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Interview with Steven Melin
Steven Melin is a multi-talented video game composer out of Atlanta. I discovered his YouTube channel through poking around for some video game music theory resources. His video on the Zelda chord has a solid viewership and I could tell he had some serious composition and piano chops – and a serious love for classic game music.
I reached out and he was more than happy to sit down for an interview. He offered practical and inspiring advice on how to become a full-time musician and video game composer.
Steven has been making music all his life, first as a piano performance major, then as a composer and teacher. He’s also an entrepreneur, with his fingers square on the pulse of the music business.
In this interview you’ll learn:
- The most effective passive income streams to start with
- How to calendar your days and weeks for maximum productivity
- The value of building an online music course and a basic roadmap for shipping one
- Habits, books, and resources that help you build an entrepreneurial mindset
Making money as a musician
Making money via iTunes purchases or digital streams is an uphill battle. Instead, it pays to be creative with how you monetize your art. Consider the following ways to succeed as a jack-of-all-trades freelancer in the music space.
Network like crazy
Steven is a genuinely cool guy, so it came as no surprise to me that he got his first film scoring gig through networking.
When it comes to any freelancing activity, an in-person, face-to-face relationship will always get you further than cold-calling or cold-emailing endless prospects.
Many of us didn’t have the opportunity to make friends or network at a formal educational institution. For us, joining meetups or jam sessions in your area as a start. Do a search on Meetup.com for composition meetups in your area.
If you’re interested in composing music for video games, network with developers at local hack-a-thons. Those people are the ones that will sign your checks.
Reinvest your profits into more equipment
It’s essential to maintain a long-term vision for your music if you want to turn it into a career. Steven knew that reinvesting in more gear would provide a much higher return in the long run than just a few more dollars in his bank account.
He negotiated with the client, and they agreed to make his payment an iMac computer for composing as opposed to cash. He’s still using that trusty iMac today.
“Plant your flag” in various disciplines
Often, the bootstrapping musician must pursue certain avenues of income that might not scale up to a full career income. These “quick cash” solutions are often out of necessity.
For me, I know that live gigging for weddings won’t scale enough to support my family. Steven reminded me that just one income stream likely wouldn’t be enough on its own.
Still, he’s pursued many of the “unscalable” income streams and “planted his flag” there. When he returned to try another path, say, a transition from online coaching to course-creation, he still gets requests for online Skype training that wouldn’t have come in had he not explored that avenue.
It’s okay to be selective
Steven said that when he first started freelancing, he said yes to every client that darkened his door and it almost ruined his life.
“People will respect you more when you’re selective,” he said. “Plus, you’re able to work the jobs you’re passionate about and carve your path, not someone else’s.”
Plan ahead for feast and famine
Part of being an entrepreneur is practicing fiscal discipline. You have to wear both the CEO and the CFO hat, making sure that you’re held accountable for your finances.
Did you get a huge check for a gig this month? Steven says to be smart and think long-term. You’re not guaranteed work next month, and if you recklessly spend with dollar signs in your eyes, you’ll be kicking yourself during the next dry spell.
The point? Budgeting, both personally and professionally, is vital.
There are lots of benefits to becoming incorporated or an LLC (that I don’t have time to touch on here). But once you begin making a consistent income as a video game composer, take advantage of tax benefits afforded to you. Also, use a piece of software like Quickbooks to manage your business, well, like a business.
Steven has generously offered a 90% off discount of both of his courses to all readers of this post. To start learning all the skills you need to become a full-time video game composer, check out his course here. If you’d prefer a more generalized approach to scoring media of all kinds, check out his first course here.
Start with passive income streams
“Carving your path” as a video game composer is an experience unique to each person. As a general rule, Steven recommends starting with passive income opportunities.
Passive income refers to something like a course, eBook, sample library, stock music library, or otherwise downloadable resource that is created once and then posted online for repeated purchase.
It’s a frontloaded investment of time and energy that (hopefully) provides a more substantial return in the future.
Below are some examples of passive income opportunities for the aspiring video game composer.
AudioJungle
Steven had high praise for AudioJungle, one of the most robust stock music libraries on the internet.
It was from AudioJungle that he received his very first passive income check, which he still receives to this day. He unpacked some of the benefits of becoming an AudioJungle contributor.
When you become an exclusive creator for AudioJungle, they award you a higher cut of your sales. However, getting buried underneath the full-time content creators is a real risk.
For this reason, aim for at least 20 solid tracks. You’ll increase your chances even more if you’re consistently creating relevant music and if you understand the “formula.”
What do I mean by formula? Well, composing for stock music is much different than composing for the next great platformer on Steam.
Educational resources
Steven also mentioned things like eBooks as great passive income tools. eBooks are a great way to dip your foot in the passive income waters before diving in head-first.
eBooks cost nothing but a little time (you can produce one with free software on a Mac or PC). Depending on the scope and research required, you can make one in a matter of weeks.
They’re also a great way to test the needs of your audience and answer that all-too-important question: “Is this valuable enough to pay for?”
Paid webinars are also a viable business model, and have the added benefit of an interactive question & answer time with the audience.
When it comes to getting the most bang for your buck, however, Steven insisted that online courses are the way to go.
Hungry to learn, hungry to buy
Steven was quick to cite education as the second biggest industry in the world right now, which should come as no surprise.
Think about how many people you’ve ever met that wish they could play piano like Billy Joel, or sing like Adele, or play guitar like Tommy Emmanuel.
Think about all the YouTube tutorials (hundreds of thousands!) that promise to teach you how to compose, sing, produce, play, arrange, and everything in between.
There are so many disciplines within music that people are hungry to learn and hungry to buy. Steven saw a massive gap in the market, namely in the space of composing music for video games, TV, and film, and jumped on it.
His most recent course hadn’t yet been released at the time of our interview but is now available on Udemy. Based on how emphatic our conversation was, I could tell course creation was a turning point in his career.
Course creation blueprint
Courses take 3-5 months to create, according to Steven, but the payoff is immense. He recommends an automatic hosting and curation platform like Udemy. For a small fee, they do all the technical heavy lifting, so you’re freed up to do what you do best – create quality content.
Not only has the course dramatically improved his ability to be a self-sustaining video game composer, but it’s also been a tool for gathering valuable feedback about what to make next.
Stumped on what subject matter to cover in your educational resources? If one or two people ask you a question, answer it. If more than five people ask you the same question – make a course!
“Much of my audience told me they needed something more basic,” Steven mentioned. “So now I have a roadmap for my next course. The market is screaming for this and more-than-willing to pay for it.”
Don’t wait for a huge audience
While we geeked out on courses and passive income, I got increasingly more excited. Until my inner skeptic told me, “You can’t make a course, you need a huge audience; you need to test the market, you need tons of fancy gear, blah, blah, blah…” There I am making the perfect the enemy of the good again.
When I asked Steven how big his audience was (particularly his email list) when he launched his course, I was stunned at his response.
“Less than a hundred.”
What?! Most marketers I know argue the audience-first approach. You build an audience before launching a product to gather intel and market feedback.
Steven’s success seems to fly in the face of that maxim. He launched a product into the market (of his own admission, out of necessity) and the feedback – and passive income – rolled in all the same.
I often wonder if our mantra of “I don’t have a course yet, I’m waiting to build my audience,” is a fancy form of procrastination.
Either way, Steven did it and the numbers don’t lie. He mentioned that the day before our interview he acquired 22 new students in his course.
“It’s been a wild ride,” he said with a smile.
You don’t need to wait for a massive email list, subscriber base or Facebook following. Just make something.
Embrace your journey (dealing with imposter syndrome)
Something I struggle with is imposter syndrome, or this idea that you’re one project or composition away from being exposed as a fraud and laughed out of your industry. Many CEOs and actors struggle with this. Steven’s suggestion? Be honest about where you’re at in your own musical journey.
He astutely pointed out that YouTube vloggers and creators have made handsome livings through authenticity and honesty, not glitz or polished perfection.
Many audiences can see through egos and snobbery. Genuineness is far more attractive than being technically “right” all the time.
Hobbits and wizards
Steven mentioned that every teacher, composer, and content-creator has a different approach and spin on teaching or making art. It’s these unique, personable qualities that attract particular audiences.
He urged me, and those listening, to fight the urge to throw in the towel just because there are more educated and experienced teachers out there. Indeed, there will always be better people and worse people in every discipline.
I’ve often heard it said that content creators fall into two categories: Gandalfs and Frodos. Gandalfs are wizened, experienced gurus who’ve walked the path and have the authority and evidence to guide others as an expert. These would be people like YouTuber Rick Beato, who’s graduated from Berklee and has been producing and teaching music longer than I’ve been alive.
Frodos, however, are more vulnerable, perhaps more down-to-earth voices that freely admit they haven’t seen the end of the road. They don’t claim to know everything, but they share everything they learn and invite their followers to go along the journey with them. That’s where I’m at.
What’s important is that you don’t let your inner naysayer deter you from adding value and giving your perspective. Even if we say something technically “wrong,” I’ve found most musical communities to be very gracious.
If they correct an error, most times it’s with gentleness and understanding. Besides, we all know that we’re our own worst critic.
Marketing for the video game composer
Marketing is often a dirty word for creative people, but good work won’t get recognized in today’s noisy world without a little technical elbow grease.
Steven schedules a few hours every week for marketing and managing his online presence – time that could be spent making music – because he recognizes how crucial it is to grow his income.
Optimize your properties for search
Steven mentioned the power of Udemy’s search engine and integration with Google as a significant factor contributing to his course’s success.
He suggests spending the time to optimize all online properties for search. Make sure to tag, title, and thumbnail your YouTube videos correctly.
Optimize your website’s content with search-friendly keywords and meta descriptions. The goal is to rank for multiple search engines so whether your audience is on YouTube or Google, you can make your presence known.
An excellent resource for search optimization is the Yoast SEO plugin (free) for WordPress. If you’ve got a WordPress-based website, this plugin is a must-have as it grades the efficacy of your content and even gives you specific suggestions on how to rank higher.
As far as YouTube goes, I recommend TubeBuddy (free version or paid version), which analyzes your videos and content tags similarly, presenting recommendations and suggested optimizations.
Build a resource funnel
Steven was speaking my language when he started talking about funnels. In the world of marketing and business, almost everything can be represented by a funnel.
The purpose of a funnel is to cast a wide net of interest via various online or offline “arms.” These might include social media, a performance, YouTube videos, or a popular music blog.
Managing the funnel means taking these disparate audiences and pushing or “funneling” them down to one centralized location – usually a website. From here, many marketers suggest capturing audience information via an email list so you can market to them later. 
Once they’re on the website and in your email database, the next phase of funnel optimization is to push them to a shopping cart, streaming site, or a particular place where they can make a purchase.
A good funnel ensures the path to a transaction is clear and unobscured. Remember, the end game is not to have a massive Facebook following, but to convert those followers into happy, paying customers.
Have one unified presence
In addition to managing your funnel and making sure it all leads to your site, Steven mentioned that it should feature everything you do in an organized, systemic way.
“I can’t tell you how many times people have come to my website looking to buy one thing and then left buying something completely different,” he noted.
If you’re a teacher, composer, coach, YouTuber, performer, or producer, make sure you have a unified place where anybody can go and take advantage of your services in any of these disciplines.
Work habits of the self-made video game composer
It’s often not raw talent or skill that sets apart the successful entrepreneurs from the failed ones, but a consistent, unshakable drive to work hard.
Following the process and submitting to the grind day in and day out will often yield the fruit of success. These are some tips Steven shared on how he stays afloat as a one-man entrepreneur.
Read books
It’s a challenging but straightforward appeal to us young, creative types who’d instead learn everything from YouTube or podcasts.
There is a more profound wisdom gleaned from concentrated periods of reading that’s inaccessible from the internet. Here are a few books that Steven recommends for video game composers looking to turn their craft into cash:
- Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook – Gary Vaynerchuk
- The 4-Hour Workweek – Timothy Ferris
- Start with Why – Simon Sinek
- Mixing Secrets – Mike Senior
Channel writer’s block into creativity
Writer’s block is very real thing according to Steven. It’s easy to get discouraged and procrastinate when you feel stuck. Steven recommends channeling your writer’s block into doing something else that’s equally creative and productive.
Next time you feel stuck, try this:
- Redirect creative energy into another side project.
- Learn a new feature or keyboard shortcut in your DAW.
- Practice your instrument
- Learn a new piece for your repertoire
These can get the creative juices flowing again. You’ll find yourself refreshed as you return to your primary task.
Better yet, Steven likes to write stock music for libraries like AudioJungle when he’s plagued by writer’s block, increasing his chances of making more passive income while recharging his creative tank.
Use tools to calendar your week
Steven uses Evernote as his digital brain for note-taking, deadlines, and scheduling, and a calendar app for various due dates.
Though he hated calendars and schedules growing up, he now has every hour of every day planned so he can hit the ground running every morning.
Set big goals that translate into small action steps
When I asked Steven how he’d recommend someone going about something as daunting as building an online course, he gave me a sample roadmap:
“I would set a due date. Say, six months from now. I’d scale back down and ask myself, how many hours per day can I work on this? Then, once I know I can work an hour per day, or even an hour every other day, that helps me understand the scope of how big the course can be.”
After that, it’s as simple as chipping away at the next task for an hour a day and releasing the course (no matter what!) on that due date.
What I appreciated most about this method is Steven setting the due date first. Something I (and many others) struggle with is a phenomenon called “scope creep.”
It’s common in the tech industry. It refers to how the scope of a project can slowly grow during production. As we try to improve the product before its even released, the project’s scope “creeps” to the point of overwhelming perfectionism.
The original plan and the new “perfect” plan are unrecognizable.
That’s where a lot of people (myself included) quit. Setting a due date and constraining yourself to it frees you from the trappings of scope creep. It forces you to ship, come hell or high water.
“Work hard”
When I asked Steven for closing thoughts, that’s what he said.
Really? There’s no silver bullet, no secret gene possessed by an elect few?
Afterwards, I thought of how few people are working toward their goals (me included). They’re planning, pontificating, dreaming… but they’re not working. Well, I suppose interviewing Steven and writing out this blog post is a start.
This advice was simple. But if it’s so simple, why aren’t we all doing it? What are we waiting for?
If you’d like to see more of Steven’s work or hire him, check out his site here. His YouTube channel has some really helpful tutorials and great piano renditions of classic video game songs. And of course, if you’d like to learn to compose music for video games, TV, and film, check out his Udemy course here.