Take Advantage of These New Opportunities For DJs & Producers During the Corona Virus Pandemic.

Many self-employed DJs and producers or upcoming artists are struggling but every cloud does have a silver lining and now is the time to plan for the future while in isolation. 

Personally, I’ve been here before. When I launched LSA over ten years ago I became a victim of the 2008 financial crash. The school collapsed and I personally became bankrupt, I had to pull myself off the floor and start again from square one. In hindsight, it was one of the best moments of my life, allowing me to rethink, reorganise and plan for a better future. I needed the distance to look at the whole from afar and once you’re broke the only way is up! 

You too can take advantage of the current situation and set goals now so you can bounce back when the time is right. Here are some opportunities! 

CURRENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR DJS & PRODUCERS

Learn a New Skill 

Many of our students are taking this opportunity to learn a new skill at home. We are offering 1-2-1 music production courses online for Ableton, Logic and FL Studio and for DJing. This is by far the best use of time for most upcoming DJs and producers. To make it as a DJ you need to learn how to produce and release your own music. Now is the perfect opportunity to spend some quality time focusing without distractions. Learn now and launch your music career once the pandemic has passed. 

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Produce Music

Now is the perfect time to produce music and get creative, most DJs do this from home in isolation anyway! Why not set yourself a goal to produce an EP or Album. You can even collaborate with other musicians online! Remember that LSA music production course graduates can also submit their tracks for release on LSA Records.

You could also take this time to send your demo's to record labels who will have more time to listen! Failing that why not set up your own record label? We recommend using Labelworx for distribution.

Practice Your Existing Skills

If you have DJ equipment at home you can practice your new DJ skills. LSA is still supplying DJ equipment by mail-order so you can get a discount and start practising the skills you’ve learnt in the studio at home. We are also going to launch some online 1-2-1 DJ courses too! If you want to place an order please click here to contact us.

Tidy Up Your Online Presence

Everyone right now is sitting at home surfing the internet, there is a captive audience at your fingertips. Now is the perfect time to improve your social media presence. You can work on brand identity including logos, graphics, photos, biographies and EPK (electronic press kit). You can also produce content including videos, photos, stories and more. You can upload mixtapes, new tracks or remixes and of course live streams! Why not take this time to make a schedule so you keep your profiles up to date on a daily basis. A great way to tie it all together is to use Vibecast, the easy DJ website builder. All graduates get a free one-year Vibecast website so make sure you claim yours.

Read & Research

Many people will be wasting hours on Netflix watching fiction but now is the perfect time to get ahead of the curve and binge on music industry documentaries, books and articles. See how much new knowledge you can acquire. Start with this awesome two-hour documentary about the history of electronic dance music. Click here for Pump up the Volume. You should also read all our blogs on the LSA website. Click here to read the blogs, please support our blog too by sharing it and tagging LSA!

Prepare 

With ample time in your diary, you can dedicate time to preparing DJ sets, organising music collections, searching for new music or collecting samples for music production. It’s a great time to tidy up your laptop, sort all the files and make back-ups! 

Adopt New Technology 

One of the ways of staying ahead of the competition in any industry is becoming the first to adopt new technology. Music production and DJ technology have exploded in recent times and many new things are on the horizon. Why not master that new plugin and create a signature sound before anyone else does. Look at future DJ technology and predict how they might be used in the industry, and then become the first to do so!

Build a Community 

Many successful club nights and events revolve around a solid community of friends. Reach out to everyone you know regularly and keep yourself in the loop. Make sure you take care of your community and look out for each other. Make plans together now for the future and help each other in these difficult times. You can build a community with a Facebook group or a WhatsApp chat. It’s also wise to create a mailing list. 

Tighten Your Network

Who you know in the industry is very important and has a direct correlation with what opportunities may come your way. Create a black-book of contacts, get relevant contact information and stay in touch with them regularly for updates and informal chatting. Every time you reach out to contacts you are reinforcing your connection, if you don’t stay in touch the connection with wither and die. Treat your industry network like a garden, keep it nourished and become a trafficker of information. 

Stay Healthy - Mind & Body

It’s incredibly important to look after your own health. Now is the perfect time to create a home exercise routine, try lifting some of those tins of beans you’ve been stockpiling! Try some cardio like and some resistance training. Eat healthily and support your immune system. You should also make sure your mental health is good, one of the best ways is to stay in touch with people you know and avoid negative media or conversations. Watch a fun film like a comedy or read a magical book to spur on your imagination and creativity. Draw, write and create at home! Why not paint the artwork for your next release?

UPCOMING OPPORTUNITIES FOR DJS, PRODUCERS & PROMOTERS

Plan 

Recession and economic upheaval are not unusual and in time will pass. Now is the time to plan for the up-curve. Make yourself a list of potential opportunities and formulate business plans and goals to work towards. Jump on them when the time is right and the economy shows signs of normality. 

Invest

If you have available funds, there will be a window of time to invest. Wait for the bottom of the market and take advantage of cut-price shares, rents, loans and other financial opportunities. If you have a physical business you can invest in refurbishment, perhaps build a studio or just give your premises a lick of paint. If you have an online business invest in keeping your website up to date. If you manage a brand you can invest in cut-price graphic design. 

Use Leverage 

In these times you can use a lack of demand for services as leverage to negotiate lower prices. One way that DJs can take advantage of this is to hire venues for free. Many venues will be struggling when this pandemic subsides and will need people to come to their bar or venue. Now is the best time to obtain a venue with little or no hire fee. A recession is often the best time to launch a new venture, wait for the bottom and then plan for the top. 

Finally, remember the important things.
The most important things in life are your health, your family and your friends. Make sure you dedicate time off to nurture the really important things in life. Money and work will come and go, just hold on tight for the ride and remember the best things in life are free!

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If you would like to talk to someone in these tough times reach out to LSA and we'll be happy to be there to listen and help where we can. We'd also like to say thank you to all those sending their best wishes to us during this tough time. Just click here to contact LSA.