Trying to take up music as something that you do full time
can be pretty tricky.
As a guitarists for instance, if you’re thinking of quitting
your 9 to 5 for a fulltime career in the music biz, you’ll need to be able to
make some money. This is something that
a large chunk of musicians struggle to do, and it is the number 1 reason why
they’re ultimately forced to go back to their day jobs.
Having a career in music, living the dream, requires a solid
game plan. As a musician, you’ll need many different income streams and learn
the importance of diversification; a single income stream is unlikely to earn
you a lot of greens, however multiple streams of income will probably add up to
earn you a decent amount of money initially, and with the passage of time,
you’ll be able to build upon that using your talents, skills and of course, hard
work.
Here are 6 rock-solid ways in which guitarists (and
musicians) can make some serious money in 2012:
1. Selling Music
Selling your own music is one of the first (and perhaps one
of the most basic) things that you can do to start making some money with your
music – even if it’s only a small fraction of money initially.
Make it as easy as you can for your fans to be able to find
you, and buy your music. Set up official fan pages on Facebook, Twitter, Google
Plus, MySpace and of course, Youtube. Set up a website. Make sure your fans can
get in touch with you (and other fans) on a single platform, and get your
updates as well.
CDs are cool, but digital distribution is essential. MySpace
works pretty well here. Try getting your music up on the likes of iTunes. Spotify and Amazon as
well. This GarageSpin
guide is a great starting-point on how to get aggregator services to help
you sell your music on the internet. Did you know that some of the biggest
names in pop today (I’m talking about the likes of Lady Gaga and a certain Mr.
Bieber) started off on the likes of MySpace and Youtube before becoming the
multi-platinum artists that they are today!
2. Performing Live
One of the most obvious – and the best – ways of making some
dough as a musician!
Playing and performing live in front of an audience can not
only be a great way to earn some real cash, it also comes with a myriad of
other advantages. For instance performing live is great for exposure, and
getting the word out about yourself. Once the word gets out, you can score some
great gigs, and you might even go on to open for some of the big names out
there.
Playing and performing live is all about making a name for
yourself. When you start off, you’re relatively unknown and as a result, might
not be able to ask for a large fees. Building a reputation and a name for yourself
usually tends to take time. And even if you end up making a few bucks
initially, look at each gig as a building block towards increasing your earning
potential. Once you are successfully able to make a name for yourself, you’ll
be able to command much higher fees.
Market yourself over social media – Facebook, Twitter,
Youtube… the works. Tell everyone you know to come see you play – at work,
friends, family, even acquaintances. Put up posters and flyers across town, use
online forums and your contacts in the music industry to help you spread the
work. The aim here is to draw a big crowd. Give free CDs out to people who show
up as a way of saying thanks (think of the publicity you’re doing this way!).
3. Partner Up with Local Businesses
When you start off, you won’t be able to do everything on
your own. Partnering-up with local business might be a good strategy here.
Get in touch with local music shops, and ask if they can put
a few copies of your CD on the counter. Decide how the earnings will be split. Local
music shops are usually very supportive of local musicians, and promoting local
music.
Ask local businesses, such as coffee shops, restaurants, and
other shops and retail outlets to play your CD in their shops. This can be a
pretty good for publicity. Leave a few copies behind, and split the earnings.
4. Sell Merchandise
Merchandise sales can account for a major chunk of your
earnings (or go on to do so eventually)! Think tees, stickers, wrist bands, guitar
picks, and other personalized items. Put your name (or your band’s name) and
the logo on each of these thing, along of course with the URL of your website
and Facebook page.
Tell people to pick up a tee or two by promoting it during a
performance. Merchandise tends to sell very well after a particularly good live
show or a performance. Do a contest and give some stuff away for free, it can
be a great way of publicity!
As far as merchandise ideas are concerned, you have tees,
mugs and bands. But try being unique and thinking outside the box here, get
something that will have people talking about it even after the show – posters,
personalized USB flash drives with behind the scenes footage, videos of you
practicing, pictures of the band, etc. Ask yourself this: what is there that
your fans are most likely to associate themselves with? In ACDC concerts, for
instance, you can see each and every person in attendance wearing devil’s horns
– see if you can do something similar with your band.
5. Affiliate Marketing
Since you’re probably already selling your music on the
likes of iTunes and Amazon, among other places, why not dip into a bit of
affiliate marketing and make some extra greens in the process?
While most musicians tend to go for sponsorships, affiliate
marketing can be an excellent substitute.
And the good news is that if you have a website, it’s an extremely simple and
efficient way of making some money. Essentially, you’ll be required to sign up
for an affiliate program, and promote their products using a link that will be
provided to you by the program. Each time someone buys their product using the
link on your website, you earn a percentage of that money! So for instance if
you’ve been using a Les Paul Standard for a while now, why not write a small
review on why it’s so good, and put a link at the end so that your fans can get
the exact same model as well.
The good thing is that this can be done with virtually
anything that you use. Amazon has one of the best affiliate programs, since they’re
pretty well-stocked, and carry just about everything under the sun.
HowToRunABand has a great guide on how
you can start off with an affiliate business as a musician. They make some
very good points as well, such as not littering your website with affiliate
links, and instead using specific areas on your website to for the affiliate
part of your business. For instance a new ‘Gig Gear I Use’ might be a good
idea.
6. Start Teaching
If you’re a guitarist, you’ll probably have no problem
getting students. Start teaching, taking classes and earning a bit of dough
this way. Work your way up slowly; guitar teachers who have been teaching since a while and have
been able to make a name for themselves
are making some serious dough teaching music. This is what you’re aiming
for.
Choose your method of teaching. You can take classes at the
local college or the community center, rent out a studio space or simply
convert a portion of your own place into a studio in order to teach. You could
also look into video-chat-based classes (think Skype)! Use your social media
profiles, blogs and websites to publicize your new business and spread the
word. Give out flyers at the end of performances.
Your reputation as a teacher will grow, particularly if you
keep playing live. More and more people will hear you and hear about you, and
if you’re good, they’ll definitely want to learn a thing or two from you!
Besides, teaching music can be one of the best ways of
actually practicing music!
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