Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Dan Millice. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Dan, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
My mission statement is “Serve the Song”. As a mastering engineer, I deliver the song in its final form. Mastering is the final phase of the music production process, prior to public release. I focus on serving the song by doing what I believe is best for the composition and the production.
Quality control is my number one focus. I mastered over a thousand songs this past year, and each song required its own customized mastering settings – not one song used the same identical mastering settings as another. I don’t use a template – I start each song from scratch. My clients span infinite musical genres, each genre and production requiring its own customized approach and sonic finish. You wouldn’t approach a jazz song the same way you approach a heavy metal song or an EDM song, technically or artistically. I also have to deliver the client their masters for multiple different physical and digital formats (streaming platforms in stereo, streaming platforms in Dolby Atmos, Vinyl Production, CD, YouTube, Social Media, and the list continues to grow….) Quality control and file organization throughout this process is critical.
I’ve made my mission statement “Serve the Song” because I’m focused on delivering one song at a time – at the highest possible quality, and in alignment with my client’s artistic visions – both technically and creatively.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My name is Dan Millice and I’m a mastering engineer based in New York City. I have been living in NYC and working as a mastering engineer for about thirteen years now. Since then, I’ve been fortunate to master Grammy and Latin Grammy-nominated albums. I’ve mastered albums that have received Gold and Platinum certifications, and one Emmy.
I attended Appalachian State University to get a degree in music industry studies, with an emphasis in Recording and Music Production. My original plan was to record/mix/produce albums. I started out recording and mixing projects for my friends and people around town. But after college I moved from North Carolina up to NYC to further my education and gain real life experience in the music industry. I got an internship at Masterdisk – and that’s where I started learning and developing a passion for mastering albums.
In the recording and mixing phases of production, there are always more steps to be taken before the album is finished. Changing arrangements, edits, overdubs, re-tracking, re-editing, mixing, mix revisions, etc… But in mastering, you are the final step, and you get to be there for the final presentation. It feels rewarding to help my clients cross the finish line.
What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?
Word of mouth has been the biggest accelerator of growth for my mastering business, by far. I value quality. I value customer service. I value vibe. My clients are happy with the level of quality work I do, and of equal or possibly of greater importance, with the experience they have while working with me. This is why they feel comfortable sharing my name or email address when their friends or colleagues are in need of mastering services. I don’t have a marketing strategy. I am admittedly uncomfortable self-promoting on social media. I don’t run ads and I don’t really do many interviews or panels. My focus is on the song in front of me, or on spending time with my family and friends. I let my work and my vibe speak for itself.
Any insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
Trust.
I’ve been focused for a long time on earning my client’s trust. Consistent quality of work, good communication, being organized, being patient and having a friendly personality are all good traits for building a strong reputation. At the end of the day, I think it all comes back to trust. Trust creates new business. Trust creates repeat business.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.danmillicemastering.com
- Instagram: @doctormillice
- Twitter: @doctormillice
- Other: https://www.allmusic.com/artist/dan-millice-mn0002994055
Image Credits
Mikey Bashur (took the black and white in-studio photo) John Stallings (took the color in-studio profile photo) Ethan Langston (took the Grammy red carpet photo)