20 Proven Ways To Make Money With Music

Making money from your love for music might seem like a dream come true. It is completely possible to turn your musical talents into a steady income. Whether you’re a singer, songwriter, instrumentalist, or just someone who loves creating tunes, there are various ways to make money with music.

Instead of waiting to become a big star, you can start earning money from music right away. All you need is to understand the different opportunities available and find the ones that fit your skills and goals.

How To Make Money With Music?

If music is your passion and you want to monetize it, here are different ways to make money with music.

1. Sell Your Music Directly To Fans

Getting paid for your music is really exciting. There are some good ways to make money from your music while also connecting better with your fans. One of the best things to do is sell your music directly to the people who love it.

Bandcamp is a fantastic platform that helps artists like you sell music independently. It’s easy for your fans to find and buy your music there. You can set your prices and directly receive a good portion of the money made from each sale.

Bandcamp is all about fairness and making sure artists like you get a fair deal. Plus, it helps bring fans and artists together.

You could also think about creating your own website. This gives you total freedom and control over how you present your music and interact with your fans.

Having your own website means you can design a unique space that reflects your style and offers a special experience for your fans. You can even set up a store, offer exclusive content, and create subscription services to give your super-fans extra perks.

Related – Make Money With Singing With These Simple Ideas

2. License Your Music

Licensing means letting others use your music in TV shows, movies, commercials, or video games. It’s like giving them permission to play your song, and you get paid for it.

Your song could be playing in the background of a funny scene in a popular TV show, or maybe it sets the mood for a dramatic moment in a movie.

The process of licensing is pretty straightforward. You can sign up with a company that helps musicians license their music, or you can go through a publishing administrator. They’ll handle the details and make sure everything is fair and above board.

But, keep in mind, getting your music licensed is not always easy. There’s a lot of competition, so you might need to be patient and keep trying.

3. Live Performance

Performing live is an exciting and rewarding way for musicians to make money doing what they love. It’s a traditional method that has helped many artists build successful careers and connect with their fans on a deeper level.

The great thing about live performances is that you’re not limited to one type of venue. You can play at traditional music venues, bars, restaurants, clubs, and even coffee shops. Each setting offers a unique atmosphere and allows you to reach different types of audiences.

In addition to these venues, music festivals provide a fantastic opportunity to reach a wider audience and showcase your talent to a diverse group of people.

Private events, such as weddings, corporate events, and parties, can also be a great source of income and allow you to create a more personalized and exclusive experience for your clients.

Related – A Beginners Guide To Make Money With Your Voice

4. Sell Merchandise

Making money as a musician is not just about hitting the right notes; it’s also about hitting sales targets! One effective way to boost your income is to sell merchandise, or what we call “merch.”

When you sell merchandise, you’re not just selling a product; you’re selling a piece of yourself and your music. Fans love to feel connected to their favorite artists, and wearing or displaying your merch is like being part of a special club.

So, what kinds of things can you sell as merchandise? The options are endless. Here are some simple ideas:

• T-shirts, hoodies, and hats: Everyone loves comfy clothes, and fans will proudly wear your merch to show their support.
• Posters and artwork: Create beautiful posters or unique designs that fans can hang on their walls, reminding them of your awesome music.
• Stickers and pins: These are smaller, affordable items that fans can buy on impulse. They can stick them on their laptops, phones, or anywhere to show their love for your music.
• Mugs and water bottles: Imagine your fans sipping their morning coffee from a mug with your band’s logo on it. It’s a daily reminder of how awesome your music is!
• Exclusive experiences: Go beyond physical items and offer meet-and-greets or VIP concert experiences. Your dedicated fans will cherish these memories forever.

5. Subscription Services

With this method, your fans sign up and pay a small fee each month to access special treats and perks.

So, what could you offer? Well, subscribers might get their hands on your entire music collection, both old favorites and brand-new songs. They could also be the first to hear any new tunes you release, almost like a secret preview.

You could give them discounts on your merchandise and even invite them to exclusive online events.  Your fans feel super special and connected to you and your music, and you get a steady income to help support your creative journey.

6. Radio Plays

Radio play is a fantastic opportunity for musicians to not only share their music with a wider audience but also to earn money from it.

When your song is played on the radio, you get paid for it. This is a great way to make some money from your music, and it can also help you gain new fans and build a following.

Now, it’s not always easy to get your song played on the radio. There’s a lot of competition out there, and you need to find a way to make your music stand out. With hard work and a unique sound, your music can be the next big thing on the airwaves.

7. Sell Digital Downloads

Another way to make money with music is to sell digital downloads of your songs and tunes online. This means people can buy and download your music to their devices and listen to anytime they want.

Selling digital downloads is a pretty simple process. You can use online music platforms and stores to get your music out there. These websites make it easy for you to upload and manage your songs, and music lovers can find your music and buy it with just a few clicks.

These platforms are accessible worldwide. This means your music can reach people in different countries, giving you a chance to build a global fan base.

Some websites also give you royalty payments, which means you earn a little extra money each time your music is downloaded. 

8. Make a Music Channel on YouTube

Making money from your music is an exciting path, and online platforms like YouTube can really help. Let me explain simply how it works:

YouTube allows you to monetize your music videos by running ads on them. When people view the ads on your videos, you earn a portion of the ad revenue.

The more views and engagement your videos get, the more money you can potentially make. However, you need to follow YouTube’s rules, like not using copyrighted content without permission.

It’s a way for your music to earn you income based on how popular your YouTube videos become with fans watching and engaging with them.

Just upload your music videos, enable monetization, and start promoting your channel. With time and effort building your audience, those ad revenues can really add up.

9. Collect Royalties From Streams

In the modern world, one of the most common ways for musicians to earn money is through streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music. This works through something called royalties.

Whenever someone streams or listens to your song on these platforms, you get paid a small amount of money called a royalty. The more times your songs are streamed, the more royalties you earn.

While one stream doesn’t pay much, the royalties can really add up if you build a big fan base listening to your music on these popular streaming apps and sites. It gives your music the chance to be heard by millions of listeners around the world.

Get your songs onto these platforms and then promote them to gain more and more streams over time. With a dedicated fan base streaming your tunes, the royalties from all those streams can turn your musical passion into a steady income source.

10. Teach Music

Making money with your music skills doesn’t have to be just about performing or selling records. Teaching others how to play an instrument can be a fantastic way to earn cash and share your passion for music.

You can offer music lessons in person or online, whichever suits your schedule and preferences.

The online world also offers a ton of opportunities to teach. You can create video tutorials or offer live lessons via video chat. This way, you can reach students from all over the world and fit lessons into your schedule more flexibly.

11. Podcast Editing

Do you enjoy music and have some audio skills? There’s an interesting way you can turn that into making money. It’s called podcast editing.

Lots of people and companies have podcasts these days. After they record their podcast episodes, they need someone to clean up and enhance the audio to make it sound professional and engaging.

As a podcast editor, your job is to take the raw recorded audio and use your musical talents to improve it. This could involve removing background noise, adjusting volumes, and adding sound effects or music beds.

The goal is to polish the audio so it sounds clear, and smooth and keeps listeners interested. Your music knowledge helps you pick the right sound effects or background music to make the episodes more entertaining.

Podcasters are looking to hire people with audio skills to handle the editing and production of their podcast episodes. If you can learn the editing software and techniques, you can offer your services to podcasters to earn money polishing up their shows.

12. Music Libraries

The music world has many cool ways for people who love music to earn money. One exciting option is creating and licensing your music through music libraries.

Music libraries are kind of like middlemen that connect musicians with TV shows, movies, commercials, and other visual media that need music.

As a musician or composer, you can upload and share your original songs and instrumental music tracks to these music library platforms. Media creators browse the libraries looking for music to use.

If a TV show, movie studio, or ad agency likes your track, they can pay to license and use it as background music or a theme song for their project.

So by having your music in these libraries, you give your tracks the chance to be discovered and licensed for use in all sorts of visual entertainment and marketing projects.

Every time your song gets licensed, you earn royalty payments from the music library and the company using your music. The more quality tracks you have available, the more chances you have to make money by licensing them out.

13. Sell Course

It’s really exciting to be able to earn money by sharing what you know about music. Creating online video courses is a great way to do this. The basic idea is that you teach people your musical skills and expertise through video lessons.

If you’re a musician, or producer, or have deep knowledge about some aspect of the music industry, there are many people out there who would love to learn from you. They are willing to pay to access your teachings through online courses.

You can record videos breaking down your knowledge into lessons on things like playing an instrument, music production techniques, music theory, the business side of music, and so on. Whatever your area of expertise is, you can package it up into a structured course.

Once you create the course videos, you can sell access to them online. People pay to enroll and go through the videos at their own pace to gain the knowledge you are providing.

It allows you to monetize your music skills and make money by teaching others. The more value you provide through your unique insights, the more people will want to learn from your courses.

14. Crowdfunding

This innovative way of funding your music projects can help turn your dreams of making money with music into reality.

Crowdfunding is when you ask a bunch of people to contribute a small amount of money to help you achieve a goal. It’s like asking your friends, family, and fans to pitch in and support your musical journey.

You sign up on a crowdfunding platform, such as Kickstarter or Indiegogo, and create a project page. This is where you’ll share your exciting music plans with potential supporters.

15. Become a Session or Studio Musician

Being a session or studio musician is another way for musicians to earn cash by doing what they love – playing their instrument.

The basic idea is that instead of performing your own music, you get hired by other artists or bands to play as a backing instrumentalist on their recordings or live shows.

You’re not the main act or building your own artistic career. Rather, you’re working behind the scenes to provide instrumental support and bring other people’s music to life.

For example, a singer may hire you as a session guitarist to lay down guitar tracks for their album in the recording studio. Or a band may need a touring keyboardist to join them in playing shows to recreate their songs live on stage.

While you don’t get the spotlight, it’s a pretty straightforward way for skilled instrumentalists to get paid gig work using their talents to enhance other artists’ music projects.

The sessions are usually short-term, so you can pick up this kind of work flexibly around other endeavors. It’s not super glamorous, but it allows you to make a living making music without having to be the frontline performer.

16. Make Music For Commercials

Creating music for TV commercials is another way for composers to earn income. When companies need music for their product ads, they often hire composers.

As the composer, your job is to craft music that helps sell the product and leave an impression on viewers. The music you write should complement the visuals and messaging of the commercial.

You’ll either work directly with the company making the product (like a toothpaste brand) that is financing the commercial. Or you’ll collaborate with the director/producer hired to create the commercial itself.

17. Film Scoring

Film scoring involves creating a musical soundtrack that accompanies movies, TV shows, and other visual projects. As the composer, your job is to craft music that enhances the visuals and storytelling on the screen.

You work closely with the director to understand their vision for the project and the emotions they want the score to convey at different moments. Your compositions need to sync up perfectly with the timing of the scenes.

Nowadays, much film scoring gets done by skillfully using music software to create virtual orchestras, bands, and instruments rather than recording live musicians. However, major big-budget films may still hire live ensembles in recording studios.

18. Sell Beats

The most profitable approach is to sell your beats directly through your own website or online store. This way, you get to keep 100% of the money from each sale.

However, you can also sell your beats on special online marketplaces designed for this purpose, like Airbit and Beatstars. These sites make it easy to upload and sell your beats, but they typically take a cut of the sales.

On your own site or the marketplaces, rappers and vocalists can browse and purchase the beats/instrumentals they want to use for their songs. Companies may also buy beats to use as background music.

You can sell individual beats one-by-one, or offer bundled packages with multiple beats included. Setting competitive but fair prices is important.

19. Collect Public Performance Royalties

One important way to get paid for your work is through something called performing rights royalties. This is money you earn whenever your songs get played or performed publicly.

However, tracking and collecting these royalties yourself would be nearly impossible. That’s where Performing Rights Organizations (PROs) come in.

A PRO is an organization that monitors public performances and broadcasts of music. Anytime your song plays on the radio, TV, at a concert venue, restaurant, store, etc. – the PRO tracks it.

The PRO then collects royalty payments from all those businesses and broadcasters who publicly played your music.

As a member songwriter, you register your songs with the PRO. They know you wrote those songs, so they can pay out the proper royalties to you from the pools of money they collect.

The biggest PROs are ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC in the US. Signing up with one is essential for songwriters to get paid their performing rights royalties.

20. Get Sponsorship Deals

If you have a good number of fans and followers, companies may be willing to pay you to promote their products or brands.

Brands are always looking for ways to get their name and products in front of more people. By sponsoring musicians or other influencers who already have an audience, it allows the brand’s message to reach those fans.

You don’t have to be a globally famous musician to get sponsorship opportunities. Even musicians with smaller but dedicated followings can catch the interest of companies looking for influencer partners.

How it works is the company pays you to integrate their products/brand into your music videos, social media posts, live shows, or other content you produce for your fans. It’s like a paid endorsement.

The bigger your audience, the more money brands are typically willing to pay for that exposure.

Final Thoughts

In the end, making money from music is not easy. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication. The most important thing is to keep creating music that you truly love. Don’t get too caught up in trying to make money right away. Focus on your passion first, and the money will follow eventually.

There are many different ways to earn from your music, like selling recordings, performing live, teaching lessons, or licensing your songs. But you don’t have to do everything at once. Start small and find what works best for you. Remember, every successful musician has to start somewhere.