Article by: Luke Motta & Philip Garcia
VQS Advice Blog | Cover Image by Andrea Piacquadio
Learn how to turn your art passion into profit.
- Table of Contents
1. Where’s a Great Place to Start? - 2. What’s an Easier Way to Inspire People?
- 3. What Could Be the Best Fit for You?
- 4. What Other Platforms Can Impact Your Growth?
- 5. What is the True Gift of Being a Music Creator?
Everybody could use an extra stream of income on the side, especially when starting out your career. With music in particular there are plenty of avenues to use your talent and skills to not only have fun and help people, but to get paid too!
1. Where’s a Great Place to Start?
How can you quickly turn your personal connection
into free word of mouth marketing?
You can film or post…
- The process you go through to write and produce music
- Explanation videos of your lyrics
- Singing covers of your songs
- Or even just show your personality and being yourself!
YouTube is a great way to express yourself
and showing off your musical talents!
It can become a source of income and a great way to expand your brand awareness and audience. It also allows people to experience your musical journey as if they’re right beside you.
All you need is a camera or webcam and you’re all set to go!
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2. What’s an Easier Way to Inspire People?
If you don’t have time to edit videos each week,
just skip those steps and do it LIVE!
There are plenty of livestreaming platforms to choose from, through websites such as Twitch or Facebook Live. How is this any different from Youtube? Instead of these videos being prerecorded, through these platforms everything is live and unedited, giving your viewers a better feeling of your personality and musical talent.
A great benefit of using livestream platforms is it gains a new audience that will be motivating and inspiring to fellow musicians.
It’s an intimate experience!
People are able to see your process on everything from preparing your instruments to practicing to songwriting.
What can you do to stand out?
Livestreaming gives us many opportunities to earn money! Start streaming on more platforms and watch your audience grow!
3. What Could Be the Best Fit for You?
If you want to work as a musician outside of the internet,
what kind of options are there?
Working at a music store means you will be
around like-minded individuals all day long!
Many stores give staff discounts so you are able to expand your music setup at a more affordable cost (which means you’re saving money AND making money!).
By being in a retail environment, you’ll have to be up to date on the newest brands and equipment, which is good for your own personal knowledge as well. You might even get a chance to use new instruments whenever the store is less busy.
It’s also another good place for marketing your skills and networking with other musicians. Who knows, maybe a customer or another staff member is looking for a musician like you to work with!
4. What Other Platforms Can Impact Your Growth?
If you’re a musician, you have an inherent love for music and it’s art form, so why not gain some income by discussing it with others?
- Get some friends together
- Write down some discussion topics
- Start recording!
Some topics you can try out are music release news, reviews of a particular band, song or album, or you can give advice on how to be successful at music.
You can also switch it up and inject some comedy
or fun stories into your podcasts to brighten someone’s day!
What sort of influence do you want to bring into the world of music?
A platform such as Spotify is a great place to get started. Spotify doesn’t just support music streaming, they also have podcasts on their channel. Since your music and your podcast would be in the same place, those who listen to your podcast can easily access any of the music you’ve created or reviewed on the same platform!
5. What is the True Gift of Being a Music Creator?
Many people begin their musical journey by taking music lessons,
so why not give teaching a shot?
One of the ways you can enjoy music while helping another learn is by teaching music and empowering your new students to strive towards a better future. Whether it’s…
- Teaching a college class
- Teaching at a local music store
- Or even just doing virtual lessons…
…you are able to spread your knowledge of music and see the results of it firsthand while also having the guarantee of a paycheck at the end of the month. Teaching is a very secure and fulfilling option for any musician who is looking to make extra money, while giving a hand up to other fellow musicians.
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