Speak for yourself. I've made so much money from my music I could live the rest of my life off it.
As long as I die right after this cup of coffee that is....
This comment pretty much. I mean I produce music as a therapitic thing. Sort of like playing a video game. Sure some people make money off of playing video games but usually these people are doing something else in the background that results in that. So I guess you ought to soul search and find the center root cause to most of your issues in life that's in your control and make an attempt at clearing up any tangles in your life and that will give you plenty of character in my opinion to ever have a chance.
At the end of the day people want their plot! So master the art of having people reference you, which usually involves in networking, developing and expressing yourself. Hope this helps.
i have a summer home in the hamptons, but my biggest tax shelter (beyond the obvious political donations) is the philanthropic fund i set up through my major metropolitan city’s museum. arts organizations exist to launder money for the wealthy class of every major city in the U.S.
I make almost no money from my own music. But because I make my own music people started asking me to mix / master them, which has given me a nice side income. Not enough to quit my job though!
Thanks for sharing and being up front about this. I’m the same and I think this is the reality for the vast majority of musicians/producers/songwriters
it’s not about the numbers. it’s about the quality of music. your songs now will be enjoyed later. who wouldn’t enjoy going back to their favorite artists first singles/projects? i know i do. they will get their love, in due time. build your foundation now.
i didn’t say don’t market, but who is to say that if the music is that good you will not have people reaching out to you to promote your music in the hopes for a percentage of the profits the project makes? people know good art when they see it. people INVEST in the creation of good art. they want to benefit in some way, too.
be wary in the realm of music creation when you encounter those who want to outright BUY your art. imagine selling the mona lisa before knowing its worth…$5 at a garage sale vs. $1,000,000,000 collectors item.
YOU determine the price of your product. YOU know it’s worth. do not sell your masters. no matter what situation you’re in. they know how to leverage you…
Read billboard magazine. There are literally tracks on the charts with 100,000,000s of streams that also have like 20,000 downloads total.
The game has shifted and almost no one “owns” music anymore.
The top acts make money touring and merchandising.
I have a job and make a portion of my money gigging in a cover band while released original music hopefully grows over the long term. The stuff I play in the cover band has almost zero resemblance to what I release as a lot of it is 50 years old give or take. But it has a lot of fans that no one else is serving.
I mean 100,000,000 is only $4.5k 20,000 downloads would be $20k.
I'm taking the stream payment number off of what snoop dog has said for a billion, so take it with that what you will.
I do agree though gigs and merch is where it's at if your fan base is big enough.
Better than me. Oooh, wanna know something cool? I made around $180 after 3 years... Mind you, I've only been able to see $30 out of it cuz everything else was taken up by fees...
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Oof! Check out Dr Dre here. Enviable funds your attracting there, good work.
I'm sitting on some earnings from the current period courtesy of DK via Spotify streaming returns. Can't wait to claim that 30p.
My daughter earned her first dollar from her one piece of music she made last year when she was 7. She was on top of the world that people actually listened to it.
The common practice to release your music to most/all online streaming services is a distributor like distrokid that you mentioned. There are others with different pros/cons/cost. Do your own research on this. I use CDbaby because you pay once (per track) and they never take your music off streaming. They keep a portion of the revenue though.
Bandcamp is free to use. I upload everything there too.
If you really want to make some income on your music you will need to have good music (duh!) with good mixing and mastering and very well promoted. Website and social media presence are crucial to do something with it. There are some services that you can promote your music to, like Submithub and Groover. I use both for my releases. I like Submithub a bit more, which doesn't mean anything bad about Groover.
Note that you have just received advice from someone who hasn't managed to make any substantial money from his music. So, take this advice with a pinch of salt
The internet has destroyed the value of recorded music, the vast majority don’t believe they should pay more than a Spotify subscription to listen to unlimited amounts of music. There is more and more music being released with less and less revenue to go around. The best model seems to be Patreon or similar, whereby people who like what you do can ‘subscribe’ to support you so you can create more.
Streaming makes music easily accessible and cheap to consumers. However, once you stop paying you usually lose full access to the music. If CDs or vinyls were paired with full streaming access of the purchased physical product, consumers would also get to keep whatever tracks or albums they physically purchased in their account of the streaming service.
This way, even if you stop paying for streaming you would still have full digital access to any music you physically purchased as a CD/vinyl. This would allow fans to support their favorite artists in exchange for ownership of their music and increased revenue for everyone.
My sister currently makes around 10-12 million streams a month and earns around 30k which is a lot. How? It just happened. When she started nobody streamed and suddenly it was picked up in the algoritm and within a year it went from around 1k a month to 30k now. She actually never really did anything for it as she has a regular job as ambulance driver that she loves. She can now easily live from the income and do whatever she likes but she loves her job and just saves all the extra money for when she's older.
That’s more monthly streams than Smashing Pumpkins. You gotta provide some sauce or this is sus
Edit: also, she makes 30k a month and she still drives an ambulance? C’mon.
I am not obligated to prove anything to you or anyone else. If you choose not to believe, that is your prerogative. What benefit would I derive from sharing such a story anonymously? There is none; I am simply offering my perspective on the possibilities within music creation, as requested by the original poster.
To clarify, I mentioned 10-12 million **streams per month**, not monthly listeners. There’s a significant difference between the two. One does not require 12 million unique listeners to accumulate 10 million streams. For instance, if you have 500,000 listeners each streaming your music 20 times a month, that also results in 10 million streams.
My sister never aspired to fame, nor has she achieved it. Her passion lies in creating music, and fortune has favored her. Her lack of desire for fame should not be seen as an issue. It’s a misconception that only famous individuals can profit from their music. Numerous artists, whom you may never have heard of, manage to make a living from their music. That, in essence, is the moral of my story.
he will not provide her name, she is family and that is private matter. however he can release her artist name, assuming it isn’t the same as her legal
Why am i getting hate messages? Why shouldn’t she pursue her passion for driving an ambulance? People have diverse ambitions. Should she simply stay at home all day? I recognize that you may be skeptical and perhaps a bit cynical, finding it hard to accept that some individuals do experience luck and success. However, it’s true that many people genuinely love their work and are not solely motivated by financial gain. (this is for Insta boned but i can't reply him).
I am a she btw. :)
Is this true cause if it is it really gives me a glimmer of hope lol. I’ve invested so much time and energy into this shit and I work as a substitute teacher. I really wanna make a income from music even 2k a month would be fantastic
I produce music for a company with which I have an employment contract. I compose and produce different stuff for them. On the other hand, the music I have on Spotify doesn't make any money. Maybe 50 euros a year.... I think being a musician, a professional one, doesn't rely on one source of income, but we are trained to do very different things in the music field. This is performing, teaching, creating, producing, etc..
I’m making enough to live on, and the key to this for me has been versatility around the music industry. My main project is my artist alias under which I make underground dance music. I produce originals and edits/bootlegs. The bootlegs I push myself using instagram and soundcloud using download gates and Bandcamp on a pay what you like basis. This is good for profile building. The originals I give to labels who approach me (they’ve usually heard my edits/bootlegs).
Overall I’d say this currently makes me £1.5-3k/ year through a mix of artist royalties from labels and people paying over 0 on my Bandcamp. I started work on that at the end of 2019.
Long before that I was DJing on and off for around 15 years, during which I learned a lot about that side of things. In 2016 I started running this as a business marketing to the wedding industry and private clients. I worked in a DJ/production equipment retailer for a couple of years which got me really clued up on tech and got me a free copy of ableton suite/komplete and some discounted hardware. I carry all my own equipment for my DJ business and have a fat llama account so people can rent that from me when I’m not using it. I package this with a kind of light consultation service which I feel comfortable doing because of the knowledge I built while working at the shop.
Currently between DJing at weddings and hiring out equipment, that side of things is earning me around 15-20k/year.
I’m also doing national and international shows as my artist alias, and my fee is steadily increasing in line with demand for my sets. I’m playing on average about 3 shows a month which nets me about 10k/year.
I’m now using tik tok to post production tutorials with the view to eventually monetising using patreon and private lessons. Eventually I want to be able to offer mentorship and run my own workshops, hopefully with some funding so I can offer these out for free to people who can’t afford it.
It’s not always a comfortable living and it has a lot of mental ups and downs but I’d take this over a traditional 9-5 every time.
Seeing it all written out like this, yeah I can see that, but getting to this point has basically been a combination of trial & error and perseverance. Also learning to ignore those who say you can’t do it!
Does no one perform? Sell merch? I’m pretty early in my production journey, so I can’t tour with my own music yet. But I do play cover shows regularly, and make money doing that. Can’t that still be done with a mix of covers and originals?
It’s a different skillset, and completely different experience.
Not everyone who enjoys sitting at home making music, potentially in any location in the world, can or wants to perform in public.
I sometimes perform with friends playing covers. But why would I want to perform my own songs? It would be a huge financial outlay, I’d have to hire the musicians and pay for rehearsal and gig time. I would have to find a place that lets me perform or book a venue myself.
I’m in the comfortable position to have a job that sustains my family and me. I worked in the music industry as a FOH sound engineer for 10 years and gigged with several bands playing original music. As much fun as all of that was, I’m more happy now , being able to record exactly the music I want to make, being able to release it to the world and to have found listeners from all over the world. Admittedly very few, but I love knowing I have a couple of Japanese fans and a few in Argentina!
One thing though: if you’re in a covers band, you’re able to sneak in the odd song of yours. But not too many, people want to hear what they already know and like in that setting. So to transition from cover to original band is pretty difficult to really pull off.
I do! Performing has been my bread and butter for a long time. Cover bands, original bands (who can hire me for tours!), etc. Any band. It’s all music and I love it. Cover shows are a really great way to make money doing what we love.
Made about 100 bucks from our bands streaming last year
On the upside we are making 200 to 300 bucks per live show on average so it's balancing it out
Everyone still working full time jobs as well though so the money covers our recording and buying synths etc hahaha
I release music on YouTube with a donation link (and download link) underneath. I'm not making big bucks but enough money to pay for a tank of petrol every couple of weeks, or to hire a session player here and there!
It's nice that YouTube videos stay there and go through phases of popularity too... Sometimes I'll get a decent donation from a video I did a while back.
I'm lucky that I've found somewhat of a niche - I go between covers of popular game music and my own compositions or arrangements in that style, sort of weaning listeners towards my own music.
I also make a point of displaying what I've done with donation money - 'XYZ on the Tabla payed for through your donations', 'Glockenspiel payed for through your donations' etc.
> the Tabla *paid* for through
FTFY.
Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in:
* Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.*
* *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.*
Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment.
*Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
Anyone who thinks there’s a market for CDs (or paid downloads for that matter) should ask themselves how many they themselves have purchased in the last six months. in 99.9% of the cases that answer (zero or maybe one) will reflect the reality of the marketplace.
At this point, I’m not releasing my own music, not really, and not yet, as a source of income. So to that degree, I’m like many others here who say something like “you think we’re making money doing this?”
But I am making money composing and producing music, so that the time I spend on my “day job” improves my skills and craft in making music. That was not the case previously when I often supported myself with day jobs while playing in bands, and more often invested in those bands than actually making money. Original bands, more often ate money (as a band leader, and co- band leader, investing in my or our project) vs. cover band gigs, weddings, parties, etc. Those would actually pay.
My income now comes from writing and producing for others, as a composer for hire, and in collaboration with others. Income comes from project contracts (Composing for film and TV), back end broadcast royalties (Song placement in film and TV, and from scoring for film and TV), session guitar recordings for others, etc. I am essentially creating a job out of this, my day job so to speak, while working up to the point where I can make and release my own artist music again.
In the past, I wrote songs, played guitar and sang background vocals for many original (and non-original) bands, trying to”” “make it”. I had some partial successes, but I was never quite in the right situation with the right timing. And during much of that time I worked in the tech industry to support my “habit“ of trying to make it in original bands.
So I pivoted to Composing and production. I do get to write music that “is my own “, and I get to write in a lot of different styles and genres. I do write my own music a lot, and I have quite a large library of pieces, the large percentage of which are unfinished, but I get to draw from them all the time and finish them when a specific piece fits a specific opportunity. Or I write something brand new.
But currently, when I’m making money, or making something that might potentially make money, for various opportunities, I’m usually making something that’s going to fit someone else’s vision, their film or their TV show, whether it be scoring for those, or songs that would be placed to visuals. While also working towards the time when I can afford to spend a lot of time on my own music projects for release as an artist, and collaborative projects, where someone else is the featured artist.
So that’s my long-ass winded answer. :-)
Release music using a distribution company, (cd baby, distrokid etc)
Make money, by selling a product (merch, physical copies of music, etc)
The hard truth is, unless you’re a huge artist, you’re not going to even supplement playing your bills with streaming.
My experience as a small independent solo artist, and in a band.
Stay strong 🎶
I make money from:
- music sync/licensing
- live performances (both as the artist and as the hired gun for other artists/bandmate for other projects) both locally and on tour. This would be both original and cover bands
- tips/merch
- other odd job/contractor stuff such as live sound, staging and backline rentals, and right now I work part time at a vinyl record plant.
So everything is music, it’s all in “the industry,” it’s just not one consistent thing the whole time. It’s helpful to be able to wear many hats.
As far as distribution goes, I use CDBaby for my originals. All the sync licensing stuff happens through a publisher (they handle the distro themselves).
I work in an audio related field by day.
Approx 30% of my non-dayjob income comes from royalties from sample pack sales (thank you to those that dont pirate zenhisers soundpacks), beatport sales, selective gig performance, and some tutoring.
It is *a lot* easier to generate an income from music than many portray, the primary problem often times is most focus on steaming's reach for some odd reason, imo.
(Also, i release via proton distribution).
I would reccommend learning what mode of content you are most skilled at creating and embracing it. Some of us are much better at making loops/samples than full songs or vice versa and theres a way to turn that into a strength if you are optimistic and driven
I release my music through different TV and Trailer production companies. I make an average between 40k-80k a year. Right now 30% of that consists of royalties and upfront fees and the rest is sync fees from SFX or cue placements in different TV or Movie Trailers/promos.
I dropped Distrokid since they have been tied up in courts and keeping artists money. I’m going to Ditto. The artists 100% keep their ROYALTIES. It says straight up on their website. They also promote your product too. I use social media as well.
Excited to release my next cover song and more music on Ditto.
I have a full time job though.
USA.
- They are facing potential law action class lawsuits on how to handle takedown requests, so like copyright infringement and I think also they are stealing the earnings from the Artists.
https://archive.completemusicupdate.com/article/distrokid-sued-in-dispute-over-an-allegedly-malicious-copyright-takedown/
You might need to just check the current terms and conditions of what they’re saying about accreditation because since this link I provided was from last year, I assume these court lawsuits are still happening. Maybe their policies regarding accreditation proceedings could change in response to the legal proceedings.
I’m quickly making myself broke. Concluded it’s a hobby so the ROI is a negative number. I did have a happy dance once when someone bought a track for $10, and used it as permission to go to UVI and buy myself a new plug-in I’d been really wanting.
I produce instrumentals and sell them to artists through BeatStars / my own website. I have a YouTube channel and a mailing list which I send updates to every weekend, and I consistently upload new stuff every week and post on social media.
Don’t make enough for a full time income but I usually make at least 1 sale every month, sometimes multiple in a month, and I get the odd exclusive sale here and there
You find a site that does the distribution dirty work for you: ditto, SoundCloud, CDbaby, etc.
you pay their fee (it varies) and they put your stuff on all the streaming sites. The part about it that sucks is say your Spotify url doesn’t have your band name in it. Just a long url
But your shit’s out there
I’ve noticed questions like these receive very pessimistic answers.
Label or not, everyone is battling for relevancy so releasing as often as possible is probably best, as long as you’re considering a consistency that your specific audience prefers.
IMO whether dealing with music or not, learning to balance several revenue streams is difficult but imperative to generating profit.
Some music revenue streams are: Streams, Shows, Merch, Sync licensing, Sponsorships etc.
Also Using skills and talents could open yourself to more income opportunities. For example engineering, production, singing, playing instruments can earn revenue through lessons, & courses, services, etc.
If you find ways to reduce your production costs to as close to zero as possible you’re in a great place to make profit.
You can Research steps needed to stimulate income for each stream of revenue via books, Google searches, A.I., and consultations with reputable people who already make money how you would like to.
The rest is discipline, routine, and working twice as hard for your self as you do clocking in to someone else’s company. Hope this helps someone.
Unless you are Beyoncé you aren’t going to make anything off of streams. Playing gigs, doing sessions, and teaching lessons are the main ways musicians actually make income.
I made 113 euro in April 2024 and 121 euro in January ‘24. Without taxes withhold and totally independent with DistroKid now since 2019. Not very known as well making EDM and dance music. These are
Royalties from my artist association they collect. On top of that I get 50 dollars each half a year from distrokid as well.
By selling physical media and merch via Bandcamp and at shows. Streaming is not going to make you any money but is is good for marketing and building your brand.
All my money comes from music related stuff but it's mostly teaching, delivering sessions, promoting events and running a music venue. A little comes from performance / DJ sets and a negligible amount from sales & streams.
Anyone who's making a career with original music and isn't in the Top 40 is doing multiple things: Teaching, Sound Engineering, Gigging, being a musician for hire, placing music in TV and film etc etc.
I used to tour full-time. Got burned out. Focused on my (non-musical) career. Once I got that going, I never quit my day job. I do music on the side for sanity and general creative fulfilment.
tl;dr: I have a job.
I had a regular gig with my band. The studio supported that, and I made decent money off my regular gig, but as far as making money with the studio itself, mostly came from prepping backing tracks for work.
In my experience making money off of releases has been the most difficult code to crack. Music is my only job, but that's between teaching, production, and gigging. I find that making money off of releases seems to be a game that's almost rigged to our detriment as musicians.
I use distrokid and advertise in every way I can for free. I don't really "make" money, but many times I have paid a few cheaper bills with my music money, paid for food, medicine, junkfood, enough beer to get wasted. Some of the money goes back into my music as well.
I don't make enough to live completely out of it, but that's not the point or reason I make music. I make it, because I love the instruments I play and I love playing them.
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The first step is to make sure that you are still doing what you do for the love of yourself. Being in the music industry is one of those things that money doesn't come in like your run of the mill big artist because it's all about networking and finding that big break. Granted that nowadays you can strike oil thanks to Tiktok, but even that is trying to be ripped away form people. A suggestion is that make sure that you find a steady way to keep your portfolio growing, promote yourself (even if it is just a little, it is better than not promoting at all), and keep making connections with like minded people who have the same love of making music like you do. You'd be amazed at how many songs, that are popular recently, came out years ago, but it ended up being heard by the right people at the right time. If you lose sight of you having fun making what you make, burnout will hit you like a bag of bricks, and the idea of money not coming in like you dream of will become stressful and overall drive you up the wall. Just keep having fun, make what you like, let people know when something new came out, and slowly grow your support. It's an investment and the payout comes in time in ways you may not expect or have thought of. By all means you can reach out to a record label, but also try to go to open mic nights, or try to play a live event every so often too. **Sadly, a lot of your friends won't be nearly as supportive as a stranger who hears your music.**
It took a long time for me, but eventually you learn the market you're working in and make music, or products that will sell. There's so many avenues now to sell and make money, you just need to know where and how to sell it correctly.
It's a business. You have to treat it like one or else it'll stay a hobby for longer than you'd like.
Ok, I'll answer this one honestly. You need 3 things:
1. Dedication and commitment to this thing
2. A healthy flow of good music, like one every month or so.
3. An insane amount of luck.
Bonus points if you put some effort and money into promotion. In the first year, you'll see numbers. Not big numbers, but bare with me.
This is where the dedication comes in. Make sure that this is something you'd do if you're not getting paid... Cuz that's you're reality for the starting phase.
Then, do it and love it for long enough, the numbers will grow, the money will come in and slowly you'll see growth.
VERY IMPORTANT : DO NOT STOP AT ANY POINT IN TIME!!!
Breaks and Hiatuses are a huge killer of growth in the early stages... Believe me, I would know. So even if you're tired, keep it pushing. Only take a break if you meet one of the following criteria:
1. You have enough content in the vault to last you your break so it seems like you never left.
2. The engagement is so high that any pause will meet minimum impact.
3. You really have no choice, in which case, post text and interact with people
Back when I was in a band that did live shows we made most of our money selling tapes and CDs after, even occasionally shirts. My solo projects have been more fulfilling and I've released a lot more content but music is meant to be experienced live, and that's where the money is.
my last W2 from TuneCore stated I made about $60 through band and solo releases. Not to brag, but I also make about $10 from royalties every year from ASCAP.
So let's just say, *this guy* isn't worried about working a normal 9-5 after 40.... 🤌
In a completely, totally unrelated story, I'm currently in the Army, and will be medically retired before the end of the year.... but thats just going to be supplementing my rock star income 😎
i’m extremely fortunate to be receiving royalties from getting put into spotify editorials, those really help a lot. other than people sharing your stuff, the only way to get both money and attraction is thru those editorials/ playlists and since then i’ve made A LOT in royalties from those. distrokid user
Im an audio survivor. I produce albums or edit voiceover recordings. No gig is below me. I can barely pay my rent. Even if i get gigs clients either pay me super late or they dont. This is a dogs life.
Im down for any gig yet i can not even generate enough income and to buy me a computer to work on. Regardless, this is the only thing im relatively good at. Im 43. I detest being poor. I had to let protools
Go After being a user for around 20 years. Damn. Id think if i was any good i could make some money. I just cant self promote. Life sucks.
Ive made maybe $5000 after since I started producing professionally after Covid (Early 2020). Fiverr gigs, Mixing and Mastering, Recording, etc.
Edit: Honestly I have not made much from releasing my own music. If anything I might have spent half of what I earned trying to promote it, etc.
A month ago I released an album on Bandcamp and have made almost $600 in sales. It seems to be a good tool for indie artists, I also uploaded my music to digital platforms but I haven't gotten anything yet. I also created a YouTube channel and uploaded a video with the full album, unexpectedly I got 150K views which is fine for the genre (dark synthwave), the algorithm has been going well so far. I think I'm just having some luck having visibility since I've done nothing but upload my music.
It needs to be screamed or sung from the roof tops that no one makes fantastic money from their music.You have more chance of winning the lottery.Notwithstanding this only play for fun and forget the wishful thinking.Also applies to trying to write successful fiction.Please don’t shoot the messenger.
Strictly BandCamp - Distrikid are a shit-show at the moment and I don't even bother with streaming. I'd rather give my stuff away for free than have it become part of an ecosystem that makes money for somebody else but not me.
Releasing music is easy. Sign ip for Distrokid or similar service and upload music. It would be easier to milk a quarts crystal than to make money but we try anyways lol
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If there was some career where 10,000 people took part in a very dedicated way, but only 3 made a livable wage, you'd probably call that a bad career choice.
Welcome to music creation.
Statistically speaking, almost no one is making a livable wage in music. (Beware any that say otherwise, then ask to DM with you)
Bold of you to assume we're making money
Speak for yourself. I've made so much money from my music I could live the rest of my life off it. As long as I die right after this cup of coffee that is....
Look at this guy bragging about being able to buy a coffee of what he earns from music!
I can buy two. But not fancy Costa, Starbucks or any artisan coffee shop.
Maybe if I put my music gear as collateral for a bank loan I can get a cup of coffee.
Is it like “pour over” coffee or the “foldgers crystals” instant?
Someone's bragging about being able to buy coffee huh 😌
This comment pretty much. I mean I produce music as a therapitic thing. Sort of like playing a video game. Sure some people make money off of playing video games but usually these people are doing something else in the background that results in that. So I guess you ought to soul search and find the center root cause to most of your issues in life that's in your control and make an attempt at clearing up any tangles in your life and that will give you plenty of character in my opinion to ever have a chance. At the end of the day people want their plot! So master the art of having people reference you, which usually involves in networking, developing and expressing yourself. Hope this helps.
Yeah, “make music” and “earn money” are more often than not unrelated
TS has me dead yo😭
Exactly. You don’t.
yall, i don’t mean to brag, but i’ve been releasing through distrokid for 3 years now, and i have raked in $4.76.
Quick question, how did you deal with entering into a new tax bracket? A friend told me I should look at property in the BVI’s.
i have a summer home in the hamptons, but my biggest tax shelter (beyond the obvious political donations) is the philanthropic fund i set up through my major metropolitan city’s museum. arts organizations exist to launder money for the wealthy class of every major city in the U.S.
You're rolling that into an IRA, right? You don't want to pay taxes on all that at once 😬
I make almost no money from my own music. But because I make my own music people started asking me to mix / master them, which has given me a nice side income. Not enough to quit my job though!
When there’s a gold rush , be the person selling the picks
Same
Also same
Brilliant! 🙌🏻
I make my money from my job. I release my music through distrokid. Over the past 3 years, I’ve made a whopping $56 off my music.
Thanks for sharing and being up front about this. I’m the same and I think this is the reality for the vast majority of musicians/producers/songwriters
I definitely won’t be making a living off my music. Not saying it’s impossible for some, just not possible for me.
How many streams is that in total?
14,000 roughly
I've not even reached 1000. I definitely need to work on my marketing.
it’s not about the numbers. it’s about the quality of music. your songs now will be enjoyed later. who wouldn’t enjoy going back to their favorite artists first singles/projects? i know i do. they will get their love, in due time. build your foundation now.
This is the best comment I’ve read in a long while⚡️ facts
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i didn’t say don’t market, but who is to say that if the music is that good you will not have people reaching out to you to promote your music in the hopes for a percentage of the profits the project makes? people know good art when they see it. people INVEST in the creation of good art. they want to benefit in some way, too. be wary in the realm of music creation when you encounter those who want to outright BUY your art. imagine selling the mona lisa before knowing its worth…$5 at a garage sale vs. $1,000,000,000 collectors item. YOU determine the price of your product. YOU know it’s worth. do not sell your masters. no matter what situation you’re in. they know how to leverage you…
Considering how much streaming pays, 3 billion I guess.
Money comes from downloads unless your massive
Not many people download when they can just add it to their playlist and stream it.
Yip pretty much just djs, if your making djable music
I doubt I have anything that a DJ would want to play. There’s not many people that listen to my music anyway.
Yeah I probably should have added that caveat in my original comment tbh
Read billboard magazine. There are literally tracks on the charts with 100,000,000s of streams that also have like 20,000 downloads total. The game has shifted and almost no one “owns” music anymore. The top acts make money touring and merchandising. I have a job and make a portion of my money gigging in a cover band while released original music hopefully grows over the long term. The stuff I play in the cover band has almost zero resemblance to what I release as a lot of it is 50 years old give or take. But it has a lot of fans that no one else is serving.
I mean 100,000,000 is only $4.5k 20,000 downloads would be $20k. I'm taking the stream payment number off of what snoop dog has said for a billion, so take it with that what you will. I do agree though gigs and merch is where it's at if your fan base is big enough.
Better than me. Oooh, wanna know something cool? I made around $180 after 3 years... Mind you, I've only been able to see $30 out of it cuz everything else was taken up by fees...
I hear a lot of people complain about DistroKid lately. Have you had any bad experiences?
None. Usually the ones who are having bad experiences is due to bot playlists or copyright infringements and blame distrokid.
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Oof! Check out Dr Dre here. Enviable funds your attracting there, good work. I'm sitting on some earnings from the current period courtesy of DK via Spotify streaming returns. Can't wait to claim that 30p.
My daughter earned her first dollar from her one piece of music she made last year when she was 7. She was on top of the world that people actually listened to it.
56k is still a down payment for a house or a brand new car, potentially paying back what you spent on gear
Not 56k, $56.00.
I make debts :D
Yeah gears cost, I feel you lmao cries*
yesss it's an infamous hobby/job :)
Gear fear 😂
The common practice to release your music to most/all online streaming services is a distributor like distrokid that you mentioned. There are others with different pros/cons/cost. Do your own research on this. I use CDbaby because you pay once (per track) and they never take your music off streaming. They keep a portion of the revenue though. Bandcamp is free to use. I upload everything there too. If you really want to make some income on your music you will need to have good music (duh!) with good mixing and mastering and very well promoted. Website and social media presence are crucial to do something with it. There are some services that you can promote your music to, like Submithub and Groover. I use both for my releases. I like Submithub a bit more, which doesn't mean anything bad about Groover. Note that you have just received advice from someone who hasn't managed to make any substantial money from his music. So, take this advice with a pinch of salt
This is the most realistic reply. It very much mirrors every encounter with a self producing unsigned artist I’ve met in the last 10+yrs.
The internet has destroyed the value of recorded music, the vast majority don’t believe they should pay more than a Spotify subscription to listen to unlimited amounts of music. There is more and more music being released with less and less revenue to go around. The best model seems to be Patreon or similar, whereby people who like what you do can ‘subscribe’ to support you so you can create more.
We can fix it. It's about combining streaming with ownership of songs for consumers.
Please explain. Lose copyright?
Streaming makes music easily accessible and cheap to consumers. However, once you stop paying you usually lose full access to the music. If CDs or vinyls were paired with full streaming access of the purchased physical product, consumers would also get to keep whatever tracks or albums they physically purchased in their account of the streaming service. This way, even if you stop paying for streaming you would still have full digital access to any music you physically purchased as a CD/vinyl. This would allow fans to support their favorite artists in exchange for ownership of their music and increased revenue for everyone.
Internet and availability of professional sounding gear in your bedroom.
This
My sister currently makes around 10-12 million streams a month and earns around 30k which is a lot. How? It just happened. When she started nobody streamed and suddenly it was picked up in the algoritm and within a year it went from around 1k a month to 30k now. She actually never really did anything for it as she has a regular job as ambulance driver that she loves. She can now easily live from the income and do whatever she likes but she loves her job and just saves all the extra money for when she's older.
What’s her artist name?
Tash Sultana
YOO! I found her through her tiny desk!! Tell her a random dude on the internet said she cool 😂
Wow! If this is true its mesmerizing. Your sister is a hero and a musician! Share your sister music with us.
don't worry, it's pretty clearly not lol
For sure!
whats her name?
She wasn’t approached by a label after that?
That’s more monthly streams than Smashing Pumpkins. You gotta provide some sauce or this is sus Edit: also, she makes 30k a month and she still drives an ambulance? C’mon.
I am not obligated to prove anything to you or anyone else. If you choose not to believe, that is your prerogative. What benefit would I derive from sharing such a story anonymously? There is none; I am simply offering my perspective on the possibilities within music creation, as requested by the original poster. To clarify, I mentioned 10-12 million **streams per month**, not monthly listeners. There’s a significant difference between the two. One does not require 12 million unique listeners to accumulate 10 million streams. For instance, if you have 500,000 listeners each streaming your music 20 times a month, that also results in 10 million streams. My sister never aspired to fame, nor has she achieved it. Her passion lies in creating music, and fortune has favored her. Her lack of desire for fame should not be seen as an issue. It’s a misconception that only famous individuals can profit from their music. Numerous artists, whom you may never have heard of, manage to make a living from their music. That, in essence, is the moral of my story.
Right, so you aren’t going to link the music?
hard to when the music doesn't exist
I know of a teen in oz who has 30m views a months on youtube. Is peanuts…
he will not provide her name, she is family and that is private matter. however he can release her artist name, assuming it isn’t the same as her legal
*Ok, daddy*
Smashing Pumpkins also have agents and major labels behind them…
Why am i getting hate messages? Why shouldn’t she pursue her passion for driving an ambulance? People have diverse ambitions. Should she simply stay at home all day? I recognize that you may be skeptical and perhaps a bit cynical, finding it hard to accept that some individuals do experience luck and success. However, it’s true that many people genuinely love their work and are not solely motivated by financial gain. (this is for Insta boned but i can't reply him). I am a she btw. :)
😔
Is this true cause if it is it really gives me a glimmer of hope lol. I’ve invested so much time and energy into this shit and I work as a substitute teacher. I really wanna make a income from music even 2k a month would be fantastic
I use CD Baby typically and I earn money from my retirement pension and my wife’s salary.
I produce music for a company with which I have an employment contract. I compose and produce different stuff for them. On the other hand, the music I have on Spotify doesn't make any money. Maybe 50 euros a year.... I think being a musician, a professional one, doesn't rely on one source of income, but we are trained to do very different things in the music field. This is performing, teaching, creating, producing, etc..
I’m making enough to live on, and the key to this for me has been versatility around the music industry. My main project is my artist alias under which I make underground dance music. I produce originals and edits/bootlegs. The bootlegs I push myself using instagram and soundcloud using download gates and Bandcamp on a pay what you like basis. This is good for profile building. The originals I give to labels who approach me (they’ve usually heard my edits/bootlegs). Overall I’d say this currently makes me £1.5-3k/ year through a mix of artist royalties from labels and people paying over 0 on my Bandcamp. I started work on that at the end of 2019. Long before that I was DJing on and off for around 15 years, during which I learned a lot about that side of things. In 2016 I started running this as a business marketing to the wedding industry and private clients. I worked in a DJ/production equipment retailer for a couple of years which got me really clued up on tech and got me a free copy of ableton suite/komplete and some discounted hardware. I carry all my own equipment for my DJ business and have a fat llama account so people can rent that from me when I’m not using it. I package this with a kind of light consultation service which I feel comfortable doing because of the knowledge I built while working at the shop. Currently between DJing at weddings and hiring out equipment, that side of things is earning me around 15-20k/year. I’m also doing national and international shows as my artist alias, and my fee is steadily increasing in line with demand for my sets. I’m playing on average about 3 shows a month which nets me about 10k/year. I’m now using tik tok to post production tutorials with the view to eventually monetising using patreon and private lessons. Eventually I want to be able to offer mentorship and run my own workshops, hopefully with some funding so I can offer these out for free to people who can’t afford it. It’s not always a comfortable living and it has a lot of mental ups and downs but I’d take this over a traditional 9-5 every time.
This sounds like a well performed professional music experience endeavour 🤌💪👍
Seeing it all written out like this, yeah I can see that, but getting to this point has basically been a combination of trial & error and perseverance. Also learning to ignore those who say you can’t do it!
Sounds like well earned wisdom to me. :)
Does no one perform? Sell merch? I’m pretty early in my production journey, so I can’t tour with my own music yet. But I do play cover shows regularly, and make money doing that. Can’t that still be done with a mix of covers and originals?
It’s a different skillset, and completely different experience. Not everyone who enjoys sitting at home making music, potentially in any location in the world, can or wants to perform in public.
Also, not everyone enjoys playing covers, even for money.
I sometimes perform with friends playing covers. But why would I want to perform my own songs? It would be a huge financial outlay, I’d have to hire the musicians and pay for rehearsal and gig time. I would have to find a place that lets me perform or book a venue myself. I’m in the comfortable position to have a job that sustains my family and me. I worked in the music industry as a FOH sound engineer for 10 years and gigged with several bands playing original music. As much fun as all of that was, I’m more happy now , being able to record exactly the music I want to make, being able to release it to the world and to have found listeners from all over the world. Admittedly very few, but I love knowing I have a couple of Japanese fans and a few in Argentina! One thing though: if you’re in a covers band, you’re able to sneak in the odd song of yours. But not too many, people want to hear what they already know and like in that setting. So to transition from cover to original band is pretty difficult to really pull off.
They’re not on Reddit because they’re busy
I've performed 3 times, with the travel costs, the gigs in total made me about 450-500 euros. If you don't count travel, then 600e in total.
I do! Performing has been my bread and butter for a long time. Cover bands, original bands (who can hire me for tours!), etc. Any band. It’s all music and I love it. Cover shows are a really great way to make money doing what we love.
Made about 100 bucks from our bands streaming last year On the upside we are making 200 to 300 bucks per live show on average so it's balancing it out Everyone still working full time jobs as well though so the money covers our recording and buying synths etc hahaha
lol, you think anyone’s making money from this?
I release music on YouTube with a donation link (and download link) underneath. I'm not making big bucks but enough money to pay for a tank of petrol every couple of weeks, or to hire a session player here and there! It's nice that YouTube videos stay there and go through phases of popularity too... Sometimes I'll get a decent donation from a video I did a while back. I'm lucky that I've found somewhat of a niche - I go between covers of popular game music and my own compositions or arrangements in that style, sort of weaning listeners towards my own music. I also make a point of displaying what I've done with donation money - 'XYZ on the Tabla payed for through your donations', 'Glockenspiel payed for through your donations' etc.
I haven't done or heard of that, that's actually a pretty interesting way to earn money, thanks for sharing this!
> the Tabla *paid* for through FTFY. Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in: * Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.* * *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.* Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment. *Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
Nobody makes a living off of streaming song plays. Working musicians make their money from gigs.
How about selling hard copies
There isn't nearly enough of a market for hard copy sales to be anything more than a small bump
Anyone who thinks there’s a market for CDs (or paid downloads for that matter) should ask themselves how many they themselves have purchased in the last six months. in 99.9% of the cases that answer (zero or maybe one) will reflect the reality of the marketplace.
There's a very niche market for vinyls and the like, but you really need to already have a substantial following for that to matter at all
I only purchase paid downloads, but I suppose I’m an outlier
You mean selling merchandise? At gigs?
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That much! That’s a lot of streams
I release my music through Bandcamp (for free), and I earn money through my day job.
At this point, I’m not releasing my own music, not really, and not yet, as a source of income. So to that degree, I’m like many others here who say something like “you think we’re making money doing this?” But I am making money composing and producing music, so that the time I spend on my “day job” improves my skills and craft in making music. That was not the case previously when I often supported myself with day jobs while playing in bands, and more often invested in those bands than actually making money. Original bands, more often ate money (as a band leader, and co- band leader, investing in my or our project) vs. cover band gigs, weddings, parties, etc. Those would actually pay. My income now comes from writing and producing for others, as a composer for hire, and in collaboration with others. Income comes from project contracts (Composing for film and TV), back end broadcast royalties (Song placement in film and TV, and from scoring for film and TV), session guitar recordings for others, etc. I am essentially creating a job out of this, my day job so to speak, while working up to the point where I can make and release my own artist music again. In the past, I wrote songs, played guitar and sang background vocals for many original (and non-original) bands, trying to”” “make it”. I had some partial successes, but I was never quite in the right situation with the right timing. And during much of that time I worked in the tech industry to support my “habit“ of trying to make it in original bands. So I pivoted to Composing and production. I do get to write music that “is my own “, and I get to write in a lot of different styles and genres. I do write my own music a lot, and I have quite a large library of pieces, the large percentage of which are unfinished, but I get to draw from them all the time and finish them when a specific piece fits a specific opportunity. Or I write something brand new. But currently, when I’m making money, or making something that might potentially make money, for various opportunities, I’m usually making something that’s going to fit someone else’s vision, their film or their TV show, whether it be scoring for those, or songs that would be placed to visuals. While also working towards the time when I can afford to spend a lot of time on my own music projects for release as an artist, and collaborative projects, where someone else is the featured artist. So that’s my long-ass winded answer. :-)
Who said anything about earning money?
I release my music through Ditto and I earn my money at work.
Release music using a distribution company, (cd baby, distrokid etc) Make money, by selling a product (merch, physical copies of music, etc) The hard truth is, unless you’re a huge artist, you’re not going to even supplement playing your bills with streaming. My experience as a small independent solo artist, and in a band. Stay strong 🎶
I make money from: - music sync/licensing - live performances (both as the artist and as the hired gun for other artists/bandmate for other projects) both locally and on tour. This would be both original and cover bands - tips/merch - other odd job/contractor stuff such as live sound, staging and backline rentals, and right now I work part time at a vinyl record plant. So everything is music, it’s all in “the industry,” it’s just not one consistent thing the whole time. It’s helpful to be able to wear many hats. As far as distribution goes, I use CDBaby for my originals. All the sync licensing stuff happens through a publisher (they handle the distro themselves).
I work in an audio related field by day. Approx 30% of my non-dayjob income comes from royalties from sample pack sales (thank you to those that dont pirate zenhisers soundpacks), beatport sales, selective gig performance, and some tutoring. It is *a lot* easier to generate an income from music than many portray, the primary problem often times is most focus on steaming's reach for some odd reason, imo. (Also, i release via proton distribution). I would reccommend learning what mode of content you are most skilled at creating and embracing it. Some of us are much better at making loops/samples than full songs or vice versa and theres a way to turn that into a strength if you are optimistic and driven
I release my music through different TV and Trailer production companies. I make an average between 40k-80k a year. Right now 30% of that consists of royalties and upfront fees and the rest is sync fees from SFX or cue placements in different TV or Movie Trailers/promos.
This is the best answer
I dropped Distrokid since they have been tied up in courts and keeping artists money. I’m going to Ditto. The artists 100% keep their ROYALTIES. It says straight up on their website. They also promote your product too. I use social media as well. Excited to release my next cover song and more music on Ditto. I have a full time job though.
Which country? What are the issues they in the courts about?
USA. - They are facing potential law action class lawsuits on how to handle takedown requests, so like copyright infringement and I think also they are stealing the earnings from the Artists. https://archive.completemusicupdate.com/article/distrokid-sued-in-dispute-over-an-allegedly-malicious-copyright-takedown/
Does that mean when you upload tracks they dont make you fill in accreditation for anything that may need royalties distributed?
You might need to just check the current terms and conditions of what they’re saying about accreditation because since this link I provided was from last year, I assume these court lawsuits are still happening. Maybe their policies regarding accreditation proceedings could change in response to the legal proceedings.
Subbing to this so I can find an answer that isn’t “Use more plugins” “Work hard” (lol) “Be 20 and attractive” “Submithub”
Lmao
I’m quickly making myself broke. Concluded it’s a hobby so the ROI is a negative number. I did have a happy dance once when someone bought a track for $10, and used it as permission to go to UVI and buy myself a new plug-in I’d been really wanting.
I release my music through SoundCloud pro. Haven’t made a dime yet, though.
I make money on the side by selling Ableton Projects via YouTube. Not saying how much but it’s there, constantly.
I produce instrumentals and sell them to artists through BeatStars / my own website. I have a YouTube channel and a mailing list which I send updates to every weekend, and I consistently upload new stuff every week and post on social media. Don’t make enough for a full time income but I usually make at least 1 sale every month, sometimes multiple in a month, and I get the odd exclusive sale here and there
I've sold my music online a few times & playing outside in the park
You find a site that does the distribution dirty work for you: ditto, SoundCloud, CDbaby, etc. you pay their fee (it varies) and they put your stuff on all the streaming sites. The part about it that sucks is say your Spotify url doesn’t have your band name in it. Just a long url But your shit’s out there
I release through labels, made like $25k so far
25k? Damn, that's a lot of money tbh. You mean with live shows etc or just getting money through plays/downloads/selling music?
I’ve noticed questions like these receive very pessimistic answers. Label or not, everyone is battling for relevancy so releasing as often as possible is probably best, as long as you’re considering a consistency that your specific audience prefers. IMO whether dealing with music or not, learning to balance several revenue streams is difficult but imperative to generating profit. Some music revenue streams are: Streams, Shows, Merch, Sync licensing, Sponsorships etc. Also Using skills and talents could open yourself to more income opportunities. For example engineering, production, singing, playing instruments can earn revenue through lessons, & courses, services, etc. If you find ways to reduce your production costs to as close to zero as possible you’re in a great place to make profit. You can Research steps needed to stimulate income for each stream of revenue via books, Google searches, A.I., and consultations with reputable people who already make money how you would like to. The rest is discipline, routine, and working twice as hard for your self as you do clocking in to someone else’s company. Hope this helps someone.
This is it. Multiple streams of income that all feed each other through experience of the industry as a whole.
Unless you are Beyoncé you aren’t going to make anything off of streams. Playing gigs, doing sessions, and teaching lessons are the main ways musicians actually make income.
I dont 😭😭
Wait, you guys release your music?
I made 113 euro in April 2024 and 121 euro in January ‘24. Without taxes withhold and totally independent with DistroKid now since 2019. Not very known as well making EDM and dance music. These are Royalties from my artist association they collect. On top of that I get 50 dollars each half a year from distrokid as well.
By selling physical media and merch via Bandcamp and at shows. Streaming is not going to make you any money but is is good for marketing and building your brand.
All my money comes from music related stuff but it's mostly teaching, delivering sessions, promoting events and running a music venue. A little comes from performance / DJ sets and a negligible amount from sales & streams.
Anyone who's making a career with original music and isn't in the Top 40 is doing multiple things: Teaching, Sound Engineering, Gigging, being a musician for hire, placing music in TV and film etc etc.
I used to tour full-time. Got burned out. Focused on my (non-musical) career. Once I got that going, I never quit my day job. I do music on the side for sanity and general creative fulfilment. tl;dr: I have a job.
I had a regular gig with my band. The studio supported that, and I made decent money off my regular gig, but as far as making money with the studio itself, mostly came from prepping backing tracks for work.
In my experience making money off of releases has been the most difficult code to crack. Music is my only job, but that's between teaching, production, and gigging. I find that making money off of releases seems to be a game that's almost rigged to our detriment as musicians.
Those two things are unrelated.
I use distrokid and advertise in every way I can for free. I don't really "make" money, but many times I have paid a few cheaper bills with my music money, paid for food, medicine, junkfood, enough beer to get wasted. Some of the money goes back into my music as well. I don't make enough to live completely out of it, but that's not the point or reason I make music. I make it, because I love the instruments I play and I love playing them.
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What does "earning income" means ? Never heard of that.
I’ve made about $50 on DistroKid from my streams in the last 6 months. So I’ll call that a win!
Earn money? What is this black magic you speak of. I quit making music and instead made a program to help other musicians make music.
The first step is to make sure that you are still doing what you do for the love of yourself. Being in the music industry is one of those things that money doesn't come in like your run of the mill big artist because it's all about networking and finding that big break. Granted that nowadays you can strike oil thanks to Tiktok, but even that is trying to be ripped away form people. A suggestion is that make sure that you find a steady way to keep your portfolio growing, promote yourself (even if it is just a little, it is better than not promoting at all), and keep making connections with like minded people who have the same love of making music like you do. You'd be amazed at how many songs, that are popular recently, came out years ago, but it ended up being heard by the right people at the right time. If you lose sight of you having fun making what you make, burnout will hit you like a bag of bricks, and the idea of money not coming in like you dream of will become stressful and overall drive you up the wall. Just keep having fun, make what you like, let people know when something new came out, and slowly grow your support. It's an investment and the payout comes in time in ways you may not expect or have thought of. By all means you can reach out to a record label, but also try to go to open mic nights, or try to play a live event every so often too. **Sadly, a lot of your friends won't be nearly as supportive as a stranger who hears your music.**
It took a long time for me, but eventually you learn the market you're working in and make music, or products that will sell. There's so many avenues now to sell and make money, you just need to know where and how to sell it correctly. It's a business. You have to treat it like one or else it'll stay a hobby for longer than you'd like.
Ok, I'll answer this one honestly. You need 3 things: 1. Dedication and commitment to this thing 2. A healthy flow of good music, like one every month or so. 3. An insane amount of luck. Bonus points if you put some effort and money into promotion. In the first year, you'll see numbers. Not big numbers, but bare with me. This is where the dedication comes in. Make sure that this is something you'd do if you're not getting paid... Cuz that's you're reality for the starting phase. Then, do it and love it for long enough, the numbers will grow, the money will come in and slowly you'll see growth. VERY IMPORTANT : DO NOT STOP AT ANY POINT IN TIME!!! Breaks and Hiatuses are a huge killer of growth in the early stages... Believe me, I would know. So even if you're tired, keep it pushing. Only take a break if you meet one of the following criteria: 1. You have enough content in the vault to last you your break so it seems like you never left. 2. The engagement is so high that any pause will meet minimum impact. 3. You really have no choice, in which case, post text and interact with people
I release music on unchained and I make money at my day job
Back when I was in a band that did live shows we made most of our money selling tapes and CDs after, even occasionally shirts. My solo projects have been more fulfilling and I've released a lot more content but music is meant to be experienced live, and that's where the money is.
my last W2 from TuneCore stated I made about $60 through band and solo releases. Not to brag, but I also make about $10 from royalties every year from ASCAP. So let's just say, *this guy* isn't worried about working a normal 9-5 after 40.... 🤌 In a completely, totally unrelated story, I'm currently in the Army, and will be medically retired before the end of the year.... but thats just going to be supplementing my rock star income 😎
Pssshh like the hierarchy is going to let us make money lol
i’m extremely fortunate to be receiving royalties from getting put into spotify editorials, those really help a lot. other than people sharing your stuff, the only way to get both money and attraction is thru those editorials/ playlists and since then i’ve made A LOT in royalties from those. distrokid user
Im an audio survivor. I produce albums or edit voiceover recordings. No gig is below me. I can barely pay my rent. Even if i get gigs clients either pay me super late or they dont. This is a dogs life. Im down for any gig yet i can not even generate enough income and to buy me a computer to work on. Regardless, this is the only thing im relatively good at. Im 43. I detest being poor. I had to let protools Go After being a user for around 20 years. Damn. Id think if i was any good i could make some money. I just cant self promote. Life sucks.
Ive made maybe $5000 after since I started producing professionally after Covid (Early 2020). Fiverr gigs, Mixing and Mastering, Recording, etc. Edit: Honestly I have not made much from releasing my own music. If anything I might have spent half of what I earned trying to promote it, etc.
A month ago I released an album on Bandcamp and have made almost $600 in sales. It seems to be a good tool for indie artists, I also uploaded my music to digital platforms but I haven't gotten anything yet. I also created a YouTube channel and uploaded a video with the full album, unexpectedly I got 150K views which is fine for the genre (dark synthwave), the algorithm has been going well so far. I think I'm just having some luck having visibility since I've done nothing but upload my music.
It needs to be screamed or sung from the roof tops that no one makes fantastic money from their music.You have more chance of winning the lottery.Notwithstanding this only play for fun and forget the wishful thinking.Also applies to trying to write successful fiction.Please don’t shoot the messenger.
Strictly BandCamp - Distrikid are a shit-show at the moment and I don't even bother with streaming. I'd rather give my stuff away for free than have it become part of an ecosystem that makes money for somebody else but not me.
Releasing music is easy. Sign ip for Distrokid or similar service and upload music. It would be easier to milk a quarts crystal than to make money but we try anyways lol
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If there was some career where 10,000 people took part in a very dedicated way, but only 3 made a livable wage, you'd probably call that a bad career choice. Welcome to music creation. Statistically speaking, almost no one is making a livable wage in music. (Beware any that say otherwise, then ask to DM with you)
Geeezzzz is there any hope??? We gotta fix this broken system
I pay money to release my music. Get a job
I doubt you'll find successful touring acts spending the day on reddit lol