We recently connected with Brian Altman and have shared our conversation below.

Brian, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

“Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day, but teach a man to fish and he will eat for the rest of his life”. In the music industry, I have found that the majority of established studios and producers whom I encounter are not willing to share critical knowledge and guidance with inexperienced bands and artists. These ‘independent’ artists then become ‘dependent’ on these gatekeepers for a great many things. I am currently restructuring my business model to combat and eliminate these dependencies. In the next several months I will be unveiling a service package through which I will be coaching and equipping independent artists to perform a great many tasks themselves, from music production (which, contrary to popular opinion, can be easily done at home for most artists), to navigating the ins and outs or music licensing, royalty collection, and music distribution. Independent artists choose to be independent so they can maintain control of their own careers. Through the guidance of knowledgeable and trustworthy mentors, the artists I work with will soon be able to break free from the predatory clutches of industry gatekeepers. It’s a long overdue service that the market desperately needs, and I’m excited to bring this program to the market and enable artists around the world to achieve TRUE independence!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I have been working professionally in the music industry since 2015, and full time as a music producer and engineer since 2019. I am a lifelong musician, playing guitar for over 25 years, but for these last several years I have focused my energies on owning and independently operating a 1200 sq ft recording studio. My service offerings have varied greatly, from studio music production to mixing, mastering, and live audio engineering. I have also begun to offer video production and editing.

As of January 1, 2024, however, I have downsized out of a full size recording studio into a single room where I can mix, master, and do smaller scale productions. I am very excited about this change, as it not only reduces my business expenses by thousands of dollars per month, but also significantly frees up my calendar to focus on helping my clients with the things they need the most.

When I became a full time producer in 2019 I quickly discovered that most independent musicians need more than help with music production – they are desperate for help with performing the many other core functions required to operate as a full time independent musician. For the last several years I have spent countless hours with clients long after my work was completed, discussing everything from social media management to royalty collection, and I’ve been happy to help. Their success is my success, after all. Up until this year, however, I have not monetized or systemized these coaching services.

This year I am restructuring my business and service offerings, migrating from an hourly studio rental model to a service package model. This service package will include personal coaching from myself or a qualified partner through which we can help clients with everything they need in their music career, including home music production, mixing, mastering, music licensing registration, royalty collection, distribution, social media development, website and EPK creation, and more!

I believe this revised service offering will not only save my clients time and money, but will also equip them to be more effective music professionals. Additionally, I won’t be limited to the artists in my area, but I will be able to help artists all over the world! It’s an exciting change and I can’t wait to officially introduce it to the market!

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I’m going to say something somewhat controversial here. For my entire music career people have been telling me to find a ‘niche’ and stick to it. That has never resonated with me – I love to do too many things, and I don’t want to limit myself to just a single operation. Talk about boring! I don’t want to niche in that way, and I’m just not going to do it!

I understand the principle behind the sentiment though: by sticking to a specific niche you can carve out a section of your market and maximize the potential of that market. For me, however, I think there’s a way to expand the application of this strategy in a way that isn’t often explored.

If I were to follow this guidance strictly, it would dictate that I pick a specific service – let’s say mixing – and a specific genre – let’s say metal – and start directing all of my lead generation efforts towards this market. I could then build business systems that maximize the potential of every stage of the sales and marketing funnel for metal artists looking for mixing services. It’s not bad advice, but it doesn’t work for me simply because, as much as I love mixing metal music, I don’t want to JUST mix metal music!

Instead, I’m focusing on what I WANT to do and have found a way to turn that into it’s own niche. A niche is just a unique pocket of the marketplace, after all. By grouping the most valuable services I can provide into a package deal, I’ve created a niche without putting myself in a position to lose interest in that niche. It may not be the conventional way, but it works for those of us who don’t want to do just one thing.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

As I said, I went full time in music and audio in June of 2019. In March of 2020, the COVID lockdowns hit and I had to cancel ALL of my appointments. That was a tough hit to endure. I worked extremely hard to fill my schedule with appointments, and I had a pretty full schedule.

There was so much uncertainty at the time. I watched many friends close their studios, and several left California altogether. I had a tough choice to make: do I give up, go back to corporate America, and get a job (if that was even possible at the time)? Or do I double down on my business and capitalize on those gaps in the market? I chose to double down. I remodeled my home studio, adding 2 more rooms to the space and significantly expanding my capabilities. In May 2020, without much advertising at all, my schedule started filling up fast, and by the end of the year I had outgrown that space and needed a much larger space to work out of. That’s when I left the home studio and built the 1200 sq ft space I had been working out of for the last 3 years.

Never make decisions based on fear – always make decisions based on facts and trust your own potential.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://instagram.com/brianaltmanofficial

Image Credits
Melissa van Ruiten Photography