Ever since I released my first independent worship album I’ve been asked a lot of questions on how I created it, how much it cost, what first steps I took, etc. I think when someone takes action on their dream rather than just, well, dreaming about it, it inspires people.
And that’s what I want you to do. It’s time to stop dreaming about your dreams and start taking some action.
Maybe you are a writer with dreams of publishing a book. Maybe you write music with dreams of releasing an album. Maybe you are a musician with dreams of touring. Maybe you create videos with dreams of making a movie. Maybe you weave baskets underwater with dreams of, well, OK let’s move on.
I don’t have all the answers on this subject, but I can distill a few insights that might assist you in creating and releasing your art.
1. Do the Work – Many times people have dreams but never take a step. Want to be a writer? You should write everyday. Want to record a worship album? You should write songs everyday and lead them in your church. Don’t wait for God to magically make your dream appear. Do the work.
2. Educate Yourself – Is there a component to creating or releasing art that is foggy to you? Do research. Educate yourself on what you don’t know. You don’t need to go to college and get a $90,000 degree to make this happen. When I went about recording my album I educated myself on the steps necessary to make it happen.
3. Define Your Strengths…Recruit Your Weaknesses – You don’t need to be a jedi master in all things artistic to release your art. Work hard on your strengths and recruit for your weaknesses. Many skilled people poured their expertise into my project for it to succeed.
4. Connect With Your Connections – Who do you know? Somewhere down the chain you know someone who has skills or someone who has connections. Rather than hiring an expensive team you don’t know (and doesn’t know you) to produce & market what you’ve got, work with the people you’re in relationship with. Your art will be more meaningful (and less expensive) because of it.
5. Ask People for Money – OK, so be careful with this. I’m not asking that you pretend to be homeless and stand outside your church doors every Sunday, begging for alms. But you also don’t need to pretend there’s not a need. I’m sure there are people in your life who believe in your art and would gladly give to see it released. I was fortunate to have the financial backing of some amazing, world-changing people. I just had to ask.
6. Pray More Than You Work – I believe the phrase, “work like it depends on you, pray like it depends on God”, with all my heart. Eternal life change cannot happen apart from the sovereign work of the Holy Spirit. Work hard, but make sure you pray harder.
7. Do Something Simple – Before you overwhelm yourself with the grandness of a massive project, consider starting small. In musical terms, maybe attempt a solo piano album or an acoustic record. Small, quick wins will inspire the future, big projects.
8. Develop A “Release” Plan – One of the things I wish I would have given more thought to was the release of my album. It’s important to process the questions, “Who is my intended audience?” “How will I get this music to them?” “What are my goals?” Think this stuff through before the release is upon you. It’s not a deal breaker though. When in doubt, just get it out there.
9. Develop an “After Release” Plan – Another question to ask is, “How can I enable this release to extend beyond the first week?” “What is my plan to sustain momentum with this project?” Many artists do creative things such as free ep’s, pre-orders with immediate digital downloads, or small projects throughout the year. Check out the incredible band, Sleeping At Last, and their creative Yearbook project.
10. Surround Yourself With Support – Releasing your art can be one of the scariest things you’ll ever do. When you put your heart on display, people have the freedom to either love it or hate it – accept it or reject it. Surround yourself with pastors, leaders, and friends who believe in you, who will encourage you to finish and support you through it all.
I know there are other way more qualified than me to speak to this issue, but those are the real life lessons I’ve learned through the process. The important thing is to just do it. Even if you fail, you’ll know what not to do next time…as you keep releasing art that changes people’s lives.
Question: What lessons have you learned in creating and releasing your art? You can leave a comment by clicking here.
Btw, I don’t promote my music a ton on my blog. I prefer human connections, discussion, and learning rather than massive marketing campaigns, but if you’re interested you can purchase it from iTunes or on CD Baby. Much appreciated 🙂
Great tips. Although I am not ready to release my album, I hope to some day. This will give me a head’s up!
Also, thanks for the CD…it is awesome!
No problem!
Wow david this is great. I have to tell you that God is amazing. I don’t know why is so good to me, and I know I don’t derserve it at the least!
God has placed me in a perfect storm of me being able to complete my dreams.
1. he gives me a heart with words to put toghether to worship Him
2. gives me opportunity to lead worship and be friends with those group of guys for us to start a band “Sin Sandalias” (Sandeless)
3. Gave my church a Spanish Radio Station (with like 5 different channels or signals. (not to mention a TV station soon. very soon)
4. Gave our church a State of the art recording studio
5. i’ve been at my church my whole life…i grew up with the pastors son which are now co-pastor…
6. So i have a great support team that God has placed…
I think it’s safe to say that God is really good, and i sometimes feel really guilty when I don’t take advantage of theses things some times.
we have been recording our first album since december….free of charge….but of course 10% of any sales album will go back to the church.
Great post david i really, really like it!
Incredible! Encouraging to see how grateful you are. Hope the recording continues to go well!
I guess the only thing that I have no idea about is “copyrighting” my songs. I know you have to send it to the library of congress or something like that…idk…haven’t really look it up…i guess just waiting to cross that bridge when we start releasing music….
Also dublicating companies….i’ve heard of cadapult.
I guess those would be good questions for you david…i just don’t know….
Arny – check out this page. It’s not as tough as it seems. For duplicating, I’ve only used Discmakers and they are fantastic. Not sure about cadapult.
Oh wow..thanks david!!! this really really helps!!!
Great post!
This pretty much encapsulates our journey this past year. We have a ways to go yet, but blogs such as this fuel our resolve to continue!
Blessings,
Dan
Hey Dan, thanks for the encouragement. Glad to see you’re getting your work out there! What has been the biggest challenge for you guys?
Hi David,
Our biggest challenge has been time. Working full time in a busy telecom environment, my wife and I homeschooling our three kids and making a comeback into music has been challenging. We know we’re called to do it, but it does require late night work, weekends working in the studio and all as out-of-pocket expense.
My gift is production and instrumentation/vocals and my wife’s gift is writing and vocals. Together we make a good team. Our kids are also musical so they enjoy the process. We built a home studio but we have to slowly purchase the equipment necessary to accomplish our goal.
The purpose of releasing our first single in March was to fund the equipment necessary to continue. We are trusting God to open doors as he sees fit. The last thing we want to do is put anything on credit and we feel that kickstarter or indigogo type funding sources are good for some, but not for us.
I look forward to reading your blogs and appreciate any sort of collaboration that can be done via social media. I don’t claim to know everything, but what I do know I plan to share. What I don’t, I’ll definitely be looking to others such as yourself!
The benefits of social media led us to meet a very talented and skilled mix/mastering engineer and he was able to help us with the first single. We plan to continue working with him so there have been blessings that come through the hard work.
Regards,
Dan
Wow. Love your perseverance. Would love to collaborate sometime.
I’m not really answering your question right now but I wanted to thank you for writing this blog. Im 19 years old and I’m going to college for ministry . I really want to get my music out into the world someday. Thanks for being a huge inspiration to me! God Bless!
Craig, it’s my pleasure to write and connect with musicians such as yourself. Thanks for reading!
My cousin was on the queen’s court for our school pageant. A radio personality hosted the event. She mentioned to him that I was raising money to do a recording and asked if he would interview me. I received a voicemail one day stating that the program director was out of town and this radio DJ needed to fill about 12-20 minutes literally the next day. I must mention this was secular radio! I talked about Jesus and the importance of getting these songs into the community and just asked that if there were any venues or churches interested in booking to help me raise support to visit my site. Remember myspace? My page back then jumped from 600 views to 20,000 overnight. People were messaging me and asking where to send money. I recorded my project debt free! *sorry if this story is incoherent. It’s 2:20am.
Bro, that is so awesome! Debt free is the way to go.