Make Money In The Music Industry – (Tips and strategies) For Artist

Make Money In The Music Industry – Tips and strategies For Recording Artist.

You are an Independent or Unsigned Artist coming up in the music biz. While you are developing your brand and building your fan base, you are trying to figure out how can you earn make money in this industry. In the old days (10 yrs+ ago, lol) your revenue streams were limited unless you were a signed artist to a record label. Today, with the internet boom, there are many ways to build your fans base and your revenue without a record label backing you.

HERE ARE SOME IMPORTANT QUESTIONS TO PONDER:

What is your revenue model? How does your music business generate income and pay expenses? Are you receiving publishing Checks? Do you sell merchandise? Do you sell digital downloads? Are you getting paid from show performances? Have you generated revenue by licensing your music? Have you obtained funds from endorsements or sponsorship? Do you get paid from doing song features? What is your distribution network?

CD Sales/Digital Sales: Artist revenue can be derived from selling music via the CD format. According to Derek Sivers, the founder of CD Baby, which sells CDs of independent artists online, sales of physical CDs for independents continue to do well. Although CD sales are down, there are still quite a few independent artists who sell their CDs in traditional brick and mortar outlets and/or mom and pop stores.

Digital Downloads and Streams: Additionally, artists can sell their music via digital downloads through online distribution retailers like iTunes™, Rhapsody, eMusic, GooglePlay and Amazon. An artist can get worldwide digital distribution by utilizing the services of such companies as CD Baby, Tunecore, Songcast and more. Equally important, a myriad of independents have gotten their songs placed on digital streaming services like Spotify. Spotify is the world’s most popular music streaming network. Spotify pays royalties to labels, publishers, and performing rights societies.

Show/Concert Revenue: For many artists, show gigs are their main source of revenue. It is imperative that artists develop a great live show. Their name alone should be able to draw a crowd to pay to see them perform. Many clubs pay independent artists an average of $500 -$1000 to perform a 20 minute set. If an independent artist creates a big enough buzz, then he or she can enlist the help of booking agents to obtain bigger paying gigs.

Other revenue streams to look into:

Merchandise Sales: Artists can sell their merchandise on their own website. Most often, merchandise is sold at shows and concerts. At each show, artists can simply set up a vendor table to sell their various merch items to their fans. Also, they
can utilize mailing lists, e-blasts and contests to sell their merchandise.

Music Publishing Revenue/Licensing Income: Music Publishing involves getting one’s music placed in various situations for the purpose of collecting royalties. Music is everywhere. Music can be found in movies, commercials,
cartoons, TV shows, on radio, in elevators, and in video games. The key is to find a place for the music, whereby it can start generating revenue. Whenever an artist’s music is performed in public like on radio, in commercials, on TV, etc., he or she is owed a royalty.

It is imperative that music artists and producers join one of the performance rights organizations like ASCAP, BMI
or SESAC for the purpose of collecting performance royalties. For digital publishing royalties, artists and producers must make sure they are members of Soundexchange.

Funds From Doing Features: As an artist’s stock value grows in the marketplace, there will be a demand for the artist to do guest features on songs. Multitudes of indie artists, especially rappers, earn money by doing features. Upcoming artists often seek out other popular independent artists for collaborative efforts with the hopes of building a buzz.

Many aspiring rappers attempt to tap into the fan base of more well-known rappers by paying them for
song features. Buzz worthy independent rappers typically earn between $1500 to $3500 per collaboration.

By the same token, singers frequently generate revenue by writing and singing hooks for other artists. Word gets around fast about a singer who can deliver incredible hooks. Indie artists should advertise on their
website and social networks that they are available for features.

YouTube Partner Program – Ad Sharing/CPM Revenue: If an independent artist has a YouTube Channel, then he or she should try to get as many subscribers to the YouTube channel as possible. They must keep their subscribers entertained by uploading fresh, exciting and unique content. Once artists have a sufficient amount of subscribers and traffic to their channel, they
can sign up to the YouTube Partner Program and generate income. They can convert their original content on YouTube into dollars.

Becoming a partner gives the artist the ability to share in ad revenue from his or her YouTube videos. The ad revenue that is generated via the YouTube Partner Program is divided between YouTube, AdSense, and the artist or producer providing the video content. Revenue is based on how many people view the video and how many people click-through on the online ads. It must
be noted that artists cannot participate in the YouTube Partner Program if they upload cover songs on their channel. The content must be original, and the artist must own the copyright.

Check out more music marketing info from the book- Independent Music Grind written by Jesse Atkinson