AJ Book of Tips | by Authors, for Authors

Tip #26: Spend time listening to the works of other AJ authors across as many genres as possible. You will benefit from the time spent learning from other talented people. You also become familiar with what’s in the jungle at the time. Which brings me to…

Tip #27: It’s nice to suggest the works of other authors (if you don’t have the appropriate track yourself) when you see an item request in the forums. We are all interested in self promotion of course, but sometimes pointing a buyer in the right direction instead of suggesting a track from your own portfolio (which doesn’t really fully fit the brief) pays off for everyone. The buyer gets helpful advice, the appropriate author makes a sale and everyone wins. You get to know you did the a good deed and will most likely make a positive connection with another composer through your unselfishness.

It also highly increases the chances of someone doing it for you in return in the future when you’re track is needed.

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Tip #28: Spend some time on your item descriptions, keep it descriptive and suggest possible uses for your item. Make sure the description is visually appealing and use the correct HTML formatting to avoid long and ugly looking URLs all over your item page.

Tip #29: Don’t forget to use referral links when you put your items out of AJ, like YouTube, SoundCloud, blogs etc.

Tip #30: Sometimes when you upload your audiojungle promo on youtube it will come out squished horizontaly or verticaly, which seems weird cause your initial videos are in the right ratio. So I thought this Youtube FIX would be heplful for those having this problem.

How to fix aspect ratio of your Youtube video promo

Tip #31: Be creative and original. No one likes copy-cats!

Tip #32: Make the music you love to make. Sure, you can make a few Ukulele corporate jingles every now and then if you really want to. But if you rock in making Metal…make a ton of Metal, it will sell because you will be the best at it. I think a lot of musicians with specific backgrounds in music come here and start to make Corporate Happy tunes and don’t do very well so they stop producing music.

I personally love to make all types of music, and as a result I’m not the best in any one category. That’s great for being a film composer but not for library music. If your the best at making R&B or Comedy for film you will do very well here! Good luck :slight_smile:

Tip #33: Engineering is probably more valuable than composition. This is highly debatable as you really do NEED both. But Engineering is the Money Beet(reference “The Office”). It will still probably take me another 4 years to get my Engineering chops up to par…if ever!

Tip #34: Give comments! Musicians love when their music is being listened to. If you ever catch yourself listening to another authors work, give them a shout! Even if they didn’t get a sale that day/week/month reading your comment for some reason makes it all better.

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Tip #35: Don’t despair when your sales stop in some period. Just continue with your work and make some good music.

Tip # 36: Sure, we need money, but, remember, money is not everything and everything is not money. Enjoy your world of sounds and different things as well. But if your are one, who always is able to make good, qualified, commercial music, you don’t need any tip, just have a money counter. :slight_smile:

Tip # 37: If you do and make what you love from your heart, it feels better when someone else appreciates it, rather than following in someone else’s footprints, so be unique, weird and crazy…

Just as nature intended you to be.

:stuck_out_tongue: :silly: :nerdy: :sing: :bigevilgrin: :bashfulcute: :evil: :kiss: :smug: :sunglasses: :delicious: :yawn: :impatient: :inlove: :open_mouth:

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Tip # 38: Make artist friends! If nature intended you to be an artist, hang out in your personal life with artists, they will be capable of valuing you and your work more than a person that has no connection to the musical universe, and will be capable of offering you a better feedback and ways to improve.

Tip # 39: Never get influenced by “writer’s block”! Go out to find inspiration, visit art galleries, museums, parks, read books, watch TED talks, find the loved one, do the things you always wanted to do, enjoy life! This is a serious (and probably the best) recharging method and by no time you will find your creative juices flowing like never before. If you want to produce art, consume art.

Tip # 40: Know thyself! Understand your needs and pleasures, who you are, where you come from, where are you and where do you wish to be one day. Explore yourself as much as possible and you will reward yourself in every aspect of life by doing so. Music included.

Tip # 41: Don’t let ideas slip away! Keep a recorder/instrument at your reach (every mobile phone nowadays can be both) and slam the melody when it comes. Write it down if you have notation skills. Never let them fly because ideas are like butterflies and the next day/hour/minute you might find yourself not remembering any of that sweet tune that was playing in your head a second ago.

Tip # 42: Trust your instincts! 99% of the DNA of the entire individuals of the human species is the same code. Point is: if you like it, odds are that many others will.

Tip # 43: Be a knowledge-digger! Every bit of information you absorb will place itself below you and elevate you above others. And make sure it’s the best quality type of information.

Tip # 44: Always study! Music is an immense universe where one lifetime isn’t enough to absorb and understand all of its complexities. Buy books, do research, listen to those that you idolize and learn as much as you can.

Tip # 45: Experiment, experiment, experiment! Some of the best ideas came out of experimentation. Play notes, twist them in between, reverse them, chop them, tweak the knobs, chain effects together, make the craziest combinations possible and then filter them until that sound that you never heard before pops out. And it can sound so awesome!

Tip # 46: Always refine your taste! The more refined your taste is, the more your music will be. The more refined your music will be, the more it will stand out.

Tip # 47: You did not choose music, Music chose you! Serve her well, not the money. Always enjoy what you do and have fun while you’re at it. Do what you do best and the money will come, inevitably.

Tip # 48: Learn to fool around! You will surprise yourself by the ideas that can come to you just by smashing that keyboard from top to bottom in the craziest ways possible. Ever thought where the word “play” comes from? Play music!

Tip #49: Don’t leave random comments and/or non-tips on the AJ Book of Tips.

Tip #50: Learn to take criticism well, and use them as opportunities to grow and embrace change.

Tip #51: You don’t have to take everyone’s advice just because they give it, but always take the time to understand the perspective and motivation behind it, and ultimately behind your own decisions.

Tip #52: If it’s an AJ Reviewer, you should probably just take their advice :wink:

Tip #53: Don’t change your avatar, at least not too often because clients won’t recognize you soon.

Tip #54: Don’t abuse with alcohol before sending a track :wink:

Tip #55: be Social.

Create an account on soundcloud, twitter, youtube… and use the power of social media networks to promote your music.

Tip #56: Front page exposure isn’t everything… but it’s something. If you upload items back to back, only your last uploaded item will be featured on the front page (you can only have 1 item featured on the front page in the new items section at a time). I would wait at least a couple hours between each upload if you want front page exposure of all your items.

Tip #57: When you get a track rejected, write another track. When you get a track approved, write another track. When you make a sale, write another track. When you go a day without a sale, write another track. When you step on a Lego left out by your child or grandchild, write another track. Whenever you find a spare minute, write another track.

Tip #58: Keep on good work! :slight_smile:

Tip #59: When you’re editting the description for your track, refrain from using Enter or Shift+Enter to include a linefeed in your description. Linefeeds can have compatibility issues on varying devices; this goes for your input as well as the outputted result. If you want a blank line, end your paragraph with the br/ tag and put another br/ tag to skip the line. Remember: formatting your descriptions well is important. Noones like to read long chunks of text without having a clear overview.

Tip #60: Don’t lose your inner child. Those simple melodies you first ever sung along to are often the most memorable - because of their simplicity and naivety. Simples!