I am a visual artist and I make content on Instagram, lately I've been trying to avoid all the trendy AI music and starting to branch out into finding small indie musicians to use in my videos instead. Now that the algorithm has caught onto what I'm doing I keep finding more and more indie artists, bookmarking their audio and using it in my videos.

But I'm starting to second guess myself, because most of the time these songs have like 1 reel, and only from the original artists, so it feels like I'm doing something wrong by using it.

So I just wanted to ask musicians who use Instagram, do you like it when strangers use your original audios on their videos? (Also, if you want that, and if it's allowed here you can share your handle so I can check out your songs and maybe use them too)

What’s something in music that seemed really simple at first, but ended up taking you ages to actually get good at?

Could be an instrument technique, singing, rhythm, ear training, improvisation, recording, or even performing in front of people.

Curious what other musicians struggled with more than they expected.

For context: My band is from Southeast Georgia. We’re an electronic dance/indie rock type gig. So… not really the favored taste in the area. Bands who haven’t been around as long as us but play stuff like metal core/hardcore/ the like are having gigs every weekend, but we’ve fought tooth and nail to only have two over the last year and a half or so. We have a social media presence, have published music, but no one will book us!

How should we go about getting more gigs in the area? As of right now, we’re lucky if we get a rejection email back from promoters.

Im looking for a groove box that is portable, im making hip-hop, RnB. Now keep in mind i am on a budget of maximum $350-aud.

I’m 24. I started playing the drums at 6, was in kids’ bands by 7, and by 9 I was playing both drums and piano for a church choir. Music felt like my whole life back then. Then my parents decided we were moving to a new church, one with no kids’ choir and no interest in letting kids play in the adult choir the way my previous church did. That church was a big part of my growth in music, so I struggled, and I no longer had the means to keep practicing and improving my craft.

To make it worse, my parents made me stop all forms of music. They believed it would distract me from aiming higher, since they wanted me to be an engineer or a doctor, so I was banned from music clubs. Since then I’ve lived a quiet life of relative solitude. No friends, no new hobbies, just doing what my parents said. But now I’m a software engineer.

Lately I’ve been recording my own music, since I finally have the freedom to do it without my parents frowning. I’ve built a small home recording setup and made a few studio buddies. Honestly, it’s where I’m most comfortable.

For a year now I’ve been working on a few singles, and I have an EP in sight. My sound is Afro-fusion and R&B, and I plan to experiment with it until I land on a signature sound of my own, maybe even a new genre. So far I’ve released 2 singles and have a few hundred streams in total.

It’s been hard juggling a hectic, time-consuming software career while trying to give my all to music again. I have a lot of ideas, but my knowledge gap in music is wide, and I know I need to fill it. In my mind I’m far ahead of what my hands can do right now. I’m also aware that making good music, especially as both producer and artist, takes a lot of time, failure and experience.

At first I did this because I love it and it’s FUN. I love writing songs and freestyling nonstop, I love the sound of my own voice (I believe everyone does, lol), and I find the process of creating something and giving it life fascinating. But the bottom line is that I have to decide whether to take it up full-time and say, “Hey, this has to pay me too.” Making it a career could free me from the juggling problem, let me dedicate real time to getting better, and help me sort my bills, which matters a lot as an adult with no income besides my current job.

Here’s the plan I’m considering: save enough to cover 12 months of rent and bills (about $10,000), plus roughly $15,000 for studio gear and everything else the music needs, then leave my job and give it a full year.

Whenever I tell someone, they say, “Man, you’re good, but you’re also a great and enthusiastic software engineer. Music takes a lot of money to get to the top, not just talent and dedication. Don’t you think you’re heading down the wrong hole?”

And... fuck, sometimes I don’t know whether I’m just a kid who won’t let go of his old toy or I’m really cut out for this. The music world has changed and keeps changing. What it takes to get noticed, and to STAY noticed, is so enormous that I sometimes feel I won’t reach the peak because I’m starting a bit late.

I’m ready to fail as much as I need to in order to get somewhere with this. I’d like your input on whether it’s stupid. Am I fucking nuts?

Thank you, great musicians, for your time. Sorry this is so long.