Sound Business with Akash Thakkar

#21: Dallas Taylor is a sound designer, creative director of DeFacto Sound, and podcast host of the #1 podcast Twenty Thousand Hertz. DeFacto Sound has worked with brands like Tesla, HBO, National Geographic, Cartoon Network, and so many others. On top of that, he and his studio produce Twenty Thousand Hertz, a #1 audio-focused podcast that takes at least 200-300 hours per episode to create.  In this episode, Dallas and I talk about running an audio business, how to choose your clients, why creating content online can be so helpful to us as audio creators, and so much more. Find Dallas Taylor and Twenty Thousand Hertz at: Website: www.20k.org Twitter: @20korg Instagram: @defactosound Spotify: Twenty Thousand Hertz Apple Podcasts: Twenty Thousand Hertz And if you're interested in making music and sound for games, I have a newsletter and free courses that will get you started, and help you find paying work in games. Just go to http://www.bit.ly/soundbizpod

We'll be taking a short holiday break until January 12th, 2022! New episodes will be coming out then!   In the meantime, I announced 4 new game audio courses for those of you interested in working as a full-time game audio designer! These will all be coming out in 2022.    First up is The Game Industry Professional, which focuses on the business side of working in game audio - how to get paid, how to negotiate, how to find work in the first place, and how to make a great full time living off of game audio. Next, I'll be re-opening my course Step-By-Step Sound Design, which sold out in less than one minute last month. This is the course that will help you create great sound design, faster, with less randomness, and more confidence. This one is totally beginner friendly, as well.  After that, there will be Step-By-Step synthesis, which will teach you how to make great sound design from scratch using the synthesizer Serum. If you really want to know what you're doing in a synthesizer and want to stop just twiddling knobs, this will be for you. And last up is Step-By-Step FMOD. If you want to be able to actually get your sounds into a game, this will be the course for you. I'll be teaching Unity, FMOD, and C# programming to help you be more flexible and confident on every game you work on by giving you the power to place your sounds in a game. No programming experience required here.    Just head over to bit.ly/soundbizpod to sign up for my newsletter so you can know when those are coming out  

Most people think you absolutely need to live in a big city to make a living in music, sound, or just art in general. But is that true? Let's cover that in today's episode.   Also, this is a new format for me! Did you love it? Hate it? Let me know!   Send me a message: hello@akashthakkar.com @akashthakkaraudio   And if you're interested in making music and sound for games, I have a newsletter and free courses that will get you started, and help you find paying work in games. Just go to http://www.bit.ly/soundbizpod

#20: Omniboi's path toward a full-time music production and performing career isn't like what you see in so many other musicians. He doesn't have a musical family, didn't go to music school, and didn't start music lessons when he was 3 years old. In fact, he didn't even have a love of music when he was growing up, either.   Omniboi is a perfect example of how you don't need to be a childhood prodigy, or even focused on music early in your life to "make it" in this field.    In this episode, we talk about finding your own way into music, how practice doesn't have to be a torturous process, and so much more.    Find Omniboi at:   Twitter: @omniboi Instagram: @omniboi Spotify: Omniboi And if you're interested in making music and sound for games, I have a newsletter and free courses that will get you started, and help you find paying work in games. Just go to http://www.bit.ly/soundbizpod

#19: Cory Shackelford is a music attorney who has been working exclusively in music law for over 10 years. He's represented everyone from video game composers to world-famous songwriters.   In this episode, we talk about music law, how Cory made the transition to working in game audio law specifically, when every audio designer should consider getting an attorney, and so much more.    Find Cory Shackelford at: Twitter: @coryshack Website: https://www.musicrightshub.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/coryshackelford And if you're interested in making music and sound for games, I have a newsletter and free courses that will get you started, and help you find paying work in games. Just go to http://www.bit.ly/soundbizpod

#18: Thomas Powers is a singer-songwriter, music producer, and frontman of the band The Naked and Famous. In this episode, we talk about the rise of The Naked and Famous, Thomas' next steps in his musical career, how to actually think about self-promotion and social media, staying sane as a pro musician, and so much more.    Find Thomas Powers at: Instagram: @thomaspowers Twitter: @thomaspowers Spotify: The Naked and Famous  Website: https://www.thomas-powers.com/ And if you're interested in making music and sound for games, I have a newsletter and free courses that will get you started, and help you find paying work in games. Just go to http://www.bit.ly/soundbizpod

#17: Luna Shadows is a producer, songwriter, and vocalist based out of Los Angeles. Luna has one of the best aesthetics I've seen when it comes to being an indie artist, and does an incredible job of keeping a sustainable music career while staying totally independent. In this episode, we talk about not being talented and not coming from a musical family, the grind of becoming a better producer, and why she focuses so much on being an independent artist.  Find Luna Shadows at: Instagram: @Lunaxshadows Twitter: @Lunaxshadows Spotify: Luna Shadows Website: www.lunashadows.co And if you're interested in making music and sound for games, I have a newsletter and free courses that will get you started, and help you find paying work in games. Just go to http://www.bit.ly/soundbizpod

#16: Ryan Ike is a BAFTA-nominated video game composer and sound designer based out of Seattle WA. Ryan's worked on a ton of games, including Where the Water Tastes like Wine, Frog Fractions 2, Gunpoint, Wizard with a Gun, West of Loathing, Reigns: Game of Thrones, and many many others.  Ryan has a super diverse set of compositional styles, from writing beautiful Americana folk music all the way to banging electronic music, Ryan is able to do it all.  In this episode, we talk all about the struggles of breaking into an industry, getting good at a craft when you have no time, the persistence it takes to become known, working side jobs, creating a life with balance, and much much more.    Find Ryan Ike at: Twitter: @RyanIkeComposer Instagram: @RyanIkeAudio Spotify: Ryan Ike Website: https://www.ryanike.com/ Bandcamp: Ryan Ike   And if you're interested in making music and sound for games, I have a newsletter and free courses that will get you started, and help you find paying work in games. Just go to http://www.bit.ly/soundbizpod

#15: Stelth Ulvang is a musician, vocalist, songwriter, and touring member of The Lumineers. Not only does he work with other bands, but also creates music alongside his wife, Dorota Szuta.    In this interview we talk about touring, playing shows with tens of thousands of people in the audience, playing alongside giant bands like U2, what it feels like to play a show with just a dozen people in the audience the night after a huge performance, and much more.   Find Stelth Ulvang at:   Instagram: @stelthulvang Spotify: Stelth Ulvang Website: http://www.stelthulvang.com/   And if you're interested in making music and sound for games, I have a newsletter and free courses that will get you started, and help you find paying work in games. Just go to http://www.bit.ly/soundbizpod

#14: Alarke (aka Mary Alouette) is a pop-singer, songwriter, performer, artist coach, and entrepreneur who has worked in the worlds of opera, gypsy jazz, cuban music, and has coached award winning songwriters all over the world.    Alarke also runs SupremeSound.Life, a female-focused coaching and mentoring service that helps singers and songwriters create, release, and promote their music.    In this podcast, we talk about everything from career transitions, working in multiple genres of music, finding opportunities in the most unexpected of places, and much more.    Find Alarke at:   Instagram: @alarke_ Spotify: Alarke Website: https://alarke.com/ SupremeSound.Life: https://supremesound.life/   And if you're interested in making music and sound for games, I have a newsletter and free courses that will get you started, and help you find paying work in games. Just go to http://www.bit.ly/soundbizpod