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Do You Qualify?
Record Label Realities
Lifestyle of Freedom
Income Streams
Music Business & Money
How Much Money
Getting Started
Pro or Amateur?
Common Pitfalls
Do You Qualify?
Record Label Realities
Lifestyle of Freedom
Income Streams
Music Business & Money
How Much Money
Getting Started
Pro or Amateur?
Common Pitfalls
 |
Create multiple income streams How do I make money in the music business? Full-time gigging How can I play music and get paid? Full-time teaching How do I make money in music if I don't perform? CD'S & Download music sales How do I sell my music online? |
| Recording and running sound How do I make money recording music? Special Skills What else can I do to make money in the music business? |
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Create multiple income streams
I consider $30,000 and up a primary income stream. Anything less I consider secondary income. There are several ways to make a consistent living in the music business and some ways that will not.
Most of our focus is on full-time gigging, but not all musicians want to, or are able to, perform for a living. Some may prefer to perform only part-time, teach, record, etc.
Which income stream(s) will work best for you? Look at the list below to determine which income stream will benefit you the most. Focus in on one of them. Then you will be able to increase your income over time by adding other income streams.
Note: The only 2 income streams that have proven themselves to be 'primary' for us are performing music or teaching full time. No one has ever contacted me to tell me anything different...only to confirm it.
A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others.
-Ayn Rand
Full time gigging
This usually the favorite amongst musicians. If I have heard it once I've heard it 1000 times..."I just want to play and get paid!" Even if the artist is just looking to earn a part-time income, they all tell me the same thing.
We have been all over this great country and when other musicians see our lifestyle, they start asking us "How can I do what you guys do?" I hate repeating myself, so I just decided to write it down for those interested.
If you are a singing guitar player you have no excuses. Solo acoustic gigs are the easiest to book and handle. You will be able to get those steady weekly gigs for a more dependable steady income. You will also be more likely to get booked for corporate and private parties.
If you are a vocalists you can use Karaoke gigs to make money while making good use of your vocal talents. Again, weekly gigs will be your primary income and you will also get booked for corporate and private parties.
When solo gigs are not an option
If you play guitar, bass, sax, keyboards, etc hook up with 2-3 different artists and book duos (assuming one or both of you can sing). There are a lot of steady duo gigs and you will earn as much as a guitar solo singer's act.
Even though bands are always more fun to play with than solo, you will spend more time and make less money with a band. So be sure to join 2-3 bands to keep your income steady since those gigs are usually less frequent. You will also have to deal with the inevitable revolving door of band-mates.
An alternative to band gigs would be to sell an open mic, blues jam or open jam type gig. This is the best route for vocalists and drummers. You will make more than you would as a band member but you are also more in control. If you are a DJ, then create a Trivia/DJ act. You have to be pretty organized to do these types of gigs, but bar owners love it!
Music is a performance and needs the audience.
-Michael Tippett
Teaching music or instrument lessons
If you have the ability to teach, this is a great money maker. This is how we started working T out of his day job.
Most lessons are in the evening and some on Saturdays When you are free from a job you can teach the home schooled and retired folks during the day.
You will create a steady weekly income this way and still be free on Friday and Saturday nights to go gigging.
Teaching is not easy and just because you can play doesn't mean you can teach! If you are not good at it you will not do very well. You won't know how to challenge students.
You simply can't make a living teaching intro's! Students will become frustrated and drop you. But if you are good at breaking down songs, music theory, instrument knowledge, etc...you will have the same students for years!
I believe that every human soul is teaching something to someone nearly every minute here in mortality.
-M. Russell Ballard
CD'S & Download music sales
This is an obvious source of income in the music business and we discuss it further on our Original Artist Corner page. I consider it a secondary income because it is minimal and unpredictable. Yet there are so called 'experts' all over the web, claiming you can be rich and famous from this method.
I have never met a full-time musician who claims CD's or download sales as their primary source of income. I have searched near and far, and I am still waiting to hear from one who can actually back this claim up. If I ever find one, I will be certain to bring you an interview from them.
This may tempt you to give away your music for free. DON'T! This is the dumbest idea I have read out there yet. People do not value things that are free! If you want people to value your music...then SELL it!
The best income is from selling CD's at gigs, fans, friends and family. Our online music sales are less, but come from strangers who visit TMoody's website. TMoody's website is designed to focus on 3 specific things:
- Sell the musician
- Sell original music
- Sell gigs
It's always great to get direct deposits from our music download sales and YouTube income. TMoody's music is purchased by strangers in the US and in other countries, thanks to iTunes, and a bunch of other music download outlets.
I should mention here that very music sales have ever resulted from working any social networking site. But SN sites are great for getting people to gigs. Once there, they will buy your music. Especially if you perform regionally or nationally. Get people out to your show and you will sell CD's...and merch! :)
You can count on selling music at your gigs if you promote it well from the stage and on the floor. Heck! If you can't sell it after you just performed it, then I doubt you will have any 'online' sales success.
Maximum dollars for your music
Ultimately the most significant revenue on T's original music is CD sales from his gigs! So much so, that we had to capitalize on this realization.
We got creative and repackaged his CD's into a "Collection" of 4 CD's that you can buy only at the show. It immediately TRIPLED our merchandise income. Now, T earns an additional $300-400 per month just from this one source. That's a solid part-time income without doing more than he's already doing.
If you do not have original music to sell, you will be missing out on this income stream completely! Do you have a full length CD? How can you package multiple CD's for your show? Check out our Original Artist Corner page for more on this topic.
We have also done shirts, hats, beer cozies, etc. But ultimately our CD's sell best and have waaaay better profit margins. That is why we no longer really invest for this type of merchandise.
Half the battle is selling music, not singing it. It's the image, not what you sing.
-Rod Stewart
Recording and running sound
A lot of our full-time musicians friends have this as an income stream. But it is usually a secondary one. The only real complaint I hear from our recording buddies is that many bands don't have much money to record. They do better targeting solo artists and vocalists.
The more successful recording guys promote and sell 'LIVE SHOW' recordings. They make a few hundred bucks in one night and BAND gets their full live CD recorded. Many times these recording musicians will even book gigs from these live recording sessions.
The other music business income many of these guys have is running sound for bands. Bands need a good sound man but often don't know of any. Since professional bands know to charge enough of a fee to pay one, target your marketing those musicians also.
Maybe you have a ton of recording equipment and you know how to use it. Increase your income even more by offering short runs of CD duplication and CD printing to your services.
I don't care much about music. What I like is sounds.
-Dizzy Gillespie
Special Skills
Income streams will open up to you in ways you haven't thought of yet. You just have to be out there making it happen before you can spot them. You can do social networking from the sofa but the music business, networking is done in person.
I met a full-time musician from the Chicago area. He composes and records music for many of the A&E TV shows. He got started because of a fellow musician he had gigged with years before got the contract and needed a guitar player.
Example of special skills
When we enter a new town, we enter with an empty calendar. It takes about 60 days for the booked gigs to start coming to pass and paying off, so we need additional income during that time.
T knows quality guitars. Probably from 30 years of absorbing guitar magazines! He is also a masterful negotiator. So we hit Craigslist and all the Pawn Shops in our new area.
We buy great stuff at great deals, then resell it. We call it 'treasure hunting' because...well...it is.
We have done this so much throughout the states we've traveled that that we are currently a POWER SELLER, TOP RATED SELLER on Ebay.
We have well over 1000 positive feedback's on Ebay just for gear and rare music that we find while traveling or relocating. By the time we have exhausted all the good deals in that town, our gigging calendar is full and replaces that 2 months of EBay income.
Obviously there are other creative ways you can make money with an instrument that may not be found here. I prefer to focus on what is working for real full-time musicians across the country.
An essential aspect of creativity is not being afraid to fail.
-Edwin Land
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