Music Production and Mixing Tips for Music Producers and Artists | Inside The Mix
If you're searching for answers on topics such as: what is mixing in music, how I can learn to mix music, how to start music production, how can I get better at music production, what is music production, or maybe how to get into the music industry or even just how to release music. Either way, you’re my kind of person and there's something in this podcast for you!
I'm Marc Matthews and I host the Inside The Mix Podcast. It's the ultimate serial podcast for music production and mixing enthusiasts. Say goodbye to generic interviews and tutorials, because I'm taking things to the next level. Join me as I feature listeners in round table music critiques and offer exclusive one-to-one coaching sessions to kickstart your music production and mixing journey. Get ready for cutting-edge music production tutorials and insightful interviews with Grammy Award-winning audio professionals like Dom Morley (Adele) and Mike Exeter (Black Sabbath). If you're passionate about music production and mixing like me, the Inside The Mix is the podcast you can't afford to miss!
Start with this audience-favourite episode: #75: How to Mix Bass Frequencies (PRODUCER KICKSTART: VYLT)
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Music Production and Mixing Tips for Music Producers and Artists | Inside The Mix
#178: Breaking the Starving Artist Myth | Thriving in Music Mixing and Mastering with Eliott Glinn
This episode of Inside The Mix breaks down the myths surrounding financial success in the music industry and reveals how aspiring audio professionals can thrive.
My guest, Eliott Glinn, shares invaluable insights on how to start your own music business with a focus on developing a success-driven mindset, mastering content creation, and using smart strategies for client retention. Together, we explore how to create a sustainable music career by balancing creativity with effective business strategies.
Discover the fastest way to generate leads as Eliott dives into practical techniques for building authentic industry relationships, creating impactful content, and standing out in a competitive market.
Whether you're a producer, engineer, or music entrepreneur, this episode provides essential tools to break free from the "starving artist" mindset and transform your passion into a profitable career.
What You'll Learn:
• Challenging the myth of the starving artist
• Importance of a business mindset in music
• Effective lead-generation strategies
• Creating sustainable content that resonates
• Key communication practices for client retention
• Building authentic relationships in the industry
• Navigating competition with collaboration in mind
• Final insights for a thriving music career
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Hi, this is Neon Highway. I've just been listening to episode 175 of Inside the Mix podcast. Incredible tips from both Mark and from Tim aka IL9. Just phenomenal breakdowns of where to use things like reverb and delay. Personally, I've been using this since, watching that episode and listening to that episode, putting it into practice in the mix and instantly I'm finding that the mixes are so much clearer.
Eliott Glinn:So I just wanted to say thank you guys for for that information slip in a few videos here and there which show your expertise as a mix engineer. You know how I turned a song from this to this. You know how I made a vocal shot. You know that's great, you can pepper those in, but don't make the content that you'd want to see. Make the content that your ideal client would want to see.
Neon Highway:You're listening to the Inside the Mix podcast with your host, Mark Matthews.
Marc Matthews:Hello and welcome to the Inside the Mix podcast. I'm Mark Matthews, your host, musician, producer and mix and mastering engineer. You've come to the right place if you want to know more about your favorite synth music artists, music engineering and production, songwriting and the music industry. I've been writing, producing, mixing and mastering music for over 15 years and I want to share what I've learned with you. Hello, folks, and welcome back to the Inside the Mix podcast, or welcome if you are a new listener. Today I'm joined by a special guest, elliot Glynn, a talented mixing and mastering engineer based in West London, so a fellow Englishman on the podcast, which actually is going to be the first. I know I tell a lie, I tell a lie. We had one before the new year. He's built a thriving remote business collaborating with artists worldwide to transform their recordings into powerful, emotive mixes they can be proud of. Elliot, thanks for joining me today. How?
Eliott Glinn:the devil, are you? I'm doing really well, mark. Thank you so much for having me on and, yeah, excited to chat to you today.
Marc Matthews:Yes, that to you today. Yes, yes, I know we appear, as I do with all these episodes, in these interviews. I always put these uh schedule these interviews quite far in advance, so it's been a long time coming, probably three or four months, I would say. So, yeah, I'm looking forward to this one, some really interesting stuff in this episode which I'm going to go through in a minute, which is going to help the listeners, the audience, really kick on in 2025.
Marc Matthews:So a bit about elliot. Here is a professional mixing and mastering engineer, if I've mentioned, with a passion for both audio excellence and the business strategies behind running a successful music career. Beyond the technical side, elliot helps other engineers and producers build systems to grow their businesses, and we were chatting about systems just before. We started recording, from lead generation and content creation to effective workflow management. We started recording from lead generation and content creation to effective workflow management, and in this episode, elliot's going to share tips and strategies to help you kickstart your music business in 2025.
Marc Matthews:Or, if you're listening to this in the future, whatever year you're in, because, yeah, it's always going to be there, it should always apply. Yeah, exactly yeah, it will always apply. It's not just specific to 2025. Yeah, exactly yeah, it will always apply. It's not just specific to 2025. So, elliot, you've built a successful remote mixing and mastering business for producers and engineers looking to start or grow their side hustle in 2025. Or maybe they just want to go straight all in with it altogether. Can you talk about some of the most important mindset shifts they need to make?
Eliott Glinn:Yeah, there's probably two main ones that I see all the time when I talk to people about this, and they both revolve around money. The main one is that a lot of people seem to think and I think this comes from their family or their friends saying it that there isn't any money in music. It's quite a typical limiting belief people have, which is obviously a lie, because there's thousands, hundreds of thousands of people making a living from you know, directly from music. Whether that is writing, recording, mixing, mastering, you know, any kind of avenue you go down, there is money to be made. There is people because it's a hobby.
Eliott Glinn:A lot of us start this out as a hobby and we something really enjoy doing on our spare time that people feel bad charging for their services because they feel like, well, I'll be doing this anyway, it's a lot of fun, and there's a lot of kind of issues around the mindset of charging and pricing your services appropriately. So if it is something that you plan on doing is trying to make this a full time gig or even just you know some side income really trying to make this a full-time gig, or or even just you know some side income, really trying to get your mind set around the fact that this is a business, you can make money from it and you should be charging a fair rate for the service that you provide very good.
Marc Matthews:So you mentioned music in the music, money in music and the general misconception that there is no money in music. Have you got an idea why? Like one of the main reasons why maybe someone from the outside looking in would think that way?
Eliott Glinn:yeah, I think I mean there's this prevailing myth of the starving artist isn't there, and I think that applies for not just music, applies for any kind of arts like actors and and painters, and you know, there's the myth that you need to struggle for your art and you need to be poor and like work your way up and it's just really not the case and obviously, like with any kind of skill and any kind of business, it takes some time to get to a point where you're profitable and you're doing you know, pulling in the right clients or making the right kind of money.
Eliott Glinn:But it just I think it comes from that lack of it being seen throughout school as a kind of viable career option. Through school you're always told you know kind of, do maths, english science, do something business or accounting or that kind of stuff you know, and it's very rare that you're you're pushed in school being like you can make, you can make music or arts, your career. Um, I think that's where it lets a lot of people down and then that kind of you know festers in your brain for all throughout the rest of your life and a lot of people are probably sat at home thinking, yeah, no, there's no money in music, but I do this full-time. I know so many people that do you know, make full-time income from from making music. So it's, it's totally doable yeah, most definitely.
Marc Matthews:It's just being a full-time creative is certainly doable. And, going back to what you said there about the in school and career pathways and having having come from being a teacher myself and working in a school, no longer doing it now and it's unfortunate because what echoes what you said there is that generally, when there is budget cuts or there aren't enough teachers to fulfill positions which invariably does happen in the UK and probably across the board the creative subjects are generally the ones that are cut first in favor of like you said, math, science, english which I'm not knocking those, obviously you, we need to be a maths and english and and science and whatnot.
Marc Matthews:But yeah, generally the creative ones are knocked first. And I remember when I was, uh, living in cardiff and I was, I was in a house share and this is going back many years now and I was doing a master's degree in music, engineering and production and I had a housemate and I was doing my my years now and I was doing a master's degree in music, engineering and production and I had a housemate and I was doing my master's degree and I was talking about how I was working in a primary school and I was just teaching these kids how to use reason and producing reason and primary school kids. I realized at that point, trying to teach them how to use reason. My God, I never wanted to step into a primary school again.
Marc Matthews:Anyway, he I remember him said to me and his exact words were why would they want to learn about music? And I was just like what are you talking about, mate? And it was, it was, it was very much an outsider's perspective and that was his exact, his exact mentality. He's like they're not going to get anything out of that, why would they want to learn about it? It's crazy yeah, it's.
Eliott Glinn:It's really sad that that is the prevailing thought around this stuff and and, like you say, it goes all the way to the top, all the way to. You know the um in government, the way they set the kind of things that are taught in school. It is this belief that, okay, it's nice, you can do that on the side, it's a bit of fun, and you should obviously be creative and enjoy it. But to make money and have a living you need to do this other stuff and um, I also worked in the school for a number of years as a music technician and the amount of kids that loved music and got so much joy and enjoyment out of doing it. They used to come in their lunch and breaks and before and after school into the practice rooms to play and you'd see them come alive, and these were the kind of kids that probably in other academic classes weren't doing so well.
Eliott Glinn:But music was like a safe haven, and I know that was a similar thing for me growing up as well. I was dyslexic in school. I struggled with the kind of traditional math, science, english, but music was all it just clicked, and so being told from a young age that, oh, this is not something you can do. You should do something else is very damaging, I think. So yeah, it's a myth that I'd really like to bust.
Marc Matthews:Yeah, most definitely. And, like you mentioned there about being in the industry itself, there is money to be made out there and obviously the industry does change and it pivots and it moves with regards to, like, the current climate. Ai is a big one, for example, of course, and you've got to find out where you can maneuver within that, but there is, you can do it. I mean, it's crazy that people think that you can't. And also the creative economy does contribute millions upon I don't know the figure- it's huge but, millions to the uk and obviously economies abroad as well.
Eliott Glinn:So to say that there isn't money in it is, it's crazy yeah, that's it, and I think a big part of it as well is probably the old belief as well about um, you know, record labels, holding all the money and being in charge and stuff, whereas now there has never been a better time to be a creator, like you say, whether that is music or video, whatever it is you're doing, because you you can garner an audience like that.
Eliott Glinn:You know it does all it takes is just a little bit of graft and consistency and you can get an audience where you earn enough money to make a living from, and and you don't need outside help from a label or from management or things like that. You can do it yourself, um, and the skills you can learn to do it as well. So most definitely. Yeah, it's one of those things that I don't think there's been a better time in history to to try and you know, make a living from music.
Marc Matthews:Yeah, it reminds me of a conversation I had probably about a year ago on the podcast with uh and a chap called jesse k from the new agency, and he he put it quite nicely. He said it's now the case of the the tail is wagging the dog in terms of the artist having the power now to be, to have more control over their creative intellectual property, essentially, which I thought was great. Yeah.
Eliott Glinn:I couldn't agree more.
Marc Matthews:Yeah, most definitely. Moving on to our next topic here, so we've got lead generation strategies, so we're thinking about growing our side hustle, or maybe we're going all in with our music business. Whatever it may be, a lot of people in the industry struggle with finding consistent work, so can you tell our audience about some lead generation strategies you've used effectively, and how can someone just starting out begin building a client base?
Eliott Glinn:Yeah, it's a really great question and, like with a lot of these things, there's a ton of nuance. But I have tried so many different things over the years to try and generate leads and build this business, but it always has fallen back to just a simple kind of two pronged approach and that is content, creating content and having conversations. So with those two you can make this business work. So for me, a huge part of it is making content daily on instagram. Um, you know, they don't have to be huge production videos. They can be simple little 15 second talking head videos. They could be little looping ones that last five seconds and you write some caption underneath. But it's just about putting value out there, understanding what your target audience wants and what they're missing, what information you can help and kind of position yourself as the expert and putting yourself out there and then letting the algorithm kind of push that content out to the right people. But it also that then helps you have these conversations. So people who interact with your, with your content, people who follow you, people who like your stuff, people who you know comment on everything, you can start conversations with them and just have conversations with five to 10 people each day, if you can. That's the kind of number that I found works well for me. Anymore is just a bit too much to keep on top of. But between five and 10, just get those conversations going with people and it's a.
Eliott Glinn:It's not about trying to be salesy. You're not trying to jump in a conversation straight away being like have you got any songs you need mixing? I'll mix them for you. You know that nobody likes that. It's about building genuine connection, finding out what's going on with them in their kind of in their music career. Is there something you can help them with outside of mixing? If that's the thing that you want to do, you know you could be like send me your work in progress, I can give you production advice, I can give you tips. You know I can connect you with session players, producers. Just be the guy or girl that helps people, you know, achieve what they want to achieve and through doing that you'll you know you'll generate leads. It just takes a little while. It does take consistency, but if you do those two things you know create content and start having conversations with people you've basically got the recipe for having a successful business.
Marc Matthews:Yeah, it reminds me of the Go-Giver parable.
Eliott Glinn:I don't know if you've ever read that book.
Marc Matthews:Yeah, love that book you probably have, yeah, the Go-Giver parable, which is you just give, give and give and give and uh, and you help wherever possible, basically echoing pretty much what you, or everything you've just said there.
Eliott Glinn:really, when it comes to those conversations, yeah, and that's it, because it builds reciprocity. That's the whole point is you're you're putting out this content and but I do it daily because, again, it helps you stay top of mind. Um, and there's so so many different topics I could talk about and that through having conversations with you know potential, I also find out things I can make content about. You know, you'll see repeat topics come up again and again and again. You know, okay, that's an idea then I can make for a video or you know kind of how to tutorial or something like that and all that does.
Eliott Glinn:The more and more you put out, the more people link to your name. Oh, this guy's really helpful, he does this stuff and he's giving and he's giving and he's giving and he's giving and he's never asking for anything in return. And so when it comes to the point when somebody's making an EP or an album or a single, whatever it is, and they're like I need a mix engineer, then hopefully I'm top of mind and that's the kind of general idea here.
Marc Matthews:Most definitely. You mentioned there content and Content and conversations being sort of that two-pronged approach. So, to devil's advocate, is that the wrong word when you were doing this? Is there one approach can you think of or can you identify that you tried that really didn't sort of resonate or work for you?
Eliott Glinn:Yeah, a big one that I see pushed a lot is to do an email list and do email marketing, and that's something I've tried on and off numerous times and it's never seemed to work for me. I don't know why that is. I think I was trying, you know, weekly, sending weekly emails, sending things about you know how to write, how to produce, how to mix, just covering a broad range of topics. But it's really hard to grow an email list. You know, from social media, you have to put up things like, you know, free lead magnets and things like that. And and I only ever built up to like 100 200 people on this email list and I never got any work through it and I think I sent weekly emails for about a year with it and I just thought Do you know what it's? Just realizing? This isn't working. I know what is working, which is content on Instagram. So I'm just going to double down on that. I'm just going to give up.
Eliott Glinn:I think too many people try so many things at once. So they'll try the email marketing, they'll try Instagram, they'll try YouTube, they'll do TikTok and it's just spreading yourself thin and instead just focus on one that works for you. So, like for you. You know this podcast is your thing, so this is what you do and it and it's, and it works for you and Instagram works for me. I know a bunch of producer friends who work really well on youtube and so they just focus on putting out one really good youtube video every month and that brings in enough leads to run their business.
Marc Matthews:Um, instead of spreading yourself thin trying a million different things that don't work I 100 agree with all that and my I did have a question that was going to lead on you've pretty pretty much gone through it there which was got with, which was regards to spreading yourself too thin. And I remember when, a couple years ago, and I was trying to spreading yourself too thin and I remember when, a couple years ago, and I was trying to be omnipresent on all these platforms and it is just so tiring. It is so tiring. I was trying to go live on Instagram yeah, I was doing going live on YouTube and and uh and Facebook, when I was doing podcast episodes and I had content that I was posting on each platform trying to get it out there. And I realized it was that I was posting on each platform trying to get it out there and I realized it was really tiring and also it just wasn't that effective. And then, having looked at that and then sort of re-evaluated it or reflected on it, I then just narrowed it down to Instagram I'm still on the other platforms, but cross-posting if it's automated, then it'll get posted and, having then narrowed my focus, it then resulted in actually the downloads increasing with the podcast and I found actually I was posting less and the downloads were going up, which was quite interesting, and it's still the case now, which is amazing.
Marc Matthews:And what you mentioned there about YouTube, for example, the podcast is on YouTube, but I'm still toying with the idea of actually just using the rss feed and sending it out to youtube and not having the video format, because it would just save me time and I can concentrate on the audio side of things. But there is this little thing in my head, which is that fear of missing out that is so hard to get rid of, because I know there are people that consume the podcast on youtube and I don't want to lose them as as listeners, as viewers. So a quick question with regards to that fO and fear of missing out do you ever have you experienced that and how do you sort of deal and strategize around that?
Eliott Glinn:yeah, no, that's a really good question and it is something I still do think about a lot. Like you say, you you feel like I've I'm not on this platform, if I'm not posting here, then I could be missing out on potential listeners, potential customers, whatever it is. But I think the the key part is that self-awareness. So you had and I've managed to go through as well, which is you try all these other things, you try a bunch of stuff and you just kind of see in what sticks or what resonates with you, because a huge part about doing content online and creating a business online, you need to be able to do it consistently and you're not going to do something you don't enjoy or something that burns you out consistently. So it's realizing look, we are one-man teams, you know, or you might have an assistant or somebody to help you, but really you're kind of a one-man band. If we were like an agency and we have five or ten other people working, then maybe we could be on everything at once and you know that that would generate more um, more income or whatever it is we're looking for.
Eliott Glinn:But as, as a solo creator or solopreneur, whatever it is, you need to understand that your energy is finite and it can only be put in so many places. So try everything, give it a go, see what works for you. But then, once you've kind of done that for a bit, just double down on what works, forget about the rest and just really really stick to it, because you'll see, like yourself, you go. Oh, actually, just really really stick to it because you'll see, like yourself, you go, oh, actually, I'm posting less, but my views are going up. How is that possible, it's like. But you're making probably making better content, you're doing better, better interviews, and you'll you'll have far more energy, spending less time doing things that don't move the needle.
Marc Matthews:Um, so yeah, it's kind of a win-win yeah, exactly that, and it I do need to with it. With regards to youtube, I still want to have that presence on youtube because I do have good engagement on there, but I know if I didn't do the video element of it, I could then recoup that time and then put that into, as you say, the actual production of the audio side of things and then the interviews and whatnot and just everything else that goes with it. So I need to sort of like practice what I preach really with regards to that. You know it's a real tough one. It is, it really is.
Marc Matthews:It is tough to do but I think you really do need to do it. And again, this is kind of another um, sort of tangent I'm going down here and that is also, I think, can be reflected in in terms of a service that you offer. So this isn't in the in the actual itinerary we've got for this episode, but it just it's in the back of my mind here. So, with regards to, like, services that you provideary we've got for this episode, but it's in the back of my mind here. So, with regards to services that you provide, obviously we've got mixing mastering production for yourself Would you sort of recommend a similar approach when it comes to providing services as a mixing mastering engineer, producer that FOMO, try not to provide everything and maybe narrow down on a particular avatar, as it were, 100%, and again, it's one of these things that you need to try and you need to test the waters and experiment with, find what you enjoy most.
Eliott Glinn:But, like a lot of people, I came up doing recording, doing production, trying to do everything, and it was only after years of experimenting and trying different stuff I realised mixing is for me, it's the thing I love doing the most. It's where my skills and my interests, you know, overlap, um, so just, I doubled down on that and I see people who are successful in music creation. I see them niche down to doing just one thing, whether it be production, whether it be mixing, whether it be mastering. Obviously there can be overlap, like I do do all three, but my main thing is mixing and mastering, and production are, you know, the kind of peripheral things.
Eliott Glinn:But yeah, absolutely, find the one thing that you enjoy doing the most and just stick to that, because it's like you know, I've heard this analogy used before, but you wouldn't kind of go to a gp, um doctor to get heart surgery because, yeah, they're a general practitioner, they know all of this.
Eliott Glinn:You know a lot of general practitioner, they know all of this.
Eliott Glinn:You know a lot of general knowledge about a lot of stuff, but when you want something done right, you go to somebody who does just that. You know you don't want to put your, your life in in somebody else's hands who's not uh, you know an expert and I think positioning yourself as an expert, in whatever field it is you choose to do is, is a real key thing in terms of building a good business. Because if you go on someone's instagram and it says I do vocal editing, vocal tuning, recording, mixing, mastering, like podcast production, you know all of that stuff it's just overwhelming and somebody's going to look at it and go are they going to treat my project with the care it needs? Whereas if you go to someone who just does mixing or just does mastering, it's really clear what they do. You're, you're showing yourself as an expert and it's a lot easier for somebody to kind of pull the trigger it's clarity, isn't it what you mentioned there about being clear, uh, as to what they do?
Marc Matthews:and in my head again, I'm thinking I've gone on websites before and, much like you said, there, you go on there and it's just a shopping list of services that they provide. I'm thinking, well, okay, you're there, you go on there, and it's just a shopping list of services that they provide. I'm thinking, well, okay, you're mixing, you're mastering, but then you're also doing podcast editing, you do podcast production. It's just like sure. I mean, you may have all the time to be able to do that, but can you really say that you are the expert not necessarily the expert, but yeah, I guess, yeah, have that expert position in that particular remit.
Marc Matthews:So, yeah, excellent stuff, elliot, excellent stuff. So, in the interest of time, because I realize we're already at 20 minutes and I've only two questions, in this always happens, so we're going to now move on to content creation for visibility. So we've already touched on that a little bit. With regards to you, say, you're putting out content and the approach you take, so can you share how you approach content creation and how producers can use it to establish credibility and attract potential clients? I think as part of this as well, because I think it can get quite overwhelming thinking that you have to post every day, or you have to post at certain times of the day, or what have you, which I think is a misconception. But yeah, maybe you could talk a bit about your establishing credit, credibility and your content creation approach yeah, it's, it's what you mentioned.
Eliott Glinn:There is crucial, I think, to content creation in general, which is is doing it in a way that is sustainable. So, yes, for me I've I've landed on the cadence of every day. I do miss days here and there, but for the most part it's every day. It's just something that is built into my schedule and I'm happy to do it, because the way I post content, it usually doesn't take me longer than half an hour, maybe an hour most for the kind of bigger videos that I'll do. But it is key to to stick to a schedule that you can stick to. So if that's once a week, make it once a week. If it's three times a week, make it three times, but don't try and feel like you need to do, you know, five times a week, six times a week, seven times a week, because some social media guru online told you that's what you have to do. It's about doing something that is sustainable for you because, again, as soon as you get it gets hard, you're going to drop it and you're going to forget about it and you're going to move on. So that's that's step number one.
Eliott Glinn:But also, which is very closely linked to it, is about being authentic in the kind of content you want to create. So don't try and copy other people and the kind of styles of videos they do. You really need to experiment and land on a way of creating content that's true to you and your own voice, because a huge part of this content is obviously to sell yourself and to make yourself attractive to potential clients. If you're doing stuff that is phony or fake or see-through, people will see through it. Everyone has a kind of good bullshit detector these days. With content, you can see who's genuine, who's not. So just try and experiment and find stuff that works for you and resonates for kind of your voice, and just keep experimenting and trying different things.
Marc Matthews:That would be my biggest key takeaway I think what you mentioned there about the bullshit detect is quite, quite important, because I've said this and I've had this conversation on the podcast before about how, like, as soon as you start presenting yourself and trying to emulate someone else and it's not you, as you say people can quite quickly see through that. And I I also had this actually when I was releasing music, and I remember when I was producing, I moved away from being in a band and then I was releasing music under my own, my own steam, and I was trying a couple of different genres and I quickly realized actually, yeah, I could put music out, but it wasn't authentically me and it could be heard in the music as well. I listen back to it now I'm like, oh shit, man, that's yeah, that's not great.
Eliott Glinn:What was I doing there, yeah?
Marc Matthews:it's not great, I have no idea what I was doing. So it also, yeah, I think, in any creative form, because putting content out, you are a creative. Yeah, it's a creative, and also I was going to say this earlier and I totally forgot, actually but actually just the art of being a bit, uh, an entrepreneur and being in business for yourself is creative as well. There's so many creative facets to it, but, yeah, that authenticity one, I think, is key, man, because, like you said, people can quickly, quickly see through that.
Eliott Glinn:Yeah, definitely, it's an obvious thing you see online and again, you have to kind of go through and test the waters, try things out, and part of that will be trying to emulate people you admire online. But as soon as you can kind of land in your groove and find things that work for you, um that you, you feel good doing it. So again, I've got a lot of producer friends who who don't like talking to camera. They feel a bit, um, just you know, just uncomfortable talking directly to camera, so instead they'll make breakdown videos of their productions and show you, you know, go through each individual element and build up the track in a minute long, half a minute long kind of reel, whereas other people really love talking to camera and are great communicators, so they can turn the camera on, sit there and, you know, talk and condense an idea down really easily.
Eliott Glinn:So it's just finding things that work for you. But another key part of it as well I think I mentioned earlier on is knowing what your ideal audience, uh, is going to want to see. So I think a big trap that a lot of first time mix engineers, producers, mastering engineers fall into is making content for other mix engineers, for example.
Eliott Glinn:So yeah, yeah a lot of mix engineers think, okay, I'll just make content showing how good I am as a mixer and that will attract um artists. And it doesn't. All it does is attract other mix engineers who are like, oh, that's cool, I like that trick, that's a good trick. You know, whereas you're trying to attract artists, what problems do artists have? They have problems with writing, with production, with recording, with getting gigs with. You know, motivation, with mental health, all that kind of stuff. If you can create content around those things, slip in a few videos here and there which show your expertise as a mix engineer. You know how I turned a song from this to this. You know how I made a vocal shot. You know that's great, you can pepper those in. But don't make the content that you'd want to see.
Marc Matthews:Make the content that your ideal client would want to see yeah, that's, that's a top tip right there, um, which I've now marked um, so it's going to be a sound bite for this, uh, for this episode. A fantastic tip there, um, in terms of that content and what you should be showcasing, because I've noticed that when I put I've done particular videos in the past, and then you realize actually the only engagement I'm getting from this, this podcast episode, or whether, notably, youtube really is, uh, is just other engineers commenting on it, either saying no, that's wrong, which does happen Always, yeah.
Eliott Glinn:No, you're doing it wrong. Don't do it like that.
Marc Matthews:Yeah, you're like, no, that's not the way to do it, or something along those lines. I'm like, okay, all right. Then I realized that's not landed where it should have landed.
Eliott Glinn:Yeah, and it's an easy trap to fall into because it's something you're confident talking about. You know, as a mix engineer, I could talk about mixing for hours because it's something I love and I'm really passionate about. But that's not the audience. You know, like I say, the artists aren't caring how I eq a kick drum or how I use three different compressors to get this, like they don't care, they just care what comes out of the speakers. Will it connect with my audience? Like if you can show that in a in a good way, then then you kind of win them over. But yeah, it's um, it is a, it's a trap I see people fall into all the time wise words, my friend, wise words, I think.
Marc Matthews:Um, in the interest of time, we'll move on to the uh, this, this final question I've got here. So this imagine we've gone through this process content creation, creation, we've got the leads coming in, we're having these conversations and now we're at that point now where we're going to be charging for our services and or maybe we've completed a project, or completed our first project. So we're talking about long-term success and client or customer, however you want to phrase it retention. So can you tell our audience a bit about strategies that you use to build long-term relationships with your clients and, importantly, keep them coming back?
Eliott Glinn:yeah, that's a great question. Um, in this game, as with most things, reputation is everything. So you need to obviously do great work and you need to also keep your word. So do what you say you'll do by when you say you'll do it, because that's the worst thing you can do is tell somebody I'll give you you the mix on Friday, have a Friday rolls around and they don't get an email from you or any communication, and then you send it on the following Wednesday. You know that's a recipe for disaster.
Eliott Glinn:So just be the consummate professional that you know you should be if you're trying to turn this into a business. So, clear communication with everybody, stay on top of all of your emails and DMs as much as you can and, like I say, if you promise something you know, make sure you get it in on time, if not beforehand, and you know it's. That whole under promise, over deliver is key for this, and I think as long as you can kind of bake that in to how you operate and how you do business, then you're going to keep as many clients as possible. Obviously, people do fall off and you end up not working with some people again because you might not have been the right fit or they want to try someone new. But for the most part, if you just do good work and be a good you know, as they say in America, be a good hang then people are going to want to come back and work with you again.
Marc Matthews:Yeah, it's that idea, isn't it? Like you want to be someone that people want to have in the studio. I appreciate, like we provide, and we have these remote services that we provide, but in theory you want to be thinking, ok yeah, that guy's great, I'd like to have him in the studio. I'd like to have them in the studio with me while I'm working Proverbial studio, as it were. So like to have them in the studio with me while I'm working proverbial studio, as it were. Um, so, just on the flip side of that, could you identify maybe something that would not work in your benefit, or what you might see people doing where they fall foul of sort of this?
Eliott Glinn:client retention and long-term success yeah, I think maybe being overly um, I wouldn't say overly needy, that might be the wrong, the wrong phrase, but but when it comes to music making, it's a very personal thing and, like I said, sometimes you work with somebody and you think you have a really good relationship and you that you've had an awesome project, and then they might work with someone else, and sometimes I see people burn bridges because they feel, you know, their ego gets in the way and they're like, oh, why didn't they come back to me?
Eliott Glinn:they should have come back to me, or yeah or maybe you're working with someone it's not going quite well enough and they want to try someone new.
Eliott Glinn:I've had it where people have come to me and they're trying to get me to mix it when they've had a bad experience with someone else and this other mix engine is not sending the files over or they're not giving them, you know which is their intellectual property. So it is that kind of immature, um approach to it where it's like, you know they also the scarcity mindset, where it's like, oh, I need to keep everything in and not let anybody, not let anybody go. You know it's it's a free world. Anyone can work with anyone and just being okay with it and letting that go is going to stand you in good stead again. It just you just come off a lot better if you're a lot more relaxed and calm about this kind of stuff. Um, yeah, unfortunately, I've heard horror stories about, you know, bad producers or mix engineers people have had really, you know, poor times working with and it's ended, you know, in a in a kind of burnt bridge, which is not what you want yeah, ultimately, I think it.
Marc Matthews:I remember hearing this from a ceo of quite a quite a large organization and they just summarize it pretty much as don't be a dick, yeah, basically that's it. You could summarize it in that way. So it's like just you got to think right, someone's come to you for a service because they want to have whatever it is that you provide and like. Ultimately it's their project and you should be looking out for their project and making sure they get the best possible outcome from whether that's with you or actually you realize this isn't quite working out. I'll recount from this. You can take this to someone else where maybe they'll be able to do something better for you and just not being salty about it, you're just realizing it's for the better of their project and in doing that you're not going to burn those bridges. But I know what you mean.
Eliott Glinn:I've I've witnessed that and I've seen that myself yeah, and it's unfortunate because it puts a bad mark against your name. Then, like I say, reputation is everything and you want to be known, whether you work with this person or not, as the kind of guy that they can come to and send things to, or you just need to be that professional that you know. Again, you wouldn't imagine CEOs or managers of businesses kicking people out and, like you know, unwarrantedly and just. You want to be the professional that you know you should be and I think that's the kind of main thing and just just keeping on top of communication as well. So, once you've had a, had a project with somebody and you know you've parted ways, follow up with them every three, six, you know, 12 months, whatever it is, and just check in, see how they're doing again, not to be like are you ready to send me another song just going, how's? How's the music going, how's the family? You know, just build relationships with people and that'll stand you in real good stead in this industry.
Marc Matthews:One quick question off the back of kind of segwaying a little from what you said there just before we move on to the final part here Cold calling of potential clients. I know this isn't to do with. I suppose it is to do with long-term success, because I've had this where I've released music and then I've had DMs or an email and then someone says, oh, listen to the XYZ song. And there was one in particular where someone was like it sounds really harsh in the mid range at about 1K. I think you need to do this, this and this. I can help you and I'm this. I can help you and I'm like I don't like what. Yeah, that made me so it wasn't um, but like, what are you doing, man? Like that is not the way to approach it. What are your?
Eliott Glinn:thoughts on that. That is quite literally the worst way to approach it. Again, they're trying to position themselves as the expert, expert and making it about them being like this is what I can do, this is what I can do, and it shouldn't be about that. It should be about the artist and and about what they can. They can get from it. But yeah, I mean I even I get. It doesn't happen as much anymore, thankfully, but there was good for a good two, three years.
Eliott Glinn:I would get you know random dms being like hey, bro, let's collab. Um, you know people just just trying to get something from you and not offering anything in return. And going back to what you mentioned about the go giver, which everyone read, it's about giving as much as you can and then you will receive in return. It might not be from that person, it might be from the next one, but just if you're going to cold DM people or cold email again, you don't go for the kill straight away. It should be building up a relationship, get to know them.
Eliott Glinn:You might assume they have a problem, like that person assumed. You had a problem with your 1k, which you didn't, but if he had spoken to you he might have understood that you mix it that way because you like that sound and like, and so he's just come in trying to sell you something that you didn't need and he just comes off as a jerk. So, yeah, you can't. You cannot accurately prescribe a solution to a problem that you don't know. So that's why talking in dms with people is so key. You need to understand do they have the problem that I believe I can solve for them? If they don't, then that's fine, you can. You can keep chatting or you can move on, but you can't go in for the hard sell because it just yeah, it just leaves you up, shakes creek, it does, it does.
Marc Matthews:I've had there's like yourself. I don't really get them anymore, uh, but I did. I remember. It's notably really whenever I release music of my own and then sort of these people sort of crawl out the woodwork, as it were, offering XYZ service. A lot of mastering engineers do that, I find.
Eliott Glinn:That's a shame as well, because mastering, out of all of it, is one of the most relationship-based kind of businesses as well. So for people to kind of jump in straight away and be like, oh, I can master your stuff for you, you know, race to the bottom, I'm like 20 quid for a master. It's just like I wouldn't trust you. I wouldn't trust you. You haven't even bothered to kind of have a chat with me and figure out what kind of music I make. If I'm looking for a master and engineer, you know they just go for the hard sell and yeah, they're just they're shooting themselves in the foot yeah, that race to the bottom one.
Marc Matthews:I could probably do a whole episode on that. Some of the some of the race to the bottom stories I've I've experienced and you probably experienced yourself as well.
Eliott Glinn:It's crazy yeah, crazy it's, it's sad and I think it's unfortunate that there's, you know, websites like fiverr and sound better and air gigs. They're great if you're just starting out and you want to kind of get your feet wet and and get projects and stuff, but all anybody is looking for is the cheapest option on those websites, which is why I'm not on them. You know, I think I set a profile years ago on sound better, um and the similar thing with air gigs, but I never get any work through them and I don't really want to, because I want to have a relationship with all of my clients, I want to get to know them, I want to jump on phone calls with them and talk through stuff and I want to provide a service that they're happy paying you know more of a premium for and you're not going to get that through websites like Fiverr or Soundbetter. It's going to be send, send the files, receive them back and that's it. No communication, no care given. It's just like an exchange, which is not really how art should be made.
Marc Matthews:I totally agree. There needs to be that collaborative collaborative process and that communication conversation to. I think, most importantly going back to what you said right right at the beginning of that with regards to the cold dms is establishing whether or not you're a good fit, like just just reaching out to someone and saying I'll do X, y Z for you. How do you know it's going to be a good fit without having that conversation?
Marc Matthews:So and that kind of segues nicely onto this final bit. So I'll be doing you a disservice, elliot, if I didn't offer you the opportunity, or give you the opportunity rather, to just describe a little bit about what you're doing and what you provide, find you, and maybe, if you've got some exciting thing or something coming up, maybe you could reveal to the audience, if not just like what you're doing where they can find you yeah, absolutely so the best place would be on instagram.
Eliott Glinn:My handle is elliot glinn audio. Um, elliot is spelled e-l-i-o-t-t, glinn, g-l-i-n-n. It's a bit of a weird spelling, but yeah, elliot glinn audio. Same thing for my website, um, but on there as well. I'm just setting up. Now. I'm in the process of creating a community for people who want to learn how to mix as well, because, oh nice, a big part of my journey as a mix engineer coming up was being in this community where we got sent multi-tracks every month. Um, you know, we were shown how the mixer walked through the mix and did all of his tweaks, and then there was a monthly q a's. So I'm in the process of getting something similar set up. So if anyone's interested about joining that, then go to the link in my bio on my Instagram. There's a button in there it's called learn to mix and you can join the waitlist. But yeah, I'd love to connect with anybody they want to talk business, want to talk mixing, anything like that. Just drop me a DM on Instagram and I'll be happy to chat. Fantastic stuff.
Marc Matthews:I will put a link to the Instagram and also your website in the episode description. So, audience, please do go and check out Elliot's Instagram and the website as well, and if you're interested in content creation, do go check out, obviously, instagram, because that's where you're going to find it, because there's some great stuff on there, some really good B-roll content.
Marc Matthews:Yeah, I've got to say that Some really good stuff in there. Elliot, it's been a pleasure chatting with you today with regards to all things sort of business and in the music industry and whatnot. So hopefully this is going to set the audience up if they're thinking about kicking on with their own services in 2025 or whatever year. They're listening to this and then, yeah, they're going to get a lot out of this. So a big thank you for joining me on this today. Oh, it's my pleasure. Thanks for having me on, mark. I appreciate it. Cheers, buddy. I'll catch up with you soon.
Marc Matthews:Folks, before you go, I want to hear from you. I want to know your favorite episode of the Inside the Mix podcast. Alternatively, you could just review this episode. Click the SpeakPipe link in the episode description and you can record an audio message detailing your favorite episode and why, and also give yourself a shout out. All you need is your mobile phone. You don't need a SpeakPipe account. You don't need to download an app. It's just like sending me an audio message via WhatsApp or whatever messaging platform you use. As soon as I get your audio, you will be entered in that month's draw to win a Starbucks coffee voucher, and if you don't like coffee, just give it to someone else and pretend that you bought it for them. All you need to do is click that speak pipe link and send me an audio message reviewing this episode or a previous episode, and give yourself a shout out.
