Hey a,

I've been producing music for over two decades now.

Here are 20 things I've learned along the way, which took me way too long to figure out.

1. Pretty much every artist you admire went through the same mental bullshit you're dealing with right now. Or worse.

Read their interviews and listen to podcasts. Even better: autobiographies. You'll be shocked at how universal the self-doubt is.

2. No one gives a shit about your first release.

But you'll only get to the second one when you actually put the first one out. And you'll only get to the tenth one when you stop treating each release like your entire reputation is on the line.

3. Perfectionism is actually great. But only if you channel it into the right phase.

Perfectionism during ideation kills ideas. Perfectionism during finalization is what takes them from good to great. Same trait, different outcomes.

4. Music isn't a competition against others. It's a competition against who you were yesterday.

The moment you internalize this, producing music gets a lot more enjoyable. Stop comparing yourself to someone who doesn't live your life. 

5. You overestimate what you can achieve in a year but underestimate what you can achieve in a decade.

Be patient with yourself. The producers you look up to didn't get there in a year either. What looks like an overnight success from the outside is when the right opportunity meets years of preparation.

6. When in doubt, practice sound design.

It's the one skill that improves everything else: your mixing, your arrangements, your creative confidence. And yet most producers treat it as optional, still clicking through presets hoping to find something that sounds inspiring.

7. The key thing you have to understand about electronic music: It's more about timbre and nuanced sound than fancy chord progressions or complex melodies.

A four-note bassline with incredible texture will always beat a technically impressive melody with a generic preset.

8. Once you systematize your creativity and put guardrails around your process, you become more creative. Not less.

Every producer pushes back on this until they try it. For me, it's the Creative Funnel system I've built and taught to hundreds of producers. 

9. Cultivate deep work. Timeblock your week.

Inspiration is nice. But a protected 90-minute block on your calendar a few days per week will outperform "I produce when I feel inspired" 10 out of 10 times.

10. Reference tracks are powerful, but timing matters.

Don't bring them in during ideation. That's where your own voice needs to come through. Use them to study arrangement structures before you start. Then bring them back during the mix to check if you're roughly in the ballpark.

11. Competence builds confidence. And teaching is the fastest way to build competence.

Explaining something to someone else forces you to actually understand it, not just "kind of get it." Be generous, share your knowledge with your peers. It'll make you a better producer.

12. Cultivate playfulness. Remember how children learn.

You're not stuck because you lack technical skills. You're stuck because you're afraid to make mistakes. Try to find your way back to playfulness. When kids play, there are no mistakes. Make bold moves, break things, succeed. That's how you learn fast.

13. Consume more art than content. From various fields.

A photographer's use of negative space can teach you more about arrangement than another YouTube breakdown.

14. Learn modular synthesis. VCV Rack is free.

Even if you never use it in a track, it will fundamentally change how you think about sound. The only thing I regret about modular synthesis is not getting into it earlier.

15. Find a peer group at your level (or slightly above) and exchange work with them regularly.

This single habit will accelerate your growth more than any course, plugin, or tutorial ever could.

16. Find mentors, free or paid. They'll help you achieve in one year what would normally take you five.

You can't see your own blind spots. Someone who's been where you're going can.

17. Networking is overrated. True connection with a few key people is underrated.

You don't need to know 500 people in the industry. You need five who actually care about your music and tell you the truth.

18. Early on, say yes to 99% of opportunities. Later on, say no to 99% of them.

The hard part is recognizing when you've crossed from one phase into the other.

19. Don't try to sound like your idols. No one needs a mediocre copy of them.

Take all your influences, let them collide, and give your own expression time to emerge. It will. But it won't happen by copying.

20. If you can't stop thinking about music and you feel trapped in the rest of your life, listen to that voice.

You don't have to quit your job and throw yourself into this tomorrow. You can work toward it gradually. Crossfade-style.

Your music matters. Make it count.

Philip

PS: Knowing these lessons and actually living them are two very different things. If you're tired of the gap between what you know you should be doing and what you're actually doing in the studio, that's exactly what our mentorship program is built for. Book a free discovery call here and let's talk about it.