Dear Mikael,
I hope you are safe and well.
Am I missing the link or there is not composition contest right now?
I think it is important to have a contest always on.
Best wishes.
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In daily life I’m a product developer and research chemist. It’s always nice and challenging to develop products for derma-care and oral-care applications in the cosmetic and medical device field for clients. The common thing with music is that product development is also a kind of composing…but now using raw materials instead of notes and sounds😄
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I took a break from running a contest this month due to time constraints. I am considering starting a contest to reward engagement in this community, since that is something everyone “wins” from. 
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Hi,
I’m a software analyst, I work for an Italian IT company.
I have been studying piano since the age of 7 and music has always been my passion. I started studying composition and harmony from 2018, with Guy Michelmore’s courses on ThinkSpace Education site, which I think is very good at explaining and also fun.
I like to set my emotions to music and I would like to learn how to do it as well as possible, even if the time to study and compose is short, also managing work and family …
My goal for this year is to learn how to write something to sell in stock libraries and in the meantime carry out my musical projects that I put on my Youtube channel. As soon as I have reached a good quality and I will have a small repertoire I will also try to post to spotify in order to share my music more and more with those who want to listen to them.
It’s fantastic to read that many people who I thought were professionals in the world of music are instead fans … this makes me hope that in a few years I will be able to reach their musical quality. 
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Hello Mikael,
Interesting thread topic!
It’s fun to see what so many talented composers are doing!
I co-own a production company that provides music, voice over casting, and video – for broadcast (commercials) and also non-broadcast (vid games, audio for e-learning for several car companies here in US and also Canada, etc.).
I compose music and also engineer recording sessions.
Here’s one of our most recent radio spots:
Be well!
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Good idea! Have some rest and let’s work on the next contest then, whenever it comes.
Best.
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Hi All - I am a Telecommunications Director for a large US Federal Agency during the day. At night, when I am not Batman, I try to compose music. .
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I will try to summarize a long story.
For the last 20 years I have worked as an industrial mechanical engineer, mainly in water treatment plants and desalination plants. However, for the last few years I have been working in the aeronautical industry, creating tools and machinery for the assembly of large airplanes.
In parallel, and without actively looking for it, I had the opportunity to compose some soundtracks for video productions, documentaries and television shows, and I enjoyed it so much that I began to think that composing could be a full-time job.
Now, in the “COVID era” I got a butterfly effect: NO tourism -> NO new planes -> NO tools for aircraft factories. So my company has no new projects to work on.
Fortunately, in my country (Spain), the government is helping some sectors such as the automobile and aeronautics, paying a subsidy so that employees are not laid off. Then, for more than a year, I have been at home with a little salary, waiting for the day when my company will say whether to return or leave.
I feel very fortunate to have been able to focus on music at this time, researching and learning like never before all the issues related to becoming a composer, creatively, technically and financially.
Lately, I have decided that my B-plan as a composer is now my A-plan, so I will only return to the mechanical industry if job conditions allow me to continue my musical journey. There is no way back.
On the other hand, if I start my business as a musician right now, I guess my income will be meager especially in the beginning and my subsidy will stop, so I have to be practical (I have a family). I will continue to prepare, like an athlete at the starting line, until everything becomes clearer. I hope it happens in a few months from now.
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Hope it all works out for you! I used to want to be a fighter jet pilot when I was a kid and I still love airplanes and going to air shows 
That was my A plan and composing was my B plan, but in the end music won out anyway! Let’s hope we can start traveling soon. i’d love to go back to Spain and France one day–Sevilla is a beautiful city!
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Composer arranger mixer full time …I am retired… Music his a hobby I hope until my last days on earth
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I work for the main railway company in Germany - Deutsche Bahn. I’m currently working on getting a degree in specialist for train operations
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unemployed at the moment , just learn composing and doing music , not a lot of resources.
wait the all this to be over , get back out there
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so you’re saying none of us do music for a living? 
good question though
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that’s interesting contrast to music
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Yes, it certainly is! I’ve lost count how many times I’ve left people at the stop and drove straight past them! Due to the fact my mind is on music and lyrics! Lol! 
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well music is my passion
i work in a industrial group in France as Process Quality Engineer
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Hi, please excuse me for not really understand how replying to question on my ‘introduction post’ works, but let it be clear that I never had a day job and was always a professional musician/percussionist/clinician. In these days it’s all about getting through these pandemic and ‘zero outdoors activity’ with as little scratches as possible. Very pleased to have my homestudio up and running (for ± 12 years already), and doing a bit of high profile acoustic percussion sessions for producers, songwriters, artists and fellow musicians from all over the place. All the musical best to all of you from -these days- sunny Amsterdam. XXX, Jeroen
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Working as an IT Architect in a fairly big corporate. Someone might think that architects can create all kinds of neat stuff but in my role it’s pretty much contrary, so it’s really nice to be able to create music and to have a complete creative freedom.
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Really great talk guys!
It’s very interesting to hear about what people are doing besides making music. As I am going to launch a brand new website and YouTube channel, I will be talking about that too, as in my experience, that side of the business people and institutions almost totally ignore.
I see many people who want to become this, and that. It’s all possible, without a question, however, I have realized with many people out there, they totally misunderstand the topic „music business“, or any other business really. Meaning: People want to make music. True, everyone does. But, most don’t want or forget about making business if they want to make work full-time.
To make it more clear, and some of you always know it, as it’s one of my personal best advice I can give to everyone. 80/20 rule. 80% marketing, 20% music. And because folks don’t want to hear that, they don’t make it in the business as far as they want to get. Just had a super-intensive business talk for almost 4 hours with my co-producer. If you want to make it full-time especially in the music business, invest 80% of your time making contacts, and 20% into making music for the clients.
If you don’t do that, you can’t be successful in this business. Not because you are not capable, or not talented, or whatever. The reason is simple. Nobody is calling you every single day and giving you a 50k contract to sign for the next film, ad, or whatever. All the institutions I have visited never had a specific module for business and marketing that made it clear why after going out of college only 3% of graduates make it into the business. It’s not their fault. It’s the fault of the school programs. It’s not enough to say like I did some lines before: “Go out and make contacts…”. It doesn’t work like that.
In the last 16 months, I took my time and only focused on marketing & business mindset. The more I have talked to people, the more I have understood that most “solopreneurs” had little or almost no knowledge about how to market them effectively and most importantly the right way. The same was me when I look back in time. Of course, nobody taught me how…
So, seeing that my colleagues & friends started to make more money after talking to me, is really incredible. The client relationships became better. People started to have more and more trust. So, I build myself a foundation for my personal future and invested time & money into my marketing & business mindset. And without a doubt, it was the best decision of my life so far. When you see that you are capable of earning 50€ in 20 mins or see your clients making the transition from 25€ an hour to 83€ an hour, it’s just mind-blowing.
Before, I have started to focus on marketing, I thought that I have to be successful. Make as much money as possible. Pretty quickly I have realized that money is worth nothing, as it doesn’t make you a better person, nor does it make you happy. However, unfortunatelly it’s necessary to get through life. So, I had to find another goal for my life. I cut out all the contacts and clients around me who were not on the same mindset level, meaning, having excuses for everything, saying that something is too expensive, etc. I have understood that when I work with someone, I want to have a great time. Not being surrounded by people who don’t take me and their “dreams” serious enough.
When I will start with my YouTube Channel (finally), I will start with a video that is totally not music or audio focused, and there is a reason. I see the potential that is out there. But you have to grab it. And saying that nothing works, is just another excuse. I always ask people if they did “enough” to be there where they want to be. Of course, the reaction is not pleasent to watch, but I have to see the faces, even if the person thinks I am an asshole. In other words, if you want to do well in this business, you have to be able to work 60-70 hours, and sometimes more a week. Period. At least, in the beginning. It’s nothing special for me. But it sounds special for others. So hearing that someone wants to be a pro, and is not even cabaple of making a track a month, is telling everything I have to know about that person.
So my goal with the new brand of mine is to let people know that you have to push. Today, tomorrow and in 3 months, 3 years… And that kind of information is not present during the college time. Because nobody is there to push you all the way to your personal success. It has to be yourself. It’s only about you. And that’s what most people I have talked to in the last months don’t even think about. They think that someone else will do the job for them. They think that someone else will make contacts for them. The think that someone else will make money for them. And so on.
To sum up, you have to be very clear in your mind what you want to achieve, and especially what steps you have to make in order to accomplish your future goals. 3% of all solopreneurs will make it. Everyone else will try to survive from paycheck to paycheck. That’s the reality. So having a second income stream, even if you clean dishes somewhere is essentials to not fall on your nose. I know only a handful of people including me who made it in the business more than five years and counting. I doesn’t matter if audio or music or both together. Facts are facts. So before switching full-time to do music you have to be clear who you are, where you want to be and where you want to go AND how to start building a brand so people know that you are the real deal. Everything else is wishing being someone who you aren’t.
I will talk about those things on my future channel. So my current job besides being a producer & engineer is being a helping hand in building a roadmap for people who want to achieve specific things and working on their mindset.
PS: If something did sound harsh, it’s intentional. I made people cry because they didn’t know who they are, who they want to be, what their purpose in life is. Having dreams is great, but doing things that don’t bring results for years and years without changing the mindset is what separates the wheat from the chaff. So your daily job should be not only being a human being, composer, father, etc. but working on your mindset. Too many people ignore it. And that’s a pitty…more to come…
Stay safe & healthy,
Alexey
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I always love your in depth posts Alexey, and yes it is harsh, but reality always is! And we need to face reality if we want to take steps up the ladder of “business success” in any field!
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