The ProducerGrind 3 Gems to Help Your Goals in the Music Business & Life

What is The ProducerGrind?

Created by hard working young professionals, ProducerGrind is one of the better resources for music production, loop / drum kits, and sample packs on the internet. In addition, ProducerGrind has a YouTube channel podcast with helpful content that encourages support and sharing of knowledge in the music industry, with almost 200k followers worldwide. The list of accomplishments goes on and on for this crew of young, successful music producers who have created a way to make a living doing what they love most while helping others succeed in their dreams. Proving if you’re passionate about what you do, success is inevitable.

Spearheaded by the founder, Dylan, aka CEODylan, ProducerGrind has acquired some noteworthy interviews with prominent names in music production today. To help you on your journey, we’ve compiled some of the best advice from three profound ProducerGrind conversations on their Youtube channel. Producers Illmind, Ryan Leslie, and Honorable C NOTE have all been in the music production biz for years, earning them respect and endless invaluable connections with performing artists. These top earners get honest about the grind of building wealth, entrepreneurship, avoiding common mistakes, and creating the right mindset for success.

Accomplishing Your Goals and Getting Over Your Ego

When building your empire, it doesn’t hurt to be modest as you ease into the recording game. Leveling up as a producer takes time, and these three professionals have proven themselves through humbling experiences that have taught them to readjust their egos and expectations to execute major wins in their careers. In addition, they discuss how staying on task and creating good habits is the key to success in any endeavor, including music production. Staying humble and hungry is an important aspect of consistent success.

“When I’m betting, I want to be able to bet on myself…”. Producer Ryan Leslie explains how setting goals for yourself and following through with them is essential in building your brand and ensuring success. More important than keeping promises to others, keeping promises to yourself will create confidence in everything you do in your career. While you may set some goals for yourself that are unrealistic in the beginning, there is nothing wrong with readjusting your purpose to make it more attainable so that you don’t give up on yourself. Leslie explains that knowing the difference between what is possible and what your ego thinks is possible is essential in accomplishing the music production career objectives you create for yourself.

Similarly, Illmind suggests focusing more on small tasks over the end results to reach your goals. The small daily grind creates the final product in the studio, eventually making its way out into the world for the public to hear. In his interview, Illmind compares it to working out, where you may not see results immediately, but after a month or two, you notice a change that comes along with the consistency of keeping with it. It’s essential to track your time and daily habits, making thoughtful choices that will impact your pursuits in the long run. Further, Illmind states that thinking about what you do daily will help you realize if you are genuinely focusing or wasting most of your day doing things that may not serve your career. He asserts the important aspect of enjoying what you do.

Premiered on Oct 6, 2021: Released by Producergrind Podcast, Illmind: Making 7 Figures, Why YOU Struggle To Sell Beats, How To Stand Out From Competition *GEMS💎 Illmind Drop Too Many Gems. Those Courses you paid for… Nah, this all you need. Illmind goes over how he made over 7 figures over the last year. He talks about producer mindset and mistakes producers make that can hold them back from selling beats. He also talked about Russ, beat tags, selling kits, Twitch, work ethic, etc.

In Honorable C Note’s experience, pride and ego can hold you back in relationships and work. He talks about how he learned to rewire his attitude and move away from initially thinking his way was always right. His straightforward approach to working with artists has taught him that sometimes, you need to learn balance to have better working relationships. Still, over time he has learned to never compromise who he is and is praised and appreciated by artists for his candid advice and ideas when laying down beats in the studio.

Building Your Skills Before Building Your Wealth

Starting a business without connections or significant cash flow is common in the industry. Figuring out the ropes as you build your profession as a music producer and how you can monetize your skills is an integral part of the process, and it’s the same steps all three producers have taken. While none of these guys took music production classes, they learned from experience and hard work. Taking risks while weighing the benefits and outcomes is what it’s all about to get to where you want to be in the game of making music industry revenue. The story behind Westside Gunn and Griselda Records is a great example of this.

“Identify a problem, jump in…and see what you can do…” Illmind stresses this point to the guys at ProducerGrind when asked how he hit seven figures in 2020. It didn’t happen overnight, but through trial and error and figuring out the best way to sell beats, which started for him through MySpace in 2009. Today, it is still about innovation, and while there are many ways to add value to your brand, in the beginning, there will be no immediate return on investment. For this reason, he stresses that doing it for the love of the craft and focusing on becoming great at production instead of trying to make a lot of money from it means the money will find you eventually in many ways.

Honorable C Note started as an independent producer around 15 years old and took the long road to success. He hustled initially to buy equipment and hardware, buying his first Yamaha Motif 6 keyboard for sampling at 18, right out of high school. He focused on making music constantly, keeping up with some of the big names at the time, like Kanye. He realized early on that his goal wasn’t to compete with the major players but instead to use them to set the bar for his own success and focus on working towards that. Coming from nothing, he recognizes that staying grounded and humble and slowly growing as a household name was more important than a quick rise to fame that may only last for a short time. The results have supported the blueprint for success.

Premiered on Jul 18, 2019: Released by Producergrind Podcast, Honorable C NOTE Interview… We sat down with C NOTE to get the full story of his come up & how he got to where he is today by taking the long route as an independent producer. We had to ask him how making beats led to 7000 placements and being able to keep your sound evolving and relevant for over 15 years through relationship building and producer marketing. Honorable C NOTE talked about his discovery of fasting and how he was able to overcome health scares through the power of self-healing. Definitely a dope episode filled with lots of gems and crazy stories 💎💎🔥🔥

When you start to make money as a producer, what you do with it is everything. Ryan Leslie talks to the guys about the impact that proper investing can make on your life, even offering paid subscriber content called “Ryan Leslie’s Wealth Plan,” where he provides insight into his own portfolio and how he invests and handles his hard-earned dough. Leslie emphasizes the importance of learning financial literacy not only for yourself but for the success of your business so that when you do make it big, you know where to put your bills to earn compound interest and be set for the future. So important as the cost of living continues to rise.

Staying Relevant and the Future of the Metaverse

Staying on top of new technology is critical… Whether through subscription services, YouTube, or Twitch, staying relevant is essential once you’ve hit your career goal. The metaverse is the way of the future for the internet, and as a music producer, it is necessary to keep up with what’s next. Since the music industry has changed over the years to become heavily dependent on social media, most music producers have opted to include these platforms in their distribution and communication with artists and consumers.

Illmind discusses using the platform Twitch for producers to get their beats out to the public. While this marketing method may not be the way for everyone, if it appeals to you as a producer or creator, it can be a valuable tool for getting your sounds out and connecting with others. He emphasizes the importance of staying consistent with platforms like Twitch, as your followers will look to you for new beats and content weekly. In addition, Illmind discusses his website NiftyLoops.com, which was created to solve the problem of copyright issues when different artists use the same loop repeatedly. This has helped him to advance and operate more like a business. Taking the risk of selling royalty-free loops in the metaverse allows Illmind to build his email list, serve the community, and reward his top purchasers while knowing that his loops could be turned around and used in big money-making hits without a big payout for him.

Alternatively, Ryan Leslie keeps himself relevant with subscription services. For example, Leslie uses text messages to alert subscribers when he makes new beats or to spread the word about an exclusive show that is coming up. By bringing the news and content to listeners through a subscription model, he can keep followers and acquire new ones through word of mouth.

Premiered Aug 22, 2019: Released by Producergrind Podcast, Ryan Leslie interview on the Producergrind Podcast. We linked up with Ryan Leslie in New York City for a dope music producer interview. In this video Ryan talks about how important relationship building skills and communication are for a music producer or any successful entrepreneur. He talked about how his smart financial decisions allowed him to start building wealth and really level up as a music producer and overall businessman. You know we had to ask him about those famous “Ryan Leslie making a beat in studio” videos and how he knew to go all in on YouTube. Another big gem we picked up was how producers in 2019 can use technology to their advantage and work smarter instead of harder.

Conclusion

Even though there may be highs and lows in the pursuit of greatness, these three producers prove that by sticking with it and keeping it real, you can achieve success. Whether you want to sell your beats online or work with artists, a humble approach will get you far as a producer in today’s industry. Now that you’ve got some dope words of wisdom from these musical masterminds, it’s time to go out and follow your dreams of becoming a producer. Embrace your passion, if they can do it… you can do it too!