We were lucky to catch up with Devin Moses recently and have shared our conversation below.
Devin, appreciate you joining us today. Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?
Over the past couple of years I have been able to make writing and recording music my full time job through SoundBetter and sync music. It all started in 2020 when I lost my job at Scott Frankfurt Studios because of the covid lockdown. I was introduced to Stefan Lit, an incredible producer, and we started making music for a few different sync companies. We sent the songs out and within 6 months we were already starting to get placements. That snowballed into me working with dozens of sync companies and producers, even big label publishing companies like Universal Publishing and Extreme music under Sony.
Simultaneously, I started my journey with SoundBetter, a company where people can directly hire all sorts of different musical talent from producers, to mix engineers, vocalists, instrumentalists, and more. I created a profile to song write and record rap and pop music and decided to take every job sent my way for the first year. Now, 3.5 years in, I have nearly 200 5-star reviews on SoundBetter, with new job proposals popping up everyday. In addition, I also record music for cheerleading teams through Sounds Like That, which is my longest music job, starting back nearly 10 years ago.
It wasn’t automatically a high paying job at the beginning. I always had side jobs while pursuing music to pay the bills. Once I made the choice to treat it like a full time job and dedicate Monday through Friday from 9-5 working on music, everything changed. Now, nearly 4 years in I am more picky with the jobs I take, as I constantly have a full plate of work. I don’t believe the process could have been sped up, as I only knew as much as I knew at the time I started. Logging the 10,000 hours and locking in the skill of your craft is the most important thing you can do. Once you have a polished product to sell, people will buy it.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
It all started in high school when I would freestyle rap with the boys at parties. It was so much fun I absolutely loved it. One of the boys that was in a rap group called the Killbots invited me to be on a song with them. I was so excited and recorded my very first rap verse. I later went on to perform that verse with them at the House of Blues Hollywood. This was my first experience with recording and performing, and I was addicted right away.
Since then I have a released five albums and loads of singles. I put out a single a month at least. I am a very prolific writer, I’m a very skilled rapper, and I’m very passionate about music.
I provide songwriting, vocals, and vocal recording, all from my home studio where I am proficient in logic X pro. I also participate in lots of songwriter camps for sync companies and love to co-write. I’m a beginner producer as well, but I enjoy it thoroughly.
I am the most proud of the music I make for my heart and soul. As cool as it is to have my music on the Kardashians, Love Island, Selling Sunset, a Nike commercial, and Just Dance 2022, among other things, I am the most proud that I’ve never lost sight of my passion for music. I always make time to write music that’s not for clients or TV. It’s so important to remember that I make music because I love it, it’s fun, and it’s therapeutic.
Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?
I think some non-creatives have trouble looking at creative jobs as “real jobs”. They may not understand the time and effort it takes to really turn your creative passion into your full living. Unlike working your way up in a company, with music you’re working your way up for free or in some instances paying to work your way up. It takes a very brave and dedicated individual to pursue this passion. I think a lot of creatives wish that we didn’t love music the way that we do. It would be so nice to find a corporate job, have health insurance, get paid a salary, receive a 401k, etc., but we are so passionate about what we do that we are willing to not receive any of that on the off chance that we may just be successful and be able to live our Dream.
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
I’ve read two books that really helped change my life as an entrepreneur. One was “The Total Money Makeover” by dave Ramsey and the other was ” The Millionaire Next Door” by Thomas Stanley and William Danko. Although I was making money from music, I was spending too much and not being smart with my money. These books taught me the power of budgeting, investing, and keeping close track of where my money goes. This is the unglamorous part of making your passion your job but it is so important. I cannot stress this enough, you can make tons of money, but if you’re spending more than you’re making and you’re not saving then you will screw yourself. At the end of the day living within your means is vital when it comes to becoming your own boss.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/devmomusic/
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/devmomusic
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/devinleamoses/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/MsDevMo
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/devmomusic
- Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@devmo310
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/devmomusic
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/51nSMscQQbsgJY3QnW8hJY
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/devmo/798567511
