Beat Selling

How audio technicians, songwriters and musicians are selling music?

Written by Ramy Adly 

We make music because we love it; not to make money. It is the music that moves, leads, and sometimes controls us. However, for those who choose music as a career or see it as their destiny, finding multiple streams of income is essential to create a viable career as a musician. This article will introduce you how to make the most out of monetizing your music and services.

If you are a performer, producer, composer, or music teacher, you can earn different sources of income by finding different applications of your skills. Musicians should try to create at least 7 streams of revenue to maximize their potential income. Here are some ideas to get you started:

How to Monetize your Music and Services 

1. Streaming

Listing your songs on streaming platforms such as iTunes, Spotify, Youtube, Pandora, etc. can earn a small amount of income that adds up over time. Every time your song is played, you earn money. For example:

Apple music/ iTunes pays .0073 USD per stream

Spotify pays .004 USD per stream

Pandora pays .0013 USD per stream

Youtube pays .00069 USD per stream

iHeartRadio pays .017 USD per stream

Let’s say that it costs $300 to fully produce a song and you decided to list your song on Apple Music. Divide the cost by the amount earned per stream to find the amount of streams needed to recover the cost of production.  $300.00/$0.0073= 41,096 streams required to cover costs of production. 

2. Custom Made Songs

Any musical skill takes years of hard work and practice. To make a song there needs to be a producer, singer, band, and manager to distribute the song. The problem is that not every musician is trained in every skill, so we need each other to be able to create music. Personally, as an Oud player I need a drummer to play with and as a composer I need producers to finalize my work. We all need help sometimes, and we put this into careful consideration when making The Musician Marketplace.  

TheMusicianMarketplace.com is a secure, easy to use platform that connects musicians from every industry around the globe. It is now possible for producers, singers, instrument players, and sound engineers to work with anyone from any country at any time. 

Producing songs is a competitive market with the average cost of $600 to produce a song and premium producers charge an average of $5000. It is important to browse all options to figure out who will be the best partner for your project. 

3. Licensing

Do you have unused songs or stock music?  

Even if your music has been unused by others it still has a place here on TheMusicianMarketplace.com by licensing your work to other users. Licensing music is a global industry worth more than 30 billion dollars and it is easy to do. To license music is like renting out or leasing a property. You can sell permission to use a song and it is like renting out property that will make you a monthly subscription income. 

Licensing deals for songs can start as low as $99 and sometimes be more than $1200 just to use one song. So if your song is used by a client, company, marketing agency, media firm, or for TV then you can make a very good income. There are many companies to help you collect fees for licensing such as ASCAP. 

4. Teaching

Teaching may seem like a mediocre profession, but it is actually a very honorable profession to share your skills and knowledge with the upcoming generations. While many academic teachers are underpaid, the global market cap for teaching music is expected to reach 40 billion USD. There is space for everyone to teach their skills in this market and there are millions of students from around the world that are eager to learn. Here on TheMusicianMarketplace.com you can sell live or prerecorded sessions and we protect your payment. 

5.Composing

Composing is the art of creating something from nothing. Something truly special happens when musicians can come together, share ideas, and use their talents to create works of art. Personally, The Musician Marketplace is like a composition for me because it took hard work and multiple skills to create the platform. 

On The Musician Marketplace you can meet other musicians and clients to compose with, share existing compositions, and compose your own formal business as a musician. Create profiles on TheMusicianMarketplace and other ecommerce platforms to show the world your creative potential. The internet brings us closer together and you can now compose with anyone around the world for a global audience. 

6. Reselling

One time I entered my friend’s studio and noticed that he has over 22 keyboards, 3 full size synthesizers, 5 mixers, and many more instruments that he doesn’t use. I asked him,”Why don’t you sell some of these instruments?” He responded, “where?” Reselling instruments and equipment has become an easy process on TheMusicianMarketplace, so you can earn some extra income or upgrade your gear. 

What about your sound engineering or producing software?

Upgrading and buying new software is a game changer for home studios and anybody with a DAW. Software resale is a simple way of saying,”if you don’t need the software you have, then sell it”. There are few places to do all of this online but here on The Musician Marketplace  you can sell musical instruments, software, gear, and more. 

7. Live performances

This is the career path that most musicians dream about. Performing for a live audience is an incredible experience that can create a good income for musicians. Performing live comes with many barriers and expenses such as hiring a production manager, stage manager, a band, sound engineers, and purchasing performance equipment. However, the return on investment is high for live performances because most gigs start at $3,000. Eventually you can make a great income by performing, touring, selling cds, and selling merchandise. Musicians like Ricky Martin, Shakira, and Coldplay are big enough to become their own production company with studios, management staff, and bands. 

Conclusion

“The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek”

-Joseph Campbell

Be enthusiastic, be encouraged, and be smart. Treat your music and your business as a form of art. Starting a career here on The Musician Marketplace or somewhere else is simply another process of creation like how music is made.

Some people believe that the superstar musicians just get lucky or get more money than any musicians for no reason. My friend once said to me, “I don’t know how 1% percent of musicians make more income than the other 99% of musicians combined. Wouldn’t it be fair if governments distributed the earnings form the top 1% to the other 99%?” 

I said absolutely not. The top 1% of musicians aren’t just lucky, they work very hard for a long time to become the very best.

I hope this article brings some thoughts to your mind to create something spectacular. Create something that will make your client happy and make The Musician Marketplace. See you in the next article.

Ramy Adly

CEO – The Musician Marketplace

Here is a link to learn about  The Musician Marketplace