Is it doable so that you can earn a dwelling as a musician immediately if you happen to aren’t a family title?
The brief reply is sure, completely. However that doesn’t imply it’s a chunk of cake.
Because you’ll be extra empowered to succeed if you happen to perceive the state of music income in 2025, this text include 13 truths about incomes cash as a musician.
Driving your individual artistic & enterprise success on the similar time isn’t simple.
You need to put on at the least two hats effectively: artist and entrepreneur.
And in a discipline that evolves as quickly because the music {industry} (which stands on the intersection of expertise, tradition, advertising and marketing, and extra), you’ve obtained to remain in your toes.
Plus, many current occasions have impacted artist income, together with:
So if we start with the premise that success takes expertise, data, onerous work, and continued curiosity, listed below are 13 issues you must know proper now so as to develop your music earnings.
13 onerous truths about incomes cash in music
The purpose of this checklist is that will help you see by way of quite a lot of the widespread confusions, and keep away from the pitfalls that stop many artists from making progress.
A few of these truths might sound apparent to you, and in that case, nice! They’re classes you received’t need to study the onerous means. However consider me, even in 2025, they’re nonetheless issues that many artists don’t know, or don’t wish to settle for.
1. Simply since you made music doesn’t routinely imply it’s going to make you cash.
Music will not be a shortage! There are practically infinite options to your music.
The identical means that new meals merchandise don’t simply magically arrive in shops and fly off the cabinets by themselves (it takes branding, distribution, promotion, and many others.), you’ll have to work to create demand to your music. If you happen to anticipate your music to generate income, that work doesn’t cease on the finish of the creation course of.
2. What’s good for the “{industry}” might be very completely different from what’s good for you.
Typically the music {industry} and particular person creators have completely different wants and wishes. And it’s simple to study the unsuitable classes from {industry} headlines.
“Indie music” as a sector could also be more healthy than ever, however you’re only one artist. You, in the end, pay your individual payments. Deal with what’s greatest for you and take headlines and quotes from CEOs with a grain of salt.
That being mentioned, I feel the current LUMINATE report did an amazing job conveying massive industry-wide stats whereas additionally telling a extra detailed and inspiring story about lesser-known artists.
3: Earning profits from music is an element thriller. It’s an artform, in addition to a science.
What turns into well-liked will not be predictable. What labored yesterday doesn’t at all times work immediately. Some geniuses go unrecognized. Your least favourite unique tune may be your greatest hit.
This uncertainty is a part of what makes music so thrilling. You by no means know when and the place success would possibly come from.
Use this to gas creativity, and don’t be afraid to attempt new issues. And as they are saying in advertising and marketing circles, “check, check, check.”
4: Make it simple for individuals to offer you cash.
Critically. Are you… promoting stuff? If not, your first drawback is making issues — music, merch, concert events, experiences — that you may truly promote to followers.
Then it’s essential constantly create affords. Compelling affords. Subsequent, talk these affords. Ship supply e-mail. Put up webstore hyperlinks in your social bios. Announce merch at gigs. Promote merch on Spotify. And in every single place else.
Lastly, if you do make affords, you must give followers choices. Not everybody desires a big black t-shirt, so have dimension and shade options. Sure individuals received’t go to public reveals, however they’ll pay for a livestream. Some followers pays you extra for a VIP pre-show grasp.
The purpose is: Many artists underperform on the income aspect as a result of they only aren’t giving followers a possibility to pay them.
5: Any deal an artist indicators could have critical monetary implications.
There may be a time and place for report labels, managers, and reserving brokers. However all {industry} partnerships will have an effect in your earnings. Don’t wait till it’s too late to actually perceive what these implications are.
Know what you’re getting your self into. Not simply within the near-term. Ask your self, “What might this association imply for my music in 25 years?”
The trade-offs could possibly be effectively price it. However ask the onerous questions BEFORE you signal a deal.
6: Well-liked artists typically have a skewed vantage level on the precise economics of streaming, however they’ve the loudest platform.
Whereas there’s a lot to be realized from well-liked artists, they’ll typically give up-and-coming artists the unsuitable impression on sure facets of the enterprise, as a result of they’re enjoying a unique sport at a unique degree.
When somebody well-known talks about not incomes any cash from tens of thousands and thousands of streams, consider, you don’t know what’s occurring behind-the-scenes and also you don’t have THEIR label or publishing contracts to reference.
How a lot does their label hold? What was the artist’s advance? What number of co-writers had been on the tune? All that and extra can complicate the income scenario, when in comparison with an unbiased artist who owns 100% of their publishing and recording rights.
Additionally, simply because an artist is well-liked, it doesn’t essentially imply they understand how each side of the {industry} works.
7: Your private preferences round music consumption would possibly lead you to missed alternatives.
You may be getting in the best way of extra income, if you happen to assume that each one your doable followers behave similar to you do. As an artist who additionally listens to music, you could have particular preferences. However you won’t 100% match your viewers in these preferences.
For instance, you would possibly assume nobody purchases CDs since you solely take heed to streaming, whereas CDs are nonetheless an enormous income for artists. You would possibly solely share a Spotify hyperlink, when 40% of your viewers is definitely on Amazon Music. Possibly you wish to press vinyl, however most of your followers are extra inclined to pay you for a digital expertise.
The purpose is easy: Don’t assume everybody listens, engages, and spends cash precisely such as you do. Ask your viewers. Take polls. Take a look at the waters. And transfer within the path that generates probably the most income.
8: You (in all probability) received’t make a dwelling from one tune. Deal with constructing a catalog.
Many of the unbiased artists I’ve seen succeed through the years made a strong dwelling as a result of they constructed a large catalog of songs. This, in fact, offers them extra possibilities to create hit songs, but in addition boosts the quantity of tracks that may be licensed, streamed, performed at concert events, and many others.
So each time they launched new music, their followers might return and take heed to previous stuff, thus with each new launch got here an additional wave of income from previous materials.
9. Your greatest alternative won’t be from merely “releasing” songs, however monetizing the connection you will have with followers.
Don’t pin success (or income) totally to the recorded music. We stay in a social second that thrives on engagement. A few of your greatest incomes prospects would possibly come up from the fan expertise AROUND your music, or from what they’ll do WITH your music.
Subscriptions, entry, livestreams, classes, and meetups. To say nothing of fan-generated content material.
10. It’s the music “enterprise,” so deal with it such as you would a job.
It is a problem for many of us artists: We spend an excessive amount of time dreaming and never sufficient time doing. I’m responsible of it too. We would like a “profession,” however the work? Not a lot.
If you’d like your music to be a full-time job, effort and time should constantly be on the degree you’d anticipate from a “common” job.
11. With the intention to maximize music income, it’s important to inform individuals precisely what to do.
As artists we wrestle to offer followers clear instructions. However individuals have to be advised, proven, guided. That’s the facility of an enormous, brilliant button with an apparent call-to-action on web sites or emails.
Some artists wrestle to be clear and direct as a result of we lack confidence in our music or supply. Others would possibly really feel like we glance uncool or desparate if we ask followers to take an motion. And for an additional set of artists, we simply assume our followers know what to do subsequent. However more often than not they don’t.
All the time make an try and make clear the motion you need followers to take, why it advantages them, the way it’s necessary to you, and supply easy directions on the right way to do the factor!
12. One viral video doesn’t equal sustainable income.
Making an attempt to engineer one large, viral video hit? I imply, okay, that’s advantageous. You’ll study one thing from the try even when it doesn’t get the attain you dream of. However most profitable musicians didn’t put all their eggs in a single viral video basket. Even creators who’ve a large video hit don’t at all times have an apparent approach to rework that spotlight into true followers and clients, not to mention a full-time dwelling.
As a substitute, most profitable musicians who create a significant video presence did so as a result of they established a sustainable course of that was carefully linked with their very own musical identification, passions, and skills. It’s about momentum, and it’s about the proper followers being there for the proper causes: As a result of they like what YOU do.
Don’t chase memes and developments. Discover a extra compelling approach to be YOU on digicam. After which slowly construct your social advertising and marketing efforts round that. The continued course of will doubtless have a larger impression than making an attempt to engineer one viral video. And that’s the best way to construct an “genuine” social model that results in actual income.
13. Simply because it labored for Taylor Swift, doesn’t imply it’s going to give you the results you want.
Seeking to superstars for classes in success could be a blended bag.
When Radiohead dropped In Rainbows without spending a dime practically 20 years in the past, each band needed to repeat the try. However they weren’t Radiohead. When Beyoncé launched a secret album, everybody needed to do secret albums. They weren’t Beyoncé.
When Drake launched a tough drive with… (effectively, perhaps don’t attempt that one both).
The purpose is: There are economies of scale at play with celebrity artists. Meaning they don’t need to work as onerous to incentivize followers to take motion, as a result of they’ve already put within the work to ascertain an in depth relationship with their viewers.
What works for them won’t give you the results you want. However the reverse may also be true. You may take sure possibilities they’ll’t, and even capitalize on efforts that aren’t scalable in any respect! The realm of unbiased music is stuffed with innovation, by necessity. You don’t have the title, finances, or staff that superstars do. There might by methods to make use of that to your benefit!
Key takeaways
Listed here are 4 issues to remember as you pursue your music profession:
- Prioritize actions that generate income – don’t simply chase likes.
- Search for untapped income alternatives that align along with your particular person profession plan and skills.
- Don’t blindly observe headlines or recommendation. Take a look at assumptions, advertising and marketing ways, and even artistic approaches.
- And lastly, if you happen to need assistance spreading the phrase about your music, use music promo instruments to offer your message a lift!
Need to study extra about your revenue-generating choices as a musician immediately?
Take a look at “75 methods to generate income in music.”
