Melody Nest Platform Advises Musicians to Keep an Open Mind & Offers Awesome Tips to Generate Revenue in 2020
“The ‘starving artist’ stereotype is a modern day reality. A DJ friend of mine, with an admirable work ethic, had a narrow dream of playing only in front of 30,000 people every night. Alone in his studio, he turned down smaller music gigs, opportunities to work at record labels, and other establishments, to further his single-minded journey of producing music. A couple of years later, broke and burned out, he split LA, leaving his music career behind. The lesson here — we music people need to keep an open mind to all opportunities, because they help build connections and careers. Artists may fear trying new things, or they may dismiss them as irrelevant to their vision, but they aren’t. Working with other industry professionals creates new opportunities. So, let’s keep our minds open.” — Nick Voorhees, Melody Nest founder
Music is increasingly all-pervasive.
From the moment we awake, listening to ring tones on our phones to traveling into work, at our jobs, then at the gym, going home, then kicking back, music is intimately involved throughout our daily lives. Forbes reports that as music consumption grows, “Americans are spending more time listening to music than ever before.”
For starving musicians/producers, the good news is this increasing demand. And, as Melody Nest’s Nick Voorhees suggests, “The ability to create music is a valuable skill set, and it’s something the world actually needs. I started Melody Nest because there are plenty of opportunities in the world for musicians and music producers, but not enough tools to find and properly utilize them.”
Melody Nest offers such invaluable tools.
Created in 2018, Melody Nest is a freelance marketplace for the music industry. It serves as a networking platform for graphic designers, audio engineers, musicians, and vocalists to provide their professional services to help musicians and music producers build their careers. Voorhees explains why he created this uniquely supportive website:
“Being a musician/producer myself and constantly being surrounded by others in the music industry, I became tired of being broke, and seeing musicians around me struggling to make ends meet as well, or having trouble finding other musicians to work with. Melody Nest creates a specialized, original, and fundamentally creative business that changes the way musicians of all types navigate the industry.”
For example, Voorhees, a certified musician who’s been schooled in digital music production/engineering and who’s worked in audio product marketing, believes a music career is no different than starting a small business. With his real-world experience, he believes the biggest challenges for any new business are fear of failure, and having enough funds to support one’s effort. But, Melody Nest can help with the “business of your musical career.”
So, with the New Year beckoning, he first offers a healthy, three-pronged practice to let go of the bad habits that stem from the fear of rejection and failing in your artistic business.
These mental exercises include: 1) stop caring what people think or imagining what they might think; 2) set goals, and keep hitting those goals, again and again; 3) surround yourself with positive people on the same path.
And then the Melody Nest platform, through its forward-thinking Blogs, offers in-depth, practical ways musicians and music producers can succeed. For instance, it gives music producers tips on generating new revenues in 2020, which includes: selling your beats online; ghost producing; selling your samples; sync licensing; and, marketing merchandise, among other things.
Other helpful blogs include: 8 Bad Habit that Make Musicians Depressed; 4 Essential Ways to Become A Better Music Producer; 6 Reasons Why Great Album Covers Can Help Build Successful Music Careers; and, Top 7 Best Free Music Production Software in 2020.
“Amazing job! Such a great tool for musicians to have top notch musicians all organized in one place. I’ll be back!” — Circa 94 Beats, Hip Hop Production Crew
So, yes, the great news is that there are tools and avenues available. But first is the challenge of dramatically changing one’s pre-conceived notions, losing negative thinking, and embracing proactive and healthier habits.
Voorhees, who also has a Degree in Philosophy, speculates:
“I think the fear that manifests in musicians and music producers, as well as entrepreneurs and professionals in the creative, entertainment field, is caused by them believing that they’ve chosen an unconventional career path, that goes against the societal construct of the 9–5 job. Those ‘other’ people will ironically say out loud that ‘you’re crazy’ for creating a new business venture, while heading to work for a business that someone else created. That can overwhelm many entrepreneur types, and I have seen gifted individuals give up their craft because of their inability to overcome this idea. It’s a disappointing thing to see, and it denies the world undeniable talent. But when I adopted these simple mental exercises and decided to channel negative energy toward working as hard as I could, doors started to open.”
“Really awesome job! Will definitely come back to Melody Nest for more work!” — Chris Costello, Music Producer
However, real-life is not just about changing negative habits and thinking. And, assuredly, one of the doors that’s much more of a challenge to open, is the ability to consistently make ends meet solely from one’s musical endeavors.
This returns us to the idea of keeping an open mind about opportunities that we may be overlooking. Voorhees suggests that those opportunities are there:
“It’s not because those opportunities aren’t there, it’s because the few existing bridges that connect talent and talent seekers are overcrowded. For those that are talented at their musical craft, but may not have a huge network to utilize, this is very frustrating and problematic. Tools like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, and other social media outlets were once a great resource for musicians and producers to generate buzz, and even find paying gigs, studio jobs, musical freelance work, and more. However, an unfathomable amount of people are now competing against each other for attention, and most don’t stand a chance unless they pay for advertising.”
So, it’s about viewing things differently as Voorhees reiterates that for those looking to switch career trajectories from something more ‘traditional’ to pursue music creation, one critical thing is to keep that open mind. He suggests that when opportunities arise, new musicians and creators shouldn’t say no just because it doesn’t fit the pre-meditated career that they envisioned: “This is foolish. Accept that there are plenty of ways to become successful, and not everyone walks down the exact same path.”
“I shall refer Melody Nest to those that are looking for great service!” — Neon Abria, Music Producer
According to Voorhees, Melody Nest’s goal is to help musicians generate as much revenue for themselves as possible, while also helping them: perfect their musical skill-sets; become better collaborators; learn about the opportunities out there; connect with other artists; and, even provide them with options for musical services that they might need themselves. Bay Area-based Voorhees adds:
“We offer a platform that helps you connect with other career professionals in the music industry. All of our freelancers on the site are vetted with solid track records, so it’s a great option for those either looking to work with vocalists, graphic designers, audio engineers, session musicians, and more, or you are a professional musician looking to sell your services. Overall, building connections is important, but what’s even more important is to generate as much income as possible. The hope is that we can mutually grow together, and hopefully have some fun in the process.”
Check out Melody Nest’s secure website, their very helpful Blog page, Facebook page, Twitter, and Instagram.
