+1 :-) . Besides, most music has a bit of a shelf life, and probably EDM in particular. If your back catalog is that big, you may want a few trusted genre-knowledgeable people to chime in as to whether all your material is still fresh in terms of tone and production.

This seems contradictory to me, like saying i want to wear a ball cap, slug a ball with a bat in Yankee Stadium but not be a "baseball player".

I have yet heard a magic bullet answer that does not include some form of monetary investment, or being at the right place at the right time meeting the right people and having the right song.

Many famous musicians give "luck" a lot of credit....

That's good they acknowledge luck being an important element. However, this thread is not about wanting to become a famous musician. Getting recognition in the underground generally means a fan base in the thousands, not in the millions.

I think the poster's point is whether you're trying to reach tens or thousands, Indie radio or the big boys, a couple clubs/dj's or dozens really makes no difference in terms of how one goes about getting yourself known. Both are professional, both involve the same sort of promotion and sweat equity in the form of press management, interviews, live performance, etc.. The artist's you admire did and still do these things; they have to. And considering what a niche audience EDM is they probably had to do alot more of it than average to get where they are now. You're talking YEARS of effort and/or big bucks in P.R. and broad promotion, and I'd bet none of them had the big bucks :-) .

Even on a small level any success you manage will only be based on a lot of time and a lot of hassle. Most pro music projects I've been involved with took years just for our name to begin to be recognised a little around our home town let alone anywhere else. You've got your work cut out for you; are you really willing to put in that kind of effort to achieve your goals? Oh, and relocating for your day job would likely be the same as starting over for your purposes.

For someone who talks so much about years of effort and putting in blood, sweat and tears into PR and promotion, a search on Google for a "Gum ball studios" (as indicated on your About Me section on this website) returned the following as far as music studios / musicians:

A country music studio in Tennessee called "Gumball Studio" (NOT "Gum Ball Studios") with a website that looks like it was made last century: Gumball Studio
Also on Facebook but with very little content: Gumball Studio

And another website (under construction) called Gumball Studios (again, NOT separated words Gum Ball Studios) located in Ontario, Canada: Gumball Studios

I couldn't find anything under the exact name "Gum ball studios". Furthermore, your location states you're in San Diego, California. I don't mean to come off nit-picking, but since you have talked so much about going out there and making yourself known and living hand-to-mouth to do it, and claiming I'm not willing to put in the effort, it doesn't seem you've put the effort to correctly display something as basic as your information here.

Another thing, are you really familiar with any of the artists I've mentioned on this thread (i.e. Actress, Onepoint Trix Never, Lawrence, the Dial label)? You've mentioned EDM, but that is such a broad term as most people think of David Guetta, Skrillex or Deadmau5 when they think of that acronym. And that is not at all the category of what I make or listen to.

Gum Ball Studio is my my private living room studio, so named when a friend noted my daughters toy gum ball machine in the corner; it would be unknown, except for a few local releases to niche audiences(sound familiar?), and I'm happy to keep it that way.

In various past projects, original and otherwise, I've headlined special events and played main stages, played to thousands and had regional air play. One project after my leaving went on to become a regional southern California name and had multiple small record offers before finally throwing it in. Why? They realised that after all the many years of effort they were just getting started; they were tired of it, and they had success and a following. They knew they'd have to live on the road and didn't want to give up their lives and the stability of their day jobs. When I left it was for the same reason.

No, I'm not an EDM musician(maybe EDM programmer is a better term:-), though I do enjoy dubstep. I've played and performed live in Indie bands, dance, rock, funk, blues, country, smooth jazz, straight jazz, you name it, and recorded with most of them. I've also worked as a studio musician and recorded in many local studios and for various local records. You know what? Mostly it's all the same. Oh sure, different stagewear and tones, but it's all entertaining people and trying to gain band recognition. I only offer all this as you seem to need my credentials to determine whether my words are valid or not.

No one acheives the musical goals you've laid out without performing and busting a LOT of ass, pushing anything and everything to get there. You're talking years. Artists don't suddenly get discovered; years of careful pushing manage to culminate in finally getting noticed

I second Bandcamp.

Quote from newguy1 from page one of this thread:

What are your goals for production? Music generally needs to be in support of a brand of some sort (a DJ act, a live act, production for an artist, production for a film, etc). There's always a brand and show attached to successful music, songs don't really exist in a vacuum.

I'd figure this out, and then use your music to forward that goal.

The success I wrote about above was attached to an act I had created that did the touring DJ thing. Its a fundamental piece of the puzzle. You need your brand.