The Power Of Individuality As A Producer and Artist - By Adrian “Ady” Parzentny

Team PMFC

May 17, 2024 — 12 min read

Hey, my name is Adrian “Ady” Parzentny and I’m a travelling music producer, working as an educator with Produce Like A Pro as well as Pro Mix Academy and producing music for artists world wide.

Today, I want to share some thoughts and insights about the necessity of authenticity in the music industry and why trusting yourself is the key to success. These thoughts came up during the short period Instagram and Facebook went down as well as the recent Spotify changes with artists' accounts getting shut down. These numbers we are “building” can vanish within a blink of an eye.At the end I will share with you how we hit #10 in the charts by selling Albums with independent artist Noam Vazana without giving it out for free on Spotify or other platforms. Alone this sentence seems to be against all the current “wisdom” shared in 50 second-IG reels, so stick with me till the end.

Before we get started: To support this blog post and our fundraiser to build the first Music Production School in Morocco in November 2024, I created a “Radio Show”, sharing short stories about the songs we recorded during our travels, some challenges I faced, and then presenting the tracks. What started as a fun, creative project with no big goals in mind ended up with regular visits to Los Angeles biggest studios .. gratitude is what I have for this path.You can check the weekly series here: https://www.mixcloud.com/Ady_Sun/

And all information about our school - What, why, when, where and how - can be found here:

https://gofund.me/49182c2c

Support doesn’t have to be only financially, so we appreciate any contact that can bring us one step closer to finish this project and bring it to life! Thank you - let’s go!

Monetising on artists insecurities

Our world has become faster than ever and it seems that apparently “everyone” wants to be an artist/producer and “make it big” in the industry. Content is created every millisecond by artists claiming that their songs are the hottest or asking for support to listen to their new single and leave a like.Through this boom of creativity and songs flooding the market, naturally new tools evolved to keep up with the pace. Also fake news spreads more confusion about “how the industry works” and leaves us with the big question: What is good?

The only anchor in these fast changing times is what we usually don’t get encouraged to do by society in our everyday life: Trust yourself, trust your individual taste, trust your intuition - even if others do not agree.

Just recently Spotify did exactly what the big banks did during the financial crisis: Deleting numbers and blocking artists accounts. These artists look like they never existed ever before, starting again from zero after building their artistic life for such a long time.

Of course, the moaning is big and it’s easy to point the finger at the “big ones”. Especially in these times it can be challenging to look a bit deeper, beyond the blame, and find a lesson here. Ego is nagging our brains because, well, at the end we go scammed, right? Right?

But here is the question: What, if you would have been able to say “no” to all the hustle? To say with confidence: I won’t pay for playlists and I don’t care about big, fake, listening and streaming numbers. Instagram shorts have been popping up, with industry professionals and famous artists, encouraging everyone to “invest into playlist” and “boosting views”, and it became common knowledge shared among artists and producers. (Btw, in all respect for his creative genius, but did someone took Timbaland’s songs down on Spotify that he boosted?)It felt so confusing to see artists complaining that Spotify doesn’t pay them, still they were pumping money into it and offering their songs for free, in the hope to maybe-one-day-someone-important-will-hear-it and gives me piece of the big music industry pie.

It’s sad .. and it has a simple explanation: This business is built on our insecurities, it’s a simple marketing method that grew out of a growing industry of independent artists who want to make it, so don’t take it personally. It’s not your fault. Because there is no blueprint in a creative path. There is no “right” or “wrong” way in creativity. Creativity and individuality can not be measured, it’s endless, unpredictable and ever evolving. It’s beautiful! Yes, you also need to develop skills beyond your creative tasks, to make a full-time living with it, no doubt. From business skills to being your own manager, but it’s just a part of the whole package and can be very rewarding when you are aware of your super powers.

Why Individuality matters as a creative

I believe that we can always learn from history, especially music history. If you want to believe it or not: The artists who have a sustainable music career are trendsetters. OutKast has been booed out at the Source Awards by the East and West Coast rappers, not being accepted for creating their own style. Rest is history and not just OutKast, but ATL became a gamechanger in the music industry, a hub for new styles and artists like Lil Nas X, Usher, T.I., Ludacris, Toni Braxton. It wasn’t as easy and safe as asking for likes, still they believed in them which means, believing that they are 2 steps ahead, showing up in the most vulnerable places: On stage and in Public - Not stopping.

Throughout music history, it has been creativity and new styles that created a hype, by confident artists saying: ”This is my music, take it!”.

What we can learn from the greatestCarlos Santana created an opportunity to record the first Album “Abraxas”, the record label covered all the expenses to give them a shot without the guarantee of ROI (Return of Investment). Something, it seems, Artists would kill for nowadays. Once they finished the Album, Carlos Santana refused to release it because the mix sounded trash and he felt that they just made a “product” to get out there as quickly as possible. He had the awareness of the band's creative potential and has not been scared to speak out and request what he truly believes in. And he got it, changing music history with his self-awareness.

Music Producers in the 60s got paid less than a truck driver and never saw any royalties for their creative work. This led to a new trend: Independent Music Producers! Instead of the record studio getting all the “greens”, producers said:” I’m out and creating my own way!” which contributed to a creative revolution in music. Because their trademark hasn’t been only the common:”I can do everything” but especially their creative input. It became important how much fun you have during the sessions and what you can achieve musically. Some producers started to build scaffoldings inside the studios and put the amps up there, just to make it a memorable experience (everyone doubted that it would contribute to the sound, though). The latest gear, synths, effects, guitar pedals, everything has been tested out, just to not sound like the other bands - embracing individuality.

The Beatles used to hit a contrabass with sticks which ended up to be the snare sound.

Jimi Hendrix tickled the nastiest sounds out of his Fuzzy Guitar - creating his own sound.The Beach Boys - Good Vibrations is FULL of individual elements, structure and key changes, unusual instrumentation, Instruments not playing the role they “should” like the Ciello driving the rhythm in the chorus and more. There is a reason that these songs are still played and loved these times.

A common pattern: From S**t to Gold I recommend the book “Major Labels - A history of popular music in 7 genres” which clearly shows a pattern: The most famous artists, at first, have been ignored and destroyed by music critics from the New York times AND Rolling Stone magazine. Still, the artists had the confidence in their individuality, not only creating what they (!) wanted to create, but also standing to it, even when a tornado of critics hit them. Remarkable - And that’s something we do not learn from watching reels - that is life experience and mindset work, confidence, yes, and being a bit delusional, which is not always a bad thing.

I won’t deny that numbers count and if you have some chart hits in your pocket, it will be easier to get jobs, no doubt. But what people value even more is the work together, and if you have skills combined with a creative mind and great human skills, you hit the bullseye.

And the key here: Believing in your art, your creation, your project! When people challenge your art, learn to build roots of confidence. Because, if you don’t believe in your art, why should others do? My tip: Study the greatest and find ways to express yourself authentically because there is no need to put yourself into a box to fit in in hope to make a few bugs and get some “fame”. By creating what is “currently hot” we neglect our own creativity and end up with another average product. Believe in yourself, you can stick out with your individuality.

Embrace your individuality, don’t hide it to “fit in” because it will only bring average results.

Take time for your art, release it

Instead of doing more Instagram and figuring out how to hack the algorithm, invest this time into your craft/art to find out what is deep inside you and wants to come out. Art needs time, creating something that really blows up needs experience and repetition. You will get this experience by being vulnerable and presenting your art in front of an audience. Your audience will always tell you what works for them and it’s up to you to find a perfect balance. Here is a practical example: When we played our songs live, I could see where I’m losing the audience, when they stopped moving or sipping their beers, waiting for the next songs. So I had to go back to the drawing board and see what parts can be spiced up. Verse 2 could be switched into a short bridge, maybe I can change this chord here and there to something more interesting, or let the guitar out completely and let the bass drive it.

Your audience will tell you at the next show or with the next release if the changes worked. That's why it’s important to create and release constantly.

Make a habit to finish and release your music - move on to the next one!

The more we create, the more individual ideas will come out that are truly different, that truly stick out. As a side effect, our confidence rises and we master our craft. That’s what all the big artists do and did: Creating songs, crafting, writing, recording, playing them live, releasing, moving on. There are many unreleased songs, sure, but artists usually had the confidence to release the songs: If the public liked it or not. Note: Having songs out there as a producer and artist is not the final goal for your career, it is the minimum requirement for it, it’s just a starting point.

Stand with confidence to your past work

Working with so many artists in the past 7 years I noticed a trend for artists to delete their old songs after their production quality increased. They are ashamed of their past and just delete their own musical history. Unfortunately, this is working in the opposite direction. If a label wants to invest in you, they want to see progress and experience, that you already walked a path. By deleting their traces, artists just hurt themselves. We are back at the same point: Lack of confidence, trust and authenticity. A missed opportunity of being proud of the path already walked, all the hours and money invested.

Artist - Producers - Stop being hard on yourself.

How do you want to sell your music, if you can’t stand up to your music with confidence?

Confidence and creativity leads to success

After finishing the editing, mixing and mastering for Noam Vazana’s Album “Ke Haber”, she told me in all sadness:”Well …. Now it’s time to give it for free out to the world…” and it struck me, a reality check about the artist's life. But Noam is not like every other artist that I know and she figured out a perfect solution: The singles are available on Spotify, Music Videos on YouTube together with links and hints to buy the full album exclusively on her website. Apart from skipping the label work (and risking giving away 80% of her rights), she also created a little hype. After the album got released, she organised a record release party on a small island in the Netherlands and then organised a tour to promote her new Album.

Put in the work that is required

She is working actively on her dream, not hoping that someone discovers her on Instagram but getting into action, focusing on real authentic human connections, going to networking events, expo fairs for her musical style and talking to people. Social media is in her career a tool to reach out to more people and keep existing fans updated, but it won’t eat up her whole life and she takes her career path into her own hands. This confidence pays out: Landing on the cover of world musics biggest magazine “Songlines”, a BBC live show and hitting #10 in the European World Music charts through Album sales. She skipped all the myths that are “reeling” around on social media and focused solely on her art, her career and invested time and money into authentic connections: Face-To-Face instead hoping for an algorithm to blow up.

To date she has played over 2500+ shows in her entire career, building a real fanbase. The numbers of Instagram followers are not the biggest, maybe you never heard about her, and it doesn’t matter, because she makes a living with her art, she made her dream come true by being authentic.

Conclusion - Don’t Panic

Become aware of your creative super powers, embrace your individuality and make it shine. Because we all have it already inside us, we are all individuals by definition. The less time we waste to fit into someone's box, the more we learn to express what is truly inside us.

The current artist's behaviour is comparable to finding an apartment in Berlin at the moment: 1 tiny apartment is out for rent, super expensive but hundreds of people are fighting to get it. They prepare their CV’s like they apply for a new job and even try to offer more money for rent. Exactly this behaviour with its foundation of panic helps the real estate business to BOOM.

The same applies to music: The more we believe that there is no space for us as creatives to make a living with it, the less we think rational and the more we get monetised on.

“There can be only one artist in the charts #1” - Just think for a moment: How many people have already been on the top of the charts? And how many don’t do music anymore? When you fall into panic or fear, take a step back, bring the focus to your breath and don’t freak out about the future of your songs. Focus on the present moment, to make your art the best it can be right now in its purest and most honest form. Trying to fit into a box results in neglecting your full potential. There is no need to make another song, similar to Dua Lipa - Because Dua Lipa made it already and created her own path.

Do a song like you would do it, create your own, interesting path! Use your imagination and your mind: Instead of daydreaming that your songs go nowhere, leave space for the possibility that good things will happen that you can’t even dream of. Action is important, too, so do it like Noam and create the opportunities, put yourself more into the way of your “luck”. It might be safe to be at home and do posts and complain it won’t work but is this truly the best you can do for your awesome art? There is no need for being humble, make the gatekeepers believe that they are missing out on an opportunity. Before you do it, don’t forget to test the songs on your audience, film people dancing in the club to your song, share it, and show how awesome your music is. Anyway, whatever happens, at least you did your best. This self confidence will protect you from being taken advantage of in this industry with too many fake promises. You already have everything you need to succeed! With this mindset, go out there and follow your dreams because they can bring you beyond the horizon.

Good luck and thanks for reading!

Adrian “Ady” ParzentnyHit The Road Music Studio