Honestly, I don’t know where I’d be in my music career today without forums. When I first moved to LA, my roommate, who was already working as an engineer, gave me some solid advice: learn while you earn, and always say yes. Then, if you can’t figure it out, ask on a forum!
To this day, I still scour forums just to see what people think about certain things, especially gear and music business-related issues. The forums have changed quite a bit, but I still feel like this list is unbeatable for quick and reliable answers. Plus, many of them are just a lot of fun.
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Sound on Sound
The Sound on Sound forum is hosted by the great UK-based magazine. I’ve been reading this magazine since college, and it’s always been top-notch. The reviews have both made me spend money and saved me money, and I’ve always agreed with them.
The forum is geared towards music production and a lot of gear talk. As you can tell by the name of the magazine, it’s aimed at engineers and producers who use professional equipment at major commercial studios or have project studios.
What really makes Sound on Sound shine is that a lot of times, it’s being scouted by actual high-level reps of many companies, such as SSL, Manley, Neve, Elektron, etc. So when the discussions get intense, they chime in and put many conspiracy theories to rest by telling you what’s coming, what the last update was built for, if they used parts made in China or not, etc.
If you have a doubt about something, you usually get a straight answer from a very reliable source.
Taxi
If you haven’t heard of Taxi, it’s a pitching company and tip sheet management website based in LA. By paying a membership fee, you receive tips on what kind of music people are looking to use for film and TV, recording artists, record labels, events, electronic music, and festivals.
Their forum is pretty awesome. You can discuss many topics, from production to songwriting, but it’s mostly focused on pitching music to music supervisors for film and TV and to music libraries. Also, it’s free, so you don’t have to be a member to access it.
Music libraries are a crucial part of the industry today, as they provide an important income source for many songwriters and producers.
I was a member of Taxi for six years during the middle part of my career, and I can confidently say that I was able to place my music on many music libraries, which still give me royalties every couple of months from various sources, such as YouTube or major films.
So, trust me when I say that this company is legitimate.
Future Producers
Future Producers is perhaps the most up-to-date forum for the production industry today. As many of us already know, the industry has become smaller, including recording studios, record labels, and management companies.
Future Producers is a forum that provides information on everything from bedroom production for newbies to professionals. It’s also great for general music business questions, such as how to get a manager or land a record deal.
One of its exclusive features, which I love, is a showcase and feedback section for tracks by high-level industry professionals. You can submit a track and get feedback on various aspects, such as production, songwriting, and lyrics.
I find this to be very helpful for new producers and songwriters who have never had the chance to connect with industry professionals and receive honest feedback on how to improve.
Gearspace
I’m sure many of you are familiar with Gearspace by now, but I have to admit that I always preferred it when it was called Gearslutz. Yes, the name was a bit trashy and possibly condescending, but it was a self-deprecating insult to all of us gearheads who are addicted to buying the latest Moog synth at the risk of leaving our family without food.
As the name suggests, this is a site for audio enthusiasts. Of course, I love this site because I am one of those enthusiasts.
What we do is debate and share clips of things that most people think don’t really matter. We compare the difference between 48K 32-bit recording and 96K 32-bit floating audio files.
We debate the significant difference between using a clock for an already stable digital audio interface or not. And of course, we swear that we can hear a huge difference between software emulations and the real hardware.
Anyway, all joking aside, Gearspace is probably one of the best resources for troubleshooting. If you ask a question on this site, you will get an answer faster than on any social media platform.
It has also evolved to be a more creative space for artistic questions, such as lyric and songwriting advice, touring advice, etc. There’s also a cool section where people from all over the world share cool samples and presets which you can download for free.
There are some pretty unique sounds on there.
VI-Control
To those who are not in the world of film composing and trailer music production, VI-Control may not ring a bell right away. However, it is absolutely massive in the world of composers.
In essence, it’s like our Gearspace, but for all gear related to the production of music for any visual media.
We discuss a lot of sample libraries for Native Instruments Kontakt, and there are many great walkthroughs and tests of the differences between different orchestral libraries made in Europe versus those made here in Los Angeles, etc.
What I love most about the reviews and discussions on this site is that you end up getting a lot of tips on how to create more realistic mock-ups of your film scores and orchestral demos, which are invaluable to having any sort of chance of getting jobs related to film scores.
There are also great in-depth discussions on orchestration and incorporating modern sounds à la Hans Zimmer and Trent Reznor.
Songwriting Pro
So, there are a few forums out there for songwriters like Songstuff and ChorusFM. But my favorite has got to be Songwriting Pro because it’s all about songwriting!
These days, production is part and parcel of songwriting, but this forum is all about finding ways to write better songs. They also give top-notch advice on how to get your songs in front of major label artists, music supervisors, or music libraries.
Plus, it’s a great place to showcase your own tunes and get them heard by people who could help you out in your career. You can even hook up with other songwriters for some collaborations, which is super cool.
For anyone who’s not living in a music mecca like Nashville, New York, or LA, this forum might be the most important one for you. I’ve even met folks from London and New York here, so it’s totally legit.
It’s not free, but they do offer a free trial.
Anyway, if you’re looking to expand your network in the music biz, along with Taxi, this forum is definitely worth checking out.
