How Musicians can make 300k a year selling music
A musicians guide to the music business in 2021
In today’s article, I will lay out a solid plan to help you make money from your music. A musician used to make 300k a year in album sales with a smaller audience before streaming took that option away.
The Problem:
Fans don’t want to buy your music when they can get it for free from streaming services but, what if you had other features or entertainment to sell along with each song?
What if you could still make money from your music?
Here’s how Musicians are making 100k-300k a year selling music.
Solution:
Think about ways you can entertain your music fans with special options only available only for subscribers. Sure, you can still hit the streets hard-selling physical albums and tee-shirts, but music venues’ shutdown has made this option nearly impossible.
We live in a digital era, so why not use the technology available to create a sustainable music career?
Most of this technology is totally free and able to be accessed from a cell phone, so why not reposition yourself as a career musician so you can start earning money from your music?
The most important thing to remember is to have fun with your fans.
Even if you have a small following at first, all people are important. Your mindset is essential to your success. If you embrace the fun of creating new music experiences, you will stay motivated and find excitement in sharing that with your fans. Good energy breeds good vibes and attracts people to you.
Using Free technology
- Facebook groups and Instagram allow you to privacy set accounts so you can use these as a way to offer special experiences to your free and paid subscribers. Think about having both available and always go big on value to both paid and free subscribers.
- Youtube allows you to set a video to private that can only be accessed via the link. This convenience is free and gives you a solid option for controlling who can see the free videos vs. the paid videos. This also gives you the ability to let paid subscribers see things before they launch.
- Spotify is free, but what if you also use Spotify to upload messages to your audience? Natalie Imbruglia did this in 2015 with her Commentary Album, which allowed her to tell stories about every song to her fans. You can use this idea to not only talk to fans on Spotify about your music but also include a note about your bonus experiences available on your website.
Services that help you set up paid tiers and keep you connected to subscribers.
Patreon for Musicians <here>
Connect directly and build community with your most engaged fans. Test new work in a supportive environment. Establish a reliable, recurring revenue stream. Patreon allows fans an opportunity to support the ongoing creative career of a musician by pledging small amounts per month, or per creation, in exchange for fun rewards.
Mailchimp: <here>
Try Mailchimp to stay in touch with new fans and nurture those relationships. It would be best if you always stayed in control of your subscribers’ access, so be sure to get them on your list by creating a landing page that kick starts all promotions. 2k contacts are free.
Linktree : <here>
Connect audiences to all of your content with just one link. This helps give your fans a way to connect with all your links from one place. This works great when used with Instagram or Facebook. Use this as a landing page gateway to your newsletter, music, videos, and more.
AVA Live Radio Promotion: <here>
You always need more subscribers, so think about getting a promotor on board to create your campaigns and bring in quality leads. The AVA Live Radio press team can help you create effective music landing pages that will help gain excellent google search results, plus their built-in network is filled with fans ready to become subscribers. Access that pool of music fans and curators to expand your reach across all platforms.
Update your skills: Instagram Marketing Course for Musicians 2021
What to offer Paid Subscribers
- Include scrolling lyrics and access to a track with no lead vocal so your fans could sing karaoke? This can be done free with imovie or a video creating program and youtube. Either privacy set the videos and provide links to subscribers or set them to public and set your channel up to gain royalties from the replays.
- Offer a 10 track mixer in which you upload the stems like drums, bass, guitars, and vocals, and let the fans make their own mix of the song.
- Include access to hidden web pages that contain never-before-seen videos of you in the studio.
- Create acoustic versions of songs upload them to instagram, youtube or a facebook group page set to private then share this on email to your paid subscribers for access.
- Schedule online meet and greets for subscribers to join you live for performances, a car ride kareoke or question stream. On some platforms you can even allow the fans to join you in the video. Instagram has a great feature allowing fans to jump into your live stream. Create a private page for subscribers to stay connected in real time.
- Upload early release bonus tracks to a google or transfer account and give paid subscribers free downloads included in their subscription.
- Upload signed digital photos and send your subscribers a printable high resolution image with a 2 print permission certificate.
- Create a bonus boxes available at Christmas, Easter, 4th of July, New Years, Thanksgiving for $100 that gives your subscribers special access to amazing experiences and send them a special Branded box or stocking filled with branded goodies plus your membership card. $100 X 100 fans = 10k / $100 X 1000 fans = 100k / $100 X 3000 fans = 300k
- Fundraiser + subscriptions: Join your pitch so fans understand that they are not only going to gain access to amazing experiences from you but they are also helping you develop the new music video, helping to market your music to radio or allowing you to upgrade your equiptment to record a full Album. Sharing the details of a simple plan increases sales and help you create a narrative that you can plan your content arround.
The secret to any subscription service is having a professional landing page that demonstrates value without you having to hold their hand. Spend the time creating a great sales page that collects emails so you can continue to show off the value subscribers are gaining behind the pay wall.
Subscribers are nurtured over time so be patient.
- If someone doesn’t become a paid subscriber, add them to your email list so you can start building that relationship through your fan emails.
- Weekly greeting videos really help to establish trust and don’t forget to highlight what’s free vs what is coming up for paid subscribers.
- Always focus on value. You should have that listed out clearly for your own clarity and for your subscribers. This way your daily tasks are centered around things you are doing to develop relationships with new fans while keeping entertainment delivered on time to paid subscribers.
- Always deliver more than expected. You should never take your fans for granted. Paid and unpaid subscribers are special and need to be apprecited. The most popular artists understand how to treat them all well and make people feel special as a group that feels included.
I hope you gained some helpful information from this article today. If you did come follow me on Instagram and check out my stories for New music I’ve just discovered and behind the scenes goodies. www.instagram.com/jacquelinejax
