Need to receives a commission on your musical skills?
As a musician, there are extra methods to earn cash than ever earlier than. Dozens upon dozens of the way, in actual fact!
Whilst you ought to, in fact, prioritize sure income streams as an artist who creates authentic music, there are occasions — maybe once you’re first rising your profession —once you simply gotta pay the payments.
And in that case, placing your music abilities to make use of positive beats a job outdoors 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 big selection of choices on the market, I’ve put collectively a listing of 75 methods you can also make cash out of your music, grouped by class for straightforward scanning.
Streaming & Digital Gross sales
1. Streaming Income: Earn cash from streaming exercise once 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 extra 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 sensible 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 tasks or excursions.
7. Session Participant: Received skills as an instrumentalist or vocalist? Are you fast at studying and arranging tunes? Recording classes could be a good way to receives a commission whereas not tying up an excessive amount of of your time without delay. You’ll be able to attend classes in particular person, or do distant session work from your individual dwelling studio.
8. Studio Operator: Do you personal numerous recording gear that goes unused once you’re not making music? Possibly it’s time to think about renting out your studio to different engineers, producers, and artists.
9. Cell 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, typically having a transportable studio could make all of the distinction in getting the job.
Music Publishing & Licensing
10. Mechanical Royalties: Gather this type of publishing royalty when your authentic 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 authentic music is carried out dwell in venues or publicly broadcast on radio and TV.
12. Sync Licensing (Songwriter Facet): In the event you write your individual songs and retain the publishing rights, you may get paid an upfront payment — and in some circumstances, ongoing royalties — when your music is positioned in movie, TV, video games, commercials, and so forth.
13. Sync Licensing (Label Facet): Identical goes for the “recording” facet of the equation. In the event you 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 possibly can write music for music collections which might 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 may additionally do chord-charts, tablature, lyric sheets, and extra.
Stay Music Performances
16. Touring and Stay Exhibits: Play dwell and receives a commission. This income may come within the type of ticket gross sales, door splits, bar percentages, or a assured payment from the venue proprietor.
17. Residency Gig: Identical type of fee choices as above, however a residency is a recurrently scheduled factor. It could possibly be “7 nights in a row in July” or “Each different Thursday all 12 months.”
18. Home Live shows: Play intimate live shows in non-public houses. These could be nice fan-building experiences and assist you to promote numerous merch, whereas decreasing strain for big turnout. Plus it can save you on journey bills if the host places you up for the evening.
19. DJing: In the event you’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: Need 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 usually pay higher than a normal venue gig.
22. Metropolis or Municipal Occasions: The annual Christmas tree-lighting ceremony, the summer time beer backyard within the park, the Arts Stroll. Examine together with your native chamber of commerce or metropolis council for alternatives.
23. Festivals: It’s nice to play music festivals, in fact, but in addition analysis non-music gatherings which have dwell music as a part. Beer festivals. Balloon festivals. Meals festivals.
24. Busking: Play in a public area with numerous foot site 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: Just 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. Might be live-band karaoke, a giant band or jazz group, and so forth.
26. Play Cruise Ships: In the event you don’t thoughts small rooms and plenty of months at sea, cruise ship gigs offer you an opportunity to play rather a lot (typically a number of gigs per day), and supply downtime to give attention to apply, recording, studying, and so forth.
27. Nursing Houses: 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 turn into reliable repeat gigs.
28. Digital Performances: Need 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 so forth.
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’ll have heard, followers nonetheless buy CDs, vinyl data, and even cassettes. Supply 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: Supply limited-edition or signed bodily copies of your music to followers. For example, you may promote tour-specific recordings that can by no means once more be accessible to buy.
32. Digital merch: Not all merchandise have to be bodily. You’ll be able to supply PDFs of your tour diary or poetry. A digital cookbook. An unlock of a secret video.
33. Digital “Field Set”: Identical goes for music information. You will have a trove of unreleased recordings. Give followers paid entry! Or bundle every thing you’ve ever recorded right into a digital bundle 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, art work, or monetary association.
Music Schooling
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 could possibly be about your instrument, or your music-biz and promo abilities. A number of upfront work, however with the potential for it to turn into extra “passive” revenue as soon as your advertising and marketing funnel is up and operating.
38. Music Workshops: Host IRL or on-line neighborhood gatherings the place studying and suggestions occurs in a gaggle setting.
39. Visitor Lectures: Converse at faculties, 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 prospect to make a fast gross sales pitch on the finish of your discuss or promote books afterwards.
40. Music Transcription: Are you good at determining complicated harmonies, blistering bluegrass breaks, or well-known saxophone solos? You possibly can earn cash transcribing that music note-for-note. It is likely to be work-for-hire revenue, or you may publish these transcriptions in a guide. Or on YouTube (with the potential for incomes advert income).
Crowdfunding & Fan Help
41. Challenge-Primarily based Crowdfunding: Use platforms like Kickstarter or GoFundMe to lift cash from followers to help a selected recording, tour, advertising and marketing, or video venture.
42. Membership Golf equipment: You should use a subscription-model platform like Patreon, or construct your individual on-line fan subscription via 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 instantly from followers via platforms like PayPal or Venmo. These hyperlinks could be listed in your web site, livestreams, and even pinned to the highest of your Spotify profile.
44. Livestream Help: That is income followers offer you for livestreaming. However in contrast to the Venmo or PayPal suggestions talked about above, it might probably come within the type of a platform-specific forex or motion: Stars, Bits, Subs, and so forth.
45. VIP Experiences: Supply your diehard followers the prospect 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: In the event you’re a prolific author, you’ll 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 numerous dedication, however may result in a publishing deal.
47. Write Jingles: Ya know, the catchy (and typically 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 discipline can require numerous time and dedication. Think about accordingly how usually and once you need to settle for scoring work.
49. Video Sport Music: In concept, 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 turn into a part of the sport’s soundtrack, which refers again to sync licensing. Lastly, there’s a complete large ecosystem of VGM covers on YouTube, the place artists do their very own artistic preparations of common online game music. So for those who play a singular instrument, this would possibly offer you a option to differentiate your self: Halo on accordion, Ultimate 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, akin to hip-hop, pop, or EDM? You’ll be able to 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 make sure 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 tasks.
Retail & Venue Work
53. File Retailer: Gig at evening and work at a document retailer throughout the day. You’ll keep on high of the most recent music releases, as properly brush up on the classics.
54. Music Retail: Quite 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 possibly can begin your individual enterprise or work out of an current store or retailer.
56. Expertise Purchaser: Already in communication with a big community of proficient musicians? Put these social and group abilities to make use of reserving the acts at a neighborhood venue.
57. Venue Workers: Favor extra of the “on the bottom” venue expertise? You possibly can be a bartender, bouncer, field workplace assistant, or venue supervisor.
58. Stay Sound Engineer: Each good venue wants good dwell sound. You possibly can 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. You could 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 information 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’ve got nice technical facility in your instrument and reliable sight-reading abilities, you may make a dwelling in a big ensemble.
62. Spiritual 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’ve got a superb singing voice, you would possibly have the ability to translate these dramatic abilities to supply voiceovers, audiobook readings, or character voices.
Model Collaborations
64. Model Sponsorships: Companion up with some firm who shares your values and aesthetic, and receives a commission once you rep their merchandise, companies, or mission.
65. Endorsements: Get discounted (or typically free) services and products akin to devices, music advertising and marketing 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… when you have a big social following, you could possibly monetize that focus by doing product placements or promo shoutouts.
Miscellaneous
68. Books, eBooks, & Audiobooks: I suppose this might go beneath the “merch” part, however that’s extra in regards to the remaining product and gross sales. Changing into an writer is an endeavor all its personal, in fact. However for those who already show a knack for lyric-writing, you’ll have longer-form literary expertise too. It could possibly 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 may write opinions for an current publication, however you may additionally host opinions by yourself website within the hopes of monetizing your weblog via advert placements and affiliate income.
70. Podcasting: Begin a podcast about your music, adventures, or different pursuits. In the event you get ample engagement, you possibly can monetize via adverts, sponsorships, or listener help.
71. Competitions: These could possibly be rap battles, songwriting challenges, bluegrass competitions. There could also be an entry payment, however that additionally means there could possibly be a giant payout for those who win.
72. Interactive Music Experiences: When you’ve got blended media or web-development abilities, you may create an immersive real-world or digital expertise. Emma McGann’s multi-player “Monsterverse” RPG in Discord is a superb instance. You’ll be able to ask your followers to pay to take part, or you should use it as an opportunity to drive merch gross sales on the finish of the expertise.
73. Consulting Companies: Musicians need assistance, strong 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 payment.
74. Open-Supply Collaboration: That is once you make some artistic work accessible for others to make use of, with no clear thought of who will collaborate, or what precisely will end result. Making stems downloadable for remixers is an apparent instance. You’ll be able to 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 area, as a result of if there are 75 objects on this checklist already, there’s sure to be many extra methods to earn money out of your musical abilities. And I wished to depart room so that you can think about your individual potentialities. Have enjoyable!
Conclusion
Most musicians won’t ever sort out each merchandise on this checklist, and that’s utterly superb. They shouldn’t. All of us have our personal specialties and pursuits. Finest to give attention to what’s rewarding, each when it comes to private development and revenue.
However hopefully this lengthy checklist provides you an summary of your choices as you make a profession of your music, and as you complement your main music revenue sources with extra income streams.