Music productionâor any creative field, reallyâis a constant hustle. Letâs unpack what that actually means. The fact is, no one is just going to throw money and work opportunities at you. Week after week, I receive countless resumes and intern requests for my studio. Itâs amazing how few of those emails actually include any work to listen to. The world of music production is a constant grind. You find one thing that works, ride it for a couple of years until it doesnât, and then itâs on to the next thing. Some years, you might make great money. Other years, you might not. Once those initial opportunities dry up, youâve got two choices: go get a job elsewhere, or dive back into the grind, hustle harder, and create something new. So why is it a hustle? Because this career demands constant innovationâyear after year. It requires consistent output and staying on, or ahead of, the curve. Hereâs my advice: When things are good, thatâs amazingâbut those are the moments when you should be developing new, innovative ideas. That way, when the money-making opportunities dry up, youâve already got something in motion. More often than not, people ride the wave of success, and when it ends, they panicâthen theyâre scrambling, turning the hustle up to 11 just to stay afloat. The best thing you can do as a producerâor any creativeâis to build your own opportunities. Donât just work for other businesses. Create your own path. That way, the only way the rug gets pulled out from under you is if you pull it. Donât rely on standing on someone elseâs rug. The hustle only becomes painful if you lose your direction and passion. But if you truly love it, youâll learn to embrace the struggleâand through that suffering, youâll become great. No success is granted without sacrifice. That said, itâs important to come back to the source of why we do what we do. Beneath the frustration and pain that come with this career, thereâs so much beauty in the gift of being able to createâof sharing our joy and our talents with the world.