The Benefits of Collaboration

(BandLab / Unsplash)

As an independent musician, sometimes you take pride in the fact that you do everything yourself. You self-produce your single, you write your own songs, you come up with your own concept, you design your own album cover, you are up there on stage by yourself. And it is understandable, you consider your art to be your baby. Having other people involved in your personal project might ruin your vision or deviate the whole thing into another direction. And you don’t want that. But at the same time, if you decided to do everything yourself, you might deprive yourself from the many benefits of collaboration. You don’t believe me? Let me tell you four.

Combine Your Strengths

We all know that every single person has their own strengths and weaknesses. You might be good at writing melodies, but sometimes you struggle with the lyrics. By collaborating with a lyricist, your song might end up being much better. Other people might have better ideas. So, if you are open to collaboration, you can get the best result for your project.

(Windows / Unsplash)

More People are Invested

The more people involved in your project, the more people care about it, and the more people want it to succeed. That means you would get a lot of help in making your project soar. Here is one example. After releasing your single, you need to promote it on social media. With collaborators, you will have more people promoting the project. Your song could reach a whole new audience, and you could actually gain more followers. That’s what you want, right?

Share the Load

Working on a project is stressful. There are so many things on your to-do-list, and sometimes it can be overwhelming. Having a collaborator can help you unload some of the burdens. Instead of you having to contact the press about the launch of your new album, why don’t you ask your collaborator to do that? This way, you can focus on other things and lessen the stress that’s been built up over time. 

(Vidar Nordli-Mathisen / Unsplash)

It’s Fun

Admit it. When it comes to creative projects, the more the merrier. The best thing about collaboration is all the laughs that you have in the process. You get to share all your best moments with your peers. Some of my best memories as a musician happened during the late night recording sessions with my collaborators, or on the tour bus being crazy with others. If you are a sole-creator, you might miss out on that. 

So, should you collaborate? Absolutely, yes! Of course, you need to make sure that you are in-sync with your collaborators. It is very easy to turn collaborations into unnecessary dramas. But when you have the right people in your team, you’ll have the best project that you will love and be proud of.

This article was published on Evolution website, November 7, 2023