Being an Independent musician is a challenge especially from a monetary standpoint. You won’t make or see any decent money until you have a song(s) that gains traction on the radio and on the charts. In most cases that is the reality of the situation.
But that doesn’t mean you can’t make any money from your music career. The following blog post will show you 4 ways to generate income in the industry while waiting for your career to take off.
1. Set Up your own recording studio
Every aspiring and working musician needs access to a recording studio in order to produce music -I’m just stating the obvious here.
But not every artist owns a recording studio.
So that’s where you come in. You can set up your own recording facilities and charge other artists for studio time.
Setting up a basic recording studio in this day and age is not expensive, but that’s the easy part.
Your marketing skills will determine whether your studio becomes success or not. You need leads (and lots of them) so that means your phone and email have to be flooded with enquiries.
2. Sell Beats
If you are a music producer (and own your own recording studio) then you can supplement your income by selling your beats.
Selling beats is quite a challenge compared to renting out a studio to other artists. But some independent producers and artists manage to pull this off and that’s part of being resourceful.
But you have to be good at you do in order to attract buyers in the first place. I previously wrote an article on how you can improve your music production skills.
You can use websites such as Soundclick, Soundcloud to market your work. But don’t expect to make immediate sales.
3. Tutoring
Can you play the piano or guitar very well? If your answer is yes then you can offer your services to those who are interested in learning how to play an instrument or improving their skills.
You can either advertise your services on websites such as Gumtree, Olx just to mention a few.
YouTube is also a good option because you can create your own content and reach more people and build a large following.
If video is not your thing then you can start a blog and share your knowledge with others.
4. Digital music sales
This is probably your core business as a musician – after all you are in the business of selling music.
If you are serious and determined to break into the music industry then you have to record as many songs as possible.
But it’s pointless to record music and leave it in your hard drive. Put it out there in the public domain and wait for feedback (positive or negative). That’s how you will learn and improve your craft.
However you need to have access to distribution first. If you have your own record label with a couple of songs recorded, getting a distribution deal is not so hard.
Digital distribution will help you to earn royalties from different territories. Sure I’m not saying this will make you an instant millionaire but a sales record and history will give you the confidence to keep creating and selling music.
Conclusion
There are plenty of ways to make money as a musician and some avenues are easier than others.
You just have to find what works for you and stick with it.
I would like to hear your thoughts and opinions. Please do leave your comment below.