From humble beginnings to realizing a dream: how Charlie’s music production hobby turned into a lucrative career

Charlie is a talented music producer and sound designer from Germany. He is best known for creating original compositions, drum kits, samples, one-shot kits, and other sounds for producers worldwide. 

All of his sounds are meticulously recorded, arranged, and mixed in order to create the best multi-genre samples possible, giving producers a wide range to choose from. Some of his sounds have even been used by big-time producers and record labels!

Although Charlie first got into music production in 2016, it wasn’t until two years later that he decided to drop his very first drum kit. Since then, he’s been fully self-employed, selling digital products on his Sellfy store to 9K+ followers on Instagram and 18.7K+ subscribers on YouTube. 

Read on to learn more about Charlie’s ongoing mission to change the world with sound, and the creative ways in which he engages with his lively community.

What is it that you do as a creator?

I’m a music producer from Germany. I started producing music in 2016 and then became fully self-employed in late 2019. So, now I sell drum kits, sample libraries, and one-shot kits on my Sellfy store.

And, since music production is almost always about collaboration—it takes more than just one person to make something great—I also work together with my good friend and fellow music producer, Wizzle. We collaborate on sample libraries quite often.

What did you do before music production?

I worked some regular jobs here and there—at a restaurant called Subway for a little bit and other similar jobs until I was finally able to transition to doing music full-time in 2019.

Tell me more about the products you sell.

So, drum kits are a collection of drum songs that producers can use for their own products. Sample libraries are melodies that people can use for their own beats. And, one-shot kits are a collection of different sounds from synthesizers or organic instruments that people can use to create their own melodies.

I also offer production classes for other producers. I teach music production via Zoom meetings, which sometimes include answering questions about running a music business. 

When did you realize you can create and sell your own products online?

I got into music production in 2016, but it wasn’t until two years later that I decided to launch my first drum kit. At the time, I was using the BeatStars streaming platform to sell my beats and sound kits. 

The amount of positive feedback I got from customers made me realize that I could do this more often; I could sell more drum kits and other products. So, I just kept going after that. I started creating new drum kits. And then, after a while, I switched to Sellfy.

Why did you switch to Sellfy?

I made the switch because I wanted to sell more than just beats—I wanted to have my own website for selling kits. So, that’s why I made Sellfy my main platform.

How did the switch impact your life and business? Do you see a big difference in growth?

It has definitely made a big difference. Sellfy gives you all the tools you need to launch a brand: you can just log in, upload a product, and you’re ready to start selling online within minutes.

You also get a very professional-looking website, which attracts way more customers than a basic community-based platform. So, Sellfy literally changed my life—I was finally able to sell my products online in the easiest way possible.

Which Sellfy feature do you use the most?

I like the Store Customizer tool for designing your own store. It just makes it so easy for anyone to get started and launch a store. I also use the email marketing tool quite a lot. It’s a lot better than sending out emails manually—I can just write something and send it to my whole target audience.

How did you make your first sale happen on Sellfy?

I had already built a community on BeatStars. So, when I switched to Sellfy, all I had to do was make an announcement on social media and send out emails telling everyone about my new Sellfy store.

Tell me about your community. How do you engage with them? Do you use any marketing tactics?

Instagram is definitely my main tool for engaging with my community, which mainly consists of producers that work with trap artists in the music industry. I also promote my stuff on Instagram. 

So, whenever I launch something new, I promote it by posting a teaser trailer on Instagram. That’s how I keep things interesting. I always try to turn it into a whole new experience for people. 

For example, if I were to launch a sample library, I wouldn’t just tell everyone, “Okay, here are 10 new samples that you can use.” Instead, I would try to make it more interesting by creating an artistic trailer with an intro and outro, or some interludes.

How do you manage to find time for all of this?

Honestly, I’m kind of introverted, so it isn’t a big deal for me. Since I do this full-time, I can easily work on something new for an entire week. I always try to put as much effort as I can into making sure my products turn out perfectly. 

So, I’m quite a perfectionist, which can be a curse sometimes because I know it isn’t possible to make everything 100% perfect. 

Have you ever heard your own samples around?

I’ve heard my drum kits in a couple of bigger records by other producers. I’ve also let some independent artists use my sample libraries, which is super cool. So, any time I hear anything familiar or identical, I go, “Oh, this is a sound i created.”

And, even though I don’t get any credit for it because the drum kits are royalty free, it still makes me happy to know that big producers like to use my stuff.

What’s the most challenging part of running your own music business?

The hardest part is knowing that if I don’t create new content or come up with new products, it’s going to be hard to pay my bills for some time. 

But, at the same time, I also know that I have the power to get myself out of it—I can find a way to offer a new product or service.

And, what’s the best part?

So, for me, sharing my knowledge is a way of giving back to the community. That’s what I love the most about what I do.

What are your ambitions for the future?

My ambitions are to build a bigger community or to grow bigger in general. I kind of want to be the go-to marketplace for drum kits, samples, one-shots, production courses, and anything else that a producer may need online.

I also want to collaborate with different producers and offer different types of monthly products. So, yeah, that’s the plan.