Wish to receives a commission on your musical abilities?
As a musician, there are extra methods to earn cash than ever earlier than. Dozens upon dozens of how, actually!
Whilst you ought to, after all, prioritize sure income streams as an artist who creates unique music, there are occasions — maybe whenever you’re first rising your profession —whenever you simply gotta pay the payments.
And in that case, placing your music abilities to make use of positive beats a job exterior of music, proper? Particularly if your musical side-hustle helps you keep sharp as an instrumentalist, arranger, producer, educator, or content-creator.
That will help you get a way of the wide selection of choices on the market, I’ve put collectively an inventory of 75 methods you can also make cash out of your music, grouped by class for simple scanning.
Streaming & Digital Gross sales
1. Streaming Income: Earn cash from streaming exercise whenever you get your tracks onto platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Deezer, or TIDAL.
2. Digital Downloads: Promote MP3s, WAVs, or FLACs of your tracks on platforms like iTunes, Amazon, ReverbNation, Bandcamp, or your individual web site.
3. Social Video Monetization: Receives a commission when folks create social content material utilizing your music in movies on platforms like Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Fb, and extra.
4. Monetize Your YouTube Channel: Generate promoting income from viewer exercise by yourself YouTube movies, and use further creator instruments to monetize subscriber engagement.
Music Recording Work
5. Music Manufacturing: Put your producing abilities to work for different artists. Receives a commission in factors, upfront charges, co-writer splits, or no matter different association is smart for you and your collaborator.
6. Engineering: Are you good at recording, mixing, or mastering? Let different artists know! This is usually a nice income between your individual recording initiatives or excursions.
7. Session Participant: Acquired abilities as an instrumentalist or vocalist? Are you fast at studying and arranging tunes? Recording periods may be a good way to receives a commission whereas not tying up an excessive amount of of your time directly. You may attend periods in individual, or do distant session work from your individual residence studio.
8. Studio Operator: Do you personal a variety of recording gear that goes unused whenever you’re not making music? Possibly it’s time to contemplate renting out your studio to different engineers, producers, and artists.
9. Cellular Recording: Whether or not it’s vacation spot recording (“My band rented an airbnb and we need to flip it right into a studio”) or capturing dwell audio for different bands at their reveals, generally having a transportable studio could make all of the distinction in getting the job.
Music Publishing & Licensing
10. Mechanical Royalties: Accumulate this type of publishing royalty when your unique songs — together with covers by different artists — get streamed, downloaded, or pressed on CD/vinyl.
11. Efficiency Royalties: Earn this music publishing cash when your unique music is carried out dwell in venues or publicly broadcast on radio and TV.
12. Sync Licensing (Songwriter Facet): If you happen to write your individual songs and retain the publishing rights, you may get paid an upfront price — and in some circumstances, ongoing royalties — when your music is positioned in movie, TV, video games, commercials, and many others.
13. Sync Licensing (Label Facet): Similar goes for the “recording” aspect of the equation. If you happen to personal your individual tracks, you’re the label, and might receives a commission for sync placements.
14. Compose for Music Libraries: Prolific composer or producer? You could possibly write music for music collections which can be particularly curated for sync licensing alternatives.
15. Promote Sheet Music: The unique supply of “music publishing” income! Relying in your style, this is usually a large vendor. (New Age Piano, anybody?) However don’t simply consider notation; you could possibly additionally do chord-charts, tablature, lyric sheets, and extra.
Reside Music Performances
16. Touring and Reside Reveals: Play dwell and receives a commission. This income may come within the type of ticket gross sales, door splits, bar percentages, or a assured price from the venue proprietor.
17. Residency Gig: Similar type of fee choices as above, however a residency is a often scheduled factor. It may very well be “7 nights in a row in July” or “Each different Thursday all 12 months.”
18. Home Concert events: Play intimate concert events in non-public properties. These may be nice fan-building experiences and show you how to promote a variety of merch, whereas decreasing stress for big turnout. Plus it can save you on journey bills if the host places you up for the evening.
19. DJing: If you happen to’re not touring, you possibly can DJ occasions, events, or venues in your hometown. On the street? Do a DJ set at a competition or venue between your tour dates.
20. Company Gigs: Wish to receives a commission large bucks whereas getting into The Twilight Zone? Play at a company perform. It’s surreal. And profitable.
21. Weddings and Non-public Occasions: Carry out at weddings, bar mitzvahs, anniversaries, household Christmas events, birthdays, and different kinds of personal occasions. These can typically pay higher than a regular venue gig.
22. Metropolis or Municipal Occasions: The annual Christmas tree-lighting ceremony, the summer season beer backyard within the park, the Arts Stroll. Examine along with your native chamber of commerce or metropolis council for alternatives.
23. Festivals: It’s nice to play music festivals, after all, but additionally analysis non-music gatherings which have dwell music as a part. Beer festivals. Balloon festivals. Meals festivals.
24. Busking: Play in a public house with a lot of foot visitors for suggestions. Subway stations. City squares. Boardwalks and piers. Simply verify the native ordinances first. Get a allow, if required.
25. Be within the Home Band: Much like a residency, the place you keep put and completely different audiences come to you, search out efficiency alternatives the place you back-up different singers. Could possibly be live-band karaoke, a giant band or jazz group, and many others.
26. Play Cruise Ships: If you happen to don’t thoughts small rooms and plenty of months at sea, cruise ship gigs provide you with an opportunity to play so much (generally a number of gigs per day), and supply downtime to concentrate on apply, recording, studying, and many others.
27. Nursing Properties: Whereas these aren’t glamorous gigs, they are often very significant for the viewers and also you because the performer. They’ll pay properly, are normally shorter units, and have the potential to change into reliable repeat gigs.
28. Digital Performances: Wish to mix the unique and intimate feeling of a home live performance with the comfort of livestreaming? Play a non-public, digital efficiency on Zoom, Google Hangouts, and many others.
Music Merch Gross sales
29. Artist Merchandize: Promote merch at gigs, in your web site, and on platforms like Instagram and Spotify. Objects may vary from t-shirts to mugs to books.
30. Bodily Music Codecs: Regardless of what you will have heard, followers nonetheless buy CDs, vinyl information, and even cassettes. Provide them in all the identical locations you’ll your merch, in addition to in document shops by way of bodily distribution or consignment.
31. Restricted-Version Releases: Provide limited-edition or signed bodily copies of your music to followers. As an illustration, you could possibly promote tour-specific recordings that can by no means once more be obtainable to buy.
32. Digital merch: Not all merchandise have to be bodily. You may provide PDFs of your tour diary or poetry. A digital cookbook. An unlock of a secret video.
33. Digital “Field Set”: Similar goes for music recordsdata. You will have a trove of unreleased recordings. Give followers paid entry! Or bundle the whole lot you’ve ever recorded right into a digital package deal with bonus tracks.
34. NFTs: “Non-Fungible Tokens.” These are crypto property on a blockchain that symbolize possession or engagement in some piece of music, imagery, neighborhood, paintings, or monetary association.
Music Training
35. Educate Music: Whether or not it’s non-public classes or a teleconference tutorial, you possibly can assist different folks get higher at an instrument, music manufacturing, or songwriting.
36. Music Remedy: Put your abilities to make use of in a therapeutic manner that helps folks enhance their well-being.
37. On-line Programs: Create and promote a digital course. It may very well be about your instrument, or your music-biz and promo abilities. A lot of upfront work, however with the potential for it to change into extra “passive” revenue as soon as your advertising funnel is up and operating.
38. Music Workshops: Host IRL or on-line neighborhood gatherings the place studying and suggestions occurs in a bunch setting.
39. Visitor Lectures: Communicate at colleges, schools, or music seminars. These are sometimes paid alternatives, however even for those who’re an unpaid speaker at a music convention, it is best to have the possibility to make a fast gross sales pitch on the finish of your speak or promote books afterwards.
40. Music Transcription: Are you good at determining advanced harmonies, blistering bluegrass breaks, or well-known saxophone solos? You could possibly earn cash transcribing that music note-for-note. It may be work-for-hire revenue, or you could possibly publish these transcriptions in a ebook. Or on YouTube (with the potential for incomes advert income).
Crowdfunding & Fan Help
41. Venture-Based mostly Crowdfunding: Use platforms like Kickstarter or GoFundMe to lift cash from followers to help a particular recording, tour, advertising, or video undertaking.
42. Membership Golf equipment: You need to use a subscription-model platform like Patreon, or construct your individual on-line fan subscription by way of your web site. In change for month-to-month fee, followers get unique or early entry to content material and different perks.
43. Fan Donations: Settle for donations immediately from followers by way of platforms like PayPal or Venmo. These hyperlinks may be listed in your web site, livestreams, and even pinned to the highest of your Spotify profile.
44. Livestream Help: That is income followers provide you with for livestreaming. However not like the Venmo or PayPal suggestions talked about above, it will possibly come within the type of a platform-specific forex or motion: Stars, Bits, Subs, and many others.
45. VIP Experiences: Provide your diehard followers the possibility to pay for an unique expertise. Backstage passes, meet-and-greets, watch the soundchecks, dinner earlier than the present, pictures and autographs.
Music Composition
46. Songwriting for Different Artists: If you happen to’re a prolific author, you will have concepts to spare! Pitch your unreleased songs to different artists, publishers, or labels. Or collaborate with co-writers to make new songs. Repeatable success on this space takes a variety of dedication, however may result in a publishing deal.
47. Write Jingles: Ya know, the catchy (and generally annoying) music that performs throughout commercials? There’s cash to be made the place artwork meets promoting.
48. Movie Scoring: Compose music for movies, TV reveals, and documentaries. Like many areas of specialization, this area can require a variety of time and dedication. Take into account accordingly how typically and whenever you need to settle for scoring work.
49. Video Recreation Music: In idea, this isn’t that completely different from movie scoring. Besides that gaming has its personal musical tropes, so the reference factors could differ from cinematic orchestration and sound design. Many video video games additionally characteristic songs that change into a part of the sport’s soundtrack, which refers again to sync licensing. Lastly, there’s a complete huge ecosystem of VGM covers on YouTube, the place artists do their very own artistic preparations of well-liked online game music. So for those who play a singular instrument, this may provide you with a strategy to differentiate your self: Halo on accordion, Remaining Fantasy on metallic guitar, Zelda on harmonica, Mario Bros on banjo.
50. Promote Beats and Pattern Packs: Are you a prolific producer in a style that depends closely on digital music, corresponding to hip-hop, pop, or EDM? You may assist different artists get an enormous musical help by promoting your beats, production-starts, and pattern packs.
51. Write Customized Songs: Let your followers know you’ll compose and document customized songs for particular events like weddings or birthdays. Simply remember to cost sufficient on your precise effort and time!
52. Sound Design and Audio Branding: Create “audio logos” and “sound identities” for companies. Or use your manufacturing abilities to make sound results and audio environments for media, public areas, or different commissioned initiatives.
Retail & Venue Work
53. Document Retailer: Gig at evening and work at a document retailer through the day. You’ll keep on high of the most recent music releases, as properly brush up on the classics.
54. Music Retail: Fairly be close to devices? Work at a music retailer and develop your experience within the newest gear, used instrument valuation, and extra.
55. Making or Repairing Devices: Good at fixing guitars? Carving violins? Soldering results pedals or synths? You could possibly begin your individual enterprise or work out of an current store or retailer.
56. Expertise Purchaser: Already in communication with a big community of gifted musicians? Put these social and group abilities to make use of reserving the acts at an area venue.
57. Venue Employees: Favor extra of the “on the bottom” venue expertise? You could possibly be a bartender, bouncer, field workplace assistant, or venue supervisor.
58. Reside Sound Engineer: Each good venue wants good dwell sound. You could possibly be the important thing to creating that occur. Bonus factors for those who’re not a grump!
Different Music Professions
59. Music Journalism: Write present previews, album opinions, characteristic interviews, and extra. It’s possible you’ll discover a possibility to do that as a side-gig on your native newspaper or arts weekly.
60. Musicology, Criticism, Editorial, and Curation: Put your deep data and fervour for a specific style to make use of. Educate others about that historical past. Or make music suggestions and thrilling connections for listeners.
61. Member of an Orchestra: Jazz, Classical, Ballet, or the pit-orchestra for Musical Theater. When you have nice technical facility in your instrument and reliable sight-reading abilities, you could possibly make a residing in a big ensemble.
62. Non secular Music: Whether or not it’s the organist in a cathedral, the guitarist in a praise-and-worship band, the cantor at a temple,… many religions have music as a part of their common service.
63. Voice Expertise: When you have an excellent singing voice, you may be capable of translate these dramatic abilities to offer voiceovers, audiobook readings, or character voices.
Model Collaborations
64. Model Sponsorships: Accomplice up with some firm who shares your values and aesthetic, and receives a commission whenever you rep their merchandise, companies, or mission.
65. Endorsements: Get discounted (or generally free) services corresponding to devices, music advertising instruments, or music manufacturing software program. In change, you agree to make use of that gear in public and supply testimonials.
66. Affiliate Advertising: Promote a sure product in your web site, do gear opinions, and hyperlink to the producer or retailer, and earn a fee on any gross sales.
67. Be an Influencer: “Influencer Advertising?” Simpler mentioned than performed, however… you probably have a big social following, you might be able to monetize that focus by doing product placements or promo shoutouts.
Miscellaneous
68. Books, eBooks, & Audiobooks: I suppose this might go below the “merch” part, however that’s extra concerning the closing product and gross sales. Turning into an writer is an endeavor all its personal, after all. However for those who already show a knack for lyric-writing, you will have longer-form literary expertise too. It may very well be fiction, non-fiction about musicology, essays about band drama and tour mishaps, and even written instrument instruction with accompanying illustrations.
69. Music Running a blog: I discussed above that you could possibly write opinions for an current publication, however you could possibly additionally host opinions by yourself web site within the hopes of monetizing your weblog by way of advert placements and affiliate income.
70. Podcasting: Begin a podcast about your music, adventures, or different pursuits. If you happen to get adequate engagement, you possibly can monetize by way of advertisements, sponsorships, or listener help.
71. Competitions: These may very well be rap battles, songwriting challenges, bluegrass competitions. There could also be an entry price, however that additionally means there may very well be a giant payout for those who win.
72. Interactive Music Experiences: When you have blended media or web-development abilities, you could possibly create an immersive real-world or digital expertise. Emma McGann’s multi-player “Monsterverse” RPG in Discord is a superb instance. You may ask your followers to pay to take part, or you should utilize it as an opportunity to drive merch gross sales on the finish of the expertise.
73. Consulting Companies: Musicians need assistance, stable recommendation, and networking connections. Are you able to mentor somebody in administration, crowdfunding, digital promoting, or one thing else? Present that technique recommendation in change for a price.
74. Open-Supply Collaboration: That is whenever you make some artistic work obtainable for others to make use of, and not using a clear concept of who will collaborate, or what precisely will end result. Making stems downloadable for remixers is an apparent instance. You may approve your favourite remixes and formally distribute these tracks, splitting any income the remix generates. However artists like Holly Herndon and Grimes took it one step additional with AI fashions of their vocals.
75. __________: Sure, a clean house, as a result of if there are 75 objects on this record already, there’s certain to be many extra methods to generate profits out of your musical abilities. And I needed to go away room so that you can think about your individual prospects. Have enjoyable!
Conclusion
Most musicians won’t ever deal with each merchandise on this record, and that’s utterly tremendous. They shouldn’t. All of us have our personal specialties and pursuits. Greatest to concentrate on what’s rewarding, each by way of private progress and revenue.
However hopefully this lengthy record provides you an outline of your choices as you make a profession of your music, and as you complement your major music revenue sources with further income streams.
