Things You'll Need:
- Quality recording and mixing facilities
- Business cards
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Step 1
Make a list of all your equipment. Then honestly evaluate your gear and its capabilities so you can accurately target your potential customers and tailor your facilities to their needs and expectations. Take into account the available space you have. If your studio is a small spare bedroom, it's unlikely that you'll be able to accommodate a full band with a drummer, so you'll need to be clear about such details in any advertising you do. Making claims that you can't live up to, or facilities and services that you can't deliver, will sour your reputation quickly, so be realistic.
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Step 2
Place ads in the local press, advertising your services as a producer of demos. If your space is limited, target solo artists and duos. Make sure you take advantage of free advertising in local publications, and free online sites like Craigslist to get the word out. You may be able to make even more money if you're a capable, all-round musician by offering your services as a session player to augment the instrumentation on artists' projects.
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Step 3
Go to local gigs and ask the bands and artists if you can set up your gear and record a song or two for them. Take a feed directly from their soundboard, and also set up a couple of ambient condenser mics in the venue. This way you can import the tracks from the mixing board and also have a recording of the sound as it comes off the stage. This will also give you a little atmospheric crowd noise to work into the mix. When you've mixed to your satisfaction, give the artist a copy of one song, and offer him a price on the recording of a full show. You may have to do a few freebies this way, but the contacts and the experience gained will be invaluable.
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Step 4
Approach karaoke bars and ask if you can record the performances. Burn copies of the recordings on-site, and then offer them for sale to the performers. You may have to give a percentage to the venue, but it could still be lucrative, especially when you consider the sheer number of people willing to get up on stage at these events.
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Step 5
Record your own music and sell your recordings. Using your own equipment to record, mix and distribute your own tracks. Since you own the gear, your recording expenses are minimal, and you can order short-run CDs to sell at your shows and enjoy a big profit. Even if you're not a gigging musician, you can still record your songs and sell them as downloads at an online store like CD Baby (see Resources below). Without the cost of making actual CDs, your costs will be even less, so that even with a small percentage paid to the retailer, the profit margin will be major.
