Musicians may be told that music isn’t a real job or that you have to become a megastar to make a career out of it. Neither of those things has to be true. There are plenty of ways music makers can make money from side gigs or full-time careers.
The problem is that many talented musicians just don’t know where to start and how to find opportunities. Here are five ways musicians can make money online and how Introducely can help.
1. Play on Other Artist’s Songs
Great musicians have made names and cut their chops as session musicians since the dawn of recording. That includes favorites from Hendrix to Dave Grohl.
When an artist or group writes a song with instruments or vocals they can’t handle on their own, they hire musicians to sit in and record those parts. Sometimes this involves playing prewritten music. Other times, the session musician comes up with the part themselves. A lot of the time, it’s a mix of the two, and the session musician puts their own spin on a prewritten idea.
Being a session musician can be a little more secure than trying to make it as a solo artist, yet it requires less commitment than being in a band. It also gives you a chance to create connections and learn the craft, which can help you with your own music in the future.
What You’ll Need
If you go to a studio to play, you may only need an instrument to bring along. In many cases, the studio or the other musicians may supply the instrument, in which case you’ll only need your own talent.
Being an online session musician means you can work on projects with people from all over the world without actually going to a studio or even leaving your room. But you’ll need some equipment to record yourself.
You probably won’t have to worry about doing any production yourself. You just need to record your track and send it. What equipment you need depends on the instrument you play. A guitarist might only require a USB audio interface while a vocalist would need a decent microphone. If you need to record something like a drum set, it gets a little more complicated.
You’ll also need a network of people to help you find opportunities and jobs as a session musician.
How Introducely Can Help
No matter how virtuosic you are, if the right people don’t know about you, you won’t be able to get in on sessions, or make money online as a musician. That’s where Introducely can help. Introducers can help you meet artists and producers so you can show them your skills. Simply make requests asking to be introduced to people looking for session musicians with your skills.
2. Record Your Own Music and Make It Available for Streaming
Recording your own song or album can be artistically rewarding and a way to generate passive income online. Many music listeners have moved to streaming as their primary source of music. Selling CDs or vinyl of your music is out of vogue in many circles. So, if you want to monetize your sonic artworks, you may have to learn the ins and outs of the modern music industry.
Streaming royalties are usually based on the number of streams your music gets. For example, Spotify usually pays creators about a dollar per 250 streams. The actual amount depends on how much ad and subscription revenue your content generates.
What You’ll Need
Obviously, you need to have a good amount of songs that appeal to a fairly large audience. You don’t have to write pure bubblegum pop or appeal to a specific group by being fake, though. Your music just needs to resonate with a certain group, community or type of individual enough to generate a lot of streams.
Creating a following and community for your music is a crucial aspect of monetizing, so you’ll also need social media accounts and a good idea of how to market yourself with those tools. After you have the songs written, you also need to be able to bring them to life by recording and producing them.
How Introducely Can Help
Trying to write, record, produce, mix and master a project all by yourself would be like trying to play every instrument in a symphony. You might be able to pull it off, but you almost certainly can’t do it as well as a group of specialists working together.
You’ll need producers, session musicians and audio engineers to make your creations sound their best. That’s where Introducely comes in. On Introducely, you can make requests to be introduced to people who might form your ideal team of musicians and producers.
Working with a lot of people also means more exposure. Anyone who worked on the project will probably post about it, tell people about it and work to advertise it, which means more publicity for you. You might also consider using Introducely to find marketing consultants, graphic designers and managers who can help you boost streams and make more money online as a musician.
3. Compose Music for Film
You might think that writing a film score is an activity reserved for people who went to Juilliard and started playing piano in the womb, but contemporary film music doesn’t require a deep understanding of counterpoint and symphonic arrangements. It may be that your EDM production skills or folk songwriting style are exactly what a filmmaker is looking for.
What You’ll Need
You need a solid mastery of arranging, but more importantly, you must know how to match and create a mood. Making music for film requires matching your style to what the director wants.
You’ll probably need equipment to record and produce the music. If you’re working on smaller film projects, there might not be a budget for hiring a composer and a team of recording engineers. You’ll get more opportunities starting out if you have the means to create the music yourself.
How Introducely Can Help
As a musician, you may not find many filmmakers in your social circles. Introducely can help you break into the film scene by connecting you to key players. Then you’ll hear about opportunities and have connections to help you get hired as a film composer. Start writing up requests today to be introduced to filmmakers interested in partnering with musicians.
4. Write Songs for Other Artists
Though they don’t tend to broadcast it, most popular artists don’t actually write their own songs. Songwriters or teams of songwriters write the lyrics and music for most hit songs. You might wonder why you would want to give up the glory and recognition and sell your music to someone else. There are a variety of reasons why being a songwriter could be better for you than trying to make it as a solo artist.
The biggest advantage of writing for other people is risk mitigation. Recording and producing music costs a lot of money, and there’s no guarantee you’ll get any of that investment back. When you sell your song, all it costs you is time and maybe a little money for demo recordings.
Some people also simply enjoy writing music and don’t want to be the face of it. They may not like the limelight or have the required vocal or other skills.
What You’ll Need
Songs. You need to write as many songs as you can, because you shouldn’t put all of your hopes in just a few. The songs also need to be relevant. The best way to get your songs to sell is to write songs that will appeal to artists and be marketable to fans.
How Introducely Can Help
Who you know is critical to success in the industry and making money online as a musician. With Introducely, you can get introduced to people that can help you sell your songs.
Ask for introductions to artists, producers and managers. Consider starting small and selling songs to lesser known artists. That helps you build your resume and may make it more likely an Introducer and their contact has heard of you when you start asking to meet up with bigger names.
Once you get your network going, you can turn around and make money as an Introducer on Introducely too. You can help other musicians and songwriters make it and give back to the artistic community.
5. Teach Music Lessons Online
If you have music knowledge and feel like you could be a good teacher, you can make money teaching music online or in person. Teaching online gives you access to potential students across the nation or globe, which may be more lucrative — especially following the COVID-19 pandemic.
What You’ll Need
Other than the instrument you’ll be teaching, a laptop or mobile device and a Wi-Fi connection, you need a high-quality webcam with a decent microphone. It’s also important to have a reliable video conferencing tool, like Skype or Google Meet, that you’ve tested.
How Introducely Can Help
Finding your ideal students makes teaching easier and more rewarding. You can use Introducely to get introduced to players — or parents of players — of the skill level and style you want to teach.
Making side money or even full-time pay from music is very doable in today’s world. You just need to make the right connections. Start getting introduced to people who can help your music career happen.