The road to riches is probably the most popular topic among anyone looking to make significant money. Many would-be entrepreneurs view the idea of becoming rich as their ultimate goal, and they often pursue it by taking on a series of side gigs to save up enough money to make that leap. If you’re looking to land your dream job as a musician, however, you might be better off pursuing a different route. While it’s definitely possible to make money as a musician in a variety of ways, some of those ways might not be the most ethical or sustainable.
To help you figure out how to make money as a musician, we’ve collected some of the most valuable information on how you can become a successful online musician. We’ll go over some of the basics of creating a professional sounding album, how to market yourself online, and how to make a decent amount of money off a single album sale.
The Basics Of Music Business
If you’re looking to make money online as a musician, it’s important to understand a few basic things about the business. First and foremost, you’ll need to decide what kind of music you’ll be producing. There are plenty of ways to make money with blues or rock music, for instance, but if you choose pop or jazz, you’ll probably have to look elsewhere for your earnings.
Even once you’ve determined the genre of your music, you’ll have to choose a style. Some popular songwriting programs and drum machines make it easy to create music digitally, but you still need a talented musician to bring the song to life. The better your song, the more you’ll be able to charge. In addition to that, you’ll need a good mixing engineer to help you dial in the right levels of bass, drums, and treble. Finally, you need distribution channels to get your music in the hands of potential listeners.
If you’ve decided to go the indie route and not sign with a major label, you’ll have to spend some serious time learning how to market yourself and your music. Learning how to get the word out about your album could take months, if not years. Once you’ve gained a decent amount of experience, you’ll be able to take on more complex projects and gain more exposure, which will, in turn, help you make more money. In this section, we’ll cover everything from marketing to distribution and business management.
Album Creation And Mapping Out Studio Time
An album, in all its guises – from vinyl to digital – is your best bet for earning significant sums of money. Even if you’ve never done so, you probably know someone who has, and it’s likely that they’ll be approaching you for help. If you’ve gone the indie route and avoided major labels, you’ll have to shoulder much of the financial burden, but you’ll also have much of the creative freedom to shape the album however you see fit. In addition to that, you’ll have access to a much wider range of instruments and technology than you would in a regular recording studio.
To start things off, you’ll need to map out the basic tracklist for the album. This will include everything from the ten or so songs you’ve chosen to include to the type of instrument or sound you want to use for each song. In addition to that, you’ll need to decide how you want the album to flow and how many tracks you want to include. You don’t have to include every song you’ve written, but you should work from a solid playlist of at least ten songs.
With your tracklist in place, you can move on to the next step, which is to create the album. Whether you’ve gone the traditional route and recorded each song individually or you’ve used software to generate parts, you’ll still need to put the pieces together yourself. You might want to enlist the help of a friend with some knowledge of music production or look up online for some good tutorials. Once your album is created, it’s time to map out the rest of the sessions, which you’ll need with a good producer/engineer to make it sound professional.
The Album Launch And Post-Production
Having an album to promote is a great way to make money online as a musician. In addition to that, the timing of your album’s release is key, especially if you’re looking to score major label support. Bigger labels will want to work with an established artist, and an album release around the height of the season is a good way to gain clout. If you choose to go the independent route and not sign with a major, you’ll have to look for alternative ways to gain exposure and make money. Your album will need to stand out among the pile of bands, artists, and producers who are flooding the market at present, and one way to do that is to offer something distinctive about your music and experience. You might want to consider putting together a live show as part of your publicity campaign – whether that’s a solo performance or a showcase for your band – and then selling tickets to each show. In addition to that, you can record a podcast with discussion of your album and its songs or create a video album of your live performance. These are just some of the many ways you can make money online as a musician, so don’t get too discouraged if you can’t immediately see how to fit what you do into a profitable model. There are many options, and you’re bound to find something that will suit you.