Aethyereia

Challenges of a Debut Music Producer, YouTuber and Blogger

By Phil/Kords | Published 15 November 2023 | No Comments

Word Count: 817
Read Time: 00:03:16

Finally, I launched my music in 2023. I was excited, still am. Building your catalogue of music is not easy. I have noticed some challenges that I need to overcome. So, this blog will list those challenges and some things – I wish to declare my findings that may help you expand your understanding.

Okay, here goes. At first, I struggled with Music Theory. God knows, I still do. Then, I struggled to make music. When I learnt how to do that, I struggled with my music project name – finalising with Aethyereia (I wish I had chosen a better name because there are many similar sounding names. The mistake I committed was that I searched for the candidate on Google rather than searching it on Spotify!) Anyway, I digress.

The challenge is the mother of challenges: promote my work. The process is simple, but to act on it is time-consuming. Why? It is particularly difficult to work when you have a 9-5 job, and a family to manage and give time to yourself and your family. Praise God that my family supports me despite not being inclined towards music. My wife at least listens to my songs and gives me a ‘listener’s feedback’.

Time is the biggest enemy. I do not feel stressed by the compulsion to finish my music. I am of utmost confidence in starting and finishing my song. Now, the challenge lies in experimenting with music, improving its quality and promoting my work.

I am sure you must have heard the RAW process. It is associated with writing – the author writes – the reads reads as a process. Read as you write – if you may. Listen as you create – if you can feel me?

That’s what most established creators do. Post their work in progress online on social media to capture audience, listeners and fans. Social media is a boon for most of us who cannot afford a publicist or spend money promoting our work. It is difficult when you earn no revenue. I am doing what I can to keep my expenses to a minimum.

Self-Promoting not only needs money but time. If you have enough time, you can chalk out a promotions strategy for the entire month by dedicating a few days to at least a day. My challenge is to come up with that time.

Discipline is also a challenge- without which you would not step forward. I build it slowly and gradually and do not rush into things – this is important when you do not want things to backfire. My God-gifted patience, meditation and regular prayers help me keep focus.

How do you overcome the challenges?
One thing I have learnt is to build a lot of self-observation. If you do not observe yourself – you won’t understand what plagues you. The first step is recognising the challenges and then gradually developing ways of overcoming them. The process is slow.

I know for sure my challenges are time and discipline. So, I intend to tackle them one at a time.

I have built a timetable I intend to follow like a no-hard-and-fast rule. I have Google Keep to sync my tasks from my Windows PC to my Android smartphone. This will help keep track of my short-term and long-term goals along with the timeline. My task will be time-bound based on the time it would take to complete it. The shortest time could be done during the week. While the longest would be preferable over public holidays or weekends.

Measure the tasks that you do regularly as mandatory and non-mandatory. For example, for my YouTube channel – GamerPhoenyx, I post videos mostly on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Saturdays are when I used to post explainer videos. Since February of 2023, i.e. ever since 5-day work started post covid, things have gone for a toss. (Not to mention the time I need to give my now 3+ year old daughter).

The days that I do not need to post videos will be the days I work on screen recording and editing. It does not necessarily mean Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays but rather – Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays instead. One day will be dedicated for that specific day to post the video. Sundays could be used for Tuesdays, Mondays for Fridays, and so on. It gives me the rest of the week to work on other things or the same thing if need be.

If there comes a day when I am unable to work, there will always be a backup day. I have been trying this on and off. It works great (to an extent). The challenge here lies in being consistent with the approach. I started taking this approach from this month onwards. I will post an update on the progress should things not head south and discuss it in more detail in future posts.

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