 10 Great Music Making Apps for iOS and Android
• 10 Great Books for Songwriters
• The 6 Best Mixing Books to Get a Professional Sound
• 10 Websites to Download Free Sheet Music

Also check out Youtube videos and websites dedicated to music lessons to push your development in the right direction.

3. Tips on Finishing Songs/Tracks

If you write or produce original music and you’re stuck at home, then now is the time to finish your songs and get moving in the right direction.

We put together a guide on 10 Tips to Help You Finish Your Tracks. If you are the type of person that has gotten into the habit of half finishing tracks, then now is the time to stop this. Stop looking for absolute perfection and get stuff done.

You learn something every time you finish a song. You will likely be a lot more experienced after you have finish 20 songs, instead of tweaking your first song until you have sucked the lift out of it!

The post that we have linked to was written for casual or professional music producers. However, many of the tips apply to any musicians that are writing original music.

4. Get Your Songs on Spotify and iTunes

If you have some well produced songs online then make sure that as many people can hear them as possible. There are massive surges in internet traffic at the moment, and people want to listen to music, make sure yours have the best chance of being heard.

Read our article on How to Get Your Songs On iTunes and Spotify for Free. Of course, there is no such thing as a free lunch. If you sign up with services for free, then they may take a slightly bigger commission later in streams.

Whichever service you choose is entirely up to you. However, there is one take-home point: it’s easy to get music onto these services! Much easier than you might think.

5. Plan for Success

If you do nothing else during this time, then one great thing to do is to plan for your future as a musician.

This crisis could result in a changing landscape for musicians and producers. Try to think creatively about the future.

Also, give yourself a reality check by reading our post 10 Reasons Why You’re Going to Fail as a Musician. This post is not meant to be taken the wrong way. It’s supposed to serve as a dose of reality for musicians that are falling into common traps during their quest for success, and tips for how to overcome them!

If you feel like any of the following applies to you, then be sure to read that post:

• You’re Struggling For Perfection
• You’re Not Persisting Enough
• You’re Not Actively Working With Other People
• You’re Not Creating Anything New
• You Secretly Don’t Believe In Yourself
• You’re Not Actively Building a Fan Base
• You’re Not Finishing Songs
• You Feel You’re Not Being Treated Fairly
• You’re Songs Are Badly Recorded/Produced/Mastered
• You’re Not Practicing Enough

If you produce music, also check out this article we recently wrote: 20 Ways to Make Money as a Music Producer.

6. Promote Your Music Online

Maybe you already have an excellent discography that you want to promote. Read our guide on 10 Ways To Promote Your Music to get some ideas on where to go from here.

Also, make sure to check out our posts on how to create a music website and how to start a band mailing list. Websites and mailing lists are two very under-used assets that many new bands should not be ignoring.

7. Live-Stream Your Performances Online

Anybody that has used social networks recently will have spotted countless musicians (both famous and local) streaming performances from home.

Check out the following post from cbc.ca about how to successfully host a live music event from home.

It includes advice on what platforms to use, as well as tips on your home recording setup.

8. Links to Resources for Well-Being During Self-Isolation

Make sure to read this great resource on mind.org.uk: Coronavirus and your wellbeing. It includes practical advice for staying at home, coping with anxiety during this time, and much more.

Of course, please also make sure to keep up to date with the advice from the World Health Organisation (who.int) and the CDC (cdc.gov). Listen to the advice of your government, foreign affairs office, and health authorities.

Summary

This might be a time of feeling very helpless, but hopefully, you can use the time to be productive and get better at your craft.

There might be a silver lining. During this time, you could write your best song yet, or master a technique that you have been struggling with for a long time.

Good luck and stay safe!

Brian