Nothing is better than financial independence to put a smile on your dial. As a budding musician, it can be challenging to break into the industry. Fortunately, financial freedom is well within the realms of possibility, particularly if you go online. Scores of artists have leveraged their Internet popularity to go from relative unknowns to music prodigies. It happens. There are myriad ways in which musicians can tap into the power of the Internet and the near-limitless potential it presents.
There are many innovative ways to make money online through music, including instruction (teaching music), creating a YouTube music channel dedicated to your brand, podcasts discussing music, selling merch, and uploading your songs to top-tier streaming platforms. Today, we will look at seven easy ways to make money online as a new artist. Brace yourself for this must-read guide and all the fantastic earning potential it presents!
Adopt the Perspective of The Music Fan
Internet musicians understand the value of the audience. Fortunately, you don’t need to be musically literate or have a Ph.D. in music theory to be successful online. But it’s imperative that you can read your audience’s needs, wants, and preferences. That means you need to understand your customers. Understanding allows you to improve the quality of the music you create and the experience of your listeners.
So, it’s essential to facilitate quick and easy access to your library of songs. Optimize your brand with top-tier SEO so that search engines can find you quickly. A little work goes a long way in this regard. Even without a record label, you can still be a music success by uploading your songs to premier platforms like Google Play, Spotify, Apple Music, etc.
Sell your Songs Through Your Site
Not everybody is a webmaster, but you don’t need to be. Build a music website for yourself, and enjoy full control over your tunes. Implementing a payment processing solution on your business site is pretty easy. This allows you to promote yourself, sell your music, and enjoy the fruits of your labor.
Other important benefits of selling songs through your site include full control over the data you collect, which you will invariably need for future songs. Anyone building a music career must have a long-term focus, and a databank of fans is a great place to start. Plus, it’s ideal for marketing purposes!
Partner with Professionals like Sound Campaign
SoundCamps is the perfect partner, connecting artists and playlist curators worldwide. It’s a great place to start for a new music artist. Their goal is music promotion and enhancement on leading platforms like Spotify. Artists can enjoy many benefits, including expanding their fan base by increasing their visibility and music streaming. It’s also great for discovering new music and earning rewards.
Perhaps most significant is that artists retain 100% of their rights, including royalties. This methodology is predicated on a robust network of music curators, employing a data-driven strategy for optimizing the results of every music campaign. Put differently, you get the most bang for your buck from your promotional efforts. SoundCamps is an artist-friendly platform promoting emerging talent, compensating artists for their time and skill, and providing a supportive ecosystem for promotion and discovery.
LPs and CTAs
Online sales are all about effective marketing and advertising. You can have the best music, but if nobody knows about you, it’s DOA. We recommend that music artists create brilliant landing pages (LPs). Not only are LPs fantastic for assisting the efficacy of your marketing campaigns, but they are also targeted advertising mediums. For example, pre-order campaigns can be easily measured through landing pages. Pre-orders, sales conversions, marketing, and promotion initiatives can all be measured.
Calls to action (CTAs) are equally important. The goal is to get listeners to act on your message. Things include Buy Now, Download, Listen, Support, Get It, etcetera. A call to action is the make-or-break aspect of pre-orders for your musical playlist. It could be singles, albums, or EPs. Keep it as simple as possible – no need for any confusion. The focus is on promotion and sales. New marketing strategies should be associated with new CTAs.
Music Publishing and Streaming Royalties
Music publication and income generated through publishing royalties are sacrosanct. Music is a form of intellectual property, including a set of rights bestowed upon the artist. Anyone who wants to use that music naturally must comply with the intellectual property rights laws. This means streaming platforms, venues, radio stations, Hollywood studios, and corporate functions. Anyone using the intellectual property is compelled to pay an annual license.
Musical artists are due performance royalties and mechanical royalties. In brief, a mechanical royalty is the income owed to a musician once a song is downloaded, reproduced, or streamed. A performance royalty is due to an artist once a song is played at a venue, on stage, on TV, at the theatre, or on the radio. Any public venue qualifies for performance royalties.
Generate Income through Merchandise Sales
Got a brand? You can always sell your merchandise and generate income as a rising star in the music world. Provided you source the materials correctly, it’s pretty easy to mass-produce your brand for sale and distribution online, in person, or via third parties. This is a fantastic way to subsidize your expenses – venue hire, travel, concert expenses, etc. And on the topic of merchandise, there are plenty of products you can sell. Think beyond T-shirts – hats, socks, wristbands, tech gear, coffee mugs, hairbands, brushes, keyrings, and all sorts of other accouterments are fair game. A word of caution is advised: build a brand and the following with great music before you start mass-producing merchandise.
Focus Your Efforts on Pre-Order Marketing
For new music fans, the artists who have yet to break into the scene, it’s not always clear when you should be promoting yourself. But here’s a tip from professionals: focus your efforts on pre-order marketing, not post-release advertising. In other words, get people interested in the upcoming album or song release before you go live. That’s why we recommend the landing page and call-to-action campaign for your pre-orders. These orders are the best barometer – gauge – of the impending popularity of the album.
And there you have it, folks! Seven fantastic ways to make money online as a new artist. Follow these tips to the letter, and read up about other supplementary, complementary, and contingent tips, tricks, and strategies to maximize your personal brand as a new artist.
