Should I produce my music on my own?

This is a question that I get asked often by upcoming new artists. The truth is this is definitely not a yes or no answer.

In my opinion, I think the greatest music of all time has been a group effort from the start.

You probably say, "yeah, well that doesn’t answer the question: Should I produce my own music?"

Actually, there is a more important question here which is: do you prefer to create music alone or with other people?

You see, whether you like or not, there is always going to be someone around who knows something you don’t. So in a sense, creating music with your peers is way more rewarding in terms of the progress you can make with the total amount of knowledge in the group compared to what you can achieve on your own by solely watching tutorials on YouTube. 

Don’t get me wrong, I am constantly looking for new tricks on YouTube as well. Nevertheless, the guy you collaborate with might know a lot more about how to make an amazing guitar sound, based on years of practice than what you learn online in five minutes. Maybe another guy knows a lot of things about computers or software. Right now, it has never been more important to know a thing or two about computers if you want to make music. Whether you are interested in it or not, it will make a difference. Just knowing why your CPU is crashing all the time and fixing it quickly before your client comes in might make a big difference in the long run. Even how to control your DAW faster can also be important.

My suggestion is to learn from others. Get in a room and ask questions. "What’s that for?" "How did you make it sound like that?" "How did you come up with this melody?" "What’s that chord?" "How did you write such good lyrics?" The truth is, you cannot know too much about a subject, so why not learn more from others?

Being alone in your room making beats, or writing riffs is, in my opinion, the hardest way to make a living with music. Being involved in as many projects as you can is the right path.

I hear artists say often "I want to concentrate more on my career."

Rather than “focusing on yourself,” go join a band, get hired in a studio, join a second band, invite this rapper over to your house and make him a beat and see if he likes it. Focusing on one thing in music is not a good idea if you want to “make it”. Later on, if something takes the majority of your time because you really like it, or you have enough experience to know that you have a better idea of what you might want to do, then spend more time doing it.

Should you produce your own music alone? No. I wouldn't suggest it. 

Should you create music with your peers? Yes, you will find yourself achieving your goals greater and faster than anyone else who does it alone.