Every artist wants and needs fans. To achieve this, you need to:
Know how to make a good product.
Target that product to an audience.
Present it in an appealing packaging.
The problem is it takes guidance to mold an artist to think about sales and product creation. Many artists feel insulted by comparing their music to a product, but the truth is every product has to be created. So why shouldn't you compare your music to a product to get the fuel—cash—to keep your operation going?
What Is Dopamine?
Dopamine is a chemical messenger (neurotransmitter) that works in the brain. It helps nerve cells send messages to each other. It's produced by cells deep in the brain and acts on cells in other parts of the brain.
What Is the Role of Dopamine?
Dopamine acts on areas of the brain to give you feelings of pleasure, satisfaction, and motivation. It also plays a role in controlling memory, mood, sleep, learning, concentration, movement, and other body functions. When you feel good, for example, when you achieve something or do something fun, it's because you have an increase of dopamine in the brain. Sometimes, you might start wanting to feel more of this dopamine 'reward', which is how dopamine is involved in addiction. The good feeling that dopamine gives you after pleasant experiences, including eating nice food, having sex, winning a game, and earning money, can also happen after listening to dope music and using illegal drugs. In addiction, you continue to listen to the same songs in the same scenarios to try and get the feeling again.
Music = Your Product
Every artist must understand that music is a product. The quicker this is realized, the quicker we can get down to business. Intellectual property is the product. It is on the artist to craft and create the sweetest sound or most high-energy-giving music to the listener to keep them wanting more. Understanding this will give you more reason to take your time crafting better audio dopamine.
Target Your Emotions - Define Your Dopamine
Define three emotions that you want your album, EP, or single to trigger and stay focused on those emotions. Too many emotions on one project will confuse the listener or make them discard your project. Defining the target emotion will target who your listener is by default.
Crafting Good Audio Dopamine
Good product is made great prior to recording. For example, if you can sing a melody and the lyrics move you without music, you have great lyrical elements for great audio dope. Second, for the producers, the music starts with great sounds first. The last savior for good audio dope is how the final elements are recorded and/or mixed. One rule of thumb in this aspect is the more space a song has for the brain to process the mixture of sound with persuading lyrics up front in the mix, the better chances you’ll have of having a winner on your hands most of the time and a hit if you have the cash to support it.
Target Your Fiends (Fans) - Define Your Dopamine
Targeting the fanbase becomes easier once the emotions are revealed in lyric form and the way the lyrics are performed on record. People will know who you’re targeting due to tone and delivery, and they will also know due to the subject matter. Lastly, the music style will define the audience as well.
Great Product Must Be Packaged Well
It’s true great dopamine can sell without great packaging. However, we usually find out about these sources of dopamine through slow word of mouth. Many of us are finding music due to some form of advertisement, so therefore the presentation and packaging must be as pristine as you can get it for the amount of funding you have. In most cases, great artwork is affordable even when it’s expensive. Please don’t create your artwork yourself if you can help it.
Produce It Again
If you did it once, you can do it again, and your customers will be expecting you to do it again. If it was good the first time, you should be ready for this demand and the unforgiving public. If it wasn’t, you might want to get off the block, go back to the drawing board, regroup to let your name cool off, cook up again, repackage, and redistribute.
This Sounds Confusing!
It’s really not. The only reason it sounds confusing is because you instinctively do this, and it's being broken down.
What If You Don’t Have Great Equipment to Record and Mix?
For many artists, this is the case in the beginning, but people can hear greatness when it’s rough around the edges. However, you must be responsible enough to upgrade your cookhouse with the proceeds of the first run. Start with one piece at a time, and eventually your audio dopamine product will start sounding like a more experienced dealer.
How Do You Handle the Demand of the Public?
Realize that this is inevitable.
If you feel the public will respond well, give them options to consume more before moving on to the next, like shows, merchandise, and meet and greets.
Set aside some funds as re-up money for the next project.
Check This Out!
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If You Take the Time to Craft a Great Product
It will make a great listening experience for your customer.
The experience will cause them to tell others passionately.
Ultimately creating opportunities for you and putting money in your pocket faster.
If You Shortchange the Product
Listeners will not log you into their brains, and you won’t be an afterthought.
This will cost you time and money that you do not have to waste.
Ultimately, it tarnishes your brand if you are the artist with wack audio dopamine.
Conclusion
If you were struggling with:
Making great music,
Developing a product mindset,
Defining the target emotions and customers,
You should be able to tighten up your process and clarify your reasons for doing music in the first place.
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