Following your passion for creating music is definitely a fruitful way to spend your time, but this career path isn’t always easy and won’t instantly make you a living. Rough patches at the start of your journey as a musician are bound to exist but with the fast pacing digital era, it’s becoming easier to start earning through your melodies. As the years pass by, the platforms for artists are only increasing and if you’re a musician, your horizon is widening! Here are some of the best ways how to start making money with your music online-
How To Make Money With Music Online
1. Streaming Services
There are so many music streaming services out there like Apple Music, Spotify, and Tidal to name a few. All these platforms pay you royalties for your music.
The stream payout system in the music industry involves several nitty gritty and is slightly complex but let’s try to break it down.
Spotify Payout System
There are 2 kinds of royalties paid on Spotify.
Recording royalties – these are the royalties owed to the rightsholder for their music being streamed on the platform. These royalties usually aren’t given directly to you (the musician) but will be directed to you through your licensor/distributor. A distributor is basically a middleman between the artist and the platform that makes you the money
Publishing royalties – This is the money owed to the lyricists, collection societies, and all affiliated parties that were involved in your music-making process.
If you would like to know more about revenue through Spotify, check out
2. Licensing
Have you always had a way of creating catchy jingles or anything that could be used on TV for commercials? Well lucky for you licensing your music for the purpose of sale to brands and companies proves to be a good source of revenue.
To break it down in simple words, a music license is a consent handed out by an artist to use their music for various purposes. There are many kinds of licenses you could hand out like
- Print rights license
- Theatrical license
- Sync license.
Related – Get Paid $12/Song For Listening To Music
3. Virtual Concerts
With the rise of virtual events, you can perform live concerts and events online and earn money from ticket sales and merchandise.
Although this new concept is just entering the market and isn’t widely happening, it definitely does have scope for growth. So I’d suggest you keep your eye on this one.
The question is, how do we actually present a virtual concert being a newbie in the music industry? Follow these steps and remember, amazing results won’t happen overnight, persevere.
- Plan and prepare your content: Determine the type of concert you want to hold, the date and time, and the length of the performance. Decide on the musical acts, guest speakers, or other entertainment you want to include.
- Choose a platform: There are several platforms available for hosting virtual concerts, such as Zoom, YouTube Live, and Facebook Live. Choose the platform that works best for you and your audience.
- Set ticket prices: Determine the ticket prices for your virtual concert and decide on a payment processor, such as PayPal, Stripe, or a ticketing platform like Eventbrite.
- Promote your concert: Advertise your virtual concert on social media, your website, and other relevant forums. Reach out to your email list, music industry contacts, and other networks to spread the word about your event.
- Set up the technical aspects: Test the platform you’ve chosen to make sure everything is working properly. Confirm that you have the necessary equipment, such as a webcam and microphone, and a good internet connection.
- Hold the concert: On the day of the concert, log in to the platform and start the show. Interact with your audience and provide a great experience for everyone who has paid to attend.
- Follow up: After the concert, reach out to your attendees to thank them for their support. Collect feedback and consider making improvements for future events.
4. Crowdfunding
Ever heard of YouTubers promoting their Patreon page? Well, it’s a great way for you to crowdfund and get fans to support your work!
While you offer some exclusive content be it originals or sheet music that you’ve prepared, your patrons (supporters) can access this through a monthly fee. Excellent opportunity for you to monetize your work. Here’s a little more in detail on how this works.
- The creator signs up: A creator signs up for a Patreon account and sets up their profile, including the different tiers of support they want to offer and the rewards they will provide at each tier.
- Fans subscribe: Fans, also known as patrons, visit the creator’s Patreon page and choose a tier of support they want to sign up for. They then pay the corresponding monthly fee and gain access to the rewards associated with that tier.
- Creators earn an income: Patreon processes the payments from the patrons and transfers the funds to the creator on a regular basis.
- Exclusive content: Creators can offer a range of rewards to their patrons, including exclusive content such as behind-the-scenes access, early access to new projects, merchandise, or personalized experiences.
Note
Patreon takes a small fee from the creator’s earnings to cover their operating expenses and offer support to both creators and patrons.
Related – Top 7 Tips To Make Money On YouTube
5. Selling Music Online
You can sell your music directly to fans using online music stores like Bandcamp and Itunes.
Here’s how to do this through Itunes
- Become an iTunes content provider: To sell your music on iTunes, you need to become an iTunes content provider. You can do this by joining a distribution service, such as TuneCore or DistroKid, that will handle the process of getting your music onto iTunes.
- Prepare your music: Before submitting your music to iTunes, you need to make sure it meets their technical requirements and quality standards. This includes having the correct file format, bit rate, and other specifications.
- Submit your music: Once you’ve joined a distribution service, you can submit your music for review. The service will handle the submission process and get your music onto iTunes.
- Set your prices: You can choose the price you want to sell your music for on iTunes. Prices can range from $0.99 cents to $1.29 per song, and from $9.99 to $19.99 per album.
- Promote your music: Once your music is available on iTunes, you can promote it through social media, your website, and other relevant forums. Share links to your music on iTunes to reach a wider audience.
- Get paid: iTunes pays out royalties to content providers on a monthly basis. The distribution service you join will handle the payment process and pay you the royalties you earn from sales of your music on iTunes.
6. Selling Merchandise
This method wouldn’t really be suitable if you’re just beginning your career in the music industry but would be a good way to get in some cash flow if you already have a decent fanbase.
You could easily print out your logo or branding onto T-shirts, mugs, and keychains and sell them on your website if you have one. This isn’t only for the revenue but it establishes your brand and identity out there.
Related – 11 Ways To Make Money From Your E-Commerce Business
7. Sponsorships
If you’ve got a decent amount of reach on your socials, you can work with brands and promote their products on your page.
Now, this may seem like it’s just for the influencers who are in the beauty and lifestyle field but there really are so many music-related things you could promote.
Let’s say for example; instrument brands (if you play any instruments like the piano, ukulele, guitar, etc.), music editing software and so much more. You just need to be on the lookout for small, up-and-coming brands that are in need of sponsors.
Related – 10 Best Ideas To Make Money As A Social Media Influencer
8. Royalty-Free Music
Ever heard those really cool background tunes in the latest trending youtube video? Well, those melodies were probably made by a freelance musician and you could be the next one selling.
If you have a knack for music production, there are several YouTubers out there who need background music for their videos and you should consider selling royalty-free music to them for a fixed one-time fee.
9. Collaborations
Work with other artists, brands, producers, and more on projects and earn money for your contributions.
2 ways of earning income through collaborating-
Paid gigs: If you collaborate with another artist on an online performance or a recording project, you can negotiate a fee for your services. This can include payment for rehearsals, recording sessions, and virtual shows.
Royalties: If you co-write a song with another artist, you can split the royalties from any sales or streams of the song.
Wind Up
Well, that’s all for this one, hope you get the idea of how to make money with music online and hope you find success through any of these methods and make sure to keep trying. A musician’s journey is not easy but in the end, it’ll be worth it!
