One is producing tracks that labels ACTUALLY want to sign. The other spends his entire life playing around on a laptop...
Failing to finish tracks. Wasting time learning instead of doing. Never hearing back from labels. That’s the life of an amateur...
We all get into this game because we want to go pro. We want to release records on the biggest labels. We want to hit hard on the Beatport charts. We want to book the best clubs and all of the major festivals. And we want to make a living doing what we love.
But how do you do that? How do you go from hopeless amateur to established professional?
Well, I'll tell you right now…
It DOESN'T matter if you’re a “natural musician” or an “exceptional talent.”
It DOESN'T matter how many years, or decades, you've been producing.
And it DOESN'T matter how many genres you can (or can't) produce.
There’s an "LMR Technique" that you absolutely need to understand if you’re going to make the leap from amateur to professional house music producer.
And if you struggle, every day, just to finish a track that’s good enough to send off to the labels, let me share a secret with you that is so simple and straightforward that you can literally put it into practice tomorrow, and watch your career take off.
Once you understand this "LMR Technique", you’ll finally be able to channel all of your knowledge and skills into producing exactly what the labels are looking for, which leads you to…
✓ Joining the ranks of your favourite producers
✓ Quickly building up your discography and fan base
✓ Attracting better managers and talent agencies
✓ Getting better DJ bookings
That’s how it went for me. Over 10 years of struggle. An unexpected “Aha!” moment.
Then suddenly… Success.
And yet, after 15 years of producing and teaching electronic dance music professionally...
I've never heard anyone else discuss this "LMR Technique" in exactly this way, without either completely misunderstanding the root causes, or totally overcomplicating things. Not in any books. Or courses. Or YouTube videos. Not anywhere.
You may have heard of us. We’ve been involved in countless projects, ranging from house to techno, commercial to cutting edge.
I’ve released music with almost every major and underground label in the industry, including Sony, Columbia, Virgin, Positiva, Ultra, Anjunadeep, Toolroom, Defected, Musical Freedom, Spinnin’, Armada, Hot Creations, Circus, Desolat, Moon Harbour, Relief, Realm, Repopulate Mars, Knee Deep In Sound, Sola, Truesoul, Lost, Moan, Great Stuff, Viva, and many more.
I’ve done commercial remixes and collaborations with huge artists such as Mabel, MK, Duke Dumont, Oliver Heldens, Katy B, as well as contemporary underground artists such as Todd Terry, Solardo, Michael Bibi, and Max Chapman.
In fact, one time, I even made a bootleg remix of Kelis’ “Milkshake” and it got played at a festival where a Sony A&R heard it, recorded it, and sent it over to Kelis. Days later, my phone rang. And I thought they were calling to sue me…
But instead, I got invited to re-record the song and do an official collaboration with Kelis, which launched my relationship with Sony/Columbia Records. I’m so grateful for all my opportunities and luck…
At 17, just out of high school, I applied to study music production and sound engineering. But I didn't make the cut.
This had been my goal, my big plan, since I was 13 years old. And just like that… My musical dreams and aspirations were crushed.
I was devastated. And the idea of having to earn a living doing something other than music for the rest of my life was soul-destroying, but I had no other option. So I took odd jobs doing electrical work and some other stuff for the city.
Time started flying by… but I never stopped wondering what could have been, if only I’d gotten accepted to music school.
Six whole years later, and now 23, I went to my first house music night, a rave called Funkin U. Right away, I fell in love with the music and the scene.
That was a real turning point for me, because I'd never really experienced house music like that. It made me realize, Well, I got the bug again, and I decided to give producing another try, even if I had to do it alone.
I started spending every waking hour producing music. It was all that I thought about from the moment I woke up until I closed my eyes. I would come up with all these great ideas and loops, show them to my friends and even send them off to my favourite labels.
I thought I was onto something, but I never heard back.
Not much happened for the next six years either. I'd gotten a few tracks signed to some smaller labels, but I was getting very frustrated, and I was ready to give up music again.
There I was, about to turn 30, drinking a bottle of wine at home with my studio partner, wondering if we were wasting our time, and thinking, We should probably just quit and get a typical 9-5 like everyone says you're supposed to.
But thankfully, we decided to give it one last try. And that’s when I discovered the secret to getting signed to our favourite labels.
I couldn't believe it. I still can’t.
We got our debut EP, Bump & Flex, signed to a very respected Berlin-based label called Off Recordings. And it hit number 11 on the Beatport chart.
We followed up with a succession of four or five tracks that hammered the Top 10 — “You Were,” “Lost,” “I Know” — just massive tracks on Beatport, like number two, three, four.
We started getting booked for clubs and festivals. And the bookings just kept coming. So then we got signed to a booking agency. And I was finally able to quit my damn day job.
I spent the next five years touring the world: a residency in Ibiza, lots of clubs, lots of parties, North American tours, South American tours, Australia, all over Europe.
Like I said, a dream. But it was real. And it happened to me. After over a decade and a half of almost nothing good happening at all.
It’s been eight years now since those breakthrough tracks. And today, when I count up all of my hit records, I can’t believe what I’m hearing myself say: Two Beatport Number Ones, ten Top 10s, 90 Top 100s, and over 50 million streams on Spotify alone.
But none of it — not the hits, the parties, the festivals, the worldwide tours — would have ever been possible if my mentors hadn’t sat me down and made me face reality and pointed out exactly why I was failing.
And what was true for me is also true for you, or any other aspiring music producer.
What if I could put just as much time and effort into teaching others how to produce music as I put into producing my own?
I gave it a go. And soon, I realized that I loved teaching just as much as producing.
You see, as I was building my career, I was also helping beginner producers become better producers, and helping aspiring producers become professionals.
These producers are exactly like me. And they’re like you, too.
All it takes is that “Aha!” moment. And success becomes inevitable.
Like these alumni, once you’ve heard the secret that changed my life and career, and you’ve begun to understand the LMR Technique for getting your tracks signed…
All of a sudden, just like me, you’ll start hearing back from labels and DJs. You’ll start getting gigs. And you'll be on your way to making your dream a reality.
But it all comes down to this ONE THING.
HERE’S THE TRUTH:
A track gets signed because it makes sense to the label.
And that means…
Your tracks need to be written, not for you or your imagined fans, but for the label heads who decide what gets released, and the DJs who decide what gets played.
Simply put: RIGHT NOW – You aren’t producing tracks that the labels ACTUALLY want to sign, or the kind of scorchers that DJs are desperate to play.
For years, when I was just starting out, like you, I kept hammering away at what seemed like sound strategies:
This is the shit that a lot of aspiring producers think is important…
But none of that matters!
Remember — your track has to fit the label, and not the other way around. If you were to play one of your tracks before or after your favourite record ever released on the label, would it set off the dance floor? Or kill the vibe?
If you’re sending out demos, each and every one of your tracks has got to work alongside each and every one of your target label’s biggest hits. After all, that’s what makes labels special — they have a signature sound, which is why they’re revered and beloved, and you’re kidding yourself if you think that your new song is going to “change everything.”
I know, I know… You’re saying, “But I want to be an artist. I want to be original.” And I’m not saying you can’t. Just not right now.
You’ve got to get your foot in the door and make money first.
Not only would signing your wildly “different” track go against the label’s carefully crafted brand identity, but it also wouldn’t meet the aesthetic standard that the label’s fan base has come to expect from its new releases.
Worded another way: Your creative identity doesn’t matter… Yet.
Get in the door. Get signed. Get gigs. Get paid.
And then, when you make it big, you can break the rules.
Calvin Harris. Avicii, David Guetta. Above and Beyond. Armin van Buuren. Hardwell.. Almost everybody who is now an A-list player, DJ, or producer had a completely different sound from when they first started.
Go ahead – throw on some of their old tracks on Spotify. You’ll see they sounded completely different didn’t they?
I’m serious. Look up Nation Rap by David Guetta from 1990 . Wow, hip-hop right?
But once they were able to establish themselves in the industry, they could literally create any sound they wanted. And they did.
Your focus as an aspiring producer and DJ is to get connected, network, and most importantly, make a living.
Sure, you could always continue to produce tracks that labels don’t want to sign, and maybe go indie, or stay underground, or spend decades as an “artist that doesn’t conform” and lives to “remain unknown.”
If that’s you, you may want to stop reading/watching. I don’t want to waste your time. Maybe you are the next protege like Aphex Twin. If you are, congrats.
But almost no one is that special. Most of us need a more methodical approach. A comprehensive step-by-step plan for success.
And that’s definitely not something that you’ll get from watching endless, half-assed YouTube tutorials.
Because let’s be honest, there’s no shortage of information out there.
In fact, it’s information overload. Tons of options! Tons of styles! And you can learn from so many artists! And watch their workflow! And see how they get their sound!
Go ahead, and binge a billion random HOW-TOs… You won’t be any closer to getting your tracks signed. Or booking gigs. Or making a living. All you’re going to accomplish, at best, is sounding like an amateur version of your EDM sensei.
But that’s not what I do. I’m not gonna go on about artistic purity. And I’m not teaching you how to sound like me.
We are teaching you how to create tracks that the labels want to sign. It’s that simple. No bullshit. No blah-blah. No fluff.
You choose your style. You choose your label. And then you produce the kind of demo-ready track that gives you the best chance of getting signed.
And then, one day, after you’ve landed those first few hits on Beatport and earned some streaming success on Spotify… You can “evolve” and do your cool original stuff.
I promise.
But first…
You need to produce tracks that the labels ACTUALLY want to sign!
You could, basically, teach yourself by watching online tutorials. A billion YouTube videos. But you already know that’s just a rabbit hole that leads to nowhere and you’re still not learning how to produce what the labels want. You’re only learning general theory.
And what makes it worse is you are too often being taught by “producers” who have never even made it themselves. They’re showing you how to “produce,” and they’re showing you how to “use the software,” and they’re showing you how to “craft a track.” But they’ve never actually achieved what you’re trying to achieve. They’ve never gotten signed. They’ve never played the festivals. And they’ve certainly never seen a Beatport chart.
And even if you do watch training videos from artists who have made it, they’re usually just showing you how THEY produce music. And unfortunately, that’s only useful if you’re looking to come out sounding like a copycat. This has nothing to do with what labels want…
The next option is going to school. A four-year university. That kind of thing. But let’s be honest — it’s just outdated and overpriced.
And similar to the YouTube videos, these programs are led by far too many “industry experts” who’ve never actually achieved what you’re trying to achieve.
Tens of thousands in debt? A half decade down the drain? A mentor who’s still basically an amateur? Is that somebody you should be taking advice from?
This is not how you’re going to get signed, book gigs in Ibiza, and launch a career as a successful house music producer.
There’s a much faster way of learning EXACTLY what the labels want. And it can be accomplished, easily, inside of Ableton, but it’s not obvious.
It's something I’ve taught my best students how to do. I call it the “LMR TECHNIQUE.” And in order for you to do it yourself… You need to learn Ableton the way I teach it.
And the reason why I use ABLETON (and not Pro Tools, Logic Pro, or Cubase) is because…
You need to focus on ONE SYSTEM and ONE SOFTWARE
It's comparatively easy to learn. It’s incredibly efficient. It has most of the advanced professional features that you'll ever need. And it's loaded with cool features (including the ability to preview samples, while syncing them with your song in real time) that can radically speed up your songwriting and production. Also, both beginner and experienced producers use it. You can’t do that with any other software!
Sure, you might want to use Pro Tools or Logic Pro if you're doing a lot of mixing and mastering. But you’re a beginner, and you’re not.
Another thing that you shouldn’t do… Buy any fancy gear. You don’t need it. Not yet.
I talk to aspiring producers all the time, who just blew five or 10 grand on equipment that they don't even know how to use. It’s depressing.
You’ll be able to start and finish a track, in linear fashion, without getting stalled or hung up.
With ONE SYSTEM and ONE SOFTWARE, you’ll be able to focus on mastering the foundational techniques that you’ll be using 80% of the time, instead of wasting time on tricks that will never prove useful.
You’ll be able to develop a solid, failproof music production methodology that allows you to create dance floor-destroying, professionally finished tracks that always get signed by the labels, and played by the DJs, and never leave you wondering, WTF?
And the best part is you’ll be able to apply this ONE SYSTEM, to any genre, any sound, any label.
But drilling down on ONE SOFTWARE, by which I mean Ableton Live, is just as important. Because if you try to learn all of the different DAWs, all at once, you’ll never master anything, and you'll just be digging yourself deeper into the hole.
That’s all you need to start working toward hitting all of those major career milestones. Finishing pro-level tracks. Cutting proper demos. Getting your music signed. And booking gigs everywhere, from Miami to Ibiza.
That’s why, over the last few years, I’ve created the Ableton Accelerator. A 4-week foundational house music production training program.
And there’s nothing complicated or convoluted about the Ableton Accelerator either. Just straight-forward, simple, system-based music production learning.
It’s a three-step process. And there are assignments, with clear benchmarks, to push you and your music to the next level.
The first thing you need to understand about how I and my team teach Ableton is the 80/20 Rule:
We simplify the software. Because most Ableton courses just regurgitate the manual. And that’s a waste of time.
We ignore the 80% of features you will probably never use. And instead, we focus on teaching the 20% of the software’s functionality, keys, and shortcuts that you’ll be using 99% of the time.
That way, you avoid all of the creative traps, time sucks, pitfalls, and hazards that plague most aspiring DJs.
And then we take on what really matters…
Now, I can’t be there with you in the studio.
But I’ve structured the Ableton Accelerator as if I were teaching you live.
You’ll be watching over my shoulder, understanding and internalising the system. Straight away, you’ll be able to apply it to your very own record and see instant results. It’s practical and not theory based.
That’s why you’ll be learning:
You’ll also be shown:
And finally:
(For some reason, there’s always a lot of psychological resistance to taking this step when I suggest it to students. But every time we actually complete the process, tracks get done quickly, and properly.)
To get signed, you need to know how to mix and master your demo. Nothing kills opportunities, even potential careers, like sending a sloppy, amateurish copy of your latest track to every label on the planet.
Will you be learning everything there is to know about mixing and mastering? No, that would eat up all four weeks of our class time, and we’d still have a lot of work to do.
We really have two main goals here…
The first is helping you avoid spending all of your hard-earned money on engineers every time you finish a track. (Because if you’re producing regularly and trying to send out at least one track a week, this could cost you upwards of 10K a year.)
And the second (and most important) goal is making sure your demos are mixed and mastered to a professional standard on par with both your references and your target label’s releases.
To those ends, I’ll show you:
Now, of course, you may be thinking, Jon, do I have to pay another 20K to learn all this stuff?
Measured against other online music production schools, the retail price of something like the Ableton Accelerator could easily be set at £3000 to £5000. (I mean, I’ve invested 10 years and over 100K to figure it out.)
Now, if you went to college or university, and spent 2, or 3, or 4 full years studying music production… You’d be in the hole to the tune of at least 15K to 20K. (And you’d probably still come out confused and uncertain, without any real-world strategies for getting signed.) What a nightmare.
BUT I’m not going to charge you that. NO WAY.
Normally, the Ableton Accelerator would cost £2900. But because you’re on this special webpage, and because you’ve read this far, I know you’re serious. So I want you to have my course at a discount, for just £1997 £997.
Think about it… In four weeks, and after less than £300, you’ll have the skills to sell tracks to a label and start landing gigs. It should take only a few months before this course will have paid for itself 2 to 5 times over.
After all, what’s the real cost of you not learning this system the way I teach it in under 4 weeks? Will you just keep doing the same thing over and over again, while not getting results? Are you finally going to be forced to give up on your dream like so many producers, because you gave it “everything you’ve got” and still couldn’t get anywhere?
Well, why not change everything today, and make a career for yourself in the music industry as a DJ-producer, signing tracks, booking gigs, and making a very good living, doing what you love, partying every night.
Honestly, this is where it all starts, with the Ableton Accelerator. It’s our foundational program. And it was designed for the aspiring producer who’s maybe never even made music before.
The ethos behind Expansive Academy has always been to allow new producers to make music at a higher level, quicker. We want to bring them up to the intermediate level as fast as possible, so they can go from newbie to pro in just a few months. Because it shouldn’t take anyone the decade that it took me.
So many of the beginner’s courses out there will show you a bunch of basic stuff from the manual, total filler, that isn’t even remotely relevant to the everyday life of a working music producer.
They’ll also tell you how many years it’s going to take before you can produce your first track. Or how many decades you need to be mixing before you should attempt to master.
They’ll tell you that producing music is magical. A dark art. A secret wrapped in a riddle inside an enigma.
That’s all bullshit. And it’s a big part of why I wanted to develop a training program like the Ableton Accelerator.
I won’t cloak everything in mystery. I won’t tell you how long you have to wait to achieve your goals. And I won’t waste your time with impractical, useless jabber about problems that you’ll never have to solve, and maybe don’t even exist.
My course was conceived specifically for the practical student. Someone who’s looking to get to work and put into practice everything that I’m teaching them. Not next year. Not a decade from now. But in about 4 weeks. As soon as they’ve graduated.
If you decide that this program has not fulfilled your expectations, or you feel that you have not moved the needle in your house music production skill set (and you have completed ALL of your weekly assignments, as described, to the best of your abilities), either I or one of my coaches will be in touch to figure out where you’re getting stuck and what we can do to help you get past any sticking points.
This way, you will always have us by your side while you navigate this new terrain. I want you to know that we’re like the Navy SEALs, and we don’t leave anyone behind.
So what’s going to happen if you don’t take action today? Where are you going to be 365 days from now? Are you still going to be watching tutorials, scouring YouTube for the secret that’ll change your life, while wondering, late at night, what went wrong?
Are you going to continue sending out demos that aren’t worthy of your target labels? Are you going to keep producing mediocre tracks? Or are you going to finally put in the time, level up, and find your breakthrough?
There is no certainty that this price will be available in the future. As we keep adding more bonuses, and updating the program with new material, we raise the price to reflect those changes. In fact, just six months ago, we were charging £1497 for this course. But since then, we’ve added 2 more modules – with one module teaching you mixing and mastering from Jon’s mentor…
So if you sign up today, you will become a lifetime member, and all of those upgrades will automatically be included, in perpetuity, with your Ableton Accelerator program.
Plugin presets, templates, and sample packs are just sitting on the virtual shelf. With them, you will save time, avoid unnecessary stress, and produce more professional-sounding tracks. All of the assets in our resource library have been personally curated by me.
They have also been thoughtfully optimized for performance in the studio. And they have been and continue to be used on hit records. Another perk: You will save a lot of money by not having to buy additional sound libraries.
After you’ve completed the program, you don’t have to worry about me abandoning you. I’ll make myself available to you for a full month after you graduate. You can ask me anything. So that if you’re unsure about anything production-related at all, you can get the answers you need, simply by contacting me via our private community.
Private Online Community
As a member of our private online community, you will be among like-minded producers who are on the same journey as you. It’s an incredible place with a ton of opportunities to forge long-lasting partnerships or collaborations and to network with other producers who will increase your chances of getting heard by new fans, well-known artists, and prominent record labels.
Our community is also an ideal environment to ask for feedback on your works in progress. You can bounce ideas off trusted peers. You can also ask for technical advice or creative guidance. Whatever’s on your mind related to music. Expect the kinds of intelligent responses that you won’t get by asking friends and family who may not share your enthusiasm and passion for music production. Over here, we’re all obsessed.
The first option: Do nothing. Just keep doing what you’re doing. Hitting wall after wall after wall. Feeling frustrated, unmotivated, slowly losing interest in pursuing your dreams, while watching endless, useless YouTube tutorials and training. But you know where that leads — nowhere.
The second option: Drop £20,000 or £30,000 on college, learn from a bunch of professional amateurs, and end up just as lost as you were before enrolling. Adding debt to disappointment is not a good deal.
The last, best option: Invest just £997. Study for four weeks with Jon Kong. And send out a demo to your favourite label on the day that class wraps. This is how dozens of aspiring producers have already gotten signed to labels like Hot Creations, Simma Black, Kenja Records, and Flashmob.
In-Depth Accelerator Over 4 Weeks
Every step of the music production process, from start to finish, is diagrammed and explained. Everything, from drums and basic beats to loops, grooves, basslines, synths, pads, chords, stabs, vocals, and much more. And you won’t just learn how all of these different components work in isolation; you will learn how to bring them together through music theory, synthesis, mixing, and mastering.
Plus, you will be shown the system that I use to produce my music. So, when you sit down to work on a track, you won’t get stuck or have to stop what you’re doing to search for solutions to inevitable, routine, or recurring problems.
When you’re done with the program, you will have the knowledge, skills, and framework that you need to finish your records, without wondering if you left anything out or whether you’re ready to send out demos.
In-Depth Accelerator Over 4 Weeks
Every step of the music production process, from start to finish, is diagrammed and explained. Everything, from drums and basic beats to loops, grooves, basslines, synths, pads, chords, stabs, vocals, and much more. And you won’t just learn how all of these different components work in isolation; you will learn how to bring them together through music theory, synthesis, mixing, and mastering.
Plus, you will be shown the system that I use to produce my music. So, when you sit down to work on a track, you won’t get stuck or have to stop what you’re doing to search for solutions to inevitable, routine, or recurring problems.
When you’re done with the program, you will have the knowledge, skills, and framework that you need to finish your records, without wondering if you left anything out or whether you’re ready to send out demos.
The investment for the Ableton Accelerator is £997
Similar styles of Accelerator programs average £2000+...We wanted to ensure the Ableton Accelerator is affordable.
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