KSHMR delivers a Masterclass at Spinnin’ Academy Event in ADE

After a blistering set of conferences and shows organized at ADE 2019, the videos of various events have started surfacing over social media. One such event was the KSHMR Masterclass at the Spinnin’ Academy where Niles Hollowell-Dhar a.k.a KSHMR interacted with various aspiring producers and DJs providing them some piece of advice he learned from his experience in the music industry.

KSHMR bifurcated the Masterclass into various segments. He started off by emphasizing some rules which he felt are an essential part of any artist’s career in the music industry.

Rule 1: Be Broke 

He started off by acknowledging everyone about his lifestyle back when he was just beginning his career in music. At that time he slept on couches, ate a single Subway sandwich for both lunch and dinner and many other things. He also emphasized how such a lifestyle encouraged him and helped him in progressing in his music career. Taking up jobs that are not relevant to the dream one wants to chase will do more harm than good as people slowly start distancing themselves from their dream and eventually end up giving upon them. Spending more time making music rather than investing anywhere else for the sake of money is the best way to approach a music-oriented career.

Rule 2: Use People 

He emphasized how the influence of other individuals plays a significant role in an artist’s career. Taking the example of his hit song Like A G-6 under his old group alias ‘The Cataracs’ he pointed out how he accidentally made a bassline which he was about to change but didn’t do it because the other people in the studio with him felt it was great. Singers and songwriters play a major role as well. Using other artist’s creativity helps in developing one’s workflow and finishing songs faster. However, it’s essential to state that people are properly credited for their efforts by providing them proper credit and royalty shares.

Rule 3: Throw Yourself Out 

Niles’s partner in the Cataracs left the duo leaving Niles in a position of doubt about his music career. He had some faint idea of creating a unique image based on his heritage which is India. However, he wasn’t completely sure whether such a thing would be acceptable in the general audience or not. Despite such concerns, he decided to throw himself at it and go all-in with his idea.

Following these sets of rules, he classified the artists of the modern electronic music industry into 4 categories namely Inventors, Tastemakers, Showman & Pop artists. By inventors, he referred to artists like Skrillex and Kygo who popularized a whole new genre of music. Artists like Diplo & DJ Snake make up the tastemaker segment who collaborates with a lot of different artists and develop a sound according to that. Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Timmy Trumpet make up the Showman sector who provide the much-needed entertainment factor to shows and festivals. Marshmello & Martin Garrix make up the pop sector which is more or less a cross over of EDM and Pop industry. He also called out Martin Garrix as the Golden Retriever of dance music.

He also shed some light on various segments of music production such as Sound Design, Music Theory, Mixing and other things as well. Tools like Hooktheory.com, Online templates and project files, Plugins like Trackspacer have helped him in improving his skills and recommended others on making the most of it as well. Catch the full video of KSHMR masterclass down below. Video shot by @Slyzerxlive on Instagram

21-year-old avid electronic music fan and aspiring producer from India. Hemant has more than a year's experience working in the electronic music industry including holding portfolio as a Marketing Manager for a Record Label & a few artists as well. Get in touch with him via Email or Instagram

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