The Savvy Producer | Productivity and Efficiency in Music Production

This is the mindset shift that can make or break your music career. Not only can it help with efficiency and keeping your clients happy, but a focus on community over competition is going to take you away from being the classic studio hermit and give you an amazing network of likeminded producers, mixers and engineers who can help you out! In this episode I talk about:

- The danger of thinking of other producers as competitors

- Why you'll never run out of work

- How focusing on community can improve just about every aspect of your music production career

Freebie - How busy music producers can crush their schedule and keep their clients happier, without stress or overwhelm - ⁠marsdenmastering.com/trello⁠

Full show notes - ⁠https://marsdenmastering.com/thesavvyproducer/14

We've all heard that we need to be posting to TikTok everyday or we're missing out on thousands of eyeballs on our content, but this month I decided to cut it completely from my business and personal life. The result? More productivity, more clients and more time to focus on what really matters. In this episode I talk about:

 - Why I stopped using TikTok

- The 80/20 rule and why you should apply it

- How you can dramatically boost your productivity, efficiency and earnings per hour

In music production, we're always learning. It's a never ending journey and sometimes it can feel like you're not getting anywhere, so I though I'd share the 4 biggest lessons I've learned since deciding to pursue a career in music so that you can feel more encouraged, more confident and have more clarity going forwards on your own journey. Learn from my mistakes & observations so that you can fast track your career a little! In this episode I talk about:

 - Gear and why it just doesn't matter

- Imposter syndrome

- The danger of comparing yourself to other producers on social media

- Why patience and consistency are so important

Freebie - How busy music producers can crush their schedule and keep their clients happier, without stress or overwhelm - marsdenmastering.com/trello

Full show notes - https://marsdenmastering.com/thesavvyproducer/12

Want to crush it in music production? I truly believe that outside of the work you produce, setting expectations properly is the single most important thing you can do. In this episode I talk about:

- How to make sure you never get nightmare clients again

- The expectations you need to set for every project

- Ways you can overdeliver to make sure your clients are over the moon with your work

Freebie - How busy music producers can crush their schedule and keep their clients happier, without stress or overwhelm - marsdenmastering.com/trello

Full show notes - https://marsdenmastering.com/thesavvyproducer/11

You can't mix and master on headphones! Can you? In todays episode I talk about:

- How I learned to love working on headphones

- The biggest lesson I've learned from it

- Why you should stop listening to what people say on Gearspace and YouTube

Freebie - How busy music producers can crush their schedule and keep their clients happier, without stress or overwhelm - marsdenmastering.com/trello

Full show notes - https://marsdenmastering.com/thesavvyproducer/10

Are you relying on motivation to get things done? If that's the case, you probably need to make habits out the things that are actually going to move your music production career forwards. In this episode I talk about habits that will:

- Help you to get more work through the doors

- Get your work/life balance more dialled in  

- Kill procrastination in the studio

- Help with ear training

- And even save you some money!

Freebie - How busy music producers can crush their schedule and keep their clients happier, without stress or overwhelm - marsdenmastering.com/trello

Full show notes - https://marsdenmastering.com/thesavvyproducer/9

Attention engineers! If you're not delivering these versions and formats, you're doing it wrong. This episode is all about making sure you’re giving your clients every deliverable that they could possibly need, so that they won’t be coming back in 6 months time needing different versions bounced or additional formats created. Get this right and your clients will feel peace of mind knowing they're fully set up for their release, which will work wonders for getting return work, referrals and more good word of mouth for your production business. In this episode I talk about:

- The number one sin I see studios making when it comes to preparing deliverables

- The different mix versions you need to be creating

- The different formats your clients need at the mastering stage

Freebie - How busy music producers can crush their schedule and keep their clients happier, without stress or overwhelm - marsdenmastering.com/trello

Full show notes - https://marsdenmastering.com/thesavvyproducer/8

So your ideal client has asked you for a quote to work on their next track... what's next? Get this part of your process dialled in and you'll be booked up solid with happy clients! In this weeks episode I talk about:

- The mistake most people in the music production world make when they give out their rates

- How you can build an effective, repeatable system that makes giving out quotes a breeze

- The three best ways to get people from being curious about what you do, to becoming a happy client

Full show notes - https://marsdenmastering.com/thesavvyproducer/7

Hitting deadlines fundamental if you want to succeed in this industry, but sadly music producers don't exactly have the best rep when it comes to delivering on time. You could produce the most amazing work, but if the experience of working with you is frustrating for your clients, they’re not going to want to come back and they’re not going to recommend you to their friends. In this episode I explore:

- The four things you need to focus on to make sure you never miss a deadline again

- Some super easy time management techniques that will keep you fired up and motivated

- Why I only book myself to 80% capacity

- How you can be somebody that people love working with

Freebie - How busy music producers can crush their schedule and keep their clients happier, without stress or overwhelm - marsdenmastering.com/trello

Full show notes - https://marsdenmastering.com/thesavvyproducer/6

Want to make a name for yourself in music production and have a client base who rave about your work? Then your mixes better be exciting! As a mastering engineer I get to work on a ton of mixes each week, so I thought I'd share five things that I think make a great mix that can stand out and wow your clients. In this episode I talk about:

- How you can avoid dull, lifeless mixes

- Breaking the rules that are drilled into us in the audio community

- My thoughts on mixing on headphones

Freebie - How busy music producers can crush their schedule and keep their clients happier, without stress or overwhelm - marsdenmastering.com/trello

Full show notes - marsdenmastering.com/thesavvyproducer/5