How To Make Money As An Independent Artist In The Music Industry Today

You get out what you put in. If you expect to get lasting results in music from only reading free blog posts for 30 seconds, you’ve got another thing coming. Blogs are helpful, yes, but there is a different level of seriousness your brain attaching to information when you purchase it. Artists don’t like to hear that because we’re generally not business minded; thus, our industry is made to be a laughing stock.

Music marketing and business books are widely available, you don’t have to read just one. If you really (and I mean really) don’t like reading, listen to the audiobooks they have available, but I am encouraging you to invest in yourself; not just time, money.

I didn’t truly start taking my music seriously until I bought my first music marketing course about 4 years ago, and that level of seriousness have got me to where I’m at today. We just cleared over $150,000 in revenue over the past 12 months as a fully independent music business.

I’m speaking of affiliate marketing here. Music affiliate programs are available in a number of places. I go over this concept in-depth in my book, The Unconventional 6-Figure Music Business, but essentially it’s like riding someone else’s coat tails.

Say you notice there’s a business that sells Hip Hop instrumentals, music promotion, and books gigs for artists. You’d ask them if they had an affiliate program where they give you a special tracking link to place on your website and social media, and they’ll give you a percentage of the sales for qualified traffic you refer.

I do this with a number of products and have my own affiliate program that you can make money off too! Click the button below for more info.

Session musicians are hired freelance musicians that come in during studio or performance times to help fill out a song and supply their playing abilities on a limited time basis rather than as a permanent staple in a musical act or band.

You can sell your services online nowadays too! All you would need to do is set up your website or a page in a marketplace like Fiverr. That way you could run this entire operation from your home studio setup.

Finding the perfect singer or lyricist can be very difficult for some people. Maybe a small business is writing a jingle and they need some talent to make their dream a reality. Maybe there’s a great vocalist out there, but they can’t write songs to save their live. People won’t buy it from you if you don’t offer it!

If you want personalized one-on-one attention to see how we can help your music goals, schedule a free 15 minute phone consultation with us or watch our free in-depth video below. I go over the exact strategies I used to grow my music business from $20K to over $117K/year. Any artist who wants to sincerely learn and grow will take advantage of either of these resources.

If you're looking to make money from Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, and more, this is the way to go.

Tunecore doesn’t take any commissions. You get to keep 100% of the royalties and their reports are some of the best around, allowing you to get a really good insight into how well your music is doing.

The best thing, in my opinion, about Tunecore is their music publishing. You can submit to unlimited TV Shows, Films, and video games for a $75 one time fee. 

They're the industry leader for a reason in terms of music distribution and the wide variety of platforms they let you monetize on.

We're even partnered with Tunecore and may receive commission if you signup. We've combined forces with them as we believe they're one of the best!