Photo by Yan Krukau
The music biz is massive, bringing in over $28 billion in revenues last year alone and presenting an interesting path to a profitable career for anyone who’s got both a passion for creating catchy tunes and a knack for monetizing the tracks they produce.
If this sounds like the ideal job for you, stick with us and we’ll talk you through the steps involved in converting a dream of pop superstardom into a viable cash-generating endeavor.
Establishing Your Presence on Streaming Platforms
Setting up your accounts on streaming services is the starting point of monetizing your music digitally.
Here’s how you can make sure these platforms work for you, rather than just being another place where your music lives:
- Choose the Right Services: Start with giants like Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music. These platforms have the broadest audience reach and offer various tools for artists to analyze and grow their listener base. Spotify alone counts more than 615 million users on its books, while Apple Music has over 78 million paying subscribers.
- Optimize Your Artist Profile: An engaging profile picture, a compelling bio, and regular updates are essential. Think of your profile as your digital front porch – inviting and clear about who you are as an artist.
- Distribute Wisely: Use a reliable distribution service that suits your needs. Companies like DistroKid let you upload songs to Apple and other major services simultaneously and without hassle at your end.
- Engage Through Content: Regularly update your profile with new tracks, behind-the-scenes photos, or exclusive clips to keep fans coming back. Engagement drives streams, and streams are where you’ll make your money initially – with Tidal offering the most generous payouts of up to $0.015 per play.
Playing the Playlist Game
Playlists are a major means of increasing your music’s exposure – and being featured can lead to significant streaming numbers and new fan acquisition. It’s a good idea to keep another side hustle going while you’re working on this aspect, as it can take time to come to fruition. That said, here’s how to make playlists work for you:
Understand Different Types of Playlists: Spotify, for instance, features editorial, algorithmic, and user-generated playlists. Knowing the difference helps tailor your approach – and since data from analytics firm Viberate shows that the biggest playlist on this platform has over 34 million followers, the potential represented by this is immense.
- Pitch to Playlist Curators: It’s possible to pitch unreleased tracks directly to their editorial team via the Spotify for Artists dashboard. Make your pitches compelling with brief, impactful descriptions of each song. This isn’t an option on Apple Music at the moment, but this might change, so keep your ears open for any info that might require you to update your strategy.
- Create Your Own Playlists: Build playlists that feature your music alongside tracks from similar artists. This not only shows off your musical taste but also keeps your fans engaged on-platform.
- Leverage Analytics: Use data from streaming platforms to understand what works. Track which songs perform well in playlists and analyze listener demographics to refine future submissions.
Engaging Fans on Social Media
Social media is a way of creating relationships – and for musicians, popular platforms can be a direct line to fans, making it indispensable for building your brand and driving interest in your music, which will eventually lead to earning money from it.
Here’s what it takes to build engagement the right way:
- Pick Platforms Wisely: Not every platform suits every artist. Focus where your audience hangs out most – be it Instagram, X, TikTok, or Facebook. It’s arguably that TikTok is the best option at the moment, given its rapid growth and anticipated army of 1.8 billion users in the near future – but it might be better suited to younger musicians given the demographics it represents.
- Interactive Content Wins: Live sessions, Q&As, and sneak peeks into your creative process can draw fans closer to you. Encourage comments and shares by asking questions or running contests.
- Consistent Branding Across Channels: Your social media should reflect your artistic identity consistently. Whether it’s the tone of voice or visual style, keep it uniform.
- Use Tools for Scheduling and Analytics: Tools like Buffer and Hootsuite assist in scheduling posts at optimal times. Analytics help track what type of content resonates best with your audience.
Final Thoughts
Setting yourself up on major streaming platforms, getting on popular playlists, and spreading the word via social media will all make monetizing your music that little bit easier.
That’s not to say you’re guaranteed success with these methods – rather you need to be committed to plugging away, and accept that it will take time to grow an audience, as only a tiny minority of acts get lucky and go viral.
