Creating a professional record has never been easier. All you need is a laptop and a pair of headphones, and you have all the tools necessary to succeed. While the tools like recording software, an audio interface, and excellent audio editing software required to accomplish your music-related goals may be readily available, the skill set needed to reach a competent production level is not. In addition to owning the right tools, you need the skills to use these tools efficiently.
Below, I have compiled some fundamental skills of successful music producers like Kevin Gani and how you can obtain these skills.
1. Curiosity
Music is a massive, loaded concept. There's always something new to learn about the industry, skill, and production. Music styles and tastes are cyclical, but the cycles are getting shorter and shorter. Production systems seem to change almost every other year, and it's only a concern of time before taste shifting becomes seasonal.
If you want to be heard, you've got to learn to understand trends while still being true to your sound as an artist. You don't need to reinvent yourself every time you set out a tune, but keep an ear to the ground and empathize with your audience. Curiosity is what lets you ask the big questions about music, and it's also what turns you to look for answers.
2. Patience
Take the long view and perform things well over time. You can be an overnight sensation like Kevin Gani and get millions of streams in a few weeks if you've got a viral hit, but successful careers are made over the long haul.
There are more "one-hit wonders" today than ever before thanks to platforms like Tiktok (which is fantastic), but if you want to succeed in the music industry and make a living, you have to think of the next 5, 10, 15 years of your career and make moves based on what you want to achieve in those time frames.
3. Honesty
Be honest about who you are as an artist, and you'll never have to put an attempt towards being someone you're not. Social media is rife with people like that, so not only are you racing in the same as everyone else, you're probably not going to make a splash too. Everyone's different, so discover what makes your voice unique and double down on that.
4. Openness
If you think you know everything, you're wrong. Being a closed loop in an ever-evolving, fast-paced industry requires a significantly shorter shelf life on your career. Consider new ideas, new forms of working (using new tools and tech), and even new ways of thinking as an artist.
At the same time, don't just absorb everything that comes your way. Being a little bit of everything reduces your unique voice and perspective, so while keeping an open mind is excellent, it always helps to check new ideas and techniques against your values and artistic integrity. Insight comes with experience, and you'll get better at adapting things that help you rather than hinder you.
The music industry is a game of inches: big, career-changing brakes are limited. If you're new to music and you feel lost, or maybe you've been doing this for a while already, but your career has stalled, don't get discouraged. Acknowledge and celebrate those small victories, keep improving your vision, and trust the process. Everyone including Kevin Gani goes through it.
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