How to make money with your music?

As a musician, you are probably trying to figure out ways to make money with music. The question might be one of the most important and difficult questions to answer in your career as an artist. However, there is no need for concern; in this blog we will share multiple ways to make money with doing what you love most!

How can I sell music?

The most common way for producers to make money with their music is to release music. This can be achieved through releasing albums on iTunes, Amazon Music Unlimited or streaming services like Spotify or Apple Music. As an artist you might already be aware that if you try to release music through record labels, they will most likely take up to 60% of the revenue generated from your royalties. Royalties are generated every time you music is played, streamed or exposed in any other way. On top of that you first need to find a record label that actually wants to release your music.

A record label has a lot of advantages. A Record label will handle the distribution of your songs. They will also do handle promotions for their artists.

Are there any alternatives for record labels?

A record label will always look for songs who match the style of the other artists that are signed to the record label.That's why getting signed by a label can prove to be quite difficult, especially as a starting artist. This is why it can be a good idea to release your music with an aggregate service and then look for a record label later. This way you get all the benefits of releasing on your own but still have the chance of getting signed by one in case things don’t work out as planned.

How to release your music with an aggregate service?

What is an aggregate service and how does it work?

An aggregate service is a company which collects music for release. They will collect and distribute the recordings of different musicians, but they don't sign people to their label or manage them in any way.

The company's main incentive is that artists have to pay an upfront fee for each recording before it can be released on CDs and distributed through digital music platforms.

How to release your music with an aggregate service?

You can release your music with an aggregate service by contacting them and agreeing on a contract. You will have to pay a fee to the company. In return, an aggregate service is a good way of releasing your music if you don't want to spend money on marketing and distributing CDs. They can distribute your recordings directly through their website/ any major streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple music or music stores like Beatport and Traxsource. This will allow you to start making money with your songs.

What are the advantages of using a professional aggregator for releasing?

Working with a professional aggregator has many advantages. They can promote your music to increase visibility and the amount of plays on major streaming platforms, as well as CD distributors like Amazon or iTunes. Professional aggregators can also help you release remixes for other artists, which is an easy way of making more money.

Why you should use a professional aggregator when releasing your music?

In the music industry you have several aggregate services, like Tunecore, Distrokid or CD Baby which offer a good range of distribution. They will release your music to most major streaming services and music stores in the music industry.The main downside is that you will need to have enough funds to do this yourself and it might take some time before your music starts earning any royalties. You will also have to do all promotions and marketing efforts yourself, opposed to releasing your music with a record label.

How does copyright work?

Copyright is a form of intellectual property protection provided for original work, including literary works and musical compositions. The copyright holder has the exclusive right to do as they please with their copyrighted material:reproduce it, distribute it or sell it.

The Copyright Act states that if one is in possession of an unpublished work without permission from the copyright owner, this person is infringing on the copyright.

If you hold the copyright to a track you'll be able to great royalties.

What are royalties?

A royalty is a payment made for the use or license of an intangible asset. Royalties are usually paid in order to generate income from copyright, patents, trademarks and/or property rights. It's possible to make money with music by monetising your work. This means you can get royalties on someones else's behalf if you hold the copyright of the song.

What are some of the benefits to go for self-publishing?

Self-publishing your music allows your to have more control and ownership over your work.

The downside to self-publishing is that you'll be responsible for the marketing of your music, which can take up a lot of time.

Publishing with an established company will allow you to focus on creativity, so you won't have to worry about the marketing aspect.Self-publishing will typically result in less money for you, but it can be more satisfying and rewarding if you are a creative person.Publishing with an established company will allow you to make more money from music since you won't have to spend as much time and effort towards marketing your music.

How to make money playing gigs?

If you are a talented musician, you also have the option to make money playing gigs. Playing live music is the best way for artists to make money with music as well as getting you name out there. You will need a really good looking online presence in order to have enough bookings for this approach to work though. Enhancing you online presence can be achieved through social media for instance. Next to making music artists need to focus on online and offline promotion. Being an artist is more than having some good music. In order to get booked for gigs, you will need to create an audience. Try sharing your sound on the biggest online platforms. Seeing your career as a brand will greatly help to grow your audience. Make sure you have a recognisable sound and image. This will stick with your fans and will create a desire to see you perform on a gig.

How to get booked?

When getting booked at a gig it is of great importance to already have some raving fans of your music. Think of it on the side of a booker. Bookers only want one thing, to create a successful event and sell enough tickets to keep the venue happy. Selling these tickets can only be achieved by having a product that is worth selling. In this case your performance is the product. You will have to sell your "product" to the bookers. Having enough fans, albeit online, is a great sign that you have a good product you can offer the booker.

How to make money selling ghost productions?

If you are a producer, this is the option for you. You can make money producing music and selling it to artists or other industries. One could for instance use the purchased song in video games, movies and commercials. This approach will work best if your productions sound as good or better than what's currently available in the music industry.

How does House of Tracks work?

On House of Tracks you are able to create a label (which is what we call an account" With this label you can offer your ghost productions up for sale. Uploading your productions to House of Tracks is free. This means you can upload as many songs as you'd like. Whenever you sell a track through the platform you automatically get paid, you only pay a commission fee of 36%. This percentage goes down the more songs you sell on House of Tracks.Selling ghost productions is also a good way of making money with tracks you otherwise wouldn't release!

How high should the quality of my tracks be to sell on House of Tracks?

At House of Tracks we are looking for high quality tracks. Every melodic element in the song should be fully composed by the producer. On top of that, thew mixing and mastering of each track should be on point.

Who buys tracks at House of Tracks?

Anyone can buy on House of Tracks. There are a lot of musicians as well as companies that need music for various projects. For instance there are artists that need some more music but are to busy playing gigs. There might be buyers that own an advertising business who need songs for their new ads.

How to make money through streaming music?

Streaming is a very popular format these days. People like to stream their favorite music on the go, while working out or relaxing at home. Streaming platforms are becoming more and more popular as well!You can make money from your music by uploading it to streaming services such as Spotify or Apple Music. You get royalties every time listens to your song royalties will be generated. To make sure you get enough streams on your music. You will need to focus on a marketing strategy.

How do I market my music?

In the current digital oriented world we live in, probably most of your marketing efforts would be focused on social media. It helps to see your artist career as a brand. Just like every company, you need to create fans for your brand.Only when you have enough fans of your brand you are able to earn money from music.

How to go about marketing you music?

You should use Facebook, Twitter and YouTube with the best marketing strategies to make your music successful. Ideally, you will need a good website about yourself where people can find all of your social media accounts so they can follow you. In order to get people to follow you you will have to create engaging content.Next to creating music it's also a good idea focus on visual content like: professional music videos, impeccable artwork, and eye-catching merchandise. If you don't possess the skills to realise these, it m might be worth to pay a professional to help you out!

How to make money with music using Youtube?

Releasing your music on streaming services like Spotify or Apple music always requires you to sign with a record label or use an aggregate service like TuneCore or Distrokid for instance. Alternatively you could opt for generating revenue through Youtube. Youtube is a free platform which allows you to upload videos. On Youtube you will be able to earn money by getting plays on your content. A play is counted whenever someone watches your video for at least 30 seconds. Once you have reached enough play you will get paid by the platform.

What should you upload to Youtube?

In order to get enough plays on your videos, it's important to create high quality posts. You can for instance choose to upload high quality music videos. Or things like clips of past gigs or a behind the scenes. You might even consider sharing your skills with the world and create tutorial videos.

How to get some extra plays on your content?

Another good way to get more plays on your videos, you could also promote them on social media channels like Facebook or Twitter for instance. People will be able to see it and then click through from there.Uploading your music to Youtube can be a good business. Once you have enough plays on your online content your are able to make a decent income from the revenue generated by your content.

In conclusion

As you can see there are multiple ways to make money with your music. The key to generating a decent income with your music is to focus on multiple revenue streams. There are a lot of digital platforms around to monetise your music.Making money in the music business is not as difficult as you might think. You just have to keep finding new ways to earn money.