I Quit My Job For Music Full Time | 6 Things I Learned

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Hey internet! Today we're here to talk about a pretty big question: how do you go full time in the music industry? This is a question I've been getting a lot more of lately, and I've wanted to make a video about all this for a while now.
After a lot of hard work, and some careful planning, I was able to quit my full time job and pursue my passion for music, sound design, and content creation full time. Being a full time musician or professional in the music industry is a pretty big step, and there really isn't any clear cut guide to making it happen.
However, I've learned (and am continuing to learn) a few things during my own transition that I figured would be helpful to share so that you can take your shot at making it happen, quit your job (if it's not something you enjoy), and get into the music industry full time.
Being a full time musician or producer or just general creative person is a pretty big task, and I wanted to try and sum up as much as possible in one video by breaking down a few details and thoughts that will hopefully help you along your career path if this is something you're looking to do.
▼▼▼TIMESTAMPZ:▼▼▼
0:00 Storytime
1:42 What We're Talking About Today
2:31 What Is In This Video
3:18 Have Some Advice?
3:47 Are Dayjobs Bad?
4:26 What This Video Is Not
5:15 Defining Success
5:47 Money
10:08 The Transition Period
11:10 Important Money Advice
12:45 Strategy
13:49 Don't Be This Person
19:59 Skills Pay The Bills
22:48 Time Management
26:58 Motivation
27:20 A Very Important Question
30:08 Two Pieces of Advice
31:38 Life and Stuff
34:39 Getting Very Real
36:53 Important Life Advice
37:03 Closing Thoughts
Stay classy!
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#musicproduction #musicindustry #advice

[@jimmahey6615]

You are such a good friendly speaker, you will never need a distracting audio track on loop in the background.

[@richschwab09]

One of the wisest "I tell you what" speeches I heard and seen. Being in the music biz most of my 72 years long life, I can confirm and undersign every aspect of it. Kudos, and thanks, Cameron! Best regards from Germany, Rich

[@secretelitemusic]

Apologies in advance for the length of this post. Feel free to skip to the final paragraph if you normally tl:dr anything longer than a received opinion. I was a freelance sound system guy, dj, and studio engineer for about 20 years. I also wrote music and played in various bands, and ran a couple of radio stations. The only one of those jobs that really brough in the coin was the sound system. Rolling it out four nights a week with a laser crew paid for its upkeep and expansion, and paid all my studio bills. The downside was that I ended up working 80 hours a week for 7 years without a holiday of any kind. Cue health issues. I gave up freelancing because I was a workaholic, and would usually be juggling far too many spinning plates for my mental and physical health. I realised I needed a better work/life balance, and got quite picky about promoters I'd work for, bands I'd play or write with, and people I'd record in my studio. I also eased off on the dj-ing as vinyl was superceded by cds. I was still making enough money, but I was still working seven days a week. I'd taught myself a bunch of computer stuff along the way, and found I was ok at graphic design, website design, 3d animation, and soundtrack synchronisation. I built some pcs that rendered really fast, and made the decision to sell off my PA gear to a business partner. That decision was triggered by getting really ill from exhaustion, and being obliged to stay calm and rest. Not as easy as you might think. Selling the PA system gave me the cash to take a decent holiday, and do some thinking about what I really wanted from life. Being constantly exhausted was at the bottom of the list. You don't clock in or out as freelancer. You work until the job is done. So I eased back even further with the sound engineering and dj-ing, which reduced the number of nights I was working. Then I stopped the radio work, and concentrated on writing music for myself. That gave me a lot more free time, which I was learning to enjoy, but it didn't pay the bills. I randomly got offered a dayjob in the tech sector, and decided to give it a go. It was well paid, and not at all stressful, so I stuck at it. Paid holidays, sick leave, pay rises, and all the benefits. It felt like I'd been juglling a ball of wool, like a catnip-addicted kitten, my whole life, based on some weird vision of the music biz as an honourable profession. Having some structure in my life, and regular paychecks, gave me the security I'd never really thought I needed. I've been working with databases, workflow automation, and search optimisation for about 15 years now. I've changed jobs when I felt I needed a new challenge, and earned more in each new role. I was randomly headhunted three years ago for my dream job, working for a chilled employer who values my analytical skills. I have a nice apartment in a cool neighbourhood, and something resembling a decent social life. I still make music, and have a studio full of nice old synths and outboard, as well as a few workstations to do the heavy lifting. The only life goals I've set myself is to be reasonably happy (food, clothing, and shelter), do a decent job with decent people for decent pay, and finish a bunch of tracks every now and then. Cognitive behaviour modification is not as hard as it might seem, so when I feel that a groove is becoming a rut, I change my habits, and stop causing myself unnecessary grief. I don't care if I don't make a huge splash in the world of entertainment. Perfection is tiresome, and excellence will usually suffice. That said, I wouldn't change anything I've done if I was offered the chance to live my life all over again. My decisions, my consequences, my responsibility.

[@adhoccerswings]

Wow... that's an amazing compilation of achievements, and I'm glad that you found well-paying jobs and got recognized for your skills!! Honestly, in my opinion, all those things you listed are very inspiring and respectable, and I hope you are having time to relax and enjoy life and your accomplishments and make music at the same time. Just in general, all people who work their butts off and go for things in life and music inspire me : ) All this of course makes me think - for pretty long I've used to think that I've been stupid and slow for wasting my time in a band for years while studying, trying to help a all-around incompetent abusive pothead musician get his life straight (didn't exactly work out, just gave me a life-long-lasting grudge), and for just getting "really started" with making music only now, when I was 24 (I'm 25 now lol), only finding the balls a couple of years ago - but then again, I'm now finishing my master's degree in 2 years and I'm making a game soundtrack at the same time, and I'm loving it while also being decently interested in my master's studies (microbiology and -biotechnology, lab work, research) - SO - maybe it's in many ways a blessing that I've been studying "first", and getting into music more hands-on and productively only later (not money-wise though, just started), so I have a realistic chance of getting a day job while luckily still having time for being able to keep making music at the same time - and who knows, maybe this game that we're making will sell great, and we'll be able to make more in the future. It's fun how so many people seem to be very versatile in the music industry, not just music-wise but otherwise too. Then again, not very surprising since I guess this branch of life demands that in any case, and just general entrepreneurship and going for it -kind of attitude I guess... anyways, 4 am, I should go to sleep, I'm not making any sense I guess. Btw I've only taken a basic course in Java, and ironically, never studied physics (chemistry and biology instead). We've used some R and linux-environment in bioinformatics but otherwise it's kinda ironic that I haven't really studied music or physics, signal processing or coding, and just jumped into digital production from scratch. Life's weird sometimes, didn't have a "musical" family really either :D

[@herrybiscuit]

This comment resonated with me in a way i can't fully put into words. Thank you for putting in the time to write it out!

[@mind_money_morphology]

Amazing man, honestly I appreciate hearing this. I'm 22 and I'm about to finish my degree in Sound Production. I have dreams of living in Canada, producing for artists, film cinematics and audio design for gaming. I'm an overthinker to the point where a great day can lead to depression if I ponder to long about whether I did enough or did anything to deserve the space I occupy... that being said, hearing that you can literally go far and wide throughout different fields of profession and still end up living happily and self provided for, its a gold nugget I'll carry with me when the lows get really low.🙏🏻

[@zephyrkhambatta]

I really needed to read that today. Thank you. As they say, coaches need coaches.

[@Vivivofi]

@@mind_money_morphology I like your dream

[@MrMiniMeister]

35:50 in economics we call this opportunity cost. Every decision you make involves foregoing one thing in order to gain something else. It could be your time, your money, your relationships, etc. You don't gain something without losing something else. Once you realize the weight of your decisions, you start to take things a lot more seriously.

[@skeller61]

Thanks for taking the time to discuss the context of working in the industry. BORING CONTEXT I’m 60 and have been a programmer for a long time. So, I have enough money that I have been able to buy a lot of nice equipment to get things done, but realize that I need to treat what I need to learn as a self taught college curriculum, while I’m still working at my day job. I’m learning piano, guitar, music theory, music production (more like a college within a college), etc., etc. I realize that I will die without reaching my goal, but that as I learn new things, the journey itself will be rewarding and will get me closer to where I want to be. DONE with boring stuff. What I really like about your approach is that it works no matter what age/stage you are. Especially when it comes to examining your skills and your lack of skills (in my case). Everyone is different and brings different skills, perspectives and experience to the game. Without goals (knowing where you want to be) and a realistic approach to meeting those goals makes you a dreamer, not a doer. I have been collecting things to play around with for years, and have finally made this my focus, outside of my day job. I am looking forward to the journey and welcome your sage words.

[@ghfjfghjasdfasdf]

Well said!!

[@tomkellyguitar]

You’re def not too old to accomplish that goal. You got this to!

[@Avgustovsky]

"as I learn new things, the journey itself will be rewarding" - golden words, sir. I think they call it a life.

[@ktreier]

The tone of your voice is one of the cornerstones of why your videos are so appealing. Plus great content!

[@GoDuffdaddy]

Thanks for putting it out there!

[@mageprometheus]

Great video. With multitasking, it is important to have an understanding of context switching. Each context switch between projects wastes time. When you suspend a project it's good to be in the habit of creating a brain dump to help with a shorter resume period later. Even with this help resuming a project takes time. The more times you context switch each day the more wasted time. It's also helpful to understand your own mental states at different times in the day. When you are most creative, focused, organised, wordy, etc, schedule the most suitable work for these times.

[@VenusTheory]

Yeah very good point - learning how to switch gears is very beneficial! Staying aware of your 'mental cycle' too is pretty critical to making sure you're getting things done right the first time by breaking up processes throughout the day when you're best suited to handle them. Sadly, that part takes a bit of time though and you have to go through some growing pains at first haha.

[@oldunclemick]

"Inchstones" are important for multitasking. For the size of timeslot you have available, chunk the task so you can complete something in the timeslot. That leaves each task in a known state with an identified next step so it is easier to task switch.

[@mageprometheus]

@@oldunclemick Thanks.

[@shreyk3780]

Dude that was some insane wisdom and I absolutely fcking needed that! It's definitely gonna shape my perspective in planning things ahead for my musical journey!

[@tonydesmet7389]

That was a great explanation about how a hobby can turn into just work! I have the same thing with programming: it used to be an addiction, but after 20 years and a lot of less fun tasks and situations to deal with it really becomes just work. Oddly I sometimes spend parts of my spare time to program, just to experience the fun of doing it as a hobby once more. Thanks for pointing out something similar exists with making music!

[@neilsmith5464]

Yet another sterling video. Thankyou for the consideration, preparation and transparency you put into this. Really touched on many areas others avoid. Looking forward to learning more from your videos :)

[@VenusTheory]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@iseeu-fp9po]

A lot of interesting points in this video. Also, you have a very soothing baritone voice.

[@spectralisation]

What a great bunch of advice, not really only music industry specifically but for ANY kind of freelance work. Basically this is a freelancer's starter pack checklist. I wish anyone told and taught me this stuff when I first started out as a freelance designer (which is not really working out well for me unfortunately).

[@tomersade67]

Great Video, I liked hearing both sides, without selling dreams

[@jaceychan7099]

This is the stuff I need to hear because I’m about to go full time with my studio as a recording engineer, mixing tracks and mastering tracks for hire and I also have a small P.A. and Lights and an enclosed trailer to rent out and run sound for bands in the area so I’m currently finishing the final touches in my studio so I can get good audio recordings and final mixes that can compete with everything else on the streaming platforms but I’m taking an early retirement because I just want out and I’ve put off my first love (music) long enough and my plan is to work for one more year before I walk away for good and I hope to have everything in place by then so thanks for the straight talk it’s what I needed to hear 😅

[@irbomusic]

Thanks for the video man. As a freshman in high school, I'm starting to decide on what career I want and videos like these really help me to think about the important stuff and it's very helpful to get advice from music artists like you.

[@ivansoto9723]

Advice from a 23 yo with 7 years experience. If you are very serious about music or any art, pick a career that pays decent, but more importantly gives you plenty of free time. A lot of careers that pay well, also require you to work wayyy past 40 hours a week, not even including commute time etc. Hold off on kids bc they will absolutely drain your time, energy, and money as well. I used to work as a residential HVAC grunt and had little time to make music and even less energy bc it can be dirty and physically demanding. Now I'm a blackjack dealer and earn more than double in tips and work only 28-40 hours a week. Don't go to those gimmicky music production colleges either, it won't pay for itself and everything you need to know you can learn for free online or hire a pro to coach you.

[@Herbsus]

It crazy I ran into this today I was just talking to my girl last night telling her I need to start making videos something like these because no one’s talking about it this so I highly appreciate you being the one who is 💯🙏🏾 27:40

[@gavinzhao5662]

I'm so lucky to discover this video & channel as a high school kid who loves both math and music and thinking about my future. Thank you so much!

[@VenusTheory]

Glad the video was helpful! Good luck, and good on you for thinking ahead!

[@hellkeyproduction]

I listened to each single second of this talk, thanks for sharing your experience. I guess that like me, many of us want to leave the dream, it's just that damn difficult to know when to take the leap and do it. But your insight was really nice and helpful

[@tonyduncan4875]

Thank you for this, I’m a 50 year old man that’s getting ready to make the change, this really helps.

[@stdexs]

Thank you so much for making this video! Truly wonderful questions to ask oneself on the topics you covered. I appreciate you making it and all the other content you have made. Still new to your channel but I'm loving everything I've watched so far. Aso a fellow Reason user here.

[@VenusTheory]

Glad the video was helpful! And really glad to hear the channel has been of service!

[@shannonjames-music]

Enjoyed the video man!! Great advice and you are well spoken. I have subscribed and looking forward to checking your other videos. Cheers!

[@countrydrive]

Pretty good advice for any career.

[@LawlDenStore]

Thanks very inspiring

[@carlocarlo7902]

Thorough, careful, mature, solid, honest, entertaining talk. You deserve your success. No doubt.

[@VenusTheory]

Thanks so much! Glad you enjoyed the video, this was an interesting one to make. Someday, I'd love to do a video covering my 'roadmap' to doing this stuff full time. Hopefully that'll happen and you'll dig it too!

[@carlocarlo7902]

@@VenusTheory I enjoyed this video because it's a "no frills, just real life from real people" story. And it'll help many to make an educated guess for their life. The future "roadmap" video will help even more, and... you bet I'll be there!!

[@erzloh]

That was a wholesome video, thank you for the life lessons!

[@VenusTheory]

No problem at all, really glad to hear it was useful info!

[@artbybigvee]

Thanks very much sir. I'm very grateful for these information. Thanks for being honest, else most of us will eventually have a head-on collision with reality, in-elastically. Thanks a lot.

[@olliepsy]

This video is gold ! I can add one little detail or thing to do , to keep motivated and keep track on things specially for people like me who lakes concentration sometimes, making a to do list for everything (like call someone, write a comment on Venus Theory's video etc...) + writing the stuff made in the day, something like in between a diary and a to do list, helps a lot keep track on things and feeling like you've made something in your day!

[@emphii]

I love the honesty and realness to this. Too many KZbinrs are trying to sell recipes of success without being totally real. I’ve been struggling with the dayjob/music/family balance my whole life and realize I’ve been mostly a dreamer when it comes to the music. Making a living off music has always been the dream but my dayjob and family always kept consuming most of my time and energy. Which led to my music skills progressing very slowly. I kinda felt bad about spending time in front of the DAW after spending 8 hours in the office. Now I’m 40 and feel a lot of regret for not spending more time on music in the past. At the same time I fear that a professional music career would suck the fun out of it.

[@khaliddubey8652]

same boat minus 6 years of age. the reality is that we do have time just at inconvenient moments. I started getting up early while everyone else was asleep and pounded some stuff out. it's a dream until we make it a reality

[@Gnurklesquimp2]

​@Nancy Hollo It's actually insane how far youtube videos, free plugins, time and of course passion alone can get someone. I quit music theory school on the first year cause there was just SOOO much bloat wasting my time, not to mention they forced us to do everything in Pro Tools, I guess they wanted to slow me down multiplicatively. All the cool tricks I learned with Harmor, Patcher, my personal library, my mixer setup, none of it was allowed. Crazy thing is it was supposed to be Ableton! Last minute they decided the last 20% of the class should suffer too. As soon as I got back to my own learning flow, I had time to improve again. The structure of school works so well for some, but it's absolutely detrimental to some. The same can even be said for a bunch of fancy gear, a lot of hardware just isn't integrated well enough into the DAW flow for me.

[@genezisdj]

its 2 years and 6 months for me and i happy wat is coming thx for this video

[@cristiankuzon3814]

13:49 stop planning and DOING, that's the process I'm in now, I was finally able to get rid of many things that I don't want to do to dedicate a whole year to making music every day, I always had in my mind that quality is better than quantity but I have to create in quantity to create quality, great video really made me see that I'm on the right track.

[@lasseleendertz]

Man! You"r so helpful!

[@VenusTheory]

Glad to hear it!

[@RichardKoper]

Great video and yes, very recognizable. Although I'm not a real musician, it can be compared to other jobs.

[@oldunclemick]

Great advice. 👍 I was in a band and every summer the feeling was "yay, we could quit our day jobs". I killed that fantasy by pointing out that we needed at least two gigs per week ...in FEBRUARY! 😀

[@MrThecosmicorder]

Excellent!

[@TheScottishDad]

Totally agree on the point of depending on the music skill to make money. It goes from being a hobby and passion, a creative outlet to something that you opened on to get by and the joy can quickly vanish. I decided to stay in my day job as a software engineer, I make close to 6 figures and keep music as a serious hobby. Part of this decision was that I go through phases where I enjoy music and then I don't, so the fear was there that what if I quit my cosy job to do music and it never worked out (which is a very high chance). I will stay employed for now and keep music as a hobby to see how I feel about it later next year.

[@ulteriormethod]

I learned more from this video about working in the music industry than I learned while getting my degree in music

[@odmusicman]

Thank Cameron. There is a famous economist that made the observation "there are no such thing as solutions, only trade offs". I think your talk illuminated that well. You ultimately asked the right question, what do you want to give up for what you want?. When one reflects upon it, it is sometimes a different answer. I put music career aside for family, now I am in a position to have time and money to do those things. Those were my choices and I do not regret them. But they were TRADEOFFS. Joe

[@speckslove]

A lot of the stuff you say in this video can be applied to lots of different aspects of life. Good talk. You'd be a great dad! if you have kids they are lucky. Just found ur channel but thanks man - Speck

[@strykeback1]

Great video. Have enjoyed quite a few of your videos. I went thru music school in Hollywood nearly 20 years ago while working at a big box warehouse store to pay my student loans. Enjoyed plenty of gigs with high profile bands but eventually I had to cave to the obligation of student loans bills and life. Fast forward to now with a wife 2 kids a mortgage payment and finally a manager at a big box warehouse store and the corona scene made it a perfect opportunity to get some old gear back out. Invest in a new interface and start coming up with music for podcasters and take on some mixing gigs. Best part is teaching my 6 and 8 year old and letting them go nuts on a partially finished alternate saved music project. Congrats to really enjoying the full time life in the audio industry

[@deanandthebeans857]

Very helpful, thank you! Wish I’d seen it 40 years ago.

[@TheAkiska]

It's refreshing to hear you talk about the struggles many, is not all, of us go through. Really appreciate this content and so far loving your videos. Keep it up, brotha!

[@VenusTheory]

Glad to hear you enjoy the channel! And for sure haha, I always find it weird that many of the 'how I do X' videos in the industry are just thinly veiled attempts to sell you shit or get you to download some random PDF and sign up for an email list. Glad the video was insightful!

[@BartvanderHorst]

Keep holding that glass!

[@NigelMerrick]

Some of the best common sense I've heard in a while, thanks for taking the time to share your experiences and these honest, real thoughts on working in the music industry. Much appreciated, Cameron :-)

[@VenusTheory]

Glad the video was helpful! Been meaning to make this for a while and it just took a minute to really sit down and try and nail all the 'little things' that I wish I knew haha.

[@333ger]

Thanks! Yes, it helped me. It provided a realistic cold shower on an idealized concept of how magical everything would be if one could live out their artistic dreams. Again, thanks. Also, yes it would be interesting to hear more about the industry.

[@sondredrangsland300]

More of these videos!! I’m trying to balance and find time to do music while getting a degree in social work and working at the same time. I often think of whether or not the option of going full time with music is something that I want.. These videos help out a lot! Thank you!

[@earthwokker]

Man that is a super supportive job you left- I left active military and they were begging me for a year with bonuses of 20k, 40k to stay. I am now one year away from being depleted of funds before I know if I can make the leap or not. This was very informative and you posed some really great questions.

[@ScottBrio]

Dude Wine 30 is dope. As a person making my living on music and lighting and a content creator, I can relate 100 % 😂

[@hatusage]

When I was teaching guitar I used to tell my young students this sort of thing. (Not as well as how you say it!).. They all loved music, and I tried to open their eyes to other possibilities in the business :-)

[@41493bradley]

Yea, if I was making music full time, my biggest fear would be burnout. It's bad enough as it is only using my music software to make like 3 to 4 songs a year. But I'll go 5 days in a row, 14 hours a day playing the same song over and over trying to tweak, rearrange and correct every flaw. I'll get so sick of listening to it but it's kind of like OCD. I just can't stop doing it until it's done. I don't take care of myself as well and find it hard to maintain my daily health habits. I couldn't imagine doing that every day. I would be soooo exhausted. I'd also be afraid of losing the urge to even want to make music. But for now I'm just easing my way into it, hopefully for just a side hustle hobbie. Nothing full time. At least not until I can find enough self control to maintain a healthy lifestyle without putting 100% of my energy into making music. It honestly scares me. It's the worst/best addiction I've ever had. I can handle it fine when it comes to just playing instruments but when it comes to recording songs and all of the perks that comes with these music production softwares, I'm comparable to a hard-core drug addict for that stuff.

[@ericdias4199]

Very grateful for the time/experience you shared here! Not easy at all, but my heart tells me I'm on the right way. Heck, I even came across your video at perfect timing. Cheers!

[@masteryi197]

Amazing, thank you! I really needed this.

[@devynnlashure404]

This was absolutely the video I needed to see, just starting out in the Social Media driven music industry. This is kind of like a gut punch accompanied by a lot realistic inspiration. I've always been the dreamer/idealist, which is fine, but I need to couple that with practicality. Side note: this is the first comment I've ever given on KZbin. That's how valuable I found these practical, motivational and inspirational tips. Thanks man!

[@VenusTheory]

Well hey I'm honored haha. Glad the video was helpful!

[@atuseth4867]

always love ur serious rants of how to make it in life... some very insightful points

[@heavyblazenight]

Probably the best video that every single artist should watch before they start their artistic journey.

[@aloneaflame9343]

I'm just a hobby musician these days, but a lot of parallels here between my work (freelance writer) and yours. Useful stuff! How the hell did you grow to become so smart? Believe me that things like discipline over time management are incredibly hard things to develop for many of us. Even things like being brutally honest in assessing yourself is a very hard task for a lot of people.

[@dumitrubaruta6750]

The worst investment in my life was a professional degree in music. After 40 years in making music and performing, what I appreciate the most in life now, is ...silence! 99 percent of all music is garbage. Not only today's music but also the"great" music of the past.

[@ivansoto9723]

@@dumitrubaruta6750 I relate on silence. As much time as I spend making music, a lot of times I just want to cut out all the noise, all the distractions.

[@Vivivofi]

@@dumitrubaruta6750 damn, could you go more into detail? sounds like you have a really interesting perspective

[@DanaBlack4]

Thank you.

[@tjweger4371]

Loved the video and thoughts. Very timely for me to take to heart. By the way, contrary to others, I really liked the background music...made me want to get up and do stuff! Did you create that? Is it Zappa? Who is it?

[@jchief40]

Loved your comment about the "planning a plan to plan for the things you need to plan for and never actually EXECUTE said plan" lol

[@VenusTheory]

Sadly too many producers fall victim to that I think - I think Shia said it best with the classic JUST DO IT haha

[@UncleCatfish]

😂 I felt like he was looking me inn the eyes 👀 speaking to me personally. I shut off the lights and hid under a blanket (and didn't plan anything)

[@escesounds.8916]

this is one of the most helpful videos I've seen lately, I can't thank you enough for making this.

[@VenusTheory]

Glad to hear it!

[@manjoujanzen9375]

Great, Cameron. I enjoyed it a lot. I really appreciate your honesty and clearity about all aspects of music and sounddesign. That is very valuable. You have a great voice to listen too. Thank your for your work and music. Great and freshly inspiring music. I just started to listen to it some days ago and I will definitely listen to all of it that I find on your website.

[@JasonGillmanJr]

Cameron: Keeping it real as usual

[@hasznone8768]

Wow this is going to be relevant indefinitely for music and beyond, great overview of adult life in general! You're a synth scholar!!

[@messengerofsecrets3216]

I hear people say when you do what you love for a living you never work a day in your life… wrong. What you love to do eventually becomes work. Whether your too tired to want to play a show, rehearse, practice or write material.. it becomes work and some days are better than others.

[@stupidedgykid9563]

I hate capitalism. I just want to write music and produce and be able to live comfortably without fear of losing everything and ending up broke and homeless

[@sklermbot]

Love this video, and really enjoying your channel. Quick question, you said you aren't making money from any one source, what ways are you making money? Selling sample packs it seems is one, what else are you doing?

[@oscillatorstorm]

Thank you so much for brightening this up

[@agthaog1986]

awesome video i love how u spoke on and touched curtain issues that alot of ARTIST in general tend to leave out of their psyche. its a long grueling road and videos like this can be the ultimate sauce

[@VenusTheory]

Glad the video was helpful!

[@isaacanthonydj4124]

dude, your hair is on fleek today, and that's a word i don't use, because that's how your hair made me feel. wow. triple threat with that voice!

[@isaacanthonydj4124]

i was miserable as an uber driver pre pandemic, used the time to learn more about music thanks to a bunch of youTubers, like you! Also had to stop drinking alcohol, because i was going WAY to hard, dropped a lot of weight, feel great!

[@electropunkzero]

I've been in the programming/cybersecurity industry for about 20 years but also kept up with music on the side the whole time. I'm looking to change careers and started selling beats on the marketplace and have some music for sale/stream. I'm taking a course on trailer music business now too. Not making squat yet, but I actually have _a plan_, good or not. I am also going to try to submit my resume to ImageLine and work on the programming side to get more in tune with the industry too.

[@theprezenz]

This was a very informative video. Thx for sharingand keep up the good work!

[@drummerjeroensimons]

Great job man, I know you from Psp...;) Wish you all my best and good luck!!!

[@VenusTheory]

Ayyyyyy awesome haha. Glad you enjoyed the video!

[@Mr.InnerWorldWide]

Great info! I appreciate the realness too bro! You're doing a just service 👍🏿

[@highstreetjackmusic]

I loved it! Thanks for the cool videos.

[@RuiGon1]

This are great advices. Thanks for your time.

[@spellerlittlewing]

great video

[@VenusTheory]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@siyabongasindane8478]

This is amazing, thank you for sharing!

[@SvetoslavAtanasov]

Respect!

[@wojtczyk]

Thank you for sharing your honest story and view!

[@Blargl_Whargl]

Yeah... I'm in that paralysis by analysis loop you mentioned... 😔

[@mfoster404]

I am so glad I came across your channel. My old ass needed these reminders.. especially your video on how to finish tracks.. Thank you...

[@MattFay23]

I made it 9 months 'full time'. I couch surfed band practice rooms trade for recording services, did a stop motion soundtrack, taught lessons as often as I could....huge tracks of not getting paid, no way I could ever pay rent. What's working for me now are the food delivery apps, that way if I get busy with audio or laser projects I just don't log in. Having a job you can come and go from is huge. The most mainstream successful big time dude I knew (RIP) worked for his brother's Glazier company installing windows, that way he can come and go because he's the boss' brother. My attitude was 'This is what I do, so this is what I make and I can live on nothing' it wasn't fun at all.

[@StavrosDanas]

Very helpful video! Thank you

[@s3rhum107]

it was a nice video, and wise words perfectly adapt to this world / industry, anyway thanks and keep up the good work buddy

[@LandOfBits]

Great video 🙏🙏🙏

[@VenusTheory]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@LandOfBits]

@@VenusTheory there is much truth in the video and I feel very identified with pretty much everything you point out specially day jobs and how to guarantee an stable income for yourself and such ...

[@jerrybasson4975]

Really needed this, thanks man!

[@VenusTheory]

No problem!

[@andreaustin3263]

Wow...Thank You for this...enjoy it...very nicely done.

[@Knight2Bee]

I love this video. I appreciate all the wisdom you expressed about how to approach this industry and what to think about. I’m new to the channel and learning a lot. Thanks for giving some real talk. I like the cup lol.

[@ozmer2041]

With this video I realized that I have maaaaaany things to improve, and not wait for a "miracle" Incredible video, I'll watch it a lot of times

[@jmac2050]

I also have life figured out when i drink, that my strength

[@TheGhostRecordsChannel]

1:11 me. ahahah Amazing video btw Venus , thank you ❤

[@VenusTheory]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@kenboome864]

What an important adult & responsible contribution you have just made to blooming artists every where.. You have just saved "ARTISTS" 225K on unnecessary education, ( maybe even therapy? if you could even afford it?) and literally decades of confusion, complication from the "over cooked casserole" of never unpacking "their" hot mess of conflicted impulsive actions. The preceding is always accompanied by and followed/tethered to irresponsible behavior. (aka wanting adult rewards and stability, but because of terrible personal acuity repeating/looping ("like a broken record) and acting like spoiled adolescents.... What the unconscious person might label "attitude"..... The opportunity cost as described below then starts taking over..... What a profound talk about "Waking Up for an Artist-Musician"... Well done Venus Theory!!

[@CharlesFerraro]

3:48 thank you for saying the thing about the day job. I was working at a bakery in Carlsbad and felt super embarrassed whenever classmates from hs walked in. I would literally want to die from them seeing me in a stupid uniform. When I told my gf she told me not to care and that I was who I was and am working towards my goals no matter what anyone else’s opinion of me is. Eventually that same gf got me fired from that job and cheated on me twice but you know, whatever. Life is horrible.

[@Big_Red_Dork]

Life isn't horrible. But some people are, Like that ex.

[@CharlesFerraro]

@@Big_Red_Dork hey thanks, I appreciate the positivity. You made my night that much better 🌌

[@Big_Red_Dork]

@@CharlesFerraro Yeah buddy :) . We're all on this rock out in space together, and there's so many awe-inspiring and beautiful parts of life to experience, in between having to deal with those who try to bring us down.

[@jameshutchins7042]

The problem with today is the bar for entry is so low. You casn use a 10yr old laptop download some free software and walla im a producer a beat maker etc. 90 percent of the stuff out there is pure garbage. About 10 percent is very talented like venus theory. However the very talented are in this very very over saturated market now. Its hard to stand out. Everyones mother brother sister aunt uncle little brother little sister nieces snd nephews is a beat maker. A rock god. A sound designer on and on.

[@oldunclemick]

Talent still rises above the noise and attracts the resources. Also people have different opinions of what's "good" so there's a lot more choice these days than when record companies and radio focus groups were the gatekeepers.

[@irenashiloh8808]

Thank you so much for your honesty! 🤗

[@DJONTHETRACK985]

I appreciate this video man. Great advice 🙏

[@growmusic3745]

Awesome video! 👍👍 So where/how do we start? My main goals are to become a professional recording/touring artist and get a lot of my more abstract music into sync placements for tv, film, and games. I’ve got years and years of ideas, melodies, near-completed tracks, etc but mostly none of which I feel are at the pro quality they should be or need to be for pitching/releasing. Do you offer mentorship by chance? I’m like right there, going all in at this point, and willing to struggle as a means to “force” the success but I feel like I need someone to get me organized and on a path where I won’t have to backtrack so much. Anyway thanks so much for all you do!

[@Soundtraxtv]

Very Helpful... Thanks for Sharing.

[@robpavlevski]

quality video.. thanks mate

[@StellarWorks2023]

Inspiring and thought provoking, nice one.

[@0815Snickersboy]

As you make sample packs can you answer this question ? - Is it legal to make lets say a kick drum in serum or kick2 from an init patch and sample it as part of a pack ? Both serums noise osc and kick2 klicks are sample based.