How to Make Money with Music?

For people who dream of having a successful music career, they might find that at the start it is incredibly difficult to earn enough. How is it that some musicians seem to have it all? Do they just know the right people, or did they just get lucky? The answer is – who knows? At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how many musicians you look at, in order to become successful yourself, you need to just focus on yourself.

If you’re making good music in a genre that has an audience, there’s a straightforward way to predictably and reliably grow your fan base… while you get to focus on the music. Don’t get me wrong, this won’t be easy. Making a living from your passion and transforming a hobby into a lucrative enterprise is a tremendous achievement. But while it’s easy to dream of being the next Springsteen, Nicki Minaj, Drake, or other leading names in the music industry, making your dream a reality takes considerable work.

Support a Bigger Band

If you really want to get your music heard, then you need to find musicians that will actually benefit you. Supporting small bands is easy, but it won’t help you reach the top of the music career.

So, the best thing that you can do is try and support a bigger band. You can do this; it just might take a bit of time before you get a yes from one of them.

To start with, look for a band in a similar genre to you (that also has a much larger following than you). Once you’ve found them, get in touch with them through their website or manager, which should be easy enough if you Google them.

Once you’ve had a nod from them that you can support them, you need to get involved in their social media to raise awareness. If you can create a good enough impression on them then they might let you come back for another gig.

But moving forward with this, you should make sure that you network properly so that you can find out if they are playing at any festivals. If they are, see if they’ll let you come as well. This way you can find new opportunities that will help you be seen and become more successful.

Do a Charity Concert

If you haven’t already realized it, then people love to give to charity, why because it’s a good cause. If you can, link up with a local charity and hold a gig somewhere, and then make sure that all proceeds go to them.

You might now be thinking but how does this help you make money? Simple, you won’t get money straightaway, but it will help you in the long run. Just make sure that you involve social media and that you get the press coverage done properly. You need to grab people’s attention.

Make sure that the event stands out too. Perhaps doing a theme night or do something a bit different. So long as it grabs people’s attention, it’s sure to work. If you’re doing it in a local community, then great. You can easily get the local community to come together and support you (particularly if it’s their local charity that you are supporting). You’ll even be able to get the local newspaper to cover you. All you have to do is ask, and you’ll surely get it. If you don’t ask though, then you certainly won’t get it.

Build Your Career

This one is fairly obvious, but if you are just keen on making money, then you can out of gigging and your music! If you are playing gigs on a regular basis and are writing music but aren’t quite earning enough then there are a few things that you can do.

For example, you could set up your own Patreon account, or take part in video meetings with your followers (as this way they can have a more personal experience with you). You can sell merchandise, become a music producer or even invite fans to choose their own rates.

This might sound like a huge risk; however, you can set a minimum price but can still accept higher rates. You may want to keep your minimum rates low though, as this gives you a higher chance that newcomers might take a chance on your music, particularly if they don’t have to pay a lot. You might also find that your fans can show their appreciation for your work by paying you a higher rate as well (even if it’s only a small thing). If you are interested in attracting more fans to your music though, click here.