Progress Thread: Genium (Genium Productions)

[Genium]

[/B]My Goals:

-To land a 50k+ composing gig with a gaming development company before June 2013.

-Following the release of my two songs with Tallcat, market the hell out of them, make $500k+ off royalties, and get both of them played in a movie/video game, and/or in a big company commercial (Nike, Red Bull, etc).

-Produce a song for a superstar singer.

-Produce a song for Lindsey Stirling.

-Score a movie (indie or major).

-Produce music for a "short" (mini movie) of one of the top YouTube channels.

-Off all these goals, reach my first million, scale it up, and take it to the next level.

Some Background and Introduction:
So, some information. If you haven't read my introduction, my name is Tyrel Johnson. I have been producing music for 4 years now. I have produced trance, techno, chillout/lounge, drum&bass, electro, house, rap, hiphop and lately, have been composing video game and movie score type stuff.

Well, for the first 3 years, I got better and better, got a few tracks signed to a few small labels. That boosted my spirits, but I haven't seen a damn dime from them. Not a waste of time, but I wasn't settling there. Making music is my passion, but I have had way too many people tell me I am too talented to not make a living doing it, and I would love nothing more than to have that opportunity. And with my determination, I know it is a business I could potentially turn that "living" into millions of dollars. Doing the thing I really love to do.

January 2012... I started marketing (with YouTube, meh..) my rap and hip hop music and producing a lot. In April 2012, I almost secured two deals, that at the time I thought were going to bring me hundreds of thousands of dollars. They ended up failing, almost got the instrumentals scammed off me for free. I lost hope about ever making it big, and stopped producing for about 2 months.

Fast forward to July 2012. I got a random call from a guy named Brad Thomas. He was very excited, said he found my music online, and that he had been searching for someone like me for a long time. Brad is a soon-to-be very successful entrepreneur, and is the co-founder of a startup creativity-based website/community/movement here in Scottsdale, AZ. He gave me more information about the company, and we set up a meeting.

Fast forward to the present day..
I have done a few projects with them, made a little extra cash, and the big money is about to come in. The website is looking ****ing fantastic, they take part in First Friday in downtown Phoenix and the Tallcat movement really is going to be revolutionary, it is what the world NEEDS right now, not even talking specifically about creative people. By itself, the website is going to really be amazing, and from what I know, very successful I am really excited to be a part of this company and I don't know how but I want some sort of stake in it, equity maybe? Idk. Here's their promo video, that I co-produced the music for: http://www.youtube.com/v/j1uZqKOaYSY

Tallcat launches this April, and along with that, 2 songs I have been working on with Brad (the co-founder and the whole team for that matter are all really creative people..I think that's solid validation.) The releases should be very successful, they are really powerful vocal songs, and very moving. With the marketing and just the potential this site has, these songs, royalties alone ( we are either doing name-your-own price or like 25 cents) should be a pretty good sum, not sure of the success yet obviously, but we are thinking $500k+ . Then the goal is to get it used in a commercial and movie/video game, which will bring in a lot more money.

Part 2 is going to be the start of my personal journey and plan.

Thank you,

Tyrel Johnson

Edit: I should probably post my music link here, so you don't have to search the thread for days lol. https://soundcloud.com/geniumproductions

[1PercentStreet]

Good luck! Hope it works out for you man. I don't know the music industry that well so I do not want to comment on anything in particular.(I mean, I want to comment but I do not want to at the same time )

[Genium]

Part 2

My short term goals are to:
- Brainstorm all my ideas and goals (what game developers to contact, what to send them, etc) and write it all down.
- Clean up my YouTube channel, and keep my music videos down to a minimum (15). Just really focus and show only my best work.
- I have my domain purchased, GeniumProductions.com so the next step is to gather ideas for what I want my website like.
- Finish a few more songs, get my 10 best organized, and get my website launched ASAP. Goal is before Valentine's day.
- After the website is done, meet with the Tallcat team and decide how to contact the 100+ game developing companies, 70+ indie and major movie companies, and 25 different top YouTube channels.
- Have Tallcat contact their good contacts in Hollywood, and try to land a job that way as well, and have the meeting with a guy from Hollywood who manages a bunch of pretty famous people there and see where that takes me.


I believe Genium is pretty brandable/marketable. Everyone I know calls me Genium except my lovely lady, Kourtney, she has other nicknames for me
The name Genium is short for Ingenium, which means "innate talent". I thought it was catchy enough, and its stuck pretty well.


As of today..

I have yet to write down my ideas (busy writing this and had a long meeting about my website/music).
For the website, I have decided that I want to make it professional, but catchy enough to really capture attention. I wont have any music playing automatically. I am going to have a simple picture of me edited creatively, a cool design, and 5 different menu links/buttons; Bio, Contact, and 3 different categories (Video Game Soundtracks, Movie Scores, and Music Production). The categories will open to a nice, professional media player. Like I said, between the 3 categories, I am going to have 10-15 pieces of my best music.

I talked with Brad, and I am going to have one of his friends do most of the website work for me, friends discount I am going to choose a template off a template website for under $100 and then get the site done, by Valentine's Day.

As of now, its off to brainstorming more ideas and organizing them into a game plan, organizing my YouTube page, and then putting the finishing touches on my top music pieces. Oh, and landing the job at one of the best resorts in Phoenix (so I can bring in an extra 500/month and finally move out), and starting my college semester next week (which is gonna sort of slow me down a little).

I am really excited for the first half off this year, it is going to be a lot of hard work, but it will pay off. 2013 will be a great year

I will keep updating, with all the things that happen on this endeavor, this journey to freedom!

All the best,

Tyrel Johnson (Genium)

[Genium]

Good luck! Hope it works out for you man. I don't know the music industry that well so I do not want to comment on anything in particular.(I mean, I want to comment but I do not want to at the same time )

I would like to hear what you think man, I don't take offense to anything

[SeanKelly]

Sounds great so far, Genium. Would love to hear more from you as you progress. Best of luck!

[1PercentStreet]

I would like to hear what you think man, I don't take offense to anything

I think it's awesome man. Just be careful and always protect yourself. People will try to screw you over for nothing. There is a lot of short term thinking people.

[AgonI]

Links to your music?
BOL!

[Eskil]

Writing/composing music is something I have always been interested in, and I always wondered how music writers can get their works performed by well known artists. I think I would be pretty good at making some catchy tunes, but would have no idea where to turn to. We need a "One Simple Idea" book for songwriters/composers!

I know for a fact there are writers who live very well off of royalties of popular music - and the public often thinks that the artists themselves made the songs, and will never know who these "ghost-composers" are. I wouldn't mind being one some day.

Good luck with your progress by the way!

[Genium]

I think it's awesome man. Just be careful and always protect yourself. People will try to screw you over for nothing. There is a lot of short term thinking people.

I know what you're saying. Its a pretty greedy industry, especially the performers and labels. It's pretty unfortunate. But, I will be careful. Another thing I heard is sometimes those record labels can screw you over really good and you cant do nothing because they have so much money and court isn't worth it. There is definitely a ton of money to be made in several ways in the industry though

[Genium]

Links to your music?
BOL!

Oh, yes! I wont have my website up for a few weeks but here is my SoundCloud in the meantime: https://soundcloud.com/geniumproductions

There is quite a bit of music on there, 21 songs.

Thank you for the support, I appreciate it!

[Genium]

Writing/composing music is something I have always been interested in, and I always wondered how music writers can get their works performed by well known artists. I think I would be pretty good at making some catchy tunes, but would have no idea where to turn to. We need a "One Simple Idea" book for songwriters/composers!

I know for a fact there are writers who live very well off of royalties of popular music - and the public often thinks that the artists themselves made the songs, and will never know who these "ghost-composers" are. I wouldn't mind being one some day.

Good luck with your progress by the way!

That's awesome, do you write music now? Well, it really isn't easy, but to make it easier, a producer IMO needs to be able to come up with new sounding stuff all the time for one, and two, be able to vary his/her productions, like multi-genre. That is where the real money is.

In terms of getting their works performed by the famous, its a combination of luck (like I thankfully got), and "hustlin" (marketing yourself). Once you get your foot in the door though, you are pretty much set, its just exponential from there. All it takes is one hit.

I think you could too man! That is going to be one of my goals, once I "make it". I want to help producers starting out to know what to do so they don't waste their time and talent! If you are looking for some advice on where to start, just PM me. I would love to help you out man

There are a lot of producers/songwriters that make unearthly amounts, in my eyes. Like millions and millions per year. And the royalties are passive-pleasure-dollars! And there are a lot of ways to do it. That's why my goal is to be well-versed in multiple industries, and make "Genium" a very well known one-person songwriting/producing company with all the industries.
Music hits make the producer and anyone else behind the scenes millions and millions, the performers make most money off performing nowadays.. Then there is the movie and video game industry which has a paying standard I heard of $1k-$5k per minute of music, plus HIGH % royalties if soundtracks are turned into albums.
It's hilarious and kind of stupid that the public think that but you know what? The "public" fame would suck IMO, way too much attention for me. Being behind the scenes, a "ghost-composer" like you said is where its at for sure! You won't be a ghost composer in the producing world, but that's a different and much more peaceful type of famous.

Sorry for the rant, I just love talking about this stuff! Thank you for your support!

[SeanKelly]

Checked out your music and even though I've never listened to those particular genres I have to say they were pretty cool

[Genium]

Checked out your music and even though I've never listened to those particular genres I have to say they were pretty cool

Thank you! I appreciate you taking the time to listen, and I am glad you like it I know this is not a music forum so I am trying to be careful with how I share my stuff.

[Eskil]

That's awesome, do you write music now? Well, it really isn't easy, but to make it easier, a producer IMO needs to be able to come up with new sounding stuff all the time for one, and two, be able to vary his/her productions, like multi-genre. That is where the real money is.

In terms of getting their works performed by the famous, its a combination of luck (like I thankfully got), and "hustlin" (marketing yourself). Once you get your foot in the door though, you are pretty much set, its just exponential from there. All it takes is one hit.

I think you could too man! That is going to be one of my goals, once I "make it". I want to help producers starting out to know what to do so they don't waste their time and talent! If you are looking for some advice on where to start, just PM me. I would love to help you out man

There are a lot of producers/songwriters that make unearthly amounts, in my eyes. Like millions and millions per year. And the royalties are passive-pleasure-dollars! And there are a lot of ways to do it. That's why my goal is to be well-versed in multiple industries, and make "Genium" a very well known one-person songwriting/producing company with all the industries.
Music hits make the producer and anyone else behind the scenes millions and millions, the performers make most money off performing nowadays.. Then there is the movie and video game industry which has a paying standard I heard of $1k-$5k per minute of music, plus HIGH % royalties if soundtracks are turned into albums.
It's hilarious and kind of stupid that the public think that but you know what? The "public" fame would suck IMO, way too much attention for me. Being behind the scenes, a "ghost-composer" like you said is where its at for sure! You won't be a ghost composer in the producing world, but that's a different and much more peaceful type of famous.

Sorry for the rant, I just love talking about this stuff! Thank you for your support!

I don't see it as ranting at all. You are understandably excited and passionate about something - and that is great! That's what we all have in common on this forum. It doesn't matter what industry you're in. As long as you have that passion, drive, and persistance - you will get far!

I haven't had time to write much the last few years, as family and business has really taken over my free time. I started making music on my 2nd computer (the Amiga 500) back in 1989, using SoundTracker and other similar tracker software. I kept using trackers for music in the early 90's when I had my first real pc, and later got into electric guitars and making songs that way. It has always just been a hobby, but I really really enjoyed it. I come up with melody lines, beats, riffs, or sections in my head all the time when I'm feeling creative - especially when listening to music. I love trying to think of how a song could sound different or be done better if they had changed this or that, used a different chord there, etc.

Anyway...look who is ranting now, lol. I could go on too!

Yes the music business has always been interesting to me. Like you said, not the performing or being in the spotlight part - but the part that you never hear much about: The creation, production, licensing, and BUSINESS side of it. And you have come to no better place to be than the Fastlane Forum!

Oh and - I also checked out some of your tunes. Nice work man. Sounds very, very professional indeed. Some were honestly better than a lot of the game music or soundtracks I have heard released, so keep it up!

[InLikeFlint]

WOW! Quite the post!

First off, congratulations for having the courage to start trying to make money with your music and then having the perseverance to continue even though a few good deals fell through, truly commendable.

I am excited for you in your process with this new company Tallcat, they sound like a great company that is on the road to making it big, it's wonderful for you because you got onto the train before it left the station!

I will definitely go listen to your music when I get a chance, I listen to music literally all the time.

How awesome would it be if you got a game to sign your music and you were featured throughout the entire game? Or a movie picked you up and your music is exclusively played throughout the movie and they decide to make a series! (Think Blink-182 with American Pie)

The YouTube idea is brilliant, I remember watching a video for a FIFA montage and it had a song that was super catchy, I checked the description, found the link, downloaded the song and also got 2 other albums from the same artist and just a few weeks ago, his most recent! Snowball effect!

Good luck, I look forward to your updates..and who knows maybe someday I will see you producing for some of my facorites: A$AP, 2 Chainz, MGK, Meek Mill!

[Genium]

I don't see it as ranting at all. You are understandably excited and passionate about something - and that is great! That's what we all have in common on this forum. It doesn't matter what industry you're in. As long as you have that passion, drive, and persistance - you will get far!

I haven't had time to write much the last few years, as family and business has really taken over my free time. I started making music on my 2nd computer (the Amiga 500) back in 1989, using SoundTracker and other similar tracker software. I kept using trackers for music in the early 90's when I had my first real pc, and later got into electric guitars and making songs that way. It has always just been a hobby, but I really really enjoyed it. I come up with melody lines, beats, riffs, or sections in my head all the time when I'm feeling creative - especially when listening to music. I love trying to think of how a song could sound different or be done better if they had changed this or that, used a different chord there, etc.

Anyway...look who is ranting now, lol. I could go on too!

Yes the music business has always been interesting to me. Like you said, not the performing or being in the spotlight part - but the part that you never hear much about: The creation, production, licensing, and BUSINESS side of it. And you have come to no better place to be than the Fastlane Forum!

Oh and - I also checked out some of your tunes. Nice work man. Sounds very, very professional indeed. Some were honestly better than a lot of the game music or soundtracks I have heard released, so keep it up!

Exactly. I could have given up a long time ago, there have been multiple tough times on this journey.

I haven't even heard of a tracker I gotta look that up sometime. Yeah that's unfortunate you're too busy, it's really a awesome hobby, sounds like you love it just as much. Thinking of new ways to write songs is really cool, occasionally I do a remix, just to see if I can improve the song

Exactly, there is a lot for me to learn on the business side of the industry. I have come to a great place. The drum has already changed my view on how I'm handling my journey. I am super focused now, seems like this is all I am working on in my free time.

Wow! Thank you man, I appreciate it. I'm glad to hear that, I can't wait till I have some of my works in progress up onto my website; my really good stuff.

Thanks again!

[Genium]

WOW! Quite the post!

First off, congratulations for having the courage to start trying to make money with your music and then having the perseverance to continue even though a few good deals fell through, truly commendable.

I am excited for you in your process with this new company Tallcat, they sound like a great company that is on the road to making it big, it's wonderful for you because you got onto the train before it left the station!

I will definitely go listen to your music when I get a chance, I listen to music literally all the time.

How awesome would it be if you got a game to sign your music and you were featured throughout the entire game? Or a movie picked you up and your music is exclusively played throughout the movie and they decide to make a series! (Think Blink-182 with American Pie)

The YouTube idea is brilliant, I remember watching a video for a FIFA montage and it had a song that was super catchy, I checked the description, found the link, downloaded the song and also got 2 other albums from the same artist and just a few weeks ago, his most recent! Snowball effect!

Good luck, I look forward to your updates..and who knows maybe someday I will see you producing for some of my facorites: A$AP, 2 Chainz, MGK, Meek Mill!

Thanks man! Even the learning curve of making music has been difficult. Now I am at a level where I feel really confident, but not comfortable. Comfortable isn't good, there is always room for improving

Yes, me too. I can't say much if anything because launch is in April, but the potential for all the parts and the site as a whole is unbelievably tremendous. I'm so excited.

Thanks man, let me know what you think too. I have like 10 different genres if not more up on my soundcloud lol. Should be some stuff you like.

To make a soundtrack or score is my dream. Actually to make lots of them. For example, doing something like the Halo series would be amazing. There are so many possibilities!

Yep, that's usually what happens on YouTube, that's why I have to take advantage of it

Thanks you man, I appreciate it. That would be really cool, I want someone like 2 Chainz, Rick Ross, or Drake to use one of my beats someday

[Genium]

Update:

I cleaned up my YouTube, from 30 uploads down to around 10. Just wanted my better stuff on there, so it's not a pain to find the songs that actually matter.

I also updated the channel design by myself. Got a banner finally! YouTube made my account a "brand channel partnership" so that's cool. I went with a simple design, and some image mapping links to my SoundCloud, Facebook fan page, and website.

I've got a lot of producing to get done now Finally!

Cheers!

[Eskil]

I haven't even heard of a tracker I gotta look that up sometime.

SoundTracker

The "scene" as they called it was HUGE back in its day, especially in Europe - with tons of people making their own music with trackers, called mods (filename .MOD). Some of them were actually extremely good, and I believe later become professional musicians. Some of the Amiga guys who were my age and part of this scene went on to found game companies like Dice, who of course have given us such great games like Battlefield, etc.

Probably the best 4-track .mod ever made in my opinion is this one:

Check out the whole song. Way cool... Can you believe what you hear is only 4 channels?

Mods are still being made today and there are annual contests at the biggest LAN parties in the world, like the big annual "The Gathering" in Norway.

But back in the late 80's / early 90's it was more for fun and to test out what was possible to compose in your mom's basement, lol. The affordable Amiga 500 was way ahead of its time with 16 bit audio and 4 channel simultaneous stereo sound. This was 10 years before most PCs started shipping with built-in sound.

Oh here I go nerdin' out on everyone again, lol....

[easystreet]

Man I have to say I was pretty skeptical when I first read your thread. Those are such lofty goals, and it would take some serious talent to even have a chance at achieving any of them. But then I listened to your music. That is some very professional sounding stuff. Easily good enough for modern cinema and pop. I just finished listening to the song "Greece". From the first few seconds of the song I felt like giving myself a wealth pep talk. And I continued to do so until the song ended. Gave me chills. It was awesome. Keep it up, put the work in, and I hope to see you at the top one day.

As far as advice:
I think the best thing you could do to increase the odds of success would be to move to the biggest hub of music production you can find and immerse yourself in it. You would definitely find the connections if you put your stuff out there and surrounded yourself with the right people. I would imagine this place to be NYC but you probably know better than I do. I realize Phoenix is not a small town but I think the advantage you could get from a move would be considerable. So yeah, your music is pro-level, you just need the right friends!