Being a music producer is not an easy task. You have to focus on music, performing, marketing, and branding – and all of that simultaneously. While doing all of that, you naturally have no extra time to think about cybersecurity and how the lack of it can affect your music career.

But let’s say hackers found a way to access your professional social media account. Someone posted inappropriate content for everyone to see, or someone hacked your Spotify account together with your banking info that was linked to it. In the first case, you lose your credibility, while in the second one, you lose access to your account, music, and payments.

If you don’t want the first or the second scenario to happen, it is your duty as a music producer to acknowledge the importance of cybersecurity and spare some time to protect your music.

 

So what is cybersecurity?

Cybersecurity refers to protecting networks, systems, devices, programs, and data from digital attacks. Digital attacks can come in many forms and kinds, but most common ones are:

 

• password cracking

• credit card information phishing

• spear-phishing emails asking access to crucial information

• social media attacks

• malware viruses

 

According to recent statistics, digital attacks happen every 39 seconds. This means every 39 seconds there is a chance that a hacker can not only hack your Spotify but also harm your music producer’s reputation in general, together with bank account savings and earnings, damage your software, and compromise your music.

 

 

While there a lot of smart technologies, thieves are smart too. That is why you also need to be smart about protecting yourself, your data, music, and brand.

 

1. Use complex passwords

Nearly every password is not strong enough. For example, most passwords are not unique and are used for more than one website. Almost every one of them contains personal information that is easy to guess. Most of them are also build with words and combinations that everyone uses in daily life.

What you can use instead is a password of at least six characters long, with numbers, symbols, upper and lowercase letters. Don’t use simple words, but instead create a new letter combination that has no meaning and has less chance to be the word other people can use in their speech.

 

2. Download up-to-date antivirus program

This is obvious, but in the world where 300,000 new malware is created daily, it is crucial to make sure your antivirus programs are up-to-date and running smoothly.

 

3. Beware of suspicious emails

Phishing emails will most likely end in spam folder anyways, but spear-fishing ones will not. These will look like they are partnership requests and collaboration opportunities but will be asking for more information than any partner would ever need or have suspicious links in the email body. Make sure to double-check how trustworthy the sender is before submitting files and clicking links.

What you can also do is to look for partners on platforms that are designed specifically for collaboration and networking.

 

4. Back up everything

Start to back up all the contents you create, whether it is work in progress or already released tracks. Even if hackers delete them in the digital attack process, you will still have the sources, so the damage won’t be as hard as it could be.

 

5. Choose reputable streaming services

Hackers choose to target streaming services more often than you think. And it is not only about Spotify. According to research by Akamai Technologies, on average, per year, streaming services data gets breached over 30 billion times.

What you can do is to rather than just clicking “agree” on terms and conditions, cookie, and privacy policies; you can take time to read them and understand how these policies can help you if your data gets compromised.

 

6. Protect your name and your music

It would be best if you trademarked your artist name so no one else will be using the same one. It helps with the legal process after the music is stolen, whether due to cyber attack or piracy. This is especially helpful when someone released your music under a different name or is using your name to promote their music.

 

7. Use platforms with multi-factor authentication and identity verification.

Even though there is no perfect technology, these are the biggest hacker obstacles to this day. Multi-factor authentification is way harder to fool, and services encrypt identity verification data in a way that requires the most profound knowledge for decryption.

Such processes as KYC or Know Your Customer help verify users’ identity and are a bright example of AML – anti-money laundering that is one of the distinctive features of the blockchain.

 

Whether you are a new music producer or a professional with many years of experience under your belt, it is crucial to take cybersecurity seriously. Make sure your music, accounts, and payments are fraud-free so it won’t harm your career in the long run!